A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back with another light story. After the completion of PLL, I just had to write another story for you. I was going to wait and post this chapter a little bit later this month, but I couldn't wait so I decided to post the first chapter to see what you all think of it. Just like before, I have chapters pre-written already, so I'll most likely post regularly as much as I can. But since school is here, I might be a little delayed sometimes. So the second chapter might not be update until later this week or so, just so I can have more time to write more chapters so I can update daily :)
Again, I am so so so thankful for all the wonderful reviews that I have received on PLL. You have no idea how amazing you all are. I couldn't ask for better readers and reviewers. I also want to thank all the newer readers who have left reviews on there too for the wonderful words. It's really a blessing to receive all those kind words. You definitely have given me so much inspiration and motivation to continue with my writing. I can't stop reading your reviews. It's so crazy. I really hope you enjoy this story too! I couldn't wait any longer to post the first chapter, so here it is. I'm not sure how it will level up to PLL, but I will do my best!
love, Annie.
"She's So Lovely"
Chapter 1
"Come to the art show Friday night," twenty five year old Haley stated as she attempted to hand out colorful fliers. "It's going to be amazing!" she added.
She stood outside of the Paint Shop, where she had been working at for the past two years. It wasn't the most famous store in the city, but she liked it. It was the closest place she could look at paintings and sculptures from all over the world. Her boss, Mr. Kim, received imports from different countries like Italy and Japan. And they were all magnificent. Being able to see the whole world right before your eyes in a painting was surreal. It was something Haley found interesting. She wanted to be able to create something beautiful like the pieces of art in the store. It was a goal she wanted to reach. Being able to create something out of nothing and have people feel something from it is amazing. But lately, Haley couldn't seem to find the right inspiration to create something meaningful. Nothing. Nada.
Plus, it was a pretty decent paying job. Since the paintings are a bit expensive, she was able to pay for some of her sister's tuition and house bills. Haley was still living with her mother and sister but just until she got married and found a decent home. Ever since her father died when she was twelve, she and her mother have been working twice as hard to make a living.
"Haley!" someone called out. She turned towards the inside of the shop and looked at the short, middle-aged Korean man struggling to bring out a large painting from the back room. "Come help!"
"Oh," she replied and quickly placed the fliers on one of the display tables. She rushed over to Mr. Kim and held one side of the painting.
"Be careful. This one expensive," he advised as they shimmied in between sculptures. "Put over there," he ordered, pointing his lips to the wall behind her.
Haley nodded and shuffled backwards until she felt something jab her in the back. "OW!" she cried out.
She and Mr. Kim slowly put the canvas on the floor and she placed her hand on her back. She groaned from the pain and looked behind her.
"You okay?" he asked.
She glared at the stone sculpture of an angel holding a bow and arrow and answered, "Yea."
Mr. Kim looked at her concerned and shook his head. "Let's turn the painting and lean it against the wall there."
"Okay," she answered and did what he ordered. They carefully moved the painting to the empty spot and set it down. Both of them slowly stepped away from the frame and observed the painting. It was strange. They couldn't tell if it was an oil painting of a vase against a desert morning or a curvaceous woman staring at a set of mountains.
Mr. Kim pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and squinted at the print. Haley looked away from the large painting and glanced at the paper he had in his hand. "It says Kool-Aid," he stated in his distinctive Korean accent.
"Kool-Aid?" Haley repeated. They glanced at the canvas again, tilted their heads and tried to find the Kool-Aid in the picture. "I don't see it," she mumbled. "Maybe it's backwards?"
Mr. Kim glanced back at the paper and shook his head. "No. This right. Blue on top. Green on bottom."
"Hmm. Whatever it is, it's interesting."
"It's art, Haley," Mr. Kim stated. He shoved the piece of paper back into his pocket and observed Haley's outfit for the day. She was wearing a gray knitted jacket over a red and white striped shirt and jean overalls. "Why you dress like that?"
Haley stopped trying to find the Kool-Aid hidden in the painting and turned to her boss. "Huh?"
"You work on a farm now?"
She furrowed her eyes and looked down at her outfit. She smoothed her hands over her jacket and chuckled nervously to herself. "No, Mr. Kim."
