Easy Morning Rebel

He'll be the water if you'll be the wine.
Sent down from heaven in this earthly disguise
Well the evening rebel, his heart is stone.
This earthly body...
Just a temporary home
-My Morning Jacket

xxxxx

"No way! I don't believe you." Brooke laughed, as Chris told her the story of how he was two feet away from Bob Dylan, but was taken away by security because they thought he was a criminal.

"Oh, believe it." He replied, smiling at her.

"No offense or anything, but I would've never pegged you for a Bob Dylan fan, or a musician, and I especially would have never guessed that you were from Tree Hill! That's such an insane co-incidence, and I'm surprised we never met." Brooke told him.

"None taken, most people who meet me at these black-tie events don't. To be honest they aren't my thing, it's just that my mom owns a design firm in Paris, and she wanted me to accompany her since my dad was away on business, anyways she decided to go to the spa last minute and still made me come. Plus I've got a show to do tomorrow night in London so I'm going to be seriously worn out." Chris told her, resting his elbows on his legs and moving forward a bit.

"That sucks! I'm sorry." Brooke told him, a playful pout at her lips.

Chris' eyes captured Brooke's and a surge of electricity shot through her.

"I'm not." He replied, and Brooke felt herself turning a shade of crimson.

This night was coming along a lot better than she could've imagined..

xxxxx

"Rachel is..definatly something." Jake laughed as him and Peyton pulled out of her condo.

"Oh yeah she's quite eccentric," Peyton replied with a smile. "But she's been so great to me and Brooke ever since we moved here, she was our first friend, you know."

"Yeah, she was telling me about it earlier." Jake said, as they made their way back onto the crowded streets back to Peyton's. "Where was Brooke tonight anways?"

"She had a party of some sort to go to for her design firm, speaking of which did you know that she will be the designer for Scott Corp?" Peyton asked, shaking her head at the irony of the whole situation.

"Yeah, Haley told us at a meeting, and to say Lucas was [/i]not[/i] happy about it would be an under-statement." Jake informed her.
"See, that's what bothers me, why does Lucas care? Why does it even matter to him? Him and Brooke mean [/i]nothing[/i] to each other, at least that's what they've lead us to believe, Lucas had absolutely no reason to care if Brooke is going to be working there or not. It bothers me that Haley had to convince her into saying yes with the fact that she wouldn't have to see Lucas much. So he embarrassed her and it was awful for her, but it's been a year, Tree Hill's elite milked that situation for all it was worth, and they've moved onto something more scandalous. It's time for them to grow up and deal with it." Peyton said, all in one breath.

"Woah Peyt.." Jake laughed, looking nervously on.

"Come on Jake, its true! Lucas refused to go out with us tonight because he thought Brooke would be here, like how ridiculous is that?" she asked him in all seriousness.

"It's going to take time, Peyton." Jake shrugged. "I mean you can't just expect them to be all buddy buddy, if it's going to happen, if, then it will happen in good time."

xxxxx

"I really want to see you again, Brooke." Chris told her, as he helped her into her car.

"Yeah, me too." Brooke replied, with a dimpled smile, as a feeling of warmth spread through her, she took out her cell phone, and Chris took a hold of it, punching in his number. Brooke did the same with Chris' phone.

"I've actually got a show coming up in Rome, about two weeks from now, how about I call you and you come watch?" his lingering stare sent a sensation through Brooke, and she felt herself thinking about how promising this could be.

"That sounds great." She grinned.

"Well, I'll let you go," he said, and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before closing the door and waiting for her to drive off before walking off.

Brooke leaned back in her seat and almost sighed, but realized that would be much too cliché. Chris was amazing, he was just so attentive, and interesting, although he was a little bit [Censored]y, and there was a portion of the evening when he kept referring to himself in third person as "the Keller". He was quirky, and funny, and made her feel good about herself.

She knew that a guy like that probably already had a line up of girl waiting at him back in Paris, so she wasn't going to be expecting a call from him. It was just nice to actually feel appreciated for a change, even if it was just for one night.

xxxxx

"Ready for your first day at work for Scott Corp?" Peyton asked her as she sleepily slugged out of her room, grabbed a cup of coffee, and made her way ver to the stool beside Brooke, taking a sip, she shook her head and laughed. "I can't get over how hilarious this whole situation is."

