This chapter's a little short, but I should have another update next weekend. This one is just a little Elena and Katherine bonding and the first time Elena speaks to Stefan.

CHAPTER NINE

ELENA POV

The day had gone very well. The man that had contacted Damon over Craigslist had come by and decided to take the car. I was very surprised to find that Damon had managed to get eleven hundred dollars for it. After the car was gone, we had loaded up into the Mercedes and dropped off Olivia at Jenna's for the night and then Damon and I had headed to Richmond. I had tried –unsuccessfully – twice to give Damon the money from the car, but he had denied it twice. We had had a good drive down, leaving early enough so that we could stop and get a bite to eat along the way. We had had a quick goodbye at the gate where I had to assure him three times that Olivia and I would be fine until he got home Tuesday afternoon.

I was a little nervous about coming home that night by myself. I had never been in such a large house alone all night. I had just gotten home and was curling up on the couch with Damon's iPad to try and do a little research on Florence, I had told him I would try to find a few places to visit while we were there, when my cell phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID, half expecting to see that Damon was calling from the plane, but was surprised to see that Katherine was the one calling.

"Hey, sis, what are we doing tonight since you are completely free?" Katherine wasn't wasting any time.

"Well, I just got home from Richmond and am cozied up on the couch for the night." I told her honestly as I powered up the iPad.

"Aren't you a bore! Don't you know how to have fun?"

"Kat, it's ten thirty at night. I just got home and was planning on trying to find a few sights to see while we're in Florence next week." The iPad dinged and an iMessage came through from Stefan Salvatore. Thank you for agreeing to come see me next month. I know you're only coming because Nonna told you to, but I still appreciate it. I think I might be ready to come home soon.

I closed out the message and went over to Safari to start my research. "Fine. What if I come over and we watch a movie and catch up?"

I tried to think of a reason to say no, but I knew Damon wouldn't mind if my sister came over to visit, so I relented. "Sure, come on over. Do you know how to get here?"

"Yeah, Jenna told me where you live." We hung up and I started scrolling through Tripadvisor results of the various museums and restaurants in Florence. I tried reading through a few but was lost as to which ones would be better than the others. I was getting ready to shut down the tablet when another iMessage pops up. I know we've had our differences, but you could at least respond to my message.

I debated for a moment before deciding that I should let him know that it wasn't Damon ignoring him.

I'm sorry, Damon isn't home at the moment, but I'll let him know that you messaged him.

It was only a few moments later when the house phone rang. I set the iPad down on the couch and grabbed one of the handsets from the table behind the couch and answered it. "Salvatore Residence."

A male voice rang through the line. "May I speak to Damon?" I had the sneaking suspicion that it was Stefan calling.

"I'm sorry, he's out of town at the moment, may I take a message?"

"Who is this?"

That was a bit rude. "Umm, you called me, who are you?"

"I'm Stefan, Damon's brother, now who is this?"

"Oh, hi, this is Elena, Damon's girlfriend. He's out of town at the moment, but I should be talking to him shortly if you need me to give him a message."

"Since when does Damon let his girlfriends alone in the house while he's out of town?" The way he said girlfriends made me think that he thought I was lying.

I managed to bite my tongue, but replied in a sickly-sweet voice. "Since my daughter and I moved into the house with him. Now, Damon's currently on a plane, but he should be landing in about an hour. I will be more than happy to let Damon know that you called, but right now, my sister is on her way over and I would like to straighten up a little before she gets here. Goodnight, Stefan and I look forward to meeting you soon." I hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang. I looked up at the clock and was surprised that it had been a half hour since I had hung up with Katherine.

"Wow! What a house!" Katherine exclaimed as she entered the house. "Do you keep this whole place yourself?"

I laughed. "No. Damon has a housekeeper, Rose, who comes in through the week. She takes care of most everything. To be honest, I haven't even found the broom and mop."

"Look at you with the big house and the maid." Katherine mocked.

"Oooh, no, Rose is not a maid. She is a housekeeper. Are you thirsty?" I led her into the parlor where I had previously been curled up on the couch.

"Is that a bar I spy?" She coyly pointed towards Damon's minibar behind the couch.

"It is. Help yourself. There's also a wine cellar downstairs, if your'd rather." I informed her off-handedly. "I haven't been down there very much and I don't know what's good and what isn't. Anytime I've had a glass, Damon's chosen it and poured it for me." Most nights he would pour me a small glass with dinner.

"And that would be where?" She twirled around and gestured towards each of the doors.

I sighed. "Follow me." I led her down the hallway and down the stairs into the basement. I opened the door and gestured for her to go first. "Please don't grab anything that would be too expensive." She combed through the racks until she found a bottle that she liked.

