Musical Inspiration:

Starlight - by Muse

Tracing The Sparks

Chapter 7

Saucy Impressions

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The day of the comet arrived and Mystic Falls was in full celebration mode. As I made my way into work, I noticed the park across the street was full of vendors and families. It seemed the whole town had come out to view the spectacle. Even most of the Grill's patrons had moved to the outdoor tables.

I still didn't understand why they closed the school for this. Despite the fact the institute said it was a teacher's workshop day, everyone knew it was because of the comet.

Elena caught my eye while she was passing out flyers with Bonnie so I shot her a quick wave. She returned it with a smile before I entered the Grill. Shifting the large pot in my hand, I started off towards Robert's office.

I thoroughly had enjoyed my free morning. I woke up and did some much needed mediation. After yesterday's revelation regarding my mother, it was nice to feel a bit more at peace. Afterwards, I was able to get some gardening done around the house. I could tell immediately that my mother had left behind a very distinctive witch's garden. The flowers in the front were more for beauty, but the ones in the back, they were herbs and plants I knew were used for other purposes. Still though, I didn't come across any freaky plants. I knew if I was going to find what I was looking for, it would be in the building in the back of our house.

Looking down once more at my gift, I took in the cheerfulness of the vibrant blues, whites, and touches of yellow. I knocked and waited for my acceptance of entrance. Gaining it, I entered the office to find Robert relaxed in his chair with his sneakered feet resting on his desk. He lifted his eyes to smile in welcome.

"Hey." Robert took his feet down and sat up straighter. "I thought you weren't due in for another hour?"

"I wasn't, but I wanted to bring you these." I put the flower arrangement down on his desk. "I picked these this morning because I recalled your office looked a little to depressing." It was true, his office was nothing but white walls and rows of filing cabinets, but I did have an ulterior motive as well. "Their wishbone flowers." I pointed to them "With the comet buzz going on, I thought it was kinda clever. Now, I know the saying isn't wish upon a comet, but still— why not." I gave him a shrug.

He stared at the flowers with a forlorn look. It made me apprehensive and I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. Trying to fill the silence I rambled on. "The technical term for the flowers are actually Torenia Fournieri. They're a relative of snapdragons. I really like them because they look like their laughing and we all need some laughter right." I forged a laugh. "Spiritually they are meant for protection and— oof." I was suddenly smothered in a hug. I hadn't even noticed he left his chair.

"You're just like your mother. Same knowledge, same thoughtfulness, same interests." The corner of his lips curved upward in approval before sighing and pulling away. "I'm sorry Honey, I didn't mean to tackle you."

"No, it's okay." I patted him on the shoulder and bit my lip thinking how I could slide in my question. "Actually, since you mentioned my interest in flowers— I was wondering if I could check out the greenhouse behind our home. I saw the big lock on the outside of the door."

Robert seated himself on the edge of the desk. "Well, I rather you not until the windows can be fixed. I'll admit I haven't kept up maintenance. It's really to dangerous to go poking around as is."

A pout formed on my lips and I cast my eyes downward.

"How about this," he began, "I will make the call tomorrow to have the glass repaired and then you can do with it whatever you like. Would you like that?"

I internally smirked. She shoots, she scores. "Yup, thanks. That would be great."

"Robert." A voice called out with a quick knock. Without waiting, Vicki Donovan strolled through the door a second later. I discreetly studied the bandage on her neck and she took a moment to scowl at me before turning to my guardian. "I wanted to discuss my schedule with you."

"Vicki, you have missed a lot of time," Robert said and crossed his arms across his chest.

And that's my cue to leave. "I'll let you both work this out, I'm going to go see if they need help in the kitchen."

"Thanks Sweetheart. Make sure you check in with Albert, he looked a little flustered today."

Ah— Albert, our head chef. The man was a scatterbrain, but he knew how to cook good food. "Will do," I said and exited the office. There was no reason to acknowledge Vicki, I knew she hated me for my past connection to Tyler. It made me curious if there was still the Tyler/Jeremy triangle going on.

Striding into the kitchen, I could hear rap music along with the clanging of metal pots hitting each other. Another thing about Albert that stood out was that he liked to pretend he was Eminem while he cooked. Listening to a man rap with a heavy southern twang was not a pleasant experience. In between verses, he would order his sou-chefs to bring him whatever he needed.

The kitchen employees worked at full efficiency. It was fast paced and if you didn't go with the flow, you were kicked out.

"Albert," I yelled over the music, "what do you need me to do?"

"Hey girl— I'm making my special chili. Why don't you bring me some tomato juice? Oh and not that V8 crap— I want the real stuff."

