Disclaimer :-I don't own One Tree Hill. It belongs to Mark Schwahn and the CW Network.
Summary :- She wasn't at all what He was expecting. He expected someone short and dowdy with glasses, a butch hairdo, and thick hairy legs. He pictured someone who never laughed, never did anything for pleasure, and wore a business suit like a military uniform. The woman before him wasn't like that at all.
A/N :- Hey guys, this is my first story and I originally wrote it about two years ago for another site. So finally, I decided to do some interesting changes and post it here. Therefore, I really hope you guys enjoy this. It's completely AU…which means the characters aren't going to be exactly like those we see on the show…. so, if you decide to read this, please keep an open mind. Thank you and please review…And like I said before, this is my first time on this board and I really want your opinion.
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Life Is A Highway
by JLs Forever.
"Blonde, redhead, black hair, blue eyes, black hair, green eyes, dark hair, pale skin, curly hair . . . when is this going to stop!"
"Miss, please keep your voice down!"
Haley blushed and ducked her head, only to realize she was standing in the middle of a massive pile of romance novels.
Haley had read romance novels before. The good ones had an intelligent, well rounded heroine, and a gorgeous male with muscles, at least eight inches, and a personality. There was only one problem: in every book the heroine was always a blonde, or a redhead, or had dark hair and brightly colored eyes. As someone living in a society where blondes had more fun, redheads were exotic, and dark hair and brown eyes were boring, she'd hoped that there would be at least one book in which someone as plain as she would have a chance at catching the gorgeous hunk of every fantasy.
Not that she was plain.
Haley had gorgeous legs, good cheekbones, decent breasts, and delicate lips. Her eyes were almond shaped and a shade of brown so dark they shifted between chocolate and black, depending on the light and her mood. Her skin had one of those chameleon tones that shifted from a pale yellow to a rich golden brown depending on the season.
The victim of a bad relationship, Haley hoped to find a fantasy to help her forget the combination of lousy sex, boring conversation, and emotional abuse that her association with Felix Taggaro, her deadbeat ex boyfriend, had been.
There she stood, in the middle of the nearest bookstore, hoping to find a romance novel that had someone like her in the story. Someone with straight brown hair and brown eyes, who was too much of an egalitarian to put up with the "the man is always right" crap she found in so many historical romances.
She'd been in the store over an hour and had yet to find anything.
If it hadn't been for the anal retentive store clerk, she'd still be screaming in frustration.
Haley found the whole situation incredibly depressing.
As she bent to pick up the discarded books, Haley resigned herself to another night with a bag of candy bars. It was a dirty shame.
She was just putting the last romance novel on the shelf when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The shock of it, the warmth of the hand combined with its strength had her stifling a shriek. Haley cursed herself and with a calming breath, she turned around.
The man before her had Haley's eyes nearly popping from her head.
She looked down at the book in her hand and back up at the man. Standing in front of her was the spitting image of the guy on the cover. Haley didn't know how to react, but as she was in an informal setting, she did what came naturally.
She bust out laughing.
"It's not that funny," the man said with a cynical twist of his lips. The hair was a bit shorter, and he seemed taller, the shoulders broader, but there was no denying it. This man was stereotypical romantic fantasy.
"Oh yes it is," she said amidst peals of laughter.
"I did some modeling in college," he said wryly. "I didn't realize what the pictures were for. If anything, you should be embarrassed for wanting to read those books in the first place!"
Haley managed to calm down enough to look at him with her most businesslike stare. The man had an air of arrogant derision that instantly put her off.
"I'm sorry, who are you, and what business is it of yours what my literary preferences are?"
"I'd hardly call that crap literature," the man said dryly. "Are you Haley James?"
"I am."
"And you are acquainted with Julian Baker," his voice was deep, his speech cultured.
"His office called me this morning. Why is it of any interest to you?" she asked coldly.
The man was striking, with raven colour hair, deep, stormy blue eyes, and broad shoulders neatly packed into a black colour business suit that emphasized his impressive height. There was something about him that made her want to pull his tie loose just to see what he looked like all mussed up, but his condescending demeanor instantly put her off. The man stank of money and breeding, which to her meant sexism, homophobia, and contempt for people of mixed blood.
"He's my friend," he replied as though it explained everything.
"I see."
