After spending majority of the day unloading their little car packed full of boxes, Elena and Bonnie were ready to call up their blonde friend and hit the town. Caroline was all too eager to take them to her spot, "The Original Restaurant and Bar". Now with their heels on and makeup in place they were ready to make this a "girls night out" and have a good time. Caroline of course was the brains behind this plan and had insisted on dressing up. Elena hadn't felt this sexy before. She and Bonnie demanded that it be a sexy casual affair which Caroline had protested, but compromised that their be high heels involved. Elena was wearing a pair of Caroline's very short dress shorts with a silk bow top and bright red high heels. She felt dressy, but in a very classy, casual way.
As the three girls walked into the place and slid into a booth towards the back, Damon Salvatore was washing dishes in the back of Original.
"Hey Klaus, how long do I have to be the busboy? You know I don't like being a lackey." Damon yelled.
"Well mate, I'm down two servers and Tyler just informed me he was going on a camping trip twenty minutes before his shift. So unless you want to turn on your charm and deal with customers, I need you cooking and cleaning."
Klaus had a way of making Damon feel like the kitchen bitch, but Damon was aware he was not the type to make nice with customers, especially of the drunken college variety.
" Will do boss man. Please just stick to selling the pizza tonight. I can easily do that on my own, but as soon as we have to churn out my usual specials, I'll need extra hands. I know we have Rebekah back here to help, but she can't cook worth a damn."
"I heard that Salvatore!" Rebekah yelled from the bar. Klaus shook his head and winked at Damon as he put on an apron and headed out of the kitchen.
Damon had been in Richmond for a while but the past few years hadn't been what he thought they would be. He had started out majoring in Business, but ended up falling in love with cooking. He then had added a minor in food services and graduated with a masters. His plan was to open a restaurant. That would be easier said than done, but luckily Damon had befriended Klaus and knew his way around a kitchen enough to get offered the job of head cook. It wasn't what Damon wanted, but it was a step in the right direction. He knew every step he made toward his dream was one way to shake the demons of his past. His mother had loved cooking and taught him everything she knew. Giuseppe Salvatore had thought boys shouldn't be in the kitchen and had always berated Damon for his interest. Damon's mother owned her own hole in the wall place and mainly served lunch specials, but was expanding into breakfast when she died in a fire along with Damon's brother Stefan. All that was left of the Salvatore family was Damon and a man who used to be his father. Giuseppe had drowned himself in alcohol and work. He almost always was away on business and he kept Damon informed of family affairs through his secretary. Damon had never spoken to his father about his mother and brother's death, but he knew it was what had driven a stake in between them. Damon had spent the past years wondering if following his mother's dream was worth loosing the only family he had left. His senior year of prep school he did find someone to call "brother" in Jeremy Gilbert. Damon had reluctantly signed up for the mentorship program to avoid community service hours after being caught spray painting the Mystic Falls "Welcome" sign. He had quickly bonded with the scrawny kid realizing Jeremy was just as lost as he was. Damon knew he could make a difference and they had really connected. They still talked occasionally. Damon quickly refocused on the task at hand and got back to cooking. It would be an eventful night with him in charge of the kitchen.