A/N: Hey guys! Important note: Obviously I've taken a bunch of creative liberties in creating this situation, but even with that I hope you enjoy the story.
"Dr. Forbes, I'm afraid I have some bad news," Elijah begins. He runs his fingers through his carefully gelled hair before straightening his tie and grabbing his lapels. Caroline often wonders how a man can always look so put together, not one hair of place and always clad in a designer suit. But today, her department supervisor is uncharacteristically rumpled looking. He doesn't look like he wants to continue speaking at all, so Caroline decides to prompt him.
"What bad news?" Caroline ventures. It's only her first day, she couldn't have messed up that badly yet.
Elijah leans back in his chair before frowning and responding in his British accent. "Well, I'm afraid that one of your new colleagues released a rather harsh attack on your most recent paper last night. Dr. Merloup took issue with your view that culture develops from a fundamental goodness of humanity. To put it frankly, he tore your paper to shreds, and insinuated some displeasing things about your character." Elijah leans forward and clasps his hands together as Caroline freezes in shock. "I am informing you of this not necessarily because I find any fault with your paper, but because he is your colleague in this department, and I know that he can be… difficult to work with. I thought I'd warn you before trying to confront him… he's fairly new also, but… he can be somewhat overpowering."
Caroline pauses a few moments before replying, a tiny frown etched on her forehead. "Maybe there were some problems with my paper. I can understand someone attacking my paper, but me? Isn't that really unprofessional? Like, that's just a way to discredit someone without actually attacking their argument." Caroline says, carefully moderating her volume so she didn't start yelling in frustration. Control your temper, she told herself sternly. She could understand people attacking her paper, like she had told Elijah. She had been in a hurry moving to get to her new professorship gig at Columbia, so of course she might've overlooked a couple flaws in her paper before she published. "Dr. Mikaelson, what did he insinuate about me?" Caroline continues carefully, stressing the word insinuate.
Elijah looks doubly uncomfortable. Weirdly enough, it seems like Elijah agrees with her that Dr. Merloup's behavior was unprofessional, but for some reason he was choosing to warn her instead of discipline him. Caroline is suddenly struck by a realization. Elijah actually seems kind of scared of this man, which iss strange because Elijah doesn't strike her as a meek man. "He might've insinuated you were unintelligent and received your doctorate through other means than your intelligence." Elijah mumbles, wincing as he prepares for Caroline's reaction.
Caroline starts rocking back and forth, muttering under her breath. "… that no good mother kisser … how dare he I'll show him intelligence… he won't know what hit him…" Caroline continues cursing him for about 20 seconds before Elijah addresses her again. "Dr. Forbes?" No response. He sighs. "Caroline?" Caroline reluctantly looks up at him, fire burning in her ice blue eyes.
"My advice to you, as someone who's been in your exact position, is to not let it bother you." He pauses, considering his next words. "I chose to hire you for a reason, and what I expect from you now is to prove Dr. Merloup wrong." He smiles kindly at her as Caroline looks up at him and gives him a small, determined smile.
"Thank you, Dr. Mikaelson. I won't disappoint you."
"Please," Elijah chuckles as he leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "There's no need for formalities, Caroline. Call me Elijah." Caroline nods gently and grabs her briefcase as Elijah dismisses her. She decides that she likes Elijah. Yeah, he's a little stiff, but she's glad to have found a small welcome in the frigid ranks of academia, where she had expected to find only mistrust and hostility.
It's one of those days where Caroline feels like she's starring in a sitcom that the entire point is to put the main character through hell for the sake of comedy. Yeah, like when one of her lectures began with her accidentally opening up a slideshow of spring break '06? Hilarious! Staining and tearing her outfit as she's presenting in front of her grad students? Embarrassing and relatable! It seems like everything that could go wrong on her first day at work did go wrong. She's late, she spills coffee, she accidentally almost cries in front of her boss, every crosswalk she hits says don't walk; the list goes on and on.
It isn't really as bad as she's making it seem, she knows. As a newly minted assistant professor at Columbia, she knows she's the object of much envy from her peers from her PhD program and the whole of academia. She loves anthropology and teaching, and couldn't imagine a better job than getting paid to do what she loves. Plus Columbia seems like a good place so far, judging by her supervisor, Elijah. Caroline is very aware of the fact that she can be dramatic at times, but today she chooses to ignore her mind and follow her stomach, all the way down the stairs and out to the ice cream shop down the street.