"Then why you wear that?"
Haley sighed deeply and remembered what her little sister told her before she left for school. You're an embarrassment to the human race. Her little sister, Vivian, was a snotty fashionista. She was a seventeen year old snobby brat with a very vain personality. All she cared about was popularity and cool points. And ever since she turned thirteen, she's been insulting Haley's fashion sense every waking minute. Even though it's dreadful to hear how horrible her fashion sense was every day, Haley learned how to tolerate it – from her sister at least. But hearing it from her very own boss? That was just harsh.
"It's laundry day," Haley lied and quickly turned away to the backroom of the store. Mr. Kim pursed his lips when his only employee marched away and he continued gazing at the painting.
She walked straight to the employee bathroom and observed her outfit. She smoothed her blonde hair away from her face and then adjusted her jacket. Haley sighed deeply and pouted at her clothes. "This doesn't look so bad," she mumbled.
Suddenly her cell phone began to ring in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out and recognized the name on the screen. She immediately smiled and answered the call.
"Hey future husband!" she greeted.
"Hey baby," Julian answered on the other line.
Julian Baker was Haley's boyfriend turned fiance. They had been dating for the past two years and recently got engaged six months ago. He was a charming young lawyer of Tree Hill City. He had the looks of an A-list celebrity, body of an athlete, and personality of a southern gentleman. He was pretty much perfect. Unlike everyone else in her family, he looked past her appearance and grasped the beauty of her personality. And she was incredibly in love with him.
Their wedding date was set for the summer of next year so wedding plans weren't set yet. They weren't in a hurry and they were okay with that. As long as they were together, that was all that mattered.
"What's up?" Haley asked.
"I just wanted to say that I can't make it to dinner tonight. It's kind of busy here at the office and I just wanted to let you know beforehand," he answered.
Haley was actually pretty excited for their date tonight. She even had a beautiful dress bought and a new pair of shoes that her sister helped her pick out. But hearing that their date was canceled, her hopes were shattered. Just a little bit.
"Oh," she began. "That's okay. Work is work, right?"
"Yeah," he answered. "I hope you're not mad?"
She laughed nervously and glanced at herself in the mirror. "I'm not mad. Why would I be?"
"Well, I knew that you were waiting for this all week since we weren't able to see each other that much. I just don't want you to get mad at me."
Again, she let out a fake laugh. "I can never be mad at my fiancé. He's too perfect."
Julian smiled on the other line and said, "I love you."
"I love you."
"I'll call you tonight or something."
"I'll be waiting," she answered. They exchanged their goodbyes and hung up.
She sighed deeply and lifted her left hand up where her diamond ring sparkled right before her eyes. "At least he doesn't insult my clothes," she stated. She washed her hands and returned to work.
Nathan sat in his father's business office as he tossed salted peanuts into his mouth. He had been waiting there for about thirty minutes for his father to get out of his meeting. He had just returned from his vacation at the Bahamas a couple of days ago and he was ready to just sleep all day every day. But unfortunately his parents had something else up their sleeves for him.
Nathan leaned over to play with the Newton's Cradle on his father's desk when he heard the door open and shut. He slowly leaned back and found his father walking in wearing his usual old navy blue business suit. He had a stack of papers in his arms when he made his way behind his desk.
"Had fun on your vacation?" Dan asked as he settled himself into his chair.
His son tossed another salty peanut in his mouth and nodded his head. "Yeah, tons."
"Well that's good. Meet anyone new?"
Nathan sighed and picked a piece off his tooth. "Some." He could tell that father was trying to make small talk. Nathan hated small talk. He liked getting straight to the point, but he knew how his father was. He had strategies. This was definitely not a welcome back visit. His father had something ready to announce to him. And Nathan wasn't sure how to handle it.
"I'm glad. You got enough rest?" Dan asked as he started rummaging through his desk drawer.
Nathan furrowed his eyes at his father's actions and licked the salt from his lips. "Dad, just get to the point to why I'm here. I have things to do and people to meet."
