Twelve Days Until Christmas
"Elena."
The calling of her name sounded as if it was so far away, yet she knew it wasn't, in fact it couldn't be any closer.
Elena Gilbert was a simple girl, with a simple life. She was…well, she was normal. It was the same routine every day and nothing ever changed. Wake up, go to work, come home, feed the cat, eat, sleep and then repeat. Even at the weekends that was all she ever did. Her life wasn't exactly spontaneous.
She sighed, running a hand over her face, groaning out load. She was exhausted and yet she wondered why. It wasn't like she did anything outside her work life and she hardly had a social life. She laughed internally at how pathetic she sounded. She was twenty-four, single and available. She should have been having the time of her life!
"Elena?"
And yet here she was; stuck in her dead-end job in her run down office on the seventh floor. She was the 'help' and considered herself the lowest in all the departments. She worked for Salvatore&Co. which was the leading business in alternative energy. Most businesses wouldn't touch the issue with a ten foot pole, claiming it was too expensive to run an operation exclusive to finding green power to heal the world population problems.
And how did Elena end up with a job in such an elite and entitled company? The answer was from the help of her best friend who happened to work in the hiring and firing part of the business. Elena was desperate for a job and so when the opportunity arrived to work as a maid, delivery…anything really. Her job was to sort through and deliver mail around all thirty-two floors of the building. From top to bottom, that was what she did every day. It was tedious and boring, but it was the only job she had.
"Hey, Earth to Elena!" Caroline yelled, snapping her fingers in front of her face.
Elena blinked several times and took a deep breath as she was broken from her trance.
"Sorry, Care, I was just…"
"Daydreaming, again?" Her blonde friend giggled, perching herself on the corner of the desk. "What about this time? How miserable your office looks? Come on, it's like twelve days until Christmas and I don't see one festive decoration up anywhere."
Elena rolled her eyes and slipped her coffee. "To be honest, I'm not exactly in the holiday spirit this year."
"Not in the holiday spirit? Seriously, this is like your favourite time of year!"
"Correction; it was my favourite time of year," She retorted, a little bitterly.
Caroline huffed, pulling out a mini, desk sized Christmas tree from her bag, placing it carefully next to a picture frame. Elena raised her eyebrows, watching as the small tree came to life with flashing lights in a multitude of reds and yellows.
Her friend's beaming smile turned into a scowl when Elena didn't react. "Elena, come on, don't look so miserable, you're starting to bring my mood down now."
"Nothing could bring your mood down,"
Caroline pondered this for a moment before sighing. "True, but still, I hate it when you're like this. The whole narrowed eyes and turned down pouty lip really doesn't suit you."
"Oh please, what do I have to look forward to this year?" Elena asked, sorting through the mail pile as she spoke. "It's not exactly like I will be spending it with anyone anyway."
She thought back to how she used to spend her Christmas days in the previous years, something she would never be able to do again. It wasn't all that tragic, other than the fact that her parents had split up a few years beforehand. Her mother remarried and had little contact anymore. Her father, on the other hand, had moved to Winnipeg, Canada, because of his work transfer. Although it would have been lovely to see them for the holidays, Elena knew that it probably wouldn't happen due to family feuding and traveling issues on both sides. Every year it was something from snow storms to lack of money and even lost passports.
And then there was Jeremy, her little brother. He was with a traveling band and rarely stopped by nor did he have time. Elena understood to some extent, ever since her parents' marriage spilt six years ago, Jeremy had wanted to put as much distance between himself and the drama family as possible, which, consequently, left Elena all alone. It wasn't that she minded that much, but with everyone else around her getting into the fun of the festive season, she almost felt like a complete outsider.
"You could spend Christmas at mine," Caroline reasoned, her fingertips gliding over the small branches of the mini tree.
"Thanks for the offer, but I wouldn't want to intrude, especially since Klaus will be there."
"Hey, I thought you liked him," She pouted, "Klaus is the most decent man I have dated in a long time."
