The door swung open, unapologetically hitting the wall aside it. Rain dripped from her hair as she entered, and she kicked off her shoes to the side of the entrance. A cab may have fared her better than walking for half an hour to get home, but fancying the drama of it all, the blonde allowed herself to be drenched from head to toe. She had told herself that she could leave the paranoia of getting hypothermia or pneumonia to a later date. For the walk home, she had let herself be consumed with fresh emotions as if she were listening to the ballad in her life's soundtrack.
Probably a Britney Spears song, she had concluded.
Caroline immediately took to unzipping the tight dress, almost ripping it off before she had even reached her bedroom. She had no care for the damn thing as she tore a couple beads off in the struggle of removing it. It finally fell to the floor once she was in her room, and she stepped out to kick it aside.
Despite feeling as though she had already had her shower for the day, she was craving the heat from the bath in her home. She slipped out of her underwear, treating them with the same care as her dress before running the tap of the bathtub. The steam that rose from the water had her eyes glazing over in what felt like peace for the first time in a month.
Caroline settled into the white tub, warmth enveloping her and bringing her temperature to a satisfying high. She smiled softly, wondering when the last time was that she had actually had a bath. Showers had been the usual go to within the hustle and bustle of life. She was never one to just let her worries melt away in the self-gratifying heat that poured out of the pipes.
When her mother was alive, a bath was never not an option. She could be running late, but the bath always had a fixed place in her daily schedule if only for a few, fleeting minutes. Caroline laughed, thinking of the many times she had been anxiously bouncing on the balls of her feet for her mother to finish up so she could brush her teeth and do her hair for school. She would hear the water running as she ate her breakfast and would immediately rush to scold her mother for taking a bath when she was aware of Caroline's time shortage. Her mother, of course, would sound an amused scoff before reassuring her paranoid daughter that she would be done in no more than five minutes. Still, Caroline would pace back and forth, disbelieving of her mother's words, which would always be truthful.
The blonde's dry hand reached for a small book that she had placed on the window sill.
Eat, Pray, Love.
Elizabeth Forbes' favourite.
It was a funny fact to remember; Elizabeth Forbes of all people had never been about to forgo her responsibilities for an around the world vacation filled with carbs, religion and a saucy romance. She had deserved it, though.
Caroline had found the old thing poking out of the side of a small cubby of toiletries that she had consistently forgotten to clear out, but consistently told herself she would clear the next day. The box was cluttered with shampoos and body washes that had been solely preferred by her mother. She had taken a number of them out with intent to try them for once. Elizabeth Forbes had always forbid her from touching those items from an early age, but now, she was free to use them. Regardless, Caroline had taken two years to finally take that action.
Caroline settled her head back as she sunk lower with the book in hand. Droplets of water had already made their marks upon the inner pages. She patted the marks down in an effort to lessen the damage to the paper. She hummed softly, running two fingers gently either side of the coarse material within the book.
Of course, Caroline had seen the movie about a billion times; it was the ideal escapism movie for her. Getting the hell out of a place that had caused her nothing but a broken spirit and a migraine was sounding mighty tempting. She turned page after page, slightly draining the water of the tub at one point in order to reheat it to the perfect temperature once more.
Gradually, Caroline pulled the book away from her nearly glued eyes as she felt the sleepiness rising in her head. She brought the bottle of shampoo into her hands, squeezing out the strong smelling gel. The bottle told her it was lotus flower and a number of elaborate sounding ingredients. Her mother was never one to indulge in things for herself, but Caroline was finding the one thing she had splashed out on.
Once out of the bath, she took her time, wrapping her hair up in a towel and crafting a makeshift dress from the large, turquoise towel hanging on the metal rack. She padded down the hallway, cautiously taking steps as she left behind trails of water in the shape of her feet. The sun had finally gone down, settling in the midst of the long, thunderous storm. She slowly drew her curtains in, bathing in the nightlight sat on the stand beside her large bed.
