A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you guys enjoy what has decidedly become my NaNoWriMo project. I have been in love with this Shakespeare play for a long time and it has always been my dream to write a modern day adaption of the tale. Although I eventually plan to do this with my own original characters, I thought I would give it a test run in the Klaroline world!
If you aren't familiar with Much Ado About Nothing, don't worry it will all make sense, I hope! But do know that things aren't going to be easy when it comes to get Klaus and Caroline to realize their feelings for each other!
Jeremy ran into the apartment, out of breath. He had basically run to his sister's place after the board meeting downtown. Although Elena didn't interest herself in her family's business or finances, Jeremy thought that she would like to know that their uncle John had hired a consulting firm to go look over the corporation and help them make cuts for the next fiscal quarter. Jeremy was only a first year business student who barely understood the way things worked himself, but he knew that it couldn't be good if John was hiring someone else to come in to help them.
Sitting down on Elena and Caroline's couch he waited as Elena poured him a glass of iced tea. Caroline, just back from her marketing lecture had just walked in and also took a seat in the small living room to hear the news.
"John's hired this consulting firm… Mikaelson and something to come in and look over things. Their guys are supposed to be in later this week, they have given them an entire floor of office space to use while they are here," Jeremy explained quickly. He was just an intern with his uncle's office for now, but he was in line to run the entire corporation if things went the right way, it was his father's company after all.
Caroline's eyes opened wide. She had heard about Mikaelson and Salvatore, they were one of the best consulting firms in the country, known for turning around a business in less than six months. "Mikaelson and Salvatore? They are only the best of the best. John must be offering them a fortune if they signed on to help. Do you know what team they are bringing?" She liked to keep updated on the big businesses in New York so that once she finished her own degree she could find herself a placement in a firm such as theirs. Caroline knew that the company had split really into two teams since the owners retired, leaving the business to their sons almost five years ago. Mikaelson on the East Coast, working out of the New York office and Salvatore out of LA.
Jeremy shook his head. "I don't know but I heard that one of them is an old friend of Alaric's. They are supposed to be staying at the Hilton downtown, I'm sure if you walked by you could possibly figure that part out."
Elena just nodded her head, bored with the business talk. Most of the time she tried to pretend that she wasn't the heiress of a multinational billion dollar corporation. She was much more concerned with getting her degree and making a real change in the world through being a teacher. Jeremy wasn't meant for business either, Elena knew that her brother was meant to be an artist, but he was following in their father's footsteps after his accidental death.
Jeremy left the apartment for his dorm and Caroline started to look up the consulting firm on her laptop. She smiled as she read through the recent articles citing that the once strained relationship between the two families was mended at that the two owners were attempting to tackle projects together. "Elena, the entire firm is coming…" she said with a smile.
Elena continued to flip through her fashion magazine. "What does that even mean?"
Caroline laughed and turned her computer screen to show her friend. On the screen was a group of about ten young men aged twenty to thirty-five in nice tailored suits and perfect smiles. "All of them are going to be in town, working in your dad's office."
"Now that I can understand!" the brunette said with a laugh as she stared at the attractive men. Elena made a note that in the near future she would have to become quite a bit more interested in the company and it's dealings if it meant being around these men all the time.
Jenna called Elena later in the day to invite her over for dinner, saying that Alaric, her husband was having Damon Salvatore, an old friend over for drinks. Coming with him would be his business partner; Elijah Mikaelson and Jenna thought it would be a good idea to invite the two girls over to keep the balance of the room. Elena quickly agreed and told Caroline the plan, who quickly started to tell Elena everything she knew about the consulting firm and the relationship between the two men.
Caroline put on a new dark purple dress and waited for Elena in their living room for dinner. Taking one more glance in the mirror she found herself satisfied with her appearance and smiled as her long time friend entered the room. "Ready to meet the handsome business men that are going to be fixing your parent's legacy?" Caroline asked with a smile.
"What kind of girl is going to turn that down?" Elena said as she checked herself out in the mirror once again.
The short car ride over to Jenna and Alaric's house was full of what ifs and other guesses to what they were getting themselves into that evening. Jenna invited them in and led them to the living room where three men were sitting having a drink. "Can I get you two anything?" Jenna asked.
"A glass of wine would be great Jenna," Elena said and Caroline nodded.
Alaric stood up and walked over to the two girls, and the two men turned around to follow him. "This is my niece, Elena and her best friend Caroline. Girls, this is Elijah Mikaelson and Damon Salvatore. Damon and I were old friends from school."
"Same fraternity, different years," Damon explained. He was dark featured with a sharply angled face, light eyes that seemed to fixate on Elena immediately.
Elijah on the other hand was warmer in appearance. Dark features as well, but not the sharp contrasts that Damon had. He had a square jaw and a firm smile, the perfect example of a business man. Handsome, but not particularly friendly, he stood up and took the hands of the women, kissing them gently.
Caroline was taken aback by this gesture, not used to such formality. "Are you from the 18th century, Mr. Mikaelson?" she quipped.
