A/N: Welcome to chapter four, everyone. Thank-you for your reviews of this fic; I really appreciate all your feedback. I couldn't wait to post this, so even though I did edit, there may be some small errors.

Please review and let me know what you think :)

Most of all, enjoy this chapter!

Heartbreaker

Chapter four

Caroline's eyes snapped open at exactly six-oh-four that morning, just one minute before her alarm was supposed to sound. She hopped off her bed, pumped with energy and ready for her first yoga sesh since Christmas. She had twenty-five minutes to make to the early morning class down the street, giving her plenty of time to return and get ready for work. She didn't even bat an eyelash at the fact that it was a Friday and she had the whole weekend to go to yoga. They still had bridesmaid dresses to pick out for Elena's wedding and Caroline would be damned if she had to squeeze into her size four. She grabbed her water bottle and mat and headed out the door to start the day. She was of course on time for class and thankful that it wasn't as challenging as she thought it would be. It seemed that her body decided it was satisfied with retaining whatever flexibility she'd developed before the turkey and stuffing and of course pumpkin pie.

So, she couldn't understand how it was possible that she found herself, two and a half hours later, running from the taxi that dropped her outside her building. Hadn't she planned the morning out perfectly? Did she really take too long of a shower, like everyone told her? Oh boy, the look on Stefan's face would have her stewing in guilt for the rest of the day. The fact that she was taking a long lunch to meet her friends didn't help her situation either. After missing the first and second elevators to the top, she finally squished into the next lift along with her other late employees. Caroline was relieved no one noticed it was their president that got on with them—she was never one to set poor examples. She wondered if she could be lucky enough that maybe Stefan was later than she, so that he wouldn't notice either.

The elevator dinged at the top floor and the doors slid open, revealing Caroline's office space. She looked side to side, not seeing anyone, and darted from her spot. If she could just make it to her office without Stefan catching her in the act...She slinked a little closer to the doors of her personal office, still no PA in sight, and grabbed the handle, ready to make a soundless entry.

"President Forbes!"

She heard a voice call out from behind her and jumped in surprise. Yup, she was definitely caught. Caroline turned around wearing a sheepish smile. How ridiculous was this situation; the assistant catching his boss late to the office. Well, it was Friday after all.

"Morning, Stefan. Ready to get started for the day?" she said with a nervous laugh.

"Are you?" he replied, raising his eyebrows mockingly, " 'Cause it seems like someone hit snooze at least five times this morning."

"No! I did not! I swear!" she exclaimed, though she doubted he would buy what she was trying to sell.

"Mhm," he said seemingly unimpressed, before turning on his heel to his own desk. Caroline's shoulders slouched in defeat and she let out a sigh before entering her office and getting settled at her desk. She looked to the pristine stack of proposals Stefan had already set there, waiting for her. She sat down in her comfy chair, and setting her black-rimmed reading glasses atop her nose, she picked up the first one and began to read. Whatever she was looking at was pure garbage and Caroline pulled out a highlighter to begin striking out what she didn't like; most of it. Where did people get these ideas anyway? She was so focused she didn't hear Stefan come in almost an hour later until a throat cleared and broke Caroline from her concentration. He set a latte on her desk first, perhaps to try and distract her from the second pile of documents he dropped right after. His plan didn't work at all.

"Making progress? Board meeting is in another hour; it's being set up right now. They'll have the video call ready for Mr. Chang to join us from overseas." Stefan reported.

Caroline sat back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. "Is everything ready? We really need to nail this file to begin our expansion in China."

"All is taken care of. I reviewed the documents you prepped two weeks ago and your speech. Both look solid," he replied confidently. They had been trying to initiate expansion of the company globally for six years and an opportunity had finally presented itself. This was their shot.

"Perfect; thanks for the diligent work. Any calls I should know about?" Caroline asked.

"Two from your mother, who you really should call more often, and Elena phoned to confirm your lunch reservations for this afternoon at the Bistro. Don't think I didn't notice the extra hour you penned in for lunch, missy." Stefan teased.

"Oh God. I totally forgot to call her back; what did she sound like?" Caroline dragged a hand down her face—momma bear Forbes was not to be messed with.

"She sounded like a town sheriff about to put an APB out on the daughter she hasn't heard from in three weeks," he said seriously causing her to groan. He then broke out in a smile and said, "Just kidding. She said she just got back from her trip to Jamaica and wanted to catch up."

