Sitting at the vanity in her bedroom, Bonnie carefully applied some makeup to her face.
Over the years, she'd gotten good at putting it on, but hated actually wearing it, not liking how it felt on her skin.
It felt like she was wearing a mask.
Which tonight was a good thing because she would be playing a role and needed to distance herself in some way from what she was about to do.
What she had to do.
Her face was void of any emotion while she stared into the mirror applying the different products, beating her face until it looked airbrushed flawless.
She looked beautiful. The makeup only enhancing her looks.
Only when she was satisfied with the results did she finally stand, dressed in a matching red bra and panty set she got from Victoria's Secret.
She slipped on a pair of five inch heels.
Putting on the fitted trench coat to cover her barely there ensemble, she tied the belt around her waist.
Bonnie had no problems getting into the building, the security guard remembering her from the last time she was there.
Her heart was pounding really hard inside of her chest as she rode up the elevator, but she ignored it.
Just like the last time she was there, the office was empty. People having gone home after a long day of working.
All except for him. The boss.
She could see the light coming from his office door which was open.
Bonnie paused when she got to the threshold.
Damon was sitting at the desk with his head down, his face practically buried in a stack of papers in front of him.
His jacket was off, and the sleeves of his shirt were folded up over his forearms.
Bonnie could tell he was tired, but he was trying to push through it because it looked as if he literally had a mountain of work to do.
She cleared her throat, making Damon look up and his blue eyes widened in surprise at seeing her there. For a minute, he thought he was hallucinating.
Bonnie opened the trench coat, revealing what she wore underneath, letting it fall to the floor and she came around the desk.
Damon leaned back into the chair and she straddled him, making herself comfortable on his lap.
"You look like you could use a break." She said, undoing the knot to his tie.
Damon licked his lips, his breathing becoming somewhat labored. "Bonnie, what are you doing?"
She pressed her chest against him as she slid the tie from around his collar.
"What do you think I'm doing...isn't it obvious?" Softly kissing the edge of his mouth.
Damon closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.
She was so soft and warm, her body feeling so good pressed against him and she smelled phenomenal, her perfume as seductive as what she was wearing.
And that's when something clicked inside of Damon's head, his eyes blinking open.
Every encounter he'd had with Bonnie outside of the club he distinctly remembered her smelling of a body wash, not perfume.
And not once during those times was she wearing makeup either.
Everything about this just felt wrong to him.
This wasn't Bonnie. She was putting on an act like when she danced at the strip club. But why?
Damon became still.
"What's wrong, baby? I thought this was what you wanted. Me like this... with you." She began unbuttoning his shirt.
His jaw tensed with anger. "Stop."
She didn't.
Her tiny hands slipping inside of his shirt, resting her palms against his chest. The muscles there flexing in response to her touch.
Without warning Damon grabbed both of her wrists forcing her to stop touching him.
Theirs eyes locking.
Bonnie swallowed the huge knot that had formed inside of her throat. "Damon, you're hurting me."
"Why are you dressed like this with that shit on your face? This isn't you. You told me so that day at the hospital, out in the parking lot. You said that this person wasn't the real you, far from it. So why are you here?"
There was no use in lying to him, so she simply told the truth. "I don't have enough money to pay the rent. It's due in two days."
Now everything made sense to him.
Damon needed a moment away from her to clear his head so that he could think and he couldn't do that with her straddling his lap.
His dick getting hard even though he was angry.
He released her wrists.
"Go wash that makeup off your face. You don't need it. The bathroom's right over there." He said with the tilt of his head, indicating its location.
Damon gave her no choice, so Bonnie did as he said, getting up from his lap.
She could feel his eyes on her back as she crossed the room.
As soon as Bonnie shut the door, Damon leaned back against the chair, closing his eyes. Taking in and releasing a long deep breath.
Bonnie was right there for the taking and yet he couldn't bring himself to do it, not like this with her giving herself to him only because she needed the money.
Maybe in the beginning this would have been fine with him, but not now Damon realized.
