You guys are the peanut butter to my jelly! Thank you for the reviews and PMs after the last few chapters! So, this is short but important as it is setting some things in motion. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 26: Just Another Manic Monday

After a blissful weekend, I was ready to hit the ground running on Monday. Elijah's daughter called me first thing and upon checking my schedule, I assured her that I would be delighted to be her wedding planner. My next order of business was figuring out why in the hell April had told Elijah that I was not available for the weekend of his daughter's wedding. According to my calendar, the only thing scheduled that week was April's vacation. While that was good news in that it meant that I could call Elijah and pick up what was sure to be a big wedding, it also meant that April had screwed up royally and I was now going to have to deal with that. April has always been an excellent assistant. In fact, I've been giving her more and more responsibilities of late; but this was a major mistake on her part and could have cost me a huge wedding with major exposure.

"Elena, did you want to see me?" April was standing at the door to my office with a cup of coffee and her iPad in hand.

"Hi April, yes, please, come have a seat. I just wanted to ask you about something." Sitting across from me, April looked at me expectantly. "I had someone approach me this weekend, a pretty important potential client, who said that you told them that we were unavailable to handle his daughter's wedding." I hand her a post-it note with the dates written on it and wait while she checks the calendar on her tablet. "The only thing I have down for those dates is your vacation."

"Oh my gosh!" gushes April. "I can't believe I did that! I have it blocked in red on my calendar. That's what I use to code when you aren't available. I must have used the wrong color to block out my vacation. Oh, Elena, I'm so sorry!" Was she rambling? She seemed to be rambling but considering it was her first mistake, I guess she could just be embarrassed.

"April, calm down. You are great at your job, everybody makes mistakes. But, please, in the future, be sure you don't make that one again. This particular client is also a winery owner who is interested in contracting us so not being able to handle the wedding could have potentially spiraled into losing a major deal for us. Thankfully, he's an old friend of Damon's and I was able to remedy the situation."

"Well," April sighs, "I guess we're lucky Damon was able to come to the rescue."

"Damon didn't come to the rescue," I protest. "Their relationship just led to my having a conversation with Mr. Mikelson which in turn led to my double checking my schedule."

"Sure."

"April, if you have something to say then by all means say it."

"It's just that you have been a little distracted ever since Damon entered the picture."

"I've been distracted? Need I remind you that we are having this conversation due to a mistake on your part? April, I'm willing to overlook your scheduling error. It was unlike you and I don't expect it to happen again. But I will not overlook any further comments on my personal life. Now, please go to your desk and get busy. We have a lot of events ahead of us and I'm going to need your concentration to be where it should if we are going to be successful."

"Yes, Elena. I'm sorry." April looked surprising nonplussed for someone who had just been reprimanded by her boss.

"Just don't let it happen again."

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

Today has been insane. After the altercation with April, I had a meeting with the epitome of a bridezilla, a long conversation with Elijah gathering specifics to put together a proposal for the Chateau Mikelson account, and ended the day trying to correct a blunder in the menu for an upcoming wedding. I don't even want to know how all of the vegetarian entrees got swapped out for the shellfish dish while the beef wellington became coq au vin. All I really want to do is find Damon and get a much needed back rub but, unfortunately, he is busy wining and dining a client this evening; so, it is Jenna, Caroline and merlot to the rescue. We decided to meet at our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner.

"So, did Mr. Salvatore pay up?" giggles Caroline.

"I'm going to kill you. You know that, right?" I am as red as the sauce on my ziti.

"I'll just go ahead and assume by the color of your cheeks that the answer is yes." Jenna points out.

"You know, you are getting as bad as Caroline! And look at you. You are grinning like you are the one who just spent the weekend in bed with her boyfriend. Who knows, maybe you did." Finally I'm not the only one blushing at this table. "How are things with Ric? I haven't gotten the scoop on you two in a while. Is he still shacking up at your place?" I tease.

"No," she smiles. "He's shacking up at our place. He officially moved in this weekend."

"Jenna, that's awesome! I'm so happy for you!" I really am. Jenna and Ric are two of my favorite people and if anyone deserves to be happy, they do.

"Who knows, maybe you'll be the next big wedding for Elena Gilbert Events," Caroline adds.

"Well, you better tell Ric to act soon if so because I just landed what will probably be the wedding of the year. The daughter of the owner of Chateau Mikelson just reserved me for her wedding."

"Wow! Elena, that's huge. Girls, I say we finish off this bottle because we have a lot to celebrate!" Jenna is all smiles as she fills mine and Caroline's glasses and we chat away. We are just leaving when I spot a head of raven hair in a somewhat hidden corner of the restaurant.

"Girls, you go ahead. I think I just spied Damon so I'm going to go say hello."

"Yeah, he was taking a new client to dinner tonight. It was someone that he had worked with in Europe. Her name's Rose." Jenna tells me before giving me a hug and heading for the door.

"Care, I'll call you for lunch later this week." She agrees before heading out as well.

As I approach the table I can't help but pause when I notice the beautiful woman laughing while her hand rests on top of Damon's. I'm immediately transported back ten years remembering how I felt as I watched girls throwing themselves at my boyfriend. Taking a deep breath, I power on. "Of all the restaurants in town, what are the chances of our showing up at the same one?" Damon immediately hops up and embraces me.

"Elena! Hey, baby, I want you to meet somebody. Elena, this is Rose Watson. Rose, this is Elena Gilbert." I extend my hand to Rose.

"Elena? As in the Elena? The same Elena that this one was pining over the entire time he was in France?" Rose's beautiful English accent flows as she shakes my hand. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Damon has motioned to their waiter who has added another chair to the table. "Please, won't you join us?"

"I really didn't mean to interrupt your business meeting," I say in an effort to excuse myself.

"Lena, sweetheart, I insist. Besides, the business is over. We were just catching up. Rose was just telling me that her boyfriend Trevor is finally making an honest woman of her. Rose, what do you say we celebrate your engagement with a toast?" Damon tops off their glasses and grabs an extra glass from the waiter for me.

"Thank you, Damon. Besides, it sounds like you have something to toast as well, based on the endearments you are tossing around, I take it that the lovely Elena has agreed to give your globetrotting ass another chance; that is unless you call all women 'baby' and 'sweetheart' in which case I will be greatly offended as I haven't even gotten a 'buddy' out of you."

I smile and give a demure nod of my head before raising my glass saying, "To Rose and Trevor."

"To second chances," says Rose.

"To love," adds Damon gently squeezing my leg as we all take a sip of wine.

AN: Aww...did he just use the "L" word? We are headed into the last few chapters but some will be pretty eventful. I promise. Thank you again for your continued support! Don't forget those favorites and follows. Also, I'd love to hear from you in that little review box! This is nearing 200 reviews. If my first fanfic hits the 200 review mark I may just have to throw a party...with party favors! Damon as a party favor? Anybody interested? Yeah, me too! I wish! ;-)