Chapter 1
I quickly get ready for the charity banquet. I make sure the dress I am wearing looks proper enough yet fashionable enough to wear for this memorable event. I check the time and, as I imagine I am running late. But even I know that I could not be too late because I am partially a host. I look in the mirror once again. If there was one thing my mother taught me how to be, it would be proper. Oh, how I miss my mother. She passed away when I was fourteen. My father is a travelling businessman. I live with my older brother, who is already at the banquet. I tie the final knot on this red dress, put on a warm jacket, and hurry onto the cold, wintery streets of Manhattan. Of course, I live in a relatively safe and wonderful place. The people here are oh so friendly in the apartment surrounding mine.
The streets are crowded. I walk along watching the cars pass by in the bright evening. My feet crunch on the ground as it hits the snow. I see a man walking his dog, all bundled up, and the apartment on the whole street, which is filled with snow, before the busy street with all the cars are ahead. I walk up a line my street to the main street where all the traffic is, before I get sidetracked more with my surroundings. I hail a yellow cab and one comes immediately.
The man in the cab has a Bluetooth on and listening to music at a low, comforting level. The warm air hits me well. I sit on the black leather seat and tell the man the address with ease as I memorized in the back of my head. He smiles at me. Hm, simple generosity. That is a highly looked for in a person. I sit back and watch the ads on the screen, as if I had all the time in the world, which I obviously didn't. I watch outside and see the cars pass. The crowds of people walk pass, some trying not to slip on the ice, the large stores, and the food stands. The food stands; I hadn't had a bite since breakfast. I hear my cell phone ring. It's my brother, Stefan.
"Yes, Stefan. I am on my way." I say as I put the phone to my ear.
"Well, are you now? And you'll be here sometime near dessert..?" His voice echoes sarcasm all through it.
"Now, loosen your tie a bit, Stefan, before the guests see your little hissy fit." I calmed. Usually, Stefan was a little more relaxed but my extreme tardiness was a little inexcusable.
"Just hurry up, Rose, okay?" he said, giving up in trying to be serious.
"That, I will. See you soon." I hung up.
I wondered how much money we raised. I heard a large plop and felt a thump. One corner of the car goes down. I lean in near the window to the driver.
"Excuse me, sir. What has happened?" I ask in a polite voice, trying to me mask my worry.
"It sounds like we've got a flat." he said in a deep voice. Oh, no, that does not sound good at all.
"Well, if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be." I quickly get out of the car, feeling the cold air whip me as I get out. The mark my high heels leave in the snow is quite distracting.
"Hey, lady! You didn't pay for the part of your ride." I look back to see the man waiting on his cash. Simple generosity has turned into cold greed. I find it ridicule that I have to pay even though he did not get me to my destination. I quickly throw him a twenty and leave the pulled over cab with a flat tire.
From there, I go to join the people walking. I walk with grace even though my feet have been exposed to the very cold and try not to buy a roughly made hot dog from the nearest gyro stand. I walk pass the tall buildings and look for a cab to hail. I see all of them are filled with people. I check my handbag and notice I have no money left in there, except a few spare dollar bills. Oh, how this is turning out to be a simply wonderful night. I give in as I realize I have no way to get there except call someone who was already there. I see a café as I walk pass and give in to just go in there. I feel relief as I hit the warm air. I walk in and see a few tables lined up across the dim window with very few people sitting. All of the lights are dim. The counter has two people working in it as they walk in not much of a hurry to fill their orders. I walk to the front of the counter. A young man with blonde hair and soft brown eyes greets me. He looks about my age of sixteen, maybe a bit older.
"Hey," he says with a smile, "What would you like?" He was tall with some slender muscles. He was cute, in a way. I smile to myself at how flirtatious he was trying to be.
I give him my order with a polite smile.
"Coming right up." he says with a wink. Then he leaves to get the latte and the small eating in case I do make it to the party.
I decide to phone my brother to tell him about my little incident. I dial and call Stefan.
"Hello," he answers in two rings.
"Um, Stefan, I've come in a bit of a… dilemma." I say, choosing my words carefully.
"What happened, Rose?" I hear a little worry in his voice along with his exaggeration in me coming late. I look at my surrounding. The worker is almost done in getting it. A man in a suit is waiting in line, facing the window opposite from the counter, his back faced me. And the window, with all those cabs out there, I would be there by now.
