"Are you expected at Ms. Gilbert's today?" Lillian Salvatore slides a glass of orange juice in front of her son when he plods down the stairs.
Still tired, he raises his eyes to look at the wall clock - 11 am.
"No, she told me to stay home since I was there pretty late yesterday," he empties the glass in one long pull.
His mother shakes her head and refills it before putting the carton back inside the refrigerator.
"How come you're not at work?" Damon picks up his fork.
"I'll be leaving soon, Theophilia opened up for me. I had a Zoom meeting with a writer about making an appearance at the store to sell her new book."
Damon's playing with his food, swirling his fork around on the plate.
"Is something wrong? Do you want to quit your job?" Lillian takes the chair next to him.
"No!" his head snaps up.
"Okay," she drags out. "You do know you can talk to me if you have a problem, right?"
"I know mom, nothing's wrong. I like the job and Ms. Gilbert is very nice, so is her friend that lives nearby."
"I don't know if I've ever seen her in the store..."
Damon forces a smile. "She mentioned that Mrs. Flowers has always checked her out," he finishes his second glass of orange juice. "I'm going to get dressed, maybe see if Enzo wants to hang out at the pool or something?"
"Okay, have fun," Lillian kisses his head, grabs her purse and heads out of the door.
Elena sits up on her knees to admire her handiwork. Pushing her sunhat off of her eyes, she looks at her garden. Her apple tree is the jewel of the it. She and Aaron planned it so they would be drinking in the aromas of the late summer blooms, soothed by sounds of the decorative waterfall as they would sink their teeth into the skin of the homegrown fruit.
Smiling at the memory, she picks up the hand trowel to dig up a few weeds. When she catches a glimpse of the blue sky, she can't help but consider Damon. He's a handsome young man, she suspects all the girls at his high school drool over him.
He's only 17, she's 24, a widow for over two years now...is her attraction simply because she's lonely? Elena shakes her head, she'd like to believe that but deep down, she knows that's not it or at least not the only reason. Every time she looks into his eyes - each carrying a thousand hues of blue - she can feel her heart fluttering like a guitar string being plucked. If not for Zeus, she's certain she would have leaned forward enough to brush her lips against his, she touches them wispily with her fingertips, wishing they were Damon's.
Suddenly a car horn snaps her out of her thoughts. Getting up, she plunges her trowel into the earth then walks around the front of the house to see who it is.
"Hey girl," Caroline quickly closes the distance and embraces her.
"Not that I'm unhappy to see you - she'll take her mind off of Damon - but what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be in New York for a while?"
"It's a mess, the crime is unbelievable. I couldn't wait to get out of there; besides we have a lot of catching up to do," she chuckles, links her arm with Elena's then practically drags her into the house...
"You're awfully quiet," Caroline brings the rim of the coffee up to her mouth.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
"Is it the farm? Is the money okay?"
"It's not that... Oh God, I'm going to bust if I don't tell someone."
"You know your secrets are safe with me," she pauses when Elena arches an eyebrow in disbelief. "Stop..." Caroline fights a smile, "I know there's a time I had a big mouth but I've grown up since then," she reaches across the table to link their hands.
"Vincent has been all over me to get someone to help with the heavy work. I finally agreed so both he and Uncle John would shut up..."
"And?"
"I did it, I hired a boy. He's been here for a few weeks now...His name's Damon. He just sort of snuck up on me. He got under my skin and no matter what I do I just can't shake him."
"You mean you have romantic feelings for him?" Caroline squeezes her hand in support.
"Yes! He's kind, helpful, mature, he works hard...Sometimes we just look at each other and it's like he can see my soul."
"So, what's the problem?"
"He's a 17-year-old kid," Elena frees her hands, bends her arms and rests her forehead on them.
"17? Wow! Look Elena, I'm not going to say it's wrong, lot of older women have affairs with younger. He's old enough, so you wouldn't be doing anything illegal if something were to happen."
Elena raises her eyes to meet Caroline's. "I haven't touched myself in a long time...you know what I mean."
Caroline slides her chair over so she can wrap an arm around her shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with that. It's normal."
"Normal to think of a kid when my hand is there?" her eyes drop.
"He's not a kid, he's a young man so stop beating yourself up."
