Hello all :) Thank you first off for all the wonderful views and alerts. I have been so excited with every one that comes. (: But I'd love to thank my AMAZINGG beta: Brynndabella & do not forget to go to my polyvore for all of Damon & Elena's outfits. : )
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CHAPTER 2;

"And we go back to you being a complete ass," she replied bitterly.

"Sweetie, there's no need for the name-calling," Damon cooed smoothly. "I will help your company, make it better than it's ever been, and make us both enough money to swim in."

Nothing Damon said could cover up his completely egotistical nature. She knew all he was interested in was stealing her company and making it his own. Elena cringed as he spoke; he was so full of himself. What gave this man the right to so much power, anyway? She wanted to fight for her company's survival, but he was making it difficult.

"Mr. Salvatore, this is no time for flirting," she fussed at him. Was he belittling her? Did he think he could seduce his way into this contract?

"I'm not flirting, darling. This is merely me persuading you to accept an offer that is the only chance you'll get to save your company." he explained in a matter-of-fact way.

Elena was tightlipped, drumming her fingers on her desk. She couldn't take it any longer, she felt like she was about to break. "What is this deal exactly?" she said firmly.

"It's simple. I take your company, flip it upside down, and let everything bad tumble out of it," he answered, talking to her like she was a child. She felt as he was scolding her for absolutely no reason. It angered Elena.

"We need to have everything on paper – black and white – and nothing left out. I want everything on the table; I don't want you going through little loop holes for your enjoyment later on." she barked.

"Calm yourself, Elena. I will have my lawyers write up on contract with all the stipulations immediately. Would you like to go to lunch to discuss everything that is to go on them?" he inquired.

She visibly winced, thinking of how much distress it would be for them to be alone together; she would be falling out by the end of it all. Elena thought rationally about her decision before she spoke again.

"Fine - one-thirty, not a minute later or before," she requested.

"Perfect, shall I pick you up?" he questioned.

"I can drive myself," she retorted.

"Are you sure you are even capable?" he chuckled. She saw his smirk growing smirk in her mind; Elena wasn't even looking him in the eye, and knew what he was doing.

"I can drive myself," she repeated. Elena felt like a broken record, having to repeat herself to him.

"Yes, but that won't be necessary, Miss Gilbert. I will pick you up; it will be so much faster." he interjected.

Elena bit her bottom lip in misery. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with this 'shark', but she knew it was the only way to save her company; spending time in his.

"Very well, then. I will be expecting you at one-thirty. Do not be late Mr. Salvatore, I have a busy schedule." she stated in a monotone.

"Done. Have a nice morning, Miss Gilbert." he said with an air of finality as they hung up the phone in unison.

She looked down at her clock, and the hands showed that it was now 9:30am. Elena gathered her frayed emotions together; she would have to take actions to prepare herself for everything that was about to fall into her lap.

She leant her hand on her palm and sighed at this thought. It wasn't going to be the same anymore. He would swipe up her company and destroy it to his liking, as he was ruthlessly known for doing with all the other.

She heard a quiet tap on her glass door and looked up to see Caroline looking at her with expectant gaze. Elena lifted her hand and motioned her to come in to the office, and the young woman eagerly obeyed.

"So, did you get everything settled?" she smiled, her arms weighed down by a heavy stack of folders that needed to be filed.

Elena shrugged, "He is taking me to lunch to go over the details of the contract," she paused in her speech before continuing with a more dismal tone to her voice, "I have a feeling I am about to have the rug ripped right from under me by Damon Salvatore, and if I don't watch out, Miranda and Co. will no longer be what I have made it. It will just be another asset to him." she sighed.

"'Lena, you worry too much. Your business will be perfectly fine, just as long as you make sure he doesn't take a greater percentage of the company's shares than you. He will probably try to slip it up to make it sound like if he controlled more of the business, it will be fixed quicker," she shrugged. "It's just my opinion Elena. I know exactly how you run this company. You have kept it above water for a long than anyone else could, and Damon shouldn't destroy everything you have done."

Caroline's caring and honest words comforted her more than anything, and Elena had a greater confidence in the fact that she was going to be okay.

The time went by quickly, and before Elena knew it, the clock read 1pm. Her talk with Caroline, as well as some mental preparations, had helped her get this far without completely breaking down.

She had thirty more minutes to prepare herself with her luncheon with Damon Salvatore. His name felt like venom; slowly poisoning her mind. Reaching for her purse, she dug deep to find her brush. Elena was a mess, not only in her appearance, but also her emotions. She combed her hair back, letting it fall naturally before quickly pulling it back into a bun.

