Still half asleep, Hayley wonders down the corridor to the kitchen. A wonderful smell awoke her and she is now following it to it's source. She doesn't have a clue what is is, but it smells like it could be something edible. She doubts that Klaus is cooking anything, the last thing he cooked was pancakes and even then he only did enough for himself. Maybe it's Rebekah, she talks about all the amazing dishes she cooks occasionally.
Hayley walks into the kitchen to see Elijah stood at the counter with his back to her. He's wearing black suit pants and the whitest shirt she has ever seen. She pulls her eyes away from him and looks over the kitchen. Everything is spotless. All of the counters have been polished, all dishes and cups that need cleaning have been cleaned to perfection and are now in the process of being put away and the island has two cups of coffee set out with an empty plate.
Slowly, Hayley sits down at the island and watches Elijah finish drying the last of the glasses. It looks like one of Klaus' favourites and he is about to put it with the other ordinary glasses.
"That goes in the next one along."
Elijah turns and looks at Hayley, who takes a sip from one of the cups of coffee. He smiles and then turns back and puts the glass in the correct cupboard. A crackling sound comes from a frying pan and Elijah moves to it quickly and elegantly. Hayley bites her lip and watches him tend to whatever is in the pan. Whatever it is, it can't be as beautiful as the scene which is Elijah cooking.
"Did you sleep well?" Elijah asks as he moves the pan from the heat and picks up a wooden spoon on the counter next to him.
"Yeah, very well actually."
Not use to being asked how she is feeling or how she slept or anything really, Hayley doesn't really know where to take the conversation from here. She hopes that Elijah will continue asking questions or just talking because she has just realised how much she loves the sound of his voice. Unlike Klaus, there is no strong British accent, but still, she finds his voice beautiful.
Realising how inappropriate she is being, Hayley looks away from Elijah and stares down into her coffee. Why is she acting like this and having these thoughts? She is married to his brother, thoughts like these are the last kind of thoughts she should be having about this man. Whether she is slightly attracted to him or not, it has to stop before things go too far.
"What are you making?" Hayley asks as Elijah moves something onto a plate.
"You're about to find out."
Elijah turns to her on the spot with a plate in his hand. Slowly, he places the plate in front of her with a knife and fork. On the plate is something that looks like two small, triangular pies. Hayley has never had anything like this before, but when it smells this good, she is more than willing to try some.
"What is it?" Hayley asks as she picks up her knife and fork.
"French toast stuffed with pieces of banana."
Hayley takes a bite and is transported to heaven. She doesn't think she has ever tasted anything as good as this. She closes her eyes and makes a sound of approval as she takes another bite. Elijah watches her with a small smile on his face. He knew she would enjoy the French toast and he knew it wouldn't of been something she would of had before.
"I'll assume you like it then" Elijah says as he takes his coffee cup and leans back against the counter, continuing to watch her finish the first piece.
"I love it!" Hayley says, with the most enthusiasm she has had about anything in awhile.
The sound of claws clinking against the floors of the apartment fills the silence. A few seconds later, Jack appears in the kitchen. He ignores Elijah's presence and goes straight to Hayley, looking for any scraps. He sits and stares up at her, expecting her to drop a piece for him at any moment like she usually does. Little does he know, Hayley has no intentions of dropping any of her delicious breakfast.
"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Hayley asks in between bites.
"I learnt a few things from my mother and the rest I picked up whilst travelling" he says as he pats his leg and Jack trots over to him.
Hayley watches Jack jump up at Elijah and Elijah scratches behind the dogs ear. Jack leans into Elijah's touch and Hayley bites her lip, knowing that if that was her, she would do the same thing. She quickly snaps herself out of her daydream before it goes a little too far and continues to focus on eating.
"Do you have any plans for today?"
Elijah looks up at her and Hayley blinks in shock. Is Elijah asking her out?
"No, no plans. Why, have you got something in mind?"
Diverting his gaze back to Jack, Elijah smirks and puts his coffee cup on the counter.
"Well, I was wondering if maybe I could take you out for the day? And I don't have the slightest idea where to go for a decent ice cream" he says and Hayley chuckles at the image of Elijah eating ice cream.
"Ice cream?" she asks as she finishes the last bite of her breakfast.
"Well, it seems necessary with the heat outside."
Hayley leans and looks through the window behind Elijah. He is right, the sun is shining brightly over New Orleans. Hayley bites her lip and looks at Elijah for a few seconds before she smiles and nods.
