Brooke and Haley had a low-key weekend alternating between jogging in the park near their apartment and hanging out on the couch watching movies.
The weekend ended and was not nearly long enough as usual. Soon, it was Monday morning. Haley sleepily walked into the office with a coffee in hand.
"Good morning," she greeted Melissa who had just walked in as well.
"Good morning," Melissa replied, sleepy as well. The morning routine progressed as normal.
Haley printed out the company e-mails and checked the voicemail messages.
"There's a message on here from your brother," Haley said to Melissa.
"Oh damn, that's right!" Melissa said, clearly remembering something. "My cell has been dead since yesterday and I can't find my charger. My brother Jason is coming by to pick up my car - his car is in the shop and he had asked me if he could use my car to run to a few places today."
Haley nodded. "He's even going to get it detailed, so how could I turn that down?" Melissa grinned.
Haley smiled in response. Shortly thereafter, Lucas and Nathan arrived, armed with paperwork, notebooks and coffee.
"More meetings," Lucas said. Haley nodded in response and Melissa offered to help them with some boxes that were still in the car out front.
Nathan walked by Haley's desk, "did you have a nice weekend?" he asked in a quiet tone.
"Yeah, I did..." Haley said in an even tone. "How was your weekend?"
"It was pretty good," Nathan replied.
"That's nice," Haley said.
The two couldn't think of a single thing to say to one another beyond that so Nathan walked back to the conference area.
At that moment, a tall man with dark brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes stepped into the office.
"Hi," he smiled at Haley. Haley stood up at her desk.
"Hello," she smiled.
"Is my sister around here?"
"Hey Jason!" Melissa came in behind him with an armful of boxes.
"Hey, thanks for helping me out today," he replied, grabbing the box from her hands and setting it on the desk.
Melissa worked on fishing her keys out of her purse when Jason stepped over to introduce himself. He stood smiling at Haley after he shook her hand.
Lucas was grabbing the last of the boxes from the car and Nathan walked out of the conference room to see Haley and Jason, completely enthralled with a conversation they were having.
His calm morning demeanor once again took a turn toward less than pleasant.
"Hey, Lucas!" he called through the office. "Can we please get on with this? I don't have all day."
He shot a direct look at Haley when he spoke the last sentence and found that she was looking right at him. She directed her attention back to Jason.
"It was nice to meet you," Haley said to Jason.
Lucas gave Nathan a look and rolled his eyes as he brought the box back to the Conference room. "Why don't you just go out there and talk to her?" Lucas said. "Quit pretending like this is junior high school...come to think of it, you weren't even shy in junior high school --"
Nathan looked at Lucas. "Well I was going to go talk to her, but apparently, she's otherwise engaged."
Lucas looked at him in amusement, "Wow..."
"What?" Nathan asked.
"This girl is really getting to you. She has you seeing red when she merely talks to another guy."
"Whatever, Lucas," Nathan said.
"The guy was standing there holding on to her hand...thinks he's some sort of charmer...what a crock."
Lucas stifled a laugh. Somehow, this whole scenario was oddly amusing to him. Too many times, he had been the one to field phone calls from various heartbroken girls that expected more than just a night with Nathan Scott.
Now, Nathan was being beaten at his own game.
~~~~
A couple of hours later, after the first session of meetings, Nathan walked to the front office.
Melissa was off on one of her errands for Lucas.
"Excuse me, can I get some of the production forms?" Nathan asked Haley in a low tone.
Haley nodded, getting a stack of forms from the top cabinet.
"Thank you," Nathan said, taking the forms. He stood there for a second. Haley waited a minute and looked back up at him- this was becoming a strange habit between the two.
"Listen, maybe the two of us started out on the wrong foot..." Nathan said. "I know you don't like me, but maybe, if you give me a chance, you'll see that I'm not all bad."
Haley gave a small smile, "It's not that I don't like you, Nathan...I don't agree with some of the things you say sometimes...and I let you know."
"That's for sure," Nathan said, smiling. A woman had never put him in his place so many times as the week he'd known Haley.
"I'm hoping we can find some common ground though," Haley said. "After all, you are my boss and its important for us to have a good working relationship."
"I agree, a good working relationship," Nathan said.
Haley nodded.
"How about, in honor of our working toward a good professional relationship...would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Nathan looked at her, those stunning blue eyes boring into her brown one's.
