Equal But Opposite Reaction
By: Sari
Disclaimer: No, I don't own OTH. If I did Brooke and Lucas would be back together and Felix would be in a ditch somewhere. Haley wouldn't be going insane and she and Nathan would be back together.
Summary: AU Brucas. Successful bachelor Lucas Scott meets hard to get, feminist Brooke Davis and a rollercoaster ride occurs as both begin to fall in love.
Part 1
"Every action creates an equal but opposite reaction"
Lucas berated himself one more time for ever deciding to be his brother's agent. He didn't know what drug he was on, or what devil possessed him but he really wanted to shoot himself for agreeing to it. He loved his brother, but Nathan Scott point guard of the New York Knicks was a hassle on a good day and after having a fight with his wife Haley Scott today was not going to be one of those good days. Nathan was bordering on spoiled three year oldthat needed a beating.
"Nate, Hales is not going to stay mad at you. If she dealt with your idiotic, egotistical self since high school she's not going to abandon you now!" Lucas finally shouted irritated. "Now can we please get back to the subject at hand, like these rumors I have to somehow suppress?"
Lucas growled and glared at the cashier of Starbucks. "Nate hold on." He waved hishand frantically at the woman who was making his coffee. "Could you take any longer? I have things to do!"
The cashier glared right back slamming his coffee down on the counter so that it sloshed over the sides. Lucas struggled to keep himself from strangling the cashier. She was just lucky it hadn't spilled on his new suit. Grabbing the cup of coffee he turned around and walked briskly to the exit. "Okay Nate. These rumors, we need to do something about them now. I already called the publicist she's doing as much damage control as possible."
"Can't Nance work any faster? The National Enquirer already has some bogus story about my 'drinking habits'" Nathan complained.
He gritted his teeth. "No, I can't make her work any faster! Keep your partying under control and we wouldn't have this problem!" He glanced at his watch and cursed inwardly. "Nate, I got to go. Contrary to popular belief I do work with other people. Make sure by the time I come over tonight you and Hales have made up. I don't need my best friend barging into my office crying about my bastard brother again!"
Closing his cell phone he flagged down a taxi and hopped in. Settling back in the seat he groaned and remembered that he needed to call another one of his clients by two. Opening up his cell phone again he worked through midday traffic only half listening to the taxi cab driver's road rage as they weaved through the busy New York City streets. Finally arriving he paid the man and jumped out, dusting off his Armani suit.
He pressed the button to the Agency's floor impatiently, desperate to get out of the crowd and into his secluded office where although he was busy, at least he was alone and actually had time to think.
Scratch thinking, when he walked in his office Nancy, Nathan's red-headed and green-eyed publicist, was waiting for him. He sighed dropped his brief case on the floor beside his desk and practically threw himself in his chair. "Nance, what can I do for you?"
She spread out three tabloids and pointed to another stack. "Your brother is driving me insane."
"You and everyone else." Lucas muttered. "I already talked to him today and he said none of it's true and that you should work fast to get rid of it."
"I can't get rid of it! This is America! Free speech and all that good stuff? It sort of happened here and it's still sort of in effect! Just because Nate's a celebrity it makes it even worse." Nancy yelled. "Jeez, I give up!"
Lucas laughed. "You can't give up, you wouldn't have a job."
Nancy rolled her eyes. "I'm starting to think being poor is better than working with Nathan."
"Yeah, I'm sure it is but Nance, you couldn't survive without your Gucci, Fendi, and Prada." Lucas said grinning.
She threw one of the tabloids at him. "Don't get smart with me Lucas!" She picked up another tabloid and read the headline. "Nathan Scott: Sex, Drugs, and Booze. How unoriginal is that! What is that a template? Insert star name here add a colon and then make a cheesy tagline?"
Luke grabbed the paper from her, opening it to the cover story. "Nathan Scott was spotted at Club 1101 last week Saturday clubbing and drinking with a group of fan girls he met after his winning game. Could this mean the end of the marriage to Haley Scott, Grammy winning musician…?" He trailed off dumping the paper in the garbage. "That's why I don't read magazines."
