Chapter 3

Life is a stage and we are the actors

What a lovely morning. Kol had caught himself some breakfast and felt cheerful to start a new day. What should he do today? Before Kol realized he was at Selene's house again. Somehow he was curious about her. She was after all the star of his own personal play. He just hadn't decided yet how he wanted it to end. Either way this would be fun. Kol had always loved games. Toying with humans and sometimes with other vampires as well amused him. Kol knew that Selene wasn't home when he knocked a door. She wasn't the one who he wanted to talk. Her brother looked terrible when he opened the door.

"What do you want?" Derek asked annoyed.

Kol looked into his eyes.

"Invite me in."

"Come in", Derek said immediately and looked confused. "Why did I…"

"Let's talk", Kol interrupted him.

"Sure."

Kol looked around. The house certainly wasn't renovated lately and there wasn't much furniture. There was an old couch though so Kol sat down.

"Now, first of all where is Selene?" he asked.

"She's at work", Derek replied mechanically.

"So she won't be here any time soon?"

"No. She's usually home around seven or eight."

"Good. We have time to chat then. Who were those men who were here last night?"

"Boyd and his henchmen. They work for a guy called Fitz."

"Who is this Fitz?"

"He's a criminal. He runs gambling business, extortion, money laundering, smuggling and stuff."

"And you and Selene owe him money?"

"No, our dad owes him money but he fled and made us pay his debts."

"Hmm. How much do you owe him?"

"50 000 plus interests."

"I see. You don't have much change to get that money, do you?"

"No."

"Interesting. Well, thank you for the talk, I have to go now. You won't remember that I was ever here. But first, tell me where Selene works."

...

"Selene! Hurry up!" Arnie shouted.

He was a big man in his late fifties and he enjoyed yelling to his employees. That was probably because his wife was really loud and bossy. Selene had met her couple of times at the diner and Arnie had acted like a little boy when she was around. Selene had been a waitress here almost a year. She also had a second job as a cleaner. She was a little shy and sometimes she stuttered but she tried her best to be polite to every customer. Selene was tired and she had to use all her strength to keep herself from breaking down. She had to think about Derek and Jason. They needed her. She forced herself to smile when she carried another plate to a table. Unfortunately she managed to knock over a guy's class.

"Look what you did you clumsy cow!" he shouted.

"I'm so sorry sir", Selene tried to say but the guy didn't listen.

Some of the fluid had spilled to his jacket.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this jacket was? More than you make a month! This is going to cost you!"

"I…I…I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"I, I, I", the guy repeated mockingly. "Are you slow or something?"

"Excuse me", someone said.

Selene saw the guy she had met last night. Kol, if she remembered correctly.

"That's no way to speak to a lady", he said calmly.

"A lady? Oh please! She's a waitress! And apparently stupid one."

Kol smiled.

"I think you should apologize right now."

"I'm sorry", the guy said.

Selene couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Again and this time with a feeling", Kol added.

"I'm so sorry miss."

"It's ok", Selene said cautiously.

"Now get out and don't forget to give the lady a good tip."

The guy took a 50-dollar bill from his wallet and walked out. Selene was stunned.

"What a moron", Kol said.

Selene turned to him.

"I… I don't know how you did that but thank you."

"You're welcome. Selene, was it?"

"Yes, I'm surprised you remembered."

"Oh, how could I forget such a pretty face", Kol said smiling.

Selene felt herself blushing.

"Selene!" Arnie shouted.

"Excuse me", Selene said and hurried to the counter.

Kol sat to the same table where that guy had just left. Selene wondered did he live or work nearby. She certainly hadn't expected to see him again.

"What can I get you?" Selene asked when she finally had time to take his order.

"What time is your lunch break?" Kol asked smiling charmingly.

Selene was surprised.

"I… I don't really…"

"Is that your boss?" Kol asked pointing to Arnie.

"Yes but…"

"Just a moment."

Before Selene could say anything, Kol stood up and headed straight to Arnie. She couldn't hear what they were talking but for some reason Arnie was actually smiling. Selene couldn't remember ever seeing him smiling.

"Come here", Arnie said.

Selene swallowed. What had Kol said to him? Selene approached then cautiously.

"Take the rest of the day off", Arnie said.

"But… I really need these hours, have… have I done something…"

"No! Don't be silly! Just call this a bonus for an excellent waitress. You'll have your full salary for today."

Selene couldn't understand what was happening. Like she was suddenly in some kind of parallel reality.

"Off you go", Arnie said cheerfully.

"Ok… I… I get my purse."

Was this really happening? Selene grabbed her purse and headed outside. Kol was waiting for her in front of the diner.

"How did you do that?" Selene asked stunned.

Kol grinned.

"Well, I'm quite a people person. Not to mention utterly charming. Shall we?"

"I… I'm sorry, where are we going?"

"To get something to eat. Or aren't you hungry?"

"I… Yes, but…"

"Great, let's go then."

Selene didn't know what to do. She didn't even know this guy.

"Is… Is it a public place?" she asked.

Kol looked amused.

"Yes and I'm not planning to kidnap you or anything, if that's what you worried."

Selene blushed.

"No, no, I just…"

"Come on then, I won't bite."

Kol held out his hand for her. Selene hesitated but she took it. Kol smiled at her.

"Don't worry; this is going to be fun."