This was not how he wanted to begin things with her.
With his mind made up, Damon knew what he was going to do, but first he needed a couple of answers to his questions.
Five minutes later, Bonnie came out of the bathroom with a clean face and Damon noticed off the bat her lack of eye contact with him.
From where he was sitting he could see that the bruising just below her left eye had healed, her skin back to its normal color.
He watched as she gracefully picked up the coat from off the floor, slipping it on to cover herself. Her head bowed.
"Were you really going to fuck me for money?"
Raising her head, Bonnie looked him square in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. "What do you think, Damon? I showed up at your office after hours dressed in my underwear and a pair of heels... I was going to do what I had to." She said honestly.
No one was hiring for dancers, so Bonnie wasn't able to find work to make some quick money in time to pay the rent and Abby's disability check only went so far with most of it going towards her seizure medications that Medicaid didn't cover.
Damon asked his second question. "And had you not needed the money, would you have even called me otherwise?"
Gawd, why did he have to ask her that.
Bonnie was a ball of emotions on the inside. Feeling hurt, angry and confused all at once.
It was just one thing after another being thrown at her and she didn't know how much more she could take before she cracked.
"Why do you even need to know that? What does it matter? I was prepared to fuck you. I thought that's what you wanted."
"It's not. Not anymore." He told her quietly.
Bonnie nodded her head, no longer being able to look at him as her eyes welled up with tears because he was her last hope.
Her family was counting on her and she failed them.
Maybe she shouldn't have fought back that night and just let Ric rape her, at least then she would still have a job and a roof over their heads.
Now everything was just fucked up. And it was all her fault.
"Fine...I'll leave then."
"Did I say that I wanted you to leave?" He asked stopping her when turned towards the door.
Bonnie whirled back around about to give him a piece of her mind when she saw him writing out a check.
She froze.
"This should be enough to cover you until you get your first pay check."
"What?" She asked, clearly confused.
"There's an opening here for a clerical assistant...you'll mostly be doing data entry work inputting files into our new computerized system. You start Monday morning. Eight o'clock sharp. You'll be working under Liz, my father's secretary. She'll train you."
So many thoughts ran through Bonnie's mind trying to make sense of what was happening.
Damon was giving her a job working for him? Did she hear him correctly?
"Okay." She responded after a moment, not knowing what else to say.
The corner of Damon's mouth tilted up into a crooked smile. He handed her the check.
Bonnie didn't move to take it. Still processing everything.
"Do you want my arm to fall off?"
That famous scene between Diana Ross and Billy D. Williams from Lady Sings the Blues popped into Bonnie's mind and that's exactly how this moment felt to her. Like something out of a movie. Things like this didn't happen in real life.
Bonnie had struggled for so long, hustling for money that this opportunity to earn an honesty living for her family felt unreal to her.
There had to be a catch somewhere.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked. Needing to know now before she got her hopes up.
Damon got up from behind the desk, going to stand in front of her. "Because I want to help you that's why...and before that mind of yours starts jumping to the wrong conclusions. There's absolutely no strings attached to this offer. None at all. But just like with any job, there's a 90 day probation period. If things work out the position is yours along with the benefits. And that's it."
Damon held up the check.
Bonnie reached for it, taking it from his hand. "Thank you."
"Don't be late, Ms. Bennett."
Bonnie bit her bottom lip, trying not to smile as she stared up at him. All of a sudden feeling shy around Damon.
"I won't Mr. Salvatore."
Damon nodded his head. "Then I'll see you Monday."
It took a few months, but the Pleasure Palace was audited by the IRS.
It seemed that Ric Saltzman wasn't paying his taxes.
So the government seized all of his assets which included the club, Ric's home and his bank account.
He was financially ruined.
And now he was about to lose his freedom, having been found guilty of tax evasion. Awaiting sentencing to a federal prison.
Ric would never make the connection between his downfall and his attack on Bonnie Bennett.
Damon Salvatore may have been young, but he was just like his father. No one to mess with.
