3. Cocktails and tears

"What about this?"

"Yeah, sell it."

"But-"

"Just do it, Millie."

"And this?"

"No, not this one." Brooke fought her tears; she was sitting with her personal assistant Millicent deciding which pieces of clothes and jewelry she can get rid of in the exchange of money.

Brooke has always been the rich girl, and she loved it, she never had to worry about saving money or being careful, her father never denied her a wish since her mother left them as a kid, that was until two years ago when his work started going down and he lost almost all his money. Her father's heart couldn't take the loss and he died shortly after.

And since then, she has been struggling to live, at first she still had what's left of her father's money, but that didn't last forever of course, so, she decided to try and save what's left of his work, but neither was it possible nor did she had any idea what to do, she decided to start her own project, the problem is she didn't have the capital to start it, and somehow the word got to Dan and he offered her a loan which she eventually accepted.

The fact is Brooke Davis was talented, but, she wasn't at all experienced when it came to founding a business on her own, so, as a result, she didn't manage the project very well and her little boutique was closed before she could even start it.

And now, she's broke and in debt to a man who has zero mercy. A man who just humiliated her the very last night in front of one of her good friends, now she knows Lucas is not a bad guy and he wouldn't think anything of her, but, still, Brooke never thought she'd be in such a situation where she'd be vulnerable or embarrassed enough to not be able to meet someone's eyes, even though she has money problems, she never let it affect her social life, she shows up each night like she's used to looking as happy and elegant as ever, however, if anybody took a look inside her house, he'd know just how bad her case actually is.

It's not the first time that she sits down with Millicent to decide what they should sell in order to live, most of the precious items in the house were already gone, this time, she was going to sell the remaining antiques, a luxury living room and some of her clothes; she has to pay this debt no matter what it costs.

"Maybe you don't have to do this." Millie told her seeing how broken she looked but Brooke looked at her determined.

"I have to. This is the only thing I have to do right now." She said and then blinked several times to prevent the tears from showing, "You weren't there, Millie." Her voice cracked.

Millicent sat down next her and pulled her to her shoulder and Brooke finally started crying while Millicent rubbed her arm.

Millie was the only person who stuck to her side, she was with her before it all started, and she was a good help to her personally and also around the house, she knew what was where all the time, when news started spreading about her father's business, all her supposed friends started disappearing as well, along with the employees and workers, however, and even though Millicent was one of the employees herself, but she stuck by her side through it all, even though Brooke can't afford to pay her anymore even if she wanted to, Millicent refused to go.

"We're going to get through this." Millie soothed her as Brooke cried out the pain.

XxXx

Haley rushed through the door hiding from the rain outside as she folded her umbrella, she saw the old short chubby woman coming out of a room on hearing the door chimes indicating someone's arrival with a measuring tape around her neck.

"Hello, Bernice."

"Oh, Haley." The woman said though her glasses her red chubby cheeks pushing up against her eyes due to smiling, her voice was fruity and warm, "Come in, have a seat."

"Actually, I wanted to ask, are you free now? I'm in a hurry."

"Oh, well, I have a fitting inside and then I will take care of the lovely Miss here and I'm yours."

"Ah, I'm afraid I don't have time. It's okay then I'll pass by some other time."

"You can go before me; I'm not in a hurry." She heard a voice say and for the first time she looked at her left to see a young lady sitting with her face hidden behind a magazine, "If you want to." Peyton Sawyer added lowering the magazine.

"That's lovely of you, darling." Bernice cooed while Haley lost her words for a moment.

"Um, I don't think that's necessary."

"It's completely fine by me if you want to." Peyton lightly shrugged her shoulders.

"Thank you, dear. Now take a seat, Haley I will be with you in ten minutes." The tailor said and returned back to the other room closing the door behind her.

Haley sighed and sat down, "Thank you," she said without looking at Peyton who was slowly flipping through the magazine which was now positioned in her lap.

"Don't worry about it, I am looking to kill time anyway." She said not lifting her eyes from the magazine.

