Hello all! Yes, I'm finally updating, thank you for the constant love for this story. It thoroughly makes me want to update all the time. Special thanks to Megan over at MysticFalls-Fanfiction for helping me out. I love all of you. So here's a rather big update, the next chapter will probably be bigger with the plot going on. Please enjoy, and thank you again. xo
- lexi

And I swore, I swore I would be true; And, honey, so did you
So why were you holding her hand? Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time? Was it just a game to you?
But I'm in so deep
You know I'm such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger,
Do you have to let it linger?

The heavy rain tapped upon Elena's window the next morning. When it rained in New York, it was automatically known that the day would remain dreary. She turned on her left side, and faced the looking at the window. There were not many things that she wanted to do today.

Elena turned to her radio that had woken her from her slumber. Pressing the button, to get the annoying love song out of the atmosphere, she decided to get up. She got dressed, and put on her long, grey peacoat. Walking out of her condominium, she locked the door behind her. It was a gloomy day to match her emotions. Her mind led her to the local Starbucks, equipped with a heavy heart, her umbrella, and her iPad. This was how she was going to spend her day, until she walked through the door.

Damon.

His hair was wet and slicked back from the rain as he shrugged off his jacket, and made his way to the line for his coffee. She bit her lip at the agony which was eating her alive.

Elena hesitated, debating quickly whether she should leave or stay and brave her heartbreak. 'Maybe he won't see me,' echoed in her head. Gulping, she found herself waiting for him to have a seat before she made her drink order. After waiting patiently, she went to the counter, and ordered a large cup of coffee, proceeding to find a seat in the corner of the shop. It was not a busy day for once. The Damon in the middle of the shop bothered her though. Just knowing he was there, disgusted her; she didn't want any part of him. She hoped he had left.

Was that what she was wanted? Elena was indifferent at the moment and it struck her like a chord of her favorite song to see him in public after the turmoil that had caused the evening before. She placed her white earbuds in each of her ears quickly, and turned on whatever would play on shuffle.

Suddenly, the chair in front of her was pulled out, and someone was having a seat in front of her. She looked from her iPad to find Damon finding a seat across from her. "What do you want?" she sneered. "Come to ruin this day too?" She removed one earbud and sighed painfully.

He rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee. "No. You're not the only one who likes coffee on a rainy day… in the state of New York." He was being a sarcastic asshole again. Lovely.

Elena's eyes stared straight through him, as she began to gather her belongings to leave the coffee shop.

"Wait," Damon pleaded standing up at the same time.

Elena turned and faced him. "What? Haven't you caused enough?"

"Elena, can we talk? That's all I'm asking."

She looked at him with no emotion. "About what? How you've been playing me like one of your puppets the whole time? How it's always going to be Katherine with you? Oh, or would you like to talk about how she ruined my company? That's the good stuff," Elena groaned in a disgusted tone.

"All of it, or whatever you will allow me to talk about."

Elena shook her head, and walked hastily toward the door, as she heard Damon follow her footsteps. She turned quickly around and scowled. "What do you want? I don't want to talk, Damon!"

"Please," he begged sincerely, while grasping her arm.

"Damon, let me go!" She muttered, trying to keep quiet.

Damon grimaced. "Then, talk to me."

"I don't want to talk! You aren't respecting that, I don't want anything to do with you." Elena tried her best to work herself out of his grip, but it was no use. Her body slouched, giving up with fighting his strong clutch.

"I'll let go if you talk," he pushed, in a snarky tone.

"Fine, you want me to talk? Go to hell, Damon. Now let go."

Damon chuckled emotionlessly. "No."

"Then what do you want from me, if I won't talk?" she muttered.

He tightened his grip, sliding down to her fingers, and intertwining theirs together. "Let's go for a walk. Shall we?"

Elena groaned, and tried her best to keep up with him. "What part of 'I do not want to talk,' do you not comprehend?"

"You're being silly for not giving me a chance, I'm still your CEO partner—that means we should communicate," Damon reminded her in a sweet, subtle tone.

She bit her lip. "I should have never mixed you in with any other emotion except hate." Elena's voice was stern and spiteful.

He rolled his eyes. "Please."

"Fine, but this is the last time," she warned him.