"My cab got a flat and I don't have enough money for a ride there." I said quickly, waiting for his reaction.
Stefan sighed. "Whatever, Rose, just get home. This thing is as boring as hell anyways." I hear a hint of a smile in his voice.
"Oh, Stefan, you know I will."
He hung up and I smiled, grateful for him.
"Here you go, Miss." the worker said to me. He gave up his game a little too easily. He put the latte, along with a cruller in a bag with a napkin on the counter. I walk to the other side of the counter to get a mixing straw, then come back and pick up the cup and the bag. I see a table in the corner, next to a tree, and aim for that and while I do, I take a sip and almost spit it immediately out as I realize it is black coffee. I turn around, back around for the counter and I see the man with the suit is there too.
"Excuse me," I say to the worker, wondering if it was one of his tricks to get me back here. "This is black coffee."
The man with the suit turns to me and I almost gasp as I realize he is the most handsome man I have ever seen. He was in in his early twenties. His jaw was angular on his fair skin. He had the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. He had the darkest hair with a touch of unruly. He also looked very dashing in his suit. He motions to the cup in his hand. "And this is a latte." he says in a smooth voice. He angles his blue eyes on my blue eyes. I regain myself.
"My dearest apologies, sir." I said with a clear voice.
One side of his mouth lifts up in a smirk. "No, no, no, madam. It is completely my fault. You have my deepest regards."
I realize his game. "As you wish, sir." I knew he was raised to know all of the manners in society as I did. But he was making a game of it.
As we waited to get our orders, we stood next to each other. "What's your name, Miss?" Mr. Tall, dark, and handsome asked me.
"Elena Pierce. And yours?" I ask.
"Damon Salvatore." he says with a roll of the tongue. That sounded familiar.
"Fancy meeting you, Mr. Salvatore." I say as we shake hands. He looks like a businessman. Serious, busy, but also enjoyable if you get to know him.
"Feelings are mutual, Ms. Pierce. And if I may ask, where are you going?" he asks with a hint of a smile on his face.
He asked respectably enough, might as well give him an answer. "Well, if you must know, Mr. Salvatore, I was heading to a charity banquet until I realized I have absolutely no way of getting there."
Damon raised his eyebrows. "Well, is that so? I was invited to a charity banquet also. And I was just on my way there."
My luck has just changed, a little, if he offers, which it looks like he will.
"And, if you would like, I could give you a ride?"
"Well, I don't think I could take advantage of you like that." I say, just to seem polite because that is what I am. Or I just wanted to hear him beg.
"No, Ms. Pierce, it would be my pleasure. "I adored him as the words came out of his mouth.
"Why, thank you, Mr. Salvatore." I say with a sweet smile.
"Here you go," the flirty boy says with a frown as he watches us.
I take the cup and take a sip and watch him take a sip. We both almost gagged.
"I'll just take that."
"Yeah," I say as we exchange cups. I take a long sip and take notice of the fact that his lips touched where mine did.
We walk out together in silence. And once again, the air hits me. We walk and I see the street is emptier now. I look up. "Don't you love the snow, Mr. Salvatore?" I simply loved the flurries around me. They were like soft white blankets.
"I believe them to be a bit of a distraction." he expressed with too much maturity for even me to handle.
"Oh, come now. Did you not love to just jump into the soft, untouched snow as a child? Well, I still do want to but, now, if I do, the old women will gossip about me behind my back." I say with a cheery voice.
I look up again and it begins to snow, as if on cue. I spin a full circle as if I were a child again.
"Ms. Pierce, I find your innocence a quite suitable quality." Damon acknowledged thoughtfully with a faraway look on his face.
"And what are implying, Mr. Salvatore?" I question while walking on the snow, resisting an urge.
"I am implying that it may come of good use one day. You may not want to dispossess it." he says with a hint of sarcasm at implying.
"Oh, do tell more." I reach down and form a snowball. He babbles on softly as I form it just right. My fingers begin to numb. I stand while he was talking, then throw the snowball on the back on his Salvatore suit. He stops as he realizes something hit him.
"Does not it bring back childhood memories?"
