Disclaimer: I only own my OCs
Chapter 12: Coffee

Nicolette came down the stairs of the Gilbert house with her purse and keys at hand, and her cell at ear. Her eyebrows raised as she caught sight of the sharply dressed Original waiting near her parked Porsche, she almost lost her footing as her foot caught on the last step.

"Yes, I'll drop off your letter in the Post-Office before I go... Yes, I got dinner covered as well, don't worry!... You too!" with that said she ended the conversation and turned back to the waiting Original with a coquettish expression on her face. "Mr Smith?! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were waiting for me." She continued as she walked up to her car, "I assume you're not here for another tour, seeing as you grew up here, thousands of years ago."

The faintest expression of amusement showed on Elijah's face at her attitude towards him. It was plain as day that the spunky brunette wasn't afraid of him, which he found oddly intriguing and refreshing. From the mischievous spark in her forest-green eyes, to the inability for her to stand still, Nicolette was something of an enigma and a delightful conundrum for the Vampire to figure out.

"No, I believe you covered everything worth knowing on the first run. I am actually here to see you," he informed her with an easily confident expression. This earned him a dubious look from the petite female as she stopped on the other side of her car.

"I thought we'd already established that death threats and intimidation don't work on me? And if this has anything to do with Jenna or Jeremy, I swear-"

"Yes, you were very articulate in our last conversation. However, I am not here for either of those causes."

Nicolette narrowed her eyes at him in confusion before shaking her head with a scowl, "I don't have the mental capacity to deal with any mind games. It's hard enough to get by without any coffee." the last part was said in almost a growling tone as her keys slipped from her grasp and fell onto the pavement. A medley of foreign curses were muttered as she knelt down to retrieve them, only to glance up to see the object of her search being held aloft by Elijah.

Wordlessly, he offered her a hand up before handing her the elusive keys with raised eyebrows, "That's quite the vocabulary for a young woman such as yourself." She scowled at this and tossed her braid back into place.

"I'm not that young and what are you, my father?"

Her impudent tone and haughty attitude had the ghost of a fond expression flickering across the Original's face. He couldn't stop the smirk coming onto his lips as she snatched the offending keys from his grasp. There was a certain spark in her vibrant eyes and a manner at which she behaved, that seemed to render Elijah unable to get offended by her actions.

Shaking her head, Nicolette walked around to the other side of her car and opened the door behind her passenger seat to deposit her purse, conversing with him as she did, "Is there a reason you came to see me, or was it simply for the lack of brain cells that my dear cousin tends to flaunt?" She glanced over the top of her car with a spark in her pretty eyes that portrayed a myriad of emotions, ranging from curiosity to exasperation.

The Original had a hard time masking the amusement on his face as he responded to her double question, "Fortunately for the lack of sense that your cousin tends to showcase, he hasn't done anything of importance as to require response. I'm here on a more curious matter."

She raised her brows at this and went to reply, before her phone went off. 'So live your life! Ay-Ay-Ay! You steady chas-' she scrambled to grab her Rihanna-spewing phone and answered it with a flustered expression. Elijah looked on with exasperated but patient annoyance.

"-not coming today... Jazz, I know that!... I'll be there!..." she paused at the look she received from Elijah before turning away, "... I might be a little late, is all..." Nicolette turned to face the smartly dressed Vampire with an accusing expression, "Don't start, Elijah!"

The handsome male raised his brows as a smirk formed on his face, "I have no idea to what you are referring to."

"Sure, you don't.."

Nicolette sat on the bench, idly fiddling with the zipper on her sweater as she watched the branches sway in the gentle Virginia breeze. She glanced back as Elijah returned.

"Any reason why you left me here, oh so mysteriously?"

"I believe I owed you a coffee, since our last encounter, yes?" His chocolate eyes met her forest pair with a knowing look, before he revealed the two coffees in his hands. Nicolette gave him a perplexed look as he held one of them out to her. A dumbfounded smile formed on her face as she accepted the steaming beverage from Elijah,

"This wasn't necessary, but thank you!"

He offered her a genuine smile in return before motioning for them to continue on their walk. Both of them easily falling into a companionable pace as they walked about the falls, neither paying any attention to the time.

Nicolette did a doubletake as she caught sight of Elijah's watch, "Please tell me that your watch is fast?!"

He glanced down at it before looking back at her, "No, it's correct. Why?" She wanted to smack herself as she started to frantically search her pockets for her phone.

"Dammit! Jazz is gonna kill me... I gotta get home!" with that said she sent a hasty text message to her teammate before turning and walking away from the falls at a swift pace.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes! I'm a absent minded incompetent idiot! I'm sorry, but I have to go!"

With that said she bid the Original a hasty goodbye before taking off in the direction of the Gilbert house. Elijah could hear the insults and various forms of profanity spewing from her lips, in various languages, as she went. He shook his head in patient amusement as he thought on his afternoon spent with the beguiling brunette.

Reaching into his expensive coat pocket, he retrieved his phone and dialed the a well-known number. After two rings it was answered.

"Dr. Martin, I have some new information about Nicolette that you might find interesting. I shall be there shortly."

Nicolette ran up the porch stairs and through the door of the Gilbert house, tossing her purse in the process, before hastening into the kitchen. Panting slightly, she leant against the island counter as she caught her breath.

"Someone's running a bit late," Jeremy teased as he came into the kitchen and spotted the panting brunette. She glared at him in annoyance.

"Get outta here, you little punk!"

The male laughed at this before dodging the shoe flung at him, "Sheesh, someone's flustered!" He broke into an even louder chortle as she promptly flipped him off and shoved him out of the room. She face palmed as she heard his continued uproarious laughter at her expense, before giving up on making anything in her current state, and grabbing her phone as she finally settled on take-out.

"I hate my life!"

Hey, sorry for the long wait! I know I'm really terrible at updating, but a lot has been going on and I wanted to make this chapter right.
I know it's not as long as some of my other ones, but I didn't really know how to make everything flow together without this...
Anyways, I hope you appreciated the Elijah & Nicolette interaction, as well as the tiny bit of Jeremy! Hopefully I'm not making Elijah seem too OOC, because that's the last thing I want to do!
I hope you enjoyed this installment, and please let me know what you think so far in a review!
Stay tuned for next time!

~ShadowStalker182