A/N: Some fluff to make up for yesterday's angst. This was my Secret Valentine gift for Yana (queenofklaroline)
The Accola-Morgan building had 15 floors and unfortunately for Caroline, YG and Associates, the company that she worked at was situated on the 14th floor. Riding up fourteen floors on an elevator was a mundane task but nothing that a level of Angry Birds or research for her latest case couldn't solve.
This particularly morning however the elevator ride was talking longer than Frodo's walk from the Shire to Mordor. She was ten minutes late, her hair was only half curled, she had spilt coffee on her blouse and her cellphone's battery was dead. But to add a cherry at the top of her catastrophic cake, Murphy's Law kicked into place right at the last moment when the elevator zinged open at the sixth floor and none other than her future husband walked in.
She scrambled into a corner, right behind a big burly man and prayed to every deity on heaven and on earth that he did not see her. Perhaps he didn't know who she was, perhaps they had never had so much as an introduction, but in her head they were already walking down the metaphorical aisle and she did not want her first meeting with the father of her phantom babies to be when she looks like a blonde version of Russell Brand.
He was annoyingly perfect. Dark blue eyes, dirty blonde hairs, a lean body that was silently begging her to run her fingers over and faint stubble peppered across his chin and cheeks, leaving her constantly wondering how it would feel scraping against her soft skin. As he pursed his lips to take a sip of his coffee, she admired him shamelessly, Big Burly Bob in front of her was keeping her hidden (she silently thanked that extra cheeseburger he probably ate for dinner last night). She sighed to herself as she surveyed the walking piece of art in the elevator, her mother always warned her about chasing after impossible men and this crush was no different. No matter how many times they were together in her dreams, the closest to it coming true would be him passing her to get off the elevator.
She knew he worked on the 12th floor at the advertising firm. She knew that he was British (swoon x5) by the way he spoke to his colleagues in the elevator, and she knew he had a younger sister by the fact that she heard him barking at her for maxing out his credit card on the phone one afternoon (even when he's angry, he's sexy). But every bit of his mannerisms made him more endearing to her, and then though she knew that there was a chance he could be a serial killer, she didn't care, there was no harm in looking and she would take whatever she could. As of the current day, there was no wedding ring on his finger, but what of tomorrow, what if he met the love of his life in the next week, and then this zoo show would have far too much guilt around it (even she felt wrong perving over a married man, except Channing Tatum, he's public property).
She was disappointed when the elevator finally stopped at the 12th floor, because that was his cue to leave, and so like every other day, he picked up his briefcase and walked out of the elevator. Caroline let out the breath that she didn't even know she was holding relaxing against the wall of the elevator, in eyeline again and out from behind Big Burly Bob. The doors were almost closed when a strong hand stopped them, clawing his way back into the elevator, Future Husband looked straight at her before saying in his delicious accent, "I almost forgot, Happy Valentine's Day", and he handed her a single stemmed red rose before exiting the elevator again and letting the doors shut behind him.
The other travellers on the elevator looked at her strangely (even Big Burly Bob) but Caroline continued to look at the rose, her face flushed, as she rode the remaining floors up to her office. She did not understand what it meant. Perhaps he was just being polite, perhaps he could see she was having a bad day but either way he noticed her and even though she looked as if a colony of pelicans had taken residence in her hair it was enough to turn her whole day around.
The office was abuzz with Valentine's decorations and gifts from loved ones. Usually such a sight would put her in a bad mood. Especially since her last boyfriend broke up with her, it seemed as if he put some male repellent spray in the aircon because men have been running from her faster than Justin Bieber from the police. Most of her colleagues were happy in love and the thought that she would be one of the only ones who would be spending Valentines Day alone had left a pool of dread in her stomach. But today, she told herself that she would not let her loneliness or lack of romance in her life get her down, she would celebrate the fact that she loves herself, her job, her friends, and for now that was enough. It was only after a certain sexy stranger handed her a rose that she started wishing for more again.
In high school, the school council had a very special way to make money on Valentines Day (because lets be honest it's all about the money) they would allow students to buy roses for other students and on Valentines Day they would announce the list of recipients and every year Caroline fell short. She wished and wished that one day the student body president would announce her name, that there would be somebody out there who noticed her, appreciated her, saw her amongst all the other faces. But each year, the pages would get put away she would stare at the empty buckets wishing that there had been some mistake that somehow her name was forgotten off the list, and somewhere her secret admirer still pined after her.
