Chapter Ten: Advice

"You rejected his proposal?" Miranda's face grew pale and Katherine nodded, as she sat limply at the side of her bed. Miranda clutched her hands into fists. "What exactly did you say to him, Katherine maybe we can-"

"It's over, Mother," Katherine said curtly. "There is nothing to explain, I told Elijah that I will never marry him, so that he shouldn't ask me again." She held the violet colored ribbon from her dress between her fingers. She didn't understand why this was so important to her mother, nor why she and Elijah wanted to control every aspect of her life.

Miranda closed her eyes in defeat and when she opened them, her eyes seemed to be more determined. She shook her head as she stood up from the bed. "No, I won't let you destroy your life and this great opportunity." She grabbed her drawstring purse. "I will go speak to the Mikaelsons, at this moment-"

Katherine groaned. "Mother-"

"Katherine," Miranda said harshly. "It is time that you grow up and stop being so stubborn, Elijah is a nice man and he will make you happy. Mark my words, you will be married to him whether you want to or not."

When the door open of the Salvatore Estate, the Salvatore's maid, Annie answered the door. She gave a quick bow. "Miss Pierce."

"Hello," she fidgeted nervously. "Is Mr. Salvatore here, Damon I mean?"

"Yes," Annie opened the door wider. "Please, come on in."

Katherine entered the house and almost immediately Damon greeted her. He kissed her cheek. "Miss Katherine!"

Katherine didn't return his greeting with the usual flourish. "Hello, Mr. Salvatore, we need to talk."

"I didn't have time to tell you, Katherine." Damon explained himself as they walked through the gardens. "The engagement was a big surprise. The Gilberts and my father have been friends for a long time. My father had been pressuring me to settle down and the Gilberts were offering a pretty large dowry for me to marry, Elena. It was difficult to say no."

Katherine pursed her lips. "So you decided to get married for money?"

"No!" Damon said quickly. "I just felt that it was a great opportunity, with Stefan getting engaged to Rebekah Mikaelson, my father is pressuring me to marry as well. Please understand, Katherine."

Katherine shook her head and her voice shook. "I understand." She knew she had been a fool all along to think that she and Damon might actually get married, she had thought that they had just been playing until one of them got engaged. But now Damon had and it hurt.

Damon looked relieved. "Thank you for understanding." He placed a familiar hand on her waist. "Even though I'm engaged to Elena that does not mean that we have to stop seeing each other."

"You want me to be your mistress?" Katherine scowled.

Damon shrugged. "Yes, don't look so surprise, Katherine. Every married man has a mistress."

"I'm not that type of woman, Elijah." She responded bitterly, briefly hating that Elijah was right-Damon wasn't a good man. "And even though I despised Elena, she doesn't deserve this."

"We'll be back in a month," Esther fussily rearrange her hat on her head while glaring at the timid young maids, who were hastily arranging the luggage. Esther's mother had recently fallen ill and she and Mikael were going to visit her all the way to Maine, which was a long trip and Mikael was thinking of starting a business there "Send us a telegraph, for any emergency, they are faster than letters."

"I don't think that there will be any emergencies, is that clear?" Mikael turned to face his children. They nodded. "Elijah is in charge while we are gone and his word is law, understood?"

Henrik, Rebekah, and Klaus nodded trying not to snicker. Esther kissed them all goodbye before she and he husband exited the house and all the siblings gave a sigh of relief.

Rebekah fluffed her hair. "I'm going to get ready, the Salvatore's invited me to dinner."

Henrik grabbed his brand new toy airplane from the hall closet. "I'm going to go play with Sam and Joseph, I'll be back at dinner."

Now only Klaus and Elijah were alone. "It only took a matter of seconds for our siblings to disappear, speaking of which have you've notice how strange Kol has been acting? He didn't even say goodbye to our parents."

"Strange?" Elijah asked wearily. "Strange, how so?"

Klaus shrugged as he struggled to explain it. "Moody, secretive. I think he is turning into our sister."

"Miss Pierce," Bonnie shuffled nervously near the doorway of the living room where Katherine had been writing a letter to her maternal grandmother back in Boston. "Mr. Elijah Mikaelson is here to see you. He says it's urgent."

Katherine who had been expecting this, but hoping that she would be wrong, sighed. "Tell him that I don't want to see him, please don't let him come in-"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Miss Pierce," Elijah said coolly as he appeared besides Bonnie. "I must speak to you, alone preferably."

Bonnie blushed and left the room.

Katherine stood up, refusing to face him as she tried to exit the living room, but Elijah stood firmly in place over the entrance, refusing to let her pass. Katherine scowled. "I don't want to speak to you, Elijah!"

"But I do, Miss Pierce," he shot back and looked exasperated. "I wanted to apologize, Katherine."

Katherine didn't look convince. "You insulted me twice in a row at the mention of Damon Salvatore. Surely, you can't expect me to just forgive you."

Elijah shook his head. "Of course not." He led her back to one of the couches. "Please."

Katherine reluctantly sat down and Elijah cleared his throat nervously. "I realize that what happened at our last encounter was extremely inappropriate and completely uncalled for. I'm, ashamed of my behavior. I shouldn't have tried to force you to kiss me, let alone insulted you and for that I deeply apologize."

Katherine seemed too softened, but she still didn't say anything. He looked up. "Miss Pierce?"

"I forgive you," she said slowly. "But I still can't accept your proposal, at least not now."

He nodded and blurted out. "Is it because of Damon?"

"No," she said. "Damon is no longer important."

-End of Chapter Ten-