"Caroline Forbes, I have a reservation for two," Today was the day she was helping Kol plan his epic proposal to Bonnie and she was both exhilarated and nervous as hell. She had been waiting for this very moment for two years, she still wasn't sure it was really happening, but she couldn't be happier for two of her best friends.
"Right this way miss Forbes," the chipper hostes picked up two menues and stepped out from behind the hostdesk, leading Caroline through the restaurant towards the closed section in the back. Up until three days ago she didn't have a hope in the world to get a table in the closed section, but after her success at arranging NYFW she'd become somewhat of a high profile client, and considering the delicate topic of this lunch meeting, privacy was crucial. She didn't want anyone leaking the proposal to the press, not until it was all done and Bonnie had said yes, she didn't want anyone to ruin that special moment for her best friend.

"Is this alright?" The hostess showed her a private booth in the far back of the closed section, it had a perfect vantage point to the front door, and perfect for privacy.
"It's perfect, thank you," Smiling, the hostes put the menues on the table as Caroline slid behind the table, facing the front so she would spot Kol when he arrived, and pulling up her notebook filled with ideas for how Kol should pop the big question.
"A waiter will arrive to take your orders when your companion arrives, in the meantime, do you perhaps want something to drink?"
"Water please," Nodding, the hostes left her alone and Caroline opened her notebook and went over her thoughts and ideas, this was a really big deal and she so badly wanted to make it special for both Bonnie and Kol.

"Caroline," Looking up from her notebook, she rose from the table to give Kol a hug when he came five minutes later, and he looked almost as nervous as she felt.
"You look nervous," Scowling at her, he loosened his tie and leaned back in his seat with his arms spread on the armrest, giving the female waitress a forced smile when she arrived at their table and he didn't answer Caroline's statement before the waitress had left with their orders. "Of course I'm bloody nervous, I'm about to ask a woman to marry me, do you have any idea what level of commitment marriage is?" Suppressing a smile, Caroline poured water into both of their glasses from the crystal decanter the waitress had left on their table, and took a sip of her own glass. Kol was cute when he was nervous, adorable actually, it was refreshing to see this new side of him.
"Only a lifelong one," Hopefully...

"What exactly did you have in mind, other than the day I mean?" Kol sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and Caroline noticed how tired he looked, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"I don't know, you know Bonnie better than anyone, you tell me," He was grumpy too, definetely hadn't slept in a while.
"Alright, first things first, drop the attitude smartass. This is your proposal, not mine. Yes, I know Bonnie better than anyone else, but I'm not the one proposing to her, so give me something to work with here." Bonnie was a simple girl at heart, she wasn't the kind of woman who would want an extravagant and public proposal, she'd want something that was private, a moment with just the two of them that was romantic and sweet and heartfelt.
"Shit, I'm sorry Caroline. The last couple of days have been hectic, my brothers are still here and it seems as if Klaus may be staying a while, he's thinking of opening a hotel in the city and looking for real estate as we speak." Caroline hated the way her heart fluttered in her chest, how her palms became damp and her blood heated at the mention of Klaus. They had one night of incredible sex, the chemistry between them had been unbelivable and when he'd asked her out for breakfast the morning after, she had never laughed so much as she did when she listened to him tell her childhood stories about Kol and Rebekah. Still, what they had was a passing thing, a one night stand and nothing more, she shouldn't be reacting this way.

"It's fine, just take a deep breath and settle yourself, get into the right state of mind and the reason why we're here right now. Your proposal to Bonnie," Caroline had plans with Bonnie later, they were going to have a girls night, maybe invite Kat and Rebekah to come along if they decided to go out for drinks, but nothing was settled yet. This however, this needed to be settled by the end of this lunch.
"Right, Bonnie. I was thinking along the lines of a late dinner on the penthouse terrace, maybe hire some musicians and dance before proposing at desserts." It was almost a perfect proposal, except for one thing- "No musicians, Bonnie won't be comfortable with that and she's going to see right through it. You have a top notch audio system in your apartment, that's all you need for music. In terms of food, were you planning to cook?" Caroline knew Kol couldn't cook to save his life, which would make it that much more romantic if he actually took the time to learn how to do it, and learn how to prepare a couple of simple dishes to make the night perfect.
"Caroline, we both know I'm no chef. I can't even make frozen pizza without burning it," Smiling at the incredulous look he was giving her, she dug out her planner and flipped to the back where she kept all the numbers for her contacts listed.

