Awww you guys really are the best! I do love the Caroline/Matt dynamic as well Suzypyong. I'm not sure about him finding a love interest in Virginia NikMik but I have to say I hate seeing Matty blue eyes alone. As for Yankee Stadium Angleik, your wish is my command and I will endeavour to incorporate it at some stage. I will be returning to NYC in a few chapters time. Thanks also to zvforever; loved your review as usual.
I'm so far up to episode three of season six, and even though there's no Klaus I am enjoying it still, believe it or not au courant. I don't think I can imagine ever giving up on Klaroline, I must be too patient for my own good.
Keeping Up Appearances
Chapter 12: All I Want for Christmas is You
December 25 2014 7:23pm Chicago, Illinois
"Okay can you please say something; you're starting to freak me out." Caroline said her frustration evident looking over at Klaus.
"What do you want me to say?" He finally asked his voice low as his eyes remained trained on the road.
"Well I guess those words are a start at least." She snapped. "You haven't said anything since we left the house."
Correction Klaus thought, he hadn't spoken since she made her way down the staircase and into the living room throwing his whole world into a spin.
Caroline wasn't lying when she said she had a knockout outfit, it was so amazing it had rendered him completely speechless. It was an immaculate knee length black dress that hugged each and every curve. She wore patent red heels and carried a matching clutch, silver hoop earrings were her only accessory. Her blonde hair which he had only ever seen in soft waves was hanging dead straight like a golden sheaf down her back adding to the overall effect.
Klaus was unable to look away she was that exquisite and he was struggling to find the words to tell her just how beautiful she was. It was probably a good thing he couldn't speak because he probably would have just made a fool of himself.
"Darling you look stunning." Liz said her eyes shining with pride. "Not that I'm surprised. Now let me take a photo."
"Mother." She said her face reddening slightly. "I'm not sixteen anymore and this isn't prom."
"Well it feels like it." She smiled. "It seems like only yesterday that Stefan came to pick you up in your blue dress."
"Yes why was your best friend your date again?" Nanna piped up from the couch.
"Because there was no one else I wanted to go with." She muttered. Klaus couldn't believe that Caroline Forbes took her best friend to prom. Surely every guy would have been knocking down her door.
She landed her gaze on him finally but Klaus continued his silence trying madly to form the words he so wanted to say. This had never happened to him and he was struggling to figure out why it was so difficult to tell Caroline she looked amazing.
"I think someone is a little overwhelmed." Liz observed taking in his shocked reaction.
"Do you need some eggnog? There are leftovers." Nanna waved her glass at him to which he just shook his head. Klaus knew he needed a clear head right now, given she was already making it fuzzy.
"Oh so I guess we should get going." Caroline murmured looking away her expression unreadable. "Do you want to grab the presents?" She asked and all he could do was nod and take them to the door. How could he end up so tongue tied?
They got into the car, driving the distance to his CEO's house in the affluent suburb of Winnetka on the shores of Lake Michigan.
"I'm just uh nervous I suppose." He stuttered feebly.
"Well that's understandable, but that's all you needed to say."
"Yeah okay, sorry about that." He mumbled knowing that wasn't all he wanted to say. What he wanted to say was she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen and tonight was no exception. Klaus had no idea how he was going to get through the night with other people looking at her.
In his fierce lust Klaus was tempted to tell her to change because he didn't want anyone looking at her like he was. Although Klaus knew that would have been a dead giveaway of his growing feelings for the girl he'd just met.
What the hell was happening to him? The sooner he got back to real life Klaus was sure the foreign emotions that were plaguing him would disappear. He just needed to take a deep breath and get through tonight.
"So there are five female board members, all married three of them with children, and the rest are male of which four are married with children and of the other three one is a widower with kids and two divorced with no dependants." She rambled closing her eyes for concentration.
"Seriously?" He replied impressed. "You don't need to memorise all of that Caroline."
"I can't help that I'm thorough." She shot back rolling her eyes. "Anyway I like to know exactly what I'm walking into. Did you know that Justin James was a political journalist and Rachel Lawson has a costume design background?"
"And I thought knowing their marital status was detailed." He joked smiling at all the effort she was making. He was struggling to remember the last time someone did something like that for him.
"Well it's not like you were going to tell me." She murmured. "You were far too busy doing your hair I recall."
"I was not." He spluttered.
"Ah yeah you were, nanna even commented that you took longer to get ready than me." She laughed. "It's okay I know this is a big deal."
"It is. Anyway obviously the time getting ready is not reflective of the result. You look absolutely beautiful." He said his voice husky with something he thought resembled emotion. Where the hell was this all coming from?
"Thanks." She murmured taken by surprise, the car descended into an awkward silence, this was why Klaus was reluctant to say anything. Then she spoke. "Took your sweet time to tell me though."