"Sure thing." I nodded and went on my search. Exploring the cabinets I was able to find one large can left. I used the automatic opener to remove the tin lid and carefully took my paces to bring it to the head chef. Unfortunately, all it took was one rowdy song to get the staff going. One bump and tomato juice overflowed from the can in my grip. My next step went out from under me and I landed on my bum in a pool of red. Lifting my hands to eye level I could see they were drenched in red juice. Closing my eyes to bask in my own stupidly, the remembrance of my red hands played over and over again.

"Oh, no, Heather. Are you okay?" Albert asked, pulling me up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about that." I looked down at my now stained clothes. "It looks like we are out of tomato juice now."

"Damn," Albert said picking up the empty can. "This was the last one?" When I nodded in reply, he walked over to the big pot on the stove and eyed it sorrowfully. "That's going to be a problem."

"No worries, Al, I'm not even on shift yet. I think I have some extra clothes in my locker, I'll just get changed and run to the store." I cringed when I thought of the clothing tucked away in the employee's room. Whatever was in there belonged to 'old Heather'.

Albert sagged in relief. "Thanks Girl, I'll just set this on simmer until you get back." Without another word the southern chef tightened the bandanna around his head and went to prepare something else.

Taking one last look at my hands, I crinkled my nose and rushed to get cleaned up before the smell set in.

...

My ponytail swished behind me as I trudged my way into the supermarket. I scanned the aisles looking for the canned vegetable section. Noticing the store was pretty sparse for a Thursday afternoon, I chucked it up again to the comet buzz. Reading through the labels, I started at the bottom shelf and worked my way up. Pureed tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste— where the hell is tomato juice? I squinted while concentrating on the top shelf. There was a gap between the cans and I'm guessing that is where the juice should be.

Taking a step backwards, I arched my head to a better angle to see if there were any employees near by. Finding myself alone, I weighed my options. I could go to the checkout counter and drag someone back here or— I could make the climb up on the self and take a look for myself. The shelves looked sturdy enough. I'm not that heavy and I'm short on time.

Once again checking to make sure the coast was clear, I tugged down on my jean skirt. Of course it would be a skirt and a custom pink 'Mystic Grill' shirt in my locker. Rolling my eyes, I focused back on the feat before me. Reaching out my arms, I gripped the shelve and took a step up.

Climbing three selves high, I was able to eye the dark space. I pushed each can to the side while struggling with my grip on the edge. I held on tighter when a smooth voice spoke behind me.

"Well, it's no Mount Everest, but I guess people in small towns have to make due. Watch out though, green bean peak is known for avalanches."

Knowing I wasn't in a position where I was able to turn around, I closed my eyes and tried to swallow down my embarrassment. "Do you work here?" I asked.

"As attractive as my voice may sound announcing the next blue light special, I could never pull off the smiley face vest."

Trying to calm down the flush of my skin, I told myself it was only some random asshole. Wanting to get out of this store as soon as possible, I went back to sliding around the cans. "Look, I just need to find tomato juice and then I will get down. I don't need any help."

"Oh, but I think you do need help. Not only are you hanging off the top shelf like Sia from her chandelier, but you're also giving your fellow shoppers a peep show. I thought I would be a gentleman and protect your honor."

Letting out a small shriek of horror, I quickly shifted my legs in hope that I was more covered.

"Don't worry, I'm sure no one can see anything unless they were directly under you. Oh, would you look at that, two for one sale on creamed corn."

I felt him move closer and his hand brushed against my leg. My eyes widened in surprise and the mortification I had felt was quickly being replaced with anger. "Listen up Buddy, if you don't move this instant, I'm going to—"

"Tsk, Tsk, Cherry, such a temper you have. Maybe you should lay off the Bloody Marys, no one likes an angry drunk."

"First off, you don't know me well enough to give me a nickname. Secondly, I'm not drunk. The tomato juice is for chili, not an alcoholic beverage." Letting out a huff of breath, I tried to ignore him and went back to my search. "Aha." One can, I found one can. It didn't matter though because that was all I needed. Pushing myself upward on the balls on my feet, I was able to reach forward and grip it.

Once I had it in my possession, I felt my legs wobble. "Uh-oh." My fingers clawed the rim of the metal shelf but it wasn't enough to keep my hold. Falling back, my stomach flip flopped and my body prepared itself to hit the floor. Instead, leather clad arms wrapped themselves around my waist. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I clutched the can tighter. A head came close to my ear and a husky voice began to whisper.

"Hm, blue panties, I really thought it would have been red to match your hair."