Elena nods, leaning her cheek against Caroline's. "I'm really glad you came home, thanks for being here."
"I'll always be here for you. Now chin up, how about you and I go shopping? I bet you haven't been to the mall since I left?" Caroline arches an eyebrow.
Elena laughs, "You're right. Let me get my purse then we can go."
Damon swims laps at their local YMCA. Every few minutes, he ducks under the water and turns around, swimming back and forth till his arms feel heavy. When he lifts himself up to sit on the water's edge, Enzo appears.
"You must have it bad...?" he elbows him.
"Don't start okay?"
"Fine," he raises his hands in surrender. "She must be something else. The only time I've ever seen you swimming laps is when you're frustrated...in a carnal way that is."
"Shut up, Enzo. She's amazing. I've seen her manage a pitch fork better than I do. She works really hard to keep her place and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty."
"Her looks don't hurt."
"No, but she doesn't flaunt them, she doesn't talk down to me."
"I get it, you're still crushing on your boss."
"It's not a crush," Damon snaps as his fingers curl into a fist but he quickly relaxes it, not wanting to get into a scuffle with his best friend. Standing up, he reaches for a towel and cinches it around his waist.
"You want to go meet Kol and the guys, play some pool?" Enzo walks beside Damon as he heads for the locker room.
"Sure, I'll meet you there," he nods at Enzo then ducks inside to shower and dress.
Damon arrives at the farm a little early the next morning. He's not at all surprised to see Elena already mowing the lawn. She's wearing a floppy hat, jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He supposes to protect her soft skin from the sun.
Zeus suddenly appears and leaps on, knocking Damon to the ground and starts bathing his face with saliva.
Elena catches a glimpse of dark fur, unable to contain her laughter as she watches the spectacle. Finally, she turns off the engine and runs over to collect her dog.
"Zeus, that's enough," she wraps her fingers around his collar and pulls him off Damon.
"He likes you," Elena tries to keep a straight face but when Damon laughs, she joins him.
Soon Vincent pulls into the driveway and approaches them. "What's so funny?" he asks, petting Zeus when he raises up on his hind legs to greet him.
"He," Elena points to the dog, "gave Damon a tongue bath."
"Well, I came to see if I could borrow Damon for a few hours to help build some bookcases for Bonnie."
"It's not up to me, it's up to Damon," Elena hooks the chain to Zeus's collar.
Her smile lights up her whole face. Although he'd rather spend the day around her, he agrees. After all, he wouldn't have the job if not for Mr. Griffith. "Yeah, it's all good, unless you have some chores for me?" he stares at her full lips.
"You can catch up here tomorrow. Bonnie's been wanting those bookshelves for a long time. Did she kick your ass, Vincent?" Elena nudges him playfully.
"Ah... yes!"
"I knew it." she winks at Damon.
"You can ride with me; I'll drop you off later so you can drive home."
"Okay, sure. Bye Ms. Gilbert," he starts to follow Vincent.
"I told you to call me Elena," she waves as he backs up and watches till the pickup disappears behind a cloud of dust stirred up by the truck's tires.
Elena's sitting in a lawn chair watching the sunset with an unwavering gaze, as a fiery red orb of light slowly sinks beneath the horizon.
Threads of light linger in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then dark blue, until all that's left is a chalky mauve, and then that melts away in turn as stygian darkness takes over the sky.
Sequin-silver stars like the glowing embers of a dying fire wink down at her, illuminating the atramentous curtain of sky, and when suddenly the clouds part, she finds herself looking at a lustrous, argent disc casting brilliant rays of moonlight onto the dark grounds of her property.
She starts to get up to go inside when a voice startles her.
"Stunning, isn't it?" Damon's voice surprises her.
"I didn't even hear you walk up," she places her palm over her thundering heart.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he says softly, inching closer to her as he slowly lets his eyes travel up and down her form.
They sparkle with heat, and Elena finds herself completely mesmerized and unable to look away. She swallows hard as his breath stirs her eyelashes. Warmth radiates from the spot where his fingertips graze her skin, rapidly spreading through the rest of her.
"Elena," Damon whispers.
They both lean forward...
Thanks everyone. Thank you Eva.
Chapter title: 'Kiss The Girl' by Sebastian from 'The Little Mermaid'.
Have a wonderful day.