CHAPTER ONE
"BANG" startled by the sudden noise I immediately wake up.
"Dammit!" I curse out loud instantly clasping the back of my head with my hand, it hurts so badly.
"HELLO?" The piercing voice of my best friend, Caroline, echoed through my open bedroom door. I swear if she wasn't a friend I would kill her.
"Here you are!" Caroline's exasperated voice rang across the room "Dammit Elena Gilbert! When are you going to stop acting like a child and deal with your crap...?"
"Sorry mom" I cut her off "I was not aware that you returned from hell" I snapped back with an exaggerated eye roll.
"Don't you give me that lip Missy" throwing her left hand on her hip and pointing her finger in my direction in an attempt to reprimand me "You are an adult, you need to stop this damn self pity and handle your shit because I'm tired of doing it for you..."
"I didn't ask you to" I respond in an irritated tone.
"Rrright because you have someone to take care of you…" She barks back in an angry tone "Where do you think you going? I am talking to you Missy!?" she screams after me as I rush past her.
"Gosh Care, relax, I am just going to the toilet, you know? That place where I have spent most of my life in"
She lets out a heavy sigh as I close the toilet door behind me.
I shield my eyes with my forearm waiting for them to adjust to the natural light coming in from a large frosted window in the bathroom. The room slowly comes into focus as I walk over to the toilet and take a seat. The many advantages of not having a man around, the toilet seat is always down. I instinctively reach for my catheter and gently insert it having done it so many times before it's practically second nature to me now. As the pressure in my bladder subsides I rest my face in my hands making a mental promise to myself never to drink like this again. This however is a promise that is doomed to be broken like so many others before it. I gently remove the catheter and rinse it at the wash basin before putting it back where it belongs.
As I lean over the wash basin to rinse my hands I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. I'm utterly shocked at the stranger staring back at me. My skin made pale against the darkness of my long brown hair as it frames my face. I Inspect my face more closely taking note of the smudged liner and black eye-shadow around my big brown hazel eyes and a reminisce of red lipstick that now lightly tints my full lips. I sigh at the sight before me.
"Elena?" Caroline calls from the other room, her voice filled with concern "Are you okay?"
I can't help but smile at her concern, my best friend who is always there, fucked up or not, she is always there but in all honesty, I don't deserve her or her friendship. The thought triggers an emotion that begins to swell inside of me and I immediately disregard it, can't have any of that shit. I fight back the tears before splashing my face with cold water. I grab the towel hanging beside the wash basin and head towards the door. Still drying my face I rest my hand on the door knob mentally preparing myself for one of Caroline's famous lectures. I breathe in deeply bracing myself as I turn the door knob and push it open. I am greeted by the pristine sight of Caroline dressed in an emerald green halter neck summer dress with matching gladiator sandals. Her blonde hair perfectly styled and curled without a single strand out of place…it's unnatural to be that perfect I tell you. She holds out a glass of water and aspirin for me, her face now full with concern and worry.
"Are you okay?" She repeats herself.
"I'm fine Care" I respond to reassure her even though my head is pounding from last night's drinking spree. I throw the damp towel on my bed and grab the water and pills from her, popping both of them in my mouth followed by one hard gulp of water. Caroline picks up the towel from my bed and tosses it in the laundry basket, Miss OCD herself…something's never change.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I asked her.
"You know I always check up on you besides, Stefan and I planned to go out for breakfast before he starts work so I'm going in late" she says smitten with the thought of her boyfriend "Anna will cover for me" she smirks "One of the perks of being your own boss"
"Ahhh I see" I say walking towards the kitchen. I need caffeine to deal with Caroline Forbes this early in the morning. I grab a mug and begin my morning ritual of making coffee.
"Can you guess who is getting married and came to me for my services!?" Caroline blurts out.
Caroline Forbes, event coordinator/wedding planner is the best in her in the field, she was practically born with a daily planner in her hand and the innate ability to boss people around.
"I don't care" I respond with a shrug
"Katherine fucking Pierce" she screams with her hands flung out in protest.
Startled by her sudden outburst I almost burn my hand pouring the coffee. Caroline immediately pushes me aside and takes over. I walk around the breakfast bar and take a seat on one of the bar stools across the counter from Caroline.