"Lets go and get some ice cream then. Come on, Jack."
Jack barks and jumps off Elijah, his claws slipping and clipping against the kitchen floor. He chases Hayley out of the kitchen, knowing that she is getting his leash.
Elijah takes Hayley's plate and cup and puts them in the sink. He will clean up when they come back. He takes his blazer from one of the kitchen stools and watches Hayley put Jack's leash on as he pulls his arms through the sleeves. He fastens the top button on his blazer just as Hayley looks over at him with a smile on her face.
"Ready?" She asks and Elijah makes his way over to her and Jack.
Elijah holds Jack's leash while Hayley puts on her jacket and then they leave the apartment. The short minute in the elevator is spent in silence, but not an awkward silence. It is a silence that they could sit in for hours and still feel comfortable.
Once they are outside and the sun is shining on them, they start walking towards Bourbon Street. They walk side by side, elbows knocking each other every now and again. Every time their elbows touch, Hayley is tempted to link her arm through his, but she knows that it would be inappropriate of her and so she doesn't.
"So, where are we going?" Elijah asks as they round a corner.
"Bourbon Street. There's a guy with a cart who sells amazing ice cream there" Hayley informs him.
"You know the city very well then I assume?" He asks and Hayley smiles down at the floor.
"Well, when you've worked in most of the bars around, you get to know the city pretty well."
Elijah raises an eyebrow and looks down at Hayley. He wouldn't of pictured it at first but now that he thinks about it, he can imagine her working in a bar.
"What was that like?"
Hayley sighs and tries to find the words to describe her experiences.
"It was nice. It could get really busy at holidays and weekends, but I still enjoyed it."
"What was the best part of the job?" Elijah asks as he watches Jack walk ahead.
"Meeting new people and getting to know the regulars" Hayley says and moves closer to Elijah as a crowd of six or seven people come there way.
The crowd split and go either side of Elijah and Hayley. One of them, a tall man with very broad shoulders barges into Hayley, causing her to fall backwards, but instead of hitting the floor, she hits a strong chest. Elijah places one hand on her waist and the other on her upper arm as he helps her gain her balance again. Hayley turns to him and smiles, he returns her smile and they continue to walk.
After another twenty minutes of walking, they reach Bourbon Street. Like usually it is almost impossible to get through the large crowds that continue all the way to the end of the street. Hayley sighs in frustration and pulls Jack closer to her by his leash before she holds her hand out to Elijah. Without hesitation he takes her hand and lets her drag him through the crowds.
Hayley comes to a sharp halt, making Jack almost choke from the harsh pull on his collar and making Elijah collide into the back of her. He mutters an apology and Hayley nods towards the white cart in front of them. The man behind the cart is preparing two blue ice creams for the little boys in front. Hayley smiles at the sight of the blue ice cream; she loves the bubblegum flavor.
"What do you want then?" Hayley asks and turns to Elijah as she pulls some money out of her pocket.
Elijah frowns at the money in her hand and pushes her hand to her stomach.
"Please, Hayley, keep your money."
"I was paying for me."
"That's not necessary" Elijah says and steps up to the man behind the cart.
The man behind the cart smiles at them and grabs two tubs. He recognises Hayley and nods to her, Hayley nods back to him with a smile on her face as she moves so she is stood next to Elijah.
"What can I get ya?" The man asks, his smile never fading from his face.
"A vanilla for me and a..." Elijah turns to Hayley.
"Chocolate, please."
Elijah turns back to the man and pulls out his wallet.
"And a chocolate for the lady."
Hayley covers her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing. Never in her twenty-five years on this planet has she been called 'lady'. And to her surprise, she likes it. Especially coming from Elijah.
"Here you go, that's three dollars please, sir" the man says and places the two tubs on a small counter sticking out from the rest of the cart.
Elijah pulls ten dollars from his wallet and hands it to the man.
"Keep the change" he says and takes the tubs.
Hayley bites her lip in shock. He has just gave the ice cream man seven dollars in change. Hayley has never done that in her life, she's never even given anyone five dollars in change.
"Shall we sit down?" Elijah asks and nods towards a bench nearby.
"Sure" Hayley says and leads the way.
Once she reaches the bench, Hayley ties Jack's leash around the arm of the bench and then sits down, crossing one leg over the other. Elijah sits down next to her and hands the tub with chocolate ice cream in to her. Hayley mutters a thank you and tucks straight in to her tub. Elijah watches her take a bite and close her eyes, he assumes she likes it and a small smile appears on his face. Her eyes reopen and he quickly looks away from her and acts as if he has been enjoying his own ice cream the whole time in case she glances at him.
