Author's Note: Hi guys! The response to the intro and interest you all have shown towards this story has been overwhelming. Thank you so much for all the support, you all are just sweethearts. You all have been too good to me and I don't want to keep you all hanging. So here I am, posting a chapter much earlier than I had originally planned.. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing It...
Lucas Scott stepped out of the airport wearing Nike sweatpants, T-shirt and a hoodie, with his duffle bag on his shoulder. The crisp and clear early morning spring air caressed his face. It was a welcomed change from the biting cold wind of UK and Scotland, where he had been promoting his fourth book for the last twenty days. It had rained in London throughout his stay and he desperately needed some good sun. Although in New York early mornings were still a little chilly but he knew he could expect some sun shine during the day. New York in spring was always the best of New York, he thought.
"Yes I know. Mmhmm… yeah the flight was delayed. Yes, let me check into the hotel and then I'll come meet you…. Okay.. Bye."
Lucas shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked around for a familiar face. He smiled as an overzealous voice called him out.
"here is my favorite author!" called out Garry.
Lucas chuckled "sup Garry"
Garrison "Garry" Truman, had been Lucas' agent since his first book. Garry, was a 35 year old, 5'10", good looking Caucasian with a cocky attitude. What started as an agent-client relationship, evolved into friendly almost brotherly one.
Lucas followed him to the car as Garry explained him his itinerary for his stay in New York. As their car drove off, a taxi cab halted at it's place.
-x-
Brooke Davis, paid for the ride and got out of the taxi cab, looking stunningly professional in her black and white grid-pattern bodycon dress and a cobalt blue jacket which was clenched at her waist with a thin black belt. She slid back her Ray-Bans from her head and walked inside the airport with her pink travel bag and her black Valentino in her hands.
"Honey, I'm just going to DC, I'll be back by evening. Mmhmm… yes, we'll have dinner together, I'll cook… Whatever you like… Okay.. I love you too baby." Brooke disconnected the call, shoved the phone back into her Valentino and went to check-in counter.
-x-
Lucas entered the building of Warren and Co. Publication house. He walked towards the reception desk and took off his sunglasses. The receptionist looked at him and smiled flirtatiously.
"Hi Clarisa, how are you?" he said with a flirtatious smirk.
"Hello Mr. Scott, I am good. Thankyou. How was your trip?" she asked looking at his handsome face.
"It was fine. But I didn't like the receptionist there." he winked making her blush.
"Can you please inform Lindsey I'm here?" he asked pulling her out of her day dream.
"Oh yes! I have instructions to send you in as soon as you get here. You can go right in Mr. Scott." she said returning back to her professional stance.
"Thank you. And don't I always tell you to call me Lucas." he winked at her and went into Lindsey's room.
-x-
Lindsey Strauss, daughter of the owner of the publishing house. She was Lucas' editor. When Lindsey joined the company freshly after graduating college, she had to try very hard to impress her father. She went through many manuscripts, but nothing caught her eye. It was until one day she picked up a manuscript and couldn't keep it down until she finished reading it. The characters described with such passion that she almost felt like she knew them. That was the kind of writer she wanted to work with and since then she had edited every one of his books. They spent a lot of time together editing his books and became really close friends. Lucas had surprised her with his last book, it was totally different from his genre. It was a children's book. But she kept faith in him and published it. To her utter surprise it was being received well throughout the globe.
"Hey" he said walking to her desk and kissed her cheek.
"Hey hotshot! What's up?" Lindsey asked keeping aside the manuscript she was reading.
"eh, nothing. I had come to New York for Nathan's first game as captain. I thought since I had already done all the publicity crap in New York, this time I'll just relax and enjoy the New York spring for a few days but Garry handed me an itinerary for book readings and signings" Lucas said rolling his eyes.
Lindsey giggled, "it's your first children's book Luke and your book needs all the publicity it can get, that you eloquently call crap. Good that you have Garry or else you would just write and crawl back to you cave or hole or whatever."
Lucas raised an eyebrow "since when do you like Garry?Has something changed since I left the country?" he teased.
Lindsey rolled her eyes "Psst… he is and will always be an obnoxious asshole but he is good at what he does that's all that matters to me." Lindsey said matter-of-factly.
