So thank you again for your reviews and also for following and favoring the story :)
I apologize for my mistakes.
Here's the second chapter for you!
Oh my freaking goodness it should be illegal to look like that. The ocean blue eyes were only a part of the packet in front of her that Caroline had never even dared to dream of. The well built physique, not too much to look like a Rambo but enough for anyone to notice the lean muscles outlined under his green shirt; the curly blond hair calling to her to brush her fingers through it and those raspberry lips…
She was sure his bodily and facial features were everything a woman could have ever desired for in a man. And she already met a pretty large number of male models while standing behind the objective of her camera. A very few could have compared themselves to this gorgeous man who appeared out of nowhere.
Okay girl that's enough. Pull yourself together! Caroline wasn't able to take her eyes off him. She simply stood there, almost open-mouthed, incapable to produce a single word.
"You're staring." She heard him chuckling. Caroline's cheeks went immediately red. Way to go, Caroline. A great first impression.
"I'm sorry, you took me by surprise," she finally managed to utter. "I have expected Rebekah; does she live in this apartment?"
"Nik, you forgot your…" claimed a voice from behind his back suddenly, taking away his chance to answer her question. He opened the door, he'd been holding ajar until now, more widely and Caroline came face to face with Rebekah.
"…wallet." Rebekah finished slowly her sentence and gave it to him.
After that, she paid attention only to her visitor as she grinned at her happily. "Caroline, I'm so glad you're here." Rebekah hugged her. She didn't let go at least for a minute and Caroline started to feel slightly suffocated.
"Well I believe that's my cue to leave. Don't want to interrupt," said the man whose name was obviously Nik; as Caroline learned shortly before Rebekah attacked her with her arms.
"Pleasure to meet you, Caroline." He smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
She honestly thought he's going to at least shake her hand but he kept his distance somehow. She watched him to turn on his heel and disappear down the hallway.
"Likewise, Nik." She whispered being certain he couldn't have heard her anymore.
"Klaus…You should call him Klaus unless he asks you otherwise." Rebekah's voice brought her back to reality. Caroline sent her an enquiring glance.
"He hates being called Nik outside the family." Rebekah elaborated on her previous statement.
Caroline acknowledged her remark by nodding. She tried to hide her disappointment at not having the privilege to address him as Nik. It suits him better.
Being invited in, Caroline took off her black stilettos and followed Rebekah into a living room which looked much bigger than her whole apartment.
Familiar with her caffeine addiction, Rebekah offered Caroline a cup of coffee which was gratefully accepted.
"Wow this place is beautiful, Bekah." She exclaimed in awe after she took in her surroundings.
"Thank you. But you have to tell that to Nik, not to me. He's the one who picked it." Bekah informed her after she returned from the kitchen with two cups.
"So that hottie is your boyfriend?" asked Caroline anxiously.
Rebekah made a grimace in disgust when she saw the admiration for her brother in Caroline's eyes.
"God no! He's one of my brothers."
The mention of her siblings reminded Caroline why she showed up here in the first place.
After Klaus got off an elevator and greeted Tyler, their new neighbor living in one of the apartments on their floor, with a nod, he left the building and immediately caught himself a cab.
He was heading towards the office of his future employer, The New York Arts Magazine. The woman who had interviewed him yesterday called him at this morning; happy to announce that they would like to offer him a position of an art critic.
Sitting in the taxi, he remembered the Blonde he had just met. Even though he considered her behavior slightly confusing he couldn't deny the fact that the length of the dress she was wearing totally complimented her long silky legs and those baby blue eyes of hers complemented her pretty face nicely. In one word she was stunning to him.
Maybe he should really move on how Rebekah reminded him almost at every opportunity. It appeared as a miracle to him that he hadn't slept with a woman for a longer time now. A year ago, he had been fooling around for a few months with Tatia, his colleague from the gallery he worked for during that time. Nobody knew about them. At one day she wanted to make their "relationship" official and he couldn't have done that. He didn't even like her properly and he thought that the nature of their relation had been made clear to her by him from a beginning. She called him a heartless jerk, and yet somehow, he couldn't care less about her opinion. After they ended things she found herself another man in a week. She was now engaged; with a child on its way.
While occupied by this sexual liaison with Tatia he really felt like he was cheating on Lauren. That was why since then he hadn't pursued another relationship, of any kind; despite of everything that had happened between him and his wife before the accident.
When he arrived at the house of Lauren's uncle that night Maddie was already dead on her feet; sleeping even before he put her into a car seat.
Lauren greeted her uncle goodbye on a cheek and walked towards their car, taking keys from him without permission. He had supposed he would be the one driving the vehicle, like always, because to his best knowledge Lauren hated driving most of the time. He decided against commenting on this desire of hers to change the habit so suddenly. There'd been enough problems without it.