"What is it they say better late than never?"
"Okay just so you know when it comes to women that doesn't work mister. No wonder you have no girlfriend."
"Hey I could have plenty of girlfriends, I just don't want one, there's a difference Caroline." He scoffed.
"Sure you tell yourself that if it helps you sleep at night." She teased.
"Why would I want one if my faux girlfriend is this much hard work." He shot back poking out his tongue in her direction.
"You damn lucky to have a pretend girlfriend like me mister." They both chuckled the easy banter they shared back with a vengeance breaking the rising sexual tension. His phone rang interrupting their laughter.
"Do you want me to put you on speaker?" She asked picking it up from the console.
"Depends who it is." He murmured thinking of all the possibilities, and who he would want to speak to at the moment.
"Ah... looks like Rebekah."
"That's a definite no then."
"Oh come on Klaus it is Christmas after all, and she is your sister." She argued.
"Yeah if you knew my sister then trust me you wouldn't be saying that." He promised. "I have no idea how she's carved out such a successful career in public relations given her lack of people skills."
"She can't be that bad."
"Fine, answer it I'll show you just how annoying she can be love." Caroline connected the call.
"Let me guess the reason you took so long was because you were deciding whether or not you wanted to speak to me Niklaus." She drawled.
"You got me sister."
"You always were so transparent big brother." Caroline just shook her head at their bickering.
"So to what do I owe the pleasure Rebekah?" Klaus said trying to get to the point this Christmas.
"You really need to stop with all the pleasantries Niklaus; you're spoiling me with all the Christmas cheer."
"What do you know about Christmas cheer?' He baulked. "Last thing I heard was that you had to lie and blackmail our siblings to join you for Christmas Ever dinner."
"And that was so worth it." She groaned. "Elijah spent the whole time on his phone checking emails and Kol downed about ten cocktails and we both know how annoying he gets when drunk."
"Yes we do, but are you surprised?"
"Not really, not sure why I even bother." Klaus softened immediately feeling bad for being so short with her. He took a deep breath before saying.
"It's because deep down you are a good person with a good heart and are extremely loyal to your family, even if they don't appreciate it all the time."
"Did you just tell me I had a good heart?"
"I said deep down Rebekah." He teased making Caroline raise her eyebrows. "Don't get too excited."
"I guess I'll take what compliments I can get." She laughed. "So how's Chicago."
"It's good." He said suddenly embarrassed about having the conversation in front of Caroline.
"Wow how descriptive, you're really painting me a vivid picture here." Caroline put her hands over her mouth to stop from laughing aloud.
"It's cold and snowing."
"If I wanted a weather update I could have just turned on the news."
"Well I'm not sure what else I can give you sister dear." He said knowing exactly what she wanted but didn't want to go into any detail in front of Caroline.
"How is your mystery woman?" Caroline's head shot up not expecting her to know that piece of information. "Kol tells us you were stuck in Indianapolis and travelled together to Chicago."
"You three really need to find other things to talk about." He shot back feeling a blush cross his cheeks.
"I'm amazed you were willing to travel together given your short attention span with most people, including most women."
"No that's just you."
"Ha ha." She said sarcastically. "She must be some woman Niklaus." Caroline gazed at him intently waiting for his response.
"She's okay." He stuttered making her whack him on the leg. "Ouch."
"Wow you really have to stop spoiling me with all this detail." She drawled. "Are you still together by chance?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well that cry of pain sounded a lot like a woman who was not impressed by you calling her okay." Caroline's smile just grew. "I think I like her already."
"I'm actually on my way to this big work dinner so I need to get going."
"Way to change the subject Nik." She replied and Klaus could tell she was rolling her blue eyes. "Don't worry I'll get to the bottom of this, I'm very persistent when I want to be."
"I'm sure you will." He answered. "Merry Christmas little sister."
"Yeah yeah, you too." She disconnected quickly no doubt ready to start sleuthing.
"I'm not even going to address your use of the adjective okay to describe yours truly." She growled getting straight to the point.
"Trust me I felt your discontent about that love." He rubbed his still sore leg from her impromptu assault.
"Anyway what's so bad about Rebekah again?"
"I'm sorry; was I the only one listening to that conversation Caroline?"
"No you weren't." She scowled. "I suppose she's maybe a little bossy…"
"Yeah sounds like someone else I know, which might explain your favourable regard for my sister."
"Do you want to turn back because I wouldn't want your Chief Executive to witness my bossiness." Caroline threatened.
"Not after you've taken so long and put so much effort into memorising their whole lives."
"So how did Rebekah know about me then?' She asked curiously after a few moments.
"She heard you whaling at me at the gas station and she's been like a dog with a bone ever since, bringing my brothers into her little investigation. I told Kol we'd pooled our resources to get to Chicago after getting stuck in Indianapolis."