She pulled it out of its place and handed it to me with her brow raised. "He has his own wine?" I looked down at the Salvatore Vineyard labeled bottle.

I chuckled. "Actually, his family has their own vineyard. I'll show you pictures once we come home."

"Tell you what, skip the pictures and bring me back some wine." She wagged her eyebrows and headed back up the stairs.

"Yeah, that's going to happen." I retorted as I closed up the wine cellar and followed my sister back up the stairs to the parlor where she was already uncorking the bottle. I had no sooner sat down when my phone rang again. I grabbed it quickly and saw that it was Damon calling. "Hey, how was your flight?"

"A little bumpy, but fine otherwise. How was your drive? Have you made it home yet?" I assumed he had just landed and he was still in the terminal due to the shuffling in the background.

"It was good. I just got home about an hour ago. I hope you don't mind, but Kat came over." I gestured to Kat that I would be a few moments and stood to head into the kitchen.

"I don't mind; tell her to make herself at home."

"That boat's sailed. She's currently making herself at home with a glass of wine."

He laughed. "Just don't let her leave if she gets wasted. I'll let you go so you can spend some time with her."

"Wait, before you go, I talked to Stefan tonight."

"What?" Damon's voice was a little raised. "Why? No, better question, how?"

"I was using your iPad to try and look for things to see in Florence and he kept sending messages through. When I ignored them, he called here upset because he thought that you were ignoring him. I told him I would let you know that he called."

"Did he say anything was wrong?" His tone had softened and he now seemed concerned about Stefan's call.

"No, he was thanking you for agreeing to see him."

"I'll give him a call. Have a good night with your sister." I hung up and headed back into the parlor where Kat was sipping on her wine and slowly exploring the room. "Find anything interesting?"

"Not yet, but I'm not done snooping yet."

I laughed and sat back down on the couch. "So, how was Paris?"

"Amazing!" Kat walked around the couch and dramatically fell backwards onto it. "I met the most amazing man!"

"Wait, you were in Paris with all of the museums, café's, boutiques, and the Eiffel Tower, and the first thing you mention to me is the newest love of your life."

"Well, after meeting him, I didn't get the chance to see all of the museums, café's, or boutiques." She paused and then added as an afterthought, "Although, I was able to see the Eiffel tower from his hotel suite."

"His hotel suite? So he was visiting Paris too?"

"No, he was there on some kind of business. He does something with money; I didn't really pay too much attention."

I rolled my eyes. "So what's he like? What's his name?"

"His name is Elijah Mikaelson. He's actually from England and he is so nice and kind, not the kind of man I usually go for at all. I can't wait until he comes over here and I can see him again."

"He's coming here? To Virginia?"

"New York City, actually, but he's going to fly in a few days earlier so that we can spend a few days together before he does what he has to for work." She took a sip of her wine. "This is great wine by the way, you should have some."

"No, thanks. What is Livi gets scared and I have to go pick her up? I can't do that if I'm drunk."

"Then you have Jenna bring Livi home. Come on, Elena, don't be a bore." She was taunting me now with her glass.

"I'm not being a bore. I'm being responsible." I decided to change the subject. "So, when do I get to meet Elijah?"

"He's going to be coming in next month some time. He hasn't confirmed dates yet."

"Well, I can't wait to meet him." I told her honestly. While she routinely had men falling at her feet, it was very seldom she was ever this way over a man.

I was doing my best to remain relaxed. I hadn't anticipated how difficult it might be to travel with a two year old on an airplane by myself. I was running behind about a half hour behind as it was. I was taking the exit for the airport when my cell phone happened to ring. Luckily, the Escalade had Bluetooth built in so I didn't have to fumble for the phone. I pressed the answer button on the steering wheel and answered.

"Hey, I just got off the plane and thought I'd see how your morning is going. Are you at the airport yet?"

"I'm pulling in now. We were walking out to the car this morning when Olivia fell in the snow so I had to go back in and change her. I'm running a little behind, but I think we'll be fine, we just have to hurry once I park." I hit the brakes as a sportscar cut me off.

"Just go through the valet and leave it with them. They'll help you check your luggage and you can get through faster." I had just entered the lane for long-term parking, but quickly changed lanes again for the valet parking, a luxury that I had never partaken in before.

"I would have never thought of that." I told him honestly, glad for the idea. That would make it easier to get my and Olivia's three suitcases checked while getting Olivia inside the airport. "Thank you!"

"I'll let you go. Just give me a call when you get through security and customs and you're situated."

"I will." That was perfect timing. I thought as I hung up and pulled up to the valet at the same time. I took the keys out and left a ring with just the key and key fob for the valet then threw the rest of the keys into my purse. I was turning around to open the door when I jumped. There was already a young man standing at the door ready to open it for me. I unlocked the door and greeted him.

