"I told you to go home to your daughter. Not come sit in a bar brooding and looking hotter than you should be."

And if Klaus didn't have fast reflex, then the scotch glass would've fallen from his fingers in his surprise and at being overwhelmed by the once again sudden presence of Caroline. "Here for work again?" he asks, trying to put his smug look on, "I didn't know you were in the distilled beverage business. What's your specialty? Gin? Tequila? Vodka? I personally recommend ouzo or even better, good old brandy."

She rolls her eyes but she wears a tiny smile, "Do I look like the type who would need to do overtime?" she asks, looking around, "So where is he?"

The smile suddenly drops off his face, "If it's Elijah you mean… as you can see, he's not here. I haven't seen him in days now".

She sits in the chair next to him. "That's a sure sign you creeped him out with your stalking".

The tiny smile finds Klaus's eyes again, "Is that what you're doing now? Stalking me?"

Caroline scoffs with her usual frown betwixt her perfectly done eyebrows, "You might have lost your mind but you're still the dreamer, I see."

And Klaus does smile fully, tilting his glass to his lips. "Well, you still do look like a dream to me, Caroline."

And she's sure he hears her sudden gasp so with a repressed smile she quickly orders a beer. "So apart from snacking on hearts and avoiding Hope, what else have you been up to these past seven years?"

Klaus readjusts himself in his chair, clearly fidgeting. "You said it yourself, love. I've been stalking Elijah."

She gives him another eye roll before taking a sip of her beer. "And when you're not stalking him?"

He hesitates at first, looking at her and weighing his chances. After all, it's not every day that Caroline asks him how he's doing but knowing her, he knows the question is genuine so he gives a genuine answer. "The only version of me I'm confident about is the version you saw earlier, Caroline… covered in blood, I rule in fear. Then I think about Hope and how my family is better off without me around".

She sighs, and rolls her eyes yet again. "I know self-pity is your thing, Klaus. But it has never suited you".

He looks over at her, his eyes a glow of nostalgia - she always gives him glints of hope and redemption. "Then what suits me?"

"Strength", she answers, "And I'm not talking about a fistfight or a heart ripping strength. Contrary to what you believe, Klaus - the very fact that you would bloody your hands to protect your family is exactly why they need you as much as you need them", she ends, watching him watching her, his mouth slightly opened as though he has a million words on the tip of his tongue but not sure how to speak them. She too is feeling somewhat nostalgic - having this soul to soul talk with him. So she shrugs, flashes her hair back and adds, "And some champagne too perhaps".

By the time the bottle of champagne came, Klaus has a full flourished smile. "This really is our thing", he says, sipping – his eyes never leaving Caroline's lips and her eyes – her entire face and shape that he hasn't seen for years.

"We don't have a thing. Remember?" she sips, her eyes stealing glances at him.

"Oh, I remember everything about you", he replies, his smug from earlier making his face all the more artistic than she'd remembered.

And be it a form of distraction to hide the perkiness in her cheeks, she pours herself another glass. "You clearly have lots of time on your hands. Go find a job or something."

And Klaus watches her drink, the way she tilts her head back and slightly purses her lips, her tongue pink and sexy touching the rim of her glass before she takes a sip. "Are you hiring?"

"Not you for sure" she replies, becoming all the more conscious of his eyes all over watching her everything. She'd missed and craved this attention to details he gives her and it's crazy how the only thing the years had given her is a reminder of how much she really wants him and confirmation that he still just as much wants her.

So she finishes her drink in a full swallow then grabs her purse and walks off.

However, a few steps away, she turns around with an eyebrow quirk and a hand on her hip, "This is the part where you follow me", she tells him like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

But much to her liking, Klaus was already in tow, "I know the perfect place, Your Imperial Highness," he curtseys.

And Caroline smiles, takes his hand and happily walks by his side.

~ bar meetings in paris
klaus x caroline