Once dressed and prepped for bed, Caroline fell into her plush sheets, grasping contently at the fluffy pillows at the head of the bed. She reached to the side, finally taking her phone from her nightstand.
As expected, numerous messages and missed calls were lighting up the small screen. She scrolled down the tab of unread and unanswered notifications. They began with calls from Elena. Five to be exact. A couple calls came from Bonnie. She thought about returning them, but she decided it could wait.
There was one message, however, that had her eyes piqued in interest.
'Way to go, Blondie. Next time you want to be selfish and ruin Elena's night, a warning would be great.'
A quiet laugh escaped her in disbelief. She deleted the text and threw her phone back on the side, relaxing back with her eyes closed.
Monday rolled around eventually. Sunday had been spent confining herself to her room with a tub of chocolate-fudge ice cream and a pile of old DVDs that had previously been locked away in her mother's chest of drawers.
'Eat, Pray Love' was the first film she had decided to play. She relished in every scene of the movie, being reminded of the times she and her mother would curl up on the couch and act as though the twists and turns were new to them even after the tenth watch.
She had also spent the free time with her phone kept on silent. Her eyes had wandered to her device a number of times throughout the day, but ultimately she had left it until late before she checked on the notifications. Each one of them was deleted.
Caroline straightened herself and shifted uncomfortably once she was sat in her designated chair in the meeting room. Never before had the curves in the chair bothered her before, but suddenly, she was transferring the weight on one side of her body to the other back and forth mere moments into sitting there.
April carried herself with an air of superiority as she entered the large room, ready for their weekly morning meeting. The blonde held in the groan that urged to leap from her throat. The girl was still an assistant, but her feet were bursting out of her boots as she aimed dirty glances at Caroline. Obviously, there was a promotion at stake in her mind, not that there was one being offered to her as of late.
A shy Rayna fell behind in a cautious manner, a small smile on her face when she caught the blonde's eyes.
Poor girl.
Caroline felt sorry for accusing her –in her head– of stealing her favourite mug. The girl would forever be a little resistant to work in Caroline's mind, but she certainly was not a thief, although now it seemed as though she was becoming the lapdog that April had once been.
A couple more people flitted in through the open door before Meredith showed up, pushing the door shut behind her. She strode to the head chair of the table, smiling warmly as she sat down with her hands clasped together.
"Mornin', guys," she greeted, "We have a lot to discuss today!"
Caroline drowned out of the speech as the past week was recapped along with their projections and notes from finance. Typically, she would have sat in wait to hear every detail, notebook at the ready, but today it looked as though April had that covered.
"So, the big news of the day," Meredith began, her eyebrows wiggling as if a drumroll was pattering in her mind.
"The council want us to plan and run the Mystic Falls' Annual Autumn Festival in October!"
"And Caroline," Meredith grinned, willing the girl's eye contact, "After that fabulous gala, they want you to be the head planner."
Caroline's head lifted slightly at the news. She had completely forgotten about their bid for the festival; it was a quiet, but big deal to their event company. Behind the 'behind the scenes', there were plans to get a handle on the annual event from the time she had been an assistant. She used to get so giddy with the idea that she would one day plan the biggest event in the town, but somehow, she could not muster up the same excitement as she had once had.
Her face froze, her lips downturned, and she looked at Meredith with a plain expression.
"Me?"
Her glance bounced over to an extremely aggravated April across the table before bouncing back to her boss.
"They were really impressed with the event, and they want to see more from you," Meredith informed her, her friendly eyes focusing on the girl.
"I…"
"Meredith," April interrupted, arms folded, "I don't think Caroline should be allowed to run an event so soon after…you know."
The pair looked at April's brashness with wide eyes.
"No, I don't know, April," Meredith said, eyebrow raised, "Care to elaborate?"
"Uh— she abandoned her duties to go and do god knows what and left her assistant to deal with any fallout?" April spluttered, frustration upon her face.