Freeing my body from the arms of my perverted savior, I took a step forward to right myself. As I whirled around to reply to the strangers comment, I found myself alone in the aisle. Turning and looking every which way, I was completely stumped as to where he went.

"That was creepy," I mumbled and looked at the prize in my hands. I got my juice. With a victory smile, I shook off the incident and marched my way to the checkout.

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The music was loud and so was the chatter at the now packed Mystic Grill. Even my friends, the main cast gang, were squished around a small table. While Matt was their main server, I would get an occasional comment from them as I rushed by with someone's order. Caroline had made it a point to shout out that she approved of my outfit while I balanced a tray full of drinks.

As I made my way to the bar, I could hear raised voices discussing Vicki. I glanced up to see Elena's little brother, Jeremy, in a heated argument with Tyler. Yeah, nope— I'm staying clear of that.

I handed Evan, the bartender, my slip with table twelve's beverage order. He gave me a nod in acknowledgment and went of fix them as I drank a soda.

"Heather," Matt's voice rang out.

I lifted my lips from the straw and put my glass down.

"Have you seen Vicki?" he asked.

Jeez, that girl is more trouble than she's worth. "No, not since earlier. Why, what's wrong?"

Running a hand through his hair, he let out the long breath. "No one has been able to find her."

"I'm sure she's fine Matt," I tried to reassure him. "She probably just found some cool place to view the comet."

"Yeah," he said not very convincingly, "you're going on break soon, do you think you could—" he trailed off.

I let out a controlled sigh, having an idea of exactly where she was. "Sure," I replied. Matt has been nothing but nice to me so I thought it was only fair to try and ease his worry. "I'll help you look."

He gave me a grateful smile. "Thanks, I'll be out in the square."

Watching him leave, I grabbed my now ready order off the bar and delivered it to my customer's table. I untied my apron and let the hostess know I was taking my break so she could relay it to the other servers.

Once outside, I jogged across the street to look for Matt. I made my way through the park to see Stefan leaving Matt's location. Getting the blond's attention, I slowed my pace.

"Hey— any luck?" I asked.

"No." He shook his head.

"That was Stefan, right?"

Matt nodded, but never took his eyes off Stefan's retreating back. "I don't trust that guy. He's always around you or Elena." He brought his eyes back to me and tilted his head. "I think we should follow him."

"What?" A sliver of panic ran through me. That's not how this is suppose to go. Damn, this was bad. Recalling this episode, I knew Vicki was on a roof somewhere around here getting manhandled by Damon. "No, don't worry about him. Come'on we're trying to find Vicki remember?"

"Yeah, but—"

"No but's. We can both circle around the park in opposite directions and then meet up when each of us is through our half. We will cover more ground that way," I said sternly. I had to get him as far away from that roof as I could.

Reluctantly he agreed and we both set off on our own course. He went towards the vendors and I took off like a bat outta hell down the path Stefan went. Once I got to the street, I bent and placed my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. Why on earth am I involved in this shit? Can't these people just follow the damn plot and leave me out if it?

Feeling my heart rate slow a bit, I looked towards the rooftops for any bobbing heads. Hearing faint screams, I narrowed my eyes towards an auto body shop. Sure enough, three floors off the ground stood the top half of two leather jackets. These vampires do not know the meaning of inconspicuous.

Crossing the road, I looked at all the closed shops that were obviously locked. How the hell am I gonna get up there? Walking around back, I tried other doors but was unable to open them as well. Finally, I stopped in front of a fire escape. My eyes followed it up. I noticed it did indeed have rooftop access and since the buildings were all built like row homes, I was in luck.

Pulling down the latter, I called out to Vicki, hoping any shenanigans that were going on would be halted. I really didn't want to me compelled to forget anything I seen or eaten for disrupting.

"Hello, you up here Vicki?" I yelled out once I was close to the top.

Pulling myself over top edge, I could see Stefan staring at me in concern. I walked over to the ledge of the building to step over onto the one they were all currently on. Taking in the scene, I noticed Vicki trying to sit herself upright on the ground and Stefan shifting his body left to right in a nervous motion. My eyes finally landed on Damon Salvatore. Though I had yet to be introduced to this character, he still came off as he did on the show.

He stood there with that cocky smirk while he rested one hand in the other. His stance was dominant and his dark hair looked more wavy than I would have imagined. Blue eyes stared at me in a predatory fashion. It made me more weary of him than I had originally been.

Deciding to get out of this situation as quickly as I could, I took a step towards Matt's sister. "Hey Vic, you alright?"