Damon nodded once in approval of her allowing them to talk. They made it to her condominium, and he sat on the steps and looked up at her. "Now, please explain why you are so mad at me, and why you can't take a hint that Katherine is nothing but a business partner."

Elena cringed at his topic selection. "I don't want to talk—I need answers though. She ruined everything; everything I ever worked for is broken—more broken than I didn't think it could be." Elena found a seat by him to humor him so he would leave her alone. She had plenty of things to do, and talking to him was not on that list.

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "I apologize for her putting her on the team at your company. I was out of place, doing that."

Elena was quiet, not sure what to say after a sincere apology that was unexpected. "Thanks, I suppose. Just really doesn't undo everything that happened," she murmured.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Damon shrugged, scooting on the step to get as comfortable as possible.

Elena's eyes were focused on the rain pouring down. "What beginning?"

He sighed, taking off his coat, fixing the cufflinks on his shirt. "Why Katherine is still around, what she was supposed to do, and why me and her could never work out—it's actually no one's business, but I think you deserve to know to have a reason."

"Fine—so talk."

"We did have something, something very valuable when I first hired her. She was my partner in crime, so to speak. I enjoyed her company and we enjoyed mixing business with pleasure. Katherine was there with Stefan and me when we needed a push, or we just needed someone to do extra work we had no time to do—such as being a publicist. And she was a friend of Giuseppe," Damon shrugged simply.

Elena kept her mind glued to what he was saying, sincerely telling her everything.

"Katherine had this possession over us both. The whole family actually—everyone adored Katherine Pierce. Including Stefan and I; so we hired her, to humor our beloved Father's wishes," Damon stopped for a second in the middle of his story, to clear his throat. "And that possession turned into love, and that love turned into an engagement—wrapping her finger around me. And falling in love with the worst person I could ever fall in love with; so she continued to have a job via Giuseppe. She did her job more than ever after we broke up, because Katherine probably knew her job was hanging by a thread."

Elena listened carefully understanding the past of Katherine. It was different for him to come out about his past to her.

"But we still trusted each other enough to bring her into another company, but I can see, I had my eyes on another girl, and Katherine turned into the green eyed monster; and that little monster turned this business into her business. Yes, I will be completely honest with you—I did have late night phone calls with her, because when you are away on business, there's not much you can do via long distance, except talk at weird hours or get the true story of what is happening. I mainly called to check up on you and the company; but of course little miss Katherine made it her priority to make her first."

"Then why were you so defensive?" Elena asked quietly as the rain slowed down.

"I was angry at her for starting it, and I was angrier at Caroline for 'protecting' you a little too much. I know she's your friend, but she assumed we had something. We used to have something, it's in the past. Katherine is a selfish bitch who only looks out what is best for her."

The air had decreased in tension after he had finished speaking. "I don't know if it would help, but if there's anything you want to ask me, I'm open to telling you anything else you desire to know."

She shrugged her shoulders in a careless motion. "I don't think anything can make this better. I thank you though for allowing me to know things I shouldn't know, but opening my eyes to who Katherine really is. Again—Damon, I need time, and you following me and wanting to fix this, isn't help that. I'm busy actually in my work. I have a party tonight for one of my author's," she rambled on.

"Fine, I'll leave, but I'll always be around-especially when you are ready to talk," Damon got off the step, and stopped at the end of the sidewalk. He turned back to stare at her, and softly smiled. "Have a good night, Elena; I will see you on Monday, if we don't happen to run into each other again."

"Take care of yourself, Damon," she whispered, stepping back into her home after looking at Damon one last time.

Elena turned on her iPod's dock to listen to whatever her mind was feeling at the moment. Damon had emotionally hurt her, and she was paying for it physically. "Linger" by the Cranberries began to play, as Elena slid against her bedroom door and started to cry.

You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger?

Angrily, she took the remote and changed the song. Good ol' Taylor Swift decided to play; "Red" to be exact. She rushed to her closet, singing along to one of her favorite songs by the artist. Elena couldn't be late for this author. They had worked so hard on their climb up the charts, and finally became a New York Times Bestseller. Andie Richards had come a long way, and Elena was extremely proud of her client.

She had finally finished getting dressed, and put on her best Vera Wang dress. Elena was ready for anything—anything right?

XXXX

"I can't believe he showed up here with the author!" Caroline roared as the two best friends stood on the sidelines of the dance floor.

