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"So how'd it go?" Rebekah asked her friend anxiously before she could officially step into their apartment. It was no secret how important this internship was to her and she knew better than anyone else that Elena was one more disappointment away from cracking and succumbing to her own insanity. The girl was a perfectionist; which meant she was usually great at everything she did, but it made failing that much more painful to her. With everything Elena had gone through in the last two years, she desperately needed some good news.

Elena took a deep breath looking at her blond friend with the most serious expression she could muster before yelling "I got the internship!" and giggling as she watched Rebekah's face tense up before finally relaxing in relief.

"You bitch; you scared me!" The blond screamed tossing one of the fluffy throw pillows from the couch in her direction. "I'm so happy for you!" She ran up to wrap Elena into a tight hug.

"So when do you start?"

"Monday." Elena told her as she grabbed a bottled water from the fridge. "There's supposed to be four of us, and once the twelve weeks are over one of us will get the job."

"You'll do great." Rebekah assured her. "You're the best designer I know."

"Yeah I'm not so sure about that." Elena didn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that the only reason got the internship was because Alaric seemed so impressed with her designs. Damon on the other hand could barely hide the contempt in his features as he reluctantly agreed with his partner. She knew it was the first time that Salvatore & Saltzman had offered an internship to any student from her University, and she figured maybe she'd have to prove herself before he warmed up to the idea of having her around.

"I don't know why you always sell yourself short Elena."

"Let's just say I failed to impress one half of the firm." Elena explained.

"And who would that be?"

"Damon Salvatore." Elena informed her.

"You mean the hot one?"

Elena failed to hide her blush at her friend's comment. "Yeah the hot one." It was true; the man was clearly good looking, way above average, possibly even the best looking guy she'd ever met. Oh god, why was she already comparing him to other guys? She momentarily chastised herself for losing her train of thought.

Damon Salvatore obviously didn't think she was good enough to work at his firm, and she if she couldn't impress him with her talent, she didn't know how she'd ever get his approval. Wait, why would she even want it? He only proved how very rude he was when he barely glanced at her the entire time during her interview, he made it clear that she was boring him and that he'd rather be anywhere else. What an ass. She thought quietly to herself. It was going to be a long twelve weeks.

"So screw him." Rebekah replied flippantly, taking her out of her thoughts. "You're a damn good designer and if this Salvatore guy doesn't see that, then it's his loss, but that outfit probably didn't do you any favors" Rebekah shrugged before sliding off the couch, making her way toward the kitchen cabinet and grabbing a bottle of tequila. "Now, let's celebrate!"

Elena shook her head; she could always count on Rebekah to make her feel better even if only a little. Despite only meeting each other in college a few years back she felt like she'd known Rebekah all her life. They balanced each other out like friends should.

Elena didn't have many friends even back home in Mystic Falls. She was usually too shy to approach the any of the other kids in high school, and aside from very few exceptions not many people took interest in her. She was dateless at her senior prom, spending majority of the night sitting unnoticed in a dark corner watching as all the others danced and celebrated. It was certainly the story of her life. She always did exceptionally well in school and worked hard at in all of her professional endeavors but socially she just never fit in.

Guys weren't flocking to date her, like they often did with Rebekah whenever they were out and about around town. Elena would be lucky to even get noticed at all. Rebekah would joke that if she dressed up more there's no way a guy would be able to resist her. But Elena didn't want some guy who was only concerned with her appearance, she wanted someone who could appreciate her intellectually and for the good person she strived to be. Plus, who was she kidding; no way could she ever be as hot as Rebekah there wasn't a stylist in the world who could work such a miracle.

A couple times she thought she'd found that guy, only to be left bitter and disappointed from being broken up with. It was always the same excuses; we should see other people. Then there was Sam who flat out told her how dull he found her and that he'd been cheating on her the entire time they were together. For days Elena didn't leave her room, spending most of her time crying in her pillow like a lovesick teenager. Never had she experiences such a betrayal. To make matters worse she had to run into him multiple times at the bar they both frequented, with his obviously much hotter girlfriend draped all over him. Elena would watch on bitterly torturing herself as the other woman threw herself at him, laughing flirtatiously at his every word.

She and Sam weren't exactly serious, but she liked him a lot. She thought he felt the same way and was completely blindsided by their break-up. It turned out he wasn't the person she thought he was and while she nodded appreciatively every time Rebekah told her she dodged a bullet, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with her. There had to be a reason why no guy wanted to be with her, maybe she was dull after all. Maybe she was destined to grow old and befriend a bunch of cats.