Nathan was here in the interest of his best friend, the good natured but nervous Assistant head of Lazarus Biotech. He'd been duped into marrying a gold digger, and after a year of misery, he had finally mustered the courage to divorce his cheating, airhead wife. There were no children from the match becauseRachel Gatina Murray the Second didn't want to spoil her figure. There was however, the matter of money.
The Murrays were one of North America's founding families, but extravagance and poor financial handling put them on the road to poverty. The family matriarch, Rachel Gatina the first, arranged the advantageous marriage of Julian Baker to the Murray's idiot daughter. It had taken weeks of training to instruct her on how to seem like the kind, well rounded person Julian went for, and the ploy had worked. Julian had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. They'd been married less than a week before Rachel the Second showed her true nature: stupid, shallow, spoiled, and like the village bicycle, everyone, male and female, had a ride.
It took just over a year for Julian to muster the courage to leave her. The Murray matriarch was outraged and her army of lawyers was preparing for war. The attorneys, Nathan knew, weren't being paid for their labors. They'd been promised the spoils from Julian's company. Julian wanted a champion; someone cold hearted, conniving and devious; someone who'd fight to the death with his mother in law, not caring who got destroyed in his wake. Julian asked Nathan, and Nathan asked an old friend of the family, Judge Marvin.
The Judge, to Nathan's surprise, named a young woman, Haley James.
"She's a killer, guaranteed. She'll chew Mrs. Murray up and spit her out. There'll be nothing left but her Birken bag," the Judge had told him, and with a smile he passed Nathan her contact info.
So this, he'd thought cynically, was Miss Haley James. She wasn't at all what Nathan was expecting. The judge had described her as cold and severe, with the type of no nonsense disposition ideal for dealing with his friend's domineering "soon to be ex" mother in law. Nathan expected someone short and dowdy with glasses, a butch hairdo, and thick hairy legs. He pictured someone who never laughed, never did anything for pleasure, and wore a business suit like a military uniform.
The woman before him wasn't like that at all.
Her hair was dark brown and straight, neatly tied back, her lips were full; her skin a pale olive tone, and her brown, almond shaped eyes sparkled with intelligence. She seemed to be the type to laugh a lot, and had no qualms doing it at someone else's expense. She was roughly 5'7 in height, undoubtedly helped by the high heels she wore, and her curvy body filled her white pantsuit nicely. She wasn't ugly by any definition, but not especial enough to tempt him.
"His office called you this morning, and you gave him an appointment for next Thursday. That will not do."
"So he sent you, an underling, to try and persuade me to take him sooner. Is that it? I'm very sorry Mr . . .?"
"Scott, Nathan Scott." Most people were impressed by the name. "And I am not an underling."
"Whatever," Haley said dismissively, "I am horribly sorry, but your friend will have to wait like everyone else."
His family was known and respected all over the world, but this woman didn't seem to care.
"My friend is in the middle of a very horrible divorce. Judge Marvin recommended you, and Mr. Baker needs your services immediately."
"I'm flattered, but I am very busy. I will see your friend next week as planned," she said, hoping it would get rid of him. Haley waited patiently for him to leave, but Nathan stood his ground.
"Would you be willing to put other clients aside until the matter is concluded?"
Haley ignored the question. "Why did he send you?"
"I volunteered," Nathan said, "because he is uncomfortable with your kind."
Haley arched a brow. "Lawyers?"
"Killers," Nathan corrected, "Julian wanted someone ruthless and the Judge insisted that was you. I caught your secretary on his way out. He said I'd find you here."
The secretary in question had been a cartoon: a flaming homosexual in a bright pink shirt and tight black slacks. The man had stifled an unprofessional squeal when he saw him, and promptly told Nathan where to find her.
"Mr. Baker is willing to make you a generous offer to put your other clients aside until the matter is settled."
At the mention of money, her lips tightened as though he'd insulted her. That won her points in Nathan's eyes. He loathed bottom feeders.
"I am immensely flattered, but I am not easily bought. I am a very busy woman, so if you'll excuse me," she tried to move around him, but once again, Nathan stood his ground.
"You're not busy now," Nathan corrected.
Haley took a calming breath. "It's the end of the day... on a Friday, no less. I have been on my feet since five in the morning. I am exhausted, and I have neither the patience nor the inclination to deal with the likes of you right now, so kindly get out of my way."
Nathan changed tactics. It appeared that he'd caught her at a bad time, but that didn't mean his friend had to suffer.
