One Year Ago

Elena walked into work at least twenty minutes late, frantically looking around, hoping no one will notice. She ran her fingers through her long, dark brown hair, trying to tame it as much as possible, and then checked her makeup in a small mirror she kept in her handbag. She managed to line her brown doe eyes with eyeliner and coated her lashes in mascara, but that was the only product on her face. She put the mirror away, knowing it wasn't going to get any better today; it was just one of those days.

She overslept! She didn't want to get out of bed this morning because she had a late night. Well, her best friend, Caroline Forbes was being dumped and Elena couldn't just walk away from her. It was after midnight before she could go to bed. When her alarm went off this morning, she lifted a sleepy hand to her nightstand and fumbled around to silence the god-awful beeping. She wanted to lie there, snuggled in amongst her cosy down pillows. And that was what had happened. She fell asleep again!

When she thought she was safe, finally letting herself relax in her chair, she looked up into the smouldering blue-grey eyes of Damon Salvatore, one of the lawyers here at the firm.

"There you are," he said, smiling warmly at her. Elena smiled back.

Damon Salvatore was devilishly good-looking, and it was hard to pay attention in his presence.

"Yes, do you need something, Mr Salvatore?" she asked, quickly opening her laptop.

He grinned and handed her a piece of paper. "Could you please email Mr Smith and let him know his court date and time? I have to head out to court now myself."

Elena nodded and looked down at the paper, familiar with the name of the client and his case. "No problem."

"Excellent," Damon replied, glancing at his watch, then looking back at her. "You know it is not a crime to come in late every once in a while. I think this is only the second time you have done it since you started working here."

Elena's eyes widened. He paid that much attention? "I know it is not a crime," she said, looking him in the eye. "I just didn't think that my honest excuse of my best friend being dumped again, and her crying her little heart out was going to be a valid reason. I also hate being late in general. It is a pet peeve of mine, and not very professional."

"This place would fall apart without you," he stated matter-of-factly, gaze roaming over her face. "You know that, right? If you are late every now and again, we will forgive you. I better get going, but I will be back around eleven for my meeting." He walked to the elevator, but paused. "I'm sorry about your friend, Elena."

"Uh, thanks," Elena said, their eyes locking just as the elevator door shut. The thing with Caroline was she trusted way too easily and then, when she got hurt, it was up to Elena to pick up the pieces. Elena, on the other hand, didn't trust at all. Then again, that was probably why Caroline had so many dates, and why she hadn't gotten laid in over six months, although it felt more like ten years. She sent Caroline a quick message, telling her she didn't need Luke and his cheating ass, and that she was a wonderful person and deserved someone worthy of her. Then she looked over the schedule for the day before sending the email to Damon's client.

Damon.

Elena only called him by his first name in her head.

She was glad it was him who saw her, and not one of the other lawyers who worked at the firm. Two of them were older, and probably wouldn't have been as cool about it. The third, Alaric, was in his late thirties, but was usually grumpy.

She looked down at her black shirt and realised that she had done the buttons up wrong. She fixed it quickly, hoping Damon didn't notice it. Knowing her luck, he did.

Yeah, today is going to be a long-ass day, she thought.

x x x

Elena was on her lunchbreak, sitting at a café just across the road from the firm while eating a giant slice of chocolate cake, when Damon sat down opposite her. She looked up at him in confusion, wondering exactly what he was doing. Sure, they had had a few casual conversations before about non-work-related topics, but they had never sat together for a meal or anything like that.

"There is no point in me sitting alone at a different table," Damon said, flashing her a smile. "You don't mind, do you?"

Elena couldn't exactly say no, now could she?

She shook her head and muttered a very insincere, "Not at all."

Damon simply grinned, apparently finding her amusing, then ordered a coffee from a passing waitress.

"How is your friend holding up?" he asked, looking at her directly in the eye.