"Oh and why would you find it hilarious? I mean, the only reason I can think of would be the fact that Lucas is going to be there, and as I recall you were the one who told me Lucas shouldn't matter." Brooke challenged playfully.

"Obviously it does matter, because you're looking pretty fancy this morning." Peyton informed her, whistling slightly as her brunette best friend rolled her eyes.

Brooke examined her outfit. She was wearing a black pencil skirt, with a silk turquoise, collared shirt. She had on a simple pair of black heels, and her hair was straightened and some of it was clipped back with a hair barrett. It was a stretch from what she usually wore to work, as at her firm there really were no rules as to the dress code. Just don't show up naked, was all her boss had said.

"This isn't about Lucas, it's my first day, I wanted to look nice." Brooke told her.

"I know, and I'm just kidding around about all this Lucas stuff, you know that. I'm so proud of how far you've come, and you look beautiful." The blonde told her lifelong friend sincerely, giving her a hug.

"Thanks Peyt, I've got to run, but I'll see you at dinner tonight, I want to hear all about your night and all the details about Jagelski." Brooke said, grabbing her bag and putting her coffee cup in the sink before making her way out the door.

"Good luck!" Peyton called after her, shaking her head as a firm smile stayed planted at her lips.

xxxxx

Brooke couldn't shake the butterflies in her stomach, and it was driving her insane. However she told herself that being nervous for her first day was completely normal, it happened to everyone. Besides, Haley had called her and said that everything was set up, the receptionist at the front, Millicent, would show her to her office, and she would get settled in. Haley was having breakfast with Nathan and would be there in half an hour or so.

She made her way into the perfectly polished, completely glamorous building. There was a waterfall when you entered, and the floors were made of marble. An enormous chandler hung over top and the windows were all made of glass. On one side of the room, there was an aquarium, and on the other there was a coffee shop of some sorts. The receptionist's desk was farther back towards the centre, and Brooke made her way over.

The woman working at the desk was on the phone, and gestured for Brooke to wait a minute. She was pretty; she had long brown hair, which curled a bit at the ends, lushes red lips, and almond eyes behind her glasses. The name on her desk read "Millicent McFadden".

"How can I help you?" she asked, sounding slightly jittery and nervous, which was odd for a receptionist. She must be new Brooke thought.
"I'm the decorator," Brooke smiled. "Haley told me that you would show me my office?"
"Oh, Brooke Davis!" the woman shook her hand. "Yes, right this way."

She ushered her down the hall and towards the elevator, as they made their way up, Brooke couldn't help but notice how Millicent looked increasingly uncomfortable, she almost jumped when Brooke made a joke about them getting stuck, and she didn't look at Brooke once, only staring ahead.

Once they were on the third floor of the 10 floor building, the elevator rang and the door opened. There was a reception desk, in front of them, with a few woman working busily. There were also two sides to this floor, on one side, Brooke saw people working, they all looked so executive like and serious. On the other side, she saw that it wasn't nearly as busy..really there was no one there.

"This way, Ms. Davis." Millicent said, still not making eye contact, she lead Brooke down the narrow hall where there weren't an open offices, just rooms, that looked kind of grimy.

At the end of the hall, she opened the door and Brooke was immediately hit with an intense combination of air freshener and wet towels. Her jaw almost dropped the ground when she saw the room. It was the size of her closet back home in Tree Hill. It was completely gray, there was one small window in the corner, a small wooden desk and a wooden chair in the corner, nothing else. She wondered if there were even any outlets here?

Haley couldn't have given her this office. It wasn't even an office! It was clearly a janitors closet or something. It wasn't as if she was high maintenance, this was just a little bit ridiculous. The other shoe then dropped.

"Oh it's great!" Brooke pretended, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "Tell me Millicent, did Haley pick this just for me?"
"Well, Haley had originally picked an office closer to hers, but Lucas told me that that was for the other decorator he had hired, and instead told me to give you this one." Millicent told her, all in one breath.
"I can't believer Lucas, that son of a bitch! This is just like him." Brooke threw her hands up.
"Well, I'm just going to head back down…" Millicent started.
"Where is Lucas' office?" Brooke almost screamed. She couldn't believe him!
"Tenth floor, you'll see it." Millicent replied, running down the hallway.

