Chapter Eight
While showering before getting ready for her and Nathan’s first date, Haley’s mind wandered back to the previous evening and, in particular, to that kiss. Even though it had been brief, it had still felt good…really good, and she had found herself staring at his lips on more than one occasion, zoning out on what he had been talking about. Thankfully he had seemed to believe her excuse about being tired after he had teased her and asked if she was actually listening to what he was saying.
She knew the next few weeks especially were going to be difficult what with convincing his family and friends that their marriage was genuine but she was nothing if not determined. And while she enjoyed living and working in Tree Hill, a part of her wasn’t sorry about leaving to go with Nathan to Chicago. At least there no one knew her so she could hopefully be a bit more relaxed than she would around Deb. She had sensed the other woman’s coolness towards her after Nathan had made it clear he was ‘interested’ in her so she had a feeling that Deb wouldn’t be congratulating them when she heard the news of them dating let alone getting married.
Moving her head under the showerhead to rinse off her conditioner, she suddenly screamed when the water turned cold.
“Dammit!” she cursed knowing she had no choice but to suck it up and finish rinsing. At least she had already washed herself, she thought as she held her breath while her fingers quickly moved through her hair. This was the second time in less than a week that the water had run cold and the fifth during the past month. No amount of complaining to her landlord seemed to make a blind bit of difference so after the first few times she had stopped mentioning it. What was the point?
Unable to bear the freezing cold water any longer, Haley turned off the tap and shivered as she squeezed the excess water out of her hair. Stepping out of the shower, she quickly grabbed her towel off the heating rail, not surprised in the slightest to find it wasn’t warm at all, and wrapped it around herself before reaching for a smaller one and covering her hair with it in a turban style. She couldn’t stop shivering as she made her way to her bedroom and she made quick work of getting herself dried. After spending a few minutes moisturising with her vanilla scented body lotion, she started getting dressed.
When she had arrived home from Nathan’s the previous night, she had chosen the clothes she wanted to wear but now the thought of wearing a light summer dress made her skin break out in goosebumps so opening her closet door, she stared at her clothes for a few moments before finally selecting a pair of black fitted pants and a dark pink V-necked sweater. The sweater dipped low enough to give a glimpse of her cleavage and for a second she debated whether to slip a camisole underneath it but decided against it. After all, she was on a date, she thought to herself with a smile.
Using the mirror on the back of her closet door, she applied her make-up and a light misting of her favourite perfume before releasing her hair from the towel and running a comb through it. Carrying her towels into the bathroom, she hung them up to dry before going back into the bedroom and over to her hairdryer. Plugging it in, she turned it on and began blow drying her hair only for it to suddenly die on her.
“You have got to be kidding me!” she said aloud as she stared at it and willed it to work. Making sure it was definitely plugged in properly, she flipped the switch on the device a few times but nothing happened. “I can’t believe this. Why tonight of all nights?”
Staring at it a moment longer, Haley then unplugged it because knowing her luck it would suddenly catch fire or something, most probably while she was out and she’d return to find the whole apartment building had gone up in flames.
Opening one of the drawers of her dresser, she pulled out a tortoiseshell claw clip and twisted her wet hair up and secured it with the clip, mumbling a silent prayer that it would hold up for the evening.
After slipping her feet into a pair of black strappy heels, she went into the compact living area of her apartment and put on her black leather jacket which she had placed on the sofa earlier. Picking up her purse, she made sure she had everything she needed and just as she was about to close it, she sneezed a couple of times.
“Great! Just what I need,” she muttered to herself before walking back into her bedroom and removing some tissues from the box on her dresser and placing them into her purse. Giving herself a final check in her mirror, she smiled sadly. “Could be better but it’ll have to do.”
* * * * *
Nathan was sitting in his car, his fingers idly tapping on the steering wheel as he waited for Haley. He was a little early and it was probably for the best that he didn’t know her apartment number because otherwise he’d no doubt be knocking on her door. As he sat there, he wondered whether she was one of those women that took forever to get ready each morning. Somehow he doubted it.
Leaning his head back against the headrest, he closed his eyes and wasn’t surprised when an image of Haley appeared before him. He smirked at the fact that the vision of her he was seeing was actually fully dressed in her usual attire of jeans and a T-shirt. It was funny that despite having just met her a few days ago, she seemed to constantly be in his thoughts.
Last night when they had walked on the beach together it had felt great confiding in her about his childhood. He hadn’t been lying when he said she was the only one he’d ever talked to about that stuff. For some unknown reason he felt completely at ease in her presence, something that wasn’t usually the case with him when it came to strangers or even certain members of his own family come to that.
Arriving back at the beach house, they had cooked dinner together and he had been surprised at how natural it felt doing something as simple as that with her. In that moment he knew without a doubt that he had made the right decision in asking her to marry him and help him with his current situation.
The image he was seeing in his head suddenly altered and her clothing changed so she was now standing before him in a beautiful white wedding gown. In the past seeing something like that would have had him panicking but that wasn’t the case this time. His lips curled into a smile but it faded slightly when he remembered that they wouldn’t be having a proper wedding, that most likely they’d be getting married at City Hall, so the chances of seeing her in a wedding dress were very slim. As soon as that thought entered his head, an idea came to him and the smile returned to his face.
