A #Matherine story. :) Based on one of the best romantic comedies 'The Proposal'. Apologies for any errors.
Please note this is an #AU so Character relationships/family ties may differ from the show. :)
Thanx goes to writer Crazychicke. Please review
CHAPTER 1:
It was Monday...again. For most people, that meant the usual slump out of bed to take a shower & read the morning paper. For Matt Donovan, it was quite the opposite. It meant getting up at an ungodly hour to rush the few blocks to the coffee shop, not for himself, but for his boss. Miss Katherine Pierce was more commonly known by him & his co workers as Cruella. "Excuse me, scuse me, sorry I've just got-" he said as he squeezed past them. "Just in time, Matt! You're running late today," the girl at the counter told him eyeing the clock. Matt chuckled nervously.
"Thanks Caroline, you're a life saver," he said turning on his heel, almost colliding with an elderly couple behind him. Finally he arrived to work and made his way to Katherine's office to place her coffee on the desk, but found her already seated. He couldn't deny she was sexy with her charcoal coloured pantsuits that hugged her breasts. The black stiletto's that gave her the advantage of towering over everyone else & those for lack of a better word piercing...yet doe-like eyes. In fact when they first met he thought about asking her out...but that was before she had opened her mouth and started barking orders. However sexy she was, it didn't outweigh the bitch in the boss. Katherine rarely stopped for polite chit-chat with anyone in the office and always made a point of doing everything at a fast pace. She terrorised the interns, groaned at the mailroom guys and hissed at most of Matt's co-workers for the littlest of mistakes. "Running late again, Donovan?" her lips pursed together clearly unimpressed with the state of him. He nodded, trying to catch his breath. He was rather dishevelled - his tie had come loose and his shirt untucked.
"Did you dress yourself this morning? Or did you roll out of bed like that?" "Morning to you too, Boss," he muttered. Matt cleared his throat. "Mikael from head office left a message for you to see him ASAP," Katherine rolled her eyes, Matt knew it annoyed her when head office asked to see her. He made it clear to everyone in the office that it was in their best interests to steer clear of her whenever this happened. "Did they say why?" she shot back. Matt shook his head. Begrudgingly the brunette got out of her chair. He quickly shifted over to his computer and typed an instant message "Cruella's on the move!" Suddenly a shuffling of feet could be heard and hushed conversations ceased immediately. Everyone peering over the office cubicles to see Katherine walking past with Matt following. "I don't hear people working?" she shouted. All heads dropped to their desks. "I have so much work to do & this happens. If I didn't tell you already, you're working this weekend." "What? No! Im seeing my family this weekend. You promised me this weekend off remember?". "Aww you think Im being unfair? Suck it up, Donovan" she said. Katherine tapped her knuckles on Mikael's door. He was busy puffing his pipe and reading the paper when Katherine entered with Matt behind her. "You wanted to see me Sir?" Mikael looked up & gestured for her to take a seat. "It's come to our attention that your visa has been denied & you are currently living here illegally, we have been advised to let you go & refill your position"
Katherine made an involuntary noise. "So...what, I'm being deported!" A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. It was Bonnie Bennett, Katherine's secretary. "Sorry, Miss Pierce you have a phone-call, I told them you were otherwise engaged..." Katherine stopped, a wicked smile crossed her face. She looked at Matt. Matt instantly felt his stomach drop. That look on Katherine's face was never a good thing. "Thanks Bonnie, take a message will you?" Bonnie nodded and disappeared. Katherine waved Matt over, he hesitated but shuffled to her side. "There's something you should know, Matt & I are getting married, this fall aren't we sweetie?" she said slapping him lightly on the chest, batting her eyelids at him. Alarm bells were going off like firecrackers in his ear. He swallowed hard and slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, Katherine and I are just two people who were meant to fall in love," he said, wrapping an arm around Katherine's waist to make it look convincing, to which Katherine had to restrain from flinching.
Mikael glared at them. "If by any chance you are committing fraud for a green card, I suggest you own up now for sake of your freedom" He looked from Katherine to Matt and back again. Matt could feel beads of sweat forming on the side of his face. Katherine just laughed it off. "Who else knows about this engagement? Mr Donovan? Have you told the family?" Matt nodded "This weekend Sir, it's Aunt Jenna's birthday, whole family's coming together" Mikael was silent for a moment drumming his fingers on the desk. After what seemed eternity to Matt & Katherine he cleared his throat. "Hmm, Very well then, you're dismissed".