Elena groaned, "Of course, he's a great guy and after the whole Tyler drama, you deserve to be happy. But it's your first Christmas together and I wouldn't want to spoil your fun."
"Oh Elena…you always have to find some excuse."
"It's not an excuse!" She snapped, a little too harshly before she felt guilty again. "I just…I just want to be home so if my dad or Jeremy comes by, I'm there to see them." She lied.
Of course none of her family would come by for Christmas. They never did.
"Sure, whatever," Caroline mumbled, before her face brightened again. "That means you have to come to the company's Christmas party this year!"
Elena started to laugh at the idea her friend had come up with. She always had to have something up her sleeves as back up. It wasn't that Caroline was a bad friend, in fact, she was far from that, she was just a little full on sometimes. She was what Elena liked to refer to as Queen Bee. She knew absolute everything about everyone. She was the same in high school and not a lot had changed apart from ditching her cheerleading outfit and Prom Queen Tiara for a business suit and high paid job. To Elena, Caroline was her superior in every way that she sometimes wondered why the blonde still hung out with her.
Which is where the hilarity of the matter came in to play. The company Christmas party was like most where the bosses and main stakeholders flashed their cash by outing on extravagant and lavish evenings. But these events were typical only for the exclusives employees on the higher payroll. Over the last few years, Elena had learnt that everyone on floor fifteen and above got an invitation and being on floor seven made it so she had no chance.
Caroline worked on floor twenty-five; the hiring and firing department, as Elena called it, because it was actually the personnel.
"Caroline, you know I can't go. Hierarchy, remember. I won't even make it a hundred feet to the door without being dragged away by security."
"Hang on there, Gilbert! You're not getting out of this one that easy," She said proudly, inspecting her nails as if she had some mundane news. "This year, I get to bring a plus one to the party."
Elena remained unfazed. "So? Take Klaus. I'm sure you're dying to take him to a posh do."
"Oh, come off, you know he isn't that type of guy and, besides, he has his own plans for the evening." Caroline sighed and bit her bottom lip. "I really want you to come with me. Please, we only have to stay for a few hours and then that's it, I promise."
"Care…" Elena started, but never finished.
"Please! I need you with me,"
"You hardly need me there, because I'm sure that you have your own friends on the higher floors you can hang out with."
"Not the point," She huffed out load. "You're my best friend and I want you to come with me, please. We don't even have to stay that long."
Elena groaned and considered the offer, trying to think of any other excuse she could use. She wasn't much of a people person and so having to spend an evening in a party room with a load of strangers definitely wasn't on her list of things to do.
"I don't have anything to wear…"
"You can wear something of mine!" Caroline blurted, blocking any attempted to get out of the party. "We're the same size anyway, so you can so not use that as an excuse."
The brunette closed her eyes, resigned, and rubbed a hand over her face. "Fine."
"Yes!" She squeaked, pulling out the invitation from her bag and handing it over. "It's on the 23rd of December, so we have a while. I'll pick you up at around seven so we make it in time just for the food."
"You've got this all planned out, don't you?"
"Of course!" Caroline laughed, reaching over to give two air kisses either side of Elena's cheeks. "I have to run; work to do and people to see, so I will call you later,"
"Sure thing, Care,"
As soon as the doors to her office swung shut, Elena let out a deep breath of relief, sinking back into her small chair with both her hands covering her face. She loved Caroline to pieces, but it still amazed her how much energy you could burn having a conversation with her.
And then, if this couldn't get any worse, she'd now been roped into going to a party she most certainly didn't want to attend. The people on the higher floors were snobs and complete assholes when they wanted to be. As part of her job, Elena had to go around and deliver the mail to many of the employees on the top floor, and not one of them ever said thank you or even muttered a single word.
That was what sparked her hatred for the people upstairs. Manners cost nothing and yet they acted as if it was the most expensive thing in the world.