"Like what? Sleep and Mr. Pillowcase?" Dan replied, taking something out from his drawer and shutting it. Nathan groaned at his father's attempt to be funny and leaned back against the chair. "I think he can wait." He pushed a piece of paper across the desk towards Nathan. "Take a look at this," he stated.
Nathan looked at up at his father in curiosity and glanced at the paper at the edge of the desk. "What the hell is this?"
Dan gave his son a serious expression and said, "Just read it."
Nathan scratched the edge of his nose and grabbed the piece of paper. It was typed in MLA format with the words "Coffee Shop Construction" printed across the top. His eyes furrowed. He had no clue what this was about.
Nathan Scott was a twenty six year old man who lived a fairly good life. Since he came from a wealthy family who owned a pretty big Marketing company in Tree Hill City, Nathan was able to live in wealth and fortune. He didn't have to work so much to gain cash to buy things or wait for holidays to receive anything fancy. When he wanted something like an expensive Rolex watch or Lamborghini, he got it in a split second. He was pretty much a spoiled guy who thought he was better than anyone else.
He did go to college and gained a business degree, but that was just a waste after he graduated. His parents wanted him to start working for the company immediately, but Nathan asked for a year or two off before he would start working. But unfortunately, his break lasted longer than they wanted. And he's been playing around like he owned the place ever since.
He just scanned the rest of the paper – not even paying attention what it'said – and placed it back on the desk.
"What's this got to do with me?" he asked.
Dan let out a heavy sigh and grabbed the piece of paper. "This is a contract, Nathan."
"Contract? For what?"
"For your new job."
Nathan quickly chuckled and grabbed himself a handful of peanuts from the glass tray. "Right," he replied. "That's funny."
"I'm not kidding. This is your contract. You told us one or two years and it's been five, Nathan."
He placed three peanuts into his mouth and put the rest back into the tray. He knew this was coming. "I know, I was-"
"You got carried away, that's what happened," his father cut in. "Now it's time to work. I am not letting my twenty six year old son laze around and play with money like it's a toy," Dan stated in a serious tone.
"Is this really necessary? What if I don't want to do this?"
Dan grinned and leaned against his desk. "Your mother and I will confiscate you car."
Nathan's eyes widened at his father's words. "What?" Nathan's precious silver Porsche was his baby. He took care of it like it was his own child. If there was even a scratch on it, he would demand someone pay a thousand dollars to repaint the whole car. It was that meaningful to him. And having it taken away is almost life threatening to Nathan. "You can't do that."
"Um, from what I recall, we bought you that car and we can take it away too."
Nathan's jaw tightened and swallowed the rest of the peanuts in his mouth. "Geez, dad."
"Get your car taken away or accept this job. It's either/or."
He sighed deeply and leaned forward against his knees. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to calm himself down. He couldn't even imagine not having his car. He lifted his head up and glanced at his father who happened to be waiting for his response with a mischievous grin on his face. "What do I have to do?"
Dan nodded with pleasure and glanced at the contract. "We're setting up this new coffee shop near downtown. There's this vacant building that needs some cleaning up and construction." Nathan immediately made a disgusted face and shook his head. "And we want you to be the start of this new business. It's only going to be a small coffee shop, but we want it to be successful."
"So you want me to lead this whole coffee business?"
"Yep," Dan answered as he grabbed a pen from his cup at the corner of his desk and placed it next to the contract. "You're the new owner of the coffee shop."
Nathan's attitude suddenly changed. He smiled and said, "So I'm the boss and I get to tell people what to do?"
"Mmmhmm," Dan replied, noticing that his son was slowly giving in. "But you have to run the place the right way. Just because you're the boss doesn't mean you can run it any way you want. We still have a name to maintain."
"That's fine with me as long as I get to be the boss," Nathan grinned. He picked up the pen and slid the contract closer to him. He was ready to sign his name at the end of the document when his father interrupted him.
"There's another thing you need to know."
"And what's that?"
"You're not the only boss," Dan stated.
"Huh?"
Right after work, Haley bought some food from the local market – some French sandwiches and soda. When she stepped inside their townhouse, she noticed that her little sister's school bag wasn't hanging off the hook near the entrance. Haley's eyes furrowed as she walked towards the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table, sewing up a dress she had been working on for the past week. Her mother worked as a local tailor, so anybody who needed anything hemmed, hand made, or measured, she was the go-to lady.
