37

"Dr. Mikaelson. You have a minute?"

Elijah stopped walking and faced Alaric. "Yeah, sure. Can I help you with anything?"

"Actually I have some good news for you." He placed a hand on Elijah's shoulder. "They just finished building a large hospital in Miami, Florida-The Stevenson Hospital as you can imagine they are desperate for doctors. I recommended you and they are going to be offering you a position. A great salary, great benefits, more opportunities-"

"Wait," Elijah interrupted. "They want me?"

Alaric nodded. "Just got an email myself, they are probably going to be calling you about an offer in a few days, but I just wanted to be the first to tell you and congratulate you."

"Wow, thank you." Elijah's voice trailed off. This was unbelievable, a job in Miami with more benefits and a bigger salary that was great and then it hit him. Rebekah. Stefan. Davina. Katherine. His life in New York. Katherine. He closed his eyes. "Katherine." Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"I couldn't help but overhear a job in Miami, Florida good for you. You better take me to Disney world." Davina's smiled faltered. "What's wrong? You don't really look happy."

"No, I am," he said in an unconvincing tone. "I am happy, I'm just surprise. I mean Miami is not exactly next door."

"Why does that matter-"Davina's voice trailed off. "Katherine. Don't you think you can convince her to go with you? Or maybe you can do the long distance thing."

Elijah leaned back against the door. "D, we both know that the long distance thing doesn't work and I can't just ask Katherine to leave, all of the big magazines are here."

Davina frowned as she folded her arms across her chest. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't think I'm going to accept the job."

Davina sighed. "Elijah, I know you love Katherine, but this is a great opportunity-you can't pass this up." She paused. "How do you think she's going to take it?"

Elijah sighed. "I don't know."

Elijah knew that he was a coward.

It had been almost two weeks since Alaric told him the news, one week since he got the official offer from the hospital in Florida and he still hadn't told Katherine about it. He had been trying too, but he and Katherine had been having such a good time that he hadn't wanted to burst her bubble.

Though bursting it tonight during dinner didn't seem like a great plan either.

"Are you ok?" Katherine asked as she looked up from her dinner. "You're quiet."

"I have some news. Good news." Elijah forced a smile. "I got a job promotion to a bigger hospital."

"That's great. Where?"

"Not in New York, sweetheart. The job is in Florida." Elijah said rapidly and he saw Katherine's mood change quickly. Her lips turned into a frown and her lips quivered.

"Wow, Florida that's a long way from New York."

"I know." Elijah reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Baby, if you don't want me to go, I won't go. I'm perfectly happy staying in New York."

"No," she said. "Elijah, you should go. It's a great opportunity for you. You can't just throw it away. Though it does make where our relationship stands a bit difficult since you know I'm not a fan of long distance relationships."

"Neither am I," had Elijah hesitated before he said. "There is one other option, you can come to Miami with me."

Katherine didn't speak for a moment before she said, "Elijah, I'm sorry I love you, but I can't leave New York. Eloise is here, Elena and Emma are buried here, Caroline is here, my job is here, I can't," her voice broke. "I can't just leave."

"I understand." Elijah knew she wouldn't accept, but a part of him had been hoping that she would go anyway. He stood up. "We better leave, I'm not really hungry."

They stood up and left the restaurant, they stopped in front of it as they stared at each other not really saying anything. There was really nothing left to be said. They both had their own lives now. Their own careers. Elijah was going to be in Miami and Katherine was going to be in New York.

The don't go, was at the tip of Katherine's tongue, but she refused to say it. It was a great opportunity for Elijah and she didn't want to ruin it for him. "So," she said awkwardly. "I guess this is goodbye."

Elijah's throat felt tight and there were a hundred things that he wanted to say, but nothing came out. He kissed her forehead. "Goodbye, Miss Pierce."

Katherine bit her lip and tried to prevent the tears from falling at the way that he was saying goodbye. She remembered him calling her Miss Pierce from the first day that she had ended up at the hospital. When would she hear him saying that again? "Goodbye, Dr. Mikaelson."

-End of Chapter Thirty Seven-

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