Redemption

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AN: If I made silly grammatical mistakes…forgive me…

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3. This Is Where We Are

Paris…

KHS office was meticulously built on an open space that gave one of the most beautiful scenes in Paris if one was lucky enough to work on the top floors. The office has also been successfully placed as one of the must see buildings second to Chanel for the tourists.

It was a glass building with forty floors and over 342 offices. Its workers are estimated to be over a thousand in Paris alone and over fifteen hundred abroad to boot. The fortieth floor belonged to the President while the thirty-ninth floor was the Head Office, where the Editor-in-Chief's office and Creative department resided.

Haley James knew that moment she set her foot into the Head Office; it was going to be chaos. It was like being smashed upon by a crazy mob when in fact, the crazy mob where her employees trying to suck the life out of her before she could even get to her office.

See how it happens; there would always be someone from the creative department waiting at the first floor so that the moment Haley's car pulls up at the front, he or she calls back the Head Office to enable the others prepare for her arrival.

She was greeted like royalty the moment she stepped out of her car so as she got into the elevator she took a deep breath and let it out. In about five minutes, she was going to be bombard with all sort of questions so she did the one thing that made her the most sort after Editor-in-Chief in the world; she sucked it in and got ready for war. The elevator made the 'Ting!' sound and the doors opened…

"Haley! Thank God you're here,"

"Haley! We have a problem wiz Luc…hiz being a drama bitch again!"

"Haley! I've got a new story…how about sex on the Eiffel tower…think about it,"

"I've been calling Jake all day, Haley…and he's not picking up his phone! What do I do?"

"Do you want this cover or this cover for next week's issue?"

These were the few questions that actually made it to Haley's ear while the rest were just part of the chaos.

"Okay, mob squad!" Michel, her secretary slash PA and life saver snapped loudly. "She just got here…back off!"

Haley really tried to hide her smile at the glacial expression on the entire staff. She made a soft sound from her throat. "Thank you, Michel…"

"You're welcome honey…zis people will never learn!" Michel said as she glared right back.

Haley smiled at her impatient staff. "Okay I want the teams in for this morning's meeting and Lorenzo, no sex in the Eiffel tower, please," she had given him an assignment to find a new topic for their feature spot on the magazine and she knew he had worked hard for that one. "Aimeé call Bernard to fill in Jake's spot…and do we really need Luc for that photo shoot?" there was a chorus of 'No' "Good…find me a man with blond hair and a hot body within the hour…" Two people left the floor immediately. "Tony, meet me at the meeting with those covers…" she said and walked into her office.

Michel stood in front of the Haley's office and glared. "Back off!" she snarled, daring them with her eyes to come any closer.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Haley watched her team come in as she was about ending her call with one of their distributors.

"Okay people let's get down to business," Haley said with the clap of her hands. She was sited in front of them while they formed an arc shape with their chairs. "Let's talk about tomorrow's issue…Tony I don't like to see an anorexic model in front of my magazine,"

"That's her true figure," Tony was a Brazilian photographer Haley employed after seeing one of his works.

"And I'm naturally blond," Cat, Haley's creative manager said sarcastically. "The girl barely eats…she needs help,"

"And she'll get it," Haley said. "Get another model and get Dr. Elmaleh on the phone," she said to Tony before moving on to the next agenda. "Michel what do we have next?"

"Sex," she said and caused everyone to laugh. It was a section in their magazine that discussed everything that had to with sex…everything.

Haley chuckled. "Okay, how many of us had sex yesterday?" and all hands went up. "Well my life officially sucks as of today…thank you very much," they all laughed again. "Renault, you're the biggest man whore in the room…tell me what you are going to do for the page,"

"Well I was thinking sexual positions,"

"Oh God,"

"What iz it going to be zis time? '69'?"

"Come on guys," Haley scolded jokily with a smile. "Renault is the only one willing to write about sex for the magazine without blushing,"

"Thank you, Haley," Renault said and carried on. "I was thinking of sex after marriage…you know, talk about how to improve zee sex"

"That could work…but it's been done some many times," Haley said. "How about writing this on a four page spread? I want you to write about sex before and after marriage and then talk about the improvements," Haley smiled at the idea. "I'm going to need this for next week's issue…make it about six thousand words…and I'll need to see the models for the feature,"

"What about the story on Olympique Lyonnais FC? we were meant to cover them for next week's issue," Henry Pierre from the sports team asked. "I just got off the phone with the club manager and he said we've just today to make it,"

"Okay then, get André and Laurent to head over there immediately," Haley said to Henry who registered her instructions. "And who's in charge of the Basket ball game between ASVEC Lyon-Villeurbanne and Cholet Basket tonight?"

