"Roxanne are you coming or what?" Uncle Frederick shouted from downstairs.

I had just finished putting my earrings on.

"Coming!" I replied.

Taking a last glance in the mirror I rushed downstairs trying not to trip on my dress. I bumped onto my aunt the minute my feet reached the ground floor.

"Is everything in order?" she asked.

"Absolutely" I said.

She looked at me suspiciously

"Corset? Tights? Shoes? Hair? Jewellery?" she went on.

I rolled my eyes

"Everything is where they should be aunt Lisa." I said and walked past her.

"Your uncle is waiting outside on the carriage.I'll come in a minute!"

My uncle and aunt are generally lovely people. Thats why I decided to come in England to live with them in the first place. Uncle Fred is a real gentleman. He has money and fame. He never opens up to anyone but he is obviously truly in love with my aunt. He is the major of the town. Yes, he is the major of London! Quite extraordinary it is! And how lucky I am to be his niece! But really I don't see him as someone very important other than my uncle! Aunt Lisa is a housewife. Supposedly... She never does any housework. Thats what the maids are for! Right? She has a whole room full of books! I spend much time in there and I have to say I have learnt many things since I came here!

Anyway, I walked outside the glorious mansion and spotted the carriage waiting in the front gate. I crossed the enormous garden to reach it. Victor was standing next to the carriage. Victor is part of the staff of the house. He is a footman, and very young, two years older than me, that meanιng 19 years old. He is very handsome. Quiet thin, with pale skin, dark shoulder length hair and bright green are very close. More close than we should be actually. I looked at him and blushed remembering last day in the music room.

"Hello Miss Roxanne. Have a nice evening."he said and looked straight into my eyes

I tried to smile.

"Thank you Victor" I said and avoided his look.

I got into the carriage and sat on the seat opposite my uncle. He looked at me and smiled.

"You look lovely Roxanne." he said.

"Thank you uncle Fred."I replied.

Aunt Lisa came a few seconds later and the carriage drove off.

We were heading to a ball that my uncle was throwing in honor of his 10th year as major of the town, that could be his last year as well before he could retire. I looked outside the window of the carriage. The pavement was gathered with people obviously heading to the ball. Nobody would miss it for anything in the world. I smiled at myself. It made me happy seeing how much people respected my uncle.

We finally reached the Town Hall. People were everywhere. The guard came and opened the door of the carriage to allow my aunt and uncle to go out, me following behind them. We all walked out and I heard people cheers from all directions. I grinned at everyone. I'm not going to lie. It felt good to be at the centre of attention. We walked all the way to the entrance as the crowd was splitting before us like the red sea. As soon as we entered the room the girls I was supposed to be friends with pulled me to go with them. They were mostly daughters of other people that were positioned high in the society and most of them worked for my uncle. I waved a goodbye at my uncle and aunt and followed the girls. I looked at the people who were dancing in the middle of the enormous room. I smiled. It was lovely. The girls started talking non-stop complimenting my dress and my hair and my beauty. To be honest, I didnt really buy that. I knew that they were faking the whole friendship issue. In reality they were jealous of each other and only wanted to force compliments out of everyone as replies to their own. I didnt show any of my real thoughts and feelings though. I just returned the compliments and insisted they were prettier than me when they complained about the opposite. I sat down with them at an empty table and looked around. I spotted my aunt and uncle dancing together at the center of the room and smiled to myself. The girls were still talking about dresses and beauty. As time passed various guys came and took the girls to dance, one by one. There were now only two of us left sitting at the table. The girl's name was Justine, and I had a feeling she didn't really like me. I think in her mind she was planning on ways to beat me to death in case anyone asked me to dance first . Judging by the way she looked at me without saying anything I think I was right. After a little while a guy came and asked her to dance. She looked at me with a disparaging look.

"I hope you don't mind..." she said trying to sound like she cared, unsuccessfully. "Don't worry, you look stunning, someone will come and ask you in less than a minute! Oh look there is William Maybe he will be the lucky one to have you for the night!"

I looked at William. That poor boy looked like a fish out of the water. His cheeks had gone red and his blue eyes were staring at everyone giving him the impression of frightened toad. He kind of had that toad-looking face anyways. I knew Justine was taunting me but i didnt say anything. I simply looked at her as she winked at me and let the guy lead her to the dance floor.