The night at the bar after Sam cruelly flaunted his new girlfriend in her face, Elena didn't even attempt to stop Rebekah when she hurled a giant brick through the windshield of his car. They ended up having to pay for it, but it was still satisfying to see the horror on his face when it happened. Rebekah always came to her defense, always standing up for her when she couldn't do it herself. In return Elena kept her friend grounded, and she knew how volatile the feisty blond could be when she felt her loved ones being threatened and Elena usually did her best to steer her friend away from getting into trouble.

Elena grabbed the shot glass from the counter listening as Rebekah gave a toast to her new job before downing the alcoholic beverage in one swallow. She savored the taste, squeezing her eyes shut and feeling the slight tingle in her ears. Leave it to Rebekah to find an occasion to drink every day of the week.

"I have an idea!" Rebekah shouted, as she slammed the glass on the counter.

Elena could tell from the playful mischief that danced in her eyes that she wasn't going to like her friend's suggestion.

"We tomorrow afternoon we should hit up the mall."

She had a feeling she knew where this was going. It wouldn't be the first time Rebekah tried to make her over, but somehow this time she didn't protest vehemently like she would've a few weeks ago. Why not? Starting a new job was like a new beginning for her, and she could certainly use the confidence boost.

"Fine," she relented, laughing as her friend squealed excitedly.

Monday came much sooner than Elena anticipated; she couldn't ignore the way her nerves tingled in apprehension. She was both anxious and excited. It was her first day of work and it felt like her first day of high school all over again. Spending the whole weekend shopping for new work attire proved to be hopeless as she found herself throwing on her blue striped pant suit instead of one of the many outfits Rebekah had picked out for her.

Elena made a mental note to sneak out before her friend could see her; she didn't want to have to explain why she didn't feel comfortable putting on anything that might actually flatter her shape.

That morning she looked herself in the mirror, reassuring herself that she'd do well. Just be confident, you can do this, she told herself, after splashing her face with warm water.

Once at the firm, she made her way over to her tiny cubicle after introducing herself to her fellow interns. The place was really busy with people running around, phones ringing loudly, everyone chattering and working. Elena loved it already. She automatically knew she'd get along with Bonnie, but Kol seemed very self-absorbed and more than a little crass. He kept talking about himself in hopes of getting Bonnie's attention, but the brown haired girl mostly ignored his boasting.

After arranging her office supplied neatly on the small metal desk, she looked around for Andie Starr but she was nowhere to be found. One look across the hall and she could see her and Damon Salvatore talking and laughing as they stood outside his office. Even though what she saw couldn't exactly be classified as inappropriate it certainly left her feeling uneasy for some reason. Wasn't there some kind of rule against employers and employees fraternizing so openly? She noticed Andie's hand resting gently against Damon's arm as she leaned forward to afford him a peak at her cleavage.

Elena felt a knot form in her stomach, how could any of them be expected to compete with that? It hadn't even been an hour since she arrived for her first day of work but it already felt like Andie Starr had it in the bag. Damon obviously enjoyed her company if his thousand kilowatt smile was any indication.

Part of her envied Andie, not because she wanted to flirt with Damon Salvatore, but she wished she had the confidence to walk up to any guy and be charming enough to hold their attention. She wasn't ugly by any means, but she lacked the social skills and the confidence to ever pull something like that off.

She watched as Damon walked into his office, and Andie returned to her cubicle which was right in front of hers.

"You're Elena right? We met at the interview." Andie almost looked shocked to see Elena sitting in front of her.

"Yeah it's nice to see you again, looking forward to working with you." Elena lied reaching out to shake her hand which was extended in front of her. Before she could get out another word, she noticed as Andie grabbed a few folders from her desk and started to walk back towards Damon's office.

Damon rubbed his temples in frustration as he pressed the ignore button on his phone. He hadn't spoken to his brother in over a year and since he was sure no one in the family was dying he couldn't see any reason why his phone wouldn't stop ringing all morning. First it was his father and now it was Stefan who was requiring his presence. The black sheep sure is popular these days, he thought bitterly as poured himself a glass of bourbon.

The gorgeous blonde before him smiled enthusiastically at him, twirling her hair flirtatiously to get his attention. Andie didn't waste any time making it clear that she wanting to work closely with him. She claimed she was more of a hands on kind of girl and Damon didn't miss the sexual innuendo in that statement as her eyes glinted with mischief. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted, and even though he had no plans of taking Andie on her sexual offer at least not yet anyway, he figured a little harmless flirting and conversation wouldn't kill anyone.

