Ch. 3
I do not own Higher Ground, its characters, or anything else relating to the show.
Set-up for the rest of the story
Scott nervously rearranged everything in front of him waiting to meet the PR group for the first time. He was only to work with them a few hours a day, but they were based at his company for several months. Juliette came in first to set-up everything for the meeting. Neither said a word to each other but he sensed calmness from her, and it helped him relax. She wore a red pencil skirt, a white silk blouse, and a navy blue cardigan. He jerked back in surprise when a man made eye contact with him having caught Scott staring at her while she bent over the conference table.
"Scott, this is Mr. Yang. He's new to our company. Josh, this is Mr. Barringer. Scott and I went to high school together," she said as she introduced them.
Josh gave a friendly smile and expressed amazement how Scott and Juliette ended up working in the same place.
"Yes, it is quite amazing how it all worked out," she said with heavy skepticism.
They were both professionals and stayed in their roles when interacting. Occasionally, they would go out as a group for lunch or drinks, but both kept their distances. Despite limited personal interactions, they still were able to observe each other. Both noted the confident, intelligent in-put the other one offered to the group. They had long considered the other one dense, so it rather came as a surprise. Juliette's personable nature made her popular with the group and a spokesperson for his company. She smiled readily, encouraged others, and surprised them with coffee and treats. Although professional, she included him in her friendly warmth. Scott was driven, confident without the former cockiness, and had learned to be a team player.
It had been a few months since his move, and he had fallen into a routine: wake-up, work long hours, exercise, go home, sleep, repeat. On the weekends, he went to the beach occasionally and toured the area by himself but returned home before it got too late. Sometimes a feeling he couldn't pinpoint would overcome him though. For example, he would be putting mayo on his sandwich for dinner and would feel it. He'd stop and look around. Was it too quiet? No, the TV was on. Boredom? Loneliness? The feeling would pass and he'd realize he spread mayo all over the place.
The company's branch was flourishing under him. As Christmas time approached, he decided not to go anywhere. "Any plans for the holidays?" Josh asked the two of them in the elevator one day. Both replied they were staying in town. "Holidays are the worst time to see family," Jules stated.
Two days before Christmas, Juliette knocked on Scott's office door. She was hesitant, so Scott gave her a reassuring smile.
"I know you aren't going home for the holidays, so I may or may not have gotten you something. I hope you like coal," she smirked at the last part.
"Haha, funny. And thank you. I…uh, got you something too. For similar reasons."
"You did?" She asked shyly. They quickly exchanged gifts, trying not to make a big deal about it. Scott got a bottle of nice Napa Valley wine and Stormtrooper cuff links. Juliette received a spa package. They hugged awkwardly and went back to work.
On Christmas morning, Scott heard a Selena song playing from Juliette's cubicle. "What are you doing at work?" he asked, seeing her at her desk.
"Should I go the 'touche' route and point out you're here too."
"I think you just did. I had nowhere better to be, so why not?"
"Well, Merry Christmas. Would you like to work with me?"
Three hours later they went to a diner for an early lunch. She asked if he had done anything fun or met new people.
"Gone to the beach a few times. Traveled some. Not a fan of LA," he told her.
"Meet any nice women? Lots of women at the company are interested."
"Not really. Leslie's cute though."
"Eh, she likes me."
"Hmmmm…."
"Get your head out of the gutter, meat!"
Both burst out laughing. Part of a wall had fallen, and they started to reminisce about old times. They talked about trying to secure presents for the Cliffhangers during Christmas time. Scott had liked her scrapbook idea. She made small, personalized ones for each Cliffhanger. Jules liked the book he had made for Shelby one year. It was a journal he wrote in everyday for a year chronicling their relationship and his thoughts about her.
Scott told about the time Ezra and he helped Auggie confront Abe. Poor Ezra! She should have seen the look of terror on Ezra's face. He jokingly blamed her since she had asked him to intervene. He teased, "I should have known it was over when you asked me to fight gang members for another guy." "I didn't want you, yet I didn't want Shelby to win either. I figured no one could have you if you were finished off," she teased back. He threw a sugar packet at her. She then told her side of the fight with Shelby. It was funny looking back on it now.
She became serious and told him since it was Christmas she wanted to say it was nice working with him. He was someone who knew a little about her past and didn't judge her. He had changed a lot, yet remained the same in certain ways.
They soon parted to go home. As he watched her drive away, there was that sense of hope again. He suddenly realized what those random feelings were now. He missed her. When the workday ended and she left, he felt a void. It was only for her. He took comfort seeing her, watching her, spending time with her. He could recognize her laughter from down the hall; it rang out like soft bells, and he could picture the huge grin on her face.
He should have expected it, he supposed. It was going into the ocean and eventually noticing you had moved from the original point of entry. It wasn't painful or very noticeable, but it could be startling depending on how far you moved before you noticed it. He had moved farther than he had thought. What happened from here? Did Juliette feel the same way? What about Shelby?
After days of mental anguish, Scott lounged on his couch with his Napa wine waiting to watch the New Year Ball drop in Times Square. At 11 o'clock, Scott decided in his wine induced state to bike to Jules' place to see if she wanted company. It wasn't far. In his sloshed state, he wasn't sure of his expectations, but he was genuinely concerned she would be lonely as she had been for Christmas.
Several cuts and bruises later, Scott arrived at her place, but she wasn't there. She had probably gone out with friends or with a guy because she had a life unlike him. Self pity, a weakness for Scott, overwhelmed him until fireworks from a nearby park broke his thoughts. His year started with a pounding headache and a heavy heart among other things. After sobering up, he inspected his cuts. How many times had he fallen off his bike? He started laughing to himself at the absurdity of it all. It was absurd! Here he was showing up unexpectedly at a woman's home regardless of it being Jules.
As if summoned by magic, Juliette suddenly appeared before him. She held up a bag of Chinese food. It turned out she had the same idea as him and picked up some take-out along the way to his flat. She waited a while there but began to feel stupid over the whole thing and left. He sat on the edge of the bath tub while she cleaned his cuts. She had worn a gold, sequined dress for the heck of it but changed into leggings and a sweatshirt-the blue one worn by the Cliffhangers when they played football against the actors. He was amazed she had kept it.
Seeing the sweatshirt brought back painful memories for him though. When she saw the look on his face and voiced her concern, he told her about CPS coming around the time of the filming and football game. She quickly removed it to reveal a tank top under it. Scott noticed faint traces of scars on her upper, inner arms. Seeing the evidence of her past pains, he told her about the things that led him to Horizon. She listened quietly. They were silent several seconds before she put her arms around his shoulders and kissed his forehead. He gave her a look she couldn't read. He gently took her arm and placed a soft kiss on the scar tissue. She gave him a huge smile and rested her forehead on his. Then, they ate and watched a movie. It was anti-climatic; no fighting, no crying, or lovemaking. Nothing resolved, but it was exactly what they both needed.
Note: This chapter is filler. Before I get to the main plot points, I wanted to show them developing feelings for each other. Shelby and Auggie will be factored into the story.