Haley was quiet for a minute, thinking.
"Unless that is, your friend may object," Nathan said.
Haley looked confused, "what friend are you referring to exactly?"
"The guy who was in here earlier fawning all over you," Nathan said. "If he's your boyfriend...then...we don't need to delve into all of that."
"Oh, do you mean Jason?"
Nathan shrugged.
"Jason...as in the guy in here earlier?...Jason, Melissa's brother," Haley said, a smile forming on her face.
"I don't know who he is, I just saw him in here trying to charm all over you...you women eat that shit up."
Here we go again, Haley thought. Just when Nathan started to resemble someone who could be sweet and caring, he turned into this alpha male.
"That's the first time we've ever met actually, so no, he's not my boyfriend," Haley said. "...but I'm sure you would know a thing or two about charming strange women."
Nathan gave her a wry look, "I'm trying here, I really am...so is that a yes or a no about dinner?"
"Yes, I'll have dinner with you...if you promise to be nice," Haley said with a small smile.
"Hey, I'm always nice," Nathan said, starting to grin.
Haley rolled her eyes, "yeah if that's what you call being nice..."
"Pick you up at 8 then?" Nathan asked. "Sounds good."
Haley rushed home after work and began sorting through her clothes for the dinner date.
Brooke stood in the doorway, surveying the scene.
"What's going on in here? Clothing tornado," she commented.
Haley looked over her shoulder, "I'm trying to find something to wear for dinner..."
"Ooh, do you have a date?" Brooke asked, walking into the room and looking at the clothes in Haley's closet.
"Yeah, sort of," Haley said.
Brooke smiled, "...and with who?"
"You're going to laugh...after all of the complaining I've done," Haley said. "I'm going to dinner with Nathan."
Brooke only grinned, not looking a bit surprised. "Let me help you pick out an outfit!"
Haley backed up, "no offense, but if I had worn what you tried to pick out for me the last time, I would have left the house looking like a dominatrix."
"I guess it really doesn't matter what you wear – it's all just an attempt to hide what Nathan's already seen anyway," Brooke said, grinning.
Haley threw a shirt at her and Brooke stuck out her tongue and giggled.
Haley asked, noting her expression, "So, you're really not surprised by this?"
"Nope," Brooke said. "It's kind of obvious...it was only a matter of time before the two of you bitched and fought your way into a date."
~~~~
Nathan had gotten directions from Haley at work and picked her up promptly at 8.
"I was thinking about taking you to this excellent Mediterranean restaurant, is that okay? Do you like that kind of cuisine?" Nathan said, pulling his Yukon out into the San Francisco traffic.
"That sounds terrific," Haley said.
For the first time, the two had a pleasant conversation on the way to the restaurant. Nathan asked her about college, Haley asked him about his career and life back home in Tree Hill.
They found that when they quit arguing, they actually very much enjoyed the other's company.
Soon, they had arrived at the restaurant.
"I had made reservations here," Nathan said slyly. "...but I would've just cancelled them if you hadn't wanted to come here."
Haley smiled, "this place sounds perfect."
They were seated in a special section of the restaurant with a gorgeous view of the patio and the posh setting around them. This area of the restaurant was completely candle-lit.
A waiter approached their table and Nathan ordered a white wine and appetizers.
"This is very nice Nathan," Haley said with a smile after the waiter left the table.
Nathan returned the smile, "I told you...I'm on a mission to prove that I'm not always the way I seem."
Haley nodded, "I know you're not...and neither am I...I know I'm pretty feisty. I've always been like that - my mother always said it would get me in to trouble."
"Feisty can be good," Nathan said with a glint in his eye and a hint of flirtation in his tone.
"So, what else you do?" Haley asked, trying to keep her blush at bay.
Nathan looked at her, "what do you mean?"
"I mean, besides working – what do you like to do? Play any sports?" Haley asked.
"Do I play sports?" Nathan asked, grinning. "Yeah, I play basketball. I haven't played as much as I would like here recently, but it's always been a passion of mine. What about you?"
"I enjoy watching sports. I lack the coordination to really play sports without getting injured though," Haley laughed, taking a bite of the oysters from the appetizer platter the waiter had brought.
"We should play sometime, I'll show you some moves," Nathan smiled.