I sighed and looked down. It didn't really bother me to be sitting alone. At least I got rid of their annoying gossiping. Time passed and the small orchestra started playing slow songs. I looked at the clock. It was only 10 o clock! I knew this ball was going to last for at least another 4 hours. I looked at William. I think I felt a bit sad for him so I decided to at least go talk to him. I stood up and slowly walked in his direction greeting some people on my way before I could stand in front of him.

"Hi!" I said and smiled

He looked at me obviously shocked

"H...hi R...Roxanne" he managed to say

"Having fun?" I asked.

The answer was obvious. He would rather be home training his rabbits. Yes, he was a weird young man.

"Y...yeah..." he muttered and cleared his throat.

I stayed silent for a while.

"Hey William would you like to..." I began to say when I heard a voice next to me

"Miss Lewington?"

I turned to look at the stranger. I had never seen him before. He was perhaps a little older than me, around 20 years old. He was tall and had ginger hair, brown eyes, pale skin and full lips. He was handsome, extremly handsome. I was astonished at first. I cleared my throat.

"Yes...I'm Roxanne..." I was worried I would start sounding like poor William who was standing silent next to me The stranger turned to William.

"Can I borrow the Lady?" he asked with his elegant and almost hypnotizing voice.

William nodded and the stranger offered me his hand. I allowed him to lead me to the dance floor. I caught sight of Justine looking at me angrily completly ignoring her partner who looked dazzled by her looks. Poor guy. We stopped somewhere among the people and we started dancing really slow. The perfect opportunity to have a conversation . I looked at the stranger and smiled.

"It's unfair..." I said.

"What is unfair?" he asked looking at me

"You see...you know my name, I don't know yours." I said trying to keep my voice steady.

There was something about him that slowly made me relax and feel comfortable. He smiled.

"Im Klaus Mikaelson..." he said.

I raised my eyebrows.

"Thats a strange name, and I haven't seen you around before..." I said.

"Yeah I'm not from around here" by the way he said it it felt like he wasn't telling me everything there was to know. I didn't ask. I looked inside his eyes and got lost for a moment. I could feel his hand on my waist. I wasn't really used to this. He looked at me.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked

I shook my head.

"No, not at all!" I replied with a bit more of enthusiasm shown than there should be.

"So, that boy you were talking with?" he asked

I turned my head to look at William. He still stood at the very same spot with the very same look on his face.

"Yeah I kind of feel bad for him... He doesn't have many friends..." I said.

I watched a rather plump girl wallking up to William and obviously asking him to dance.

"Oh I think he will be just fine!" Klaus said as I turned back to him.

I smiled.

"So...Klaus..."

"Yes Miss Lewington..."

"Please call me Roxanne." I quickly said.

"Roxanne..." he said quietly

The way he pronounced my name made me have a weird feeling in my stomach. He had a soft British accent that for some reason sounded somehow different from the ones I was used to listen to. It sounded different...better... I tried to concentrate.

"Tell me a bit more about yourself." I asked.

"Well, I came here last week from Oxford" he began

"What for?" I continued

"Vacation" he simply said

"So with whom are you here with?" I asked

"I'm here with my family, there is Rebecca, my sister"

I looked at where he was looking and saw a blonde girl that looked like a goddess of beauty dancing with someone.

"Okay! That makes sense. And um..." I bit my lips "How long are you planning on staying?"

He shrugged

"Well, as much as I want to!" he said smiling

"That's great!" I said.

We danced around for a while and for some reason I couldnt take my eyes off of him.

"So have you been here before Klaus?" I asked

"Just once, but that was a very long time ago, I can barely remember it." he said smiling "A lot of things have changed since then!"

"Oh come on! London has been almost the same for the past 20 years!" I said laughing

He simply smiled.

"So have you lived here your whole life?" he asked me.

"Actually no, I was raised in Manchester! I just moved here a couple of months ago! My uncle is Frederick Smith."

"The mayor?" he asked

"Yes." I replied grinning

"Oh then you are a very important person arent you? I should be honored to dance with you tonight!" he said smiling

I laughed.

"No, not really, Im usually barely visible when it comes to public events. My aunt and uncle usually get all the fame, and it doesnt really bother me!" I shrugged.

"Well I am honored anyways! You sure are the most interesting person in the room!" he said

"How do you know?" I asked

"I can read people!"

