Chapter 17
The next day, I skipped going to any seminars. Nicole left me to sleep in peace and I didn't get out of bed until after two in the afternoon. I figured now, I had given myself enough time to feel sorry for myself that I still felt this impacted by Nate after all this time, it was time to get control over the situation.
I showered, got dressed, let my hair air-dry and swiped on some mascara and lip gloss to look alive as possible, and went down to the lobby.
It didn't take long for me to find Nate.
I found him immediately walking out of one of the conference rooms, speaking with an employee I recognized from Conde Nast. I tried calling his cell phone as I came down, but it went straight to voicemail. It made sense because he was probably sitting in on one of the seminars.
I stayed aside, waiting for his conversation to finish, until he saw me and quickly ended his conversation with the other man. Hastily, he rushed towards my direction and the longer I watched him, the more I could see the sincerity in his eyes and it instantly sent me a calming sensation.
Even if he did sleep with Chelsea, that didn't change the man I saw in him and the man he'd become. One night wouldn't change my entire perception of him. Not after everything we've been through.
"Hey! Are you feeling okay? You left in a hurry once you escaped the elevator from hell," He gave me a comforting smile once he reached me.
I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight hug.
"Wow. Not that I don't appreciate the love, but is everything okay?" He patted my back supportively.
"Yes and no," I answered, finally letting him go. "Can we talk somewhere in private?"
"Of course," He answered without hesitation. "We could come up to my room but if you're uncomfortable with that, we can go to the little hotel cafe."
Considerate gentleman. Ugh. Nate.
"Why don't we go to the cafe?" I suggested, knowing this would be the safer route to go. "Maybe if we're lucky, another journalist will spot us and we'll be on the cover of People tomorrow morning."
Nate heartily laughed, extending his arm over my shoulder and walked side by side in the direction of the cafe. "Honestly, seeing everyone squirm around us is entertaining in itself. The other day, I saw one of the writers from the Inquisitor snapping a picture of me walking out of the bathroom by the pool and waiting around after to see if you would come out."
I scrunched my brows. "How do you know they were waiting for me?"
"Because I heard him say, come out Miss Monroe as I walked away," He shook his head and continued to laugh.
I grimaced. "That's really creepy."
"We are truly causing a storm here."
"Don't we always?" I roll my eyes as we entered the cafe.
Once Nate asked for a table for two on a balcony looking over the beach, we sat down in our chairs across from each other, the hostess setting menu's down before us. The waitress followed within seconds, asking us for our drink orders just as I was deciding if I'd order an iced tea. Or an Arnold Palmer. Or a pina colada.
Or about three shots of vodka.
"I'll have a margarita," I spontaneously decided. "Make it a strong one."
The waitress nodded at me. "And you sir?"
"I'll have the same," Nate closed his menu.
The waitress left with our orders and then, it was just us.
"Aren't you worried about what your father will think about all of this? Starting a scandal up with me again?" I asked him.
"I spoke to my dad right after I confronted Avery. He wasn't worried the slightest. He knows Avery's reputation for purposefully trying to sabotage people in our industry. She's actually tried to expose a few of my dad and my older brother's secrets in the past. You know, before I became the black sheep of the family," He answered with a smile.
"She must have some balls of steel to go after the Chester family," I shook my head in repulsion. "Does your dad know that we actually slept together?"
"I'm sure he has his speculations. I don't have the cleanest track record so he knows better, but he hasn't said anything about it because he knows that this time around, I'm better at handling myself. And when Nina Harper called him to apologize directly for Avery bringing up our family name again, that was validation for him that I have things under control. The fact that we slept together is irrelevant to him as long as our reputation as a family doesn't falter."
"That's why he was so butt hurt at the EPAA Gala," I recalled Mister Chester's outrage directed at me. "Because it exposed you publicly in front of everyone. He wasn't blaming it on me because of what we had done, he just needed someone who didn't have a Chester name to blame it on since it was unfolding right before everyone's eyes."
"Exactly." Nate nodded. "That's why I said he doesn't hate you, he just hated that we were seen in that situation. Because if my dad blames either of us for having been involved with someone we work with, he's one large hypocrite."
"Really?"
"How do you think he met my mom?" A slow grin fell upon his face, as if he were reliving old times.
I had never known the story about his parents and how they met, so I asked Nate to explain it to me. Watching him describe his parents' great love affair, his mother the assistant to big shot CEO Benjamin Chester and falling head over heels for each other, was like watching a kid talk about their favorite superhero.
Deep down, Nate was a lover. He could sleep with as many women as he wanted but what he desired more than anything was the type of unconditional love his parents had. And it also made sense why Mister Chester reacted so badly to us before. He had suffered he consequences once before, he didn't want Nate to go through it either.
