Something's Missing
Rated T
Summary: Completely AU -- Lucas and Nathan are brothers and share an apartment in San Francisco. Lucas and Nathan own an advertising agency. Haley attends Stanford University. The brothers have never met Haley.
His Life
It took him a minute to remember where he was - in a suite at the W Hotel. He sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and feeling the overwhelming sensation he was going to be sick. The nausea was a straight result of way too much liquor and beer.
Nathan looked down at the sleeping figure - was her name Janice? Jennifer? The truth was, Nathan didn't have the slightest clue how he even got in this hotel room much less the identity of the sleeping girl.
Ending up in strange places with different people had been a common theme in his life as of late – after pulling long hours at the PR firm, he always enjoyed going out and 'living it up' on the party circuit.
He leaned down to quietly gather his clothes from the floor with vague memories of the night prior buzzing in his brain.
~The night before~
He was attending yet another soiree for the release of an independent film by an up-and-coming director. There were gentlemen in business suits and women in sequined tube tops - this gala had certainly brought the various masses.
Nathan had been fine to sit and observe the scene from his chair with multiple glasses of champagne. He surveyed the scene to find Lucas networking with several of the film's writers.
Two women were standing off to the side watching Nathan -- they caught his eye and he gave them his signature grin before turning his attention in the other direction.
"Hello, Nathan," the blonde said in a sultry voice stepping over to him.
"Hello Denise," he said smiling.
"This is Jane, she's visiting from Phoenix," Jane said introducing Nathan.
~~ That's it! Nathan thought bringing his mind back to the present. Her name is Jane!
Nathan dressed quickly and quietly, walked to the door and with a final glance at the sleeping girl, opened the hotel door and walked out.
Nathan and Lucas had used some of their inheritance to start a Public Relations firm that had become very successful in the San Francisco area.
When the firm really took off, they had taken on more employees and Nathan even bought an oceanfront condo overlooking the bay. Lucas had been living with a girlfriend until their recent breakup left him in need of a place to crash. Nathan had asked him to move to the condo and Lucas had agreed.
Lucas sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean and took a sip of his coffee, flipping his magazine to the next page. He heard the front door slam and turned to see Nathan walking through the corridor of the kitchen and out to the balcony.
Lucas shook his head- Nathan looked disheveled at best- hair tousled and wearing the rumpled clothes he'd been wearing the night before, a look common for him after a night of hard partying.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Lucas commented, looking down at his magazine again.
Nathan sat down in the deck chair and poured a cup of coffee, "...man...I may still be drunk...I don't know."
Lucas laughed, "Yeah, you were pretty toasted when I left."
"When did you leave?" Nathan asked, sipping the hot coffee in an effort to wake up and get rid of the impending hangover.
"I left at 2:30 -when you were surrounded by four dancing girls, a bottle of tequila, limes and salt," Lucas replied.
Nathan smirked, "that's where the fun began."
"I can imagine, and I don't wanna know," Lucas said. "Aww c'mon man...you should've stayed..."
"Yeah...you looked like you were having enough fun for all of us," Lucas joked. "I had some work to do, that's why I left."
Nathan laughed, "only you would worry about doing work on a Friday night…I had a good time."
"I can see that you did," Lucas commented, observing Nathan's disheveled appearance.
"Don't judge me, Lucas. I take my job very seriously and it's never suffered. I'm just having a little fun," Nathan said, suddenly feeling the need to defend himself to Lucas.
"Hey, I didn't say a word," Lucas put up his hands.
"You don't have to, I know you too well...I know what you're thinking," Nathan said.
"Oh yeah? What is that?" Lucas asked.
"You're thinking that I shouldn't be sleeping my way around San Francisco," Nathan replied.
Lucas stifled a laugh, "hey...you said it, I didn't."
Nathan rolled his eyes, "...well I'm not married- I don't even have a girlfriend...so I don't consider it to be wrong."
"Once again - I never said a thing," Lucas said. "I'm not judging you or anything you do...as long as it makes you happy."
Nathan looked at Lucas for a moment.
"Well, I hope you still have some energy left for tonight," Lucas spoke up.
"What? Oh yeah! I completely forgot!" Nathan exclaimed. "What time is the party?"
"Doors open at 9- just at least make an appearance, since you've been a virtual no-show to the other client functions lately," Lucas said wryly.
"Lucas, man, I'm sorry I didn't make it to the last one, I really didn't mean to miss it...I got...caught up."
"Yeah, I'm sure you did, no doubt with one of your lady companions," Lucas said sarcastically.
Nathan only smiled and leaned back in his chair.
