Wednesday, September 16, 2018

"Jenna, can I see you in my office…" the voice echoed through her office, and the brunette scowled in the direction of her phone. The last thing she wanted right now was to deal with Daniele. She didn't have a choice though, he would either keep paging her, or send someone to hunt her down and drag her to his office. She reluctantly pushed her chair back and stood up, closing the folder on her desk before walking out of her office.

"Daniel's looking for you…" She shook her head in Eric's direction with a small roll of her eyes.

"I know, I know…do you have any idea as to what he wants?" she hated not having the slightest clue about what her boss had to say to her, it usually resulted in some unwanted task. She watched Eric shake his head before she continued down the hall. She knock lightly on Daniel's door, before letting herself inside.

"Good morning dear…" he smiled over at her as she took a seat in the chair across from him.

"Pleasantries will get you nowhere…" She smirked as she crossed her legs, her skirt riding higher up on her thigh.

"You never were one for formalities…" she shook her head before folding her arms across her chest, impatiently waiting for him to get to the point. "I have a new story for you, it's been floating around between all the industry heads, but no one's got proof yet. No one gets hard evidence better than you…"

"And what's the story...better be good if you want it on the cover…" her interest was slightly peaked, but she wouldn't get too excited until she was certain of whether there was even a chance of Eric getting the proof they needed.

"Basket ball legend, Nathan Scott." It took everything in her not to lose her composure at the familiar name. "Rumor has it he's not satisfied at home and he's been cheating on his wife…" Jenna scuffed and shook her head in disbelief.

"Daniel…are we that desperate for material that we're making things up now? Nathan is your picture perfect family man." She countered quickly,

"And who better to tear down. What would make a better headline than the poster boy for the importance of family being Mr. Unfaithful? Everyone's after this story Jenna, and with you and Eric we'll be the first to get it."

"But you can't just rip apart a family because of some stupid rumor. If tabloids start digging through their life it's only going to cause problems Daniel."

"It'll only cause problems if they're hiding something…if there're problems to be caused. You would normally jump at this opportunity…what's changed…"

"Nothing's change…this just doesn't seem right. There hasn't been any inclination of Nathan Scott's infidelities, where did this story come from…"

"I don't know Jenna, but if People's been dishing out money to his publicist, then I think this story is worth exploring."

"You know what fine…I'm just gunna disprove the whole thing…then I can focus on finding a legit cover…" She didn't wait for him to respond to her outburst, she simply walked out his office, her face flushed from all the emotions running through her. She didn't want to believe that Nathan would ever dream of cheating on Haley, she was almost positive this was all one big lie, but the idea of People actually paying money for this was making her worry. People wasn't some random tabloid the dished out stories on aliens, they had twice the credibility of hYpe, they were just missing the more lurid truths. If they were going after a publicist there was almost always something there. Regardless of the fact that she hadn't spoken to Nathan or Haley in years, she was positive that she didn't want to run a story about Nathan cheating.

"Why do you look like you just saw a ghost…" Eric grabbed her by the shoulders as they stood in the middle of the hall.

"I may need you to go on a trip…and if you do have to go, I need you to be more discrete than you've ever been." They locked eyes and all he could do was nod in the affirmative. "I don't wanna talk about it just yet, I'm still hoping all of this will blow over but if it doesn't I'll be counting on you Eric…"

"Jenna…you know you can depend on me, but how serious is this thing…" her eyes scanned the room quickly, stopping when they landed on the blue eyed blonde a few cubicles over, his head down at he typed away on his computer.

"I don't know yet…" she met his gaze again before shaking her head and brushing past him, leaving Eric to watch her disappear into her office, worry apparent in his features. She sat down in her chair and picked up the phone, quickly dialing a number.

"Hello…" the rushed voice came though the line.

"Heather, it's Jenna, I need to know what you know about Nathan Scott…" Heather sighed from her end. She was a writer for one of the smaller gossip columns. She had pointed Jenna in the right direction numerous times.

"I don't know much…" from what she knew, no one knew too much about the Scott rumors, as of now they were only rumors, no solid facts had been presented.

