Chapter One – In New York
Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott are sitting in a white leather sofa, in the living room of Brooke's penthouse, which overlooks Central Park East. Lucas has arrived from Los Angeles that afternoon, after proposing to his girlfriend, and getting rejected. Lucas went to New York to sign a contract for publication of his debut novel "An unkindness of ravens", met Brooke at a bar to celebrate, and went to her home to talk. It's around eight in the evening, on a Monday.
Brooke looks suspiciously at the boy in front of her. "So, how did you ask her? Did you even have a ring?"
Lucas takes the little black box out of his pocket and smiles. "Let me show you", going down in one knee and looking into her eyes. "I told her I loved her and I wanted to be with her forever", offering the little box to Brooke.
Brooke takes it., looking a little uneasy. Lucas in one knee, with a little box in his hand cuts a little too close for confort. In a small voice she replied, "yeah, you did it right." She opens the little box and takes in the gorgeous vintage ring, platinum, with a big round cut stone in the middle with smaller stones surrounding it.
"Is it..."
"Yes. It is the ring Keith used to propose to my mother." His eyes become distant and a little sad. "It may be a bit unlucky, but it means a lot to me"
"Can I try it?"
"Sure."
By coincidence, the ring fits perfectly in Brooke's finger. They are still there, silent Brooke sitting on a sofa, hand extended, looking at the ring and Lucas one knee down, looking at her, when Victoria comes into the room. She looks at the tableau, surprise, shock and anger showing at the same time. In a rare display of emotion. "No!". She turns around and leaves, banging the door to her room. Brooke and Lucas look at each other and laugh softly.
Lucas stands up, eyes distant and sad again. "Peyton didn't even see it."
Brooke puts a hand on his forearm and gives him a small supportive smile. She takes off the ring, puts it back in the box and returns it to him. "Let's go out, Luke. We still have a book to celebrate."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
A little later they are sitting at a small table in a crowed pub, Lucas drinking a beer and Brooke sipping some girly drink. "So, Luke, first. What prompted this sudden rush to LA and the proposal? What happened?"
"It's really simple, actually. The day before yesterday, it was the final game of the second division NCAA basketball tournament. We won the game. Confetti was falling, everyone celebrating, and I saw Nate, Haley and Jamie celebrating together. They were very happy. I guess I was a bit envious of what they have and a bit lonely. It was a dream come true moment, but the person I wanted by my side was thousands of miles away, totally unaware. That's when I decided to go. Earlier, Whitey told me he was retiring and I was to become head coach. This is a real job, and besides the scholarship, it comes with a house, and a nice salary."
"Wow, Luke! Congratulations."
"The title was mostly Nathan's doing. We were playing second division teams with, arguably, the best shooting guard in the NCAA."
Brooke smiled at Lucas' generosity in giving Nathan the credit. "I'm sure the coaching was pretty good too."
"Working with Whitey and Nathan, staying close to the game, was very satisfying. I almost didn't miss being a player. Living with Nate and Hale, helping with Jamie was also very nice. With that, plus school, it was a hectic, and mostly happy year. I didn't realize how much I was missing Peyton until the championship moment."
Brooke thought of her year, of building up Clothes over Bros. It was intense, hectic and very satisfying too. She thought of her difficult relationship with Victoria, how good it was to finally have her mother in her life, but how little warmth that actually brought her. She was a little envious of Lucas, having his brother, his best friend and his little nephew so close in his life. Overall, at least so far, this evening with Lucas has been the best in a very long time. She looked into his eyes and smiled. "I get it. I am not sure what you did was right, or smart, but I get it. You know this year has been very different for Peyton."
"I know Los Angeles has been hard on her. The internship is a harsh, unsatisfying job and she is very lonely. What is worse, I feel her pulling away, calling and texting less, and saying less when she does. I was afraid I was loosing her. That's another reason for the stupid proposal."
Brooke shook her head. "It wasn't stupid. I have had a harder and harder time reaching her as well."
"We broke up this morning. Did she call you?"
Brooke was startled. She looked at her phone, and there were a dozen messages and missed calls, but none from Peyton. "You're right, I may be losing her as well. Hm, this is not good."
"I don't understand why she said no. She was very upset, told me she loved me but couldn't accept the ring then, that we should wait another year. I said that I understood that she loved me, just not enough. I think that was my broken heart talking, though. Her rejection reminded me too much of my mom's rejection of Keith's first proposal, and the misery that followed it. I really don't get it."
"I don't get it either. You and I know she was always a little skittish. You remember what happened the first time you opened your heart to her?"