Elijah tilted his head to the side, finding the blonde a curious sort of woman. Reminded him of his younger brother, Klaus, always looking for the next witty thing to say. "No, I can not say that I am. I just found it appropriate when meeting two such stunning young women."
Elena shot Caroline a look that clearly said, 'Please don't,' so Caroline kept her mouth shut. She could already tell this was going to be a rather dull evening, with Mr. Manners on one side and quiet brooding man on the other.
Damon introduced himself to both of the girls and locked his eyes on Elena almost instantly. Caroline was used to this it almost always happened anytime they went out. Men always seemed to attach themselves to her friend like a magnet. Not that Elena was hardly ever single, at least not for long. Caroline on the other hand preferred more spontaneous types of relationships, not putting a whole lot of faith in love or romantic relationships. Watching Elena getting her heart broken over and over again was enough to put anyone off of relationships in general.
The dinner went rather smoothly, with Damon and Alaric swapping stories of old times and Elijah politely interacting in small talk with Jenna. Caroline couldn't help but see the way that Damon looked at Elena, and how Elena was completely oblivious. At one point she cornered her friend in the kitchen to tell her what she saw.
"That guy is crazy about you already and it's only been an hour! I mean seriously, how do you do it?" Caroline asked.
Elena shook her head, "Who Elijah? He's just being nice, that's all."
"Not Elijah, Damon! Those ice blues have been locked on you all night."
"Really? I didn't really notice."
Caroline laughed, "Well, what do you think? I mean he is totally hot, right? I bet you could take a little trip back to his hotel room no problem."
Elena thought it over for a moment. She still wasn't completely over Matt, even though she was the one that dumped him. Maybe trying Caroline's way of doing things would brighten her mood a little bit. It couldn't hurt, could it? Thinking of Damon she frowned. "I don't think so, Care. I mean he is in charge of my dad's firm for the next few weeks. Not really one night stand material, if you know what I mean."
"Good point. But I think I heard something from Elijah about how they brought ten of their best men with them? How about after this we hit the bar and see if we can spot any of these new faces?" Caroline said with a smile.
Elena agreed and the girls walked back into the dining room for dessert. After some more light conversation the girls made their polite exit, Elena promising to come into the office in a few days to look at the progress, even though she had no business know-how. "I'm going to be a teacher, I don't know the first thing about business!" but Damon insisted.
Before heading to the bar the girls stopped by their apartment to change clothes. They debated which of the cities nice bars might house these newcomers when Caroline remembered that Jeremy discussed the guys staying at the Hilton. "I would guess the bar across the street from the hotel, Evolution. A little out of our normal price range, but maybe we won't need to buy any of our own drinks," she said with a smirk as she slipped into a tight green dress.
Elena came out of her room in a dark red skirt and black blouse with dark red lips to match. "Sounds good, let's go."
The bar was crowded when they arrived, and the line outside the bar was wrapping around the block. Thankfully, Elena had the looks and the charm to pull them to the front of the line and they were into the bar within moments. The bar was crowded and dark, the main colors of the room being dark purples and blacks, with silk dividers used to maintain privacy within the booths. Looking around Caroline saw some familiar faces from classes and from childhood, but hadn't found a proper match for the evening. Walking up to the bar, arm in arm with her friend they found themselves surrounded by men they had never met.
Martinis were free for the night, at least if you had looks like Elena's. Caroline also found her drinks were on the house, being paid for by a company account, not that she minded. Elena was sipping on her pomegranate martini when she felt a hand brush her shoulder.
"Oh, so sorry," the handsome man said as Elena turned around to face him. "Sorry, from behind you looked like someone that I know… Actually you kind of still look like her. I'm babbling aren't I? I'm Stefan."
Elena smiled, finding the nerves to be charming. "Elena."
"So what brings you out tonight, Elena?" he asked over the sound of the music.
"My friend and I were under the impression that there might be some new faces in town, so we thought we'd come and welcome them to our city."
"Isn't that convenient? You see, I'm here for my job for the next month or so and I just arrived today. If I had known the city had such a beautiful welcome committee I would have come down sooner," Stefan answered.
"Hey Stefan! I told you it wasn't Katherine. That bitch was in Dallas last I heard, broken up over losing my idiot of a brother."
Klaus Mikaelson came up to Stefan and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, while taking a look at the two women that Stefan was speaking with. The one did look quite familiar, and he could see the resemblance to his brother's exe but the other was something exquisite. Blonde curls and a smirk plastered on her face, Klaus found his challenge for the evening. Walking over to her he leaned in close and asked her for her name.
Caroline used her free hand to place on his chest and shoved him away. She hated men that descended on her, possessive and demanding. "Caroline. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Klaus Mikaelson," Klaus replied still stunned by her refusal. Generally any time he pulled that move, with his husky voice and foreign accent he had a girl out of the bar in minutes. He turned to look over at Stefan, who was still flirting with the brunette and he knew his cue. Klaus took Caroline by the wrist and led her to their booth, knowing full well that he was asking for trouble after the greeting he had received.