Lucas shook her head and laughed. Lindsey and Garry never saw each other eye to eye. Only God knew how they worked together.
"Oh don't you laugh Scott! Spending so much time with him is turning you into an asshole too. Who was the blonde bimbo with you in London? " she asked raining her eyebrow.
"Oh well, just a new friend" he shrugged
"And what was the name of your ''new friend'' again?" she asked with a deadpan expression.
" What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet." he smirked dramatically.
"And henceforth your transformation into an asshole is complete!" she said with a disgusted look.
"Oh come on Lindz! A little fun never harmed anyone." he winked at her as she rolled her eyes.
"Anyways.. Are you free in the evening?" she asked.
"Yeah… I have the whole day free. I'll just go to the library for a while." he informed.
"cool, I have a meeting in the afternoon, then let's have dinner together." she suggested.
"Great! See ya then" Lucas smiled getting up from the chair he kissed the top of her hair before leaving her with her manuscript.
-x-
Brooke entered her DC's c/b outlet surprising the staff by her unannounced visit. Jerry, the manager flew besides her and greeted her.
"Boss! I wasn't expecting you.. Umm.. I mean good to see you boss." he stuttered looking around if everything was in its place.
"Hi Jerry! I had a meeting here just flew in. Thought I'll see how you guys are doing." she said with a pleasant smile, relaxing him.
Brooke greeted all of her staff personally by their names. She had always made sure to know everyone's names and tried making it a pleasant working environment. While success and professionalism intimidated people, her passion for her work and her good, caring nature made people at ease.
"Jerry, I'll need your help today." she said when she settled in her store office.
"Millicent couldn't make it to DC as I needed her more in the NY office. I have a meeting with an investor today I'll need you to be there. Just go through this file." Brooke said sliding a file towards him.
"Yes boss don't cha worry" Jerry said with a smile picking up the file and leaving the office.
-x-
Lucas strolled through one shelf of books to another in the New York Public Library. He loved the peaceful quiet of libraries and the smell of old books. He specifically love this library. It was so beautiful. It was truly a book lover's heaven.
Lucas strolled looking through the books when he saw little girl standing on her toes trying to reach a book. He was surprised to find such a small kid here. The children's department was on the ground floor. He look around to see if she was with an adult and found no one around. When it almost looked like the books would fall on her head he quickly went to her rescue.
"okay kiddo wait! Lemme get that for you" he chuckled.
He took out the book she was reaching for. He peeked into the hardcover before handing it to her.
"Northanger Abbey?" he said with surprise.
"Yes, I love Jane Austen" she smile displaying her dimples.
He chuckled seeing her ocean blue eyes shimmer while mentioning the author.
"Sweetie aren't you too young to be reading Jane Austen? I thought kids your age liked fairytales." he asked with amusement.
"I don't like reading fairytales. I like reading old people books." she shrugged.
A blonde boy, maybe a year or so elder that her came and rolled his eyes at her.
"You are here and Jess is wondering of you if ran away again." he said loudly and the little girl shushed him.
She looked at Lucas and smiled.
"Thank you for helping me sir." she said and skipped away with the boy.
Lucas chuckled looking at them.
"If such lil kids are reading Jane Austen, who the hell is reading my book." he murmured to himself laughing softly.
It reminded him of Haley and himself as kids, how they would spend their afternoons in libraries reading books that were meant for much older people. He remembered that he hadn't called Haley yet, so he made a mental note to call her soon.
-x-
Brooke smiled displaying her dimples and firmly shook hands with the three middle aged men who looked like they were in complete awe with the tiny brunette in front them.
Clothes over bros had started as an online shopping website, as a creative outlet, as a way to mend her broken was now Davis Industries and Enterprises, a multi-million dollar company. Not only she had 8 outlets in 3 countries, but she had set up two factories where her designs were brought to life. Initially she would buy the raw materials from textile merchants but it was a limitation, she had to work with what fabric she could get, it never satisfied her. During her time in Parsons she had also taken up textile designing as a subject. She put her knowledge to use and set up a textile manufacturing factory too. There were a very few fashion houses that manufactured their own fabric. She being so young, was never expected to take such a risky step. But she was Brooke Davis after all. She was young and charming and full of surprises. When it came to taking risks, she never shied away. She always took a plunge in deep waters and always came out on the other side as a winner.