"He could have any lawyer, but he wants you. He's in a bar down the street, and he's desperate. Please don't make him suffer because I caught you in a bad mood. Have a drink with him and listen to the details. If after hearing him you'd still rather not take the case, you can refer him to one of your colleagues."
Haley's features softened slightly at his plea, and with a sigh of resignation, she smoothed her clothes and picked up her briefcase.
"One drink," she said curtly, "I'll look over his papers and make my decision." Nathan had no idea why he did it, but he found himself offering her his arm. She stared at it for a second as though it was a foreign object, and then she laughed, shook her head, and headed out of the store in front of him.
He directed her to an Irish Pub minutes from the bookstore. Haley didn't bother to hide her surprise. McLean seemed beneath a man like Nathan Scott, who had the dress and manner of the arrogant hero of an old English novel. They walked in and moved to a table next to the front window, where a nervous man sat nursing his beer. The man smiled when he saw them, and ran a hand through his mussed dark brown hair.
"I'm so glad you've agreed to see me, Miss James," he said, with an obvious tremor in his voice.
"Call me Haley," she said with a smile. There was something about the man that made her want to put him at ease.
"I owe you one, Nathan . . . for bringing her," he said with a warm smile. The two had clearly been friends for years.
"Don't worry about it," was his friend's reply, "Can I get you something to drink, Miss James?"
She was acutely aware of the heat of him as he sat beside her, but refused to acknowledge it or his inviting scent.
"One shot of vodka," she told him, and with a nod he turned to the approaching waitress and ordered her drink and a scotch for himself.
She chatted idly with Mr. Baker, and when the drinks came, she tossed hers back and demanded the details. She put on a pair of glasses and leafed through the papers he gave her, frowning at a lot of things, her brow arching at others. After a couple of minutes she pulled a pen and notebook from her briefcase and started scribbling. Nathan couldn't make heads or tails of her handwriting but she seemed to know what she was doing, and that was all that mattered. With a hum, Haley put down her pen and was about to speak when a bottle blonde toothpick carrying a poodle in a designer bag in one hand and a cell phone in the other came storming in.
"Oh my God!" the girl squealed when she saw them, "Mommy said that you were divorcing me! Julipoo, it's not true is it? Don't you want to stay married to me?"
"I . . . no I don't" Julian said uneasily.
"But don't you love me? Don't you want to take care of me?" she screamed. "Julipoo, call off this whole thing! I didn't mean to screw the chauffeur . . . and your last intern . . . and my yoga instructor . . . and the guy who does my . . . "
"Rachel, you're making a scene here," Julian gently interrupted.
"I don't care!" Rachel screamed, jumping up and down.
"That's the ex-wife?" Haley asked.
"Indeed," was Nathan's reply. He got up, intending to lead Rachel out of the bar, but to his surprise, Haley raised her hand.
"Allow me," she said politely, and got to her feet. In a gesture of chivalry, she stepped between Rachel and Nathan.
"Who the fuck are you?" Rachel demanded.
"Scott, call Miss Murray a cab, please," she said calmly.
"No! I'm not going anywhere!" Rachel insisted as Nathan opened his phone.
"Oh yes you are," Haley corrected. "As you clearly lack the mental capacity to understand what's going on, I'll put it to you in baby terms. 'Julipoo' is divorcing you because you are a stupid spoiled whore. He has filed papers and will do everything in his power to make sure that you will never see a penny of his money. Now unless you want to embarrass yourself even further, I strongly suggest you get in that cab."
Next to Rachel Murray's bulimia induced thinness and excessive make up, Haley's gold skin glowed in the bar's dim light, and her beautiful curves flared despite her slender frame. It was like watching an Amazon Queen face off against a Barbie doll, one striking and exotic, and the other, cookie cutter plastic. As he watched the two women, Nathan's initial impression of Haley shifted from one of ambivalence, to one of utter beauty.
"How dare you! You fucking nobody whore! Do you know who I am?!" Rachel moved to slap her, but Haley caught her hand and twisted it behind the other woman's back.
"I know exactly who you are, and I don't give a damn," she said tersely.
The redhead screamed and squealed and vowed vengeance, but Haley ignored it. Nathan watched with a mix of horror and admiration as, with a death grip on Rachel Murray's arm, she dragged her out of the bar and all but shoved her into the waiting cab.
Haley returned to the bar to the sound of applause, and with a smile she wiped off her hands and took a theatrical bow. The waitress brought a fresh shot of vodka, compliments of the owner, and Haley sat down and smiled.
