Haley continued through the next few days of work with relative ease.
She had developed a fantastic working friendship with Melissa from the very beginning, a notion that pleasantly surprised her. Haley had been fully prepared to deal with a bunch of fake people, but surprisingly, all of these people were either really genuine or just really good actors.
Nathan hadn't returned to the office the next few days. She had heard through rumblings in the office that he'd flown back to his hometown in North Carolina for the rest of the week -- something about family issues.
Whatever that means, Haley thought to herself. She was always very careful to speak professionally of him but inside she was pretty angry. She was angry and her anger confused her.
You didn't want anything with him anyway, so why are you so bitter? She would scold herself internally.
On the other hand, she absolutely loved Lucas. He was the sweetest guy, always coming in to chat with her and Melissa about the project ideas the company was considering and asking her how she was getting settled in San Francisco.
"So, you are in the graduate program at Stanford? That's really impressive," Lucas said upon discovering this information.
Haley smiled, "Thank you. I worked really hard in my undergraduate work so it paid off for me. I am just taking a few courses this semester while I am working and they are online studies, so it works pretty well."
Friday afternoon, Lucas came in from a lunch meeting with a smile. "Ladies, we've officially landed the Headley campaign!"
"That's wonderful!" Melissa exclaimed and Haley followed suit with a congratulations.
"I would like the four of us to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate! Nathan will be back this afternoon." Lucas said.
Haley's knot was back. The knot that had been forming in her stomach since last weekend and that had taken a brief vacation when Nathan was gone -- it was back with full force.
"What do you think, Haley?" Melissa said turning to her.
If there was one thing Haley knew, it was that you never turn down a business/social outing with your boss -- you make the best of it.
"Sounds great," Haley replied with a smile.
Lucas nodded and smiled.
~~~~
An hour and a half later
"So how was your trip?" Lucas asked Nathan as Nathan loaded his luggage in the back.
"It was alright...kind of glad to be back though," Nathan said.
"That bad?" Lucas asked.
"Just mom getting on my case again, as if she doesn't have enough of her own stuff to deal with. Asking if I'm ever going to stop partying and settle down so she can have grandchildren or some s*&# - like I'm ready for that," Nathan replied.
Lucas half smiled, "ya never know, she very well may have illegitimate grandchildren now."
Nathan rolled his eyes, "very funny…give me a break, alright? I'm not strung out on heroin...I'm not an alcoholic...and I'm not married so my going out with different women shouldn't be cause for a family intervention."
"Speaking of going out, get cleaned up when we get back...we have dinner reservations at Acquerello for 8:00 tonight."
"Oh yeah? What's going on?" Nathan asked with interest.
"We landed the Headley account today."
Nathan was happy and hesitant at the same time, "that's good...but is Lisa still their choice?"
Lucas looked over at him, "yes...but that shouldn't be an issue. It's not like the two of you would even have to interact...it shouldn't be a major issue. This is great for us."
Nathan nodded and settled back in his chair for the ride home.
After some weaving and maneuvering through traffic on the freeway, the two managed to get back to the condo.
Nathan was grabbing some clothes out of the closet for the dinner when he asked, "...so are we meeting the Bentley's?"
"No, actually. We're meeting Melissa and Haley," Lucas replied.
"What?" Nathan asked. "As in Melissa and Haley from the office?"
"Yes…" Lucas said, waiting for the backlash.
"Oh, alright," was all Nathan said in response.
At 8:00, they all met at the restaurant and were seated promptly.
Lucas ordered a bottle of champagne and appetizers.
"I'm glad we could all come out to celebrate!" Lucas said. "We landed a huge deal today...and this is also to celebrate Haley's first week with us!"
Haley smiled, "Thanks. I am really enjoying working with you guys!"
Nathan was quiet, not sure what to say to Haley. The two hadn't seen each other since they were practically yelling in the middle of the office. The lack of communication was not lost on Melissa or Lucas, but only Lucas understood the reason behind it.
