Elena woke up at exactly 6 o'clock in the morning. She did 90 minutes of yoga and watched New York spring to life (even though the City never sleeps) as she sipped her coffee.

"Ugh! Elena!" Caroline shouted from her room. "Have you seen my black heels? The peep toe not my black pumps."

Elena set her coffee down on the granite counter and walked over to Caroline's room. Besides the bed in the middle, the room was covered in boxes. Heels and shoes covered any available space the boxes didn't take up.

Caroline ran a hand through her blonde hair and itched her scalp out of frustration.

"I had gotten a new dress and I wanted to wear those heels for a meeting today. They weren't too sexy they were perfect! I can't believe this is happening!"

Elena smiled at her friends frustration. Leave it to Caroline to get upset over a little thing like missing heels.

"Just wear the black flats, and I'll keep a look out for your heels."

Caroline let out a huff and took her clothes to the bathroom so she could shower.

Elena went back to her room and put on her running sneakers. It was 8 o'clock and she planned on going for a run before she did some writing and job searching. She didn't want to spend her days holed up in her room being an introvert, not when she had all of beautiful New York to explore. She grabbed her headphones and iPod off the counter and left her building. She walked up to Central Park, which wasn't far from her and Caroline's home, and started running. She mentally sang along to I'm Yours by Jason Mraz as her feet pounded on the pavement.

Once her playlist ended, she started it from the top and started walking back. Elena took the back of her hand and wiped sweat off her forehead. She crinkled her nose as she felt how much she was sweating. When people said New York summers were miserable, they weren't kidding. The weather wasn't hot, probably in the mid 80's, but the humidity made Elena sweat buckets. If she weren't wearing running shorts and a sports bra, she would be sweating through her clothes.

Elena passed a small indie-owned used bookstore and decided to look through it. Used books were Elena's favorite. They had a history and a previous owner. Caroline never understood Elena's obsession with books. Anything longer than 50 pages Caroline didn't even bother reading, claiming it was a "waste of her time," and she could just "read what happened on the internet if she was interested." Elena shook her head as she remembered what her best friend told her. The fact that someone could not like reading books was truly baffling to her.

"Good morning." A short lady greeted Elena as she walked into the small bookstore. She quickly thanked the Gods that there was AC in this small store. Books lined the walls and some laid haphazardly on the floor in front of the shelves. She felt instantly comfortable in this small book store. Scanning the titles, Elena noticed that most of the books were old, but she loved reading older books. She felt giddy at the wide selection.

"Good morning!" Elena said greeting the older woman with a smile. After browsing the selection, Elena turned to leave. She planned on coming back with her wallet and buying all the books that caught her attention. As she walked through the door a sign in the window caught her attention. It was big and written in black ink.

NOW HIRING!

Elena turned around and walked back into the store. "Excuse me, are you still hiring?"

"Yes we are."

"May I have an application?"

The woman let out a chuckle. "This business is only run by my husband and I. We need an extra hand and no one has applied to work here. Everyone is consumed with working more high end jobs. New York isn't a cheap place to live and no one wants to take a job that pays twenty-dollars an hour. You're hired."

Elena smiled from ear-to-ear and had to restrain from jumping up and down in front of her now boss.

"When do I start?" Elena asked, she obviously couldn't start now. She was still sweaty and wearing minimal amounts of clothing from her run.

"If you aren't going to school in the morning, you can start at eight until twelve in the afternoon on Monday."

"No ma'am I'm not going to school yet. That sounds perfect thank you so much!"

Elena said her goodbyes to the older woman who was now her employer and walked out the book store. With a smile on her face, Elena continued her walk back home.


Damon rushed to his fathers office as fast as he could. Almost tripping over the concrete steps as he rushed to get out of the subway in the process. His father gave him a strict deadline to be at his office at 11:30, not a minute later. Most people would think their parents were exaggerating, not Damon. He knew his father was expecting Damon to walk into their small building at 11:30 with the files he spent all night filing for his father.

"You're late." Damon's dad said when Damon walked into the office at 12:15.

"I know, I'm sorry I took the wrong train and-"

"I'm not here for your excuses, Damon." Giuseppe sighed. "I have you do a simple task and you can't do that. How do you expect to be successful lawyer if you can't show up on time. Incompetent idiot."

Damon set the files on the desk. His dad took a sip of scotch and looked over the files. Giuseppe always looked at files over a glass (or three) of scotch. But if anyone asked, he only drinks on rare occasions.

