"What a beautiful painting, right?" the blonde asked the brunette who nodded, holding each other by the arm.

A waiter came to them with a silver stray filled with amuse-bouche and flutes of champagne.

"Now, we're talking." The dark-haired girl said with a smile, taking two glasses and handing one to her friend.

"Where are we by the way?"

"Well" she started, walking to the next painting, "We are at the opening of Niklaus Mikaelson's gallery, my dear Caroline."

They stopped in front of a really dark landscape, "I don't know that guy, but I am sure he is creepy." They laughed together when they read the title 'childhood's dark landscape', at least he didn't do into drama. "I am sure he is a dark-haired dude, super thin and really tall, and you know, like angular."

"Angular?"

"Yes, like Slender Man." The blonde shrugged.

"You are the creepy one here, Caroline."

"Imagine him, listening to Opera in the dark, a canvas in front of him, and using the blood of a woman to paint!"

Katherine took her to the next painting with wide eyes "Ok, you'll stop doing your Friday Fright Night from now on."

Caroline chuckled, knowing that her weird tradition was the only thing Kat didn't participate to, it was her lonely night, with herself and bloody body parts cut by a charming psychopath. Her love for horror movies was more like an obsession, but Katherine couldn't stand fake blood as much as Caroline could.

"This guy must be depressed, or a Satanist. I didn't see one color in all his paintings."

"That is why we are not here to buy, but for the booze, and the food."

Caroline sipped her drink and grabbed an amuse-bouche, "Why do we keep sneek in those kind of receptions?"

"Because the food and the alcohol are free, young Padawan. And if you want to eat more at home, you'll have to find a job."

"Touché." That was true. Caroline didn't have any job. Yes, follow your dreams, they said, keep believing, they said. But at her forty-fifth casting she started to lose hope. She was a desperate drama major looking for a role to finally start her career.

So, Katherine and she always invited themselves to the finest reception. To eat and to drink and to have fun. She actually loved it. She just pretended to be someone else, she wore nice dresses (most of the time, Katherine sewed them) and she loved to take an accent.

Kat and Care stopped once again in front of a painting, Caroline titled her head to the side frowning at the complex picture.

"Are you enjoying your time?" a feminine voice said behind her.

She looked at the young woman, blonde, with the fakest smile of the world.

It's time to show your skills, Caroline, you need to be your character, now.

"Oh, yes, indeed." Caroline said with a deep accent from across the pound.

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Are you interested in anything?"

Caroline laughed, "No, thank you my dear, those paintings are really too dark for me."

Katherine looked at her with a smirk, implicitly saying to her 'you sounded like a really old lady from Manchester'. (Yes, their telepathy game is quite strong).

Caroline laughed once again, "This man must be really depressed and grumpy to paint those horrible things."

But the girl in front of her didn't seem amused, at all.

"How do you think he look like?" an accentuated voice said behind her.

Caroline turned around to look at the man. A gorgeous one if you asked her. A dirty blonde with a light stubble on his cheeks, and more importanlty with a British accent, God chose to be nice to her today. Or not. Since she was lamely imitating his native accent.

"I don't know, old, I guess, with frowned eyebrows."

"You said angular, before." Katherine added.

"Yes, indeed, angular is my best guess." Caroline falsely laughed, putting her hand on the man's shoulder.

The man looked at her hand and raised an eyebrow.

"Angular." The man laughed. "What's your favourite football team, love?"

Caroline noticed that Katherine was no longer at her side and flirted with another man, she looked at the elegant gentleman in front of her and said, confused at the sudden question, "The Giants I guess, or the Eagles"

The man smirked, "That's what I thought. Nice try, your English accent is really nice, sweetheart, but I know how to recognize a real mate when I see one. I was actually talking about soccer. Or football in Britain. "

Caroline crossed her arms. "I have been tricked with vocabulary." She smiled. "I can try the Australian accent, next time."

The blonde next to him harshly said to her "What are you doing here? I saw you and your friends stealing food and mocking Mr. Mikaelson's piece of work."

Caroline huffed, she already hated the bitch. "I am really interested in arts."

The other girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You are not welcome here, you and your little friend."

The man interrupted their quarrel, "Ladies, calm down. Camille, this young woman is free to be here if she wants to, it's open to everyone." Caroline smugly smiled at her, resisting to show her middle finger to her. "And I would love to hear your thoughts about my paintings, love." He said, directing his gaze to Caroline.

His paintings? She was fucked. Deeply.

He presented his arm for her to take, a smirk on his feature.

"Fine." She took it and gave him an angry smile. "So I guess you are…" she took the pamphlet, and read it "Niklaus Mikaelson."

He took her to a painting, his own favorite. "Call me Klaus, sweetheart."

Caroline rolled her eyes at the pet name but looked at the picture anyway.

"What do you think about this one?"