Nancy chuckled, taking the tabloid out of the garbage and adding it back to the pile before shoving the whole stack back into her Prada briefcase. "I better get going, damage control to do."
Lucas glanced at his watch again. "I got an interview with some editor chick about one of my clients."
A loud buzzing noise sounded before the voice of his secretary came over the small intercom. "Mr. Scott there is a Miss Davis waiting for you. She's scheduled for your 3:30 lunch meeting."
He looked at Nancy who waved her good bye. "Have fun."
He mouthed "Wait a minute" before answering his secretary. "Tell her I'll be outside in a couple of minutes."
"Come on Nance, let me walk you out." He said grabbing his suit jacket. Together they walked out of his office and he waved to her as she left the building. He looked around and noticed the brunette sitting elegantly on one of his chairs in the corner. Their eyes met and she rose from her seat a polite smile on her face.
Lucas took that time to size up the woman. She was beautiful with shoulder length brunette hair and large brown eyes. She was dressed professionally and wore black wire rimmed glasses. "Mr. Scott, it's a pleasure to meet you I'm Brooke Davis executive editor of Filly magazine."
"Right, I know we talked on the phone. You're the one interested in getting interviewing rights on over half of my clientele."
"Well yes, Promotex Sports is the most well known and used agency in New York among the NBA it would be a huge asset to my magazine to be able to have your support."
Lucas waved his hand. "Why don't we talk about this over lunch at Catelli's? I didn't invite you for a lunch meeting to talk about this in the middle of my lobby."
"Of course. Lead the way, I'm not familiar with New York City. Filly's offices are in Manhattan." Brooke responded.
He led her down to the parking garage near the building and unlocked his Escalade. "You don't mind riding with me do you?" He said a small smirk on his face when he noticed the surprised look on her face.
"No not at all, I didn't think you'd be driving."
He opened the door for her before going around to his side. Pulling out into traffic he began to question her to figure out what type of person he was dealing with.
"So tell me about yourself. What made you decide to start a magazine?" He asked.
Brooke shrugged. "It was something I was good at and when I was younger and I wasn't good at a lot of things. I turned my hobby into something I could make money off of. I started at Elle magazine as a column writer and eventually started my own."
Lucas nodded. "Where'd you grow up?"
She laughed. "Probably a town you've never heard of. A place called Tree Hill in North Carolina."
He raised an eyebrow. "Tree Hill is one funny name, sounds like some backwards hick town." He said grinning.
Brooke snorted, and Lucas could tell she was enjoying the conversation. "My hometown was more like a TV show. It was just drama after drama after more drama."
"What was your part on the TV show?"
She clammed up. "I don't see how that's relevant to our meeting Mr. Scott."
"Lucas."
She looked up and glanced towards him. "What?"
"You should call me Lucas, Mr. Scott makes me sound old. I like to revel in my youth."
They were in a less crowded part of New York now; the streets were lined with small shops and restaurants. Catelli's was a large restaurant that served Italian food.
Unlocking the doors again, Lucas opened Brooke's door and helped her out the car and lead her into the restaurant, breezing through the line and going directly to the front. He chatted with the concierge before leading her to a table secluded in the back corner.
"Mr. Scott, I mean Lucas you seem to assert a lot of power around here." Brooke commented.
"I use this restaurant for a lot of business meetings. After a while the staff starts to get to know you." He replied. "So back to business, why exactly should I favor your magazine over everyone else?"
Brooke smiled confidently. "Filly is one of the hottest magazines in New York and the U.S. I know you deal with a lot of rising starts, by agreeing to with Filly they can get maximum exposure not only from us but from our partners US Weekly, Entertainment Magazine, and Teen People."