"Oh thank the Lord—you have no idea how terrifying my mom is when she slips into gold-star wearing Sheriff Forbes mode. And you don't want to know either," Caroline joked.

"Right. Oh, I almost forgot. Tyler called already, too; says he has reservations at your favourite spot tonight for the two of you," he said waggling his brows, "How romantic."

"Ugh, I'll have to call him back and cancel. I'm so not in the mood and I can't keep seeing this guy—he's way to understanding. He's got me feeling guilty enough as it is," she replied.

"Well, the thing is, I uh already accepted on your behalf. So, you kind of have to go. Maybe it can be a farewell date?" It was his turn to look embarrassed, but he was laughing at the same time. Rude!

"Stefan! You did what?!" she screeched.

"What? It's been a while since you went on a date. Besides, no one ever says no to break-up sex, not even Tyler," He suggested lightly. Caroline grabbed her stapler and made to throw it at him, fixing him with the famous Forbes death glare. Stefan held his hands up in front of his face and backed slowly away.

"I'm going back to my desk now! See you at the meeting in an hour!" He said, rushing out of her office. "Tyler says to be ready by seven!" He threw in at the last second as the door shut behind him.

"Argh, Stefan! Get back in here, you coward!" She yelled after him.

The conference had taken an additional two hours of the day, so by the time it finished, Caroline's stomach was loudly protesting against its emptiness. But, it felt as if the meeting was successful and they had made arrangements to discuss the plan in more depth again as their project developed. Mr. Chang had even agreed to fly out to personally oversee some of their workings. Caroline knew that if she gained such a wealthy stakeholder, her future ventures would flourish and more doors would open for the business. He was one big fish to catch, so it was a good thing she knew how to cast a wide net.

Stefan offered to take her folder and papers back to the office, which was probably the only apology she would get from him for setting her up on a date with Mr. Sob-Story. Looking quickly at her wrist-watch, she allowed him to take her things as she realized she was going to be late to lunch if she didn't hurry.

When she showed up to the restaurant Caroline was relieved to find she wasn't the last to arrive; only Bonnie sat at their table. She crossed the dining room and gave Bonnie a quick embrace before sitting down beside her.

"Hey, Bon. How's everything?" she greeted.

"Oh you know; same old," she replied, "The clinic is super busy 'cause it's allergy season and everyone seems to think it's the next influenza pandemic," she finished with a laugh.

"Ha-ha, uh oh. Working a lot of overtime, then? Bet Jer isn't so stoked about that." Caroline commented.

"Well, no—he's not. But that's the way the business goes. We need more clinics in the city for sure. I feel like I've got just about every man, woman, and child walking through my door. With just me and a few other docs running it, we're all ready for a vacation and it's only May."

"I'm sure we can fix that! Don't forget Elena has a bachelorette this summer," she returned with a wink.

"Yeah, of course!" Bonnie said regaining some enthusiasm, "What about you, Care? How are things going?"

"Great at the moment—we're making progress on the next phase of the company. Don't want to jinx it though, so that's all I'm going to say." She answered.

"Wow, that's so exciting! You must be putting in a ton of extra hours, too," Bonnie replied sympathetically.

"Got that right, sister," she responded, opening her menu. She and Stefan had put in more hours in the last month than she liked to count. "Sheesh, I'm starving! Where are those two?"

"Elena messaged me a few minutes before you got here saying she was on her way with April. Oh wait; I think they're at the entrance now." Bonnie said. The two late-comers made their way over to join Caroline and Bonnie at the table.

"Hey, sorry we're behind," Elena told them, "Boss kept me late in a meeting."

"No worries. Let's order first though. It looks like Care might eat the waiter if we don't feed her soon," Bonnie said jokingly.

"Oh, hah-hah, Bon. Just because he's extremely handsome doesn't mean I'm going to exchange digits with him. I'm not Vickie—I have some dignity." She said back, laughing. They quickly settled their minds on lunch orders and sent the sexy server on his way.

"So, as we decided, for today we'll be discussing the engagement and bachelorette parties. We also still have our dresses to pick out for the ceremony, ladies," Caroline said eying Bonnie and April.

"For sure—bridal couture isn't really my specialty, but I've been looking at this season's bridesmaid wear and found a few lines you might like to look at. I know a few shops in the city that would be perfect for browsing," April said eagerly.

