"I'm having a really nice time. Thanks for inviting me," Nathan said, taking Haley's hand.
Nathan and joined Haley and her parents for an afternoon outing to the Stonestown Galleria for some shopping. They had stopped at a cafe for lunch and decided to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful sunny weather that had appeared after the massive rainstorm the night before.
Haley's parents were enjoying the last of their trip -they were flying home that evening and Nathan had been informed he needed to back to Italy for a three day trip to wrap things up.
Nathan and Haley had not discussed the photos anymore -- it was something they were going to try to work through. Plus, the constant time with her parents hadn't allowed much time to talk about it at the time.
Nathan asked Jimmy about his work and the two women talked about friends from back home.
After lunch, they continued walking around the area and even decided to make a trip over for the typical L.A. tourist.
After all of the sightseeing, it was time to take her parents to the airport.
"I love you honey," Lydia said, hugging her tightly.
"I love you too, Mom," Haley said, hugging her back.
Lydia hugged Nathan, "take care of my girl."
"I will," Nathan said, grinning as he hugged her.
Jimmy extended his hand. "It was certainly nice to meet you, Nathan," Jimmy said, clearing showing his approval as the two shook hands.
Nathan smiled and put his arm around Haley, "It's very nice to meet you too, sir."
With that said, Haley's parents began their check-in process, said their good-byes and Nathan and Haley were walking back to the car.
"I'm going to miss them," Haley said.
Nathan looked over at her, "I know...hopefully they can come back and visit soon...or you can go there to see them."
Haley nodded.
Nathan and Haley went back to his condo while he finished grabbing some clothes to take back to Italy with him.
"I'm going to miss you," Nathan said. "…ya know, you could come with me…I can arrange for your time off."
"As tempting as that sounds," Haley said, "you know how I feel about missing work -- and no one around here knows about us...at least not positively...so how will it look if I show up in Italy?"
"...it will look like you're doing your job...you work for the firm, it only stands to reason that you may come to check on how the project is going," Nathan rationalized.
Haley looked at him with doubt. "I work in the office – I'm hardly an executive who needs to 'check up' on anyone else. Nice try though."
Nathan shrugged and grinned at her.
The two of them had maintained to keep things under wraps – if anything, Nathan hadn't wanted others in the office to cause problems for Haley if they felt she was going to be treated favoritism. Surely, some may have been curious, but it wasn't something being openly acknowledged or confirmed and Nathan liked it that way.
Nathan locked the door to the condo and the two set off again in Haley's car.
"You don't have to park and come in- you can just drop me off...my flight should be on time," Nathan said.
Haley pulled over to the curb on the departure lane.
Nathan got out and got his bag from the trunk. He walked back to her side of the car.
"Be careful driving home, ok?" he said, leaning down into the window.
Haley smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. Nathan had first teased her about her driving maneuvers through San Francisco traffic...but she had actually gotten used to it now.
Nathan looked into her eyes. "Haley, I love you -you know that right?"
Haley grinned, "I love you too."
Nathan leaned in and gave her a lingering kiss and one last smile and then he was gone.
Haley sighed, suddenly feeling alone and sad. She had sent her parents and Nathan off in the same day -- the most important people in her life were gone, if only temporarily, though it still left her with a sense of emptiness.
After watching Nathan walk through the airport entrance, Haley pulled her car away from the curb.
~~~~~
*Ring Ring Ring*
Nathan groaned into his pillow. Wow, 4:30AM wake-up calls were horrendous.
"Hello?" Nathan asked in a raspy sleep-filled voice.
"Good morning Mr. Scott!" a perky voice chirped into the phone. "This is your wake-up call. Have a great day!"
Nathan rolled his eyes and dropped the phone back into his cradle.
His flight had been delayed and he actually hadn't even gotten to his hotel until well after midnight -- add in the jet lag and it made for a very exhausting venture.
Nathan dressed quickly in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and ran downstairs to grab coffee from the hotel lobby before the Transpo van came to pick him up to take him to the shooting location.
Transpo arrived shortly and took him straight to junction of trailers dispersed near the house where they were filming the last of the footage for the commercial.
Nathan was still sleepy, but a little more awake now that caffeine was hitting his system.
He stepped into the make up trailer and took a seat, next to Lisa. The make-up artists were due to come in at any second, they had both managed to get there early.
"Well good morning sunshine," Lisa said, looking at the grim expression on Nathan's face.
Nathan stared straight ahead, not saying a word. His avoidance of her since the kiss had been a calculated move. It was by sheer coincidence or luck, that Nathan hadn't really had to deal with her since the tabloid fiasco.
"Come now, Nathan…you can't still be angry about that whole ordeal," Lisa said, her tone with a sense of mockery that made Nathan's skin crawl.
"You're damn right I am...that little stunt you pulled that was captured by the tabloids of America caused a lot of problems for me," he said, looking right at her for the first time, with narrowed eyes.
"Oh you mean with your little wifey?" Lisa said sarcastically.
Nathan fumed in silence, not even dignifying her little retorts with a reply.
"Well, I figured your little other half would be relieved by now to see that she has replaced me in the tabloids...."
Nathan's head snapped in her direction.
"I'm sorry, what? What did you say?"
Lisa gave a small smirk. "Yes, darling," she said in tone that still gleamed with venom, veiled in the elegant British accent. "Your girlfriend...she's just become the next tabloid target."
She pulled a magazine out of a bag hanging on her chair and handed it to Nathan.
Nathan looked at her incredulously and took the magazine.
"It's there...near the back," Lisa said.
Nathan flipped the pages and was stunned.
There they were, pictures from that day at the Stonetown Galleria. There were shots of the two of them, holding hands and kissing.
The headline read, "Lisa's Man Steps Out with Mystery Girl!"
Nathan closed his eyes, feeling the anger brimming to the surface.
"Oh come on...don't look so surprised," Lisa said.
"How could I not be surprised?" Nathan asked, befuddled. "I'm not famous – Haley's not famous. Why would we even be in this? Why would anyone care?" Nathan said.
"A few weeks ago, no one would have cared," Lisa replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "…but the fact that you and I appeared together in a magazine just last week and that my name is now tied to your's, people want to catch you out and about. They especially want to catch you out and kissing another woman now that they have published reports that we're together. It's sensationalism."
The fact that Lisa had been the one to let him in on this little discovery and seemed to be educating him on the pitfalls of a 'life in the spotlight' only further added to his anger.
"I just thought you should know...I mean, that's why I even have those things," Lisa said. "I'd rather know what's out there about me, true or not...so at least I can attempt to counter some of it."
Nathan shook his head. Somehow, this managed to anger him more than the previous photos of him and Lisa.
At least with those photos, it had all been misconstrued.
These photos...they were a total invasion of privacy. A privacy he never would have thought he would have to work to protect. He wasn't famous nor had he chosen a profession to gain such public attention– sure, he was known in the Public Relations industry, but tabloids didn't tend to cover those people 'behind the scenes.' He'd been linked to a public figure and now because of his association, he was getting recognized – and he didn't like it. He couldn't help but feel violated.
For the second time, he was going to have to talk with Haley about the tabloids -- this time, he would have to break it to her that the news of their relationship and their privacy was now out there for public consumption.