Lucas considered this as he ordered his food, choosing to wait until Brooke had ordered her food and the waitress had left before answering her. "Filly is a magazine mostly for women, why would your readers want to know the newest details about the next hottest NBA star?" Lucas asked.
Brooke blushed. "It's not just Filly magazine that wants your affiliation. Along with Filly magazine our partners, which we have partners in a lot of places not just the magazine field. My Filly readers have also wanted more sports stories."
Lucas filed that in the back of his head. Women starting to have a bigger interest in sports were something he could market later on. He hummed slightly, and they lapsed into a silence each enjoying the food that had just arrived. Lucas took the time to evaluate Miss Davis. She was articulate and one of the best saleswomen he had encountered.
"Lucas, since you had a chance to quiz me in the car I was hoping you'd let me do the same." Brooke said finally.
He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "It'd be my pleasure, ask away."
"Where'd you grow up?" She asked.
"I thought you'd come up with something a little bit more creative." Lucas said. "But I grew up in Palm Beach, Florida. You said your life was a TV show? Well mine was an unhappy fairytale. But my brother and I got out of there and we made something of ourselves."
"Your brother" she said sipping her wine. "He's the basketball star Nathan Scott right?"
Lucas nodded. "The one and only."
"I've heard that in college you played basketball as well and were fairly good at it in fact they call you and your brother an unstoppable force if you were to ever be on the same NBA team, why'd you stop playing?"
Lucas smiled bitterly at her. "Someone did their research didn't they?"
"When you're trying to win over someone you do as much research as you can in order to gain the upper hand." Brooke responded.
"Well Miss Davis, some things are better left unspoken." Lucas said, closing the subject. "Any more questions?"
She shook her head. "Have you considered giving Filly your support yet?"
"Miss Davis, I'll consider it if you'd have dinner with me tonight."
Brooke laughed abruptly, careful to swallow the wine she was drinking. "Lucas, I'm pretty sure that's not professional behavior. I don't date potential contributors to my magazine."
He cocked his head and grinned at her. "Since when did dinner turn into a date? Think of it as an extended meeting."
"An extended meeting, I doubt that's what would be going on." Brooke countered. "Even if I wanted to—which I don't—I couldn't, I already have plans tonight."
"Ah." Lucas said. "You have a boyfriend already; don't want him getting jealous of the handsome, rich man you met today?"
"As if it's any of your business, but no I don't have a boyfriend, and if I did he wouldn't have anything to be jealous of."
Lucas smile grew wider. "You're a feisty one, I like that Miss Davis."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm looking to get a contract, not a date Mr. Scott."
"You'd be getting both if you joined me for dinner." He reasoned.
She sighed, running an agitated her hand through her dark brown hair. "Mr. Scott, if that's what it'll take how about we do dinner tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night is fine, I'll call you tomorrow to tell you what type of clothes to wear." He paused. "I'm guess I can call you Brooke now and you can go back to calling me Lucas."
She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Ok Lucas, can we go now? It's getting late and I'm sure you have other things to do besides flirting with me."
"Not really, but if you insist on going I wouldn't want to upset you." He said with a crooked smile.
"No of course not." She muttered. "Shall we go?"
They walked out of the restaurant and back into his Escalade where he dropped her back off at his office. Saying their goodbyes, he walked back up to his office would a smile on his face. Tomorrow night, he decided, would be very interesting.
-
Brooke shook her head as she watched the blonde haired man disappear into the office building of Promotex Sports. The head of the company, Lucas Scott, was a force to be reckoned with. The man was charming and sophisticated, two qualities that in her mind were dangerous when put together. She would be a fool to lie and say that the man hadn't garnered a reaction. He was drop dead gorgeous, successful, rich, and self-confident. Exactly the type of man that was too much to handle in Brooke's opinion. All they led to was heartache and fights which was why she would get this foolish dinner he had planned out of the way, close her deal, and then cut him off.
She dug in her bag for her cell phone as she flagged down a taxi to take her back into the city. Finding it she punched in the number of her longtime friend Peyton Sawyer. She thanked whoever was being good to her today when a taxi rolled to a stop in front of her and her elusive friend Peyton actually answered her phone.