She looked at it, and hummed for a long minute, trying to gather her thoughts. "Well, it's really… black. A lot of dark colors. And… it's big." Caroline said.

Klaus laughed "I am glad you are gifted with the ability of vision, love. But what do you feel about it?"

Caroline frowned. It was far too emotional for a first – and failed – encounter. "I feel that it's dark. I think it's a dark snowflake."

Klaus's eyebrows rose, "Is my work so literal?"

Caroline looked at him and laughed when she saw his dimpled smile. She stretched out her hand. "I am Caroline Forbes, by the way."

"Klaus Mikaelson." He pointlessly said. Klaus smiled, taking her hand and shook it. "And what are you doing here Ms. Forbes?"

Caroline shrugged, "Ugh, you know, the usual, stealing food and champagne and pretending I am from England." she said to him with a chuckle. "And you?"

"Ugh, you know, standing there, trying to sell paintings and pretending I love this kind of thing, just being the painter." He said with an American accent, laughing back. "And what do you do for a living, Caroline?"

Caroline sighed, "I am a drama major, actually."

"I am with an actress, impressive!"

Caroline sadly laughed, while they moved to another painting, "Not really, I am not lucky. I just did an ad for Nerf."

"Well, Nerf blasters are pretty amazing in my opinion."

"Indeed." She agreed, a smile on her lips. "It's Nerf or nothing!"

They laughed.

And Klaus's mind titled. It was his luck. He thought about it multiple times, and before he could rethink about it, he said to her "I could offer you a job, you know."

Caroline frowned. Their conversation turned out weird. She knew it happened for actresses to be spotted on the street, but she wasn't sure the proposal often came from a painter.

"I am being serious. I need an actress." He stated, before she could think longer.

"What for?"

Klaus took her arm and sat her on a couch she didn't notice before, on a corner. She put her empty drink on the coffee table and looked at him.

Klaus turned his upper body to look at her. "I need a fake fiancée."

Caroline stood up suddenly, "Oh, no I don't do this kind of things, call for a marital Russian thing if you want a fake wife, weirdo."

She hastily tried to leave, but a firm hand grabbing her wrist stopped her. "It's not like that. Let me explain."

Caroline looked around her. He had the nerves. She falsely dusted off her dress out of her nervous tic. And against her own reason, she considered to even listen to him. Even though she just met him and he already made an inappropriate proposal to her.

"I'll pay you three thousand every week."

Her eyes widened. That was a lot of money. Money she needed by the way. It was the last trigger she needed to let him talk about his 'fake fiancé' plan. She sat back and crossed her arms, looking at him. She raised her eyebrows urging him to continue.

"You see those people", he pointed different person in the room, a tall and elegant man next to Katherine, a blonde woman with a glass in her hand looking around her to check on everybody's outfits, another man flirting with a young woman, and an older woman on the back, looking bored. "They are my family. And most of them don't even want to be here, but they came because they are bound to certain familial obligations, and must keep good figure. At a certain extent."

Caroline looked at the different person he pointed and turned to him, frowning, "ok…"

He took a glass of champagne a waiter just put on the table and rested his hand behind her, on the back of the couch. "But they care a little bit too much in my opinion. They urge me to get married."

"It's not the delirious stuff, like 'you need a heir'?" Caroline asked, imitating a deep voice.

Klaus laughed, "Oh, no, they just want me to get married to be kind of settled. You know, they won't have to care about me if I have a lovely wife on my side."

Caroline taped her knees, "Well, it was nice meeting you but I am not ready to marry a total stranger." She stood up "I didn't plan that until I am 40 so…"

"I won't marry you. That's the all point!"

She sat back once again, starting to feel really dumb as she kept standing and seating on and on.

"You'll be my fiancée, and you're going to leave me alone at the altar. That way, my family won't talk to marriage ever again with me, since I'll pretend I am depressed because you broke my heart when you left."

"Why would you want to do that?"

Klaus huffed, like the answer was obvious, "I really love being single, unattached, love. And I want them to leave me be."

"Oh, I see." Caroline started, "You're the kind of guy who enjoys his bachelor lifestyle, and by that, I guess you mean your various flings, so much he is willing to pay a desperate actress to play his fiancé because he is too scared to face his own family to tell them to get off his back." She repeated in one sentence with a judgmental tone.

"That's sums it pretty well, indeed." Klaus shrugged, disregarding her critical assumption. "You should see that as a rent."

Caroline huffed with a mocking smile. She thought it was a joke. It must be a joke. He can't be serious.

"I'll pay you well, Caroline."

At his words, the word 'prostitution' popped in her mind, like a warning.

"I know you need it."

Caroline frowned once again, angrily. "How…?"

"I heard you, when you talked with your friends, you seem to need a job, and money. I am willing to give you both."

