Hello, my lovely readers. This is a lighter chapter. On with the show...

Chapter 5: Territorial

Manila folders laid stacked atop Hayley's desk. Mikael had offered Hayley another case which she would be second chair to Finn on. Of course, Finn had to keep physical copies of all his documents—not computer files—like everyone else from the turn-of-the-century. Seriously! It was nearly midnight and Hayley felt like her eyes were going to fall out of her head before she got done reading the details of the case.

Getting up, Hayley rolled her shoulders, yawned and stood up. She closed the last folder on the divorce of a couple who might kill each other before the case ended. On the bright side that would give the firm more work—defending the half of the couple who survived. She just hoped that's not how Caroline and Klaus' case ended.

Hayley placed the last folder in the box, put the lid on it and placed it beside her filing cabinet. She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and slid into it. With a yawn, Hayley looked around the room to make sure she'd put everything up. She really didn't feel like going home. Home meant no one but her. Take-out food and a cold bed. Nothing to look forward to.

Rolling her eyes, Hayley walked to the door and opened it. She turned around to lock the door when she heard the sound of Marcel's door opening and a female laugh. Hayley locked her door and turned to find a startled Rebekah coming out of Marcel's office. "Oh, hello, Hayley. What are you doing here so late?" Rebekah inquired, smoothing her wrinkled skirt, her lips pursing.

"Finn's got me reading his files," Hayley replied with a grin. "And what are you up to?" she asked, her eyebrows rising.

Rebekah's cheeks flushed. "Well… Marcel and I have a case together… And we got carried away…with our work. Yes. Well, have a lovely night then." Grinning, Rebekah hurried down the hall and Hayley stopped herself from laughing at the sight of Rebekah's underwear that were attached to the back of her high heel.

Nodding, Hayley walked over to Marcel's door and tapped on it. After a moment Marcel came to the door in his boxers with a wide smile on his face, until he saw it was Hayley. "Hales… I thought you were someone else. Give me a sec."

Laughing, Hayley watched Marcel push the door closed. When he came back to the door; she shook her head at him. "I see you finally showed Rebekah Mikaelson your briefs," she informed him, still laughing.

"Yeah. Yeah," Marcel shook his head as he locked his door. "Want to get a drink?"

"Are you going to tell me all the sordid details of your hook-up?" Hayley demanded, following Marcel as he strode ahead of her.

Marcel paused and narrowed his eyes at Hayley. "I'm not talking about Rebekah."

"Oh, come on, Marcel!" Hayley cried, stopping in front of the doors to the elevator. "You had no problem talking about her before." Cocking her head to the side, Hayley watched Marcel trying to avoid her gaze. "What's wrong? Not as good as you thought it would be? Was it bad? She didn't seem to think so."

Marcel's eyes met Hayley's and he smirked. "I'm sure she was happy."

"Then what's the problem?" Hayley cried as Marcel hit the button for the elevator to take them downstairs.

Rolling his eyes, Marcel pushed his left hand into his pants' pocket and shifted his briefcase. "Nothing. Let's go." He pointed at the doors that just opened.

Hayley sighed and got onto the elevator. "You're really not going to tell me?"

Marcel shook his head. "It doesn't make sense, Hales," he said, punching the button a little too hard.

"What?" Hayley replied, shifting her bag on her shoulder.

Letting out a sigh, Marcel turned to look at her. "Rebekah wants to keep things casual."

"And that's a problem…why?" Hayley felt confused as Marcel groaned.

"Does Rebekah Mikaelson seem like the friends-with-benefits type to you?" Marcel demanded. He waited for Hayley to step off the elevator before continuing. "I like Rebekah. I can see her as the mother of my kids. And she…thinks that we should just have sex. How in the hell does that make sense?"