"Listen, I know a guy, he's a chef and he owes me a favor. He can teach you to make a few courses that will blow Bonnie's mind and if you really want to make an impression, I might convince him to teach you how to make a suffle." It was no easy task to ask of him, she was well aware of that, but she had faith that if he put his mind to it he could do it with flying colors.
"He must be really good if he can teach me to cook," She laughed at his disgruntled expression, waiting to pick up their conversation until after the waitress had dropped off their food and walked away.
"He's the best, trust me Kol, you can do this. I have plans with Bonnie tonight, she's going to be out of the house for hours and I can have Sebastian stop by your place in the mean time. I promise you by the end of the night, you'll be on your way to becoming a real chef," Cutting off a piece of his medium rare steak, he chewed it down and the expression on his face said he was deep in thought.
"A suffle, really?" Nodding encouragingly she lifted her fork to her mouth, the chicken salad was out of this world, maybe she should hear with the owners if they ever did catering for parties.
"Alright, I'll do it," And Caroline was once again the queen of all event planning.


Stefan Salvatore knew who Klaus Mikaelson was, not as Rebekah or Kol's brother, but as the hotel tycoon with hotel chains all over the world and a reputation of being a shark in the industry. He had never met the man personally, not before the party at Kol's nightclub, but now he was in his office and they were talking business. When his father had died and left Stefan in charge of his entire empire, he hadn't wanted the responsibility, but he had also known that to put Damon at the rodder would be to destroy everything his father had spent his entire life building. Giuseppe Salvatore had been a bastard, the only thing he ever really cared about was his hotels, and he'd considered letting it all crumble just to give his father one last "fuck you", but he hadn't been able to do it.

Expanding the hotel over seas on the other hand, that was something he had wanted to do for a long time but hadn't had the opportunity too, until now.
"Why me? Out of every other hotel chain in this city, why choose mine?" That was the one thing he couldn't quite figure out. Stefan had four hotels in the city, one more currently under construction, in addition he also had about three dozen other hotels across the country, but even so he wasn't consider among the top tier. Klaus on the other hand had more than two hundred hotels all over the world, if he wanted to get into business with anyone, it would make more sense for him to seek out people like the Hilton's or Trump.
"You have vision, Stefan. Also, you are already familiar with several members of my family and they all speak very highly of you. I'm not just looking to expand, I'm looking for a partner that I can trust." The problem was, Stefan wasn't sure he should trust Klaus. Given his considerable power in the business and his reputation, it was a very big chance that he would screw him over and Stefan would be left with nothing to show for it.
"Say I agree to go into business with you, what exactly is it that you're proposing?" Caroline should have been there, she had helped him when he first took over as CEO of the company, had helped him see through all the bullshit when people had tried to screw him over. She had always been his soundingboard, the one who helped him keep his feet on the ground and not get lost in the clouds, the more he thought about it the more he realized he couldn't make this decision without consulting her first.

"We will both have our respective companies, of course, and those will be exclusively ours with no interference. What I'm suggesting is that we start a new line of hotels together. I know how time consuming running a company can be, but with the two of us together, I believe we can go global." It was a tempting offer, and if he could do it without risking everything, it might be worth a shot. He had enough personal funds that he could do it without borrowing funds from the Boardinghouse, and with Klaus combined funds they might actually pull it off.
"I need some time to think about it, how long are you in town?" Klaus smiled and looked out the windows overlooking Manhattan, the skycrapers like glistening towers in the glowing sun.
"Atleast another week, I have decided to spend some time with my family while I'm here." Stefan wondered what a Mikaelson bonding looked like, but he wasn't about to ask, considering his own complicated relationship with his brother he knew how difficult family could be.

"I just have to confer with one other person before I get back to you, I should have an answer before the weekend,"


Something was going on with her boyfriend and best friend, and Bonnie wanted to know what it was. She wasn't jealous, knew how close friends Caroline and Kol were, but they had never kept things from her before. When Caroline had told her she was meeting Kol for lunch she hadn't thought all that much about it, but when she had asked Kol his plans for the day and he hadn't told her anything, that's what had her suspicious. Kol didn't lie to her, so whatever was going on had to be something big if he didn't want her to know. Maybe it had something to do with his brothers being in the city, she knew he hadn't been all that happy when Caroline brought Klaus home with her after the club, but he couldn't still be upset about that, could he?