When she took a deep breath in and glanced at the clock again, she was surprised that she had gotten lost in her deep thinking and it had now reached 1:30 pm. Elena felt like her world was spinning out of control, but she quickly focused on the man knocking on her glass door.

"Hello, Miss Gilbert," he walked into her office with a chipper tone in his voice.

Elena felt a grimace settle onto her face as he spoke these words, reminding her of his ever-present cocky attitude.

"Hello, Mr. Salvatore. Are you ready to go?" she questioned in a light manner. Trying to be polite to Damon was difficult; she couldn't stand men who acted as if they were God's gift to the world.

The two exchanged quick glances before Damon nodded, "I am, Miss Gilbert, shall we?" he asked.

She nodded back, grabbing her purse off the floor and heading towards the door of her office. Damon reached forward to open it for her and as he did so, his jacket opened wider revealing a white shirt wrapped around toned muscles. They rippled underneath it as he moved and as Elena admired him she couldn't help the catching of her breath.

"After you," he smirked down at her after a moment's pause in either of their movements, and Elena realized he must have noticed her blatantly checking him out. She blushed and looked down, quickening her pace out of the room and distinctively hearing a deep chuckle as he shut the door behind him.

She glanced up at him with a forced smile as they walked side by side to the reception area. When they got there Elena smiled, walking toward the receptionist's desk where Caroline sat. "I'm going to lunch, I'll be back in an hour or so," she whispered leaning over the glossy, wooden counter.

"Alright, Miss Gilbert, have a nice lunch." Caroline's smile beamed. It was an encouraging smile; Caroline was best at giving those. When she turned around she saw Damon glance away quickly, and had the distinctive feeling that he'd been ogling her as she'd leant over to speak with her friend. How typical.

They set off together again, walking down the long hallway to the elevators. She was silent because she didn't have anything to say. Words seemed to not appear as naturally as they usually did. It was like she was selling her soul to the devil and couldn't even have a second chance.

Entering the elevator together Damon pressed '1' for the ground floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched carefully as he crossed his hands in front of his lean chest and stood patiently waiting for them to reach their destination. He never once glanced her way, and she couldn't understand why she was slightly disappointed with this observation; his opinion of her didn't matter.

The tension could be cut with a knife. She felt it; the air was thick with it; there was a queasiness that settled into her stomach whenever she was around Damon. What worried her most was that she didn't know if they were nerves brought about by his intimidating nature, or butterflies because of her attraction to him.

Finally, the doors slid open and he quickly exited the elevator. Shoving his hands in his pants' pockets he stopped to wait for Elena to catch up to him. When she made it to his side, they proceeded through the lobby and went through the revolving glass doors. As she reached the bottom of the outside stairs, Elena stood on the pavement waiting for Damon to find their transportation.

Soon enough a black SUV arrived in front of them both. Her eyes traveled down to the black tinted windows and her reflection stared back at her. She was sad and there was fear in her eyes. This was it.

He opened the door, and smiled pleasantly at her, kicking her back into reality.

"Thank you, Mr. Salvatore," she showed her wonderful, pearly smile in forced gratitude. Inside, the SUV was fully equipped with anything a person could ever need. Glancing around, she sat down on the left side of the backseat. The black leather interior was not cold as she had assumed, but instead cushioned her in warmth as she settled down into it.

Damon glanced over at Elena, had kept completely closed off to him since he'd caught her admiring his figure on the way out of her office, and was now staring out the window as traffic whizzed by it. She seemed bitter about the whole thing; they hadn't spoken a handful of words to each other, and although he understood her weariness, he couldn't help but feel let down by her detachment.

All of a sudden his phone rang, and he was pulled from his thoughts as the car stopped at a red light. Scrabbling, he pulled the phone quickly out of his pocket and answered it.

"Salvatore," he spoke bluntly into the phone; it was one of his many underlings. He quarreled with the person on the other end of the line for a couple of minutes, but as usual he took control and eventually took what he wanted. He'd seen Elena glance his way when things got heated, but looking up after the conversation ended he found her, yet again, looking out the window at passersby.

They drove a little further down the busy streets until the car stopped once again. "Mr. Salvatore, we are here," the driver called to him.

Elena looked to Damon as he began to get out the car. "Come on Gilbert, we're here."

She grabbed her purse and slid it straps on her forearm, before she scooted over to the side Damon had just exited the vehicle. He reached up his hand to help Elena out, and clasping it lightly in his own, she easily stepped down onto the sidewalk next to him.

The restaurant was located on the corner of the street. It was an old, antique-colored building. Damon walked closely to Elena's side as they walked into the fancy restaurant. When she looked up and read the sign, she knew exactly where she was: Caruso's was a high-priced Italian steakhouse renowned around the city.

