Chapter Ten:

Time to Pretend

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
-MGMT

xxxxx

"Okay, so we have gotten the final estimates back and they need to be sent back to the headquarters to be looked at, after that the building can resume, and if all goes well, we'll be out of here after the New Year." Jake explained, showing them the blown up estimate plan.

"Okay, so that's almost everything for today's meeting," Haley began, eyeing Nathan nervously, what she was going to bring up next would not go over well with her best friend/brother-in-law. He already looked like he was in an awful mood, not really saying anything through the meeting.

"Hales, have you and Nathan made any progress with find a decorator?" Skills asked them.

"Actually, we have" Haley tried to sound cheerful, but she knew Lucas wouldn't be happy with this decision. "We've decided on Brooke Davis."

Skills and Jake immediately began to laugh, and after Lucas processed it in his mind, he also let out a little laugh, the most expression that had been on his face in the past hour. They all continued to laugh for a few minutes until they realized that Haley and Nathan were not laughing.

Lucas straightened up the quickest. "You're joking, right?"
"Before you overreact, Lucas, just listen to me," Haley started.
"Haley, you are not seriously considering hiring her for this, are you? Please tell me this is a joke." He rolled his eyes in a frustrated manner.
"It works out perfectly, she knows Scott Corp. really well, she's a designer for a good firm, Nathan checked it out, she speaks English, she knows her way around Rome," Haley explained, listing all of Brooke's qualities.
"I don't like her. I don't get along with her, she can't be working for us, that'll mean I'll have to work alongside her!" Lucas was almost screaming.
"Calm down, Lucas." Nathan began to get a bit frustrated. "Haley and I will be working with her most of the time, you won't even really need to do anything, except maybe attend a meeting that she's at, but there will be all of us here. Trust me, it'll be as though she isn't even here."
"I don't like this, at all. But it's your call, whatever." Lucas picked up a few documents he needed to take back to his office, and stormed out the door.

Haley put her head in her hands, she knew Lucas was going to be upset, it just frustrated her beyond belief that he couldn't put the company before himself. It wasn't as if he'd have to even see Brooke. She would be out of his way most of the time.

"I'll talk to him," Nathan reassured her, giving her a kiss on the forehead gently.
"No, I'll talk to him," she smiled up at him. "But I've got a lunch date with Brooke in about fifteen minutes, so it'll have to wait until after."

xxxxx

"No, Brooke you don't understand, she was practically giving him a lap dance!" Peyton exclaimed over frozen yogurt as they sat on the balcony of their apartment.

"Are you sure he wasn't drunk P. Sawyer? I mean who was she anyways?" Brooke asked, knowing that this upset her best friend a lot more than it should.

"I don't know! She was just some random girl, well, I think she was. I mean if he showed up with her that would just make it that much worse." Peyton rolled her eyes.

Brooke gave Peyton that knowing look, one of the many she could give her best friend, expecting her to understand the silent messages.

"What?" Peyton asked her faking innocence. Brooke wasn't buying it, she raised her eyebrow at her blonde haired best friend.

"Okay, okay, I know it's ridiculous that I'm getting so worked up over this, but I mean, it really did seem like Jake wanted to reconnect. And I guess I wanted to try things again too, is being mad about this selfish of me?" Peyton asked sincerely.

"I wouldn't necessarily call if selfish. It does seem as though he wants to try things again, and I know that you do but I'd say talk to him before you overreact. As much as I want you and Jake to get back together and live happily ever after, it has to be what the both of you want as well." Brooke told her truthfully.

"Yeah," Peyton replied, but Brooke knew that she was lost in her own thoughts.

"Listen Peyt, we'll talk about this later, okay? Just promise me you won't beat yourself up about it, or you know you'll turn out to be one of those insecure girls that sits at home and cries about the guy that didn't like her," Brooke winked, and Peyton threw a pillow at her best friend.

"Don't even, I will never be one of those girls," she said, as matter-of-fact.

"We'll see," Brooke replied playfully. "I've got to get going, I'm going to be late for my lunch date with Haley."

"Yeah, what's the deal with that, you cheating on me?" Peyton said, stone faced, and when Brooke gave her a look, she laughed.

"But in all seriousness, you two hanging out now?" the blonde asked.

"She wants me to be the designer for the new Scott Corp. hotel," Brooke responded, avoiding eye contact with her best friend.

"Really? Brooke, that's great! You know how good that'll look on your resume. Plus you'll get paid the big bucks!" Peyton told her, excitement animating her features.

"Yeah, it's really cool, I'm excited, but it would mean running into Lucas frequently," she rolled her eyes.

"Come on Brooke, it's Lucas! Now is your chance to really prove to him that you don't care about all the crap he pulled. Not that you need to prove anything, it's just that he needs to know that you don't make decisions revolving around him." Peyton told her, trying to drive the point home.