Haley only smiled, trying to make sure the blush she was sure that was present on her cheeks didn't turn a brighter shade of red.
"So, the Headley campaign is going well," Haley commented after a moment.
"Yeah, it is...they are actually wanting me to be more involved in the production aspect of the campaign," Nathan said.
"Oh really?" Haley asked with interest.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if that would work so well," Nathan said. "There could be a potential for more issues...and I'm not sure I'm ready to go back into all of that."
Haley didn't press further -- she figured this was the reasoning behind the initial hesitancy Nathan had shown when the Bentley's were pushing for Lisa Stone.
"...but enough about work," Nathan said smiling.
Haley smiled too, "I thought that's why we were here...to form a better working relationship."
"Perhaps," Nathan said, gently rubbing Haley's hand. "...but I wanted to ask you to dinner tonight to get to know you better...not just to talk about work."
Haley wasn't sure what to say or how to respond.
The chemistry between them was palpable...that much was obvious...but Haley was concerned about what complications could arise if they didn't keep this in check.
Haley was silent for a moment and Nathan tried to gauge her reaction. He bit his lip and asked the question that had been on his mind for the past week.
"Why did you leave that morning?"
Haley looked at him, almost surprised and almost relieved. This unanswered question was finally out there in the open.
"I left because I didn't want things to be awkward," Haley said. "I kind of had you pegged as the type of guy who did that regularly...so, I figured it was nothing special and I shouldn't overstay my welcome."
Nathan was silent for a moment. He couldn't exactly say that one-night stands had been rare for him. Unfortunately, they had been far more frequent lately than he'd like to admit.
All he could do was shake his head.
"...but I think we can move past it, we can evolve," Nathan said.
Soon after, their meals arrived and they resumed talking about lighter subjects. They tried each other's meals and laughed and talked. Everything was turning out perfectly.
Maybe he's not who I thought, Haley thought to herself.
Nathan was being very respectful, attentive and sweet.
The two decided to end the evening with a drive and a moonlight walk on the boardwalk.
They stopped near the edge of the pier.
Nathan looked out over the dark water, the moonlight shining over them brightly.
Haley stood next to him, looking out over the water.
Maybe it was the gorgeous setting, maybe it was the glasses of wine she'd had with dinner...whatever it was, it compelled her with an overwhelming force. Her attraction to him was becoming more difficult to rein in - so she gave in to it.
She stood up on her tiptoes and pulled his face towards her and kissed him.
Nathan returned the kiss. The two were like that for several moments.
Things began to get very heated between the two when Nathan pulled away.
Haley stood in place, looking a little confused. She was embarrassed and didn't know what had come over her.
"Why don't we go? It's getting awfully late," Nathan said, touching her arm gently.
"Alright," Haley said.
She wasn't sure what Nathan was thinking.
The two walked back to his SUV and got in.
The two were pretty quiet during the drive to her apartment.
Haley sat, looking out the window and biting her lower lip. She had been the initiator - once again, not something in her nature. She'd only known Nathan a little over a week and he'd already caused her to act out of character on several occasions.
Get a grip, she thought. Your attraction to him is causing you to act like all of the rest of the girls who throw themselves at him.
Soon, they arrived at the apartment.
Haley looked at him with a small shy smile. "I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you for dinner."
Nathan smiled himself, "I had a great time with you too, Haley."
"Would you like to come in for a little while?" Haley found herself asking him.
Nathan hesitated. He knew what would happen if he went in to her apartment with her. "I think I'm just going to go home. I have another early meeting."
Haley's rejected expression made him regret his statement, but she didn't say anything for a moment. "Alright...well, thanks again."
Haley opened the car door, got out and walked to the front door of the apartment as Nathan began his drive to his condo.
~~~
Haley walked into her apartment padding across the carpet barefoot, her high heels in hand. The living room lamp was on but Brooke was in her room and all was quiet. It appeared she had gone to bed earlier than normal.
Haley was just about to go in to wash her face when she heard a soft knock on the door. She crept to the door and looked through the peephole. Her heart leapt into her throat.
She opened the door to find Nathan standing there, looking at her.
"Hi," she said.
He didn't speak - he didn't give her a moment to say anything else.
He grabbed her in his arms and kissed her with a force of passion and aggression that overwhelmed both of them.
Haley returned the affection and broke the kiss long enough to pull him inside and close the front door.