Casual conversation continued through the second course of the meal.
"So, Haley, you moved here from Virginia? That's not far from where we grew up," Lucas asked.
"Yes, that's right. You are from North Carolina, right?" Haley asked.
"Yeah, Tree Hill, a small town between Raleigh and Wilmington. It's nice to go back but I don't think I would want to live there again now that I've gotten used to San Fran," Lucas said. "I had been going to school in North Carolina and picked up and moved to L.A. first."
"That's really exciting," Melissa said. "I've always wanted to pick up and move somewhere."
"Don't you dare!" Lucas laughed. "We need you at the office!"
Everyone laughed as Lucas continued, "…but things kind of fell through in Los Angeles and Nate lived up here so I thought I would join him – then we started the company and the rest is history."
Haley smiled, "yeah...that's cool. I guess I've always had a nomadic quality...I've always enjoyed going from place to place -- I grew up in Ohio but moved to Virginia for college."
"So, then its in your nature to just pick up and leave," Nathan said, suddenly.
Haley turned to look at him, sort of surprised by his remark. It could have been a casual comment, but it seemed to be laced with another meaning.
Lucas looked at Nathan. "But you like San Francisco so far?"
"Yeah, it's been great so far. My roommate Brooke is a designer and she's full of energy so it's always a lot of fun. Melissa, you met her at the party last weekend," Haley replied, careful not to mention the fact that Nathan had also met Brooke.
He wants to pretend that night never happened, I'm not going to remind him about it, Haley thought to herself.
Melissa nodded, "Yeah she was great."
At that moment, Lucas' cell phone rang. "I'm sorry, guys! Excuse me a second…it's Peyton," he said in a low voice to Nathan.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "tightening that leash and you aren't even together, huh?" he called out to Lucas.
Haley just looked at Nathan.
"Excuse me, I'm going to the washroom," Melissa said, sensing the overwhelming tension between the two.
The two were silent for a moment.
"Why do you hate me?" Nathan asked suddenly.
"I don't hate you," Haley retorted.
"Well you certainly don't like me, that much is obvious," Nathan replied.
"To be perfectly honest, I start to like you and then you go and make assinine comments," Haley said.
"What comments?" Nathan asked.
"You jumped down my throat the other day about women throwing out mixed signals, for starters," Haley said. "Then just now, you made some sort of wry comment about picking up and leaving...what is that about?"
"It was just a general observation," Nathan said. "You said you're nomadic which kind of implies that you never stay in one place very long to make any attachments."
"Well, I'm sure that's something you can relate to very well isn't it?" Haley said, a biting tone in her voice.
The longer she was around him, the more he infuriated her.
"...and what is with your attitude toward women?" Haley said, on a roll now. "You make fun of your brother because he actually has a meaningful relationship with a woman? That's mature."
"Had a meaningful relationship, as in past tense. They aren't even together anymore and he still runs the second she calls – it's weak. Anyway, he knows I am just teasing him, alright?" Nathan said. "It's called a sense of humor."
"I think that's how you really feel though...I think that you feel if any one woman slowed you down long enough, she'd try to control you...is that it?" Haley said, each moment passing with more boldness, she was surprising even herself, for the second time this week.
"Way to play armchair psychologist there…pretty bold, all things considered. You don't know me...you don't know anything about me," Nathan said, suddenly finding himself very irritated. If there was any one thing that made him angry, it was being second-guessed.
"You only think you know what would go through my mind about relationships or women or whatever...and the truth is, its none of your business...and the possibility of it being your business walked out the door with you last weekend."
Haley's eyes widened. He had her there. He had her completely and utterly speechless.
Lucas and Melissa returned to the table around the same time. Lucas observed the shocked look on Haley's face and Nathan's flushed cheeks. He knew his little brother turned bright red when he got angry.
"So, are we ready to celebrate some more?" Lucas asked, trying for a cheerful tone.
No one at the table felt much like celebrating anymore.