Her Life "Brooke, can you hold that end straight?" Haley asked from her place on the ladder where she was trying to hang a picture.
The two girls were working on decorating their apartment. They had just moved to San Francisco two weeks ago, but the planning and preparation for the move had been ongoing for months.
The two girls had been roommates throughout four years of college in Virginia and had made a vow to move to San Francisco together after graduation. Brooke's dream was to be a clothing designer and Haley had gone to school for PR and publicity.
Brooke had already been hard at work designing and showing agencies her sketches and Haley even had a job lined up.
Haley knew that she couldn't just walk right into publicity- she'd have to work her way up the career ladder. She had wanted to start out within a reputable public relations firm- that would be the best way to get her foot in the door.
She'd sent her resume to nearly every public relations firm before she had moved and had gotten several interviews lined up. She had just accepted an office position with the Scott Public Relations firm in the Bay area.
"I've never heard of that company," Brooke had said upon hearing the news at first.
"It's only been established within the past few years," Haley had replied.
Haley knew she had better brush up on her research of the company before she began work on Monday - it was never impressive to be completely ignorant about the firm you worked for, especially in this industry where there were a million people waiting to take your place at any given moment.
"So, is it a big firm?" Brooke asked, rushing over to help with the picture hanging.
"I'm not really sure. I don't think so," Haley said.
"I don't really know anything about it. I only met the girl I would be working with in the office." Brooke nodded.
"Hopefully she won't be like Miranda Priestly or anything," Brooke joked about the diva character from "The Devil Wears Prada."
"Yeah, let's hope not. I'm not sure if I can handle that type of stress," Haley laughed. "It seemed like a pretty relaxed atmosphere when I was there."
"Well, maybe we'll get to know some of your co-workers tonight!"
Haley nodded in reply. Scott PR was hosting a party at the Four Seasons for one of their clients and Haley had been pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation considering she hadn't even begun work there yet. Brooke was right - it would be a great way to network and possibly learn a bit more about the firm she was going to be working for on Monday morning.
"Maybe there will be some hot men too!" Brooke joked. Haley laughed. Brooke was always on the prowl. To say the least, Haley hadn't been on the prowl so much lately. She'd just gotten out of a long-term relationship – a relationship that had ended in a painful breakup. She wasn't sure she was ready to jump back in to the dating scene.
Brooke rolled her eyes back at Haley, "You know, I'm not saying you have to marry some guy...just loosen up and have a little fun for once." Haley nodded, maybe it was time to move on from the past and just have fun. She had moved cross-country and was free. At that moment, she became bound and determined to celebrate her newfound freedom.
The next morning
Nathan woke up and rubbed his eyes. He smiled, remembering the night before. His eyes still closed, he reached over to the other side of the bed and found an empty space.
Startled, he sat up, now wide awake. He found that he was in the room, completely alone.
He was used to the situation being in reverse, but this time - for the first time, he'd been the one left alone the morning after.
His mind floated to the previous night's events
Nathan stood around at the bar, waiting on his drink. Another night, another party, he thought to himself. His thoughts went back to the earlier conversation with Lucas. The truth was, he wasn't really sure if all of this was making him happy. It had sort of started out fun but it had snowballed into this massive lifestyle that was leaving Nathan very jaded.
It was still early and there were a few people walking around but the party wasn't in full swing yet- Lucas hadn't even arrived yet. Nathan surveyed the room for anyone he knew. There were two girls in tight miniskirts dancing to "Promiscuous" on the bar dance floor, throwing looks at Nathan, in hopes of getting his attention.
He pretended not to notice.
The bartender handed him his drink at that moment and Nathan went back near the doorway.
Nathan leaned against the doorway and continued to look around the room.
His gaze became transfixed on a girl with dark brown hair standing at a table across the room. She was wearing an aqua colored top and a white mini-skirt and was talking with another girl.
"Oh my god!" Brooke whispered grabbing Haley's arm.
"What?" Haley asked hastily.
"Look at that guy over there in the doorway! He's hot!" Brooke said, her voice still a harsh whisper.
Haley looked at Brooke, "you are so on the prowl" and then she turned to follow the direction of the doorway.
Haley and Nathan's eyes met at that moment and neither looked away.
Nathan continued to watch her, taking a drink of his beer.
Haley finally broke the gaze and turned back around to Brooke. "Yeah, he's pretty attractive."
Brooke looked at her like she was an alien, "and you were just having a stare down with him too!"
"I was not," Haley retorted.
"Uh, the two of you were totally staring at each other," Brooke said.
Haley rolled her eyes, "we looked at each other, so what?" She turned back around to see two girls now swarming the doorway where he was.