"Where's Vivian?" Haley asked as she placed the plastic bag of food on the counter.
Her mother, Lydia, looked up from the sewing machine and took a moment to think. "Hmm, I think she told me she was going out to eat with a friend."
Haley turned to her mom and looked at her in disbelief. "Did she say which friend? Cause if she's with that raunchy Whitney again I refuse to let her enter the house."
Lydia laughed. She continued sewing up the dress and she shook her head. "She just said she'll be back later."
"Mom!" Haley called out.
"What?"
"You're supposed to know where your own daughter is and who she's with," Haley said, removing the sandwiches and soda from the bag.
"It's hard to tame that child with her personality," Lydia replied, removing her foot from the sewing pedal. She snipped off the thread with a pair of scissors and tied a little knot at the end of it.
Haley groaned and opened a can of grape soda. As she was about to take a sip from it, her little sister came rushing into the house, scaring Haley half to death. And she began choking on the acid from the drink.
"Vivian!" Haley managed to call out, grape soda dripping from her chin onto her gray sweater.
"Eww!" Vivian remarked, glancing at her older sister's sticky face. "You're still wearing that?"
Haley glared at her sister and grabbed a paper towel to wipe the soda from her chin. "Why did you have to walk in like that? I almost had a heart attack."
"Sorry, but it was an emergency," Vivian replied as she strode across the kitchen to grab Haley's wrist.
"What are you doing?" Haley questioned as her sister dragged her to the door.
Lydia looked at them curiously and stood up from the chair, placing the unfinished dress on the table. "Where are you going?"
"We have to hurry!" Vivian demanded as they made their way out the door.
Haley grew confused as her sister led her into taxi that was waiting at the end of their driveway. "What the hell?"
Lydia stood by the door, wondering what was going on and watched as Vivian shoved Haley in the backseat of the taxi. She climbed in as well and the car jetted off, leaving their mom dumbstruck.
From inside the taxi, Haley struggled to sit up and glanced out the window. She felt something fury underneath her foot and realized that her shoe had fallen off and she was touching the rug of the taxi. She glanced at her sister in curiosity and grabbed her shoe from the floor.
Placing her shoe back on, she hit her sister on the arm. "Ow!" Vivian yelped, rubbing her arm.
"What the hell is going on? Where are we going?"
"You'll see," Vivian answered with her neck craning over to see the road.
Haley huffed when she figured out that her sister wasn't going to tell her their destination, so she leaned over the shoulder of the taxi driver and asked, "May I ask where we're going?"
"Rosetta's Italian Restaurant," the young man answered as he turned right at the green light.
Haley leaned back, confused and turned to Vivian. "Why are we going there?" she asked. Then she noticed a small baseball bat lying behind her back. "And why is there a baseball bat behind you?"
Vivian looked away from the road and glanced at the wooden bat. "Oh, that? You're going to need it."
Still completely puzzled, Haley scratched her head and asked, "For what? Are we going to play baseball at the restaurant?"
Vivian sighed deeply, obviously annoyed by her sister's lame jokes and finally said, "Julian's there."
"You're such a kidder. He can't be. He's at work."
"That's what he told you?" Vivian laughed in disbelief. "What a douche."
"Hey!" Haley exclaimed slapping her sister in the back of her head. "Don't talk about your future brother-in-law like that!"
Vivian's jaw clenched and touched the back of her head. "Hurry up, Anthony!"
"I'm trying," the driver replied as he stepped on the gas pedal even harder.
"Anthony?" Haley questioned. "You know his name?"
"Don't think anything of it," Vivian advised.
"How the hell do you know the name of the fuckin' taxi driver?"
"Calm your ass down," Vivian stated. "He's a friend of mine. He's using his dad's taxi car."
Haley's eyes widened and quickly jumped forward to observe the boy's face. He hardly looked of age. He had acne scars on his chin and beads of sweat developing on his forehead. "How old are you?" she asked.
"Seventeen," he answered, nervously.
"Does your father know that you have his car?" Haley asked inches away from his face.