Hayley blew out a breath. "Are you sure you heard her right? Uptight, Rebekah I'm-looking-for-a-diamond-ring-with-every-new-relationship Mikaelson?" Hayley just could not see Rebekah wanting a casual relationship. She could see Rebekah trying to trick an eligible bachelor into a wedding where he didn't know about it until five minutes before they got hitched.

Nodding, Marcel clapped Hayley on the shoulder. "Exactly! This is not the Rebekah I was chasing."

"So tell her you won't have sex with her anymore," Hayley said as they walked out the front doors and to Marcel's car.

"Are you crazy?" Marcel retorted, leaning against the hood of his car. "There is no way that I'm telling her 'no' to sex."

"Ugh! Typical guy!" Hayley shock her head as he grinned at her.

"Says the woman who refuses to find someone to be with!" Marcel shot back as Hayley headed toward her car. "Am I following you or are you following me?"

"I thought you liked to let the woman take the lead," Hayley called back with a wink.

Marcel laughed as Hayley got behind the wheel of her car. She drove back to her place because she didn't feel like hanging out in a bar—getting hit on by a bunch of guys who thought she might be desperate or stupid. Getting out of her car, Hayley waited for Marcel. He got out and followed her to the front door. "Damn," he said as she led him up to her place on the eighth floor. "Is this why you don't have a gym membership; because you're into torturing yourself every day?"

Smirking, Hayley unlocked the door to her apartment. "Home, sweet home," she said, dropping her keys on the table by the door and kicking her heels off.

Marcel stepped inside and looked around. "Is this real or some kind of joke?" he peered around her apartment. "What kind of rate is Mikael paying you at; 'cause you need a new place."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "I like it. It's small but quaint."

"You mean tiny and possibly a fire hazard?" Marcel eyed the bars over the windows.

Hayley liked her studio apartment. It had everything she needed. A bed. A couch. A TV, if she ever got to use the thing. A full-size fridge and a microwave since she had no one to cook for but herself and she wasn't going to complain.

"You want to go to your place?" Hayley quipped, walking over to her fridge, grabbing a couple of Heinekens and closing the fridge door with her hip.

Glancing at the ceiling, Marcel grimaced. "I can do this...once, but next time we hang, we're going to my place."

"It's a date," Hayley said, popping the caps off.

"Which is more than Rebekah's going to be saying anytime soon," Marcel grumbled as Hayley handed him his beer.

Hayley smirked as she plopped down beside him and took a sip of her beer. "I still say you should keep your pants on. Make it clear what you want."

Marcel took a sip of his beer. "Is your fridge working? This is kinda warm."

"Again?" Hayley got to her feet and she walked over to it, giving it a kick, she paused and grinned when it began to whizz. "It's working now."

Laughing, Marcel waited for Hayley to sit back down. "How is the custody case going?"

"I'm not telling you anything. You're part of the enemy camp," Hayley retorted, offering him a mock glare.

"I'm impartial," Marcel told her.

"Bull," Hayley retorted, sipping her beer.

"How about I don't ask you about the case and you don't ask me about Bekah?" Marcel replied.

"Agreed." Hayley held out a hand and they shook on it. "Let's see what Jimmy Kimmel is up to?" She switched on the TV and leaned into Marcel's shoulder while they watched the show. She hoped that he would be okay with whatever he was doing with Rebekah and she hoped that she won her case.

Saturday felt like it would never arrive. Hayley decided to avoid Caroline's phone calls. Caroline had become a nervous wreck thanks to whatever Klaus had pulled this time. They still had Tyler's deposition to get through. Finn had been irritable because the divorcing couple might be reconciling and Mikael had ripped him a new one. All Hayley wanted was some down time at her favorite spot.

Walking into The Chicago Art Museum, Hayley flashed her membership card at the attendant before heading back to her favorite exhibit. She walked down the halls and down the stairs. She loved the exhibit. The history of the items and the solitude of the - made her feel at ease.