Resting the urge to roll her eyes, Caroline looked down as she shifted in her seat for the nth time. She then looked at Meredith, whose smile was dry. Her eyes looked April up and down before she sat back to address the girl once more.
"Excellent point, April."
April rolled her shoulders proudly, looking to Rayna for a moment of secret triumph.
"But Caroline has been warned about her bad behaviour and has apologised for the minor blip in her otherwise perfect run in this company."
April's pride was extinguished as fast as it had lit itself up.
The blonde had become distracted within April's attempt to discredit her. Not much thought had passed through her mind in the time she had stared at the dust on the table. Suddenly, she wanted to watch 'Eat, Pray, Love' again and drown in a vat of ice cream just as she had the day before.
In the distraction of it all, she had not noticed that Meredith had called the meeting to an end, and most of her colleagues had dispersed from the room.
"So, Caroline."
The blonde blinked a couple times, refocusing on her boss' words.
"We'll begin discussions for some time during this week?"
She nodded slowly, looking off to the side, "Yeah. Sounds great."
"Don't worry about her, Caroline," Meredith reassured her, rising from her seat.
Caroline followed suit, shrugging with a casual smile.
"I'm not worried."
"Good. Now, I will not be happy until I see you get excited; you got the event!" the brunette exclaimed, slapping the girl gently on the arm.
Caroline laughed reservedly, "I am excited. Just a little tired. To be honest, it's completely spaced from my mind this last month."
Meredith simply smiled, squeezing the girl's shoulder before leaving her to get back to her own office.
Caroline sighed softly as she returned to her desk, tapping her pen against the table rapidly. The exhilaration of Saturday's climactic standoff had worn off, leaving her in a slump of emptiness. She was not regretting her actions in the slightest, but she wished for that rush once more.
"You know you don't deserve that event," was heard from the side.
A bored amusement placed itself on Caroline's face as she looked at April, whose arms were tightly wrapped in a fold.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
The blonde rolled her eyes and returned to her vacant stares at her desk. Perhaps, she did not deserve to handle the event. Not because of her indiscretions, but because of how dull the news had been to her. April was at least showing a passion for the project, although it was fuelled by a new hatred for Caroline.
Her phone rang on the desk suddenly.
She pursed her lips, only slightly relieved when it was revealed to be just Bonnie. She supposed that she had to answer sooner or later.
"Hey."
"Finally, Care. What the heck? Why'd you leave me by myself on Saturday?"
She sighed, "Sorry, Bon… I just didn't wanna stay any longer after—"
"I know."
"You do?"
"Well…I know Elena's side of the story, although I don't know how much I believe it."
"And that side is?"
Bonnie hummed for a moment before indulging her in the story, "She came back to the table in tears, said you flipped out for no reason because she and Damon were getting married, and that you told her you weren't friends anymore?"
Caroline knew the situation was serious, but she could not help but let a giggle jump out of her.
"If that's all she said then...I'm going to let it be at that."
"So she's telling the truth?"
"Part of it."
"And you won't tell me the rest."
The blonde smiled, shaking her head as she spoke into the phone, "I don't think I need to. If she wants to tell you the real reason…she can, but Elena and I are done…for good."
"Whoa… Okay, I can respect that," the Bennett girl admitted.
"Can I ask you a question, Bon?"
"Sure. What is it?"
Caroline's head swayed side to side as she let the question form in her head. It hung at the back of her throat in anticipation, but there was no follow-through.
"Actually— you know, never mind. I should get back to work, Bon. I'll speak to you soon? We should meet for coffee one day."
"Oh— yeah. Sure. See you around."
Another sigh was had by the pale blonde as she hung up, her tapping on the desk resuming. Her head was swirling with indecision. The question had played on her lips when on the phone with Bonnie, but she could not bring herself to ask it. She felt like she was suffocating in that office, with everyone circling her as if to say, 'make your own decision, Caroline'.
Caroline's eyes wandered until they landed on the large screen in front of her. Her computer was humming gently as she took hold of the mouse, shaking it gently to wake the screen up. She began typing.