"Jacques will be going," Henry said as he adjusted his glasses. "I know he was a little bit harsh the last time but he gets the work done,"

"Listen, we do not run a sports magazine," Haley said. "We have a sports section where we tell the readers what really happened at the game," the sport section is a part of the magazine that gives the reader a behind-the-scene look at the games. "Jacques is more of a critic…"

"I assure you that it will not happen again," Henry pleaded.

"Good. Michel please tell one of the interns to get us more coffee," she said to her PA. "We are going to be here for a while,"

And they were.

After an hour of meeting, Haley was finally free to focus on other matters on hand. She knew that in thirty minutes she was going to go down to the publishing company to settle a few financial matters.

Haley took her eyes away from the feature she was reading when her phone rang. "Oui Michel?"

"Jake is on line one?"

"Yes, please put him through," Jake, her best friend of over eleven years was calling her from Italy and she was mad at him because he left without a word. "Jake?"

"Uh oh," She couldn't deny the joy she felt from hearing his rusty voice caused by his excessive smoking. "I think I'm in trouble,"

"You've got that right, Jackass!" She smiled nonetheless. "When are you coming back from Italy?"

"When you stop being mad at me,"

"Really Jake…when are you coming back?"

"The women in Italy don't want me to leave,"

She sighed on the phone and shook her head. She had almost forgotten he was a man whore. "Your god-children miss you,"

She knew he was smiling. "I'll come back when I've grown tired of Italy,' and that was true. Jake had a past that he ran away from and Haley understood that more than anyone but in her case she sort of dealt with it; Jake on the other hand seemed to brush it aside instead of getting through it.

"Come home soon," She still tried to convince him. "I don't care if you're tired or not,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Nathan raised his head from a document he was reading and smirked at Carrie Anderson as she strolled seductively into his office, wearing a very short gown that cling to every part of her body.

"You forgot to call me," she said smoothly as she came around his table and placed her bum on his desk. The truth was that Nathan hadn't forgotten to call…he just couldn't be bothered.

Nathan chuckled. She really was a beauty but it was a real shame that the only thing that he found attractive about her was her body. Nathan Scott has come to a conclusion that he was one of those humans who were born with the inability to love…it's true…ask his father.

"Don't you have some boy-toys to be with?" He asked as he went back to what he was doing but was interrupted when she pushed his chair away from the desk and sat in front of him. "Those documents are important…"

"Not as important as what I'm going to do to you," she said in a quiet tone that Nathan felt his blood boiling. She knew it took a real woman to get Nathan Scott turned on because she had studied him meticulously; he wasn't like every other man.

But before Nathan had the chance of taking her on his desk, Chase waltzed in like he owned the place and came to a screeching halt.

"I'm sorry," he said with an unapologetic smile on his face. "I though this was Nathan Scott's office,"

"Nice to see you again, Chase," Carrie said as she slid herself from the desk and away from Nathan. "How long has it been?" she picked up her bag and walked past him.

"Not too long, unfortunately," he gave her a cheeky grin when she gave him the finger, blew Nathan a kiss and shut the door behind her. He turned to Nathan. "Dude, are you serious?"

Nathan was finally able to breathe. "You scared the shit out of me…I thought it was Dan or worse Harry," those were two people on earth he didn't want seeing him in that position at all…ever.

Chase took off his coat, threw it on one of the sofas and then went on to join Nathan at his desk. "Why is Carrie Anderson still your sex buddy?"

"Because she is one of the women I know that has mastered the act of keeping her mouth shut," He said while pretending to be busy. "What are you doing here? Don't you have someone else to bug?"

Chase met Nathan while in college and he knew that his friend was not the man everyone thought him to be. Nathan Scott was cold and meticulous and most times Chase wondered why they were friends. Maybe it was the time Nathan bailed him out when he was in debt or the time Nathan saved him from a girl that tried to pin her pregnancy on him.

"You said a lot of crap on Oprah," Chase said.

Nathan paused. He should have known that Chase would spot his lies to the queen of TV talk shows. "There's no use knowing the truth when they don't give a shit," he dropped his pen on the desk and stretched. "I gave America what they wanted and they ate it up as always,"

"This just means…"

"This just means that I'm good at what I do," Nathan said smugly and dialed Gemma. "Gemma, can you come in for a second?"

"Yes sir,"

"I asked you to get me Haley James's office," He said to Gemma when she came into his office.

"I did sir but her secretary said she wasn't in…so I dropped a message," Gemma said. "Do you want me to try again?"