"Bonnie?" Elena's voice brought her back to the present and she blinked away the last risidual thoughts gnawing at her. Elena was on set in Australia, she had just gotten some time between filming and since she couldn't talk to Caroline, skyping with Elena was the next best thing.
"I'm sorry, it's just this thing with Kol and Caroline, it's got me all over the place," Elena smiled but it was a tired smile, her always so put together movie star best friend looked tired a lot lately, and while she didn't voice it, she was starting to think that maybe it was time for Elena and Damon to take another break. The only problem with that was, she knew how it was going to turn out. Everytime Elena and Damon broke up or decided to take a "time out", Damon ended up drowning himself in alcohol and sniffing his way through mountains of cocain, then Stefan would force him back into rehab with the help of Caroline and once he got clean he and Elena would end up together again. A breakup between Elena and Damon always affected the people around them more then it affected them, Caroline had worn herself out last time trying to be there for both Elena and Stefan, and Bonnie couldn't see Caroline push herself into the ground again. Not after last time.

"You should just ask them Bonnie, didn't you say you and Caroline are having a girlsnight tonight? Ask her then," Biting her lip, Bonnie considered Elena's advice. It wasn't a bad idea, but if whatever was going on was personal, she didn't want to be pushy or come of as the petty jealous girlfriend. Caroline would never go behind her back and cheat with Kol, and Kol would never hurt her like that, she knew that like she knew the back of her hand, but something was definetely going on that they didn't want her to know about. Was it so wrong that she was maybe a little insecure?

"I don't know Elena, I think I'm just going to let it go for now. If it's something important that I should know about, one of them will tell me." Bonnie could see the hesitation on Elena's face, knew that whatever came next wouldn't make her feel better.
"Damon cheated three months ago, and I knew something was wrong but he never said anything. I had to find out from Kat, this weekend..." Suddenly Elena's tired appearance made all the sense in the world, so did her red eyes, Bonnie couldn't even imagine the pain her friend had to be going through.
"I'm so sorry, Elena. But, Kol isn't Damon, I know he wouldn't hurt me like that. And we both know Caroline would kill herself before doing something like that to either one of us," That was one thing she was absolutely sure about.
"I know, Care wouldn't do that, all I'm saying is that maybe he did cheat and he's confiding in Caroline. Everyone confides in Caroline, and she never tells because she's Caroline," and Caroline didn't tell other peoples secrets...
"Elena, are you okay? Did you and Damon..." Sighing, Elena flipped her hair over her shoulder and her eyes were blank when she finally replied.
"I broke up with him last night. He's been sleeping with his co-star all along and then he's being an ass about me having that sex-scene with Liam for the movie. I can't do it anymore, Bonnie. This whole relationship with me and Damon is never going to end well, I just... he's a weakness I can't seem to shake." It had always been like that with Elena and Damon, even senior year of high school when they first got together it was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs that never seemed to end. Personally, Bonnie thought Damon was the reason for that, it had been the same way when he was dating Caroline, until Caroline finally had enough and dumped his sorry ass.

"You can do it Elena, I know you can. I know it's not what you want to hear right now, but maybe the two of you breaking up is a good thing. You might finally find someone that actually makes you happy," That was all Bonnie wanted for Elena, after everything she'd been through, she just wanted her to be happy.
"Thanks Bon, listen I've got to go, I have a shoot in three hours and need to get some sleep. Talk to Caroline, text me if you learn something."
"I will, take care Elena"

Signing off the computer, Bonnie grabbed her phone and texted Caroline. She needed a girls night more than ever, and maybe Elena was right, maybe it was better to get it all in the open sooner rather than later. At least then, she would know.


Katherine glared at her phone as it vibrated for the sixteenth time in as many minutes, Damon really didn't know how to take a hint. She figured he was calling her because Elena had dumped him again, good for her, and she had no desire what so ever to listen to him whine about how utterly unfair her sister was being. Katherine may not always have the best relationship with her sister, but Elena deserved a hell of a lot better then some cheating ass who couldn't keep it in his pants.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Rebekah glanced pointedly at her phone, and Kat showed the stupid thing into her purse.
"No, it's Damon again, and unless you want to listen to his crap, I'm never answering a call from him again." She just hoped Elena had enough sense to stay away from him this time.
"Ah, still trouble in paradise?" Snorting, Katherine stepped in front of the mirror per Rebekah's instructions, and snapped her gaze towards her purse as the stupid phone started vibrating again. She was helping Rebekah with a final fitting for a wedding gown she'd designed for the daughter of the New Orleans mayor, and it really was a gorgeous one of a kind dress.
"Hold this," taking the pins Rebekah held out, the designer kneeled down to make some final adjustments on the skirt, tightening it at the waist and Katherine had the sudden thought that she would make a pretty gorgeous bride.

