Chapter 11

I sipped my hot chamomile tea in front of me as I stared at the phone that I have kept begging to buzz but, as usual, the phone was being an asshole to me by kept silent. I let out a frustrated sigh as I stood up and poured the rest of my tea in the sink.

"Well, if you're not gonna call me, I'll call you," I harshly grabbed my phone and literally punched the number I'd known by heart and waited for the beep sounds to turn to a certain voice I've been dying to hear since a couple days ago.

"Come on, pick up, pick up, pick—"

"Hello?"

I straightened up instinctively. "Hey, uh, Damon?"

There was a pregnant pause before he replied hoarsely as if he just woke up form a deep slumber, "Elena? Uh… I didn't see—hey."

"Um… hey, hello… um," Say something, you big idiot. "So, I just… um, wanted to know if you," I took an unnecessary deep breath, "want to have dinner with me tonight and to talk... about things."

I heard Damon sigh from the other end and it made me feel much guiltier than before as I closed my eyes, "I think we should. You know, to talk about some important things."

"Yeah," I squeaked as I plop down on my couch.

"Okay, we can meet at seven at the Grill so that you won't have to drive too far," he suggested. Okay, why would he show me that he cared so much and making me even more guilt-ridden than before?

Well, I needed him in my personal space so that I could convince him how big of an idiot my sister was for giving me some freaking stupid advice and how even much bigger idiot I was for taking it willingly, "Why don't we have dinner at my place?"

"Elena—"

"I'll cook you something," I cut him off before he could muster up a reason not to. "Please. Besides, I can prove to you that I am a better baker than a cook."

I could hear Damon groan softly and some shuffling from his side. "Okay, but just dinner and talk, okay?"

I jumped up and down inwardly. I had to be mature about this, I couldn't be some teenage girl who was about to have dinner with her crush. "Okay, I'll see you soon."

He hung up, then.

The hell? He didn't even say 'bye'.

I groaned as I threw my phone away and ran my fingers through my hair exasperatedly.

Okay, so, two days ago, I was being the biggest jerk ever by going on a date with another man that Caroline had set me up with. You may remember. You may remember how I kept comparing Aaron with Damon and later, how I broke Damon's heart and wiped that cute little smile/smirk off his face. Then, being the buffoon that I was, I stood there, immobile, as Damon's friend called him back to their table and reluctantly he left me with stupid Aaron on my side asking whether I know him or not. Well, Aaron, if you must know, that was Damon Salvatore, the biggest source of my happiness and the guy I was dating before I foolishly took my doofus of a sister's advice.

I decided, instead of feeling sorry for myself and throw endless pity party, I would cook him good food and bake him tiramisu so good and I would need to go buy some groceries. So, I threw on my loose blue jeans and a white t-shirt with my black hoodie and I was out the door in a second.

As soon as I got the nearest grocery store, I grabbed a grocery trolley and fill it with the ingredients I needed for tonight. As I was screening my eyes through a string of choices of steaks, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, Elena," a cheery voice came from behind me.

I turned around to find my agent, Caroline, dressed in her casual hot pink dress with white cardigan looking exactly like a Barbie doll.

I smiled, "Hi, Caroline."

"So, what you making?" she asked as she swipe her sight in my grocery trolley.

"Steaks dinner for two and tiramisu," I answered casually as I grabbed the tender sirloin steaks I've been eyeing.

"Oh, you have a date?" she asked excitedly. "Wait, but I haven't called you about the date you're gonna have next. Anyway, a guy named Brady Hoops, a police officer, and he's—"

"No, no, Caroline. Um, well, can I talk to you about the dates?" I cut her off before she could babble about my next date that I was certain I'm not going to take a part in.

"O…kay. What's on your mind?"

"Can we talk at the Starbucks across the street? I have to pay for these things first, though," I gestured at my steaks and all things that were in my trolley.

"Oh, sure, I have no plans for the day anyway," she rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go over there, then. Would you like me to order you something?"

"Just a venti iced caramel macchiato if that's not too much," I grinned slightly.

She winked, "You got it, Elena."

As soon as she said that, she flashed out of my sight and I shook my head at her energy that never cease to amaze me. I would kill for those energy and positivity for tonight.

"Do I have your order right?" Caroline asked as I sat in front of her with my coffee already set in front of me.

"Yep, thanks," I slid five dollars toward her on the table.

"Oh no," she shoved the money back to me gently, "it's on me."

"Oh, thanks," I pocketed the money back.

"Oh, you haven't told me about your last dates, Damon Salvatore and Aaron Whitmore. How were they?" Caroline questioned as she sipped her grande iced coffee.

I shifted in my seat, trying to be comfortable. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay, go on," she encouraged.

"So," I began, "Damon was wonderful. He's definitely in my 'hot' zone and we've decided to date, you know, to get to know each other more as boyfriend-girlfriend and a few days ago I asked my sister about whether I should continue with the blind dates or not and she said that I should, because two thousand dollars is not cheap," I scoffed softly. "Anyway, Aaron was… okay. But the whole time I was with him, there were moments where I kept thinking about Damon and I started to rethink my decision. So, I would like to ask you, what do your other clients do when they've found a perfect match? Do they keep going with the dates or do they stop?"

Caroline was listening to me intently and I was so grateful for it, not once she interrupted me and I was more comfortable talking about it with her.

