Davina Claire got to the office that day with barely a minute to spare. She was sure she looked like something the cat dragged in, with only a minute or two to dab on some makeup and throw on her clothes, but it was a Monday and she decided she could just chalk it up to laziness after a weekend.

But Davina was many things, and lazy was not one of them, so perhaps she would have to come up with a better reason for wearing the dress she had worn the previous Friday.

"You know, you do not look as awful as you warned me," she heard as she walked by her friend Josh's desk. She had sent him an angry text on her way to work on the failings of technology, namely the alarm clock, but he was quick to remind her that she was constantly attached to her phone. She couldn't argue that one, since she was a mere assistant and she was already a workaholic. She didn't dare think what her mindset would be like with a real job.

Josh gave her a smile and held a cup of coffee, "would some caffeine help?"

"It won't get rid of the wrinkles in my dress, but I will not deny it," she told him, grabbing it from him. Josh had starting working around the time Davina had a few years, though he worked in market research and Davina was the assistant to the Chief Editor.

"And I know you have to go but when you get the chance I'll tell you about my date this weekend," he told her, and Davina's eyes light up. From the tone of his voice she could tell it had gone well. She felt a bit guilty that in the chaos of her late start she had forgotten, but she wasn't going to dwell on the fact. After months of will they, won't they, Josh had finally on a date with a friend of his named Aidan.

"You better," she told him, giving him a serious look. She glanced at the clock realizing she should make her way to her desk, so she gave Josh a quick smile and walked on over.

She got right to work on checking her emails because she had lost a good twenty minutes with her late start. Bright and early weren't exactly words to describe her, but she liked to give herself buffer time in between her arrival and her boss'. He was always about ten minutes late and always in a new mood, which meant that she needed to knock out the easy stuff before he arrived.

After a few minutes it was ten past seven, and in walked in Kol Mikaelson. Davina looked up cautiously when she heard the room fall to more of hush, but she couldn't tell what type of mood he was in today. Monday usually wasn't too great, but you never knew. Before he started at the publishing company, a position he gained almost exclusively because of his family's ownership of it, he was wild. Like his parents probably wanted the role as Chief Editor had straightened him out a bit, but he was still unpredictable.

"Coffee," he said, posed as a statement rather than a question when he stopped by Davina's desk, eyes trained on his phone. She hoped the panic didn't read on her face as she remembered she had cut the coffee run out of her morning routine. She glanced toward the barely drunken coffee on her desk, and made the realization that she had forgotten lipstick that morning.

She quickly ran the sleeve of her dress against the lid and handed it him, thankful that he wasn't paying attention as she handed it to him. So much for a morning boost of caffeine; she had barely gotten a sip. It was better than risking one of Kol's outbursts though, so she decided it was one battle she was okay losing.

He looked up to see the coffee lifted up, and he gave her a small nod before moving on to his office. Davina was quick to give Josh a look of gratitude for the coffee that morning, even if it had been intended for her. Her friend was watching with an equal amount of amusement and fear. So she mouthed, "thank you" and he just shook his head, getting back to his work.

Then she went back to checking her email, which also meant checking the email that Kol gave out to people when he didn't really want to bother with them. She forwarded a reminder from his brother Finn to his main account, with the words 'birthday' and 'mother' standing out. She found it funny that Finn was the only one who didn't have his real email, but she knew the Mikaelson's were an interesting family. Interesting could be exchanged with wealthy and well known, maybe even famous, but the name Mikaelson was explanation enough.

The patriarch of the family, Mikael, was just as prominent as the matriarch, Esther. He had inherited businesses, she had inherited money, and their business deal of a marriage had resulted in a global corporation with several branches. With their five kids they didn't have to worry about anyone inheriting the family business, but everyone in the business world (or anyone who was interested in the lives of the elite) knew that the family was hostile at it's core, due mostly to Mikael. Money, power, and glory are things that could get to anyone, but know one knew exactly why in family gathering they wore masks of sincerity.

Not that Davina was about to ask.

"Mr. Mikaelson, there are some men downstairs who are looking for you," Davina said, poking her head into his office. An employee of nearly five years had just walked out of the room with puffy eyes and immediately began clearing his desk. She guessed it was time for cuts again, though it seemed like it was always time for cuts. Kol wasn't the worst boss in some ways, he could take a joke (though few made any) and was surprisingly good at his job, but your job was never certain with him. That was what made him so terrifying in the eyes of everyone in the office, and not unjustly so. Kol was looking at his computer, maybe looking through the emails she had forwarded him, when she had informed him of the news.

"Well who is it?" He asked, somewhat impatiently. "There weren't any meeting lined up for the next few hours," he reminded her, as if she didn't already know.

"They are two immigration officers," she told him, and his annoyance immediately turned into something else entirely. Davina had seen a vast array of his moods and attitudes over the years, but never had she see seen genuine concern.

When his father asked him to take over the publishing company Kol countered. For all of Kol's love for independence he knew there was a time when he would have to take a breather. He wasn't an idiot, and he knew he couldn't travel the world for the rest of his life if he expected a share of the family wealth. So he suggested that he become a Chief Editor instead, take on a big role in a branch of the company rather than adopt the entire thing as his own. Mikael agreed to it since Kol wasn't even thirty at the time.

That was the story of why he got his work visa and moved to New York. He didn't actually expect it to work out, and why would he want to become a citizen for a job he barely cared about. So he shoved thoughts of visas and immigration into the back of his mind as he begun his job, and much to his surprise he actually enjoyed his job. He would never admit it to Mikael, because a win for his father meant giving him a power over him, so he kept their conversations short.

