Chapter Four
Haley looked around the art museum, admiring the paintings on display. She was on her lunch break and had promised her father that she would go down to the museum and look at the Chellini Venus, but since the moment she arrived she had felt guilty about loaning a fake and was therefore avoiding its room. However, she was unable to avoid someone else.
Haley walked to her right, but as her eyes had not completely left the painting she had been looking at, she didn't realize that someone was coming her way. As a result, she collided straight into him, and the shock made her fall slightly backwards. She was only saved from falling to the ground because the man caught her by the waist. Placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, Haley looked up, intending to apologize, "I'm so…" but her voice trailed off when she saw who the man was. "N-M- Mr. Scott," she stuttered.
"Haley," he breathed. This was actually the second time that day he had come to the museum, hoping to run into her, but he was surprised that his plan had actually worked – and so literally.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Haley stuttered, and moved back out of his embrace.
"Oh, I just came to have a look around," said Nathan, affectedly casual.
Haley clapped her hands to her cheeks in shock. "Oh my God!"
"What's wrong?"
"You're –" Haley stopped herself when she realized how loud she had become, and lowered her voice. "You're casing the joint!"
Nathan couldn't hold back the smile that spread across his face.
"I can't believe you're thinking of stealing from here! You don't even have to steal – and now, I'm an accomplice! And –"
She was stopped by Nathan putting his fingers on her mouth. "Ssh. I'm not here to steal and it would be better if you didn't draw attention to us."
Haley nodded. When neither did anything, she said, "Could you take your hand from my mouth, please?"
Nathan hastily moved his hand away, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that had started when her lips brushed against his palm as she spoke.
"Oh, Miss James? Miss James!" A man about Jimmy James' age approached Haley. "Hello."
"Hello, Mr. Nye."
"Are you here to see the Chellini Venus?"
"Er, yes," Haley replied.
"Shall I take you to it? And, your friend?" Mr. Nye gestured to Nathan.
"Oh, he's not my friend."
"Nathan Scott." He held out his hand and Mr. Nye shook it.
"Son of Dan and Deborah Scott? It's a pleasure to meet you, sir; your mother made quite a sizeable donation to our museum only last month."
"You own the museum then?" Nathan inquired.
"No, I just run the place, but I am in charge of most things," Mr. Nye said proudly.
"Actually, Mr. Nye," Haley interrupted them, "we have to be going." She put her hand on Nathan's elbow, hoping he would get the message.
"But the Venus?" Mr. Nye protested. "It's only in the next room and I was hoping to show you our security system so that you will see how well protected your statue is."
"Oh, we'd love to see that," Nathan smirked.
Haley's eyes lit up in horror, but Mr. Nye mistook her expression for excitement. "Well, then," he said happily, "it's settled then. Right this way."
He walked ahead, and Nathan followed, leaving Haley no choice but to do the same.
The Chellini Venus had been placed in the centre of its room, as it was currently the main attraction. Mr. Nye got to it first and waited for Nathan and Haley to come along. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he commented.
"Very," Nathan said.
Haley glared warningly at Nathan, but he made to effort to show he had noticed.
"You see those blue lights that form a square above and below the Venus?" Mr. Nye pointed them out. "They protect the Venus."
"That's very nice, sir, but we really have to go." Haley tried again, but it was no use.
"What do the lights do?" Nathan asked him.
"Right now you can't see it, but each light at the top is connected to one at the bottom, and they form a laser. If anything, even by a centimeter, crosses one of those lasers, an alarm sounds."
"Fascinating stuff, really, but –"
"The alarm contacts the Tree Hill Police. The only people with the password to reset it are myself and Mr. Salamone, the head of security here at the museum, and the password is changed daily. So, you can see, Miss James, your statue is in very safe hands."
Haley flashed him a defeated smile. He had already told Nathan the entire security system guarding the Venus.
"Excuse me, Mr. Nye, can I have a word?" A lady came up from behind him and tapped him on the back.
"Why, certainly, Mrs. Tillman – lovely talking to you Miss James, Mr. Scott. Please do visit again soon." The pair then exited, leaving Haley by the statue, alone with Nathan.
"So, Haley –" before Nathan could say anymore, Haley began to march away from him, and, despite her smaller legs, Nathan had to jog to keep up with her. "Haley. Haley, wait! Where are you going?"
"To work! I have a job, remember?"
"What did I do?"
They were in the parking-lot now and nearly at her car. "What did you do? You broke into my house, tried to steal my father's painting, and now you're going to steal his statue!"
"Haley! I apologized for trying to steal from your house, and I'm not going to steal the Venus."
"So you're a thief and a liar! Great." Haley unlocked her car door and tried to get in, but Nathan held onto the door.
"Could you just talk to me?"
"About what, Mr. Scott?"
"It's Nathan."
The sad tone in his voice softened her a little. "Nathan…what would you like to talk about?"
"Well…" Nathan faltered. He knew he wanted to talk to her, but he wasn't sure how to begin. "Is there anything you'd like to ask me?" It seemed better than if he initiated the talking.
"Why did you kiss me last night?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, so Haley had no option but to wait for an answer.
Nathan took a moment to think about this; maybe he should have started the talking after all. "Um…it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"What!" Haley exclaimed. Nathan opened his mouth to explain himself, but Haley just grabbed the car door from him, got inside her car and drove away, leaving Nathan standing in a cloud of smoke.