Haley didn't speak to Peyton before, not really anyway, she saw her with Dan several times but they never needed to exchange words or hold a conversation before, but they have exchanged a few nods of greeting whenever they came across each other at The Comet. But for Haley, the fact that Peyton is always acquainted with Dan crossed her off of the list of nice people, in fact, that wasn't the case for just Haley, most people in the town were like that and Peyton was well aware of it. However, she has learned to deal with it, she didn't back away from people or take a side exactly, but she wasn't shy or ashamed to deal with people whenever she needed or wanted to.

It was absolutely silent for a couple of minutes except for Peyton's occasional page flipping until she sighed and flipped the magazine closed.

"I hear Bernice is really good."

"It's your first time here?"

"Yes, it is." Peyton nodded, "I just stopped going to my tailor, and I have been hearing about Bernice for a while."

"Well, yeah, she's good." Haley confirmed in a relatively nice tone but added no more.

"I like your umbrella, it's nice." Peyton said eyeing Haley's black umbrella with four lines of white dots around the edge.

Haley instantly smiled looking at her umbrella as well, "Yeah, it's actually very dear to me."

At this moment the door opened and Bernice walked out with a woman in her forties behind her, "I'll see you Wednesday, Bernice."

"Sure, darling, I'll be waiting you." She said heartedly as the woman left, "Haley, I'm ready for you, sweetheart."

Peyton soon found herself alone as they disappeared behind the door as she picked up another magazine and began flipping through it for the next twenty minutes or so when Haley left and it was her turn as she entered Bernice's fitting room where she kept three full mirrors next one another, the two on the left and right slightly adjusted to show different angels, a low chair for customers to stand on while she took their measures, and there were a couple of dresses, a blouse and two skirts hanging on mannequins behind the mirrors, and on the other side there was a desk with some stuff on it and then there was another door behind the wooden desk, Peyton assumed it'd be Bernice's workshop.

"So, darling, I believe this is the first time we meet."

"Yes, it is."

"So, what do you want me to make you?"

"I need a gown for the New Year upcoming party."

"Ah, don't we all!" she said dreamily, "Alright then, first thing I need to tell you that I keep records here for my customers, I will have a section in this notebook just for you," she said holding up a big notebook flipping through the pages to find a new section which she previously divided into. "So, first tell me your name and then we will take your measures and then you can tell me what you have in mind, alright?"

Peyton looked at the woman with a ghost of a smile, "How do you know I will come back?"

"I just do." She said with raised eyebrows and a reassuring smile as Peyton couldn't help but smile back, "So, what do we call the pretty lady?" she asked holding up a pen.

"My name is Peyton Sawyer."

"Peyton Sawyer, where have I heard that name before?" she said as she wrote down and then she looked up at her and Peyton knew that she recognized the name, "Oh, you're Dan Shaw's daughter."

Peyton shook her head, "Dan is not my father, he's… you can say he's my uncle." For all she knows, no one knows about her mother's relationship with Dan, and she intended to keep it this way, even if it means people sometimes assuming the worst of her own relationship with Dan.

"Oh, okay." She shrugged and motioned for Peyton to stand on the chair so she took her shoes off and did just that as Bernice pulled out her measuring tape and started taking measures. "I believe people are giving you a hard time, I don't want to upset you, but ever since I came here I have heard many conflicting stories about Dan Shaw and Peyton Sawyer."

"I got used to it." Peyton shrugged, "In fact, I think it's fun knowing that all these people talk but no one ever knows the truth."

"You sound like a brave girl, I like brave girls." She said and Peyton gave a chuckle.

"I don't really call it bravery; I just have to find a way to deal with it."

"Whatever suits you, right?"

"Right."

"So, why am I only seeing you today?"

"I was previously going to Samuel if you know him."

"I do. He retired, yes?"

"Yes, he did, a few weeks ago."

"Didn't his son take him place?"

"Yeah, but, I'm not comfortable with him."

"Well, at least he brought you here, so, he's not all bad."

Peyton laughed, "I guess so."

"Alright, honey, all done. So, do you have a certain design you want or do you want me to suggest something?"

Peyton spent the next fifteen minutes discussing her new gown with Bernice and she knew she already like the woman, but who wouldn't? After all, she loves her job and once she started talking about it, she is full of energy despite her age and she seems to know exactly what she's doing, and aside from all of that, she has a really warm personality, she sounded motherly and she basically had an aura of positivity around her.