"P. Sawyer actually answering her telephone for once in her life!" Brooke said sarcastically. "What's going on?"
Peyton laughed. "Nothing Brooke, you coming over now?"
"Heading over there as we speak. I'm coming from NYC though so I might be a little late."
"Oh right, big meeting with the Promotex guy today right?"
"Yeah, and let's say I made as big of an impression on him as he did on me." Brooke said sighing.
"What happened?"
"He asked me to dinner tomorrow night for an 'extended meeting' wouldn't give me an answer until I agreed to come and showed up."
Peyton giggled. "Is he cute?"
"Peyton Sawyer, he is gorgeous. God would strike me down if I didn't admit that man was fine." Brooke said. "That's the problem, I'm way too attracted to him."
"So does this mean Brooke Davis is finally off of her abstaining from men kick?"
"No, he gives me more of a reason to stay on it. After Tim I don't want to get into a relationship, especially not with a guy like Lucas."
"Calling him by his first name already and you just met? Brooke you work fast."
"He insisted and it's nothing like that! I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing you know. He could probably just want to talk over dinner so he could get some time to research Filly or something."
Peyton laughed again, happy that Brooke had a crush on someone. She had been moping ever since Tim had dumped her for another one of their friends, Theresa. "Whatever you say Brooke. If this guy has that much of an effect on you and you've only met with him in an office just think of what will happen at dinner."
"Actually we had lunch." Brooke added, knowing that Peyton was going to jump on that one.
"You two had a lunch meeting? Where'd he take you?"
"Catelli's, this lovely little Italian place just outside of NYC." Brooke said. "He was so blatantly flirting with me right before I left that I ended it as fast as I could."
"Brooke, if you would just get over the bastard Tim and the backstabber Theresa you would wake up and realize that not all men are bad."
"Well Peyt, not everyone has found their prince charming like you have." Brook said bitterly. "Hang on a minute…" She paid the taxi driver and stepped out the cab, taking the steps two at time she climbed up stairs and knocked on her friend's door. The door swung open and she smiled at Peyton.
"I'm sick of guys in general Peyt, you know that. So why don't we drop the subject okay?" Brooke asked.
Peyton shrugged, not like she could argue with her. Brooke would figure it out someday that closing off your heart because of a couple wrong choices wasn't going to make her any happier. "Whatever Brooke, Jake should be here soon and then we can eat."
Brooke nodded, browsing through Peyton's many CD's. "He went to go pick up Jenny?" She said noticing the small hyperactive girl hadn't tackled her yet.
"Yeah, and he's stopping at the store to pick up some things I need." Peyton answered.
"How was the art showing today?"
A huge smile broke out on Peyton's face. "Absolutely wonderful! I got plenty of buyers today, and one of them already pre-ordered my next set. He wants one of everything that will be at my next showing to add to his gallery."
Brooke's mouth dropped open, before she crossed the room and squashed Peyton into a hug. "I'm so glad things are finally working out for you!"
They chatted happily for a couple minutes waiting for Jake to come home about what Peyton's new paintings would be based on and possibly showcasing some of her work and an article on her in Filly. "You'd be perfect for an article Peyt, woman need to know that it doesn't matter about looks or color or status, that you can make it purely on talent."
"Brooke you're such a feminist."
Brooke smiled. "I am, but what'd you expect I'm the executive editor of a woman's magazine!"
They both giggled at that and Peyton rushed to the door to help Jake as he came in. They trio got caught up in the preparing of dinner and dealing with Jenny but all through it Brooke couldn't help but think of what would come of the dinner she would be having with Lucas the next night.
TBC
A/N: Hope you guys liked it please review! This is a filler fic while I think of plot lines, characters, and problems for the sequel to my other story This Time Around so it might not be updated as much unless I really get a good reaction from it, so tell me what you think!