Anthony slowly grew nervous with Haley utterly close to his face. He never had a girl that close to him before besides his own mother. And since Haley was pretty attractive, it made him really insecure.
"No," he answered.
"Damn it!" Haley exclaimed, jumping back into her seat next to Vivian. "Turn around and bring me back home!"
"NO! KEEP DRIVING!" Vivian yelled.
"Vivian!"
"HALEY!"
"Why are you doing this? I don't understand."
"Your fiancé is cheating on you," Vivian retorted.
Haley stopped for a moment and let out an unconvincing laugh. "Right," Haley said slowly. She turned to Anthony and softly stated, "Please turn around."
"Umm," he began. He looked up at the rear view mirror and found Vivian giving him a death glare. "Sorry, I can't."
"I'm like eight years older than you. I demand you to turn back around and bring me home or I'm calling your father!" Haley threatened.
Anthony swallowed the lump in his throat and continued driving. He didn't say anything in response, but when he looked up at the rear view mirror and found Haley leaning forward, he began to panic.
"If you're not going to stop, I'm going to make you stop," Haley stated, reaching over to grab the wheel.
"Vivian, help!" Anthony cried.
"HALEY!" Vivian yelled, reaching over to grab Haley's collar to pull her down. "You're going to get us killed!"
Nathan grabbed his glass of whiskey and downed it. After his little meeting with his father earlier, he'd been having a pretty rough day. He wasn't sure how he could manage a coffee shop. It seemed pretty easy just imagining it in his head, but the technical stuff was the hard part. Honestly, Nathan was pretty scared. He wasn't that experienced with the business nor was he ready to work. He wasn't prepared enough.
"So you're an owner of an upcoming coffee shop?" his friend, Tim Smith, laughed.
Tim was one of Nathan's closest friends. He was also from a wealthy family who worked for Nathan's parents at the marketing company. Back in the day, Nathan, Tim and their other friend Clay formed a trio at the elite high school they attended. A pretty popular trio. All the girls wanted to date them and all the boys wanted to be them. They were rich and handsome, but they were snotty and bossy to everyone who tried to stand up to them. Their little trio owned the school until they graduated. But ever since college, their fame faded and their popularity no longer mattered anymore.
Nathan gave him a look. "What's so funny?"
Tim shook his head and took a sip from his glass. "I just . . . I can't see you actually working."
"You don't think I can do it?"
"No, I think you can. It's just hard to imagine."
Nathan licked his lips and grabbed a bread stick from the basket in between them. He chewed a piece off and turned around to examine Rosetta's Italian restaurant. "If I want to keep my car, I'll have to work," he said."
"So this is over your precious Porsche?" Tim questioned.
"They threatened me with it. I couldn't let them take my baby away," Nathan answered, chewing on a piece of bread. "I'll do anything to protect that car."
"You're obsessed with that car, you know that?"
"Hey!" Nathan retorted. "If you had a relationship like me and Porschia, you'd understand," he joked.
Tim let out a laugh and turned to the side when he noticed an extraordinary attractive girl walking out from the bathroom. She was thin and tan with long light brown hair and wore a short black dress.
"Oy mami!" Tim called out, whistling at the woman. She turned their way and lightly winked at him before she found her seat across a man wearing a nice suit. "Damn," Tim complained.
Nathan glanced at the couple and then observed Tim's disappointed expression. He laughed and patted his back for comfort. "It's okay, buddy. There's more fish in the sea."
Tim grabbed a handful of breadsticks and stuffed them in his mouth. "Why is every girl I like taken?" he mumbled through the breadsticks.
"It's not meant to be, man," Nathan stated.
"So when are you going to start this whole coffee business?" Tim asked, removing the breadsticks from his mouth.
"I don't know," Nathan shrugged as he signaled the bartender to give him another glass of whiskey. "Sometime next week. I have to meet up with my . . . business partner." He groaned and crossed his arms against the bar.
"Business partner?"
"Yeah. Apparently, I'm not the only one who's going to manage the coffee shop." The bartender came by with a bottle of whiskey and poured Nathan another glass.
"That sucks ass," Tim commented.
"It's probably some old geezer my dad hired."