"There's only one problem," Elena said disappointedly, "We're still missing one bridesmaid; until she joins us we can't make any definitive choices. I know she'll want a say."

"Well, when is she supposed to be here? The week before the wedding?" Caroline said, annoyed.

"I'm not too sure yet. It's kind of a delicate subject; I'll try to find out for you, Care," Elena said.

"Alright. In the meantime, your engagement party is the last weekend in June. Which is pretty soon, so we need to get cracking on the details of the party." Caroline stated, trying not to fume over the absent bridesmaid. Seriously had she ever tried planning a wedding before?! If this girl didn't make herself available soon, Caroline would veto her opinion herself.

The four ladies made quick work of the engagement party plans and Caroline finished off her notes on the tablet in front of her. By this time, the server had brought around coffee and tea, and the atmosphere became more relaxed from the intensity of their planning. Caroline let out a big sigh of relief.

"Well, I'm happy to have this finished at least," she said. The other three laughed at her.

"With how stressed out you sound, it's like this is your wedding that's being planned, Care," April teased. Caroline almost choked on her cappuccino, producing another round of laughs at the table.

"Oh dear Lord, no and no. I'm not going to be married in the foreseeable future," she replied strongly.

"You never know, Caroline," Elena said warningly, "You can't see the future."

"Elena!" Caroline exclaimed loudly. "Please, do not try to set me up on another blind date. I'm doing fine for myself; besides with work, I'm too busy for a man," she finished. No man deserved to come before her or her company. She would never let another guy play her second fiddle again; and to make sure of it, she never placed herself in a relationship where that could happen. Never again.

"Okay, okay. No more blind dates," Elena allowed. April and Bonnie were beside themselves in giggles.

"Hey, what about that guy from the bar last month? Vickie told us you were all over each other. Did you exchange numbers?" Bonnie asked curiously.

Caroline groaned out loud. "No. But God I wish we had—He was so sexy. See, there's a guy I wouldn't mind going on a date with! He was totally on my wavelength," she said. "Instead, tonight I got suckered into another date with Tyler." She wasn't looking forward to it at all.

"You're going out with him again?!" Bonnie said, surprised.

"You never know, Tyler might surprise you," April added hopefully.

"I personally hope he doesn't come up with any surprises. I'm sure it'll be the same talk of his family and how much his mother wants him to settle down with a nice girl," Caroline sighed, pouting.

"I'm sure the right guy will come along soon, Care," Elena told her, "And when he does I hope it hits you hard! Teach you for making fun of us monogamous couples!"

"Yeah, yeah. Prince Charming is right around the corner, I'm sure." Caroline retorted, waving her best friend off with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know about you ladies, but I've got to head out. Still have a busy afternoon ahead of me and Stefan will kill me if I'm back any later than three-thirty."

"Me too, I have two other meetings to sit through before I can call it a day," Elena said tiredly. They began to rise from the table and collect their things.

"Well, you ladies enjoy your weekend. Jer and I are headed to LA for the next couple of days for a conference," Bonnie told them.

"Lucky lady!" April called out.

"Hey, when are we going to go with you on one of these mini-vacations?" Caroline complained. Bonnie laughed, "Whenever your schedules clear up, I guess!"

"Yeah like that'll ever happen," Elena said sarcastically and laughed. Caroline made her goodbyes to her friends and hurriedly walked back to her office building. It was three-twenty-five, so Stefan couldn't complain...too much.

It was just after six o'clock when Caroline let herself call it a day and cleared out of the office. She had sent Stefan home an hour and a half earlier because he looked like a dead man walking. Poor guy; he'd even refused at first, but eventually she had convinced him to take an early night. Now, she would have just enough time to freshen herself up for her big date with Tyler. She made it home in record time and quickly changed into a dressy outfit before primping her blonde curls and makeup. Noting that it was only quarter to seven, Caroline poured herself a generous glass of Pinot from the fridge and took a big sip. Lord knew she was in need of at least two more to get through the date.