"Do you want me to send them up?" his assistant asked, voice suddenly very timid, and he nodded without saying a word. She went back to her desk and called down to who he presumed to the reception, where the result of his inability to think long term were about to come up. He knew exactly what was in store for him, because the timing was just about right.

For a moment he thought about what his parents would say. It was his mother's birthday that Thursday, and he was planning on getting there the night before. If things worked out the way he imagined they would he figured he might get there earlier, that might be a nice surprise. At least before they realized why he was really there.

After that moment he scolded himself for the self pitying and began to think of ways around it. He was Kol Mikaelson, and both his first and last name meant something. He was Kol who once went off the grid in Africa for two weeks, and though he didn't love the idea of using it as leverage he was of the Mikaelson who had friends in high places. He was pretty sure he had about a minute to figure out what his loophole would be, and when his eyes wandered to the desk outside his door, namely the woman seated in front of it, he paused and changed his train of thought.

His simple solution was right in front of him.

Kol had glass walls, which meant that the entire office got a view of what was happening. No one had heard Davina say the two men in black suits were immigration officers so the hushed theories floating around the room varied. Davina overheard one woman say something about the mob, and though that seemed like an interesting concept, she was trying to focus on the reality.

She looked out of the corner of her eye at the scene that was unfolding, because she figured staring blatantly at the possible deportation of your boss wasn't the best idea. If she did all she would be missing would be popcorn, she did have one of the best seats in the house. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, because the rest of the office had their eyes fixed on their screens, though she doubted they were getting much work done. Davina had just finished up her emails and was about to go make some copies, but she could hardly leave then. The tension in the building could have been with a knife.

She couldn't read lips, but she could read expressions as well as the next person, and what she saw felt conflictive. The men looked professional and serious, which was expected. Kol though, he had gone from frightened to calm in the course of sixty seconds. At the moment it was only the immigration officers who were speaking, but Kol looked too relaxed hearing what was probably like a death sentence.

Even with his father owning the corporation as a whole, it was unlikely the strings could get pulled for Kol to work from England. As Chief Editor he needed to be on location, not on a skype call, and she didn't even know if the company could allow high level foreign workers. And as much as Kol downplayed his job, she could tell his enjoyed it. That relaxed face had to be crushed on the inside, unless he was somehow pulling strings.

When Kol started talking she wished she could read lips, because whatever he was saying he was able to deliver with complete ease. After a much too short response the officers looked over to Davina. Then Kol started moving to the door.

She double checked in her mind that she was truly American. Last she checked Louisiana was in the United States, but that did not do much to calm her churning mind.

"Davina, can you come in?" He said, and she nodded, though the gentle tone he used didn't escape her. That and the way the officers were looking at her made her seriously rethink her origins.

When she got to door Kol grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. She wasn't exactly sure what to do, actually. She tried to focus on the fact she was being pulled in front of immigration officers rather than practically holding hands with her boss, but it was hard to make sense of what was happening.

Kol aligned Davina next to him, keeping his grip tight on her hand. The grip didn't feel like it was done for support though, it felt intentional.

"As I was saying," Kol started, pausing to smile at Davina, "I can't be deported because I'm engaged."

Davina's body instantly stiffened, but the look one of the men was giving them made her want to try and relax. He was looking at Kol and her like they were guiltiest people alive. The other one had an eyebrow raised, with an inquisitive look.

"Davina is my fiancée," he finally informed the immigration officers, giving her hand a prompting squeeze. She instinctively smiled at them, glancing over at Kol for a sign of what the hell was going on. When their eyes met he looked away though, but if she was being honest with herself Davina knew exactly what the hell was going on.

"Is that right?" one of the men asked, obviously directing the question toward Davina. At the moment though she wasn't sure exactly how she could respond, so she was happy Kol butted in.

"We've kept our relationship a secret for business reasons, but we were planning on telling my my family about the engagement this week when we visited them," he informed them. He went on to say something else, but she had tuned him out, because this was when Davina began to think.

What Kol was trying to pull was illegal, and he had dragged her into it without her knowledge. Granted, she didn't think he had much time to think of a solution, but that didn't excuse what he had done. Because in the next few moments, when Davina decided to speak, she could either confirm or deny what he had told them. The obvious thing would be to say he was making it up, and then Davina would be free of a tangled web she saw in the near future. There were possible perks though, if she could find a way to make a deal. She had been stuck in the assistant rut for years, and this was an opportunity to break free of that. Perhaps she would get a job offer in a totally unconventional and manipulative way, and she would feel guilty about it for about five seconds before she basked in the pay raise and new powers as an Editor. There was also the matter of what would happen if she said no. She would be fired with Kol's deportation, and would probably never be hired by a Mikaelson company again.

"And what does your fiancé have to say about all of this," the officer said, cutting Kol off in the middle of a sentence. She could tell he was trying to keep the conversation going so Davina couldn't get a word in, but neither of them could avoid it once she was singled out.

"I just hope everything works out so we can be together," she told them, a small smile plastered on her lips. She just hoped it didn't sound like she was lying through her teeth.

a/n - So there's the first chapter of my very first multi-chapter Kolvina fic! I know it was a bit short but I hope you liked it anyways. If you could not already tell this story will be loosely in some ways, and not so loosely in others, based off of The Proposal. I had to switch some things around so it fit Kol and Davina better, but I'm really excited about writing it. I'm usually not a planner when it comes to ms fics, but I've found myself thinking ahead to later chapters about scenes I'll be getting to write.

So be sure to let me know what you think, and if you want to check out my tumblr's meaghanraths or kolvinakisses. I'll probably be updating sometime in the next week.

xo,

Luce