Hayley had a smile on her face until she saw the side of a man's head. His eyes were on the top of a yellow legal pad. He wrote something down, stopped and looked at his notes before jotting something else down. Her jaw set as she watched him. Elijah freakin' Mikaelson. Elijah, in her space. This was not fair.

Rolling her eyes, Hayley turned to walk out of the room when a cough made her stop in her tracks. "Ms. Marshall?"

Hayley turned on her heel and forced herself to smile. "Elijah," she greeted him.

Smiling, Elijah set his pad on the other side of him. "How good to see you again. I was just thinking of you."

"Really?" Hayley felt surprised. She shifted her weight and shoved her bag up her shoulder.

"Yes." Elijah stood up and waved at the bench. "Would you care to join me?" he asked her.

"Oh. No. I can't. I'm actually meeting someone." Hayley hooked a thumb at the door.

"Oh. Well. Another time." Elijah looked disappointed as he looked down at the floor.

Relenting, Hayley walked over to the bench. "I could stay. For a minute." Sitting down beside Elijah, Hayley tried not to notice how small the bench felt. His fingers were splayed beside the hand she placed on the bench. "What were you thinking about me?" she asked him, glancing at him, her eyelashes lowering.

Elijah looked back at her. "I was thinking that you seem too nice to work for my father."

For a moment, Hayley just stared back at Elijah before she let out a laugh that seemed too loud in the quiet space. She tucked her hair behind her ear, placing a hand to her mouth and chuckling. "I'm not that nice."

"Are you sure?" Elijah teased her.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. Okay. Now, I really have to go."

"Right." Elijah nodded, a smile on his face that made Hayley feel her own lips turning upward. Her body eased toward his and she saw his eyes move to her lips.

"Bye," Hayley said, watching Elijah's gaze move to her eyes and she resisted the urge to kiss him. Nothing good would come of that.

"Good-bye, Hayley," Elijah called after her.

Hayley forced herself to leave the museum. She made a note not to come back on this day. She had enough problems. Her growing attraction to Elijah would only make things worse.

On Sunday, Hayley returned to the museum. She found that her exhibit was empty and she sighed. Walking over to the bench, she sat on the side she'd sat when Elijah was there the day before. She opened her bag and began to scribble notes on Caroline's case. She knew that Elijah would not go easy on Tyler the next day. She had to be prepared.

"It seems that we share the same thought process," Elijah's voice came from the doorway and Hayley's head whipped around.

"Wait! Are you kidding me?" Hayley cried, shoving her legal pad into her bag. "What are you doing here? You were here yesterday!"

"I'm sorry. Would you like me to leave?" Elijah inquired. A smirk played on his lips, and Hayley felt the desire to stride across the room and leap on him; welling up inside her again.

"No. I can go," Hayley said, grabbing her bag and standing up.

"Perhaps we should make a schedule." Elijah pulled out his phone. "You, obviously, want weekends, and I would like Mondays through Wednesdays. Would you like to rotate on Thursdays and Fridays, or split them?" He seemed way too amused.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayley stalked over to Elijah. "Are you trying to make this case into a joke, because I take it very seriously!" She glared up at Elijah.

Elijah frowned back at Hayley. "You think I would find a case surrounding a family member to be a 'joke?' If you knew me, you would not make that assumption." Walking over to the bench, he sat down. "Now, if you will excuse me. I need the room to work on my notes for the deposition of Tyler Lockwood."

"Are you serious?" Hayley snapped. "I just came here. And I have notes to make, too!"

Elijah glanced up at her. "There are other rooms to use. You're free to pick one."

"This is my favorite!" Hayley retorted.

"It is mine as well," Elijah replied coolly.

Rolling her eyes, Hayley walked over to the bench. "I'm not leaving. So, I suggest that you find a new room to work in."

"Perhaps we could share it?" Elijah suggested. "There is a comfortable bench over there." He nodded at a bench on the other side of the room.