She scoffed and let out a low laugh. "Like you would care Princess."

Rolling my eyes, I offered her my hand. "Matt's looking for you. He was worried."

"God, I feel so loopy," she said as she tried to gain her balance, "Matty must have sent out a search party, that's what these guys were doing here too— looking for me."

So, that's what they compelled her to think.

"Why did you come though? Don't tell me you are trying to be some do-gooder now. I remember what you are really like. You and your little stuck up clique."

Heh, I didn't think it was possible to despise this character even more, but I stand corrected. "I came because Matt's my friend and he was getting pretty frantic. Also, once I realized you were up here, I didn't want you to fall off the roof and go splat. Some of my customers are eating outside tonight, I didn't want you to ruin their dinner," I said with a sarcastic grin. I raised an eyebrow when I heard a deep chuckle. Of course it was Damon.

Vicki proceeded to scowl at me. "Don't worry, I'm leaving. Tyler's waiting for me. He's actually fun now that he no longer has to deal with pouty bitches."

"Ya know, Vic—" I crossed my arms. "You make me want to count down the days until Halloween."

"What is that even suppose to mean?" she asked with a confused expression.

"Never mind, just go." I waved her off.

Glaring as she went, Vicki let the roof door slam behind her. Now, I was left to be stared down by two vampires who were almost two centuries old. Feeling intimidated and wanting to ease the tension, I spoke up first. "Um— I'm glad you both were able to find her. Matt will be happy." Not really getting a response, I continued. "I'm actually on break. I really should be getting back to the Grill."

Stefan seemed to jump on that opportunity. "That's a good idea, I'll walk you down."

"Now, now, Stefan," Damon said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "It would be rude not to introduce me to your friend first."

"Damon," Stefan began but was pushed back slightly as Damon moved forward.

Taking my hand in his, he kissed the top of it and gave me a charming smile. "I'm Damon, Stefan's older, better looking, and more stylish brother."

"Heather," I replied and gently pulled my hand from his grip.

"Well, look at this, two in two days." He looked over his shoulder to Stefan before grinning back at me. "First I meet the lovely Elena and now the enchanting Heather. My week just keeps getting better."

"Oh— you've met Elena already?" I knew it must have been yesterday when I dropped Stefan off. It made me wonder how long she actually stayed at the boarding house. Trying not to mentally berate Elena for the triangle that will soon begin, I focused back onto Damon.

"Yes, yesterday. She had a short tour of the boarding house," he replied and wiggled his eyebrows in his brothers direction.

"Ah— see that, brunettes have all the fun," I joked while giving Stefan a quick glance.

"See, I disagree." Damon lowered his voice and leaned in. "I have been known to have an extremely excellent time with some redheads."

Stefan glared at his brother. "Damon," he warned again in an angered tone.

Realizing things again were getting hostile, I tried to make my exit. "Well, I should be going." I gave Stefan a smile. "There is no need to walk me down. You can stay with your brother and continue with your fun."

As I turned to leave, Damon brushed my shoulder with his hand. I stopped and looked at the brothers waiting for an explanation. Both of their wide eyes made me fidget with my hands in uncertainty.

"What did you say?" Damon asked slowly in a hushed tone.

Confused, I furrowed my brows. "I said that you both could continue with your fun."

"That's not what you said." Damon pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "You said nanty narking."

"Nanty narking," I laughed. "I've never even heard that phrase before. Did you just make it up?"

"She doesn't know she's doing it." Stefan whispered to his brother.

Hmph, that was rude. Letting out a small huff, I put my hands on my hips. "And what exactly am I doing?"

Shooting me an apologetic glance, Stefan at least had the sense to look ashamed for being overheard while Damon just looked contemplative.

Putting his charming smile back in place, Damon gave me somewhat of an answer. "Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about Cherry," he said before turning to Stefan and giving him a pointed look. "Brother, we'll talk at home because someone has failed to give me the 411." With one last wink in my direction, he left through the roof door.

Gobsmacked, I realized he just called me Cherry. Ugh— of course he was the asshole from the supermarket. Burning holes at the door with my stare, I jumped in surprise when a leather jacket was suddenly placed over my shoulders.

"You were shivering," Stefan said and wrapped an arm around me.

Feeling the sensation of warmth and comfort, I smiled up at Stefan. "Thanks."

He returned the smile and rubbed my arm. "Let's get you back to work."

With one last look at the comet overhead, the two of us left the roof.

A/N: Not much Stefan in this chapter, sorry about that. But we do have Damon officially entering the story. Let the hijinks begin! Fav/Follow/Review. :D