"How much is People paying his publicist?" That was the only question Jenna really needed answered, a price on the story would give her information on how close it was to becoming fact.

"They're still at the bargaining table, but last I heard they were offering close to half a million for an exclusive leak…."

"So this isn't just some senseless rumor…" she didn't want the answer to that question, but truthfully she already knew it…no ones throws away half a million on little hunch.

"It seems more and more like a story every day…"

"Thanks…" she sighed as she hung up the phone. "Great…just great…" she muttered under her breath, trying to come up with every possible explanation for why someone would think Nathan was cheating.

A knock on her door jarred her out of her thoughts a few hours later. She mumbled a barley coherent 'come in', not bothering to look up from work.

"Hey, can we please talk…" She didn't need to look up to know who had walked into her office.

"Unless you're here to give me an article of some sort, there's nothing for us to talk about…" She still hadn't looked up, refusing to give him the time of day.

"I know I probably don't deserve it, but it's been over ten years, don't you think you could at least hear me out." Lucas was pleading with her. He had been trying to think of something to say all day, something to convince her to at least acknowledge him as something more than her intern.

"You're right…." She looked up at him and caught the glimmer of hope in his eyes. "…you don't deserve it, now unless you have an article you can walk out the same way you walked in…" She turned her gaze away from him, she knew if she ever looked at him too long, her emotions would get the best of her.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry…" He shook his head dejectedly before turning and walking back towards the door.

"Lucas…" she made one last mark on the paper before looked up at him again, hesitation in her eyes, "Do you still talk to Nathan and Haley…"

"Yeah, at least once week…why" He shot an questioning look in her direction only to have her shrug.

"How are they doing…I mean their marriage, their kids, just everything in general?" she tried not to sound too much like she was interrogating him, but she needed whatever insight she could get at the moment.

"You could just call and ask…I'm sure they'd love to hear from you…" He watched her roll her eyes at him. "They're doing fine, in fact they've never been happier, they really are the happily little family everyone makes them out to be." The skeptical look returned to his eyes, but when she smiled and nodded and turned back to her work, he decided to leave it alone.

She heard her office doors close a moment later and she finally allowed a full smile to form on her lips. If things between them had been bad, Lucas would've just chosen to say nothing at all, or he would have left it at they're fine. And if Haley had even started to feel like she and Nathan were drifting, she would tell Lucas…so things between the Scotts must have been fine, it wouldn't make sense for anything else to be true.

It was nearly midnight when Jenna finally put her work away and got ready to leave the office. She looked around the relatively empty office, only two or three cubicle lights on. She made her way to the elevators, stepping inside and falling back against the walls as the doors closed. She opened her eyes as the doors opened again, a hand sticking through them. She sighed with a roll of her eyes a she watch Lucas come into the view and step onto the elevator, his body immediately migrating to the opposite corner. Both of them kept they're focus on the elevator floor, waiting impatiently for the doors to open back up and release them from the confined space.

They both left the elevator quickly, each going to their respective cars, not even taking the time to look at each other. She slid into the driver's seat of her car and pulling out of the parking lot as quick as she could. She didn't care if she wasn't being cool and collected, she just wanted to be far away from Lucas Scott.

She sped through the streets of Los Angeles, desperate to get home, why she couldn't say, she was speeding to an empty house. She pulled into her driveway and threw her head back against the seat as she put the car in park. Why did she let him get to her like this…after all these years she was still letting him get her all riled up.

Jenna threw her bag onto the side table as she walked into her house. All she wanted to do right now was lay on bed and fall asleep. She placed her hands at the edge of her shirt, ready to pull it over her head, but stopped when someone started pounding on her door. Eric was usually the only one to pop up at random times during the night, always about an astounding photo he had gotten…or to satisfy some late night craving, but that had only happened four times. She looked through the peephole, and her eyes grew wide at the sight before her.

"What on earth are you doing here…" she questioned as she flung the door open, her hands finding their way to her hips.

