On Wednesday Haley had walked into the courthouse with the full intent of walking out as a single woman.
That had not happened, instead when she and Deacon Roth had made their way out of the building they had still been married to one another. Now it was Friday night and Haley was moving around in her kitchen, getting things ready as she waited for Roth to arrive. After spooning a healthy amount of pasta into two bowls, she carried them both to the living room and placed them on the low table there, facing the giant television mounted to the wall.
That done, she cast a look around her surroundings, the apartment was the first big purchase that Haley had made for herself, and she always made sure that it was well taken care of. As a result there was really nothing for her to clean up, or dust. But even so, Haley found herself fluffing up the cushions on the couch. She moved the green one to the left and the purple one to the right, then she switched them back again.
Even as she did that, Haley felt ridiculous, it was just Roth, no one special. Why on earth was she overreacting? But just because she felt ridiculous, that did not mean that it made her stop. Instead she turned back to the bowls of pasta, wondering if maybe she should pop them in the oven, so that she did not need to worry about them getting cold as she waited for Roth's arrival. The man had said he would be there at eight and it was only a few minutes till then.
If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he loved being punctual. She did not need to worry about him arriving late, but the minutes felt like torture to her. After parting on Wednesday, the two of them had decided to keep their interactions in public to the minimum. It would not do to have some nosy person take a picture of them and have their families find out about them from the press, instead of hearing the news directly from them.
It was the reason why Haley had invited Deacon over to her apartment instead of the two of them, booking a table at some restaurant. There was less of a risk if the two of them met in a private setting. But even though it had been her decision, Haley suddenly found herself feeling nervous. Was the pasta going to be okay? Cooking was something that she really enjoyed. But she knew for a fact that Roth was a picky eater, what if he did not enjoy her food? what would it matter whether or not he enjoyed her food, a part of her admonished, and that quickly turned into her worrying about something else.
What if he did not take offense to the food, but instead to her dressing. She was in a giant shirt with leggings, her hair done up in a messy bun?
And she was putting on socks instead of shoes. Her outfit of choice whenever she was alone in her apartment. It was comfortable, and she would not be changing it for anything. If Roth was offended, then so be it.
She had not invited him over because she wanted him to see her dressed to the nines. They had something very important to go over. The doorbell ringing cut off her inner ramblings, and despite the thoughts that she'd just been having Haley found herself adjusting her shirt.
Goodness! What was wrong with her!
She was acting like somebody going out on their first date, which was ridiculous, she and Roth were only married, and there were not enough feelings between the two of them for her to be acting in such a way. Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of Roth in a pinstripe suit, his briefcase in hand. There was no doubt about it, he had come straight from work. Despite his perfect posture and the way his eyes were sharp and alert, Haley just knew that the man had to be exhausted, feeling a pang of pity she stepped aside.
"Come in, come in," Roth did so quietly, following behind her after she closed the door and led him to the couch,
"I made us some food, we can talk while we eat," Choosing to sit on the side with the green cushion, Roth looked from her to the meal, his eyes wide.
"What, it's not poison, I promise you,"
Picking up his plate he shook his head.
"It's not that...I just was not expecting you to serve me any food," Haley had to scoff at that.
"Of course I wouldn't let you starve, I am the one who invited you after all, and knowing you, you were probably going to pick a snack and be done with it," From the way that Roth refused to meet her eyes when she mentioned that. She knew that, her words had a lot of truth to them. Picking up his plate, Roth grabbed a fork and twirled the pasta around it, when he took a bite his eyes closed,
After swallowing he nodded at her appreciatively.
"This is good," Warmed by the compliment, Haley picked up her own food and began eating.
"So what is it that you wanted to talk about," Roth asked, as he slowly made his way through his own meal,
Haley, deciding there was no time like the present just came out with it.
"We need to come up with a story that we're going to use to sell our relationship to our loved ones,"
After staring at her for a bit, Roth put his plate down and began laughing in earnest, his entire body shaking. But the sound was not mirthful in the least. In fact it almost sounded bitter, "Roth?" She questioned and that was enough for him to get himself under control.
"Slater when you said we needed to meet, I actually thought it would be something serious. As it turns out, you were having a bit of fun. There is no need for us to come up with a backstory. My family does not care enough about my personal life to ask. So long as I keep doing well as the CEO, we should be alright,"
Haley's own family was not the picture of perfection. But to hear Roth stayed so bluntly that he believed his only value to his family was making money, that made Haley kind of sad. But even so it was none of her business.
"Your family might not care to ask, but mine will. We need to come up with something,"
Picking up his plate again, Roth shrugged.
"Just tell them whatever, and I will back you up," Pushing down her irritation, Haley spoke to him in a soft voice.
"Roth, if it were that easy, I would not have called you over. We could have just finished this whole thing over the phone. But I am having real trouble coming up with a story that sounds right,"
"So far the ideas that I have are: what if we tell them you rescued me from scoundrels, fighting all ten of them off and then sweeping off my feet. The two of us realizing that our hearts beat as one, that our love was…"
"Wait! Wait!" Roth cut her off by holding up a hand.
"Hearts beat as one, me fighting off ten scoundrels, Slater you have definitely been reading too many trashy romance novels or watching soap operas,"
Biting at her bottom lip, Haley gave him a pleating look.
"That is exactly why I called you out here. I'm having trouble coming up with a proper story. I could always just say that I was out and about taking pictures one day. Then I happened to take a picture of a man with an amazing profile. A man so good looking that I had to put my camera down and go talk to him in person. When the man turned all the way around, I realized that it was you. And I saw you in a new light, my heart began…"
"Slater please stop. You are going to give me a headache with those awful stories,"
Roth was actually massaging the bridge of his nose. His eyes tightly shut like he was really in pain.
"Slater how can a person come up with such horrible ideas?"
Putting down her plate, Slater folded her arms on her chest and glared at him.
"This is exactly why I called you over. Do not knock my ideas if you're not contributing. I do not see you coming up with anything new," Roth gave a long suffering sigh.
"We keep it simple. You and I went out dancing one night. We enjoyed each other's company. And as time went on, we got serious enough to get married,"
Roth's story, though completely simple, was actually pretty good. It was what had happened between them only the way that he said it made it seem as though the two of them had been together for quite some time before deciding to tie the knot.
He was really good.
"Wow, Roth. That is actually a great story. Who knew, you actually have a bit of imagination in you. You are not just the ice prince," Rolling his eyes, Roth proceeded to inhale what was left of his meal. And Haley finished off her own as well.
Food done. She was just about to see him out when Roth stopped her.
"Wait, now that we have an origin story, there's something else that we have to discuss," Haley immediately settled back down curious.
What more could they possibly have to talk about?