He turns around slowly. I find relief in myself as I realize he has fake anger in him. "Oh, Ms. Elena, I know how to play your little game." He reaches down and grabs a fistful of snow.
"Oh, no, Mr. Salvatore. I do not think this is a matter to ruin both of our attire."
He rolls his beautiful blue eyes. "It's only cold water, Ms. Pierce."
"Well, my dress is dry clean only." I joke lightly, backing away slowly.
He chuckles and throws it at me, despite my protests.
"You have quite an aim." I compliment with sarcasm.
"Why, thank you. I play, you know." He says with delight.
"That crossed my thoughts." Lacrosse, maybe?
We soon arrived to his car. It was a pretty classic. "Nice car."
He smiles with youthfulness. "Really? It's one of the favorites in my collection too."
Collection? Wow.
"Mr. Salvatore?"
"Hm?"
"Careful. Your inner child is showing."
I enter the car.
He drives off, and fast, too. I enjoy it as I feel the smooth seat underneath me. The heat was blasting on a cold evening like this. I wanted to check the mirror to see if I looked like that red nosed reindeer but I withheld. The street was empty which was surprising. Damon looked deep in thought. He looked soft and thoughtful. It looked like such a beautiful, sculpted face. I did not want to interrupt that with small talk. How can someone be that beautiful? Every time I look at him, I promise I hold myself back from gasping. I studied him. Wow, his blue eyes complimented his features so.
"We're here, Ms. Pierce." he says, disrupting his perfect set face.
I blush and look down as I realize he knows I have been staring at him. He gets out of the car while I unbuckle my seatbelt. Damon opens the door. He holds his hand out.
"Quite the gentleman, Mr. Salvatore."
He grins as he helps me out. I grin as I see the outside of the place that I never thought I would be. The big banquet was beautiful as we entered inside. There was a big chandelier at the top of the room and couples dancing in the middle of the room which was beneath stage. There were tables off to the side for eating. There were other tables which had the food. It smelled delicious. I saw my brother standing off to the side, talking to a few friends near the food.
I turned to Damon. "Thank you, Mr. Salvatore." I kiss him softly on the cheek and run off to my brother. I hope that leaves him wondering. I turned up behind my brother.
"Why, hello Stefan."
He looks behind. "Oh, Rose. How'd you get here?"
"Got a ride." I say secretly. Then turn to Stefan's usual friends.
"Hey, Elena."
"What's up, Rose?"
"You look nice tonight, Elena."
I grin to myself as I receive the greetings and compliments. "If you'll excuse me…"
I needed to let the whole place know I was here. I put on smiles and tried to give back compliments and return hugs. I walked through the whole crowd. I spotted Damon and he looked as if he was doing the same thing. How can I never have noticed him before in all those events? Our eyes met and we smiled as our eyes told the same story. Why are people so eager to meet us? We made our way across as people kept greeting us. When we finally reached each other, we stood still for a second, studying each other.
"Ms. Pierce," He held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"
"Of course." I said eager in the inside.
He led me to the dance floor. It was a ballroom dance. And obviously, both of us were trained in the kind of dance. We both curtsied at the beginning of the dance. I felt eyes beginning to watch on us. We began to dance slowly with as contra- dancing, where we could not touch other. Eyes began to fall upon us and whispers form. I felt the people on the floor slip away or was I just imagining? A circle formed around the dance floor. We embraced closely as we begun the Waltz of the dance. His hand was on my waist. We slid gracefully across the dance floor. I tried to take a mental picture of this perfect moment.
The whispers began to become talk. I grinned to myself as I heard, "Damon Salvatore and Elena Pierce!", "They are together now?!", "I finally thought that Damon was going to ask me out,"
I roll my eyes as I hear the snare comments. I love that all the attention is on us. We are in the spotlight. We are the only ones here to me. I love it as he only keeps his eyes on me and I do the same. We end with a bow to each other. I hear people applaud when we finish. "Well, that was very… interesting." Damon thought.
I laugh at his choice of words. "Quite." I look around everyone was staring at us. "See you later, then." I run off.
A few girls walk alongside me. A girl with red hair comes up to me. I think her name is… Rebecca? "So, Elena, you and Damon, huh?" she says. The nerve of her! I've never spoken to this girl more than three times in my life.