-:-
"What the hell did you just get us into back there?" Matt said through gritted teeth as he sat down opposite her in a diner for lunch. "I thought, I need to keep my job & you have your dream of becoming an editor & I'm the only one that can make that happen-". "So you thought a fake engagement was the answer to that?" Matt shot back. "Come on Donovan, man up and take one for the team!". After about an hour of bickering & uncomfortable silence from onlookers; it was decided-they were engaged. "Ok, now that we're for all intensive purposes engaged we should discuss how we break the news to your family," Katherine told him. "That's easy, we stay at my parents house and I will tell them that we're engaged when I want & how I want! Deal?". She mumbled something under her breath before nodding in agreement.
-:-
Matt was at home that night rifling through his chest of drawers and wardrobe for his mother's engagement ring. He remembered the day that Lily Salvatore had given it to him, her adopted son instead of her two biological sons. As he found the ring box in his sock drawer his mind took him back. Lily had asked to see him and was waiting at the kitchen table of their Mystic Falls home "Matthew, I know you haven't been apart of this family long but I need you understand that you are just as much my son as Stefan & Damon". Matt smiled, Lily was the only one he allowed to call him Matthew. "Thanks Lily...I mean mum" he teased. Lily reached out and held his hand. "Which is why I want you to have this-". She told him sliding her engagement ring off her finger and handing it to him. "I-I cant take that, you should give it to Damon for Elena, He's the eldest" Matt said. He was so touched by the gesture that it felt wrong to take it. "No arguments!" she said. Seeing the beaming smile on her face, he pulled her into a hug. She had given this ring to him out of the goodness of her heart for him to give to the love of his life. Instead he had to give it to a woman he despised. It made his skin crawl to have to do it, even though it was temporary arrangement. As Matt placed the ring in his back pocket his cell phone buzzed on his nightstand. That's probably Cruella now, he thought.
New text message from Katherine:
I'm packed! Lets get this weekend over with!
Matt replied simply.
You read my mind!
They had agreed to meet at the airport...destination Mystic Falls. Matt was sitting at their gate number reading a boring travel mag when he heard the tell tale click clack of a pair of heels, before he spotted her dragging a suitcase as big as body-bag behind her. Ironically, that's how Matt envisioned the end to this weekend from hell. Her wrapped in black plastic. Matt smiled to himself at the thought.
-:-
Minutes before they were due to land they had finalised details of their fake relationship. Things like how long they had fought their 'chemistry' before finally giving in, their first date & how Matt had popped the question. As Matt and Katherine stepped off the plane they were greeted with cheers of excitement from the crowd a short distance away. Matt had shown her photos of his family on the plane, so it was easy for Katherine to identify each of them: his mother Lily Salvatore with her auburn hair & welcoming smile that made the brunette's skin crawl; his Brother's Damon & Stefan and their girlfriends Elena & Ivy waving a glittery 'Welcome Home' sign; his best friends Jeremy & Tyler & Aunt Jenna waving excitedly beside her history teacher boyfriend Alaric. Suddenly Katherine's eye caught the sight of Matt's ex-girlfriend Rebekah with her blue eyes and blonde hair whom he had broken it off with on good terms before moving to New York. The brunette just rolled her eyes, she should have guessed that Matt had a thing for blonde bimbo's. She laughed inwardly, he was so predictable.
"Oh my handsome boy, I've missed you so much!" Lily cried enveloping Matt in a hug before releasing him. "And you must be Katherine, we've heard so much about you" Lily pecked Katherine on the cheek. "Mrs Salvatore thank you for letting me come this weekend" Lily smiled "Oh Mrs Salvatore was my husbands mother, please call me Lily, I should be thanking you, You brought my Matthew home for the first time in years". Matt could feel heat rise in his cheeks at the sight of his brothers teasing him about how embarrassing it was to have their mother fawn over his girlfriend. When the hugging and introductions was over everyone crammed into the minibus, with Damon at the wheel they headed off to the Salvatore Boarding House.
Thanx for reading Chapter 1, next Chapter will be uploaded soon.
Till Later My Darlings. xo