"Since my parents cut me off their moolah until the end of time, you think you can help a friend out?"
Nathan pulled the glass up to his lips and looked over at Tim before he took a sip. "As in?"
"As in hiring me as some kind of waiter or something."
"Don't you have a job already?"
"I quit a while back."
"I'll think about it," Nathan grinned before finally drinking the whiskey.
"You almost killed us!" Vivian exclaimed, as they parked right in front of Rosetta's Italian restaurant.
Anthony was up front in the driver's seat hyperventilating into a paper bag that he found in the glove box. He couldn't handle the swerving on the road and absolute chaos in the car. It was too much for a seventeen year old boy to handle. Since Anthony looked pretty fragile, Vivian made sure to be careful next time.
Haley still couldn't believe her own little sister kidnapped her from their house and shoved her into a taxi car that a teenage boy was driving without permission. She groaned and climbed out of the car in frustration.
Vivian observed her sister outside and then glanced at Anthony up front. She could tell that they seriously damaged the kid. She didn't think it would end up this way. Anthony was actually a nice guy who just happened to like Vivian a lot. And she took advantage of it.
"Are you okay?" she questioned, observing the paleness of the frail boy.
Anthony nodded his head and signaled a thumbs up at her. Vivian nodded. Then she quickly grabbed the baseball bat and followed her sister out into the parking lot.
Haley didn't want to believe it when her sister told her that Julian was cheating on her. She trusted him with her whole life and she knew that he would never do anything to hurt her. He was just telling her earlier today that he didn't want her to be mad at him. He even said it in the most sincere way possible. Julian was too good to be known as a cheater.
Vivian's just being a troublemaker like she always is, she thought.
And she continued walking across the parking lot with her arms crossed. She glanced at the restaurant window, hoping to not see anything of Julian cheating of some sort. But unfortunately, her dreams did not come true.
Vivian jogged after Haley who stopped walking in the middle of the parking lot. She realized that she was staring into the restaurant where she found Julian and a brunette sitting together at a table.
Haley's anger towards her little sister slowly faded when she felt her heart ache in her chest. She swallowed the lump in her throat and examined the man in the dark suit - the familiar man she once believed would be her future husband. Right across from him sat one of her good friends and bride's maid – Alex Dupre.
She never thought she'd ever see the day where he sister was right. Haley had never felt this much pain before in her life. It was the hardest thing to break up with someone, but seeing the person you were about to get married to cheating on you right before your eyes was the worst thing you could possibly imagine. She couldn't believe that Julian would do something like this to her. After two years of dating and six months of blissful engagement, he had the nerve to go out parading his love to another woman out in public.
Vivian could tell that Haley was severely damaged by the sight in the window. Even though she and Haley didn't get along that well, she didn't want her sister to get hurt like this. When she was coming home from eating dinner with Anthony and a couple of other people, she saw Julian walk into that restaurant holding another woman's hand. And she wanted to tell Haley immediately. Haley had the right to know about this. Vivian was not going to keep this a secret from her sister. So she forced Anthony to back home and pick Haley up.
"You weren't kidding," Haley whispered as she stared longingly at the couple who were now holding hands across the table.
"I told you it was an emergency," Vivian stated, slowly making her way next to her sister.
Since the parking lot was pretty far from the restaurant, Julian was unable to see them in the dark. But Haley could see them clearly through the window.
"I can't believe this," Haley stated in disbelief. "He told me he was going to be busy at work. I didn't think he'd be busy with one of my bride's maids."
Vivian glanced at her sister's angry expression and happily showed Haley the baseball bat. "Lookie here, I have a baseball bat."
Haley's eye twitched from the frustration building inside and glanced at the wooden bat beside her. "What am I going to do with that?"
"Beat the living day lights out of that bastard?" Vivian suggested with a smile.
Haley glanced back at the restaurant and noticed Julian pull her friend's hand up to his lips and kissed it. Quickly, her blood began to boil and she snatched the baseball bat from her sister's arms. "That son of a bitch!"
Vivian jumped in glee and began clapping. "Yay! Finally some action!" she cried out. "So, what's the plan, sister? Are we going to hide behind the entrance and hit him until he's unconscious or should we hurt the girl?"
