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Chapter 3

Lucas collapsed into the closet chair he could find after unlocking his door. Haley followed him, telling the driver to leave his bags at the door. She thanked him, closing the door; she placed her planner on the table and found the relevant page.

"Okay, how are you feeling after your early night?"

Lucas looked over to her, standing beside the table. Her hair hung down over her face, and she tucked it behind her ear.

"Pretty good actually. Especially when I saw the guys this morning."

"See, I told you."

"So what are we doing today?" he said stretching his arms above his head.

"Shopping." She replied, still reading something from her planner.

"Ha…ley." He whined in a childlike voice, dragging out her name.

"I'm sorry Lucas, but you want to get through these next three weeks, you're gonna have to stick to the plan."

"What plan?"

"My plan." He looked at her. She turned away from her planner and stood up straight.

"I have a plan that will make you the most loved basketball player there ever was."

"That's great." Lucas smiled, he paused fearful of what he had to give up. "What do I have to do?"

"You have to hang out with some kids for a day or two."

"Kids?"

"Yeah. We set up a competition, they enter and you travel to their hometown, and teach them some basketball."

"How many kids are we talking about here?"

"Oh you know, aschool." Haley mumbled turning back to her planner.

"A school!" Lucas said sitting up.

"Yeah, a school." She said turning to him. He ran his hands through his hair.

"The idea is that schools enter and whoever is picked at random, gets to have you visit the kids for a day or two." She folded her arms across her chest waiting for him to reply, but he didn't.

"It would be great publicity. We could get great media coverage and most importantly, you'll be doing something for the kids, your fans."

Lucas pondered the idea for a moment, he shuffled in his seat before standing. "I think it's a great idea." Getting excited he started to walk the room. " People will see that I care about the community and the kids, and I'll be all set for this benefit thing."

"So you want to go ahead with this?" she asked, just checking.

"Yeah, if this thing works, there's no way coach could ever yell at me again."

"That's good, because I already have this thing in motion." Lucas starred at her, wondering how she knew he would agree.

"My plan remember, no buts." Came her reply. "Now we need to shop." She picked up her bag and walked to the door, Lucas following unwillingly.

They had been shopping for over an hour, and Lucas still didn't see the point in the exercise Haley had set him. He was meant to be looking for clothes that spoke more 'I'm a pillar of the community' instead of 'Party at my place, and don't forget the women.'

It was ridiculous, Haley had taken him in plenty of shops and every outfit seemed, not 'Lucas' enough for him. By this point Haley was starting to loose any sense of patience she may have had.

"Lucas, we're going around in circles. Every outfit I choose isn't 'your style' and every outfit you choose is too 'your style'."

"I can't help it. These are the clothes I wear." He said gesturing around the store.

It was full of shirts in every imaginable colour and pattern, most of which made Haley feel ill. It looked like a haven for men who thought they were, not only God's gift to women, but to the world.

"Women actually like these clothes?" Haley questioned, her face a look of disgust.

"Well I haven't had any complaints so far." He grinned.

"Maybe this is the store for you." She replied sarcastically. "It may have escaped your attention, but you have had a complaint, from coach and the guys upstairs. Remember, the reason for us being here."

"Fine. But what do you suggest we do." He said crossing his arms and leaning forwards towards her.

"Compromise. We'll get you some shirts, just from another store. And the casual look is good." She said pointing to his jeans and t-shirt.

"Really? I just threw these on this morning."

"That's good. When people see that you don't always dress like a movie star, they realise that you're only human. They'll be much more forgiving."

"Well I think I can handle that." He said as they left the store.

Now that they had finally come to a compromise, the shopping trip had gone quite smoothly. They had managed to accommodate both Lucas's need to feel himself, and the new Lucas that would get him through the next three weeks. As usual when a store is closed for a celebrity, there were fans and press, and this was the perfect opportunity to kick start the new Lucas. He stopped to sign autographs and had his picture taken with some fans, and as he did, he felt a strange feeling coming over him.

They climbed into the car and headed back home. Lucas sat smiling.

"What?" Haley asked.

"Did you see how happy those kids were when I signed their notebooks? Usually I just walk by, but today stopping for those kids, they actually liked me."

"It's amazing what happens when you think about other people for a change." Lucas nodded.

Haley used her elbow to switch on the light in her apartment. Her arms were filled with a stack of papers, and she dropped her keys on the table by the door. She and Lucas had spent the majority of the day planning the competition. They were making steady progress, but there was still a lot to do. Haley had set up a meeting with Lucas's management the following day to pitch their idea, and as soon as all the legal paperwork was completed the work could really begin. So Haley had been making the final changes to the proposal, making sure to get Lucas's input where she could. It was a little after 11.30pm and she was tired. Dumping the stack of papers on her kitchen table, she opened the cupboard grabbing a glass, she filled it with water. She took a sip as she walked to her answering machine, three new messages. She pressed play.

"Haley it's me, do you know where the remote is? I can't find it anywhere. Where are you anyway? Look call me when you get this." She shook her head, she already knew that the next two messages would also be from Lucas, as they were every night.

She picked up the cordless phone, dialling the familiar number as she walked to her room.

"Antonio's." came a strange Italian accent.

"It's Haley." Every night she went through this. She placed her water on her nightstand.

"Never can be too sure." Lucas replied.

"The remote is on top of the TV, you ate all the popcorn, there's a new bag in the cupboard on the left, and yes your DVD is in the player. Goodnight Lucas." She said hanging up, falling on to the bed.

"…and the winning school gets to have myself, train the students for a couple of days." Lucas said to the men and women who sat around the black shiny table.

"How much is this going to cost us?" Harrison, Lucas's manager asked, leaning forwards.

"Nothing." He replied leaning back in his chair.

"Nothing?" he asked in surprise. "This is Hollywood, you don't get anything for nothing."

"What Lucas is saying is, that he is volunteering his time to this cause. He doesn't expect any payment." Haley said speaking up.

"What about advertising?" Harrison questioned, picking holes in the idea.

"We set up a press conference. I'll explain my idea and then we will start touring the schools, promoting the competition."

"I'm not sure about this." Harrison replied, rubbing his hand over his face.

"We ran some numbers, I think it can be done." Haley said passing him her portfolio.

Harrison opened it; he sat and read in silence for a few minutes, leaving the rest of the room in anticipation. He sighed, closed the folder and placed it on the table.

"Let me sign the paperwork." He replied.