"That felt really good," she said on a lusty sigh. "I'll take the case."
~***~ ~***~ ~***~
It was probably the dumbest thing Haley had ever said. She was already swamped with work and one more case was going to ruin her weekend. Not that she had anything planned, but she didn't want to spend another day off with her nose buried in a file.
Haley knew what did her in. She took one look at Julian Baker's and at the wife who'd so obviously duped him, and she had to give in. If there was one thing she hated, it was spoiled, vapid blondes. Her heart went out to the victim . . . and Nathan Scott knew it. Julian Baker was brilliant, timidly cute, and conveniently rich. He was the ideal choice of mate for the first daughter of an impoverished old family because he seemed so monumentally naive. How his friend had allowed him to go through with the marriage was anyone's guess, and she thought even less of Nathan because of it.
As she tossed back her second shot, she whipped out her cell phone and calledChris. Her secretary would be pissed about working this weekend, but she made more than enough money to be able to tempt him with a few extra dollars. An amateur esthetician in his spare time, Chris would insist on doing her hair and nails while working and she didn't mind at all. He often did beautiful work, and whatever she didn't like was easily removable with soap, water, and acetone.
To Haley's surprise, he was more than willing to help; his latest fuck buddy had cancelled their getaway and he had nothing better to do.
"Thanks Chris. You've saved my ass."
"Remember that the next time I ask for a raise," was his grinning reply. With a laugh and a sigh of relief, she closed her cell phone and turned to her new client.
"Now, Mr. Baker let's discuss my fee. I am going to a great deal of trouble for you, so I'll be expecting triple my hourly rate."
"Anything," Julian said quickly.
"I think not," Nathan interjected.
Haley's spine stiffened at his response; she turned toward him with an irritable twist of her lips. Nathan's heart rate jumped as those eyes narrowed on him, but he managed to seem cold and impassive.
"Nobody asked you," she said slowly.
"I am merely trying to prevent my friend from being cheated," he said gently.
"Then you should have stopped the marriage in the first place," was her reply.
Julian looked sick, and realizing what she'd said, Haley immediately apologized, putting her narrow fingers over his in attempt to reassure him. Nathan, for his part, looked wounded, but Haley didn't care. If his friend had intervened, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.
Nathan wanted to stop the marriage, but he didn't want to become his namesake by breaking up two people who seemed to love each other. He'd been right about Rachel Murray, and the guilt was killing him. He knew Julian would have broken things off if only he'd said something. That's why it had been imperative that he hire Haley James. If she was the killer the judge had described, then she was the one to get his friend out of this as neatly as possible. At her stinging reply, he bowed out of the negotiations and nursed his scotch. While she spoke with Julian, he scanned the women in the bar. There were any number of pretty faces welcoming his idle scrutiny, but to his irritation, he felt nothing. He looked back at his friend's divorce lawyer and felt an uncomfortable tug in his gut. Nathan didn't believe in love at first sight, but he couldn't think of any rational explanation for what he was feeling. Of this, she seemed completely unaware; her attention was focused solely on his friend. She smiled warmly when he stuttered, and reassured Julian that he would get out of the marriage unscathed. He should have been pleased, but he wasn't. He was jealous of her smiles, and the way she warmed so easily to his friend and not to him. Nathan shrugged philosophically. He'd long since accepted that he didn't have that kind of charm.
She agreed to see Julian first thing Monday morning and announced her plan to leave. Like a perfect gentleman, Nathan stood when she got up and offered to drive her home. He wanted her attention on him, if only for a moment.
"That's unnecessary," she said politely, "I can take public transit,"
"It's dangerous for a young lady to be out at this hour," Nathan said to her obvious irritation. He suspected that a nastier refusal was on the tip of her tongue when Julian stepped in on his behalf. As though on cue, thunder sounded outside and rain beat against the bar's heavy windows.
Nathan was beginning to think it was fate.
"Let Nathan drive you home, Haley," Julian said hastily. "He'll be a perfect gentleman or he'll here it from me in the morning!"
Haley sincerely doubted Julian could do anything to make Nathan Scott suffer. Julian was several inches shorter, with narrower shoulders. The man came off as too nice for his own good, but she was beginning to realize that Julian's gentle, persuasive charm was its own kind of power. Much to her irritation, Haley realized she wouldn't refuse this man anything.
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