She nodded. "Well, a lot of my clients have experienced what you've been having now, and it is honestly up to them. There are some that want to keep dating to find if there are more of people that match with their needs and wants, but there are also people who want to stop and explore the relationship more with the one they find matching," Caroline explained carefully. Okay, her answer got me more confused than before. So, should I just keep going or not? That was the question.

"And what's more effective?"

"Both seem okay," Caroline sounded hesitant for the first time since I met her, "I mean, it's completely up to you."

"Well, what's your personal opinion about it?" I asked, wanting to hear her thoughts about my problem.

"Do you really want to hear my own personal opinion?"

I nodded.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "I think, if you're really sure about 'the one' that you think is your match, it would be best to just stop and spend time with him, get to know him, and who knows, maybe he's the perfect guy for you and you'll eventually have your happy ever after with him," Caroline answered honestly.

"And how do you know if he's, you know, 'the one'?" I asked as I made a quotations sign in the air.

Caroline smirked, "trust me, you just know."

And, so for the rest of the day, I was busy cleaning up my apartment and cooking the steaks well-done as I thought Damon would like them. Then, I put them aside to make the tiramisu and I had to do it in a hurry since the clock had just struck four and I haven't even showered since this morning. I know, I was a mess.

I mixed the ingredients for the tiramisu as I blasted my top 40 hit songs on my speakers. As I bake, with the help of upbeat songs of Bruno Mars, I hummed the songs happily, only thinking of good things since I needed to keep myself to be positive about tonight. I really, really needed Damon to hear me out and forgive me. I would also need to discuss whether he would stop with the blind dates or not. It didn't really matter since I would stop the blind dates as well if he would too as I was now realized I was being unfair to him and it had hurt him and in return, it had hurt me to see him so hurt.

The clock had struck six as I was putting the tiramisu in the fridge. I quickly grabbed my towel and washed my body twice with my vanilla body wash scent that I like. Seeing as I didn't have the time to wash my hair, I decided to spray my coconut scent dry shampoo on my head and I picked out my red casual summer dress that stops at my knees. And, because Damon liked me better in my glasses, I decided to wear it today and abandoned my contacts.

At seven on the dot, there was a knock on my door. I put down my phone that previously I had used to text my little sister and took a deep breath. What greeted me, however, took my breath away all over again.

Damon stood there, in all his bad boy glory yet with a small hesitant smile graced his handsome face. He was wearing an expensive looking leather jacket and black slacks but he looked striking. His eyes no longer showed amusement as I used to see in his eyes whenever he seen me. Instead, it feels with hesitancy and doubts. Maybe he was thinking whether it was a good idea to have dinner with the girl who have betrayed him.

"Damon," I said breathlessly.

"Elena," he tipped his head slightly and showed me his gift, "I brought wine for compliments. Hope you like red."

I nodded and stepped away as he stepped into the threshold and closed the door. He offered the wine and I quickly put it into a bucket of ice on the tray near the dining table that I had prepared and when I came back, he stood in the middle of the living room, looking unsure. Damn, I missed it when he was being all cozy in my apartment.

"I hope you like well-done steaks," I quipped from the dining area. I gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs and he did. I brought two plates of steaks with a side of asparagus and carrots with a bowl of barbecue sauce since I didn't know whether he liked barbecue sauce or not.

As I sat in front of him, I noticed that he had taken off his jacket. Well, at least he was trying to be comfortable and he was not in a hurry to leave here.

"I like any kind of food," he replied as he looked at my steaks as if he was looking at a gourmet meal.

"I have tiramisu for desert as well," I added. "Well, let's eat first then we'll… talk."

Damon nodded and I subtly watched him as he took the first bite and closed his eyes in delight and tried to hold back a moan.

I tried to stifle my laugh when I saw his face changed from pleasure to hungry for more steaks.

"Something funny?"

I looked up immediately to find him chewing his food adorably and blinked. "No… no, it's just… do you like it?"

"Ugh, it's probably the best steaks I've ever had," he moaned out his satisfaction. God, if he didn't stop with those moans and facial expressions I'd rethink my decision about staying a virgin for my husband. Wait, oh my, God, Elena what the freaking hell were you thinking?

God, I was completely screwed.

"Yeah?" I gulped thickly.

He nodded as he took another bite and I finally tear my gaze from him and focus on my own food.

We spent twenty minutes of devouring the steaks in silent. And I didn't like it one bit.

Damon used to talk, a lot. He used to ask me questions that sometimes annoy me but I secretly loved it.

"So," I started as I put the empty dishes aside in the kitchen and he moved to the couch. By now I think he was more comfortable than thirty minutes ago. "Would you like the—"

"Can we talk now? Please?"

I spun around to find Damon with his serious face on, and I tried to calm myself down. I prayed to all Gods up there to make him listen to what I have to say and forgive me. I could not, for the love of a God, to let go of the one thing that made me happy for the past few months just like that.

Well, here you go! I decided to split 'the talk' into two chapters. And I just realized, that Caroline is smarted than Katherine. I'm writing the next chapter as we speak, so if you want it up soon, feed me with your reviews as it literally will make my day!

Oh, and recently I have been in touch with one of the author here, delenadreams, that has stories so full of angst I want to cry almost every chapter. But, don't worry, she will eventually make you happy!

And have a nice day/night to you all!