"Do you like it?" Hayley asks as she scoops up some more ice cream.
"Yes, very rich in flavor" Elijah replies and Hayley chuckles.
Elijah looks at her, wondering why she is laughing, with a smirk on his face.
"What?" He asks and she hakes her head.
"Where did you learn to speak like that?"
"Like what?" Elijah frowns.
"Like so well spoken. Did you have a tutor?"
Elijah leans back and has another scoop of ice cream before he speaks.
"I went to a private school and I also studied quite a lot at home. In our family home we had a library full of a wide variety of books, some of them in different languages. In that room I taught myself three languages."
"Seriously? What languages?" Hayley asks in amazement.
"French, Spanish and Italian" Elijah informs her.
Hayley turns to face him, folding her leg under her in the process. He turns slightly as well and gives her a small smile, which she returns before she finishes the last of her ice cream.
"Say something in French" Hayley says and Elijah sighs and puts his tub down as he thinks of what to say.
He clears his throat and gives her a quick smile.
"Aujourd'hui est un beau jour" Elijah speaks the language fluently and in the most relaxed tone Hayley has ever heard. If Hayley didn't know him, she would swear that he was French himself.
"Okay, I speak French but I'm not that good. What did you say?" Hayley asks and Elijah chuckles silently.
"I said that today is a beautiful day."
"You're right" Hayley says as she looks up at the clear, blue sky.
After a few seconds of silence, Hayley moves closer to Elijah and pulls one knee up to her chest. She hugs her leg and smiles at Elijah who is watching her, wondering what she is doing.
"What about Spanish?" She asks and Elijah moves his arm so it is on the back of the bench behind Hayley.
"Qué hay de español?"
"What does that mean?" Hayley asks, looking at Elijah with such admiration.
"What about Spanish" Elijah tells her and she chuckles.
"Say something else" Hayley says with a big smile plastered to her face.
"Hello, Hayley" Elijah says, knowing that she meant say something in Spanish.
Hayley tuts and then throws her head back onto his arm and lets out a small laugh. Elijah smiles at her and touches her hair with his hand. It's so much softer than he imagined and he wants to touch it all day, but he knows he that it would be wrong to do so.
"Hayley?"
She sits up and looks him in the eye.
"Yeah?"
"Su sonrisa es más brillante que el sol" Elijah says, his fingers still playing with small pieces of her hair.
"What does that mean?"
"Your smile is brighter than the sun" Elijah says quietly and Hayley bites her lip as she feels herself blushing.
Elijah smirks at Hayley who's cheeks are now as red as a tomato. She runs a hand through her hair and giggles when his smirk grows. She huffs and hides her face on his shoulder for a few seconds. Elijah wishes she would hide her face there forever, but the moment is practically over before it has begun.
Hayley sits up and runs her hand through her hair again.
"What about Italian?" She asks and then bites her lip, suddenly feeling self conscious about her rosy red cheeks.
Elijah stares at her as if he is trying to find some inspiration.
"Penso che tu sia la donna più bella che abbia mai visto" he says finally.
Hayley waits for Elijah to tell her what he has just said, but he doesn't. He simply goes back to looking around at all of the people coming and going from bars and restaurants. Hayley nudges him to get him attention and he looks back at her, confused.
"What does that mean then?" She asks, wondering if it will be as beautiful as what he said in Spanish.
"I'm afraid you'll have to find that one out for yourself."
Elijah stands up and straightens his suit jacket. Hayley watches him for a few seconds, just admiring the view that has been placed in front of her.
"Where are you going?" Hayley asks and Elijah moves to untie Jack's leash.
"Well, I thought we could take Jack back to the apartment and then maybe go out for something to eat later" he says and takes a hold of Jack's now loose leash.
Hayley doesn't know what to say. When was the last time she went out for a meal? That long ago she can't remember. And the first meal she gets asked to go on for months, maybe years, is with her husband's unbelievably handsome brother. She considers saying no, but she doesn't exactly have anything on tonight.
"Yeah sure. Where did you have in mind?" Hayley asks as she stands up.
"I was hoping you would know somewhere" Elijah says as they set off walking.
Hayley smiles to herself as they walk side by side once again.
"I know the perfect place actually."