"That makes sense." She said slowly. "And just for the record I don't whale."
"Maybe it's more of an incessant whine then." He quipped. "Anyway you told Katherine about me too."
"Well you did kind of interrupt my conversation with her."
"Yes the part where you were saying how ambitious, smart, witty and sexy I was, if I recall."
"You wish. " She groaned. "She and Rebekah seem to have a lot in common when it comes to snooping."
"And how is the lovely Katherine?"
"She's upset she missed all the Christmas drama at the Forbes household." She shared. "Apparently it's all predictable turkeys, carols and presents in Boston."
"So she's back there with family I assume?"
"Her family moved there for her dad's job in Senior Year. We were lucky we both wanted to study at Colombia together and we've been flat mates ever since." She smiled.
"I can tell you miss her."
"I do, I know that's kind of weird."
"Not at all, I wish I had someone I was that close with." He admitted. "I don't think my brothers count."
"Trust me Kat can have her moments too, and it's a little difficult to get away when you live in the same house." She chuckled thinking of some of their arguments over the years.
"That sounds like my childhood." He laughed thinking about some of the massive rows they had over the years. "So what does Katherine do in New York?"
"Kat is a lawyer at Sullivan and Cromwell."
"That's one of the top private law firms in the city, I'm impressed." Klaus commented.
"How do you know that?"
"My brother Elijah is a partner at Mikaelson and Sterling." He said. "Specialises in divorce law, no wonder he has no love life having to witness that all day."
"Really? What a coincidence." She murmured. "Kat does exactly the same thing; I blame that for her lack of commitment."
"Maybe we need to introduce them." He joked.
"I've never met your brother but they sound like complete opposites to me."
"Well some might say we are complete opposites too." He remarked raising his left eyebrow.
"Exactly why we are just playing boyfriend and girlfriend Klaus." She said quietly making him take his eyes off the road, regarding her seriously.
Klaus had to admit he was surprised by her comment, he knew he was definitely attracted to her and for some reason he thought she felt the same way. Kisses didn't lie and if hers were anything to go by then their chemistry was out of this world.
It wasn't just their kisses either it was all their interaction since they met, their constant playful banter, their intimate conversations, not to mention their gifts for Christmas. Klaus knew the significance of his present given he never drew for anyone. He was also fairly certain her poem didn't mean nothing given the raw emotion dripping from it.
"Yes that's right." He said offhandedly trying to sound like he didn't care. "Looks like we're here." As he manoeuvred the long driveway they both looked up at the foreboding house lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Woah if that's just the outside; I can only imagine the interior." Caroline murmured.
"I know he's a very rich man but you don't realise just how much until you see things like this."
"Just think you could be living in something like this if you get this promotion."
"I think that's a long way off. I need to get through dinner first." He said gulping loudly, the enormity of the situation only just hitting him.
"We'll do it together don't worry." She smiled placing her hand over his warming his entire body. Caroline Forbes was going to be the death of him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Welcome." A gorgeous brunette said greeting them at the front door. "It's nice to see you again Klaus, and this is?"
"I'm Caroline Forbes." She smiled. "And I love your photography Mrs Taylor."
"Oh please Caroline it's just Jen." She said casually waving them inside. "It's great you could make it tonight, you are actually the first to arrive. I know how difficult it can be this time of year with family commitments."
"Well we're actually very lucky because Caroline is an Illinois native." Klaus beamed placing his arm around her affectionately, partly for their act and partly because he'd wanted an excuse to touch her all day. "So we could do both."
"That is convenient. My husband is a native as well and I must say I love it now too even though I grew up in Philadelphia." She asked leading them through the foyer where an impressive seven foot Christmas tree sat.
"Great football team." She laughed. "My best friend from Chicago who now lives in San Francisco has always supported them for some reason."
"Of course he does because the Eagles are the best." She boasted. "Ah here we are." She said as they entered a large living room with a roaring open fire. Klaus looked up into the eyes of his Chief Executive his smile easing his stress somewhat.
"Don't tell me you're boring them with football darling."
"He's just jealous that his beloved Bears aren't doing as well as my Eagles." She argued back.
"You realise NFL isn't real football though right?" Klaus teased shaking his boss's hand.
"Here we go again." Ben drawled. "This is where Klaus tells me that soccer is real football. Trust the Brits to think their game is superior."
"Yes it is and it's called football not soccer." He chuckled. "Ben this is Caroline Forbes my girlfriend."
"It's nice to meet you Caroline, I think I've been out of the loop because I didn't realise Klaus had a girlfriend." He said smiling warmly at her. "Not that I'm complaining of course, it's about time this one settled down."
"I couldn't agree more." She said sending him her most dazzling style. "I hear we are both from Chicago."