He considered the silence that reigned in the car since the first minute they hit the road quite unbearable but maybe better than the constant fighting they had going on in the last months. He was half asleep on the passenger front seat when Lauren's voice roused him from the slumber.
"I think we should get a divorce."
He stiffened but didn't say anything. Truth was he had been thinking about that for a long time now but never admitted the thought to no one out loud.
"I'm not discussing this in our daughter's presence." He protested, even though they both knew that even if a bomb went off next to Maddie she would continue to sleep.
"Nik, come on." She pleaded.
He ignored her completely, looking outside a window on his side, watching other cars passing by, anything except paying attention to her.
"I…" She hesitated before continuing. "I've met someone and… I've made a mistake." She closed her eyes, trying to hold her tears back.
He listened to his wife, not believing where she was heading with this.
"I know we have our problems but that is no excuse for me. I shouldn't have done that…but I swear, Nik, it happened only once and-" Lauren swallowed, unsure how to go on, any other words stuck in her throat.
She noticed his clenched fists but he still wasn't saying anything.
"Could you at least look at me?" She turned to him shortly when he even didn't bother to cast a glance in her direction.
"Eyes on the road, sweetheart." He muttered, still not acknowledging her admission.
"That's all, seriously?"
"What would you like me to say, Lauren? Thank you for cheating on me? Or for informing me about that, oh so generously?"
Madeleine stirred in her sleep in the back as he raised his voice, mumbling something quietly but then dozing off again.
"You know that's so typical of you. Shutting me out, not telling me what you think. That's exactly why it happened." She whispered angrily after she got quiet for a moment.
"So everything's my fault now?" Klaus answered; starting to feel really irritated.
"Stop twisting my words, that's not what I meant…" She added more agitatedly.
Those were Lauren's last words he remembered from that ride. The rest was just a blur; the traffic light turned green even before they approached the nearest junction, flashing lights of an ambulance which struck on Lauren's side of car only seconds later. And then everything went black.
"Sir, we're here." The taxi driver announced as he pulled over. Klaus paid him and got out of the cab.
He had some time at disposal before his arranged meeting in order to sign a contract of employment should have taken place so he decided to go and buy himself a cup of coffee.
He had entered Starbucks and shortly after that, he noticed a woman eyeing him up, blinking her eyelashes wildly. He was going to turn her down, as she began to approach him, when his mind echoed his little sister's words again: At one point in your life, you have to move on.
Until now, no member of his family had any idea about what had preceded the accident. Or about the fights between Lauren and him; they managed to hide their disagreements from everyone, including Maddie. His little sunshine who was now gone and he had no clue how to deal with the pain over her loss even after three years.
The only thing he desired for was to turn everything off, to forget. He was sure Rebekah didn't have an occasional sex with an occasional woman in mind when she advised him to move on with his life but that didn't stop him from smiling back at the stranger who introduced herself as Vicki to him.
"I'm Klaus." He smirked confidently. "May I buy you a cup of coffee?"
"And now we're all just trying to pick up the pieces and be there for each other, as a family." Rebekah finished her narration about what had happened while she was gone in England. However, she omitted some minor details and also a major one about the story. She knew it wasn't her place to reveal that specific information.
Caroline appeared in shock at what she had just found out. Hearing Rebekah's side of story, she didn't have it in her to stay mad anymore.
"Bekah, what I know you have four brothers." Caroline reminded her carefully.
Okay, so she left out two major details. Rebekah sighed heavily. "Klaus, he's the one."
Caroline froze and remained silent for a minute, feeling that everything she could have said would sound stupid.
"I'm sorry, Rebekah. No one should experience things like that." She offered her friend a sad smile.
Rebekah returned it immediately. "Thank you, Care."
Not wanting to discuss the heavy topic further, Rebekah asked, "So how have you been, any new guy that's worth mentioning?"
Caroline chuckled. "Well I've dated few guys since Enzo but it's always ended up in failure. Even with…" She paused.
Rebekah was staring at her curiously, eager to hear the rest.
"With Stefan," Caroline blurted out.
Rebekah's eyebrows almost hit the ceiling in surprise.
"It was a short romance. I think we just needed to prove to anyone and also to ourselves that we are better off as friends." Caroline explained in one breath.
"Well I have to admit your taste in men improved in the last three years," Rebekah started to tease her unexpectedly. "Which cannot be said about your fashion sense, dear. Where did you get this awful dress? In 1946?"
Rebekah wrinkled her nose in similar disapproval as Katherine before and Caroline slightly blushed. Maybe buying the dress had really been a mistake.
And that's the end of Chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed it!
I'm sorry about Klaus and the other women but as I've already said there's a long journey ahead of him and Caroline :)
I'd be happy if you'll let me know what you think :)
Thanks for reading.