So much had changed for Bonnie and her family in the last five months.
Tristan was in preschool and he loved it.
All he talked about was his teacher Mrs. Blake and the kids in his classroom.
He was able to identify the letters of the alphabet and count to one hundred. He knew how to say his address and telephone number. And was now learning how to print his first and last name.
Bonnie was so proud of him as if he was her own child.
And after having resisted for a while, Felicia finally went into a six month drug treatment program.
She had a month and a half to go in rehab before she could come home.
Bonnie didn't say it, but she was nervous about Felicia moving back into the apartment, while Abby was excited, already getting things ready for her oldest daughter even though she had six more weeks of inpatient treatment.
But other than that things were going good for Bonnie, especially at her new job.
She passed the 90 day probation period and was officially a full-time employee at Salvatore Investment Inc.
When Bonnie first started, she was so nervous because she'd never had a real job before and she was afraid of failing, putting a whole lot of unnecessary pressure on herself when there was no need to.
She just didn't want to fuck up the opportunity she'd been given. Not wanting Damon to regret hiring her.
Damon.
The two of them were in a weird space.
There was an undeniable attraction between them that only strengthened with time, but neither one of them acted upon it.
It was so crazy because in the beginning Bonnie wanted nothing to do with him. She saw Damon as a threat to Jody's memory so she pushed him away because she was unable to let go of the past.
And then when that thing happened with Ric, it only compounded Bonnie's feelings of not wanting to be pursued by any man.
But with time came healing.
And as Bonnie worked along side Damon day in and day out, she was slowly getting to know him and found herself being drawn to him.
Bonnie wouldn't say that she had a crush, feeling like she was too old to be using such a term because in her mind crushes were for silly teenage girls and she was three weeks shy of her twentieth birthday, so that didn't apply to her.
But Bonnie did have feelings for Damon. She was now able to at least admit that to herself.
The question was, what was she going to do about it.
A big part of her not wanting to do anything at all, too afraid of rocking the boat and jeopardizing a good thing they had going.
Was it really worth it?
It was Friday, which meant that Liz had the day off.
So when Bonnie came into the office, she was the one who had to get Damon's coffee ready and make sure that the mail was on his desk ready to be opened.
She would also have to answer all of the calls herself and order Damon's lunch, all the while trying to do the job she was initially hired for, so Friday's were very busy for Bonnie.
Damon came into the office at nine o'clock sharp like he did every morning.
He stopped by her desk, grabbing a fun-size Twix bar from the jar that she kept there. Bonnie had a serious sweet tooth and now so did Damon.
"I need the sugar rush." He said, opening the candy right there and biting into it.
Bonnie laughed. "Geez, the day's just beginning. I hate to see what you're going to be like at noon. Should I be worried?"
Damon smiled down at her.
Bonnie had changed her hair from ombre back to its natural black color, wanting to have a more professional appearance at work and the change was staggering.
Suiting her facial features much more, especially her green eyes, making them pop.
She was absolutely gorgeous.
"There's no need to worry, I'll be fine. Just keep this jar well stocked."
"Will do." She smiled.
"Is my coffee on the desk?"
"It is and also your mail."
"Perfect." He said, grabbing another Twix.
The day went by pretty fast and in no time at all it was one o'clock in the afternoon.
Bonnie was just about to order Damon's lunch when she got interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
"Well you're not Liz. It looks like Salvatore is finally cleaning house, ushering out the old and bringing in some new fresh young blood. I must say I don't mind the upgrade at all. What's your name, love? Mine is Klaus." He said, taking her hand and kissing it.
"Allow me to whisk you away to Paris, where all we would do is drink champagne and eat caviar while making love until we both are sore from pleasure."
Bonnie's eyes widened in shock, and she almost laughed but Damon came out of his office at that exact moment.
"Will you please refrain from harassing my employee. She's new here and we don't want to scare her off."
"But I'm in love, Salvatore...but this gorgeous creature refuses to tell me her name and its killing me softly like a snake's venom to my system."