She makes it to the shop without too much trouble (that taxi almost hit her, and she knows now that high heels and these sidewalks do not mix) and steps in line. It's one of those open-air New York City cafés that seem like they belong on the streets of Paris, and the peaceful atmosphere relaxes Caroline as she closes her eyes as she feels the breeze play with her hair and the sun dance across her eyelids. This is it, she thinks as she buys her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, this was the life I've always wanted. Caroline has finally reached her place of zen, the dream that got her through grad school and post-doc. But as they say, what can go wrong will, and Caroline provides excellent proof of this as her heel gets caught in a crack in the sidewalk and the world starts to turn sideways.
My ice cream! Caroline whines internally as she watches it fall off her cone in slow motion. Caroline mentally prepares herself to hit the ground, a skill learned from all her tumbles as a cheerleader. Weirdly enough, Caroline doesn't mind falling, which served her well in high school. It's a sort of freedom for her, as the rush of sinking weightlessly through the air always masks any sort of pain she might've felt from hitting the ground. A lot sooner than she had expected, Caroline lets out a surprised "oof!" as she feels something break her fall. As she looks up, she realizes what has saved her the mild embarrassment of falling on her face. An attractive man is holding her in his arms, and he now has chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream all over the front of his expensive looking suit. "Seriously? Could this day get any worse?" Caroline mutters, squeezing her eyes shut and wishing it would all disappear like some bad dream.
The man, hearing her comment, chuckles as he lifts her back upright. Alright asshole, Caroline thinks as she took in the self-satisfied smirk on his face, no need to rub it in. Noticing the ice cream again, Caroline suddenly goes into panic mode. "Oh! I'm so so sorry! Let me clean that up for you!" She grabs a couple napkins from the table and begins frantically pawing at his jacket with them.
"It's quite alright, love," he replies. OOhh, hot and british, Caroline's inner devil thinks. Shut up! Not now we're in panic clean mode, Caroline's inner angel replies. Yeah, he probably has as girlfriend, remarks the devil. Truth, also, don't you have a boyfriend? the angel replies. He's not my boyfriend! It's complicated. Now both of you shut up! I'm trying to deal with this here! Caroline thinks as she continues apologizing for spilling the ice cream. "No, it's fine, this suit is a bit dull. You had quite a fall there; I'm just satisfied that I was there to stop you from hitting your pretty little head," he flirts. This guy isn't an idiot. He knows an opportunity to get to know a pretty girl when he sees it. Caroline, oblivious, just keeps mumbling apologies on autopilot and pawing at his chest. "No really, it's fine," he continues as he takes Caroline's hands in his and holds them while he gazes into her eyes while trying to get her attention. Caroline's frantic mind momentarily goes blank as she struggles to come up with any sort of response.
"Thank you. I've just had a horrible awful day and everything is going wrong I keep messing up people saw my embarrassing photos and I spilled coffee on my new clothes and I was late and now I'm here with a cute British guy and I have no idea-" Caroline pulls her hands from his and covers her mouth in shock as her cheeks turn red in embarrassment.
The man laughs again, this time a real, mirth filled peal of laughter. "Call me Klaus. Although I don't necessarily mind being calling, how did you put it, 'Cute British Guy'?" Klaus grinsd almost wofishly and continues. "Fancy a drink? You could tell me about that awful day of yours. Try me, I won't bite."
Caroline tilts her head to the side. It's a tempting offer. She could see it now, him taking her to a fancy restaurant while harp music and wine glasses tinkled in the background. He would take her home and right as he was about to kiss her good night she'd pull him into her apartment to spend the night and he'd leave in the morning before she had woken up, never to be seen again. Well, that took an unexpected turn, she thought. She looks up, realizing she'd paused for too long and Klaus is still looking at her expectantly. "Um, I have this thing with my friends tonight. Maybe some other time when I'm having another bad day." Caroline lies through her teeth and smiles politely. Without anything else to say, she just nods awkwardly and abruptly walks off, attempting to spare herself further embarrassment, turning around the corner and leaving Klaus speechless and slightly disappointed. She has gone about 4 blocks before she smacks herself in the forehead at the realization that she hadn't even bothered to ask for his phone number. Oh well, she pushes him from her mind and forgets about him faster than yesterday's breakfast.
Sounds of the city and night waft in through the open window as Caroline twirls around her apartment. "Let it go, LET IT GOOOO!" She sings in a loud, horribly off-key voice. "BECOME ONE WITH THE ICE AND SNOW!" She slides into the TV room, hair in a bun, sweats, and no makeup, with her hairbrush as her microphone. Don't judge her okay? Frozen was a totally cute movie that made her cry it's not her fault sometimes she just needs to sing to distress or, "Unfreeze", as she calls it.