Caroline opened her mouth, searching for words. "You heard me? So you knew I wasn't British at all?"

Klaus laughed, his smirk appearing, marking his dimples. "Yes. But your accent was quite good, sweetheart."

Caroline looked at him, for the first time noticing how blue his eyes were, and didn't control the small smile that appeared.

Klaus took from an inside pocket of his jacket a business card. "Call me if you are interested, sweetheart, we'll talk about it."

Caroline took the card hesitantly without looking at him. Niklaus Mikaelson, graciously written on a white business card.

Klaus outstretched his hand and she took it, smiling at the professionalism of the gesture. "I will think about it."


"I don't think it's a good idea." Katherine said, opening a bottle of white wine.

Caroline sat on the couch/bed she grew accustomed to. "I can't live with you without paying."

Katherine snorted, "Come on, you sleep on my couch, it's no big deal."

"Why are you so nice to me and such a bitch with the rest of the world?" Caroline asked grabbing the glass Katherine handed her.

Katherine shrugged, filling her drink with a good dose of alcohol. "I have no idea, actually. I just do."

They both shrugged in unison with a smile. Katherine sat next to her and started the movie.

Caroline felt that Katherine kept her mouth shut even though she wanted to say something, but kept her face on the screen, avoiding her eyes, when Caroline knew she hated this kind of movie.

"Tell me, Kat."

Katherine suddenly stopped the movie and turned around to face her best friend. "I mean it's weird he ask you that like that!"

Caroline looked at her with a frown, "I didn't say yes yet."

"Yet? You are not considering it Caroline Forbes?" the brunette asked angrily with a menacing finger.

Caroline shrugged, "Well… I kind of told him I'd like to meet him to discuss it."

"Hell no!" Katherine shouted hitting her shoulder, "This is stupid! What if he is a dangerous serial killer? Did you see his paintings?"

"He is not a serial killer Kat."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I have a serial killer radar." Caroline rolled her eyes.

Katherine hit her repeatedly on her shoulder, "Don't roll your eyes at me, Caroline Forbes!"

Caroline tried to protect herself from her wrath "Stop! Stop!"

Katherine stopped, huffed, dusted off her clothes and took her glass. "And your serial killer radar must be dead because you dated Damon Salvatore."

Caroline frowned, "You know you are talking about your sister's fiancé, right?"

"Don't tell me about it, she just keeps rubbing her happiness on our faces." Katherine sighed.

"What happened? Tell me about it." Caroline said, crossing her arms in a concerning manner.

Katherine hit her again on the shoulder, "Don't you change the subject, Ms. Forbes!"

"Stop hitting my shoulder, Katherine! I am fragile!"

Katherine hit her one last time and finished her drink, filling her another, mumbling incoherent words, probably Bulgarian insults.

"I'll just see of his proposal is decent, Kat. I didn't say yes."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Do you want to be my fiancé for 3 days?" She imitated with a deep voice. "Oh, yes, that's a totally decent proposal." She responded herself with a really high-pitched voice.

"Ok, putting it that way it sounds stupid. And I don't have this dreadful voice."

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "ступид блонде."

"That's really not nice of you, Kat."


The reception was over. Caroline went to a videos rental store (yes she has Netflix, but those 80's slashers movies are impossible to find except in old VHS) to pick a movie for her Friday Fright Night.

She wandered in the horrific department, the bubbly blonde in a blue dress a sweet contrast next to gore movies. She took an old VHS. 'Nightmare'.

She thought about what Klaus said. "You should see that as a rent."

A rent. Rent Caroline Forbes. Like you rent a car.

Or a movie.

You pay for it, to keep it for a certain amount of time and you just give it back. You watch the movie tranquilly, and then you put it where it used to be.

Could she be like this old VHS? Could she be rented? Could she take some money to persuade this man's family that she was his fiancée?

Could she be as this movie?

You take the movie, you pay to keep it for a moment and you return it.

If you return it too late, you pay.

If you damage it, you pay.

But you take advantage as long as you can of this movie. You can watch it. At the end, the movie has a very precise purpose. You enjoy the movie. But you are obliged to return it. And in good condition.

Nothing was wrong with that. He needed help. She needed money. She had a precise purpose and he couldn't damage her, right?

She took the card. Watching it closely. Niklaus Mikaelson. Just a name and a number engraved on a white card. She passed her thumb on it almost as if she tried to feel if he could be trusted.

She took her phone and dialed the number.

At the beep, she bit her lip, wondering why on earth she did that.

At the fourth beep, she wanted to press the red button to hang up.

"Hello?"

Too late.

She put her phone back to her ear. "Hi… It's Caroline. Caroline Forbes."

She heard him chuckle. "Hello Caroline. You thought about my offer?"


Hello! Back with a new story! I hope you'll like it! and feel free to ask anything on tumblr: llgwrites