Best Holiday Destinations.
Top 10 Holiday Destinations.
5 Places You Have to Visit in the U.S.A.
Her cursor dangled tentatively over the fourth destination in the list.
From the exciting events held throughout the year to the warm nights when you just chill out, you'll never be more carefree than when in this city.
Carefree.
The blonde switched applications and opened up a template with the necessary details before filling in 'Dear Meredith'.
A few hours passed and she was content with her piece of work. She sauntered happily over to the printer, collecting the warm sheet out of the tray. Then, with no time to spare, she knocked on the office of her boss, entering promptly after.
"Caroline," Meredith looked up, being interrupted in the middle of eating her wrap.
"Everything alright?"
Caroline smiled, nodding as she placed the paper on the desk.
"What's this?"
Bewildered, Meredith twisted her head as she adjusted the paper. Her jaw of food hung open in shock.
"I know what you're thinking!" Caroline raised her hands in front of her, "I am so thankful for this job and to have you as a boss…but…I don't think I can stay here for much longer. I can't take on the festival knowing that I'm not going to enjoy it…"
The woman on the other side of the desk swallowed her food, setting the rest of it down.
"Caroline, please rethink—"
"I don't need to think about this anymore. I know what I want now. Of course, I'll work the rest of my time off to the best of my ability, and if you want any help with the festival planning, I will do everything I can, but I have to do this for myself."
Her smile was strained, sadness threatening to ruin her composure. Meredith nodded slowly, getting up from her chair to bring the girl into a hug.
Caroline laughed softly, accepting the embrace, "Someone else will be dying for the job. April maybe?"
"Oh god!" Meredith whined loudly, "You're leaving me with the event management equivalent of every mean girl in a teen film!"
A giggle left her mouth, "We've got three months to break her down if that helps?"
"Don't give me ideas," the brunette mumbled, finally peeling herself away from the blonde.
Caroline smiled sympathetically, "Never—unless it's the idea to give me a great reference," she chuckled, "I should get back to work."
Her boss hid a sniffle, nodding firmly, "Yes, you should! Get outta here!"
They shared a laugh, and Caroline took her exit.
Walking out, she noticed April sneaking a couple of glances.
The blonde grinned at the sudden idea creeping into her mind. She pressed forward to the staff kitchen and pulled out her favourite pink mug, before strutting on back to the black-haired girl's desk.
"Oh, April?"
The young girl raised her head, already unhappy with the blonde's presence.
Caroline smiled sweetly, placing the mug on the desk, "I'm not finishing for a few months, but I know how much you like taking other people's things, and so, I thought I would leave you this as my… early parting gift."
April was completely clueless.
She squinted in confusion, "Parting gift?"
"I just put in my resignation letter. Feel free to make a play for the Autumn festival…if you ever get out of your assistant job."
No words.
Caroline smirked, leaving her to take apart the sudden interaction.
That was so fun she thought to herself, sitting at her desk to resume her Google searches.
Just over three months had passed since her resignation letter was given and she was free. Meredith had made sure to throw her a raging party – as raging as an office farewell party could be. Even April had pretended to play nice for the occasion, giving a small thank you for being her mentor. She accepted the thank you, but her smile was a knowing one.
She had spent the evening after giving in her letter making arrangements with an estate agent, and in the following months, she scrimped and saved all that she could. Within no time, the house she had called home from birth was on the market with multiple offers coming in once she had held an open house. The paperwork was a nightmare, but she did it.
With the money from the sale, she had paid off most of her debts and with her collective saved money, she had put down a deposit for a new apartment in the place she had been dreaming of since that fateful Google search. Unfortunately, the area she wanted was definitely a price jump, so she opted for finding herself a roommate. Hayley was the girl's name. They had had a couple video calls to make sure that each other were not on the brink of becoming a murderer. They seemed to be okay on that front.
Then, with Meredith's help, she had lined up an interview with a well-established event company for when she arrived in the city. Needless to say, Caroline was peeing herself mentally over the thought of starting as the new person, but it was not anything she could not handle.