"Before my mom died, my dad was incredibly happy. After, he changed into a bitter old asshole. But what do you expect after losing the love of your life?"
"I couldn't imagine the heartache. That'd be unbearable," I stated softly.
"Anyway, a few months after she passed, dad got involved with one of the secretaries of the VP's and Avery Potter basically tried to ruin his career. He silenced her of course - don't ask me how because I'd rather not know, but he made it happen. So, like I said, you have nothing to worry about with her or him. My dad is the last person to judge."
I was hesitant to ask, but I knew I had to do it anyway. "Does that mean you've had...a lot of relations with women you've worked with?"
Since me?
He cleared his throat. "I feel like I can be honest with you and say...no. I haven't. I know, you probably don't believe me, I mean, who would? Everyone looks at me like I'm still the eighteen year old Nate Chester, spoiled rich kid who plays women and spends his family's money for a living. But I've been so focused on trying to prove myself at Forward that I'm more than that. It takes a lot of my time - I don't have any to waste to think about anything else. Plus, it was kind of hard to have any type of social life with my dad breathing down my damn neck and having his personal security guards follow my every move."
Nate had been under a lot of pressure. While his problems were certainly that of only first world citizens, they were still personal issues he had to endure which doesn't make them any easier to deal with.
I had always rooted for him. I think why I've constantly tried to defend him to other people is because he never gave up on trying to be a better person despite what everyone else thought.
"You stayed clear of another scandal, I commend you for that. Anyone could have easily taken advantage of having probably hundreds of girls at their beck and call but you fought through that urge to better yourself."
"Yeah, well the one girl I had always wanted to do anything with, luckily gave me a shot so I think that made up for it," He gave me a sly grin.
I swallowed thickly, feeling warm under his gaze.
"What about you? Have you been involved with anyone you've worked with? You're caught some guys attention and wanted to have one night of fun, right?" He asked, almost nervously as he thumbed the menu.
"Does Kevin count?" I asked, feeling unsure.
"Well, technically that happened after you all left so, I don't think that does."
"'Then no," I concluded. "Like you, I was focused on trying to prove myself at the New Yorker, trying to avoid another reason for the public to post outside my apartment. Besides, I like my job enough that I didn't really need to have someone else to distract me from it."
"Maybe what happened three years ago was meant to be to force us and become the people we are today, kick ass hard working professionals in the industry," He said with a smile.
"I feel the same. I'm always quick to use that as an excuse for the shitty times that I've had but really, I also have to credit that moment as the reason for a lot of the good things in my life. I wouldn't have the awesome job I do now, I wouldn't have met Nicole and Ricky, I wouldn't be living in the amazing apartment I have, and I wouldn't be here sitting in front of you on the most reputable writing retreat," I explained my thoughts.
"And we wouldn't have had the best night of our lives," He added.
"Of course," I laughed.
"Things always have a way of working out. The universe has our back."
I smiled. "It really does."
"So," Nate sighed. "What's the real reason you wanted to talk to me today?"
Oh. That.
I was having such a great time, my main intention for this conversation completely skipped my mind. And now that I was reminded of it, my heart sunk low again.
"Right," I took a deep breath. "That."
"That," He repeated with a grin.
I cleared my throat. It was now or never. "You know how I was stuck in the elevator with Chelsea?"
He snorted. "Hard to forget that epic moment. I almost think that was a bigger deal than us sleeping together."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm glad you can laugh about it. It wasn't so enjoyable for me."
"I'm sorry, I truly sympathize with you. I can't imagine what that must have been like," He seemed apologetic.
"Did you sleep with Chelsea?" I blurted my question out, a hitch in my breath towards the end of it.
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
His eyes bulged out. "Did I sleep with Chelsea? Absolutely not! Why would you even think-wait, is Avery Potter writing another article about me? The lies this woman will come up with to ruin-"
"No, Avery's not writing another article," I chuckle and stop him before his paranoia can get the best of him. "When I got stuck in the elevator with Chelsea she said you two slept together. Told me I was part of the club of women who had slept with you and that I should be flattered because you only sleep with women who inspire you."
Nate drew back at this. I could tell from the intensity in his eyes, he was figuring out how to deal with this. I didn't want him to lash out, but I also couldn't expect him to refrain from doing so. If Chelsea had declared that about me with someone else, I would raise absolute hell.
If it weren't true.
Plus, at this point, I'm sure Nate and I have had enough of everyone trying to make us easy targets for false stories. It seemed that everyone was having fun taking advantage of our reputations and it was escalating at a fast pace that neither of us had any energy to keep up with anymore.
"She counts her drunkenly trying to kiss me and rip my clothes off at the company Holiday party 'sleeping' with me?"
I exhaled.
I KNEW IT.
I may have been worried about him, but I felt in my heart that he would never do that to me. Though part of me was relatively relieved, the other part of me was absolutely pissed.