And you may ask; why didn't Elena simple move to a different job? Well, with the current economic crisis and with her working skills, it would be near on impossible for her to find another job that paid any more than the one she had. She needed this job and so had to throw aside her pity differences for the good of her own wellbeing.
And it wasn't all bad. She got her meals brought to her most days and she had free use of the company's employee reward system. Ten more points and she would have won a free meal and TGI Fridays! Okay…maybe it wasn't that good, but Elena was determined to look at anything positive as amazing, just to make her life a little easier so that she felt she was achieving something in this ridiculous job.
She picked at the lights on the mini Christmas tree, sudden guilt and loneliness creeping in on her, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Over the years, she developed a heart of stone to protect herself. From what still even remained a mystery to her, but she hated the feeling of disappointment and dread and just the miserable existence that she had which was her life.
Maybe she was being over dramatic about the whole thing. Maybe she shouldn't have been such a snappy person at times. And maybe she should have started seeing all the positives in her life.
Elena scoffed mentally. What positives? Name one single positive thing that has happened to me in the last five years, apart from that deadweight boyfriend Matt finally leaving?
Anger flared up inside her and she grabbed the flashing tree, ripping out the batteries and throwing it in to the bin. She knew Caroline would be upset, but at this point she was beyond caring at all. All Elena needed to do was try and make it through the holidays once again before it could all be over and return to normal.
It was about six o'clock when Elena finally shut down her computer, thankful that the dragging day was finally over. Although there wasn't much to look forward to when she got home, she couldn't stand it in that office any longer.
She threw her things in her bag and pulled on her jacket, switching off all the lights and locking the door tight. She looked at the door to her office, seeing the crappy little sticker that had her name on it. Most offices had a silver plaque on their doors, but not Elena, no way. She was reduced to a sticker that was actually staring to peel away from the tatty, old door.
Elena tried to ignore it, taking off down the hallway to the elevator, taking out her phone to send a quick message to Caroline, letting her know she'd be home soon. A dinging sounded alerted her to the fact her car was stopping on her floor and she moved to stand in front of it, quickly glancing down at her phone when a message pinged through.
When the doors finally opened, she took a step forward, looking up to watch where she was going and stopped dead in her tracks. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met blue ones.
She swallowed thickly, hesitating outside of the door way to the elevator, the strange man staring at her intently. He must have worked on the upper floors, she deduced, based on the way he was dressed. His shirt was perfect white making his dark blue tie a really statement against his chest, the colour in his eyes more defined. His black suit jacket was careless thrown open and his right hand was shoved casually in his pants pocket.
And then there was his hair.
It was a complete mess on top of his head, the dark brown, almost black curls shaping around his face. It was short, but not so short that you couldn't run your hands through it, which looked like what he'd been doing today in the way his hair was spiked up all over the place. He didn't seem to care.
Her hands subconsciously clenched at her sides as she suppressed the want to touch his thick locks, wondering if they felt as silky as they looked.
She was snapped out of her daze when the doors began to close. He took an easy step forward and held his hand out on the sliding door, halting it in its movement.
A small smirk made its way to the corners of his mouth. "I believe there is enough room in here for both of us, Miss."
His voice was smooth, deep and implacable, surrounding her like smoke. But the moment was broken instantly and she blushed, moving away so that she was in the furthest corner away from him.
"Thank you," She muttered, down casting her eyes to the floor.
He chuckled, shaking his head a little, before he let go of the door, returning to his original position in the lift but, this time, his body was turned in her direction. He was staring at her and he was being none to discreet about it either.
She immediately regretted stepping inside with him.
Her heart rate picked up considerably at the close proximity, shifting restless on the balls of her feet. She hated herself for feeling like this in the presence of a man just on the way he looked and sounded. She had to remind herself that he was one of those assholes who worked on the floor above her. He wasn't interested in her and she wasn't in him. End of story.
Elena watched as the floor numbers slowly passed on the screen above the door and it seemed like ages she waited for the next number to pass.
"How was your day?" He suddenly asked, starling her, still looking completely cool.