The only job she had now was to get the hell out of Mystic Falls. She had less than a week to sell and pack up most of her things after ending her employment.
"Thanks, Bon," she sighed out in gratitude as she pushed the last box into the moving truck.
The clear weather on that day had made the prospect of leaving a very welcome one. She was excited as she, along with the hired movers and Bonnie, loaded her possessions into the small truck.
"It's nothing," the dark-haired girl smiled, her hands shoved into her pockets, "It's not like you had much left. Did you really have to sell your old radio? I loved that stupid hunk of junk!"
Caroline giggled guiltily, wrapping her arms securely around her friend, "The thing was definitely past its use-by date."
Bonnie scrunched her nose up before holding onto her friend, "You're really getting out of here, huh?"
"Mhm…"
"I'll come visit you, okay? We all will!" she assured the blonde, affectionately playing with her hair.
Caroline smiled half-heartedly, "Yeah."
Since breaking things off, Caroline had not spoken a single word to Elena. They had bumped into each other at the grocery store a number of weeks before the moving day, but they did not speak. Elena had parted her lips in preparation to say something – what, Caroline did not know. That was all. They locked eyes, but Caroline moved on with her shopping cart, smiling to herself proudly that she had walked away.
She had made efforts to keep in contact with anyone else she could. Bonnie was the main rock for her. Although she had never told Bonnie the real story behind the end of her friendship with Elena, it seemed like she had deduced well enough out of whatever clues she could find. She did not mention it, though.
Surprisingly, Caroline found herself getting closer to Katherine. Seeing her outside of the usual group gatherings was like meeting a completely different person. Caroline knew she was a tough cookie, but for the most part, her full personality was reserved when surrounded by everyone else. It was a shame considering the limited time left, but the girl was a breath of fresh air. In the time left together, Katherine had attempted to coerce Caroline into 'slutting it up' to find a 'hot piece of ass' for one night. Definitely a breath of fresh air.
People like Stefan, Matt, and Jeremy were people she had a mutual understanding with. Davina was out of the question, and Kol and Rebecca were people she had made efforts to avoid when she could, although Kol had been popping up a lot whenever Caroline was with Bonnie. She was surprised that the young joker was serious about their relationship. Tyler on the other hand, that was something that she had thrown in the garbage and personally took to setting alight. She could not be happier. Everything was tied up neatly.
Except for one thing.
A small Toyota car came rolling up next to the pavement of her soon-to-be old house, and Caroline felt a pang of sadness. It was time to give up the keys to the house and haul ass out of there. She looked at her watch. They had arrived dead on nine o'clock. It was an early start, but Caroline was on a schedule.
She slipped away from Bonnie to greet the new owners, and made sure to ensure they would take care of the home and make lots of memories. Caroline made a final sweep of the house to check she had not left anything behind. She collected her small suitcase and handbag before walking out of the front door for the last time, taking her time to lock it. Once the keys were handed over, she gave the go ahead to the men in the moving truck.
"All set, Carl," she called out, "I'll see you tonight!"
The burly man swinging himself up into the driver's seat of the truck shot a friendly smile, giving the thumbs up. Like that, the truck was pulling out of the driveway and making its first roll of the wheels in the long journey.
"My whole life is in that freaking truck. They better get there on time," Caroline joked as she met with Bonnie on the sidewalk, bags at her feet.
"Not if they wanna face the wrath of Caroline Forbes," Bonnie said, helping to pick up the blonde's suitcase. She popped open the trunk of her car, slinging the luggage inside as Caroline hopped into the passenger's seat. When she, too, sat into the car and put her seatbelt on, the blonde was smiling intently at her.
"Did I forget to mention how much I appreciate this?" Caroline squeaked, clinging to the handbag in her lap.
"Mm…a couple times," she joked in response, starting the car up, "Please. I was not going to let my best friend leave Virginia without me clinging to her up until the last boarding call."