Today she met the investors with a proposal for her new subsidiary she had planned to start "Clothes for Bros". She had yet to dip her toes in the male clothing industry, and now that clothes over Bros was doing very well in international markets, she decided it was time to start a male clothing line.
Her ideas were accepted and well appreciate by the group of investors she met. They had followed the rise Davis Enterprises since it's initials days. It rose to success in such a short period of time that they were interested in investing even before hearing the proposal.
"You did well out there Jerry" she praised him as they drove back to the showroom.
"Thank you boss. And you had them eating out of your hand." he grinned making Brooke laugh.
"The day I get a manager as good as you for the showroom, you'll be taking the next flight new New York." she grinned.
"I'll be holding you to that boss" he smiled proudly.
-x-
Lucas met Lindsey at the address she had texted him. Lindsey had booked them a table at a posh Italian restaurant in times Square. They ordered an antipasto platter, three cheese ravioli with toasted walnuts and shrimp Marinara. They also ordered a glass of Zinfandel each.
They talked about the book, the book tour, the manuscripts Lindsey had read lately. It was like old friends catching up after several months.
"talking about manuscripts… how much have you written lately?" she questioned taking a sip of her wine.
"I thought we were having a friendly dinner. When did this turn into a business dinner?" Lucas mumbled trying to avoid the question.
"come on! You must have written something?"
"I'm still on the tour if you have forgotten" he scowled at her.
"I thought going to different places and different countries, meeting different people always inspired you to write. You always start writing your book next book during the promotional tours. What's different this time?" she asked, worried for him. In today's market, if you wanted to remain on top you had to give the public a new book before the forgot you.
"I don't know….Massive writer's block" he shrugged tossing the wine down his throat in frustration.
"How about a sequel to Ravens? It's been years people have been asking for a sequel. May be this is the right time now that you have finally decided to let them make a movie out of it? We might be able to publish when the movie is released." she suggested,trying to inspire her friend.
"hmm… I'll think about it" he answered, uninterested.
-x-
As the private elevator door opened into the gallery in front of the penthouse, overlooking the Central Park on the upper east side of Manhattan. Brooke walked towards the double doored entrance with her 6 inches Jimmy choos in her hand. The door opened and she smiled tiredly at the man.
"You look terrible. Long day?" he man chuckles.
"Super duper long day!" Brooke sighed as he gave her a one armed hug and kissed her head.
She entered throwing the Jimmy choos in a corner and dropping her Valentino on the coffee table.
"Mommyyyy" a beautiful girl with light brown hair and ocean blue eyes with dimpled smile came running down the stairs and jumped on Brooke excited making her loose balance and fall on the couch.
"it's good to see you too baby" Brooke laughed and kissed her cheeks.
"how was you day mom?"
"It was really good, but I missed you. How was your day?" Brooke asked the little angle sitting on her lap.
"It was awesome we had a poetry recital in school then we learned a new dance. Oh yes I got an A plus in English. And I miseed you too mommy. I thought you won't be coming today." she said hugging her mother.
"Awwh Abby baby I told you I'll be back and we'll have dinner together, didn't I?" Abby nodded
"and does muma ever break her promise?" Abby grinned and shook her head.
"oh that reminds me I have to cook now" Brooke pouted.
The man chuckled "how about you rest, Abby and I will cook some linguine for you? What say Buttercup? " he suggested.
Abby grinned and jumped from her mother's lap and went to the man. "Yes! And anyways I like your pasta better than mom's" she giggled.
"Next time you want Mac and cheese or spaghetti I am not making it" Brooke scowlled jokingly.
-x-
As the food was being prepared, Brooke freshened up and came back to the living room. The smell of lItalian seasoning made her stomach rumble.
The three of them ate while watching animal planet. The adults talked about their day, the meetings, the investor while Abby was engrossed in her pasta and the antelopes drinking water on animal planet.
Once they finished eating and clearing the plates, Abby was already yawning.
"muma I'm sleepy" she said rubbing her eyes.
"honey go brush your teeth I'll be there in a minute." she said caressing her head.