A knock on his side window brought Nathan out of his reverie and turning his head slightly, he saw the object of his thoughts peering in through the glass at him. He carefully opened his door and stepped out of the car so he was standing in front of her. Trying to be as subtle as possible, he let his eyes wander up and down and the smile he was still wearing grew as he took in her appearance.
“Is this, uh, okay?” Haley asked, feeling a little self-conscious under his gaze. As she had been walking down the stairs in her building, there had been a couple of moments when she had considered going back up and changing into the dress she had previously picked out and now she wished that she had done that.
“You look great,” he told her.
“Are you sure because I can go up and change an--”
“I’m positive.” And he meant that. The black pants showed off her curves beautifully and the sweater she had on was doing the same with her upper body. She definitely put some of the women in his past to shame.
“Okay,” she finally relented. “So, uh, where to first? Dinner or the movie?”
“I say we hit the movie theater first, at least then we’ll have something to talk about during dinner,” he teased.
“That’s fine with me. So, what are we going to see?”
Walking around to the passenger side of his car, he opened the door for her. Haley smiled gratefully at him as she got in. Watching him go back round to his side, she couldn’t help admiring the way he was dressed. The blue shirt he had on seemed to match the colour of his eyes and the black pants just fit him…so well. He’s definitely a looker, she thought to herself with a smile. Just as Nathan was getting into the car, she sneezed followed by another one and then another.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked before starting the ignition.
She nodded as she pulled a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose. “Uh huh. I think that cold shower earlier on has given me the chills.”
“Cold shower? Wow, I didn’t know I had that effect on you.”
Haley’s cheeks turned crimson at hearing his comment. “Must have forgotten to mention that,” she said in an attempt to keep things playful.
“Seriously though, why did you have to have a cold shower?”
“It wasn’t by choice, believe me. While I was in the middle of washing my hair the water turned cold and I had no choice but to finish rinsing anyway.”
“Haley, I…”
“It’s okay, it’s not like I’m not used to it.”
“It’s not okay.” Looking at her he suddenly noticed her hair was wet and he frowned when he heard her sniffle. “And why’s your hair wet?”
“Can you believe my hairdryer decided to die on me?” she said with a chuckle. “I’m starting to think this date is bad for my health.”
“I’m sorry…maybe we should ju--”
“You have nothing to apologise for, Nathan. If anything it’s my damn landlord who should be apologising.”
“Does it keep happening then? I mean, your shower running cold while you’re in it?”
She suddenly felt embarrassed about him knowing how things were for her so she decided to play it down. “Now and then. It’s not that big a deal and…”
“Yes it is. You pay the guy rent so you and the other tenants are entitled to have hot running water.” He could see her shivering and he silently cursed himself for not doing it as soon as he’d got back into the car. Turning the key in the ignition, he quickly switched the heater on and felt the warm air start to come through the vents. “I should have done that before,” he told her with a sheepish smile.
“That’s okay but thank you. I was actually planning on wearing a dress tonight but after that bracing shower I needed to feel warm hence me wearing pants and a sweater.”
“No problem. It’s only dinner and a movie so no need for us to get dressed up. Speaking of, do you still want to go to the movie? We could skip it and just go to dinner if you’d prefer.”
“It’s up to you.”
“Nope, it’s your decision.”
“Okay, well I say we still go to the movie. After all, we want to give Dolores a show, right?”
“Right. Man, I can’t wait to see her face. I wish we could find somewhere to hide and watch her start calling all her cronies as she spreads the news. Who knows, maybe we’ll come outside to find an audience gathered waiting for us,” he teased.
Haley laughed. “You never know. So, what movie are we seeing?”
“I’ll let you choose…but just to warn you, I’ll be raising objections if it’s a chick flick.”
“Duly noted, Mr Scott. I’ve got a suggestion but you’re free to nix the idea if you don’t like it.”
Nathan nodded. “Okay, let me have it.”
“How about we go to see Shrek 2? I’ve seen the first movie but hadn’t gotten around to seeing the sequel and I really want to. I know it’s more of a kids film but…”
“I loved the first one,” he told her and he grinned at the surprised look on her face. “Didn’t think it’d be my kind of movie, huh?”
“Oh…uh…” she stuttered as she tried hard not to offend him.
“It’s okay, I’m sure most people wouldn’t think I’d watched it either. I actually only got to see it because a business associate of mine invited me to his house one day to discuss a client and his kids had the DVD playing. Here we were, two grown men and we were totally taken in by an animated movie. We ended up sitting down with them and watching the rest of it and then I ended up buying it myself.”
“So you really don’t mind seeing the sequel?”
“Not at all,” he told her, happy to see she’d stopped shivering. “I’ve been wanting to see it for a while but hadn’t got around to renting or buying the DVD yet. I never thought I’d say this but I’m glad the Tree Hill movie theater is always several months behind the multiplex.”
“Me too. We’d, uh, better get going. I think the evening showing starts in about half an hour and I don’t want to miss the previews.”