A playful roll of the eyes was shown by Caroline, who sat back in her seat as they began to move off down the street.
"Oh— Can you make a quick stop, Bon? It's on the way."
"Yeah. Sure. Where to?"
Caroline pressed her lips together teasingly, and Bonnie let out a laugh.
"You…"
"Have a flair for the dramatic?"
"Yes."
She walked comfortably into the building, her turquoise and blue dress swaying as she headed straight for the reception.
"Hey, I'm wondering if—"
"Caroline?"
The blonde turned her head, a small smile on her face. She recognised the young boy. It was Tim – or Tom, rather, Mikael's terrified assistant. It was a delightful surprise that he remembered her face.
"Hey!"
She stepped forward to greet him.
"I haven't seen you in ages. You here to see Mr. Mikaelson?"
Caroline nodded a little, "I was hoping to. He's not expecting me, and I don't think I'll be able to get up there without playing up the sex appeal," she laughed, "Wanna help a girl out?"
The elevator dinged, the gold doors opening. She smiled, thanking the boy for his hand in getting her up to the desired floor.
The doors into the main office area seemed to feel lighter. Either they had changed them, or Caroline was getting some serious muscle from moving all of those boxes into the moving truck. She strode down the middle of the office, glancing in a friendly manner at every person she passed by.
In all of the months she had to prepare her move, she kept thinking about the mistake she had made. She had hurt Klaus more than he had cared to admit to her when he had kicked her out of his office. Then she had called only to find out that he had moved on in a matter of hours. Caroline was pissed, but had to accept that she was the one who had insulted him with the idea of a pause. She was wrong, and she knew that now.
The young assistant in front of his door looked up dully at the girl's presence.
"Yes?"
"I'm Caroline...Forbes. I don't know if you remember me, but I need to speak with Klaus," Caroline told her urgently.
"He's not in."
The blonde scoffed and moved forward to open his office door, but was thwarted as the door was locked shut.
"You know that I know that he's in there," she stood in front of the desk, hands resting on the top of it.
"He's busy."
She made eye-contact with the girl, searching her eyes, "I just want two minutes."
The girl shifted uncomfortably at Caroline's defiance.
"Please," she pleaded.
The assistant sighed, "I'm sorry, but he doesn't want anyone disturbing him."
"I think he can spare time for me."
"I'm sorry."
The blonde huffed dejectedly, crossing her arms. The assistant returned to typing on her computer. Caroline's lips twisted in frustration. She just needed a minute to say what she needed to say.
Her eyes wandered along the desk, landing finally on a little rose gold box. A hint of a smile crept on her face as the idea made itself known to her.
"Oh my god, is that Channing Tatum?" Caroline exclaimed.
"Hm?" the girl's eyes tore away from her screen and to the far end of the room, leaving Caroline with the opportunity to take the intercom. She picked it up, the cord dangling as she tried to figure out how to use it.
She berated herself once she had seen 'talk' written under one button.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the young girl stood from her seat.
Caroline held a hand out to stop her – well, it was not like she could knock her out or tie her to the chair, but she did what she could. She sucked in a breath and pressed down on the button.
"Klaus, I know you're in there."
There was silence on the other end, which she accepted as a natural response. The assistant tried to present herself as if she were attempting to stop Caroline, but did not do much other than stare curiously over what she had to say.
She sighed, continuing her words, "I don't know if you've been under a rock or whatever— but I ended things with Tyler for good – and Elena, too. I really…really liked you—I mean, I still— I'm just—I'm done with letting other people make my decisions. I'm not gonna let people's opinions dictate my life. Not anymore."
She paused nervously. Talking into an unresponsive box was rather daunting.
Caroline twiddled the cord between her fingers, "Look, I know I messed things up between us, but I couldn't leave town without making things right."
"I'm really sorry."
She glanced at the young girl that was watching her intently, looking as though she wanted a bag of popcorn.
The blonde laughed quietly, "So, I guess this is goodbye. Hopefully, just for now? If you're ever in the French Quarter…hit me up, yeah?"