Caroline was beginning to feel terrible, as though she was leading Tyler on despite all her efforts to insist on a casual, fun relationship. Taking her on romantic dates and trying to coax her into more than that was just turning her off in every sense, which really sucked because although she didn't do the exclusive thing, she had self-respect and didn't sleep around with every guy who gave her a second glance. So, tonight was going on about two months since she'd had good sex and Caroline was aching for it—there was only so much a girl can do for herself. Nevertheless, she felt it would be wrong to satisfy her needs with Tyler, as she planned on making things clear to him again tonight. Her phone buzzed on the counter beside her glass and Tyler Lockwood flashed across the screen. She brought it quickly to her ear to answer.

"Hey, Tyler," she greeted in a friendly tone.

"Care! Hey! I'm outside your building. Should I come up?" He sounded so excited to see her and she felt the wedge of guilt dig in a little deeper.

"I'm actually ready on time for a change," she said with a giggle, "So, I'll meet you down there in a minute." There was no way he was coming up to her place tonight, even if she was desperate enough for the arms of man to let him.

"Sure; I'll be here," he replied and hung up.

Caroline took one last gulp of wine, leaving almost half a glass. Later she would need it, so she stuck it in the fridge and slipped on a pair of low kitten heels. Grabbing her purse and giving herself a once over in the wall mirror near the door, she liked that she saw her look wasn't in complete overkill for their date. She would be sending all messages in the same direction tonight.

The date went surprisingly well; Tyler had been the perfect gentleman, as always, from beginning to end. Caroline had been friendly, but distant as intended. After a few glasses of wine each, she loosened up enough and was at least able to have a good time. He was such a good guy after all; kind, funny, supportive, espresso brown eyes, perfect straight teeth, muscles that could hold her oh so close...Oh God her thoughts were deteriorating quickly, she noticed on the walk home. It was such a nice evening that she couldn't decline when he offered to walk with her. He hadn't even mentioned their relationship status over dinner. She had to stay strong. Stay strong. Stay...strong? He was telling a joke and she laughed, almost hypnotized by his smile. At this point, Caroline had half convinced herself to invite him up to her place and worry about the consequences in the morning while he made breakfast—because he was that good. Trying to gather her reserve as they reached the outside of her building, Caroline sucked in a deep breath and looked up at Tyler.

"Care, I had a really nice time tonight," he said softly.

"Me, too," she replied, "I'm glad we could do this." They were standing close to each other and she knew he was looking down at her begging-to-be-kissed lips. And then he opened his big mouth.

"I was thinking, maybe we could meet again soon. My mother is hosting the town's party two weekends from now; we could make it a small getaway for the two of us," he said convincingly. Caroline felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over her head and her thoughts immediately cleared. Had she really just been giving this man a starry-eyed look? The same man who wanted to trap her in a relationship? Really, Caroline Anne Forbes?!

"Wow, Tyler a weekend away sounds nice, but I've got so much on my plate right now. I can't take the time off," she replied, sounding regretful, "And technically we're not together right now, I'd hate to give your parents the wrong impression."

"We could be, if you wanted, Care," he tried.

She smiled politely and said, "I can't be in a committed relationship at this point in my life, Ty. You know it would be you if I could. You're the perfect guy—this just isn't the right time."

"I know; you're always telling me," he said wistfully, "I guess I just can't take no for an answer with you. I'll wait for you if you need time." Oh God, he was killing her.

"I think it's better if we maintain our friendship right now, Ty. I don't want to lead you on if I'm never ready to settle down," she said back to him in the nicest way she knew how.

"Okay. That's fine with me for now. I know when to give it a rest," he said chuckling at himself and Caroline couldn't help but smile in return, "But I also know when to pick my battles. I'm not giving up on you, Caroline." She didn't know how to respond to that comment without being rudely straightforward. He swooped down and pecked her cheek quickly and innocently.

"Goodnight," he said with finality and she was relieved their heart-to-heart was over.

"'Night, Tyler," she replied.

Caroline turned around and entered the glass doors of her building, passing the concierge and got into an elevator. She noted with relief that it was empty once she got inside. Leaning against the wall as the lift carried her up, she let out a long sigh. Dear heaven, after that encounter and no sexy time, she definitely needed another glass of wine before she went to bed. And maybe some rocky-road ice cream.

Sun peaked in through her east-facing windows early the next morning at six thirty, causing Caroline to scrunch her face and pull the duvet over her head in protest. It was way too early to be up on a Saturday, why hadn't she remembered to close the blinds last night? Oh yeah, two additional glasses of Pinot and some ice cream later and she'd barely made it into her bed. Groaning with a headache, but knowing her mind would not allow her to sleep again this morning, Caroline threw back the covers and flopped out of bed. She felt too lazy for the studio, so mindlessly she changed into some loose fitting shorts and a tank before laying out her yoga mat in front of the television in her living room. Flicking on her DVD player, she selected a relaxing yoga session and began her workout.