"I just wanna talk…I followed you here…"

"Stalker much…" she cut him off, not fazed by the desperation in his blue eyes. "I don't wanna talk to you Lucas…I thought I made that perfectly clear." She shook her head as she tried to close the door, but he used his hand to keep it open.

"Just hear me out…." He pleaded.

"I don't want to hear you out…I don't want anything to do with you. I owe you nothing Lucas and although you may owe me one, I don't want your apology. I want nothing from you…absolutely nothing…do you hear me…nothing…" Her cheeks were flushed, tears burning behind her eyes, despite here attempts to stay calm.

"I'm sorry for what I did you back then…you didn't deserve it and I was an ass…" he reached up, his hand grazing her face. She shook her head, anything to stop herself from sinking into his touch.

"Please…just go home…" she hadn't been this emotional in years. He had convinced her that she could trust him, only to run off and break her heart, shatter it. She pulled away from him, stepping further into her house, attempting once again to shut him out.

"I never meant to hurt you…" He followed her inside, a slight wind closing the door behind him and causing her to jump.

"You can't do something like that and expect it not to hurt...how dare you come into my house and say that to me…" She turned away from him, her hand running through her hair.

"I know it doesn't make anything better…"

"You're right, it doesn't change anything…it doesn't change the face that you're a selfish asshole Lucas…" Why was it that he was always able to do this to her, always able to make her go weak in the knees with just words.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me…but I'm asking you to anyway…" He reached out for her again, desperate to feel close to her. A decade without seeing her, without hearing her voice…all these years not even knowing if she was alive, and here she was in front of him. His hand lay gently on her shoulder, silently begging her to turn and face him.

"I can't do this right now…" She shook her head as she turned to face him, his hand still on her shoulder. He stepped closer to her, his fingers trailing slowly down her arm. Spending the past six years in LA has taught him to be a little less timid around women, and unlike his old self, his other hand grips her hip and backs her against the wall. His hand's back on her face and she wraps her own around it.

She does nothing to stop him as her interlocks their fingers, sliding their hands though her hair before sliding along her collar bone. Her grasp on his hand loosens as he trails between her breasts. Her arms loop around his neck as he lines kisses along hers. Both of his drop to her hips, sliding behind her body so he can unzip her skirt. She steps away from the material as soon as it drops and pools around her feet. His hand creeps down her thigh, trailing inward before moving back out and grasping her leg, her knee bending as he pulls her leg upwards. Her heel digs into the back of his calf as he pulls her lower body off the wall, her hips grinding against his as her head tilts back.

Her mind is screaming at her to push him away, to kick him out of her house, but she can't seem to find the words, nor the will power to do anything but run her hands through his blonde hair as his lips flutter across her bare skin.

She closes her eyes and bites her lip, a moan escaping her lips as she feels his erection swell against her. This isn't what he came here for…he honestly had just wanted to talk, and somewhere along the way it turned into him taking her against a wall. Her fingers work quickly on the button of his shirt, sliding it off his shoulders with ease, and he removes his lips from her skin just long enough for her to pull the wife beater over his head.

They somehow make it to her bedroom, her body pressed into the comforter as he hovers over her, his fingers creeping up her thigh until he's inside of her. She stops working on his belt the second she feels him moving within in, her eyes fluttering closed as they roll backwards. He can't help smirk knowing he's caused the sharp woman underneath him to lose her train of thought. It's a minute later that her fingers begin numbly undoing his belt, quickly unzipping his pants right after. She can't recall them ever being this rushed or lust driven in high school, can't think of a time when hormones took complete control over their bodies.

Thursday, September 17, 2018

She feels her eyes start to open but opts against it, knowing that just like every other morning she's got a few more minutes before her alarm goes off. It's not long before the previous night comes rushing back to her, and she would question whether or not it had actually happened had she not been completely nude under her sheets. She muffled a sigh against her pillow, before reluctantly turning her body around, only to find the space next to her empty. She sat up, her eyes scanning the room and quickly noticing that all his clothes that had been haphazardly strewn across the room were gone. Aside from the soreness in her muscles from bending in ways she didn't know she still could…there was no sign that last night ever happened…absolutely no sigh that Lucas Scott was ever in her house at all.