"You make a stunning bride," Elijah's voice sentencing her thoughts had her head snapping towards the door, her cheeks coloring slightly at the very heavy look he was giving her. Mrs. Katherine Mikaelson - it didn't sound half-bad, except for the part where she had to actually get married. Katherine didn't believe in marriage, thought of it as a prisonsentence, she liked having the freedom to see and be exactly who she wanted.

"Elijah, what are you doing here? I thought you and Nik were out scowering the real estate market for the next big "Original" hotel." Rebekah wasn't sure how she felt about the prospect of her brothers moving to New York on a more permanent basis, at least until their latest hotel was finished and running smoothly. She loved Elijah and Nik, but she quite enjoyed having them at a distance, they were less likely to probe into her personal affairs in New Orleans.
"Yes sister, we were. Niklaus is having a business meeting with your friend Stefan at the moment, I presume he'll come here when he's finished. We thought we could take you out to dinner," That was sweet, and she would love nothing more than to have dinner with her brothers, but she still had a lot of work to do and really didn't have the time.
"I appreciate the gesture Elijah, I really do, but I'm swamped here and I'm already behind as it is. This dress needs to be finished by morning and I-" The incessant vibration from Katherine's purse broke her off and she'd had enough. Stomping over to the worktable where Katherine had deposited her purse, she wrenched the phone out of the purse and put it to her ear.

"Katherine is busy Damon and no one wants to listen to your pittiful excuses, grow up and be a man." Hanging up she turned to face Katherine who was smirking at her with an arched brow that said she was impressed, causing Rebekah to roll her eyes and huff in annoyance as she stalked back over to finish the last touches on the dress.
"Like I was saying Elijah, I really don't have time for dinner," Elijah sighed and walked up to stand behind her, grabbing her shoulders he turned her around and forced her to look at him.
"You need to eat Rebekah, without food you're going to lose your focus and start making mistakes." Slumping against him, she sighed and conceded to his point.
"You're welcome to join us as well miss Pierce," Katherine smiled, and it was the kind of smile that made it obvious Katherine was intimately familiar with her brother, which made Rebekah want to gag.
"If you could both refrain from having eye-sex in my presence, that would be very much appreciated. I don't give a damn what the two of you do behind closed doors, but this is my sacred space, so keep it pg rated."

Katherine was starting to see Rebekah in a whole new light, she had clearly misjudged by thinking she was a doe-eyed pushover, Rebekah Mikaelson had spunk and Katherine liked that. Rebekah was more than just a damn good designer, somewhere in there was a stonecold bitch that Katherine could learn to like and respect.


After finishing her lunch with Kol, Caroline called Sebastian and set up everything he needed to teach Kol to cook. Then she hailed a cab to take her to the Sentinel, Stefan's hotel that Matt was currently staying in, and from the 911 text he'd sent her ten minutes ago, something was seriously wrong. Matt had never sent her a 911 text her entire life, and she was slightly terrified as she rode the elevator to the 22nd floor where he was staying in the two bedroom London suite.

Knocking on the door, she felt the buzz of an incoming text and just had the time to type a quick reply to Bonnie before Matt opened the door and pulled her inside. Opening her mouth to ask him what the hell was going on, she stopped herself after seeing his haggard appearance and the panicked look in his eyes.
"Matt, what-" before she could finish her sentence, there was a crash from the main room and she spun around, feeling her eyes go wide she glanced back at Matt and he seemed so utterly lost it almost broke her heart.

"It's Vicky," he said finally and she could already feel a migraine starting to press at her temples. Vicky Donovan was supposed to be in rehab, how on earth she'd gotten out and jumped a plane to New York was beyond her, but she could understand Matt's panic.
"When did she get here?" Stepping out of her heels, she shrugged out of her jacket and pulled her hair into a tight bun. She'd dealt with Vicky before, the Lindsay Lohan of pop stars could be volatile and violent when she was under the influence, and Matt wouldn't have called her if Vicky wasn't on something.
"A couple hours ago. I tried talking to her, to convince her to go back to rehab, but she freaked out and I can't get her to calm down."