"So what are you going to do tonight?" Her friend Elena asked her across the divider which performed the pitiful task of attempting to make their desks look bigger.
"Well, I have a romantic dinner with my cat, before we move the party to the couch where I shall feed her catnip while we watch whatever sappy film the TV networks have thrown at us single folk this year,"she replied.
Elena laughed, "That's good! At least you aren't doing anything reckless like torching Tyler's house, although I was holding out for you to get a last minute date."
"From who? My postman? No other men have shown any interest," Caroline blushed slightly, not quite ready to be snapped out of her elevator/rose filled haze by telling anyone, "Anyway what does Romance MVP, Mr. Stefan Salvatore have planned for the big night?|
A small smile appeared on Elena's face, "I have no idea. He just told me to wear a dress and be ready at 7pm. He's becoming an international man of mystery. But that suits me fine, I love surprises."
Caroline nodded, her friend deserved happiness and peace, that the feeling of being safe and free with a man who truly loved her. She could only wish for that for herself one day.
It was dark outside when she finally left work, she covered some of Elena's work,allowing her to leave early so that she could meet Stefan. She made her way to the elevators (making double sure that her phone was charged, her hair was brushed and the new blouse that she bought during her lunch break was tucked in properly. The elevator was empty when she got in, breathing a sigh of relief she took out her phone and resumed her competitive Angry Birds game.
Her heart stopped momentarily with the elevator when the doors sprang open at the 12th Floor and it seemed as if her fairy godmother was working overtime when Her Future Husband strolled into the elevator. When he saw her standing on the opposite side of the elevator, his face lit up, cracking an easy smile over his beautiful features.
"Ah it seems my fates are aligned today, two spottings in one day," he said amusedly.
She smiled shyly in response.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Klaus Mikaelson. And you are?"
"Caroline. Forbes. Caroline Olivia Forbes. Like COF, like phlegm." She made a coughing sound as if to demonstrate. (What the hell was she doing?)
He laughed, "Well nice to finally meet you, Caroline." The way her name rolled off his tongue did unspeakable things to her, each syllable felt like a caress.
"Same here. Um, thank you for the rose," She said.
"To be perfectly honest with you I toyed around giving you flowers for quite sometime, I thought the single stemmed rose on Valentines Day would be the most acceptable and the least creepy," he responded.
"You were!?" She replied, shocked.
"I hardly thought I was discreet, the way my stare would linger on you a little too long or the fact that I come purposely late to work in the morning, loitering in the building's coffee shop, just so that I could see you everyday."
"Me?" Caroline felt as if a hooded bandit had moved at record speed and stolen her voicebox.
"Yes," he responded suavely, "Ever since I had first laid eyes on you, you have encompassed all my thoughts awake and asleep, and I know if I ever wanted to concentrate on anything else again, I needed to speak to you, but to be honest I probably would have chickened out of it again if we didn't get into the same elevator again now."
Caroline opened her mouth to respond, before snapping it shut again. It seemed that her brain was refusing to co-operate and do it's damn job, instead freezing up in such a crucial moment and leaving her gaping like an idiot. Noticing or cleverly ignoring her fish-out-of-water state, Klaus carried on talking, "I mean I understand completely if you do not feel the same way, I knew this was a risk, who's to know whether or not you are in a relationship already or you have your sights set on another. I am simply an ordinary opportunist who could not imagine not knowing you."
Caroline's brain finally kicked into gear and recovered after those words, "No no boyfriend to speak of, I haven't had one in ages. Truth be told, receiving that rose was probably the highlight of my entire year."
"The year has only been two months…"
"Well in that case, the last five years," She said with an encouraging smile, a confidence that had been been dormant for the entire conversation rearing it's head.
"In that case, would you like to join me for dinner? All the restaurants are probably booked up, seeing how it's Valentine's Day, but I could probably whip up something in my kitchen. If that's okay with you?"
"Yes, it is," emanating a coolness with she did not possess (inside she was screaming in a tone so high not even dogs would be able to hear it), "I'm 78% sure my cat was going to stand me up for our annual Valentine's Day dinner anyway."
A/N: Was to cheesy? Too silly? Let me know in the comments
Special thanks to the reviewers of the last drabble: CrazyLazyAlien, MrsLeaMorgan, utterlyobsessedlove, jessinicole, lara, ChillwithJyl, champagnekiss; I'm sorry for hoodwinking you with the fluff and for making you sad :(
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