Abby hugged the man, said her good nights and went up to her room.
"I'll too take your leave now. I have meeting" he winked.
Brooke rolled her eyes seeing his lopsided grin, knowing exactly what meeting he must have. Then she smiled shaking her head.
"Thank you so much Neal for checking on her in spite of having a date tonight. My flight got delayed and it was time to relieve Jess." she said feeling grateful.
"Oh come on Davis, you know you don't have to thank me. And if needed I would have canceled the date,big deal" he said genuinely making Brooke smile.
"what would I do without you" she sighed hugging him.
"Well babes you'll never have to find out" he said kissing her cheeks before entering her elevator.
Neal Caffrey son of Walter Caffrey, and the heir to Caffrey enterprises. Water Caffrey was one of the top 20 richest billionaires in the world. The Caffreys had business spread in many different industries but their company started with real estates. They were the real estate giants who practically owned half of New York.
They were one of the initial and main investors of clothes over bros. Brooke and Neal met during a business meeting. Neal had recently joined his father's business and his father had asked him to look over this deal.
Neal with his exceptional good looks, dark brown hair, clear blue eyes,was quite a ladies man. He was famous as a Richie rich womanizer and when he asked Brooke out on dinner she couldn't find an excuse to say no. Knowing his image, Brooke decided on the very first date to reveal that she had a baby, that she was a single mother. Although a player, but he was an honest man and much to Brooke's relief, he told her that he wasn't really a baby person.
Although things didn't go according to his plans, but he was a gentleman. Nonetheless they enjoyed the dinner, talked about the company, her plans. Somewhere in between everything it just became easy to talk to her and he opened up about all the pressure of matching up to his father, the pressure from the society and things he would never talk about to anyone, let alone to a girl on their first date.
Working together, spending time formally and informally, they found themselves to be exactly like each other and they had been best friends (you could say soulmates) since then.
The moment Neal met Abby, he fell in love with the little angel. She was two years old and the most adorable kid he had ever seen. Abby took immediate liking to him and they soon became each other's most favorite person in the world.
Whenever brooke joked about him not liking kids he scrunched his face and replied "I still don't like kids, I love Abby. It's totally different." Neal had been a part of their small family along with Millicent.
-x-
Brooke went to Abby's room and found her reading Jane Austen.
"Abby, I thought you were sleepy."
Abby looked up from her book and smiled guiltily.
"I was, but then I started reading"
Brooke took the book and kept it aside.
"When did you get Northanger Abbey? I thought you were reading something else."
"Jess took me and Kyle to the library today. I issued this book." then she giggled remembering something.
"What? What did you remember?" Brooke asked kinking her eyebrow. Abby had a distinct giggle for every situation and Brooke recognized this to be her oh-I-just-remembered-something giggle.
"I was not able to reach the book so there was a man he helped me. Then he saw the book and was shocked and said I should be reading fairytales."
Brooke frowned at her.
"Abs How many times have I told you not to speak to strangers? What if he was a bad man?" she scolded.
Abby looked at her mother, genuinely confused.
"I thought bad men lurked in the alleys. Muma what will a bad man do in a library? In fact, people who read books are always nice people. And I didn't even tell him my name mom, don't worry" she said matter-of-factly.
Brooke squinted at her trying not to smile. "you are too smart for you own good. Now go to sleep." she said tucking her little brown haired girl in, she kissed her forehead.
"Mommy, will you say the poem?" Abby asked with puppy dogs eyes.
Brooke shook her head at her daughter's expression and smiled.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Brooke recited the poem in a soft crooning voice and saw her daughter slipping into a peaceful slumber.
Brooke thought about the poem. She had first heard this poem in her junior year and instantly fell in love with it. It was her favorite poem and had become Abby's favorite to as she would recite it to her ever since she was a baby. Abby was Brooke's heart and soul, she was her life. Abby was Brooke whole world. Maybe, she could have been his heart and his world too. She looked at her sleeping angel and then looked at the book lying beside a picture of her and Abby in the zoo on the study table and ran a her fingers over the name. She looked at Abby's picture. The resemblance of the ocean blues eyes still haunted her sometimes. Shaking away the thoughts, she turned off the light and left the room.
-x-