Sitting down at the booth Caroline stared into the man that had taken her there. No one took Caroline Forbes any place she didn't want to go. Not even cute guys with even cuter accents. "If it wasn't for the fact that your brother was so damn polite I would have called security for that little stunt you just pulled. Pulling me like that? Not acceptable."
Klaus rolled his eyes and grabbed the bottle of champagne that was sitting on the table in a bucket of ice. He uncorked it and poured a glass for himself and for Caroline, giving her the first glass. "So you've met my brother. What relationship do you that with the Gilbert Trust?"
Caroline pointed at Elena, who was now leaning on Stefan, a hand on his arm as she drank what looked like her third martini. "That… is Elena Gilbert. Her father, Greyson, started the company and she is my childhood best friend."
"Well, Caroline, you have quite the set of connections. Getting yourself into places like this."
"At least I don't have to piggy back on my brother and father's success," she quipped back.
"Fiesty, I like it."
"Get over yourself. If it wasn't for the fact that Elena looks pretty damn happy over there with that friend of yours I would be out of here in a second."
"I don't doubt that, but while we're here you might as well help me drink this free champagne," the more the blonde spoke the more Klaus found her aggressive and annoying, but he would do this for Stefan. "Stefan there hasn't really been with anyone in awhile, and he looks pretty charmed by your little friend over there. Which is why it was my job as his best friend and wingman to get you out of the way so that he could try his chances with her. I do wonder what he will think of her being the Gilbert girl though. So you met Elijah? I am sure that meant you met Damon as well?"
Caroline nodded. "He acted like a prick, to be honest. Hardly said a word, just stared at Elena most of the night."
"Still bitter, I bet. Elijah and Damon used to co-manage a team together before our fathers retired. Shortly after they took over the business Elijah caught wind of Damon's not so legal business practices and tried to have him sacked. Didn't work obviously but the two haven't really been around each other since. Only reason they are here together is because our fathers practically demanded it for the Gilberts."
"You sure do like to run your mouth, Mr. Mikaelson," Caroline said of his gossip. "Like you don't have any dirty little secrets?"
"Oh I don't, love," he answered. "What you see is what you get with me, I'm afraid. Not much for a show. Prefer to keep life simple."
Caroline rolled her eyes. She wanted to leave but looking over at Elena she could see that her friend was having a good time. Pulling out her cellphone she sent a quick text to Elena telling her to be safe and to have a good time before standing up and leaving the both.
She was nearly out the door when she felt a hand on her arm pulling her backwards. It was Klaus, and he had a business card in his hand. "If you want to keep things simple, here's where to find me."
Caroline laughed as she took the card and headed out of the bar. As if. Heading back to their apartment near campus Caroline walked in the door, pulled off her strappy high-heeled shoes and headed for the shower. She could not believe the nerve of Klaus, like she would want to hook up with him after the sour taste he left in her mouth. After her shower she got into her comfy pajamas and sat in front of the TV, turning on some marathon of an awful reality show. "Why are these people even famous?" she asked herself as she dug her hand into the bag of Sun Chips.
Elena walked in the door past two in the morning, finding Caroline asleep on the couch. The movement and sudden lights woke up the blonde and a huge smile took over her face as she turned to look at her friend. "So… Tell me all about him!"
"Let me change first," Elena headed into her bedroom and returned just a few moments later in sweatpants and her university sweatshirt. Sitting down on the couch she looked over at her best friend. "Okay, Stefan. He's twenty-two, just finished his BA in business and is going to Harvard Business school in the fall. He's super sweet, and kinda romantic as weird as that sounds. He was telling me the story about how his parents met and it was so cute, and you could see in his eyes that he was a romantic as well."
"Did you hook up with him?"
"No! Caroline, really!" Elena laughed, swatting her friend. "No, I didn't but I definitely gave him my number. It might be against his work's policy to be seeing the heiress of the company that they came into restructure though. He was trying to explain it all to me, but you know I don't understand any of that business stuff. I hate it."
Caroline nodded. The guy was pretty cute, and she could see that Elena was completely falling for this guy after only a few hours. "Look at you, falling in love all over again. Will you ever learn, Elena?"
"Maybe I am. When are you finally going to fall in love? Come down to earth and be human for once?"
"Instead of what, robot? I am down to earth! I just don't think love is all it's cracked up to be. Plus you fall in love enough for the both of us."
"Caroline!"
Caroline shrugged. She had been in love once, back in high school. Captain of the hockey team, all American. He left her broken hearted in the back of a pickup truck on highway 8. "I just don't see the point. Really. Like I see these movies and it all just looks like a fairytale to me. I don't have the time or the patience for that. Who knows, maybe love doesn't even exist."
Elena looked shocked. She stood up from the couch and crossed her arms. "I can not believe you Caroline Forbes. How could you not believe in love? One day you are going to fall in love and I am just going to stand here and tell you I told you so."
Elena headed to her bedroom, pretending not to notice Caroline roll her eyes.
Bonus points and metaphorical cookies to everyone that can guess who is who in this version of events. I know the main four are pretty obvious, so extra extra cookies to reviewers that can figure out Elijah, Damon, Alaric, or Jenna! (Jeremy does not line up to any character in the play!)