I fumed. "Apparently."
"Do you think it'd be bad if I fired her right now?" Nate asked me, whipping out his phone.
"Nate, don't!" I reached out and tried to grab the phone from him. But he pulled his arm further back out of my reach.
"Haley, I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking they can make up bullshit about us just because of our history together. It's getting really annoying and for Chelsea to abuse that and make up some ridiculous accusation pisses me off," Nate replied indignantly. His chest was rapidly moving up and down, nostrils flared and eyes darkened.
I had never seen him this heated before and I was starting to genuinely worry for Chelsea's life.
"That's all that happened? She tried to make a move and you rejected her?" I tried to clarify the details I didn't want to know, but needed to.
"Yes, Haley. I swear," His eyes cleared with intent. "She cornered me when I stepped aside to answer a phone call, slurred some words about how she always had a thing for me and felt that I flirted with her so I had to feel the same way back, I can't exactly remember it in detail but she was a mess. Next thing I know she's trying to shove her tongue down my throat."
I felt myself laugh out loud at the image of that scene playing out. Chelsea was pathetic.
I knew there was a possibility that Nate could be lying just to save himself, and that between him and Chelsea's opposing stories, I'd never actually know that truth, but I had to put my trust in him. Otherwise, I'd never let this go and resent him forever. If in fact they didn't sleep together, like he said, then I would have wasted time resenting him for nothing.
I was done trying to let Chelsea manipulate my thoughts and feelings. She wasn't going to win this one.
"I can't...there's no way for me to prove to you that it never happened and given my history, I can't blame you for having your doubts," Nate continued, shaking his head. "But, I promise you, Hale. Nothing happened besides that. I pushed her off me and found another co-worker to help her get home. That's it."
Maybe I could find some security footage from that night at the party?
Oh, stop it Haley. Why can't you just trust the guy? You're going to let some liar like Chelsea ruin this for you?
Nate went on. "Please don't be mad. We've been doing great lately and I'd hate for her stupid lie to ruin that."
"Nate, I'm not upset or angry because I trust you when you say it didn't happen," I replied, raising my voice a little to show my coolness.
Like a light switch turned off, his expression suddenly softened and he lowered his arm. "You do?"
"Yes, I do," I insisted with urgency. "Can you calm down and not make any decisions you might regret later?"
He cleared his throat and nodded. "I'm sorry...I got a bit carried away."
"I admit, I was hurt at first-"
He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off.
"-but I thought about it longer and I realized that Chelsea has no reason to lie to me when she's the type of person to do it for fun. I've been enemy number one since the first day of the internship, I wouldn't put it past her to lie about this. She probably did it to get under my skin or continue this twisted game in her mind of making my life miserable."
"She's a master at that," Nate scoffed.
"That doesn't mean I believe her. I just wanted to hear you out because if someone made up a lie like that about me, I'd want to know."
"I'm going to fire her," He was quick respond, throwing his phone onto the table.
"Don't," I told him. "She's a terrible person, everyone can agree on that. But she's a great writer too. You said it yourself, the only reason she's still there is because she's good at her job."
"Yes, but she came up with a lie about the owner and editor-in-chief of the magazine she works at. I'm sure if I told HR, that'd be a good enough case to get rid of her," Nate said maliciously. "From a professional stand point, it's a valid reason."
Okay, he had a point there. I couldn't argue with him, despite my sick desire to defend Chelsea from getting fired from a job she actually excelled at, because it was his magazine after all. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't want someone who so easily could turn their back on me, working for my business.
"You have me there," I mumbled.
Now that Chelsea's fate was in Nate's hand, I felt immensely better. I knew Nate would never do that. My gut instinct felt it.
"Did you really believe I slept with her?" Nate asked. "Again, I can't blame you if you did. I don't have to remind you of my past...indiscretions."
"It crossed my mind, to be honest."
He sulked. "I figured."
It was the only thing that crossed my mind for the past twenty-four hours.
But I had to believe his word. If the roles were switched, I'd want Nate to believe me.
"Nate, I know you. You're a guy and have needs, but you're also an honest and good person. You would never do anything that would ever end up hurting me," I spoke with confidence.
He almost looked offended. "That's the last thing I'd want to do."
I broke into a smile. "I know."
"Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt." Nate suddenly looked down. "But...I'm not as good of a person as you think, Haley."
"Yes, you are. How many times do I-"
"No, you don't get it," He shook his head, still keeping his head low. "I..I lied to you. Selfishly, I lied to you."
I held my breath. This is what I was talking about. With Nate, it was a constant game of tug-and-war. The second I thought things were going great between us, something happen that pulls the floor right out from underneath me.
I exhaled, preparing myself for the worst. "What did you lie about?"
He lifted his gaze and our eyes met.
"That I didn't have feelings for you anymore."