She let go of the button. There was not much else to tell him; she knew she could not wave a magic wand to make things better.
She was about to place the intercom down, but quickly pressed the button, "It's Caroline by the way. Yeah."
The blonde swallowed as she placed the box onto the desk.
"Sorry," she apologised to the girl who simply nodded in bewilderment.
Then she took her exit down the long stretch of the office and down the elevator.
"It's Caroline by the way. Yeah."
He sat in silence for a few minutes, leaning back in his large office chair. Her sweet voice had come through the cold metal box with genuine intonations and thoughtful pauses. There had been no doubt in his mind that she would never come back to the office that he made her leave months earlier, but there she had been. Just outside of his door.
He had jumped slightly when he had heard his door jiggle slightly, but ignored it so he could return to sketching in peace.
Then he had heard voices.
It sounded like hers, but it could not be.
Then he had heard her voice as clear as could be through the intercom.
He did not know what to say, or what to do for that matter.
Sure, he had overheard Kol's usual gossiping with Bonnie about how Caroline was on the top of Elena and Damon's enemy list. He had then heard about how Caroline abandoned the dinner, supposedly walking home in the rain. There was not much else, though. Bonnie had mentioned how Caroline did not tell her why she had broken things off with Tyler and Elena. She would not tell her. He had spent a lot of time wondering why. He had also spent a lot of time wondering if she would ever make an effort to see him, but brushed that thought away as soon as it came into mind. He had imagined that she was hurt by his actions after their talk. He had to admit that it was rash.
He felt a pang of guilt in his stomach thinking of his harsh words. He wanted to comfort her, and when he had heard about her bust up with Elena, he wanted to comfort her even more.
Suddenly, he shook himself out of his pool of thoughts, jumping up from his seat.
There was purpose in his walking, each leg pumping harder and harder in an effort to race down to the lobby. His assistant Aimee's eyes lit up like two magic orbs as he passed by her desk and headed for the stairs.
He bounded down each step, huffing and puffing to make it to the bottom in time.
One last time.
He had to see her one last time.
He had to see her face.
Her smile.
He needed her to know that he had accepted her apology, and that he was also sorry…and that he really really liked her too.
God. He felt like a child.
Practically crashing out of the stairway doors, he looked around at all the bodies walking through the large lobby. A lot of people were just arriving to start their days, though he imagined that many of them were tardy.
There was a long set of legs in a skater dress, heading for the revolving doors. It had to be her. The blonde hair that flicked side to side with every step she took had him weak in the knees for the first time in months.
He grinned purposefully and rushed to meet the girl before she could escape his grasp. He reached out his arm, pressing his hand to her shoulder firmly.
"Caroline—"
The blonde woman turned around, confusion on her face.
It was not her. It was just a stranger.
His faced dropped.
"Sorry. I thought you were someone else."
She nodded awkwardly and exited through the door.
He looked around desperately, his last hope clinging to the elevator doors that were now opening.
Alas, the hope was gone.
She was gone.
"Bonnie, thank you so much…again," she giggled softly as they stood at the gate. The ride from Klaus' office had been smooth, and helped by her now clear mind.
"You're welcome…again," her friend returned a laugh, "Now, get on that plane and text me when you arrive in New Orleans, okay?!"
Caroline smiled warmly, holding her friend in a tight embrace. She was sad to leave…but happy to go. To go somewhere she could be free. Not to be bound by others. She could not have that in Mystic Falls. There was too much history for her in such a small town. She needed to do something for once in her life. Something for herself. Without caring about the judgements of others.
She wanted to be carefree.
Bonnie let her pull back, tears welling up in her eyes, "I love you, Care!"
"I love you too!" Caroline replied as she backed away, handbag swinging at her side.
She turned toward the gate, and after showing her passport and ticket, she was through. She grinned widely, practically bouncing down the hallway.
The next chapter of her life was staring her in the face.
She had never been more ready.
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