"No, but I don't see how it is any of your business." I snap at her. She walks away. I laugh at my sassy self.
I keep walking with my normal grace. I feel someone walking up to me. I was ready to turn on my sassy self again until I realized it was one of my good friends, Bonnie. She looked at me disapprovingly. Her forest green eyes narrowed. Her curls looked absolutely beautiful in a bun.
"Your hair is adorable." I said as I thought it. Then I remembered she looked mad.
"You and Damon. How? When? Where? How long?" she questions me repeatedly.
"We just met this evening." I calmed her with this piece of information. I look around and see the food, just where I should be heading. The dessert was just about to be served.
"Oh," she replied. "You guys should go out."
"Bonnie," I gasp in mock shock. "Are you suggesting I date an older man?"
"No, Elena, darling," she says as she walks with me to the food. "I'm suggesting an older man should date you."
I giggle. "I am stunning, aren't I?"
Stefan shows suddenly in front of us.
"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to have a word with my sister." Stefan asks politely.
He takes me off to the side into an empty corner. "What the hell were you doing with Damon Salvatore?" Stefan nearly spat Damon's name. How did everyone but me know him?
I felt weird when I felt a sudden dislike toward my brother for saying his name like that. Why? Damon and I weren't that close. But it was like we had a special connection. What am I saying? I wondered if he felt like this about me.
"Chill out, Stefan." I soothed. "It was only one dance. We just met."
"Chill out? Do you know who he is? Did you hear everyone talk about you while you were dancing?" Stefan nearly burst.
"Well, obviously not." I mutter as I look down. So, everyone did clear out and it wasn't my delusional imagination.
Stefan pulled my chin up softly. He focused his soft green eyes on me. "Seriously, Rose, Damon is bad news. Just stay away from him, okay?"
How could I say no when he was doing that to me? Just being an overprotective brother, that's all, right? What was so wrong with Damon Salvatore anyways? "Okay," I say, trying not to be stubborn.
"Alright, then. Let's have some dessert then. I saw you eyeing it." he holds out an arm and we walk over. It's nice to have a partner to walk with in your gracefulness. But I couldn't help but think of who I'd rather be walking gracefully with.
We ate together at an empty table. Then, I excused myself to the restroom because I wanted to stretch out and I wanted to check how much money we raised. That was what it was about. Wow, Stefan has never been this controlling, ever. I wonder what he had against Damon. He was such a gentleman, actually.
I walked pass all the tables. And I couldn't help but notice everyone was staring at me. It was quite distracting. I mean, people looked at me, but this way was a bit difference. I kept looking to my sides. But I still managed to have my head held high. I was so distracted that my usual graceful self tripped on a chair and nearly fell on my side until someone caught me. I don't even have to speak the name for everyone to know. It was of course Damon Salvatore. He caught me so swiftly yet gently in his strong arms. I was looking directly in his blue eyes by the time I knew what was happening. Well, this certainly did not help my situation. I saw his lips, and I had an urge that was hard to resist.
"You must be more careful next time, Ms. Pierce." He was putting the full force of his hypnotic eyes into me and it was hard to say no, especially since he was still holding me. But my stubborn self wanted to say no.
Instead of come up with my usual witty responses, I nod.
"Good," Damon pulled me right up again. If I thought people were looking at me now, I didn't even want to think about it. I should just close my eyes and walk.
Then I realized Damon was looking at me. He was just standing there in his black tie and suit with his white shirt. Handsome. Dashing. Beautiful. Strong. Those were the words that hit my mind when I saw him. I realized I should say something now. "Goodbye," I said and ran off before I made a fool of myself any more.
I ran back to Stefan. There he was talking to a few girls. Yes and I wasn't allowed to talk Damon. "Let's leave, brother." I told him sternly.
Stefan looked annoyed and until he realized he was caught in the action. We walked out together. I just wanted to go home and sleep. We walked over to his black Mercedes. I sat in the passenger's side, watching out the window. The streets passed by and I saw the same surroundings as before. It felt like a bit of awkward silence as we drove home.
Author's Note: I'm sorry for the confusion, but Elena's name was originally Rosalyn in this story and I forgot to change the Rose. So, just go with it. He calls her Rose because she can blush as red as a rose and his friends also adopted the nickname.