"Yeah I know right, I was totally stunned too!" she says astonished "That whore queen finally found a new victim to sink her fangs into ever since her marriage with Elijah ended" she adds in a disgusted tone "The poor guy, and I mean quite literally "poor", she left him without a penny after the divorce, I heard he is now some small time newspaper editor in Virginia" she says in sympathetically as she places the steaming mug of coffee in front of me. I instantly grab and pick it up; I lightly blow at the black liquid before taking a sip and placing it back down on the counter. Caroline leans in from across the counter, invading my personal space.
"And guess who is the new blood she after?" she prompts me. I shrug in response, my disinterest in this topic clearly evident on my face.
"The one and only Mason Lockwood, The Heir to Lockwood cosmetics!" She blurts out. I rest my head on one hand while I nurse my mug of coffee with the other as I pretend to listen to her.
"You were totally right by rejecting his passes you know?" Caroline adds. "I hear he is such douche face womanizer, you the kind? 'Oh I'm so rich as soon as I fuck you I leave' I swear if you ever went..."
"Yeah because I'm totally looking for prince charming" I cut her off knowing exactly where this conversation is heading to. I abruptly get up, mug in hand and head for the living room. I take another sip of my coffee and feel the warmth of it fill my body, the throbbing in my head slowly subsiding. I head over to the enormous window in the room that offers me a panoramic view overlooking the numerous skyscrapers. I gaze down at the bustling chaos that can only be New York's infamous morning traffic. Here I am at the top, quite literally, looking down at the world, it seems like this is how most of my life is spend these days, always observing, never living…all alone… I'm so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed Caroline besides me and I'm startled when she speaks.
"I know you don't want to hear..."
"Yes Care I don't!" I snap back but as usual Caroline says what she wants
"oh come on Elena, you will find someone one day, who knows? It could be today or tomorrow or day after that. The point I'm making is that you can't keep blocking out the world by drinking your life away and isolating…."
"I need to get to work" I cut her off by handing her my mug before heading to the bathroom.
"Enjoy your day, I'll call you later" Caroline yells after me.
My chauffeur, James, pulls up next to the curb of 5th street in a black sedan Mercedes Benz E-class. Lucas, my personal bodyguard, jumps off from the passenger side and opens the back door for me. I step out onto the pavement and readjust my outfit, making sure it's perfect. I run my hands along my cotton blended black suit coat and matching pencil skirt. The best money can buy with a tread count of over 400 or at least that's what my personal stylist told me. I'm not one for fashion but if you want to swim with the big fish you got to look the part. I lastly recheck my hair making sure the high tight bun I attempted to style it in this morning was still intact, Caroline would not approve. Still smiling at that thought I motion to Lucas to get my briefcase. After handing me the briefcase he moves over to take up his place at my side. I look up at the 50 storey glass building in front of me, bold silver letters across the building spell out "SALTZ ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS". At that a moment a familiar voice echoes through my thoughts, "I couldn't be prouder" it says. Filled with pride I take a deep breath as I straighten up my posture and head towards the entrance with Lucas keeping pace. At the entrance I am greeted by security guards and main reception staff, most of whom don't make eye contact with me. I smirk at the thought of this, certainly master of my domain, it doesn't matter if they revere me out of respect or fear…it still affords me power and having power means having control. "Good morning Miss Gilbert" I'm pulled out of thought once again by a bubbly redhead at the front desk, I respond with a stiff nod and proceed to the elevator and punch in for the top floor
"Bing" the elevator comes to a halt and opens to the image of my PA standing patiently awaiting my arrival. "Good morning Ma'am" Olivia greets "I need coffee, Olivia and see me in my office in five minutes" I command as she hurries off to the kitchen. Lucas opens the massive ornate double oak door of my office. I step in as he closes it behind me and takes up his post just outside.
The heel of my stilettos sinks into the plush carpeting that covers the entire floor of my office. My office in general has a very practical and modern look to it. The walls are painted an icy white making the room appear very bright and clean. In contrast to this it is adorned with sleek black furniture. Down lighting illuminates the room as well as natural light coming in from the floor to ceiling window directly behind my desk. To the far left of the room there is an exquisite black leather couch and an elegant glass coffee table in front of it. Above the couch, handing on the wall is a very interesting painting that I picked up from a local art exhibition some years back. I don't know what it is about the painting but it just speaks to me on some level. The painting depicts a woman whose eyes are smeared, as if the many tears she shed had somehow made them lose their shape. The entire image is painted in black and white except for her lips, they are blood red. Her hands are outstretched in front of her as if pleading with the viewer for help. Caroline doesn't share my sentiment towards the paint, if I recall correctly she said it was "an abomination that would cause her nightmares" before placing a vase of painful colourful flowers on the coffee table in an attempt to both, draw attention away from the painting and to add some colour to my office. She said it would improve my mood. The beeping from my briefcase brings my thought back to my office and notifies me it's time again. I walk over to my desk and place briefcase on top of it before making my way to the adjoining restroom. .