"I'm always happy to meet a fellow native. I've lived in many places over the years but I always come back here because there's no place like home. Klaus would tell you the same thing after all the countries he's lived in. You must be missing London this time of year?"
"Surprisingly not, New York has become a great adopted home."
"It probably has something to do with your girlfriend here." Ben deduced making him blush slightly at him referring to Caroline as his girlfriend.
"Caroline apparently likes my work Ben." Jen said taking a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray as it by passed her.
"Why is that so surprising?" Klaus asked curiously after seeing some of her work and liking it.
"It's always divided popular opinion I guess. I've found over the years that either people love my photos or hate them, not that I'm complaining I like pushing the envelope."
"Well the majority of people I've spoken to like that they are so edgy." Caroline said sincerely. "One of my best friends is an up and coming fashion photographer and credits you as her inspiration."
"Who's your friend?"
"Bonnie Bennett."
"The Bonnie Bennett?" Jen asked incredulously. "I've seen a lot of work from different photographers and I have to say hers is very impressive, but I've never had the chance to meet her."
"Well I'm happy to organise a meeting, she'd probably kill me if she knew we'd met and I hadn't tried to set something up." Caroline laughed. Klaus hadn't heard of Bonnie before from their previous conversations but was happy with the turn of events. Could Caroline be a more perfect girlfriend right now?
"So how do you know Bonnie? Do you work in the same field?" Ben asked taking a seat on the couch and gesturing for them to do the same.
"I'm a writer at Vogue actually so I do have a lot to do with all the photographers."
"You are not." Jen said leaning forward in her seat excitedly. "I love Vogue, they've been so good to me over the years both with my modelling and photography. We must know so many of the same people."
"Here we go she'll never let you leave now Caroline." Ben joked.
"Funny dear." She shot back. Klaus didn't think things could be going any better if he had planned it himself. The sound of children's screams pierced the air and before Klaus knew it the three rug rats in question had well and truly arrived.
They were all very cute dressed up in their best outfits but Klaus had to admit their noise levels were starting to deafen him.
"Kids." Ben shouted grabbing their attention. "There is to be no yelling while we have visitors. Didn't we discuss this before?"
"But he stole my doll." Lucy whined sucking on her thumb.
"Only because she was being annoying." James argued.
"Now I can attest to that James." Klaus joked thinking of his little sister Rebekah and how annoying she could get, even now.
"How do you know my name?" He asked curiously, Klaus didn't really want to tell the kid they'd googled him beforehand. It might come across as a little creepy. Caroline jumped in obviously sensing his uncertainty.
"Well we happened to see it written on this tag from Santa Claus." Caroline smiled pulling out the brightly wrapped present from her bag. His face lit up excitedly.
"You know Santa Claus?" Georgia asked her eyes wide.
"Well I don't know him personally but I do know one of his elves." Caroline grinned as the three kids looked at her in amazement, Klaus couldn't get enough of her. "Georgia right?" She asked and the little girl nodded as she passed over her present.
"You might not miss your doll now Lucy." Klaus said winking at the little girl and passing her the remaining present.
"What do you three say?" Jen asked and they all yelled out their thanks whilst ripping off the wrapping paper enthusiastically.
"Thank you, but this really wasn't necessary." Ben said kindly.
"Well it is Christmas after all." Caroline beamed watching their excitement.
"Yeah it really was our pleasure." Klaus added placing his hand over hers affectionately; thinking if this is what she did as a fake girlfriend what would she do as a real one? The possibilities were endless and if he was being honest a little exciting.
"Santa got me a doll!" Lucy squealed holding up the blonde Barbie laden in pink. "She looks just like you." She added awe struck by Caroline.
"Wow that Santa has good taste." Caroline laughed as the little girl held it out for her to see even though she'd wrapped it and knew exactly what it looked like.
"I'm going to call her Barbie." She giggled her other doll long forgotten.
"That's very creative baby." Jen chuckled looking at them gratefully.
"Dad I'm going to dress up as a fairy for the party." Georgia smiled holding up the pink glittery wings and magic wand housed in her package. "Can you help me?" She asked looking to Caroline in anticipation.
"Of course I can." Caroline grinned leaning down to dress her. Klaus couldn't help but grin like an idiot at how adorable she was with children. He realised it was just another reason to like her.
"Wow it's a remote control car!" James cried breaking him out of his trance. "You have to play with me." He grabbed Klaus's hand to lead him to the corner of the room.
"James, Klaus is busy with your dad at the moment." Jen said apologetically.
"Oh I'm more than happy to play, I always wanted a remote control car so this is like living out a childhood dream. Klaus smiled.
"Me too." Ben laughed joining them. "I'm so glad we invited you both for Christmas, you're welcome anytime."