An hour later, feeling completely stretched from limb to limb and re-energized, Caroline made a light breakfast of oatmeal and berries before deciding that the day looked too beautiful not to go out for a run. Quickly she exchanged her shorts for a pair of cropped yoga pants and slipped on her Nike runners. She put a headphone in each ear on the elevator ride down to the lobby and started her walk to a nearby park that had a running trail; it was one of the only large green spaces actually in the city's core. She made it to the park in less than thirty minutes and began a slow jog to start off. Only Caroline and God knew how long it had been since she worked on her cardio. She felt herself slowly getting back into her groove; after all, she had been the head cheerleader three years running when she had been in high school.

Caroline ran for a while, doing lap after lap, and feeling more in shape than she had in months. It felt good to be active in the outdoors, it always had. Her phone buzzed from her pocket and she answered it, slowing her pace to a walk. Still breathing heavily, she spoke into the mouthpiece of her headphones, "Hello?"

"Care, it's Stefan. Morning," her PA greeted.

"Stef! What are you doing calling me on a Saturday? Don't you know the meaning of sleeping in? I'm trying to get into Lexi's good books you know," she answered back.

"Lexi is in a good mood today—actually she's making breakfast now. She says not to worry that I do these things to myself," he paused a second before yelling at his wife, "Hey! I do not!" Caroline laughed at their cuteness. If there was one couple she admired, it was this one.

"Stefan, just tell me what you need to so you can get back to your weekend!" she exclaimed in reprimand.

"Right. I forgot to mention this before I left yesterday; I wanted to remind you about the charity auction you're participating in, in a few weeks. It's the first weekend in June, so you should start working on your speech. If you want, I—"

"Oh you're right; I totally forgot, Stef. I will work on it this afternoon. You will not! Now please, promise me you will do no work today or tomorrow and come fresh into the office on Monday morning," she said with a laugh.

"Okay, promise," he said, caving—probably under the pressure of both his boss and his wife's death glare.

"Good, see you Monday," she said.

"Bye, Care," he stated and ended the call. Caroline smiled to herself and looked down at her phone to choose a new song; why not, she could run a little longer. She barely caught the faint "Look out!" or the red flash in her right peripheral before being hit in the side of her head with a hard whack. Ouch, what the hell! A red frisbee lay at her feet, still wobbling before it finally stilled on the ground. She bent down to pick it up, holding her head where it had been struck. Who the hell had thrown that? And in her direction no less! She didn't even have a chance to straighten herself back to a standing position before she was completely bowled over into the grass by a big dog.

Caroline was coughing under the weight of the dog that was now sitting directly over her diaphragm, seemingly smiling down at her with its tail wagging behind. "Get off me!" she squealed, but her voice only seemed to provoke the beast because it promptly leaned over to lick her face in big strokes. Squealing even louder and now trying to wiggle her way out from under the big dog, Caroline found it was too heavy to move on her own and had no wish to change their current position. Oh boy, when she finally got out of this, she was going to give the son of a bitch who owned this dog a piece of her mind. And when she said a piece of her mind, she meant all of it. Ready to lose her mind, she finally heard a voice calling loudly and coming closer.

"Frank! Frank!"

"Frank, where are you?"

"Frank, there you are—oh my God. Move, you big oaf; get off this poor woman."

That was how Caroline found herself, pressed into the grass, fuming silently as the owner removed his animal from her chest. She didn't even care that he had a hot Welsh accent right now.

"Here, let me help you up, sweetheart," the voice said, leaning down to take her hand into his big, rough one.

"Oh you're damned right, you're going to help me up, you—" Caroline began as she was suddenly met with the most stunning set of blue eyes she'd ever seen. She froze in shock and gasped, both in awe and recognition that he seemed familiar. Same cool eyes, same smooth jaw line and sexy stubble, same full lips that she had wanted so badly to kiss...Her eyes widened with realization. Nik?!

A/N: And, yup, leaving you with a cliffy! Next chapter will continue this encounter, in full detail, from Klaus' POV.

Stay tuned and send me some encouragement!