"But it's not in front of my favorite work," Hayley told him, crossing her arms.

"Oh, this is your favorite, too?" Elijah's eyebrows rose.

Hayley's lips pursed. "You like it, too?"

"Yes. It moves me," Elijah told her. "Perhaps we could make mental notes."

"Maybe," Hayley glanced at the empty part of the bench before sitting down. She could feel his gaze on her. "And not looking at me might help you think about the case."

"It may," Elijah replied with a chuckle.

Hayley's eyes moved to Elijah. Did he have to be so damned hot? Clearing her mind, she stared at the work until her mind began to wander to questions she could ask Tyler and nothing good was coming to mind.

After a moment, Hayley noticed Elijah taking off his coat and jacket. He looked at her. "It's a bit warm, don't you think?" he asked her, loosening his tie.

"Yeah," Hayley nodded and looked away. She tried to concentrate but now she felt too warm. Sliding out of her coat, she placed it to her right and then she pulled her sweater off, leaving her in a flimsy tank top and pair of jeans. The silk tank's sleeve fell down, and Elijah's fingers were on her shoulder, pushing it back up, before she could react.

"Thanks," Hayley said, glancing at him and tucking her hair behind her ear.

Elijah grinned. "You're welcome." He looked away and then back at her. "Did you want to get a drink?"

"I don't think so," Hayley told him. "I mean. I don't think that would be a good idea. You know, since you're on your side of the case and I'm on mine and…it is so hot in here. Did they turn the heat up?" She stretched her neck, glancing at Elijah.

"It appears that they might have," Elijah replied and he stood up. "Well, I have to be on my way."

"Okay," Hayley nodded.

Elijah walked to the entry of the room. "Hayley, would you like to walk me to my car?"

"Yes," Hayley blurted. She pulled her sweater back on and then her coat. Pulling her bag over her shoulder; she walked with Elijah to the door.

Hayley felt happy that Caroline did not frequent art museums since her break up with Klaus. Caroline would wonder what Hayley was doing with Elijah.

They exited the museum and Elijah stopped in front of a car. "Nice," Hayley mused. "Looks like it pays to work for the D.A."

"I bought this car when I worked for my father," Elijah replied.

"Oh." Now Hayley felt foolish. Trying to think of how to steer the conversation away from Elijah's dad and her current employer, she glanced across the street and felt her throat close up. "Shit," she groaned.

"What?" Elijah said. He turned to look at what Hayley was looking at.

"Don't look," Hayley snapped. "Just open the car," she leaned over, hiding.

Elijah slid behind the wheel and popped the passenger side door lock. Hayley moved into the passenger seat and then slid down so she could not be seen.

"What is the matter?" Elijah inquired. He seemed amused by Hayley's attempts to hide.

"You know who that is, right?" Hayley demanded, moving closer to Elijah and peering around his shoulder.

"Mr. Gerard. My father's partner. However, I do not know why you are hiding from him," Elijah still seemed amused when Hayley ducked down again. Her lips were nearly on his thigh as she hoped not to be seen by her other boss.

"If he reports to your dad that he saw me with you, Mikael will freak out. He might accuse me of feeding you information. He'll ruin my career, Elijah," Hayley whispered.

"Right," Elijah chuckled. "Wouldn't want that." Pulling off his coat, he placed it over her head and she pulled it to the left so he couldn't see her smile. "Did you want me to drop you off somewhere?"

"Umm…" Hayley debated the merits of having Elijah giving her ride home. If he did, they might end up in her apartment, in her bed, naked. Oh, God, she needed to get laid. When was the last time she had sex?

Hayley's thoughts stopped when she saw the long black locks and familiar stride of another lawyer. Her eyes widened when she saw Celeste Du Bois walk up to Mr. Gerard. Mr. Gerard offered Celeste one of his typical lecherous looks which made most of the young women in the firm cringe. Celeste placed a hand on his cheek and then leaned in for a lingering kiss. "Holy shit," Hayley murmured, her eyes on the couple.