Damon rolled his eyes, used to Klaus' theatrics but still annoyed by them.
"Her name is Bonnie, now let go of her hand so that she can get back to work."
"Aww Bonnie." Klaus sighed dramatically in his British accent. "It's a fitting name because you are indeed beautiful...I would drink your dirty bathwater and walk barefoot on broken glass just to make you love me."
Bonnie couldn't help it, she laughed and it sounded so amused as well as flirtatious.
"Alright Klaus that's quite enough. Bonnie will you please hold all of my calls and everything else, so that I can find out why this idiot is here to see me."
"Okay, no problem."
Klaus kissed Bonnie's hand once again before releasing her. "Parting is such sweet sorrow. Until we meet again beautiful one." Leaving her desk to walk into Damon's office.
Bonnie's eyes followed after him with a smile still on her face, until Damon stepped into her line of vision as he closed the office door, their gazes holding.
He didn't look too happy with her.
The two men stayed held up inside Damon's office for hours with Klaus not leaving until a little past four o'clock.
He stopped at Bonnie's desk. "I'm going to be in Atlanta for a few days and I would love to take you out, Bonnie."
Her eyes widened because she realized that he was being serious, no longer playing around.
Seeing Damon standing by his office door out the corner of her eye, her gaze flickered to his.
She could tell by the stiffness of his posture that he heard Klaus asking her out. He closed his office door, giving them some privacy.
Bonnie swallowed hard.
"So what do you say, beautiful one. Will you go out with me?" He asked.
There was no doubt about it, Klaus Mikaelson was a good looking man with his short curly blonde hair and blue eyes. And he was definitely entertaining with his sexy British accent.
But he wasn't who Bonnie wanted.
She didn't even have to think about it. "No. I can't...I'm sorry."
"So, you're involved with someone then?" He asked, clearly disappointed.
Bonnie had to resist looking towards Damon's closed office door. "Something like that...it's complicated."
"Well, I hope that whoever he is, he deserves you."
Bonnie gave him a tiny smile.
"Good-bye beautiful one. It was a pleasure to meet you." He said taking her hand for the last time and kissing it.
And then he was gone.
Bonnie sat at her desk until it was four-thirty waiting to see if Damon would come out of his office.
He didn't.
She logged off of her computer. It was time to go home.
She glanced towards Damon's office one last time. Then gathering up the nerve she walked over to the closed door, knocking first.
"Come in." She heard.
Softly pushing the door open, Bonnie saw Damon sitting behind the desk, working. He didn't look up.
"You missed lunch, do you want me to order you something before I leave?"
"No, I'm good...I'm not hungry." He said still with his head down.
Bonnie just stood there, not knowing what to do but she didn't want to leave for the weekend with this strange vibe between them.
So she just said what was on her mind. "I told Klaus no."
Damon stopped writing, placing down the pen in his hand as he finally gave her his attention.
"I'm very grateful to you and all you've done for me. And I just want you to know that I would never do anything to jeopardize that."
Damon and Bonnie's eyes held, but she was the first to look away when his eyes became too much to take.
"Have a good weekend, okay." She said about to turn to leave.
"Bonnie?"
She stopped, turning back to him. "Yes?"
"I really like your hair like that. Klaus was right. You look beautiful."
Bonnie smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. I didn't think you noticed."
"I notice everything." About you.
She chuckled. "Don't I know it. I swear I double check everything now since I've been working for you."
Damon laughed. "Hey, I'm not that bad!"
"Oh my god Damon, yes your are...not only are your eyes pretty, but they're microscopic as well, picking up the tiniest details!"
Wait, did she just tell Damon that his eyes were pretty? Bonnie blushed.
Okay, it was definitely time to leave."I'm gonna go home now. Goodnight."
Bonnie was in such a rush to get out of there before she said anything else embarrassing that she turned in the wrong direction and proceeded to walk straight into the wall.
Both of them burst into laughter.
That weird vibe between them gone.