"She will be fine," Elena replied, putting her fork down. Did he actually care, or was he just making conversation? Damon Salvatore was somewhat of an enigma to her. Young, successful and too good-looking for his own good, the man exuded confidence, sex appeal and charm. A dangerous mix, which was what she thought. He was the type of man every woman dreamed about, but only a few could ever obtain. Before Elena took on this job, Debra, the receptionist who was training her before she left for overseas, warned her to stay away from Damon. She had looked at Debra quizzically, wondering why the receptionist would have to caution her in the first place, when it was very unprofessional to even consider getting involved with someone she essentially worked for. When Elena saw Damon for the first time though, she understood. He was sin, wrapped in a tall, tempting, muscled package. Still, she wouldn't go there. She needed this job, and he probably had women throwing themselves at him every day. Did she think she was pretty? Yes. Was she the woman who got the guy every other woman wanted? No.

Damon continued to study her, and she found herself squirming a little. She started to fuss with her hair, something she tended to do when she was a little nervous.

"Do I make you nervous?" he asked, calling her out, which either made him a jerk or just the no-bullshit type. She was hoping it was the latter.

Elena instantly dropped her hand. "No," she lied, then added, "It is just not every day that I sit at a café with my boss, hoping I don't have chocolate all over my mouth whilst trying to pretend I'm not awkward and terrible at small talk."

Damon threw his head back and laughed, drawing attention from others around them. "Your honesty is so very refreshing, Elena. No, you don't have chocolate on your face, I would have told you if you did. We can skip the small talk, and I don't mind your awkwardness. Be as awkward as you want, it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. In fact, I find it strangely compelling."

Only because he was so confident. She didn't think anything could make him feel uncomfortable. He would probably dominate every situation, and somehow turned it around to benefit him. He seemed the type. Was he a control freak? Elena thought he was.

She picked her fork up and lifted another bite of chocolate deliciousness to her lips. "Okay."

"Good," he said, thanking the waitress as his coffee arrived. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Me?" she asked, shaking her head. "No, thank you."

If I want something, I will get it myself, she thought.

"You sure?" he asked, bringing the mug to his slightly parted, full lips. "I have noticed you always seem to have a cup of coffee attached to your hand. You want me to get you one to take back to the office?"

Suspicion filled Elena. Was Damon always this nice, or did he want something? "I'm good."

A woman walked past, giving Damon the eye. He didn't pay her any attention, but it had Elena wondering just who this man was. Did he have a girlfriend? What was his story? Why did Debra warn her away from him? Maybe Debra had a thing with him, and was playing the part of a scorned lover. All she said was that he had a reputation, but Elena was not one to listen to gossip. She liked to make her own decision about people and judge them by how they treated her personally, not by rumours.

"You have been working here for a few months now, right?" Damon asked, bringing her out from her thoughts.

She nodded. "Yes. Four actually"

"Do you like it?" he continued, then looked down at his watch. "Damn. I should be getting back." He threw some money on the table, way more than what his coffee would be. "Can we continue this conversation later? Same time tomorrow?" He flashed her a devilish smile, stood, and said, "Nice talking to you, Elena." Then he departed from the café, leaving her staring behind him, wondering what the hell just happened.

Same time tomorrow?

Elena didn't think so.

X x x

"He pretty much pretended he really liked me, and that he wanted to date me so I would sleep with him, and then bailed after I did," Caroline said, staring into her tub of cookies and cream ice cream. "All he said was that he isn't ready for a relationship. Completely changed his tune."

"Asshole," Elena muttered, handing her some gummy bears. "Forget him, he is obviously a dick. Just learn from it and move on."

Caroline picked out the red bears from the packet and shoved a few in her mouth. "I have the worst luck in men."

Caroline said that line so much it was going to go on her tombstone.

"Maybe you should stop the whole online dating thing," Elena suggested, shrugging. "Or at least take a break from it."

"Yeah," Caroline murmured, putting the lid back on the ice cream. "I know. I just end up going back to it whenever I get bored. So many other people have met good men on there. It is just me who somehow finds the dregs of society."

Elena opened another bottle of wine.

She and Caroline had known each other since they were about seven years old, and had been inseparable ever since. They had lived together for the past five years, since they moved out of their parents' homes at eighteen. Elena personally thought Caroline was freaking out because she was still single. Caroline said that her biological clock is ticking, but for some reason Elena didn't feel the same pressure that she did. They were only twenty-three years old. There were worse things than being single. If Elena ended up being a single dog mum, so be it. It actually sounded like a pretty good life to her.