"No, we're going to destroy his car bit by bit," Haley stated through her teeth.
"His Porsche!" Vivian questioned. "You can't destroy a perfectly good Porsche!"
"I can if it belongs to Julian 'Dumbass' Baker," Haley answered as she quickly turned around to find the familiar silver car she got acquainted with ever since they started dating.
Anthony finally found enough oxygen and placed the wrinkly paper bag on the passenger seat beside him. He then glanced outside and noticed the two girls who were once fighting in the back of the car browsing around the parking lot with a baseball bat. His eyes immediately widened and he grabbed the paper bag and started blowing into it again.
Haley craned her neck to check for a familiar, silver Porsche and finally found it. It had a banana decoration hanging on the rear view mirror and she just knew that it was Julian's. She raised the bat above her head, ready to bash the windows, when she felt her sister grab her hand.
"Wait!" Vivian called out.
"What?"
"How do you know if this is really his?"
"It is, Vivvy," Haley answered angrily. "He has a banana hanging on his rear view mirror.
Vivian felt herself grow nervous and shrugged. "I better hope so," she stated.
"I know so."
"You need a ride home?" Nathan asked as he and Tim walked out of the restaurant.
"Yeah, if you don't mind, man," Tim replied.
"No problem."
They both headed towards the parking lot when Nathan pulled his keys out of his pocket. From afar, they could hear a car alarm blaring and fading out. They both grew curious and started walking towards the sounds since Nathan parked his car near that area. He started praying that it wasn't his car that was making that noise, so they both hurried towards the scene. As they finally reached the parking lot where Nathan's silver Porsche named Porschia was, they couldn't believe their eyes.
There were two girls near his car and one of them was damaging it with a wooden baseball bat. The other one was jumping and rooting the girl on like she was competing in a boxing tournament.
"This feels so good!" Haley exclaimed as she hit the windshield.
"Isn't that your car?" Tim questioned, wincing at the sight of the bat hitting the Porsche continuously.
Nathan's eyes widened, ignoring Tim's question and ran as fast he could towards the girls. "HEY!" he called out in worry.
Vivian turned away from Haley's angry rampage and glanced at the men who were running towards them. "We have company," she stated.
"What?" Haley questioned as she stopped hitting the windshield with the bat. They both turned to the two brown haired guys running over to them.
"What the hell are you doing with my car!" Nathan screamed.
Both of the sisters' hearts suddenly dropped and they quickly turned to each other. Even though hitting the Porsche she thought belonged to Julian made her feel good, Haley suddenly felt incredibly nauseous about what she had done. Vivian felt the same feeling in her stomach and grabbed her sister's wrist quickly. But before they could run off like the speed of lightning to escape the scene, Tim grabbed their arms and dragged them back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tim questioned.
Nathan slowly walked up to his incredibly damaged car and bent down against the bumper. He hesitantly touched the broken head light and clenched his fist into a ball.
"Porschia," he cried. "My precious, beautiful Porschia!" Nathan whispered angrily.
Haley winced at the sound of the strange man's cries and felt a heavy pressure against her chest. "I'm so sorry!" she stated.
Vivian shot her a look as if that was the stupidest thing she could say. Haley just damaged some random guy's expensive car on purpose. An apology wasn't good enough.
"Sorry?" Nathan questioned with his back towards them. Haley watched as the attractive man slowly stood up from the gravel floor. She could tell that this man was not happy – not even an atom of his living body was smiling at this moment. "You're sorry? How could you be sorry when you just destroyed my fuckin' car!"
Haley winced again at the tone of the man's voice. She placed both of her hands on the side of her face in disbelief.
"We thought it was someone else's car," Haley tried to say again.
"You just ruined this man's life," Tim stated.
Vivian glared at the guy and roughly removed her arm from his grasp.
"We'll make it up to you!" Vivian suggested.
"What?" Haley snapped. She quickly shuffled towards her sister and whispered, "How can we make this up to him?"
"You two can afford a Porsche?" Nathan questioned, glancing at the outfits of the two girls. One was wearing a stained gray sweater with overalls and the other one was wearing a black and white uniform. He scoffed and shook his head. "You tweens can't afford a car this expensive. Especially my car."