Unlike the others Andie seemed to have a clue about what this kind of work entailed, plus he could use help with Alaric out recruiting clients all week. But of course there were the less competent ones he was forced to baby sit with Alaric being out of the office. He'd have to find something for them to do or they'd surely come crying and whining soon enough. He rolled his bright blue eyes dramatically, and they landed on many boxes of unsharpened pencils across the room. He stood up smiling momentarily at his own cleverness before picking up the first two boxes.

Once he stepped outside he didn't even need to call out to get their attention. Bonnie and Kol immediately ceased their conversation, and Elena looked up from her computer screen.

"The most important tool to an architect is right here in this box." He rested his hand on the box for emphasis. "Every pencil should be sharpened to perfection; it's the fundamental things that make all the difference." He spieled not believing a word of his own speech and barely holding in his laughter. They barely ever used pencils considering most of their drafting is done on the computer. But he remembered how tough it was for him starting off, and he didn't plan to make it easy for any of them either. Well maybe except for Andie but that's only because she showed the initiative, not because she was totally hot and practically throwing herself at him or anything. At least that's what he told himself anyway.

If Bonnie and Kol had any objections they sure did a much better job at hiding it than Elena who couldn't seem to stop rolling her eyes the entire time he spoke. He knew she'd be trouble the moment she walked in acting all shy and nervous, and now he had proof with her blatant disrespect of him. He wasn't sure what Elijah let her get away with at the university but he didn't plan on letting Miss Gilbert tell him how to run his own company, and why the hell was he so bothered by her disapproval anyway? There had been plenty times he'd walk in on many of his other employees calling him all sorts of horrible names and he never even cared enough to confront them about it. But here she sat with her disapproving stare, and it annoyed him more than he wanted to admit.

He walked away instructing for Kol to carry the rest of the boxes out of his office. He wanted to avoid Elena's self righteous glare as much as he possibly could. Goodness, why was he letting his girl intimidate him in his own building? It was the most bizarre feeling he'd ever felt and he couldn't wait until Alaric was back so he didn't have to be bothered with those stupid interns. Except for Andie of course, she was a keeper and he'd never get tired of her fawning over him.

By the time lunch time rolled around Elena was relieved to take a break from the endless whirring of the pencil sharpener. Her hands hurt so much that she was sure blisters were forming on her fingers. She couldn't believe her first day of work was spent sharpening pencils. That idiot, Damon Salvatore couldn't have degraded them more if he tried. The nerve of him, she hadn't come across anyone so arrogant in her life. And of course Andie spent the entire day working side by side with him, every once in a while she'd walk out and smile patronizingly at them while she flaunted her apparent superior status in their faces.

Even as they headed out on their lunch breaks Elena noticed Damon and Andie carrying their take out into his office, where she assumed they'd spend their lunch break. She couldn't believe how quickly her hope of getting this job faded, within a few hours she went from being excitedly anxious to completely hopeless.

She tried to tell herself that it was just Damon's company and that she could still appeal to Alaric, but she hadn't seen him all day and if his presence in the firm was always this scarce then she was truly out of luck.

Elena stared disappointingly into her salad bowl as Bonnie and Kol came to join her in the cafeteria.

"Why so sad?" she heard Kol ask and she shook her head slightly.

"I swear if I have to sharpen another pencil I'm gonna use one of those pointy things to poke my eyes out!" Bonnie ranted, slamming her lunch on the table. "How come Andie doesn't have to sharpen any?" She whined. "It's so not fair."

"That's because Andie smarter than the both of you." Kol laughed amusingly. "She's sleeping with the boss, or at least she will be."

"She's not sleeping with him." Elena argued. She didn't know why it bothered her to hear him say that.

"Do you want to bet she'll be sleeping with him soon?" He challenged. "Times like these I wish I were a woman, I'd have this job already."

"Just because she's working and having lunch with him doesn't mean she'll get the job." Bonnie looked at him annoyingly but Elena could tell she didn't believe the words that were coming out of her own mouth. "And besides that's such an ignorant thing to say."

"It's not ignorant, you're just a prude." Kol teased. "If I were a woman I'd sleep with Damon Salvatore for that job, hell if he were into guys I'd sleep with him right now."

Elena rolled her eyes but she couldn't help smiling just a little. If everything about this experience was determined to suck, at least she could laugh at Bonnie and Kol's constant bickering. That was proving to be the highlight of her entire day.

"Seriously guys, do you think he'll ever give us a chance to prove ourselves." Bonnie asked nervously.

"In his bed maybe." Kol muttered under his breath while dodging the plastic fork that Bonnie threw in his direction.