"Fine," She snapped, not daring to look at him. "Yours?"
She wasn't sure why she asked about his, seeing as she didn't know him and was likely to never see him again, but she felt it was only polite.
"Can't complain," He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Good…I guess," She continued awkwardly, unable to say anything.
He gave her a smirk that made her weak in the legs and she cleared her throat, eager to arrive. There was a strange sensation in her core as if someone had popped a bag, releasing hundreds of butterflies in her stomach. It was a feeling that she wasn't used to and it somewhat annoyed her that his man had managed to create this inside of her with a simple twitch of his lips.
There was finally a soft, bell ringing sound indicating that she had finally arrived on her floor. She said goodbye stiffly before and started to walk but suddenly tensed up when she realized that he had arrived as well and was now following her through the main reception.
"Are you following me?" She said sharply, picking up her pace as she went.
"No, actually, my cars out front," He said with a grin as he quickly fell into stride beside her. "In a hurry, by any chance?"
"Yeah," She lied. "I have important work to finish so that it's ready for tomorrow."
"Really? And what work with that be?"
"Important paper work," Elena said firmly, exiting the building and making her way through the car park. It was raining a little now and Elena knew she'd be best taking the bus home today.
"Tired?"
"Busy day, today," She continued. "So, yes, I'm knackered and could do with a few hours' sleep before work tomorrow."
"I can't blame you." He nodded slightly. "You work at the weekend?"
"Not by choice, trust me, but it's more money, I suppose."
The man nodded, seeming to be thinking about what she said. They finally walked together and her mouth opened in amazement as she saw the bluest sports car she had ever seen in her life. Of course he was rich, she thought bitterly. Good luck to him. She shook her head slightly; not wanting him to see her catching a bus to go back home.
Just as she was contemplating about how she should do so, her file slipped from her hands, causing the papers to fly away. She cursed out load, bending down to catch some of the paperwork that had fallen into a small puddle. She panicked about the rest of it and darted up to grab any stray paper blowing in the wind. However, the man immediately caught them as she jumped up; her face red from embarrassment.
"Careful there," He smirked as he bent down as well, picking up the rest of the papers. "You don't want to lose anything. The boss might get mad."
"Well, the boss can kiss my ass!" Elena hissed through clenched teeth, earning a hard chuckle from the man. She blushed. "I…I'm sorry. It's just been a hard day, that's all."
"Don't worry about it," He said, handing her the papers.
"Thanks," She said with a soft smile.
"You're welcome," He replied.
"I have to run," Elena said quickly, not wanting to confuse herself any longer. "Thanks again and…um…goodnight."
She didn't even let him finish his own sentence, because by the time he raised to his feet and his hand to wave, she was already gone, disappearing into the night.
Hi! So I wasn't going to post this until Friday, but I thought I would do it now and just see how many people would want to read all the chapters as a full mini story...a Christmas special! This was just an idea I had and so decided to make it a colab with my good friend LiveBreatheVampires. Some of the other chapters have been written, but I want to see if you guys would be interest in reading the rest before we both devote time to writing it all out :)
The basic story line is Elena is a bit of a Christmas Grinch and the troubles, test and trails she goes through with a certain blue-eyed stranger in the countdown to the 25th. Will she give in to him and the spirit of Christmas? Well, I guess you'll have to review to find out ;) It's an M rated story, so expected some sexy smuttiness coming your way!
So, anyway, let us know what you think and I will post the next chapter on Saturday. From then on we'll post a chapter everyday until Christmas and we may even do a New Years special as an extra! Think of it as an online, fanfic advent calendar :D Plus, go check out Amy's page and see the colab we did based on the promo for 5x10!
Until then guys, we hope you enjoyed the first chapter to our Christmas special. Drop us a review and let us know what you think :D
Next chapter: Elena's day goes from bad to worse, first being asked out by Creepy Shane and then having to deliver a Christmas package to the one and only Mister Salvatore. Could her day get any worse? Stay tuned ;)