"I'm pretty sure those aren't even the right words," drawls a bitchy voice as Caroline hears the sound of the apartment door closing. In walks a pair of stilettos attached to a pair of fabulously tanned legs in a suit that if looks could kill, it would be shooting daggers. A slender, olive-skinned arm reaches up and pulls out a bun and chocolate waves cascade over her shoulder's as Katherine Pierce, lawyer extraordinaire, casts a inquiring look at Caroline as she crosses her arms over her chest. She studies Caroline for a moment before sighing and sashaying to the kitchen. "Don't tell me," she starts as she pulls a bottle of wine from the fridge as Caroline just flops on the couch, "You're 'unfreezing'. Ugh what happened today? I thought this was supposed to be quote, the super special awesomest day ever unquote." Katherine says the words with air quotes as she walks over to the couch with two wine glasses in hand.
"I was not 'unfreezing'! My day was just fine… actually, it was awful, but I don't wanna talk about it," Caroline pouts while she sticks her tongue out unhappily while Katherine just looks at Caroline with tired eyes. Changing courses, Caroline looks at Katherine with concern. "What are you doing home so late? It's almost 9 o'clock. Shouldn't you have been home a lot earlier?" Now that Caroline really looks, she can see the bags under Katherine's eyes, almost unnoticeable due to the heavy application of concealer over her entire face.
Katherine just leans back and sips her wine. "Alaric's being a real little bitch. He's making us stay longer because we've got this huge case coming up. Whatever though. I worked like this when I was a junior associate, but I thought those days were over. Whatever." Caroline realizes that Katherine probably has had just as bad of a day as her, but she's trying to downplay it. She can see the mistakes and reprimands in the slight stress lines on Katherine's face. Not that she'd ever mention to Katherine that she was starting to get some tiny wrinkles.
"Cheers," Caroline raises her glass and clinks it with Katherine's glass, "To horrible days, and the next ones being better." "And to hot guys that we're going to pick up this Friday!" Katherine adds, letting out a whoop of exhilaration. Caroline groans and covers her eyes with her hand. "What?" Katherine demands sharply, suddenly sitting up and glaring at Caroline. "Don't tell me you're not coming out with me to celebrate your return to New York after 5 years." Caroline just looks at her and mumbles something about work. Katherine jumps on top of her and slaps her across the face. Hard.
"Ow!" Caroline exclaims. "Seriously Kat?" Caroline says, rubbing her cheek as Katherine ignores her attempts to push her off. "You even said yourself you're working really hard so I thought maybe you'd want to stay-" Katherine just glares at her again and rolls her eyes.
"Caroline Forbes, you've known me since I was 3. When have I EVER stayed in just because something lame was going on?" Katherine grabs Caroline by the shoulders and shakes her a little. "Hey! Hey! Look at me. You're going out with me Friday night. You have no choice. Actually, having a bad day is just another reason why we are going out. You've been wound up so tight over this whole little professor thing you need to loosen up. No more feeling sorry for yourself by 'unfrozen' or whatever." Caroline opens her mouth to deny her stress but Katherine's expression silences her before she can speak. "So, you agree with me, right?" Katherine cocks her head to the side as Caroline nods meekly. She doesn't have the strength right now to stand in the way of bulldozer that is Katherine.
"Good," nods Katherine as she gets up off Caroline, a new spring in her step now that she's gotten her way. "Oh, and by the way," Katherine says matter of factly as she steps into her room, "You're coming with me to the Salvatore's Thanksgiving party. I'm told that Stefan has a secret announcement that he wants to share with everyone."
Caroline picks her head up, sensing the nonchalance in Katherine's tone. "Everyone?" She asks, and unspoken question passing between her and Katherine. Katherine just keeps fiddling around in her room, not responding to Caroline's question. "Everyone?" Caroline repeats, more forcefully this time, waiting for the answer she already knows is coming.
Katherine comes out of her room in her pajamas and looks at with Caroline with a strange expression on her face that looks something like pity, if Katherine ever felt sorry for anyone other than her self. "Caroline," she begins carefully, "Stefan, Damon, Elena, and Jeremy will be there," she pauses gently, "and Bonnie and Matt," she mutters, immediately turning away from Caroline.
Caroline sits there, more frozen than she was before. She feels like she needs to sing Let it Go about 100 times before she'll be okay again. She's been sitting still for a while before Katherine gets concerned enough to come up and poke her to see if she's still alive. "No," Caroline mumbles.
"No?" Katherine seizes the small response and tries to work with it. "No what?"
"No," Caroline starts, her voice increasing in volume, as she continues, "No, I'm not going with you You know what they did to me. I don't ever wanna be in the same room with them and I NEVER wanna hear their names again!" Caroline swirls the wine around in her almost empty glass. She takes the bottle and dramatically pours the rest of it into her glass and gulps it down like it's water and she hasn't drank anything since last Christmas.
