Author's Note: Thank you Pam211 for your review; I hope you enjoy this chapter, as there is a lot of CNH going on! :) Drewbieee, wow, my story is awesome? You're absolutely awesome for saying that! Thank you, I hope you continue to read. As for any new readers, please review and let me know what you think. Highly appreciate it!
Disclaimer: All OTH characters belong to the creator of the show, Mark Schwahn, and the lyrics & title belong to Carolina Liar.
***
Wait, I'm wrong
Should have done better than this
Please, I'll be strong I'm finding it hard to resist
So show me what I'm looking for
"Well…isn't this a surprise…" Miranda looks up and sees Haley slowly creeping into her office.
"I was in the neighborhood…" Haley shyly replies. Miranda gestures her to sit down.
"So…"
"So! What can I do for you?" Miranda asks, while shuffling through papers.
"I don't know, you tell me" Haley tightly clasped her hands together.
Miranda clears her throat. "You owe me a third album which means a lot of writing and recording, press conference, red carpet events and a apology – among other things."
Haley overwhelmingly gulps. "I can tell you off the bat that I have no songs written…like none at all."
"This leads me to the next question, what the hell have you been doing? You got a voice that's worth a million bucks. People love you and you're out drunk, looking like that." Miranda said sternly as she stands up and walks to the foot of the table and looks Haley dead in the eye. "You know you're lucky that you have friends who shield away your pathetic behavior from the public and yet you got nothing to show to them. Now what do you have to say?"
"I'm sorry" Haley mumbles, looking away. She couldn't keep up with the eye contact.
"No" Miranda refuses the answer. "How about I'm sorry, you'll write songs and record them? How about I'm sorry, you'll release a public apology to all your fans stating where you've been lately? I don't want to hear I'm sorry, I want to see you do it."
Haley nods weakly.
"And you're not to see that boyfriend of yours for the next few weeks!" Miranda demands and before she could grab the phone and start dialing, Haley interrupts.
"That's not going to happen" Haley admits, with her eyes widely open.
"Sweetie, he's not worth your career. I can tell you right now, he's not the one for you" Miranda grabs the phone and starts dialing.
***
Save me, I'm lost
Oh lord, I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for…oh lord
The secretary eyes Clay from outside his office and mouths to him that someone is on the phone for him. Clay gives her the thumbs up as he reaches for the phone.
"Clay Evans speaking" He twirls the phone cords around his index finger while his legs firmly rested on his desk.
"Hi Clay. This is Will from Golden State Warriors - we were wondering when will be the best time to meet Nathan Scott to talk about the possibility of him signing with us?" The man on the other phone line said.
Clay quickly straighten up, absolutely confused. "Wait, what? Nathan Scott is still with the Charlotte Bobcats."
"Haven't you heard?"
"Heard about what?" Clay asks, absolutely furious.
"The Bobcats dropped him this morning."
***
"Miranda, Miranda, baby, drop the phone" Oliver walks in with a devilish smile.
"Oliver, what are you, um, doing here?" A surprise Haley, nervously, asks.
"Excuse me, but I'm having a private meeting with my singer here. Please, wait outside" Miranda points to the door.
Though Miranda, politely ask him to leave, Oliver continues to wander around. He aggressively but playfully taps at Haley's nose. "Shame on you, why didn't you tell me you was going to be here? I thought you were missing."
"Thanks for your concern, now you know she's safe, can you please wait outside" Miranda directs Oliver to the door.
"Not so fast-not so fast" Oliver purrs. "What's in a hurry? I want to help launch my baby's career back."
"That's very kind of you but we don't need your help. We do need, however for you to wait outside" Miranda kindly but irritably repeats herself.
"I am not going anywhere. Is that right, baby?" Oliver heats up, staring at Haley.
"I'm calling security" Miranda reaches for the phone as Oliver runs to her and grabs the phone out of her hand and throws it across the room.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to---I was scared that Haley was gone---" Olive shakes, with tears streaming down his face.
Haley comes and holds him from behind. "…It's okay everything's fine now…"
Miranda looks at Oliver, frighten. Something is clearly wrong, she thought.
***
Nathan storms into Clay's office, outraged. "What is this, I hear about being dropped from the Charlotte Bobcats?"
"I just found out this morning Nate. I'm working on it" Clay said as he gestures Nathan to calm down.
"You just found out this morning? What kind of answer is that? You don't just find out right now, you're supposed to already know way beforehand when things like this happen. I know you're all crushed out on Haley but dude, she doesn't like you so get over it" Nathan said with his forehead cringe.
"Don't make this about Haley! But since we're on the subject of girls, what about you and your quote on quote bitches? Having two girls baring their midriff wrapped around in your arms when you're suppose to be at practice doesn't necessarily scream team spirit" Clay angrily fires back.
Nathan chuckles, irritably. "Funny, you say that, Clay! Because I hired you to be my sports agent, not some tabloid agent keeping tabs on whom I was with."