"See? Look at the female attention that guy gets...that's probably his life," Haley said.
Nathan was polite as he could be without being overly friendly. He really wasn't trying to welcome any attention. He just wasn't in the mood for all of that tonight.
By the time the giggling girls had left the table and he had managed to steal a glance where the girl had been standing, she was gone.
Brooke and Haley had stepped to the side of the bar to order drinks when Haley saw one of the ladies who had interviewed her.
"Hello Melissa," Haley said.
"Hello!" Melissa said in a friendly tone. Haley got the distinct impression that Melissa couldn't have remembered her name if her life had depended on it.
"It's Haley...you interviewed me last week."
A look of realization crossed her face, "Oh yes! How are you Haley? Are you ready to start with us next week?"
"Yes, definitely," Haley said.
"Well, we're not at work yet...so to welcome you to the company, here's a shot!" Melissa said handing her a vodka shot.
Haley laughed and looked at Brooke. "C'mon-- remember, we're celebrating?" Brooke grinned.
Haley smiled and threw back the shot.
She had never had much of a tolerance for alcohol but it was especially low since she hadn't been drinking in several months.
The three women continued laughing and taking shots together.
It wasn't long before Haley was very affected by the alcohol.
Nathan watched her from across the room, drinking another beer.
He wasn't quite used to this -- he normally didn't even have to be intrigued by a girl from afar. Girls usually made it very easy for him and he never had to approach them.
This girl had taken several looks at him and it looked like she was knocking back a fair amount of liquor shots.
Nathan had had a few himself, even after promising himself that he wouldn't drink too much tonight.
It was a vicious cycle that kept sucking him in every time.
He had gotten to the point that he enjoyed the numb feeling all of this gave him - he enjoyed not feeling anything. It's when feelings get involved that people get hurt, Nathan thought to himself.
He was still reeling from what his brother liked to call 'Hurricane Lisa'
The two had connected and had become very close -and then suddenly, Nathan had realized she wasn't at all the person he had thought she was. He was tired of people jerking each other around and it was prominent in just about any juncture of the PR/Entertainment industry. He was tired of getting jerked around -- that's perhaps why this new lifestyle appealed to him so much.
He could drink and party and have a great time and no one got hurt, especially him.
Melissa had left to mingle and Brooke and Haley were taking what may have been their 9th shot a piece, they weren't sure though. They seemed to have lost count.
Suddenly a twenty dollar bill appeared on the bar, "two more of those for these ladies," the voice said behind them.
Haley turned to see who was buying shots for them.
Brooke's mouth dropped open, even in her drunken daze.
Nathan looked right at Haley and grinned. "Hey," he said.
"Hi," Haley looked at him, still in surprise but also because she was starting to see two of him.
"I'm Nathan," he introduced himself to the two girls.
"I'm Haley and this is Brooke," Haley replied and he nodded to Brooke but it was pretty evident that he was completely focused on Haley.
An attractive guy began talking to Brooke and she then focused her attention on talking with him while Haley and Nathan proceeded to take a few more shots.
"Are you alright?" Nathan asked with a smile after the last shot.
"Yes," Haley grinned, closing her eyes.
This was the first time in weeks that she wasn't stressed out. She wasn't upset or nervous or sad. It felt great.
"Okay then," Nathan smiled.
"Let's dance!" Haley said, sliding off the barstool and grabbing Nathan's hand.
"Uh...I don't know," Nathan said. Drunk or not, he couldn't dance- and he really didn't want to show his lack of skill in public.
"C'mon!" Haley laughed, still pulling him to the dance floor, while Brooke watched in amazement from the bar where she was still talking. Haley was acting completely out of character. Normally, she was very uptight and due to the alcohol, she was so much more uninhibited.
The dancing turned out to be more of Haley dancing and Nathan standing there, smiling and watching her.
Then a slow song came on. Nathan pulled her a little closer to him. "Okay, this is a little more my speed."
Haley smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and danced with him.
A few minutes later, Haley rushed over to Brooke. "Alright, I'm gonna go....I'll meet you at home, ok?"
"What?!" Brooke asked in surprise.
"You're okay aren't you?" Haley asked with a look of concern.
"Yes, but are you?" Brooke asked.
"Oh yeah! Nathan and I are going to hang out for a little while and he's gonna drop me off at home...." Haley replied.
Brooke looked at her skeptically, "...and that's okay with you?"
"Yes!" Haley grinned. "I'm having a good time, Brooke! I'm celebrating, remember?!"
Brooke nodded, "Okay, have fun and be safe."
Haley smiled and hugged her.
When Brooke had looked around again a minute later, Nathan and Haley were gone.