"Alright, Peyton, I will see you next week." Bernice said as Peyton got ready to leave.

"Sure, thank you so much." She said and left the woman in the fitting room alone. As Peyton was leaving, she noticed something on her right, she looked over and it was Haley's umbrella. She forgot it. Peyton hesitated for a moment but then moved forward, grabbed it and left.

XxXx

"Why me? You go."

"No, I went last time, and it's your turn."

"Yeah, but you forgot to tell me earlier."

"So? There's still time." Lucas exclaimed as Nathan rolled his eyes and smacked his brother's head from the back making Lucas smile knowing that he won.

"Whatever, just write them down." He said and Lucas quickly grabbed a paper and went back to the kitchen to write down a list of the few things they needed. "Haley? What are you doing here so early?" Nathan asked as saw Haley coming back from the backstage area.

She looked sad, "I was looking for my umbrella; I thought maybe I left it here when I came earlier to drop the music sheets for Skillz."

"You lost it?"

"Apparently, since I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"That's a shame; I liked that umbrella."

"Yeah, me too, it's the last thing left from my mother."

"Here," Lucas came back handing Nathan the paper, "Hey, Haley, what's going on?"

"I was just checking if I left my umbrella here. Anyway, I should get going."

Nathan waved the paper his brother just gave him, "I'm leaving too. Where are you heading?"

"Well, I was going to buy a new one; it's always raining these days and I need one."

"I'm going to get a few things for the kitchen, so, I'm heading to the market too, we could go together." He offered. Lucas was leaning over the bar watching in amusement.

"Wait, you're getting things for the kitchen now? For tonight?"

"Not my fault, ask that idiot." Nathan said nodding his head towards Lucas who raised his eyebrows and threw his hands in the air in a protest as Haley chuckled at their goofiness.

"You two are adorable." She commented and got up, "Let's go then?"

"Yeah,"

"Hey, Nate?" Lucas called after him as he returned to his previous position on leaning on the bar, "On your way back, could you stop by the house to get the toolbox? We need to fix that door before tonight." He said and when Nathan opened his mouth to argue he quickly spoke again, "The toolbox that you took home and never returned back."

"Ugh, I hate you,man!" He said and turned back around to leave with Haley and he could see his brother's smirk as he left. He knew that this smirk wasn't just because he got him to do what he wanted at the end, no, he was teasing him about spending time with Haley alone.

He never spoke about it, but he did find Haley quiet charming, and he knew Lucas picked up on it, but, it doesn't matter anyway, it's not like there's anything going on or will be. Haley is completely out of his league.

Lucas was sitting behind the bar alone reading a book and waiting for his brother to return, it was about fifteen minutes since he left with Haley when he heard someone walking in and he looked up to see the silhouette of a fine young lady standing by the door, he couldn't recognize her because of the light coming from the outside, it wasn't until she took a few steps forward and fell under the light coming from inside that he recognized her as Peyton Sawyer.

"Hey," she walked in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked from across the hall as he walked around the bar with a creased forehead.

"Jeez, it's freezing." She muttered as she turned around to close the door.

"No, no, don't… close the door." He said but she had already closed it when he finished the sentence.

"Why?"

He gave her a look and a fake smile, "It doesn't open from the inside."

"Oh," she said and couldn't help the blush that crept upon her cheeks.

He gave a sigh, "Nathan will be here soon." He said, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was looking for Haley." She said once again with pride not liking the tone that he used with her.

He gave a laugh.

"And that's funny because?"

"You have nerve." He stated.

"Excuse me?"

"You want to see Haley? You came here to steal her, and you have the nerve to say it to my face. Well, guess what? She's not going back, she's happy here."

She had her mouth opened in shock, "You're unbelievable. Do you always jump to judgments like that, Mr. Scott?"

"Only when I know the case."

"Well, whoever told you that you know everything in the world made you wrong, alright? I came looking for Haley to give her this back." She said and held up Haley's umbrella.

Lucas looked at her stunned before shaking his head, "Whatever you say."

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you and your Dan never do anything without a reason."