When I appear from the restroom I find Olivia settling my paper and coffee on my desk.
"So what is on the agenda for today Olivia?" I Inquire "Have the Newland publishing House paperwork been drawn up yet? I need them signed by the afternoon"
"I'll see to it immediately Ma'am" she responds "Miss Bennett called requesting you return her call immediately" she continues "Your first appointment is with Mr Vincent Smith at 9:30 then the team from Singapore is back and Niklaus schedule a meeting at 11:30 and ask for you to confirm.."
"No" I cut her off "Rescheduled for 2pm and get hold of Mr Stefan Salvatore to set up a meeting for today if possible or tomorrow. I need an update on the new cellular model they were working on. Is that all you have for today?"
"No Ma'am" she responds "Mr Tyler Lockwood called regarding his lunch meeting with you, he says he will not be able to make it but he is sending his MD, Mr Thomas Carter…"
"Dammit" I cut her off again "I only want to deal with him not some MD, but its fine, go ahead and confirm the meeting" I say irritated
"That is all Ma'am" Olivia says
"Oh before you leave did you get a chance to find Amara's replacement" I ask
"No Ma'am but HR tells me there is a April young being interview today"
I nod and she turns to leave.
The day progresses quite quickly, before I know it's already just past 2pm and I am in the board room having a meeting with my project manager, Mr Niklaus Mikealson and his team. All things considered I have to admit he is cold and ruthless, good traits to have in business if you want to be successful
"We couldn't make the drop off…" Niklaus says coolly
"I don't give a pig's arse why you couldn't do a simple drop off..." I say in an authoritative tone
He opens his mouth to protest I put my hand up, cutting him off before he can start.
"You should have been prepared" I continue "I told you always, always be ahead of the game, so if by any chance something does goes wrong you would have been able to anticipate it long before it happens and prevented this mess up but no, nobody listens and expects me to intervene and do damage control but you know what?" I coax them "Not this time, you and your team fucked up and if you don't fix it, considered your positions replaced by end of the month, do I make myself clear?" I say coldly
"Crystal" Niklaus says bitterly as he and his team get up to leave the boardroom. Niklaus still muttering under his breath when he leaves the room.
"Olivia I asked you not to disturb me" I say irritated
"Sorry Ma'am but I have Mr Stefan Salvatore on the line for you" she says
"Tell him I will call him back in 10 minutes" I say before cutting the call and continuing my conference call meeting with Mr Barry Spiel, discussing a way to buying off a sinking airline
Exactly 10 minutes later I call Stefan back
"Hello Miss Punctual, always true to your word" Stefan says playfully
Stefan is a long time friend of mine. We met in Harvard University studying business together. Then he met Caroline while visiting me and the rest is as they say history.
"Hey Stefan" I respond " Well a woman is only as good as her word" I continue "Sorry I couldn't take your call, it's a hectic day filled with incompetent workers and failed ventures"
"All work and no play will make you a bore Elena" he teases
"And you're beginning to sound just like Caroline besides you are the fine one to talk" I respond in a sarcastic tone
"She cares about you Elena…" he says
"I know Stefan, I know"
"Anyway listen" he continues "I was thinking we should have supper tonight…"
"You want to discuss business with Care around?" I reply astonished "You do realize the last time that happened I didn't hear the end of it for a week and you were in the dog house for much longer"
"No no" he responds "I want you to meet someone, he might be working with you soon and I thought it would better to meet outside of the work environment..."
"Stefan if its work related I prefer meeting during working hours" I respond
"Yeah but if you let me finish it is non work related he is my brother and I want you to meet him and no this is not a set up before you go on again" he says in a defensive tone
"Okay fine, is 8pm okay?" I ask
"Perfect, see you then" he replies
"Bye Stefan" I say before ending the call. I let out deep sigh; there goes my hope of a quiet evening.