Haley noticed how the guy was looking at them up and down and she quickly placed her hands on her hips. She wasn't the type of person who would destroy someone's car on whim nor was the type who stood up to people – especially wealthy people, but she found herself doing it anyways. Her little sister was definitely not a good influence on her.
"Tweens? Sir, for your information, I am a grown twenty five year old woman."
"And I'm a grown seventeen year old . . . teenager," Vivian cut in.
Haley shot her sister a death glare and quickly turned back to Nathan.
Nathan's jaw tightened and lifted his eyebrow at her. "Twenty five or seventeen, it doesn't matter. You destroyed my car," he stated, angrily.
"We'll pay for the damages, okay? We're deeply sorry. We made a mistake. I thought this was my fiance's car and I found him cheating on me and –"
Nathan held his hand up to her face, causing her to stop talking. "Don't continue. I don't care about your reasons."
Haley's eyebrows lifted, stunned by the maneuver of his hand in front of her face. Vivian leaned in and whispered, "I asked you if this was really Julian's car and you were like I know so blah blah blah."
"I thought it was," Haley roughly whispered back.
Nathan and Tim began to observe the damages on the car. The hood was dented. The windshield was nearly shattered. One of his side mirrors was knocked off and both of his headlights were destroyed. Nathan cringed at the sight of his baby's condition and tried to find some composure. He couldn't believe a woman her size could do so much damage to his car. It was unbelievable how the only reason why he took the job to work for the family business was his car. And now he no longer had a car to protect. It was a lose-lose situation.
"What are you going to do?" Tim asked, picking up the side mirror from the gravel.
Nathan glanced at the car piece in his friend's hands and almost cried, but he held it back. "I'm going to call the cops on them," he stated through his teeth as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Wait! What did you just say? You're calling the police?" Haley called out from behind them.
The guys slowly turned to them, Nathan obviously angry by the damage she's done to his car. "Yep."
"Please don't call the cops. We'll take care of this," Haley stated. "We'll pay for the damage."
"We?" Vivian questioned, turning to her sister in surprise.
"Yes, we," Haley answered. If Vivian hadn't given her the baseball bat, she wouldn't have gotten themselves in this situation.
Nathan shoved his phone back into his pocket and walked up to the ladies with his arms folded across his chest. "You're willing to pay for the damages?"
"Of course. We did this. We should take responsibility," Haley answered. "Instead of getting the po po involved, let's resolve it ourselves."
"You know, you're not just paying for the damages."
"What do you mean?" Haley questioned.
"I'm saying that you're paying for a whole new car," Nathan answered, slowly like she was retarded.
"You want us to WHAT!" Haley exclaimed with a wild expression.
"I think he said that you were buying him a brand new car," Tim answered with a grin.
Vivian glanced over at the shorter guy and made a disgusted face.
"No no no, way! I'll pay for the damages but I'm not buying you a whole new car!" Haley exclaimed.
"That's the only way you can repay me."
"You have got to be kidding me!"
"I'm not," Nathan replied with a serious face.
"This is ridiculous."
"No, what you did to my car is ridiculous!" Nathan retorted.
Haley glared at the guy but then glanced at the car that looked like a wrinkly piece of foil and softened her eyes. She sighed deeply and placed her hands on her hips as she tried to soak in all the emotions that were overpowering her. First she found out that her fiancé's been cheating on her and now she has to deal with someone's car that she damaged. Wonderful, this is just wonderful, she thought.
"Fine," she stated. "We'll pay for a whole new car if that helps erase this whole situation."
"Good."
"How much is your car?"
"120k."
Both Haley and Vivian's eyes widened at the amount of money they owed him. That was so much money. There was no possible way she could afford to pay for a new car with her Paint Shop salary and her mother's tailoring business. She couldn't even buy herself a nice car of her own much less buy someone else one. It was impossible especially when they had enough bills to pay and Vivian's school tuition.
Haley felt herself struggling with her breathing and she blacked out. She quickly fainted into her sister's arms, shocking everyone in the process.
What did you think? You like? Keep me inspired.