"Of course. She pushed me away, and caught up three days later. I ended up with you, and we all finished with broken hearts. God, I still feel very bad about that. I'm sorry, Brooke, I'm sorry. I'll never say that enough." Lucas looked at the table, nodding his head sadly.
Brooke places a hand on top of one of his. "I know, sweety. We were so young. Looking back, I came out of that story as a victim, but this was not quite fair. I knew you had an old crush on Peyton and your chase after her was one one of the most romantic things I have ever seen. I knew Peyton was also falling for you, and I used her reluctance to owning up to it as an excuse to follow my own heart. I guess I have been owing her an apology all this time. To be honest, even with all the heartbreak, I don't really regret any of it. You were Haley to my Nathan. You changed me. "
Lucas looks at her, eyes wide in surprise at her statement. "Jesus, Brooke. I told you last year that you were the one that grew the most. You are still growing. I should say that I don't really regret any of it either. All I know about love, I learned with you "
Brooke gives him a full smile, with dimples, which makes Lucas heart skip a beat. "Thanks." And, after a pause, "There is a lesson here, though. Our girl may take a little time to catch up with herself, but she gets there. You might want to try the ring again in a while. And it would be good to understand a little better why she said no. We will see." She sits straight at her chair, looks at Lucas and smiles. "Can I see that ring again?"
oooooooooooooooooooooo
The chariot drops them off in Central Park, a few blocks from Brooke's place. Lucas is rather drunk, but Brooke, which always had a much stronger head for alcohol, is just a little buzzed. It is late, and the night is crisp. This is New York, and there is still quite a bit of movement around.
"You need to clear your head a bit, Luke. Wanna walk and talk some?" She places her arm on his and starts walking slowly, helping him to keep steady. They walk silently, she listens to the sounds of the city, enjoying his warmth next to her, while he broods.
"You know, we talked a lot about the past and the present, but we really went out tonight to celebrate your book. You read a little piece of it to me..." Brooke blushes, remembering what he wrote about her. "So I know it's about high school, but I don't really know anything else about it.
Can you tell me a bit about it?"
"Sure. I begun writing it after we broke up. I guess it was my way of trying to cope with losing you."
"So, the book to you is more or less what my fashion line is to me." She pauses a bit, and then smiles, "Well, at least breaking up was very productive", giggling.
Lucas looks surprised at her. He hadn't heard her little laughter in years, and the sound tickles him inside. "The book is about our junior and senior years in high school. It is fiction, but follows what happened more or less faithfully – my relationship with Nathan, the romance between us, between Nathan and Haley, between myself and Peyton, between Peyton and Jake, basketball, the school shooting, psycho Derek, car crashes, heart attacks, and so on. I think it reads mainly as my love story with Peyton, because that was what was closest to my head as I wrote it. I finished a first version shortly after graduation and Peyton "thudded" me, sending copies to a bunch of publishing houses. Do you want a copy of the manuscript?"
She thinks a bit about it. "Sure, I'd love to read it." She hasn't read a book for entertainment in years. There is something about Lucas and reading books... They walk silently for another couple of minutes. Brooke shivers with cold, and Lucas wraps his jacket around her, placing his arm across her shoulders as they walk, and planting a little kiss her head. He seems a little steadier. They sit on a bench facing the park, across the street from Brooke's building. Lucas arm is still draped across Brooke's shoulders, and her head is resting oh his chest. After a few minutes, Brooke changes subject. "You know, Clothes over Bros is doing quite well. We have shows twice a year, a spring and summer line and a fall and winter line, four stores in different locations and quite a few major stores carry our stuff. Sales are increasing. It's a lot of work too, it takes a lot of time and it has made me into a minor celebrity, with all that implies. Now, my mother proposed a major step in expanding the business. She wants to add a coutoure line, make up and fragrance lines and a fashion magazine, called B. Davis."
Lucas laughs. "A magazine called B. Davis? That I would like to see." He then adds "If you do it, you could publish the first nice review of Ravens."
"You could write a literature column for the magazine, make it a bit more cultured."
"So are you going to do it?"
"I don't know. First, it is more work and more exposure for me, and I am not sure I want that. The two things I truly enjoy are designing and actually selling clothes in a store, which is something I seldom do. I already spend a lot of time in dealing with the business end of things, which bores me silly. Another down side is that my mother would have to be a lot more involved with the business, and I am afraid she will end up taking it over. On the other hand, I see making the world prettier as my mission in life, and expanding the business is a good strategy in this direction."