"No. Just get me through to KHS immediately," Nathan said. When she had connected him to France he picked up the phone. "Bonjour…um…desolé, mais je parle français un peu…"

"I speak English, sir," the receiver was female with a strong French accent and she sounded too jolly for Nathan's liking. "How may I help you?"

"Yes. May I be connected to the Editor-in-Chief's office?" He asked and shared a smirk with Chase who was looking through a file he found on Nathan's desk.

"One minute please sir…" Nathan and Chase chuckled at the French song being played while they waited. "Hello, Haley James's office…How may I help you?"

Nathan smothered his laughter. "Ah yes…I would like to speak with Haley James,"

"Sorry but Miss James has gone home for the day,"

Nathan chuckled at this. "She has gone home for the day…really, this early? It's still morning,"

"Where are you calling from, sir?"

"America…Los Angeles actually,"

"Then need I remind you that there is a nine hour time difference between Los Angeles and Paris," That seemed to shut Nathan up and Chase couldn't hold the snigger that escaped his lips. "Who may I say called?"

"Nathan Scott from SM magazine,"

"Okay sir, I will make sure to inform Miss James that you called,"

"Good," Nathan said and ended the call. "It really wasn't funny,"

"Yes it was," Chase said between his laugh. "Who are you calling?"

"Frank Lumer," Nathan said. "He's some man I know,"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Haley walked through the doors of her apartment and was greeted by her little girl who jumped into her arms.

"Mama, you're home," Zoé said and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. "Guess what?"

"What?" Haley said as she handed her bags to Freddy and carried Zoé into the living room area.

"I've been selected to represent the school in the LSC," LSC was the Lambert Swimming Competition that consisted of swimmers, both young and old, from all schools that included both the public and the private schools.

Haley hadn't really paid attention to her daughter's talent for swimming before because what she did know was, Zoé loved swimming but that all changed when she saw her six year old daughter swim as fast as a fish.

She had never been so proud. "Really?" she brought Zoé down to her feet and kissed her cheek. "Well that means we have to get you ready for summer…"

"But I'm nervous,"

"That's a first,"

"I know!" Haley chuckled. Her children's arrogance was worse than the person they had gotten it from. "Margot Renard was also picked to represent her school," Margot Renard was the best swimmer in Zoé's level and she has been trying to break that record.

"If you work hard…you could be better than Renard," Haley encourage. "But you should also have the spirit of sportsmanship…what I mean is," she said. "You should welcome a challenge in good faith and even if it doesn't go your way, suck it up and move on because the other person worked just as hard,"

"But she's annoying," Zoé said and Haley laughed. She stood up and brushed her daughter's black hair before going to her room. "She's always trying to get the boys attention…"

"No kidding," Haley said because she knew it was true. Though Zoé and Margot didn't go to the same school, they see each other in the exclusive sports gym where Zoé trains. While Zoé was yapping away, Haley changed out of her working clothes and into her towel. "Jamie isn't back from basket ball training yet?"

"Oh I forgot," Zoé gasped. "Jamie is staying over at Grand Papa's because Grand Pére got him a new video game," she said enviously.

Haley looked at her daughter sitting cross legged on her bed and couldn't help the shimmer of warmth that spread through her heart.

"Why don't we have a girls' night…just us two," Haley happiness spread through her face when she saw Zoé brown eyes brighten with excitement. "Then after that…we could watch Caméra Café,"

"No Euro sport?"

"No Euro sport,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Nathan found himself yet again in another red carpet event. This time it was for Peyton who was premiering her new film 'Beautiful Mistake' in LA. It was a romantic comedy flick Peyton had been filming in Venice with up coming actor James McAvoy and it was slated to be a hit. Nathan on the other hand, didn't want to be here but Peyton has been his friend since they were in diapers and she had been there for him in more ways than one.

He almost cringed behind his perfectly played smile when he got out of his Limo and heard the fans screaming his name. He wasn't a movie star or any star but he might as well one tonight because the crowd loved him. He sighed some autographs, took lots of pictures before he preparing himself for the brief interview he must partake in because he was, apparently, Nathan Scott.

"Looking good, Nathan," Debbie Metenopoulos, from the E!, said to Nathan who stood on the E! podium with her. "I was expecting you…"

Nathan smirked and moving his hands smoothly into his trouser pockets. "You did? Oh well at least someone is honest about it," They both laughed. "You're looking great, tonight,"

"Thank you…and you!" She sifted a little so the camera could get a good look at Nathan. "What are you wearing?" she asked.

"Um…tonight I'm wearing Armani…the shoes are actually from my mother's boutique," Oh yes, Deb Scott will definitely be happy that her son made that little advertisement for her already booming shoe shop.

