She looked like an utter mess and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. Caroline Forbes was already running 15 minutes behind schedule, and to make matters worse as soon as she stepped out of the car her foot landed right in a puddle soaking her shoe thoroughly. It was clearly not her day. All she could do was be extremely grateful for the fact the person she was meeting was someone she was actually friends with, or well friendly at least. They worked together on many of the events Caroline's business put together – be it a wedding or a just a private party.
Opening the door to the establishment where they were meeting for lunch, Caroline took a step inside and immediately scanned the area until her eyes landed on Rebekah Mikaelson. Letting the hostess know someone was waiting for her, she hurried over and put down her planners before taking a seat. For the first time all day she finally felt like she could breathe. She had been running around like the energizer bunny most of the morning.
Rebekah raised an eyebrow and shook her head as she took in her friend's appearance, "You look absolutely horrid, Caroline. What the hell happened to you?"
Groaning, she shook her head and put her hands on the table, "Don't even get me started." Taking a deep breath, she pushed her hair back out of her face, "Sorry I was late, are you ready to get started?" Caroline opened her planner and began to sort through what she needed, "Okay, so the number of guests should be around 50 and they gave me a list of foods they'd want on the buf-,"
Pursing her lips, Rebekah leaned in and cut off the other woman from finishing, "maybe you should go to the bathroom and freshen up? I mean really, I just- You really should take a look in the mirror."
Despite the fact she hadn't even been there for more than a couple of minutes and Rebekah had mentioned how horrible she assumed she looked twice, she wasn't even sure she could be mad. "Okay, give me a minute?" She pushed herself back from the table, grabbing her bag she quickly stood and hurried to the bathroom.
As soon as her eyes met the mirror, she swore she looked like the walking dead. She had rushed out of the house this morning after a rough start of the day. Her alarm hadn't gone off, causing her to wake up 30 minutes later than she had wanted to, but at least she had woken up. And then her son did not want to change out of his pajamas and leave the house, so her make-up and hair weren't exactly the last things on her mind. And of course the clip that was keeping her hair in some decent form had broken mid-morning causing her locks to go everywhere.
Reaching into her bag, she grabbed some make-up and a brush and tried to make herself look a little more presentable. Once she thought the job was done, she looked into the mirror and noticed that her shirt buttons were completely uneven. Rolling her eyes at the fact she hadn't noticed it earlier, she slipped off her cardigan and undid her shirt so she could do it properly. However, before she was able to finish the job, a knock came at the bathroom door and before she could even respond, the door was pushed open.
"Whoa," was all the guy could say as his and Caroline's eyes met in the mirror after stepping foot into the bathroom. There was with her shirt hanging open, revealing her bra underneath, "I—I was just bringing in some new rolls of toilet paper." Holding up the rolls in his hand, he gulped as he quickly tore his eyes away from the sight.
Her own eyes widening, she quickly pulled her shirt closed and turned towards him. She was not amused, in fact, she was quite annoyed and knew her tone made that clear, "I was fixing my shirt and- and you didn't even give an appropriate amount of time for someone to respond between you knocking on the door and opening it."
He wasn't exactly sure how long he had been standing there just staring at this woman, but it took him a moment to realize she was speaking to him and what exactly was being said, "I'm sorry—I didn't— I'll come back." Without another word, he quickly turned around and exited the bathroom.
After a few minutes to let herself get over what happened and go back to fixing herself up, Caroline sat down and let out a sigh, "Well now I feel better minus the fact-," however before the words even left her mouth she found herself looking up at the very gentleman she came face to face with in the bathroom only moments before.
Clearing his throat, he tried his hardest not look at the woman he had just encountered in the bathroom and instead on the task at hand, "Hi I'm Stefan and I'll be taking your order."
Rebekah, who was completely oblivious to what had occurred between the two in the bathroom, put her order in and then waited for Caroline to do the same. With a bitter tone, she ordered a glass of wine and a salad, then handed her menu over and as soon as he walked away she hid her face in her hands, "I am mortified." After taking a deep breath, she looked up to see Rebekah sporting a very confused look, "When I went into the bathroom to fix myself up I noticed that my shirt wasn't buttoned right, so I was fixing it and our waiter came in when it was wide open and my bra visible" She sat back and motioned to her chest, "So he could change out the toilet paper."
"Was it at least a sexy bra?"
Tilting her head to the side, her mouth hanging open just slightly for a moment, she shook her head, "Really Bekah? That's what you're asking me?"
"Well he's cute!" she exclaimed, "I wouldn't mind him catching me in just my bra."
Groaning, Caroline couldn't help but wish for her glass of wine to arrive at the table already, "My shirt was still on, but you could still see." She shook her head and returned to her planner, "We are here to work and that's what we are going to do, okay?" Caroline was on edge, and this day was just continuing to go downhill.
"Okay," Rebekah shook her head, "You really need to take a deep breath, what is going on? Did something happen with your ex?"
"No," she shrugged her shoulders as she all but slumped back in her chair, "Well, nothing new at least. He has too many things on his plate and clearly his son is not on the top of the list of what's important to him."
Nodding, Rebekah felt bad for Caroline, they may have not been the best of friends, but she knew the woman had had the year from hell due to her ex and the father of her son, "I'm just saying you guys are way better off."
"I know that," she confessed sadly, and she did, but the fact still reminded that her son was growing up without his father, "I just- I just hate that he doesn't have a positive male influence in his life and honestly it's all my fault."
"No," shaking her head, Rebekah gave her a stern look before continuing, "You will not blame yourself. He was the one who coming in and out of your life. He was the one messing with your head, do not blame yourself for allowing yourself to attempt to move on for a moment."
The door slammed shut behind him as Stefan walked into the back office, "You know this is the third time this week I had to cover one of Elena's tables and stock the woman's restroom when she was supposed to. Remind me again why we pay your girlfriend to work here?"
"Whoa little brother," Damon put his hands up in defense, "What's got your panties in a twist? I thought we were over what had happened."
"It's not that," he growled before taking a deep breath, of course his brother would assume he was annoyed over what had occurred between the three of them. "Just get up so I can finish payroll," he motioned for Damon to get out of the way so he could finish doing what he needed to do. Once he sat down, he immediately pulled up what he needed on the computer and got to work.
"You know," Damon leaned against the wall as he watched his brother, "I think you might need to get laid. It is a really great stress reliever."
A/N: yes/no/maybe so? I haven't written a story in a while so I figured I'd dive back in and go with an idea that was floating around in my head.