"Did you need any help with your luggage today?" He asked as I climbed out of the SUV.

"That would be great. I have three suitcases in the back." He and another valet scrambled to grab my suitcases out of the back and carried them over to a check in counter for me. I climbed into the backseat and unlatched Livi and grabbed her diaper bag before shutting the back door and grabbing the stroller out of the backend. After I got the stroller onto the sidewalk and was out of the street I handed the valet the key to the Escalade and a ten dollar bill.

I hurried into the airport to get Olivia out of the cold and sat our bags in the stroller since I would have to carry her through security. It took me nearly forty-five minutes to get through security and customs, but I was finally at the gate as they started boarding. Just a little over an hour and I would be meeting up with Damon again.

I don't think there was anyone more excited than me when the captain came across and announce that we were beginning our final descent into Atlanta. Olivia had done great for the first half of the flight, then she started getting restless and I wouldn't let her pull more than one toy out of the diaper bag since the flight was so short. Luckily, she would have her own seat on the next flight and would be able to have a little more space. It was less than ten minutes later that we were taxiing up to our gate. I had already turned my phone on to text Damon and let him know that we were a little early in case he hadn't been watching the arrivals.

As soon as they were ready to let people de-board the plane, they announced that those with strollers, car seats, and wheelchairs could de-board first so that they could get those out of the way for other travelers. I made my way out and found my stroller, quickly setting it up and putting the diaper bag in the basket. I followed the hallway out to the gate waiting area. It didn't take me long to find Damon. He was standing off the side of the gate on his cell phone. He looked amazing in the royal blue button down with his normal black jeans. He walked up to me and Livi from me and mouthed "I'm sorry" to me as he took Livi out of my arms for me. I nodded and started following him through the airport, confident that he knew where we were supposed to be going.

We walked along for a while before Damon's call ended. "Sorry about that, just trying to set up a meeting with a new partner after we get back. So how was your flight?"

"Pretty good, overall. Someone was getting restless."

"Noo, not this pretty little girl?" He tickled Livi's belly. "Our flight doesn't start boarding for about an hour. Do you want to grab something to eat real quick?"

"Sure."

An hour later, we were waiting for the boarding calls for our flight. We had had a quick lunch at the concourse's Chik-Fil-A and let Livi run around the waiting area for a while. The airline workers were beginning to open the gates when Damon's cell phone rang out. He answered it and stepped a few feet away for a little privacy. I was playing with Livi in the seat beside me while we waited. It wasn't very much longer before they announced that first class was boarding. I looked over at Damon who appeared to be very involved in his phone call. When the line seemed to be dwindling and Damon was still on the phone, I picked up Livi and pushed the stroller over to where Damon was quietly yelling into the phone.

I waited until he finished what he was saying before laying my hand on his arm to get his attention. He turned around and saw that they were boarding the plane and covered the speaker on his phone. "Go ahead and board. I'll be there in a few minutes." I nodded and made my way over to the gate to join the boarding line. I showed Olivia's and my tickets and passports and followed the others onto the plane. One of the stewardesses was kind enough to help me while I folded up the stroller to be stored and get my purse, the diaper bag, and Damon's computer bag to our seats. Olivia was settled in the window seat as suggested by the airline while I took the middle seat, leaving the aisle for Damon and his longer legs. I was taking my time making sure that Livi was happy and not raising a fuss for the other passengers in first class and was shocked when the flight attendant announced that the cabin door had been shut and they were preparing for take-off. I looked out the window and saw that we were beginning to slowly move away from the airport.

One of the stewardesses happened to be walking by at that moment so I quietly stopped her. "Excuse me, miss? My boyfriend is supposed to be on this flight as well, about six feet tall, raven, black hair, and blue eyes that can't be missed, is he maybe on his way up here from coach?"

"I'm sorry miss, everyone is seated already." She turned and walked up to the front of the cabin. I pulled the new iPhone that Damon had bought me the week before out of my purse and dialed Damon.

"Hello?" He practically shouted through the phone.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you. Where are you?" I asked quietly, worried that he was angry with me.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I didn't see that it was you. Aren't you supposed to have your phone off right now?" His tone softened significantly.

"I am, but I was worried. Are you on the plane?" I turned around to look for him again.

"No, I was dealing with some problems in New York and missed the final boarding call. I'm sorry, I'll have to catch the next flight and try to rendezvous with you in either London, Rome, or at last resort, Florence." The attendant came through and asked me to turn off my phone. "Elena, just pull out my iPad when they say you can use the WI-FI and message me or use the air phone. I'll talk to you then." I told him I would and hung up the phone, switching it over to airplane mode.

So, Elena's headed out of the country without Damon. Will he catch up to her or will she end up by herself in Italy? Please let me know what you think as always and I should have another update next weekend if all goes well.