"How dare you!" she was now furious, and she had tears forming at the back of her eyes, "First of all, you don't know me… and second of all… you don't know me, and… and third of all he is not my Dan!" she was mad, and she never let anyone make her lose her classiness or raise her voice, but this right here, Lucas kept pushing her to her nerves ever since she walked in, he didn't respect her and she knew it since he never even tried to pretend otherwise.

Usually, people whisper behind her back and smile in her face, no one ever treated her with disrespect, and if anybody even had the intention to, Dan was always with her and one look from him was enough to end it.

It was unlike Lucas to speak to a woman with such attitude, but up until that moment, whenever he looked at Peyton he saw Dan, so he only spoke to her as if she's Dan and knowing Dan's antiques, of course he wouldn't be nice nor would he expect any good coming from him.

But, now, when she snapped screaming at him, he came to his senses, he saw her, a girl who's being called on for things she didn't even do. He instantly felt guilty when he saw her eyes glistening in forming tears but she refused to let them show as her eyes popped out fury towards him.

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out but his face showed guilt.

"What's going on?" Nathan walked in with a frown holding a few paper bags and the toolbox.

Peyton instantly turned around to leave, "Make sure Haley gets this." she addressed Nathan without even looking his way as she put the umbrella on a table as she took quick steps out.

"What was that?" Nathan questioned and once again, Lucas opened his mouth to explain, but nothing came out.

XxXx

"So, what do you have for me tonight?" Haley plopped down on the bar chair next Lucas as she addressed Nathan after her show was over, ever since her first night at Karen's she has been coming to the bar so Nathan would serve her a different cocktail she has never heard of and she had no idea where he gets them from, but she liked that, the mystery of having to wait until the end of the night to know what drink he has planned for her was exciting, and it made her whole day exciting.

As for Nathan, even though he was not needed behind the bar, he made sure to be there for what grew to be a daily custom for them, he always put on an effort to plan a certain drink for Haley every night, he unknowingly chose them according to how he feels about her every day like when he made her a Tequila Sunrise the day he found her smile is adorable or when he got her a Roman Punch the day she totally rocked the stage, she was confident and vibrant and indeed glamorous, Nathan thought she resembled a Greek Goddess that day.

Nathan smiled at her and poured her a creamy green liquid sliding it over towards her, today that he had spent some more time with her, he felt cozy, and he found nothing better than a Grasshopper to give her.

Haley sipped from the minty chocolate drink and looked up at him looking astonished, "Dear God, so far this is my favorite one."

Nathan smiled proudly, "Oh, I have something else for you." He said and reached down beneath the bar and pulled out her umbrella as Haley gasped.

"Where did you find that?"

"Actually it found you." He said handing it over to her as she took it puzzled, "Peyton Sawyer came earlier and dropped it."

"Oh, I must have left it at Bernice's and she saw it." She realized, "I went back there but didn't find it, I guess she has already picked it up." she analyzed, "Well, that's unexpectedly nice of her." She concluded.

"Yeah, I'm sure Lucas agrees. Don't you Luke?" Nathan said smirking over at his brother who has been sitting there with his back to the bar watching over the hall and pretending to not listen to their conversation.

Lucas grumpily turned around and sent his brother a dirty look; he has filled him up about the previous encounter and Nathan for some reason found it funny and kept teasing him about it.

"What's going on?" Haley asked looking between the two of them; she has been growing closer to the guys over the time, she can even call it friendship, which is something that have been missing from her life for a long time.

"Lucas made Peyton Sawyer cry."

Haley gasped and Lucas instantly protested, "I didn't make her cry."

"What did you do?!"

"I… I thought she was here for a Dan trick, and I didn't hide it."

"He was rude." Nathan clarified.

"Well, can you blame me?" Lucas exclaimed. "She's always attached to his hip and everybody knows that."

"I know what you're talking about," Haley spoke, "when I met her this morning, I was skeptical when she was being nice and it made me uncomfortable… but now that I think about it, I think she's lonely."

"Lonely." Lucas repeated with a tone of disbelief.

"Well, yes, think about it, she lives in this house all by herself, she has no one to talk to and her best friend is Dan. I never thought about it before but it sucks to be her."

It was the first time that any of them see it from this perspective, and the way Haley put it, it might be true that even if she's acquainted with Dan all the time, but Peyton Sawyer might be a little bit more than Dan's doll.