"Oh can you?"

"Yes. I knew you were different by the time I first laid my eyes on you" he said grinning

"Well Im flattered you find me interesting!" I said sounding very calm and confident but in reality what I wanted to do was faint. There was a weird tingly sensation in my chest which made me feel like I would fly away in any moment. The way he spoke... I was complety enchanted by...well everything that had to do with him! His looks...even the way he moved!

We danced for a pretty long time. I found Klaus too good to be true! The thought of him simply disappearing the other day and never hear from him again started to seem a bit frightening. After the end of another song we decided to take a brake. As we walked our way out of the dance floor Rebecca blocked our way.

"Should we get going? I can see you already picked one." she said coldly, not even glancing once at my direction.

That shocked me. I can see you already picked one.That just didn't sound right. I backed away from them and looked at Claus.

"What is she talking about?" I asked, feeling my heart being ripped into shreds. Why was I even feeling that way.

He looked at me with a begging look and then turned to his sister.

"Rebecca, shut up and go, now." he snaped at her.

I was quite surprised of the way he is talking to his own sister but I remained silent. Rebecca gave him a last look before she walked away. He then turned back at me.

"It's not what you think..." he said softly

"Oh really?" I said coldly "Cause I think it's exactly what I think" I shook my head and began walking away.

Before I could take one step he grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. Just as I began to panick, I raised my eyes to look at him. He looked sad.

"Roxanne...please..." he begged.

I stopped struggling to get away, and he slowly let go of my wrist. Ι kept my eyes locked on his.

"Please, you know I'd never..." he said.

I could tell he was being honest, just by the look in his eyes.

"Your sister..."

"She is a bitch. Enjoys taking away all my joys in this life." he said and half smiled.

I couldn't believe what he had just said. I laughed. I didn't know why.

"Did you just call your own sister a bitch?" I said quietly

"I don't care if she's my sister, it's true, and I think she just proved it to you."

I nodded and smiled.

"Would you like to take a walk outside? Would love to learn more things about you !" he said smiling.

'He would love to learn more things about me' I thought and I had to control myself not to begin jumping on my spot screaming "Yayy!" Instead I smiled and was about to agree with him when Justine interferred, squeezing between us with her back turned at me. I stepped back and looked at her feeling annoyed. She bowed in front of Klaus and grinned brightly.

Ι walked past her and stood next to Klaus, glaring at her. That seemed to irritate her but she did her best not to show.

"Hello, my name is Justine Swan." she said trying too hard to sound elegant and mature.

Taking a look at Klaus, I couldnt tell if he was startled by her looks, or just found her as annoying as I did, and managed to be as polite as he could.

"Um...er...hello.. Jacqueline..."

"Justine." she snapped but managed to smile even though it was obvious she couldnt believe he had gotten her name wrong just two seconds after he heard it for the first time.

"Oh yeah right..." he said and forced a smile. "Im Klaus Mikaelsen, pleased to meet you. But now if you'll excuse me, I was just heading outside with Roxanne, see you around?"

Her cheeks began turning into red as the smile disappeared from her face. She narrowed her eyes and frowned . After a second her expression changed again. She raised her chin and looked at both of them, without smiling.

"Well, if that is so, have fun." suddenly her eyes glowed and an evil smile appeared in her face. "But Roxanne honey I think Trevor is looking for you. He said you didnt quiet finish what you were left in the middle of something. Or was his name Victor? Oh no wait, that's the footman isnt it? He keeps you busy when you're at home right?" she widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, glancing at Klaus. "Oh my, I almost forgot was here, did I say too much?" she flashed a smile at both of us. "Well, have a nice evening." she said before finally walking away.

I just stood there, feeling shocked,and unable to believe all the things she had just said. Klaus stood in front of me. He gave me an adorable half smile.

"Trevor? Victor?" he asked.

"No, Klaus, I don't even know who Trevor..." I began saying

"Look Roxanne, if there someplace else you prefer to be right now, then I won't keep you here any longer." he continued still smiling. "I understand." he concluded.

That was all wrong.

"No! No, Klaus listen!"

But it was too late, he had already turned around and walked away, blending into the crowd. I ran behind him, pushed people aside, trying to make my way through the crowd, but he was nowhere to be seen. I looked around, desperately searching for him. But again, he was not there. How was that possible? He was right there a second ago!