"You're right," Brooke said, shaking her head. "I think I'll take the job, actually. I don't care if I see Lucas or not, what difference does it make to me? He means absolutely nothing to me."

xxxxx

"They have amazing cakes" Haley exclaimed, taking another bite of her amaretto cheesecake.
"I know! Peyton and I found it one day when we were going for a run." Brooke told her, laughing at the irony of finding a dessert shop while exercising.

Haley and her sat on the dock overlooking a small lake in a quieter part of the city. In the distance there were a group of children playing in a park, and a few people out on the lake in their ships. The sun was absolutely beaming and both Haley and Brooke were burning hot.

"I'm really glad you decided to take the job, Brooke" Haley told her truthfully. "I know it might be a little awkward with Lucas and everything, but I promise he'll stay out of your way."

"Oh, I'm not worried about Lucas at all really, so you don't have to worry about that." Brooke said, partially lying.

"Good," Haley smiled. "I'm looking forward to working with you, both professionally and I'm hoping we can you know, be friends."

"Friends sounds good," Brooke laughed. "How is everything with you, Hales? You and Nathan and all that?"

"Things with Nathan are, well, they're pretty good, they're good, they're just.." Haley seemed almost at a loss for words, and Brooke was confused and a little worried.

"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked, sporting a puzzled expression.

"Yeah, everything's fine, it's just that, well," she looked around, as if someone was spying on them and she didn't want whoever it was to hear them. "You can't tell anyone this, Brooke."

"I promise," Brooke said, sounding five years old, and becoming extremely curious as to what Haley's secret was. Was she having an affair? Were they getting divorced?

"I'm pregnant," Haley told her.

"Haley! That's great, congratulations!" she got up and gave her friend a big hug. "Aren't you excited? I mean, wow, that's huge!"

"I am, I'm really excited, it's just that I really have no idea how to tell Nathan. He's been really stressed out lately, and I don't know, I guess I have to. It's just so unexpected. I mean, we have talked about it, but we had decided to wait a while," Haley shrugged.

"Mhmm, but you need to tell him, he hast he right to know, plus isn't it killing you to keep it in?" Brooke questioned.

"Yes! I haven't even had the chance to talk to Lucas or anyone, so you're actually the first person I've told," Haley informed her, and Brooke grinned.

"This is big, how far in are you? And how long have you known?" Brooke inquired curiously.

"I'm about two months in, and I've known for a few weeks, and I know that I should be telling Nathan, I was planning to at dinner the other night but we ran into you and then we were excited at the possibility of finally finding our decorator so we were just really caught up in that, I'm telling him soon though," Haley reassured her.

"Okay," Brooke smiled.

Pregnant, wow.

xxxxx

Jake rang on Peyton's doorbell, he was nervous, he hadn't called, so he hoped that she would be home. A few seconds later, she opened the door, wearing a pair of shorts and a black tank top, paint smudged on one of her cheeks, her hair dishevelled, but she looked as beautiful as ever.

"Hey," he smiled.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting you," Peyton responded, seeming surprised.
"Yeah, I thought I'd surprise you, you know, drop in for a little visit, I hope you don't mind," Jake explained.
Peyton laughed, "Not at all, come on in." She moved out of the way so that he could come through the doors. He handed her some roses, and she took them, her eyes widening a bit.

"Getting a little cheesy, aren't we Mr. Jagelski?" Peyton inquired.
Jake shrugged, "It's only ever gotten me so far with you," he laughed, however Peyton did not. Jake noticed this.

"Everything okay?" he asked, his brow creasing a bit with worry.
Peyton closed her eyes for a few seconds, before re-opening them and smiling with her eye brows raised.
"How far do you want to get with me, Jake?" Peyton asked him, going around the other side to get a vase for the roses.
"Aha," Jake said. "I was wondering when this would come up."
"Well, I just don't want to build up any kind of expectations and then have them all be crushed when I realize you don't want the same thing," Peyton rambled.
"I don't know Peyton, it's been a while, and we're both different people now. As much as we might not want to admit it, there's a chance that we aren't right for each other anymore." He explained, gently.
"Well, I'm willing to try and find out if you are," Peyton told him through her eyelashes, a seductive move that surprisingly suited her well.
"Good, that's what I was hoping for," Jake told her.
"Anyways, I happened to notice a few days ago that you and this little brunette were at the same club as me and Rachel, and let me tell you Jake, the things she was doing to you, they're illegal in some states in the US," Peyton shook her head playfully, letting out a little laugh as Jake looked completely mortified.
"I swear she came onto me," Jake put his hands up.
"Well you weren't exactly fighting her off," Peyton said, making her way over to him on the other side of the countertop. "Besides that doesn't matter, all that matters is now."

With that, she grabbed a hold of his tie and yanked it towards her, as her lips crashed down on his for a split second, before Rachel walked into the apartment.

"You little slut!" Was all she said before walking past them and grabbing a bag of chips from the cupboard, acting as if this was a completely regular occurrence.

xxxxx