"Well, I would never have seen that coming," Elijah said quietly. Hayley glanced at him from under his coat before she pressed closer to the glass of the driver's side door. She had moved so that her upper body was splayed over Elijah's lap and her hands were placed on the door. He did not complain. If anything he seemed to be enjoying their sudden proximity. Or part of him was.

"I cannot believe this," Hayley muttered as Celeste and Mr. Gerard began to walk in the opposite direction and she twisted around, sitting in Elijah's lap and peering over his shoulder at the two.

"Hayley," Elijah's breath tickled her ear and Hayley found herself pulling back to look him in the eye. His fingers moved to tuck her hair behind her ear. Oh, yeah. This was so not one-sided. She could feel how much he wanted her and her lips opened as his fingers became entangled in her hair.

Their mouths were about to meet when something began to jiggle around in his pocket. Closing her eyes, Hayley felt like killing whoever was on the other line. Elijah's jaw tightened. "I'm sorry," he muttered before digging in his pocket and pulling out his phone. "Hello? Yes. Alright. I am on my way." He shoved his phone back into his pocket and Hayley watched him. "I have to pick up my daughter from school. It seems her mother forgot her."

"Oh, yeah. Okay." Hayley nodded. She opened the driver's side door and began climb out of the car. The process was awkward. She wished she had slid back into the passenger side and out that way but now that she was in this position; it seemed she would have to keep going. Finding there was no graceful way to exit the car, she straddled Elijah before climbing out—ass first.

"Good-bye," Elijah said, closing his door.

"Bye," Hayley called back, running around the car and to the relative safety of the sidewalk. She found her skirt had ridden up and she was showing people on Michigan Ave. her underwear. "Seriously," she moaned.

"Hayley!" Caroline's voice startled Hayley and she turned to find her friend, coming toward her with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Hey, Care," Hayley hugged Caroline before pulling back.

"Did I just see you getting out Elijah Mikaelson's car?" Caroline demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

Hayley decided to explain the odd situation with the truth. "Yeah. We were at the art museum and –"

Caroline held up a hand. "Are you sleeping with him, Hayley?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"What?" Hayley let out a surprise laugh. "No. Of course not, Caroline."

"Why not? Elijah is hot," Caroline retorted, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Because he's opposing counsel," Hayley snapped.

"Exactly, Hales, this is your perfect chance to solve two problems: You need to have sex. And you can get Elijah to let his guard down. Maybe you can find something about my case. Steal his files. Or his computer. Listen in on his calls with Klaus. Do whatever you have to do. It's for Fee." Caroline stopped.

"Caroline, you are a bad person," Hayley joked.

Caroline sighed. "When you are a mom, you'll understand that you'll do anything to keep your kid."

"Including telling your best friend to seduce opposing counsel," Hayley retorted.

"Hey, don't tell me you're not into him. I saw that way you were looking at him during my deposition." Caroline gave Hayley a long look.

Laughing, Hayley shook her head. "You're a bad influence."

"I'm just trying to think like the enemy," Caroline muttered. "Speaking of Klaus, I wonder what evil scheme he's up to."

"Who knows," Hayley shook her head. They began to walk down the sidewalk and Hayley thought about Elijah. It would be easy to seduce him. She knew he was into her. She just worried about how far things would go. Maybe she should take a page out of Rebekah's new handbook—keep it casual—because that always worked out well.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answers to guest reviews:

Ali: Thank you for the wonderful review. I am happy that you're enjoying the story so much.

Bri100: There will be a lot more flirting with Haylijah during the course of this story. Yes, I know. Klaus and Caroline—if they weren't both horribly stubborn people—would let this case go. However, it's probably going to take a bit more drama for them to end the battle.

Guest: Thank you reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Guest: Thank you. I love Haylijah, too. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Peace,

Jessica