"Reservation for Salvatore," he said authoritatively to the guest assistant. The woman picked up two menus and motioned for them to follow, walking briskly to the other side of the restaurant. They were seated kindly by a young waitress in the back.

Elena took the menu that Damon offered to her and began to look over it; she frowned as she read the outrageous prices displayed next to all of the items. Overhead, Frank Sinatra crooned, "I've Got You under My Skin." Elena held her menu up in front of her face and cringed, thinking of how appropriate the song was for this situation.

As their waiter arrived at the table, she peeked from behind the menu, and watched a Damon placed his order. "We will both have the Filet Mignon, salads and dressing on the side. Please cook my steak medium rare, and hers will be medium." he smiled, prying Elena's menu from her hands and handing them both back to the waitress. "Oh, and also, two glasses of your best wine."

The waitress nodded politely and walked off.

Elena turned to him and sent him the iciest glare that she could once the waitress had disappeared; she could feel her heart racing in anger.

"What was that?" she whispered through her teeth, wanting to strangle Damon for the innocent smile he was now directing at her.

"What was what?" He inquired quizzically, looking into her brown eyes and raising his brow as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"You know exactly what! You ordered for me as if I were a child; I am quite capable of doing in myself you know; I have been for the last two decades." she hissed.

"You'll like it. Plus, we need to get some meat on those bones. I've seen stick insects with more fat," he mocked.

"Don't you mock me, Mr. Salvatore," she rebutted. "That was an expensive choice." she fretfully said.

"I don't care, I'm paying anyway." he smirked, finishing off the conversation.

"Excuse me?" she stuttered.

He smiled at her. "Well, with the condition of your company; you need to be saving all the money you can."

She rolled her eyes. He was one of those people who liked to pick fun at everything.

As he went to speak again, their waiter returned with their meal. The woman placed the appealing platters down on the table and as she walked away, Elena couldn't help her eyes growing in amazement at the magnificence of the meal. It looked perfect.

"Now would you like to discuss the deal?" he questioned, picking up his knife and for to start his meal.

"I guess," she stated with an edge of worry in her voice.

"I want to go 70/30. If I own a greater portion of the company, I can have better control of your people and ensure that deals are processed more sufficiently and have a greater benefit to the company's profit. I'll take care of this business like it should have been taken care of months ago." he said arrogantly, "It will be a longer process because you waited so long, but with me in control I will have it up and running in no time."

"No, there is no need for you to take almost complete control over my company. I have run it for many years, and I know what you do with all the others," she said in disgust. "In the end, I still want it to be mine; otherwise I'll just disappear among the masses and never be seen again." Elena paused, and looked up into his intense gaze, food forgotten. "My father left Miranda and Co. to me when he died, Damon. It would kill me to see his legacy be overshadowed by yours."

Elena was on the point of breaking. She was so sick of him already, and to think she would have to work with him to get her company back to where it should be made her anxious.

Damon was silent for a long time, before he finally spoke again.

"Alright, I'll go 50/50, but that's as low as I'll reduce it," he fought her. Damon was surprised that he'd caved so easily; it was like he had developed some kind of remorse for taking over her company and her pleading didn't help. He usually didn't fight with the owners of industries he overtook, because they were resigned to the fact that their company would go under without him. This was an unusual deal, even for him; she made it different. Damon sighed, frustrated at himself.

"If you make a decision, it must be my decision too; we have to be united in our choices." she pronounced. She caught his icy glare and she let out a crooked smile.

"Fine," he nodded. "Agreed?"

She nodded.

As she finished her meal, Elena couldn't help thinking that she'd basically sold her soul; that company was everything. Her mind wandered, thinking about all the possibilities for the future of Miranda and Co. with Damon as a Co-President.

They were silent for the rest of the meal, and when they'd finished, he paid for their lunch. It was over one-hundred dollars a person and Elena's eyes had widened at seeing the bill, but Damon merely shrugged it off.

Leaving quickly, the silence continued all the way to the car and back to the office. Elena didn't feel like talking to him anymore; she was too caught up in her thoughts. Looking out the window, she saw that it was a beautiful day in New York.

When the car was parked, he stepped out and again offered her his hand. "I'm going to get those papers," he spoke once she was safely on the sidewalk, before stepping back into the car. "I might be back."

"Alright, thanks for lunch, Mr. Salvatore," she expressed her gratitude, and in return he gave her a slight smile before shutting the car door.

Watching him drive away, Elena believe that perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she'd originally imagined. He may not be the best person to interact with, but he knew what he was doing and, she thought with a grin, if she ever got annoyed with his personality at least there were still his looks.

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