Stefan's feet hit the floor. Stretching out of bed, a yawn escaped his mouth and he made his way to the kitchen. Peering into the fridge, another yawn formed, turning into a belch as he grabbed an orange soda, knocking the door shut with his elbow.
He hopped over the back of the couch and landed in his favourite butt groove. Pulling his mouse and keyboard onto his lap, Stefan booted up his computer setup, watching proudly as his excessively large screens blinked into life on the wall in front of him.
The time read 2:26pm and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for getting up early today.
After going through his start-of-day routine of checking his security, altering some coding to remain undetectable, and shoving a handful of the day old Cheetos he left out that night before into his mouth, Stefan contemplated whether he wanted to wire himself some cash courtesy of some unsuspecting douchelord or hack into the McDonald's servers to orchestrate the Shamrock Shake to come back mid-July.
Suddenly, a notification blinked in the centre of his screen.
Scratching his crotch, Stefan pulled the message open. It was from a dating site he'd never signed up for, announcing he had a match.
The message was blatantly fake. An abundantly cleavaged woman stared at him, claiming to have found his non existent profile and wanted to "get to know" him.
Stefan stared at the screen, squinting at the message suspiciously with pursed lips.
He wiped his cheese dust covered hand on his sweatpants and tapped out his reply quickly. Someone had clearly taken the time to target him specifically, linking this dating profile to his boarding school's alumni email address. He invited stfnlvr1846-real subtle-to the cafe across the street to see who, exactly, would show up. Then he began to dig.
Across the street Bonnie and Caroline were at the same cafe, watching the loft from a table out front.
"He didn't buy it," Bonnie said, reading off her phone, fingers already tapping out a reply.
"That was the point wasn't it?" Caroline peeked over her shoulder, sipping an iced coffee. Bonnie nodded.
"You ready?" she asked.
Caroline hiked her black bag further up her shoulder with a firm nod of her head, the excitement pouring into her smile. "I always love a good air duct entrance."
Bonnie grinned and pulled a tray from the table as she stood. She tied the small apron around her waist, tucked a pencil behind her ear, and started her shift.
Exactly 53 minutes later, a freshly showered, appropriately dressed, and Cheeto dust free Stefan Salvatore waltzed into the cafe. Bonnie sent a quick text to Caroline waiting on the roof across the street and approached his table.
"Drink?" she asked, flipping open a small notebook.
He watched her carefully. "I haven't decided yet," he said pleasantly, and Bonnie nodded. As she turned away he added "Bonnie Bennett," carefully accentuating the B's.
She turned back towards Stefan as he kicked the chair out across from him inviting her to sit, and slid into it.
"Busted." She grinned and sized the stranger up, vaguely wondering how he got his hair so goddamned floofy. Bonnie pulled the apron off her waist and dropped it on the table.
He tilted his head slightly. "So what was the play here, lure me out on a date so the cute barista girl can step in to comfort me when I get stood up?"
Bonnie leaned back in her chair, and crossed her leg over her knee. "Something like that," she said.
"Sloppy." Stefan shook his head, unimpressed. A light blinked on his phone on the table beside him. His brows furrowed and a frown slipped onto his previously playful expression. "Oh."
"Worked on more than a few of your old classmates," Bonnie said.
"None of my classmates have the same security I do," Stefan gloated, showing her the screen. Caroline had her ear pressed up against a previously hidden wall safe, fiddling with the dial. "She made it to the safe. Nice."
After a beat of her not answering, Stefan continued. "So are you gonna call off your buddy or should I? My way involves a lot more sirens."
Bonnie shot a quick text to Caroline as Stefan watched his security camera through his phone. Satisfied she was gone, he put it away. "I like it, by the way," he said. "Combing through lists of rich boarding school alum. I'm not surprised it worked on some of the members of my graduating class."
"I'm surprised you just threatened to call the police," Bonnie said, eyeing her newly manicured nails. "Considering the contents of that wall safe."
"And what would you know about the contents of my safe?" Stefan asked casually, but his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Bonnie shrugged. "Oh, nothing. But she might have an idea," she said, as Caroline appeared at his shoulder.
She flipped open a red folder.
"Real interesting read," she said, perusing its contents. Stefan made to grab it but Caroline snapped it shut with a grin.
Stefan leaned forwards. "Fine. You have my attention. How much?"
"Oh we're not here for money," Bonnie said, a grin settling on her lips as their plan came together. Caroline pulled a chair up beside her and plopped down happily.
"We saw your name on the alumni list, and we wanted to see if the apple fell far from the tree," Caroline said.
"Meaning?" Stefan leaned back against his chair rigidly.
Caroline leaned forward, an intimidating smile on her lips. "Meaning we wanted to know if Giuseppe Salvatore's kid was in the family business."
Stefan pursed his lips together. "Oh, I don't know, Forbes, I could ask you the same thing. How's Special Agent Liz doing these days?"
Caroline backed off, shrinking at her mother's name.
"I don't know what you've heard, but I haven't seen him since he was arrested by your mom." Stefan looked pointedly at Caroline. "Died in custody three years ago, I have no ties to the guy. Or any of my family."
"We're aware," Caroline said stiffly. "We wanted to see what you were capable of."
"And we wanted you to see what we're capable of. We think a friendship could be… mutually beneficial," Bonnie said, twirling the pencil between her fingers.
"ID's, secure lines to wire our money, help with profiling-" Caroline listed.
"All for a cut, of course," Bonnie assured him before the words were on his tongue.
Stefan considered their offer for a moment.
"One condition," he said. "I get to pick the marks. No one who doesn't deserve to get cleaned out."
Bonnie and Caroline exchanged glances, silently coming to a decision. Looking back across the table, Bonnie said "Deal. Who's first?"