"If you haven't look over your manual, I recommend you do so because there is more depth to sports agent than the title itself. Now would you excuse me, I have a meeting I have to go to, to explain why my client was at a strip club after hours when he was suppose to be at home, getting some sleep to prepare for the play-offs."
"Wait, what? What strip club? I wasn't at no strip club," Nathan corrects.
Clay hands him the newspaper with today's date.
"The Bobcats have something to lose. Nathan Scott, the famous point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats, was seen stumbling out of a strip club in tow with four girls in nothing much to wear, having fun and looks to be drunk. Now, the question leads, will the Charlotte Bobcats have a shot in the championship? Because at the looks of Nathan Scott, play-offs are a week away and it isn't looking too well to begin with," Nathan read the paper and blows out a sigh.
So, it's true, Clay thought because if it weren't, Nathan would've retaliated by now.
"Thanks for making my job so much easier" Clay grabs the paper out of Nathan's hand and walks out of his office.
***
Brooke helps set up the dining table as the doorbell suddenly rings. She quickly drops the plates and utensils and hurries to the door. She opens the door and frowns.
"What are you doing here?" Brooke asks in her signature raspy voice.
"I invited them" Julian comes from behind.
"Lucas may come in, you may not" Brooke adds, blocking the side where Peyton was standing.
"You still like Lucas, don't you?" Peyton smirks.
"And you" Brooke looks at Julian. "Obviously still like Peyton, don't you?"
"God, could you guys drop this? I'm with you, Brooke" Julian said sincerely. "And Peyton, she just got engaged to Lucas."
Brooke's eyes widen with shock, and abruptly she felt sadness rush through her. She then finds the courage to say, "well, I guess congrats."
Julian watch Brooke walks away, and in his heart, he felt it begin to break.
***
Clay politely directs the Charlotte Bobcats representatives to the door and breathes out a sigh. The meeting absolutely drained him. Well, at least its getting him ready for the long week because it's going to be a long battle unless Nathan wants to sign with the Golden State Warriors who interestingly enough wants to sign him considering the news are spreading like wide fire. Clay gathers up his belongings, closed the conference room and heads for his car. He puts everything in the trunk and closes it then when he looks up, he sees Miranda coming out of the building right next to his.
"Miranda" Clay calls out.
Miranda looks up and tries to smile. "Clay, is it?"
"Yeah, Haley's friend. I met you at her album release parties. Two of them in fact." Clay proudly said.
"Well, I hope you enjoy them because there won't be another one for a long, long time. Actually at this rate, I don't think there's going to be any album release parties at all."
"I beg your pardon" Clay frustrated at the thought.
"Oh I guess your friend didn't tell you" Miranda gulps, finding herself in an awkward situation.
"Tell me what?" Clay asks, getting frustrated some more.
"Nathan. I think that's his name. He plays in the NBA – I met him briefly the other day and we talked about Haley…"
"Yeah?"
Miranda tries not to make eye contact. "Well, this is uh awkward. Ummm, Haley is going to be dropped from her label if she doesn't record her third album."
"I don't understand. Artists take years to work on their album."
Miranda looks at Clay and added. "Your right but Haley is not among those artists. Well, not this Haley anyway. She hasn't done anything since her last album. I have received nothing. If she was working on her album regardless if the label approve her songs or not, they will still keep her because why? She's working toward an album but as we're speaking right now, she's working towards nothing…"
Clay blinks a few times and tries to take in everything. "I don't know what to say. This isn't like Haley. Music is practically her life. She lives and breathes it. I'm just…I don't know…."
Miranda smiles and pats him on the shoulder. "Well, unfortunately, her music is going to be on pause right now, for how long? Well I don't know; it's up to her. Try to find her; she's not completely lost. I do know that it should be the right person who should find her, to get through her. Right now it seems like it's either up to you or Nathan."
Clay looks up, caught off guard. "What?"
"Well certainly it's not that Oliver guy. "
"No – what was the last part you said?"
"You and Nathan. It's up to you guys to find her. Well even though your friend claims that he hates her, I could tell there was some part of him that wants to help her. Why else would he spend half hour talking to me about her?"
Clay tries to force a smile but failed.
"Well" Miranda looks at her watch and exhale. "I'm sure you and Nathan have a lot to talk about. I should go; it's getting dark."
Clay snaps out of it. "Right. I should go to." He watches as Miranda walks away. What did she mean; does Nathan like Haley? He thought. Suddenly, this dark shadow came over him.
***
Don't let go
I've wanted this far too long
Mistakes become regrets
I've learned to love abuse
Please show me what I'm looking for
If there were one word to describe this whole day, it would be awkwardness. The doorbell rings, and Lucas bolt quickly to the door to open it. Thank god, the bell rings, can't take anymore of this tension in that room, he thought. Well, Lucas was wrong, the door he's about to open is going to add more tension to the already filled tensed room.
"Thank god, you're here" Lucas grabs Nathan inside.