An hour later, they were jumping on the bed singing along to "Zero" by Chris Brown, Caroline's broken heart temporarily forgotten. Then they fell asleep, surrounded by candy wrappers.

x x x

Elena swallowed two painkillers the next morning, trying to look alive so no one at work noticed her hangover. The problem with living with her best friend was that fun times weren't always saved for the weekend; they could get out of hand at any given moment. She paid a little more attention to her appearance this morning to hide the bags under her eyes, or so she had been telling herself. She didn't spend an hour ironing her hair straight, or an extra half an hour trying to get the perfect wing eyeliner for her little lunch chat with Damon. Nope, she didn't do that at all. As a matter of fact, she brought her own lunch today, for the first time ever, hoping to avoid him. She had made sandwiches, a fruit salad, and brought a thermos of coffee, so there was really no need for her to leave her desk today, except to use the bathroom. She didn't ask herself why she had thought about this so much, or why, when the elevator doors opened and Damon walked out, she looked down at her laptop to avoid his gaze.

"Morning, Elena." Stopping in front of her desk, Damon gave her no alternative but to raise her head and wished him a good morning in return.

"You look beautiful today," he whispered, so low only she could hear it.

Her eyes narrowed at his inappropriate comment. "Thank you, Mr Salvatore," she replied, trying to put him in his place.

His blue-grey eyes flashed with amusement. "Damon. Call me Damon, please."

Elena didn't know what to reply to that. Sure, in her head she had called him Damon, but she had never said it out loud, especially not to him. Why was he telling her to call him by his first name now, as opposed to when they were first introduced?

"Why now?" She blurted out, deciding to be honest with her thoughts.

"Everyone except you in this office calls me Damon, Elena," he explained, looking down at his watch. "I need you to cancel my ten a.m. appointment, please. I have somewhere I need to be. I will be back to have lunch with you though, and I think you should get more than a piece of cake today."

"And I think you should have more than a cup of coffee for lunch," she fired back, fed up with his high-and-mighty act.

He lifted his head and smirked at her in response. "I only had coffee because I had a brunch meeting."

"Oh."

"Which you should know, because you scheduled it."

Right. She scheduled the brunch meeting. How could she forget?

"I brought lunch from home today," Elena told him, shrugging nonchalantly. "Rain check?"

"You never bring lunch," Damon remarked, tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes. "Is sitting with me so bad?" He straightened, looking contemplative. She wondered if a woman had ever told him no before. Somehow, she doubted it.

"No, it is not so bad," she said, clearing her throat. "It is just that…I work for you. We are not friends, so I don't see the need to pretend that we are."

Oh, damn.

He is so going to fire me.

Why did she say that? Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut?

"Well, why don't we become friends then?" Damon asked, grinning down at her. "You don't work for me, Elena, you work for the firm. And we see each other every day, so I don't see why we can't be friends."

Elena didn't know why, but every time the word 'friends' left his mouth, she gritted her teeth. He wanted to be friends. Would that make their working relationship awkward? She didn't know. She guessed she just had to make sure no lines were crossed, because she did want to keep this job.

"Uhh, okay," she mumbled, not sure what to say to him. Why was he singling her out like this? "Can this newfound friendship start tomorrow? Because I really did bring lunch from home."

"What did you bring?"

Is he always so nosy? She wondered.

"Peanut butter sandwiches," she said, shrugging sheepishly. "I like it."

Which adult would have peanut butter sandwiches for lunch? Elena didn't care. She liked it and thought they were delicious.

He chuckled, probably because he now knew she was a little weird. Then he surprised her by saying, "Save me a piece," before heading inside his office.

Elena watched the door close and shook her head, curious as to how this was going to play out.

How this was going to play out? I have always loved the idea of Damon and Elena having peanut butter sandwiches, LOL! Not sure why but I thought it would be fun:)

Anyway, thank you so much for the support and kind reviews.