Giving her another smile, he put the car into gear and then released the handbrake before safely pulling away from the curb. As he drove them to their destination, Haley sneezed a few more times and he couldn’t help silently cursing her landlord. The only positive thing was that at least she’d be moving out of her apartment in a few weeks time and once she was living with him, she could have all the hot water she liked.
“Sorry about that,” Haley said after she had blown her nose again. If this kept up, her nose was sure to be glowing bright red by the end of the evening.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he told her. “Do you want me to have a word with your landlord and see if I can get him to sort out the water problem?”
She quickly shook her head. “No, that’s okay. Thanks for the offer but I can deal with it. I’ll see if I can get hold of him tomorrow or something,” she said knowing that she wouldn’t. He’d just fob her off as usual with empty promises so what was the point in wasting her breath.
“Fine but let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will. I was just thinking, it might not be a good idea for us to kiss…you know, when we’re in view of Dolores. It’s just that if I’m getting a cold I don’t want to pass my germs on to you.”
Nathan smiled at her concern. Just a few simple words from her gave him a warm feeling inside and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt that. “I think I’ll be okay but thanks for caring.” Turning into the parking lot behind the theater, he pulled into a space before shutting off the engine. “So you ready to go out there and do this? No turning back once ol’ Dolly has seen us together.”
“Well I guess you’d better get me out there before I change my mind then,” she teased. “I think out of all of that’s going to follow once we do this, I’m most worried about your mom’s reaction when she finds out that we’ve gotten married. Maybe I’m being paranoid but when we had our supposed first meeting in front of her the other day, I got the feeling that she doesn’t like the idea of you being interested in me.”
Releasing an audible sigh, he shook his head. “It’s not you, believe me. She’d have a problem with whoever I was involved with. Like I told you last night, we’ve never had a close relationship and I know she feels guilty about that and I think she sees any woman I date as someone taking me away from her. She doesn’t seem to get the fact that I can’t be taken away from her because she’s never really had me, not for a long time anyway.”
Haley picked up on the hint of sadness in his voice and her heart went out to him. She could easily picture the lonely little boy he had been growing up. Without thinking about what she was doing, she placed her hand on top of his which was resting on his thigh and she gave it a little squeeze. ‘I’m sorry’ was on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t vocalise it, knowing that it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
Turning his head to the side so he could look at her, he looked into her eyes and held her gaze for a moment before they both looked away. Clearing his throat, he said, “C’mon, let’s go. I’ll even buy you some popcorn.”
“And some M&M’s.”
“I’ve got a feeling you’re going to be an expensive date,” he said giving her a wink before opening his door and stepping out of the car.
Haley followed suit and after he had locked the car, they began the short walk to the theater. Their hands briefly brushed against each other’s and she felt a tingle of both fear and excitement shoot up her arm at the contact. Knowing that this was the start of things to come, she took a deep breath and laced her fingers with his.
Before they rounded the corner leading them to where they were going, Nathan stopped for a moment and looked down at her. “Are you sure you want to do this, Haley? Because once we do this, once we’re seen like this together, there’s no going back.”
Smiling up at him, she nodded. “I’m sure. I want to help you and besides, it’s just for appearances sake, right?”
He looked at her with a confused expression on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Uh, well, I figured three years is a long time for you to…um…go without…you know…” As the words tumbled out of her mouth, she could feel her face burning with the embarrassment she felt.
His expression was still one of confusion until a light-bulb went off over his head. “You mean sex?”
Her blush intensified but she found herself nodding as she stared at the ground.
As he looked at her, Nathan realised that in the few days that he had met and gotten to know Haley, he hadn’t thought of another woman at all and his stomach hurt at the thought of being with someone else while married to her. He remembered how much it had hurt when he realised his mother had been unfaithful to his father and had chosen another man over them both, albeit for a short period of time. And even though his marriage to Haley would only be one of convenience, he knew he didn’t have it in him to go behind her back and cheat on her.
“Uh…Nathan? Are you okay?”
“I’m not going to cheat on you, Haley.” He told her solemnly and he saw the look of surprise on her face.
“B-But it wouldn’t be cheating…not really. I mean, the marriage is in name only.”
Nodding at her, he replied, “Yeah, it is, but it would still be cheating and I couldn’t do that to you…to whoever I was married to,” he quickly amended.
“Well I’m not going to hold you to anything.”
He sighed and leaned back against the brick wall behind him. “I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I’d appreciate it if you stayed faithful too. After what my Mom did to my Dad I…”
Her fingers tightened around his. “I understand, and you don’t need to worry. I couldn’t do that to anyone either.”
Lowering his head, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before quietly sighing in relief. “Thank you.”
She smiled back at him before stepping back from him and tugging on his hand. “C’mon big spender, let’s get going before you make me miss the start of the previews. You don’t want to make me cranky…you wouldn’t like me when I’m cranky.”
Nathan laughed at Haley’s mock pouty face and let her pull him forwards. For some inexplicable reason, his chest felt a lot lighter than it had a few minutes ago and as he continued looking at her, he had a feeling he knew the reason why.