𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐕𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋 (javier peña AU)

chapter nine: almost the truth

"You're pregnant?" Mr. Peña asked her shocked.

"I—" she started, but stopped herself.

Shit, what should she do now? There's no use denying it, is there? In a few weeks, at the latest, everyone would see it anyway.

"Answer me!" he snapped at her.

Natalia began to breathe more irregularly, "How do you know that?" she asked Mrs. Jackson quietly.

She knew that with this statement she would also admit it at the same time, but she just had to know how Mrs. Jackson knew it.

"I heard Connie talk to you about it"

"Connie knows about this?" he asked surprised.

Natalia immediately felt guilty, "Yes, you sent me to the hospital with her"

Mr. Peña took a deep breath, "Could you please leave for a moment, Mrs. Jackson?"

She nodded, "Of course, should I clear her room?"

"No, just leave"

A few seconds later they were alone again, and a few minutes later it was still quiet. None of them dared to speak.

Mr. Peña opened the window and took out a packet of cigarettes from his desk drawer.

Didn't he say he wanted to quit?

He took a cigarette out of the pack, but before he lit it, he stared over at her. "How far along are you?"

Natalia held on to the shelf because she was feeling dizzy again. She felt her mouth go dry and her heart beat faster. Should she tell him?

"Are you fucking deaf, Natalia?" he snapped at her, again.

She started getting mad at him. He just found out she's pregnant and yelled at her? Now she knew what to do. Lying to him, because she was afraid he would make her life hell.

So she lied to his face, "Sixteen weeks"

He nodded and looked at her for a few seconds.

"Shouldn't you show more then?" he asked with furrowed brows, apparently he didn't believe her.

"I- No it's uh, No" she muttered. Fuck, what a great way not to be suspicious. Maybe lying to him wasn't a good idea.

"Okay, if you say so. Then leave"

"What?" she asked back confused, and a bit hurt. Is he going to kick her out?

"I really need a cigarette now, so leave. You shouldn't be in this room. I don't want to harm you, or your baby" he said without looking at her and lit his cigarette.

Natalia nodded, took her things and walked over to the door. She looked over at him again and then noticed him staring at her stomach while he took a long drag.

"Take a short break and come back at 2"

"Yes Sir," she whispered and left his office.

She immediately went to her room and was just glad that she didn't meet Mrs. Jackson on the way. And inside it wasn't long before she started crying.

I'm so fucking stupid, she thought to herself while she sat down on her bed. She just regretted everything now. Lying to him a few minutes ago, working for him and meeting him in that hotel in Philadelphia 12 weeks ago.

To calm herself, she took the photo from the nightstand next to her bed. In the picture she was with her grandmother, and she remembered the day well. At that time she was 8 and spent the whole day in her grandmother's garden.

"Извини" she mumbled to herself after looking at the picture for some time.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

At two-thirty, Javier stared at the clock above the door. At first he was angry that she was late. But now he was a bit worried - something he would never admit out loud.

As he began to think that she might have left the hotel for good, he got up impatiently and decided to get her.

But since he didn't know which room was hers, he looked for Connie. And fortunately he found her in the lobby.

"Javier, Hi, how are you?" she asked him with a sweet smile.

"I'm looking for Natalia. Which room does she stay in?" he asked her quietly.

"Natalia? Uh, 113 I think. Why're you asking?"

Without replying, he turned around and made his way to the staff rooms.

"Javier what's going on? Did something happen to her?" Connie asked him concerned while she followed him.

"Oh you tell me?"

"What?" she asked confused when both stopped in the stairwell.

"Why didn't you tell me she's pregnant?"

Connie blinked a few times and let out a sigh. She knew this was going to be a problem.

"I didn't know she was pregnant when I hired her. I'm sorry. But she didn't even know that herself. When she started working here she was only one month along. She only found out herself in the hospital," Connie explained and Javier nodded.

But after a few seconds he stopped abruptly. He did the math, "A month? You mean two, right?"

"Uh, no. I'm pretty sure it's been one month. She should be twelve weeks far now. I was just talking to her about it yesterday" Connie told him and Javier gripped the railing tightly.

"Are you sure?" he asked her. He did his best to stay calm, but was afraid that he could pass out any moment.

"Yes Javier" she replied with a chuckle, "But why do you care so much? Please just don't kick her out, okay? She really needs this job. Imagine she would have to go through this alone without an income and a place to sleep" Connie added.

"Alone? Is she alone? What about the father?" he asked, even though he knew the answer perfectly well.

If Connie is right and Natalia is 3 months pregnant, he was 100% sure he was the father. Unless there was another man at the same time, but he couldn't imagine that. Or rather he didn't want to imagine that.

"She didn't want to tell me who the father is. I told her that I'll be there for her and help her, but I think she was still too embarrassed to tell me. So please don't tell her that you talked to me about it, please Javier"

"I won't" he replied and and left Connie alone on the stairs.

He needed to talk to Natalia.

But he won't tell her that he knows. He wants her to trust him enough to tell him himself.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Please don't be mad at me about this chapter lol, I thought it would be more realistic if she lied to him.