"Really? I heard that it's going good,"

"Um…yeah," He smiled because he was proud of his mother. "She is great at her job…I looked at a design of hers this morning and I was blown away,"

"Aww…that's so sweet," he knew. "Now let's get down to business…Peyton Sawyer," Nathan chuckled. "She's amazing, isn't she? You must really envy your brother for getting a woman like her,"

No he didn't. Peyton was an amazing girl but he would rather live a lonely boring life than have what Lucas and Peyton have. Not that his life wasn't lonely and boring already.

"Peyton is a great girl and I've know her since we were in diapers," Peyton's father and Dan weren't good friends but they had been in the same year during the college days. "Lucas is lucky to have her…they are both lucky to have each other,"

"How about a certain Miss Anderson?" Nathan should have known that you could never run away from the tabloid no matter how hard you try. "Is there something there?"

"Okay let me set the record straight…there is nothing going on between Carrie and I," His magazine sold from his bad boy image and the last thing he wanted was to be associated with Carrie Anderson even though she was good in the sac. "I've know Carrie since college and she's great,"

"Okay…if you say so," Debbie and the entire tabloid world knew that there was something going on between Nathan Scott and Carrie Anderson. "Final question…"

"I'm all ears,"

"Are we going to be hearing wedding bells from Lucas and Peyton?"

No. "Um…I don't know…but I see Lucas coming…maybe you could ask him,"

Nathan finally went in to watch the movie after he was grilled with the same questions over and over gain till he wanted to shoot himself. The movie was what he expected it to be…crap. Being the gentle man he was, he knew he had to tell Peyton it was great though she would know other wise. But with the standing ovation the received inside the theatre it was definitely going to be a hit in the cinema.

Nathan wasn't even happy to be at the after party but Peyton was going to be alone if he left and Lucas left while the movie was going on because things were really akward with the both of them.

"Having fun?" he raised his eyes and met a pair of startling green.

Nathan Scott has always considered his best friend a beauty with her blond hair and green eyes. "Why wouldn't I?" he chuckled before Peyton sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Because you looking at the fake blond on hills,"

Nathan laughed and kissed her hair. "Your film was great,"

"I know…but you think it's shit," she said with a smile and sipped her champagne. "I didn't see Lucas,"

"He left immediately the movie started," Nathan said before turning his focus on her. "What's going on with you guys?"

Peyton raised her head from Nathan's shoulder and kissed his cheek, causing Nathan to look at her in surprise. "Never fall in love…" Like he ever would "It's just a load of unwanted pain and drama,"

"That's not what you said in the movie," Nathan said and Peyton hit him. He saw her eyes glass over and he really didn't know what to do. "Do you love him?"

She nodded. "Yes but it doesn't feel right anymore," she gulped down her champagne and dropped the glass on the glass table. "My mum and dad fell in love at first sight and even though mum never lived long enough to enjoy…it's still there in dad's eyes any time he talks about her. I loved Lucas the moment I set my eyes on him…"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Maybe it's not enough…"

He took her hands in his. "You and Lucas have been together since I can remember and you have over come so many obstacles…you can't just give that up,"

"I know…but something fizzled out of our relationship. One minute I'm crazy about him and the next I can't stand being with him," she wiped her eyes. "I'm tired…"

"Come on…I'll take you home," Nathan helped her get to her feet and with help of her body guard; she got into the car with the paparazzi hounding her.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Haley sat outside her balcony and stared at the lights of Paris in its glory. She had just put Zoé to bed, made sure Jamie and Keith weren't over doing their boy's night and finished looking over a few features for the magazine. It was usually rare to have a quiet night like this one but sometimes it did get only without Jake around.

They would stay all night talking about nothing and everything. She had known Jake since they were in high school and they had decided to go to the same university. They were more than best friends…more than siblings…their bond was untainted and unbreakable. He saved her when her past almost drained the life out of her and she saved him when he though he would die of heart break.

Now he was in Italy…hiding…running away like he always did when his past was brewing near. She closed her eyes when the anger surged through her veins because she had to face her past everyday. Nathan had called twice and she had not called back because…well because she wasn't ready to hear his voice…that deep soothing voice that always sent her heart beating…

No she wasn't ready…but she wasn't running away like Jake.

"Miss James…a phone call," Freddy said as he handed the phone to Haley.

"Thank you, Freddy…goodnight," she placed the phone to her ear and sighed. "I though you weren't going to call," she said softly.

"I miss you,"

"Then come home, Jake," Haley said. "Stop running away,"

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