"I don't know." Elena answered. She honestly had no idea how this whole thing would play out for them, or what her next move should be. Did any of them even have a chance at getting a job at Salvatore & Saltzman now that Andie had clearly marked her territory? More importantly even if by some stroke of pure luck she did end up getting this job, did she even want to work under Damon Salvatore, who clearly had no trouble humiliating his employees?

"Maybe we should talk to him." Bonnie suggested. "You know, show him we can handle more responsibility."

"It's only one day, can you guys relax and stop freaking out." Kol interrupted them.

Surprisingly Elena decided to take Kol's advice. He was right freaking out wouldn't help them in the slightest, and maybe Bonnie's idea wasn't so bad either. She'd give it a few days and if things didn't change she'd go to Mr. Damon Salvatore herself and let him know she didn't appreciate being misused and humiliated when she was expecting to gain experience and knowledge in a field that she enjoyed immensely.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye their lunch break had ended and it was back to sharpening pencils. She grabbed her headphones out of her purse and put turned her volume all the way up to drown out the sound of the sharpener. It worked just like she hoped, now if only she could find a solution for her aching hands. She tried alternating hands but it just caused both her arms to hurt in equal measure.

She was taken out of her focus when Andie finally appeared at her cubicle and Elena watched as Andie gathered her purse and belongings, watched her lips movie, clearly saying something she couldn't make out.

Elena took the headphones off, and gave her a look of confusion. "I'm sorry did you say something to me."

"Yes I said I'm gone for the day. I'll see you tomorrow."

Elena looked at time on her computer screen, it was only two-thirty, and as far as she knew they were supposed to be at work until four.

Andie must have noticed her confusion because she answered before Elena could even ask the question.

"I had a really important appointment today and Damon said I could take off early."

"Oh." Elena answered not knowing what else to say.

Before Andie turned around and walked away, she had one more thing to add. "I wouldn't let Damon catch you listening to that; he doesn't like those kinds of distractions in the work place." She smiled smugly leaving Elena feeling even more than a little annoyed.

She was livid actually, how was it that Andie could take off work early on the very first day and she couldn't even wear a pair of headphones while sharpening some stupid pencils? Bonnie and Kol looked over at her and their expressions mirrored her own, disbelief and shock that this man didn't even bother to hide his favoritism toward Andie.

Elena almost felt like marching into his office and giving him a piece of her mind, but she didn't know what to say. It's not like she could accuse him of anything, technically he didn't do anything that was unethical or wrong. It's too bad you can't report your boss for being an idiot.

As the day wound down she managed to calm herself down considerably and when four o'clock came around she couldn't wait to get out of that place. She grabbed her purse and keys and waved goodbye to her fellow interns who stayed behind to clean up.

Pushing the elevator button she waited patiently for the door to open, stepping inside and pressing the button for the lobby. The elevator door was just about closed before she saw a hand slide in the narrow opening and the door bounced back and of course as her luck would have it, it was Damon.

Smiling that ridiculously bright smile of his in her direction, she couldn't even force one from her own lips. In that moment he was just about her least favorite person in the world, and she wouldn't even pretend to be cordial no matter how mesmerizing his blue eyes were.

Instead she avoided him, choosing to stand as far away from him as possible and averting her eyes away from him. But even then his sweet masculine scent filled the entire elevator tickling her nostrils. God, he smelled so good. She mentally reprimanded herself once again for letting her mind wander nearly fawning over such an asshole.

Elena thought about what Bonnie said at lunch earlier that day. Should she confront him about the way he belittled them? It was definitely a chance, they were alone and who knows if Andie will ever unhinge herself from him long enough to allow her another opportunity. She debated this for several moments before the elevator came to an abrupt stop. The lights turned off leaving them in complete darkness, the metal box shook vigorously and she found herself being launched in his direction, his strong arms wrapped around her instinctively as he steadied them against the wall of the elevator.

Damon became hyperaware of how close they were, her feminine curves pressing flushed against his own form. He felt the soft swells of her breast rub against his hard chest as his arms wrapped securely around her waist. She smelled like lavender and something sweet he couldn't place. He did his best to keep their lower bodies from touching since he was sure he was starting to have the natural male response to her body being so close to his.

Seconds later the elevator stopped shaking and the emergency lights came on. Elena jumped out of his arms faster than he could blink and he began to wonder if he hadn't just imagined her there in the first place. The tightness in his pants however confirmed that it was very real.

He pressed the numbers against the wall of the elevator but it didn't move. The emergency phone was out of service and had been for the last week. He took out his own cell phone but it was no use, for some reason he wasn't receiving any signal.

"Great." He muttered in annoyance. This is just what he needed, to be stuck in an elevator with her.

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