"You know, I took a few business courses in college, and I saw my mom running two successful small businesses while growing up. I get the impression it is possible to focus on the parts of the business that you are good at, and enjoy doing, by relying on serious professional help on the other parts. If you don't want your mother to take over, you need to invest time and effort in building a good professional team to help you run the business, that answers personally to you, and not her. You can still keep her involved, without having her take over, but you will need to spend the time and effort building and directing your own management team. You should have a serious sit down talk with Andy about this, cause I think he sort of wrote the book on it."
"Andy. Right. I hadn't thought of that. Excellent idea." Brooke displays another full smile with dimples and kisses Lucas in the cheek. "Thank you."
"I could ask my mom to come with Andy and Lily spend some time in New York soon. I haven't seen them since christmas. I would love to spend a little time with them. You could hire Andy as a consultant for your expansion. You know, I'll have to be in New York two or three days a week for the next six months to do the editing for my book. My editor, Lindsay said today we will spend a lot of time together in the near future. I don't know how that will play with my job as head coach, but, given de advance I got for Ravens, that might not be an issue."
Brooke frowns. "Lindsay, hm? She pretty?"
Lucas looks into her eyes, wondering where that is coming from. "Young, smart and very pretty. She is a bit older than we are, just finished college. Nothing is going to happen there, Brooke. I have a complicated job to do with her, and I still need some closure with Peyton." A long pause. " You know, I wouldn't mind seeing you sometimes when I am in town. I really needed some help today and you were the very best of friends."
"I really enjoyed it too, Broody. You know I love both you and Peyton, and I would really like to help sort this out. I will call her and have a heart-to-heart. We will see where we go from there. Call me before you come to town next and we will set up something."
They cross the street and stop in front of her building. Brooke returns Lucas jacket and, somewhat reluctantly, his ring. The hug tight, and lingering. "Bye Brooke, I'll be seeing you."
"Bye, Lucas." She breaks the hug and as she turns around, she starts laughing hard.
"What?"
"Victoria. She has probably given birth to a whole bag full of kittens by now. I have half a mind of borrowing your ring for a while and continue our "engagement"... it would be fun, but it is probably not worth the aggravation."
Lucas offers the box with the ring to Brooke, laughing softly. "Go ahead, enjoy."
She reluctantly declines with a smile. "Nah. Baiting Victoria is so last season..."
High school Brooke would never have resisted this prank. She has grown up quite a bit, indeed.
And besides, that ring tugs at her heart in a very, very inappropriate way.
oooooooooooooooooooooo
As Brooke closed the door to the apartment, Victoria walked to her, furious. "Teenage marriage may be all the rage in Hicksville, sweetie, but it does not work for a top fashion designer." Brooke just gave her a bland look, saying nothing. "That boy is no good, he's broken your heart and cheated on you. What do you want with him?"
"That boy's name is Lucas Scott." She exhales out slowly. "He is a good one, but he is not mine."
"What do you mean? I saw him proposing, and you accepting. The name of the line is Clothes over Bros. If you get involved with that boy, you may end up losing it all."
Brooke's mouth makes a grim line. "You saw nothing, mother. He was just showing me the ring." She adds softly. "For him, it might be ok to loose it all..."
Brooke sits in the sofa, and asks Victoria to sit beside her. "Mother, I have made up my mind
about the expansion. We will do it."
Victoria opens a broad smile. "Great, we will start financing meetings tomorrow, and you..."
Brooke raises her hand and interrupts her. "Just a second, mother. I said we will do the expansion, but we will do it my way."
Victoria gets instantly very worked up, raising her voice. "What do you mean, your way? You stupid child, what do you know about business? Stick to your sketches and let me worry about the rest."
Brooke looks at her mother, smiling softly. For the first time ever, Victoria can see the steel behind her daughter's eyes and that stops her tirade. "I will hire an outside business consultant to help planning the expansion. I actually have someone specific in mind."
Victoria gets up and looks sharply at Brooke. "Very well, it is your company, and your funeral. We will discuss it further tomorrow."
As Victoria turns to leave, Brooke continues talking. "By the way, Lucas will be often in New York in the next few months, editing his first novel for publication. I will be seeing him, and the tabloids might make us into an item. We will neither confirm it nor deny it." Victoria turns around and glares at her, but says nothing. "Don't worry, as I said, he is not mine. Just a dear friend." Brooke then smiles broadly. "A hot young author is a good choice companion for a hot young designer. He looks good in a tux and he is very charming. The publicity will do us both some good. Put a good face in it, mother."
"Call me Victoria. I hate it when you call me mother."