Brooke grabbed her bang and stormed out, leaving the door open to the storage closet, and as she punched the up button on the elevator furiously, many curious eyes travelled towards her.

xxxxx

Lucas was exhausted, he had just gotten out of a meeting with some of his contractors, and he had gone out last night, picked up a girl, and taken her back to his hotel room. When he awoke, he couldn't believe she had the nerve to still be sleeping in his bed! He had gotten her to wake up and get out, although she complained grumpily in Italian, probably about how early it was.

He never allowed a woman he had had sex with to sleep in his bad afterwards. Why would he? It's not as if he cared about them, they were just meaningless [Censored]s. Once he got the high that he so desperately craved, he had no use for them, and was usually completely turned off, so he told them to get out. He had just been so tired last night that he hadn't even bothered.

He was turning on his laptop when he heard loud banging on his office door. Before he could even say "come in", the door was opened and a very angry looking Brooke Davis barged in.

"Davis." He nodded.
"Don't Davis me! You have some nerve!" Brooke screamed, making her way over to his desk.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, putting his feet up on his desk, and folding his arms across his chest, knowing that the fact that he didn't seem to care at all about this was bothering her.

He watched as she tapped her foot against the floor, and her cheeks turned a furious red. She wasn't blushing, she was angry.

"You gave me a closet to work in!" Brooke rolled her eyes. "Honestly Lucas, it's completely ridiculous."
"Hey, I had no idea what was in that room, I just saw that it wasn't vacated and told Millicent to clear it out and give it to you." Lucas shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's how it went." Brooke rolled her eyes, her face completely animated with anger. "But what happened to Haley picking my office?"
"Oh, I had to give that to Lindsey." Lucas told her, getting up and walking over to get himself a pop from the mini fridge.
"Who's Lindsey?" she asked, arms folded across her chest, her eyebrows knotted together.
"She's the decorator I hired." He informed her, turning around. You want a drink?"
"You smug son of a bitch! I can't believe you. It's not as if we'll even have to see each other." Brooke yelled, using her arms for emphasis.
"Stop being so conceited and acting like this is all about you. I got one flown in from California, she's done the Hilton, she's an expert, and I just thought we needed someone experienced." Lucas smirked, coming over and sitting on his desk, right in front of Brooke.
"Have you even talked to Haley about this?" Brooke exclaimed. "And I am experienced, and that office was mine!"

Lucas had the urge to laugh at how worked up she was getting over this. Her cheeks were completely flushed, her lips were pouted, and her forehead had a few lines on it from her jabbing her eyebrows together. She looked like a five year old.

"This is my company, I can make decisions without asking Haley. Plus it's just more extra help, Haley won't mind." He told her, a knowing smile at his lips.

"Actually, it's Dan's company, soon to be Nathan's" she then laughed. Knowing it was a point for B. Davis.

Lucas felt his blood beginning to boil, and he was about to say something when someone knocked on the door.

Both Lucas and Brooke turned as a girl came through the doors. She was wearing a short blue dress, her hair was a dirty blonde, perfectly pinned back, and her make up was done to pure perfection. She looked like she had just stepped out off the cover of Vogue.

"Hey Lucas," she smiled warmly at him, completely ignoring Brooke. "Sorry I'm a bit late, still getting used to things here. But do you want to show me my office now so I can get settled in."

Lucas smirked at Brooke, who was scoffing, her arms folded across her chest.

"Right this way, Lindsey Strauss, right this way." Lucas said with a wink, as the two made their way out the doors, Lucas putting his hand on her lower back. "You're going to love it, it has a view of the Roman skyline, there's a flat screen in there…"

xxxxx

His voice trailed and Brooke couldn't hear the rest as they were too far out the doors.

She could not believe this. That was supposed to be her office, and this was supposed to be her decorating job.

She hated Lucas Scott more than she ever thought possible.

xxxxx