XxXx

"How was your day?"

"Fine."

"What were you doing at Karen's?" Dan went straight to the point as Peyton's eyes grew wider and her mouth was slightly agape as she looked over at him before her look shifted to annoyance rather than surprise.

"You sent someone to follow me. Again."

"Peyton, I only do it because I care. I know this town well enough; those rats will jump at any chance to harass you."

"I'm fine, Dan, and nothing ever happened to me. In fact, the only one harassing me is you right now, I told you many times I don't need a guard."

"I'm sorry, but you can't blame me for worrying about you."

She huffed and didn't reply.

"Come on, Peyton, I care about you, I want to protect you, it was your mother's last wish and I really honor that."

"I know."

"I don't want to upset you though, so, I respect you enough to not do anything behind your back." He spoke with a smooth nice voice and she sighed so he knew she's caving in, "Now, tell me what happened?"

"Nothing, I just met Haley this morning at Bernice's, which you probably already know." She said bitterly and he gave her a look as she sighed, "Anyway, she forgot something and I was just bringing it back to her."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, what else could it be?"

"Good. I was just worried, I don't want you anywhere near those boys, I'm sure you know better than to get close to them, right?"

"Yeah, of course." She nodded, however, she didn't see the point anyway, she wouldn't get close to them, or anyone for that matter, "Look, you have nothing to worry about."

He nodded, "Good, oh, by the way, what happened to Samuel? I thought he was your tailor."

"He retired and I didn't think his son was as good as him." She shrugged and he nodded once again getting up,

"Are you sure you don't want to go out tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm not feeling it." She gave him a smile, "I bought this new book and I will spend some time reading it."

"Okay then, darling." He walked over to where she was sitting on her couch and dropped a kiss on her forehead before leaving her in her dark big house all alone.

Peyton sighed and didn't move from her place; she woke up this morning thinking it would be a day like any other day, and she had no problem with that, sure she gets bored or lonely at times, but she gets over it all the time. However, when Lucas Scott spoke out loud the words she knows everybody is thinking it made her upset; knowing they think so is something and actually hearing it is something else. She always wondered how people can just judge someone without even knowing them or at least try to.

She knows that Dan's gained a bad reputation over the years, but, she also knows he's a good guy, she knows those rumors around him are not true, she has known Dan for the most portion of her life ever since he was a family friend and then her mother's love. Dan is not what everybody says he is, he is just a cautious man and he has no tolerance for negligence or if anybody sabotaged his plans, he gets what he wants, he's a tough guy and he admires power and powerful people. That doesn't make him a bad guy. He's just worked hard to get where he is and he protects it. So, when he fires people who make mistakes or refuse to hire someone whom he thinks will not benefit him, it's okay and surely doesn't make him evil.

But people just assumed so, and started speaking about him not being a clean man and rumored about some work under the tables, which Peyton knows not to be true, and that's what matters to her, that she knows the truth.

It affected her when they kept avoiding her just because Dan cares about her and protect her, she has heard all sorts of whispers about her and Dan and what got her through it is that she knows the truth.

And for that and only that she has stuck to his side, she could have cracked and chose to please the people and get away from him, but she didn't, she stood by him because she knows that both of them are victims of people's assumptions. That's of course besides the fact that Dan actually cares for her.

In fact, he could be over protective of her, she has stopped him before from toughing up people who has harassed her, and then she stopped telling him about anybody who does so he wouldn't hurt anybody, she knew it's because he protects her but she doesn't think it's worth it, and he would only prove people right if he did so.

That's why she didn't tell him about Lucas Scott's remarks earlier, and that's why she didn't tell him about Samuel's son molesting her while taking measures.

Peyton Sawyer has perfected a brave face and learned to bury her problems inside, but sometimes, in order to do so, she needed to spend some time alone at home and cry.

Hi there, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :) I wish you are having a wonderful time. So, here's chapter 3 for you next chapter is already half written so expect it soon, thanks for thise who took the time and dropped me comments I appreciate that very much thnk you and I am glad you like the idea.

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing this and if you do let me know what you think.

I really have good plans for this story and can't wait to share them with you guys :)