Damon awkwardly loitered in his dad's office until he was dismissed. Rage filled Damon. He was a 25 year old man and he felt like a child. Constantly answering to his father, and silently begging for his approval. He left the office and walked two blocks to his small studio apartment. His father refused to pay for him to go to college, but he paid for Damon's expensive studio apartment. Giuseppe was a man of surprises and twists, not the good ones either.

After checking his messages, Damon took a shower and met his girlfriend, Katherine, for a late lunch and some drinks. Every time he saw Katherine he was amazed by her beauty. She was tall, tan, and breathtakingly beautiful. Her blonde hair went well with her tanned skin, her lips were plump and Damon's favorite thing on his girlfriend. When he arrived at the restaurant, Katherine was wearing tight black jeans and a purple tank top, paired with black pumps that made her the same height as Damon. Damon felt underdressed in his black tank top and worn out jeans with holes in the knees. Katherine always dressed fancy, even if it was to go to a casual lunch. Damon secretly wished she was more casual but if he mentioned it she would bite his head off. Katherine had a temper, getting on her bad side was never a good idea.


Elena and Caroline walked down the street looking for a restaurant where they could consume large amounts of alcohol but still be close to their home. Elena wore an orange sun dress with a brown belt in the middle and sandals. Caroline wore the shortest shorts she owned, a plain white t-shirt, and her black heels. Elena stared at her best friend in envy, only Caroline could pull off an outfit like that, Elena thought. The two girls walked into a restaurant they found that was only a block away and headed straight to the back and sat at the bar. Elena ordered a beer and Caroline ordered a dirty martini. The two best friends sat at the bar and talked about Tyler. Caroline was enraged that he wanted to training for football than spend the day on Skype with her.

"I don't think this relationship is going to work. I try my best and he won't even hang out with me! Um, excuse me, bartender, another one please."

Elena laughed at Caroline. Every week Caroline didn't think their relationship was going to work. It was obvious to everyone that Caroline and Tyler were madly in love and inseparable, they would never split up.

Elena listened as Caroline continued to talk. Switching from Tyler, to purses, to her interview and then back to Tyler. Elena ordered another beer and nodded her head at the appropriate time so Caroline would think she was still listening but Elena droned her out and stared blankly at the television in the top corner of the bar where a football game was playing.


"Babe can you get me a martini, please?"

Damon walked up to the bar and ordered a martini for Katherine and a beer for himself. He took a seat at the stool while he waited for the drinks to be made.

"Um, excuse me? That seats taken." Damon turned around to apologize for taking the seat.

His blue eyes sprung to life as he recognized the woman sitting before him.

"I never got your name, but I remember you, from Starbucks." Damon took in Elena's confused expression, "I spilled my coffee over your journal?"

"OH," Elena said a little too loudly, "Damon, right? I'm Elena."

"Nice to meet you, Elena. How're you liking New York?" Damon asked, remembering her mention of being new to the city.

"Um," Elena took a swig of her beer. "I really like it but it's so different than what I'm used to." She said letting out a chuckle thinking about her home in Mystic Falls. Quiet suburban neighborhood that went to bed at 11 o'clock and woke up at 6 in the morning.

Elena looked at Damon's features. She noticed them in Starbucks and she was noticing them again. His blue eyes that captivated her, his jaw that had some stubble on it. Elena couldn't deny it, this man was undoubtedly beautiful.

"Elena who is this guy in my seat?" Caroline was 4 martinis in and just returned from the bathroom, she pulled Elena out of her short transfixed gaze on Damon. Caroline glared at Damon until he hastily got up from her seat.

"It was nice seeing you...again, Elena." Damon said before grabbing his drinks and turning away.

"Oh, wait!" Elena grabbed a pen out of her brown bag and took the napkin that was under Caroline's martini and scribbled her cell number on it.

"If you still want to show me around New York." With a smile, Damon took the napkin and stuffed it in his pocket. He thanked Elena and walked off.

It was the three beers that had Elena feeling like this. She would have never done anything like this without any liquid courage. That's how she's always been, alcohol made her brave and break out of her introverted shell.

"Not trying to burst your bubble but he had a martini in one hand, Elena. Unless he's gay, he's on a date."

"Shhh!" Elena brought her index finger up to her lips signaling her best friend to be quiet. "Let's hope those are both false." Elena said turning to the bartender, she ordered another beer and listened as Caroline started talking about design ideas for their house.

Damon walked back to his table and handed Katherine her martini.

"What took so long?" Katherine asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"The line was long." Damon lied.


Oh goodness, my brain is begging for rest! I've been writing for 5 hours straight. This chapter took up most of my time, so I hope you guys enjoy it. It's 4:00 AM and I'm headed for bed, leave me some reviews to wake up to? Good night, Good morning, and good evening to all. Xo