Katherine rolls her eyes. She's used to Caroline's dramatics. She knows she does her fair share of crazy, so she's unfazed by Caroline's antics. Still, Caroline is really chugging that bottle. "Wow there Paula Abdul. Slow down you're not trying to drown yourself." Katherine takes the wine glass from Caroline's lips and sets it down on the table as Caroline lets out soft whines of protest. "Are you drunk enough to talk about this yet?"
"Kat, you know I'll never be drunk enough to talk about this."
"Caroline, it's okay. I'm your friend! I chose you over those lying backstabbers. We've been through this," Katherine says in one of her rare moments of genuine caring. "I mean, you've never said how you felt. Honey, you were engaged. You have to let someone in eventually so you begin to get over it."
There's a long pause as Katherine curses herself for choosing the words she did, but she knows that she needed to say something. "Get over it?" Caroline finally stutters, "Is that what you want me to do? Just get over it?" She lets out a frustrated laugh. "God, it would be so much easier for everyone if I just got over it, right Kat? Then we could all be a loving family again and we can forget everything they've done." Katherine remains silent, knowing that once Caroline gets going it's hard to stop her. "Don't you remember? They RUINED my life. I was all set, just graduated, ready to finally settle down with Matt, the only sweet guy I've ever met in my life, and Bonnie… she was so happy for me. How could she…?" Caroline gets up and paces over to the window, lost in thought as she finally spills over like Niagra Falls. "Was it too much to ask for a guy that chose me first? That I was his top priority? I was hurt, and of course I left because I didn't want to see his stupid face or smell her stupid perfume anymore. They're dead to me. " She looks down and shakes her head as she continues bitterly. "God, I was so stupid."
"Care, it's been 5 years. Maybe it's time to just hear them out and get some closure so you can move on with your life." Katherine rests a hand on Caroline's shoulder. "You haven't had a relationship since then. You can't keep living like this."
"I have Tyler," Caroline mumbles, knowing that this isn't an excuse and that Katherine can see right through her pathetic excuse for a boyfriend.
Katherine scoffs. "Please, gimme a break. Like it's gonna go anywhere with that idiot. Plus, I'm about 90% sure that he's actually gay. I've had him pegged since college." Katherine flips her hair over her shoulders as she checks her nails.
Caroline looks scandalized. "Katherine! He was the biggest athlete in college. He's totally not gay at all. He is like the least gay person I've ever met." She cringes slightly at how those words came out.
Katherine is nonplussed. "Hey, my gaydar is off the charts banging. We'll go out Friday and I'll find you a nice man to make you forget all about what's his face. We're not finished talking about that party though."
Sensing that the conversation is finished, Caroline nods. "Thanks Katherine." It's two simple words, but they contain multitudes. She's thanking Katherine for making her laugh, for knowing when to pry or not to pry, for making her laugh. For being a best friend through thick and thin.
Katherine nods, understanding this silent, unspoken connection. Caroline is one of the few people that actually understands her and has been there for her for practically her entire life. They share everything, well, maybe that one thing, but… it doesn't matter anymore, Katherine thinks as she leaves Caroline to her thoughts.
Caroline sits on the couch for a while longer, just thinking. She remembers Matt's laugh and the way his blue sparkled right when he was about to surprise her with some great big good news. She still remembers the sound of the voice and the way he smelled when he held her tight to his chest on the bed in their tiny dorm room, feeling like nothing could touch their tiny little world as New York spun around them. She remembers laughing until her sides split with Bonnie as she told stories about how her crazy grams thought she was a witch because her plants always grew so well, but really the whole time Bonnie had just been putting extra miracle-gro on the garden. They would sit in the back of the class and have intense debates to rank the hotness of their fellow students as the pretended to study. She remembers all three of them together, along with Katherine, Elena and Damon, laughing together as they sat at a sidewalk café and everything felt like summer that she wanted to inhale that moment and live in it forever. As much as she told Katherine she hates them, she misses those times where she felt like a piece of a puzzle snugly pit into the right place. Now, sometimes she feels like a dog has ripped up the puzzle and chewed her up and spit her out.
For some reason her mind wanders to the man she met today. What was his name? Ah, Klaus. He was cute, she thinks. Much cuter than Matt or Tyler. At least today proved she could probably do better looks-wise than those two. But she still isn't exactly sure if anyone can match the love she had with Matt.
Caroline glances at the clock and rolls her eyes. She knows its no use dwelling too much on the past, but she can't seem to let it go. Oh well, she thinks as she trudges off to bed, at least she has a job she loves and a true friend in Katherine.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Just some information: I have the entire story outlined, so I know exactly where I'm going with this. I will try to update as soon as I write and edit things, but I'm still kind of figuring out how much I can write in a certain amount of time. Also, I love reviews that tell me what you thought hint hint :)