Rolling her shoulders, she walked down the hall and into the main room. The place was trashed, the glass table and tv was broken, splinters of glass were all over the carpeted floor and it looked like she'd used some of the shards to tear the furniture. Vicky herself was pacing the floor in front of the windows. She was sickly thin, her clothes were hanging off her, the long dark strands of her hair were all matted together and when she finally looked at Caroline she had a crazed look in her eyes that Caroline recognized all too well.

"How long since you last shot up, Vicky?" She was twitchy, her eyes flicking back and forth across the room like a caged animal, and her feet were tripping while she bit her nails nervously.
"Yesterday morning," Her voice belonged to a seventy year old woman, not the twenty-seven year old she was. Walking into the kitchen, careful not to step on any glass, she drew a glass of water and looked at Matt who had followed behind her. Keeping her voice low so Vicky wouldn't hear, she said "In the hall, look inside my purse and find my planner. In the back there's a contact list, call the number under Cory and tell him I need his help. Give him the name of the hotel and the roomnumber, tell him it's urgent. I'll deal with Vicky," Turning around, Matt shot his sister a final dissappointed look before dissappearing into the hall.

"Matty? Matt, where are you going?" Vicky was starting to panic again, her attachment to her brother had always been strong, but every time she got like this it took a little more of his soul, and as horrible as the thought was, sometimes Caroline wished that Vicky's od's weren't always near calls. Maybe if Vicky wasn't around anymore, he'd actually have a chance at a somewhat normal and happy life.
"He's just going to take a little walk Vick, clear his head a little. Come sit down with me, tell me what's going on, why you're here," Vicky was anxious, her eyes constantly straying to the hall, but after a while she finally stepped around all the broken glass and joined Caroline at the dining table.

"I didn't mean to upset him, but that place they sent me too... I couldn't stay there any longer," shaking her head to back up her statement, Vicky was but a ghost of the person Caroline had once called a friend. Vicky was seventeen when she released her first single and became a big hit, for the first couple of years she was americas sweetheart, but then she met a guy that introduced her to the dark side of the industry, and since then she'd been in and out of rehab. She usually managed to stay clean for a period of four to six months before having a relapse, and it was always Matt who had to take the brunt of it.
"What happened? It's okay Vick, you can talk to me," despite everything she put Matt through, Caroline still cared about Vicky and if something had happened to her at the rehab clinic, she wanted to help her in whatever she could.

"One of the orderlies" sniffing before pushing her hand under her nostril in a symptom Caroline recognized from cocaine users, Vicky looked almost shameful when she continued, "he would come into my room at night, and he would... do things. I can't do it anymore Caroline, I can't" Rage burning in her veins, Caroline reached out and took Vicky's hand. She knew better then to trust the words of an addict, but the shame and humiliation in Vicky's eyes weren't lies, and the fact that someone had taken advantage of her in the place she had gone to to get better, it made her want to kill someone.
"Vicky, will you let me help you, please? There is a rehab center right here in New York, I know the people who run it and they are really good people Vick. They'll take care of you, make you get better. You're allowed to have visitors and I can come see you every day, how does that sound?"

It was clear she wasn't in her right mind, her withdrawal had her on edge and made her unpredictable, but she didn't seem like she did when she got violent. She seemed more scared, lost, and it was breaking Caroline's heart.

"Every week?" Smiling, she repeated it back to her, just holding Vicky's hand until Matt returned with Cory beside him. Caroline had met Cory two years ago when she'd been hired to plan an event for his charity, they had kept in touch and she had never been more happy about that then she was in that very moment.
"Vicky, this is Cory, he's the one I told you about, his charity runs the rehab center." As Cory came around the table, Caroline gave him her seat and walked over to stand beside Matt, taking his hand in their own as they both watched in silence while Cory talked to Vicky. She was going to do something about what had happened to Vicky at the other rehab center, she wasn't going to tell Matt because it wasn't her secret to tell and at the moment it would only do more harm then good, but when the time was right, she'd convince Vicky to tell him. The important thing was to get Vicky somewhere she could feel safe, a place with the right setting to help her get better, and Caroline would keep her promise and visit every week.