Damon had entered the party as if he owned the place. His suit was pressed and he was cocky as ever.

Elena rubbed her eyes in distress and chuckled humorlessly. "I don't know, Care. I gave up on wondering why he does the things he does."

Caroline shrugged, "Maybe you should go talk to him—perhaps suggest him to leave."

Elena finished off her drink and sighed. "I don't think so. He's not ruining this party for me."

Caroline bit her bottom lip and looked over at her friend, but was suddenly joined by her newlywed husband, Klaus. "Oh, Elena, I would like to introduce you to Elijah, Klaus' older brother."

Turning her attention on the dashing and handsome man, Elena smiled taking her care off Damon. "Hello, Elijah. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elena Gilbert."

He was extremely tall, and could wear a suit like no other. Elijah Mikaelson was extremely handsome.

"Pleasure, my darling," he smiled grabbing her hand and kissed her knuckle softly.

Caroline giggled at Elijah's persuasive actions toward Elena.

"Elena, would you care to dance?" Elijah asked suddenly, as Elena felt Caroline nudge her elbow into her back.

"Stop that," Elena growled in a hushed tone, and smiled at Elijah. "I—sure, I'd love to."

Elijah grabbed Elena's hand with tenderness, and led her to the dance floor. He placed her hand in the middle area of her back and lifted her hand placing it in his. They swayed back and forth bringing the whole room on them.

"Now, Elena, why on Earth are you here alone?" Elijah whispered softly near her ear.

"It's a long story," she whispered back. "So Elijah, tell me about yourself."

"Ah, there isn't much to tell, but if you must know my story—I graduated from Harvard, I have a Master's degree in business, and I would love to show you a wonderful night." He smiled softly.

Elena chuckled softly. "Well aren't you an interesting—man." Her eyes had trailed to Damon who was staring back at her. Damon had distracted her thoughts. He had this hold on her, she couldn't shake, and she hated it. She hated herself for loving him. It was wrong. It was so wrong it made it right. He was wrong for her; he was a cynical man, who only cared about himself and his next paycheck. Wasn't he? Her eyes began to swell up with tears, not realizing she was doing it.

"Elena, dear, are you alright?" Elijah snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Fine, thank you; just have a few things on my mind."

Elena looked up again, and Damon had vanished.

The song had finished, and they had stepped away awkwardly. "Elijah, would you mind if I run to the ladies' room for a moment? I need to freshen up my make-up," Elena asked.

"Only if you return," he said with a soft smile.

"Of course."

Elena walked to the back, to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind her breathing out. Her chest had tightened and Damon was driving her crazy. She rested her head against the wall in angst.

"Well, good evening, Elena, fancy seeing you here." That voice made Elena cringe. She snapped out of her gaze into outer space and sighed.

"Damnit, Damon, what are you doing here?" she groaned, raising her voice.

He put his hands up in defeat. "Hey, it's okay. Not what you think either."

She glared at him, squinting her eyes in disgust. "What do you mean it's not what I think?" Elena mocked him.

"Andie is a friend, a friend from a very long time ago. She needed someone to take her to this party since she didn't have a date."

"Now am I really supposed to believe that?" she questioned him in an attentive tone.

He shrugged, "Believe what you want, sweetheart. I see you already found another man."

"Damon you seem a bit drunk tonight. Why don't you exit this place before you actually have a mental breakdown, or even better you pass out from the alcohol level?" she smirked leaning over the sink.

Damon cackled in a disgusted tone. "Oh, please Elena. Let's go to that point of this argument. I'm not that drunk, anyway."

"Fine, goodnight Damon," she muttered passing by him, and reaching for the door handle. The door was stuck. "Crap," Elena whispered to herself, but realized Damon was holding the door strongly.

"Damon, let me go back to the party," she growled.

"Okay, but I have something to say."

Elena gazed up at Damon hovering over her. "What?"

"You look ravishing in that dress, very gorgeous. And I hope that man treats you right," Damon whispered opening the door. "Goodnight, Elena," he mocked.

She glanced at him one last time, and walked out, meeting back up with Elijah, Klaus, and Caroline. "So, Elijah, how about that night you promised me?"

Yes, a lovely plot twist full of angst. Elijah is brought into the picture. Thank you again you guys, and replies are my favorite thing ever. xo