"Well, I guess I'm happy to see you too" Nathan looks at his brother confused.
"No you don't understand. Brooke and Peyton are at each other throats again."
"What do you want me to say? Poor Lucas, he has two girls fighting for him. Give me a break, you know you enjoy it."
Lucas gets serious. "You really don't think Brooke still likes me, do you?"
Nathan stifled a laugh. "Do you really need me to give you an answer?"
"What do you think?"
"Four words; I feel bad for Julian."
Lucas gulps, as he hangs on to what Nathan said. Suddenly the thought was interrupted with a doorbell. Nathan goes for the door; he opens it and sees Clay standing there.
"Hey" They both mustered.
Clay tries to keep calm. "What's up with him?" He refers to Lucas.
"Brooke and Peyton" Nathan said.
"Two girls for one guy huh? I say there's a problem." Clay looks at Nathan to see if there's going to any reaction to what he just said.
Nathan exhales. "It's not just a problem; it's a big problem, especially since the two girls are best friends."
"What can he do?" Clay wonders, still looking at Nathan.
"There is nothing else left but to choose" Nathan says and looks at his brother, gripping on his shoulders.
"I have to get inside…to Peyton…" Lucas said with his head down.
"Was that a choice I heard?" Nathan calls after.
"Why there must be a choice?" Clay asks, as Nathan turns around, a bit confused.
"Because life throws you choices" Nathan says. "And the hardest part is, we have to choose, even if the choice may hurt you or the other person."
"So was it your choice to not tell me about Haley?"
Nathan looks confused. "What about Haley?"
"I saw Miranda today…" Clay briefly said; Nathan's expression changes.
"I was going to tell you…"
"But you didn't. Why didn't you?" Clay cuts Nathan off.
"Because I didn't think it was my place. It's not my business going around blabbing about her business."
"But you knew how important she was to me. I could've helped her," Clay said, as the intensity intensify between them.
"Really? So what have you done so far, Clay? Watching her get drunk with her lunatic boyfriend and sitting there whining about it? Oh right, you did that already!"
Clay couldn't help but bust out laughing. Nathan looks at him, weird.
"You are going to laugh when you hear this, I'm getting this weirdest feeling that uh you like Haley" Clay continues to laugh. "But the thing is, you hate her but it keeps replaying in my mind, that you like her. Funny isn't it?"
Nathan remains silent; Clay stops laughing.
"You're not laughing" Clay breathes out a sigh.
"I don't like her" Nathan replies.
"But you weren't laughing"
"I just don't think I hate her anymore" Nathan answers, walking away.
"You can't just wake up one day and not hate someone anymore." Clay angrily said.
"Why not? Lucas wakes up one day, finding two girls liking him. Why can't I?"
"What are you saying? That I'm not the only one who likes Haley?" Clay asks aggressively.
"Well, obviously, there's Oliver."
"I don't care about Oliver. Who do you like?" Clay pushes.
Nathan answers, seriously. "Right now your main concern is to make Charlotte Bobcats likes me because I'm playing for them this season."
"Why are you dodging the question? You like her don't you?"
"That's in your head. I distinctly said, I don't hate her anymore. You should invest for some hearing aid."
"But In Nathan's land that usually means you like her but you just don't want to come right out and say it."
"You can interpret however you want to interpret it" Nathan walks away.
"Why are you walking away?" Clay grabs Nathan's arm.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Nathan looks at Clay's hands on his arm.
"What are you going to do?"
"You should start doing your job as my agent and stop worrying about my personal life" Nathan aggressively shakes Clay's hands off his arm.
"Well, I didn't know you had a personal life considering you were at a strip club the other day. I didn't know you take love so seriously. Why the change, Nate? Haley changed ya?" Clay annoyingly said.
"Well, since someone was lacking on his personal life, I thought I could be the leading example" Nathan said sarcastically with a big smile.
Clay and Nathan bickers but what they didn't notice was the door was unlocked. Haley walks in and sees the two bickering. She couldn't make out what they were really discussing about but she knows it is something about her.
"You told him?" Haley interrupts, looking at Nathan.
"Haley" Nathan looks surprised. "I didn't say anything."
By the boys' expression, Haley was outraged, still looking at Nathan. "I can't believe you. I thought that I shouldn't hate you anymore but I guess that's my mistake."
Haley storms out of Brooke's mansion.
"Haley!" Nathan and Clay calls after.
Brooke, Julian, Lucas and Peyton rush out to see what the fuss was about.
"What happened?" they questioned.
"I have to go after her," Nathan said, nervously.
"Who?" Brooke asks, having not a clue.
"Haley"
"Haley was here?" Brooke asks naively. "Wait, shouldn't Clay go after her? You know let him have his moments with her."
Clay and Nathan look at each other and look away.
Awkward.
"What's the matter guys? It's not like you both like her," Brooke laughs. "I mean Nathan hates Haley. I mean really hate her."
***
Save me, I'm lost
Oh Lord I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Oh Lord
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for