Chapter 2: Hurts like hell

Elena was always a hard worker, that was a habit her father loved about her the most. He prided in the fact that Elena was just like him, passionate about her work, career driven and strong-willed. This was also a trait that Giuseppe Salvatore admired in her.

Both and Stefan and Damon, however, worked, they weren't much interested in the business like Giuseppe wanted them to be. He found his ideal child in Elena. And since now as Damon's fiancé was she was technically family so he trusted her more.

Noticing both Damon's and Stefan's lack of interest in work, he preferred handing over tasks to Elena.

"Miss Bennett. Would you please send these files to Elena?" Giuseppe said as he studied an excel sheet of the turnover.

"But this is the Margret's file?"

"Yes, so," Giuseppe barely looked up.

"Wasn't Mr. Damon Salvatore supposed to lead this deal?"

"No, I don't think he could handle that. We have Mikelsons as rivals there. He wouldn't be able to handle it like Elena can,"

Bonnie looked surprised by Giuseppe's sudden decision. She knew that Damon had been working hard on this deal. He was a man of huge ego. And this would definitely not set well with him.

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"How could dad say I can't handle the pressure. I pitched all deals before you came along." He was beyond upset with his father's decision.

"Baby, it doesn't matter who does it." Elena lowered to kiss his cheek. "We are a team."

"I know but…," He trailed off biting his lower lip, he stood up, facing the window. Why would his father think he was incapable of taking the pressure? He used to be his dad's favorite up till now. His father always favored him over Stefan because he claimed Stefan was the most irresponsible person he'd ever encountered.

"Damon." Elena stood up, she walked toward him. She held his arm and turned him to her. " If you're so upset I can talk to Pepe. I'll tell him that I can't take this project."

"No, no babe." He said, pulling her close. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have reacted like this. You're right we are a team. It doesn't matter which one of us does it. It's our win."

She leaned closer into him, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing him. He seemed to look better already.

"Mmm." He moaned. "So, when will you be back home then? Because I need you bad."

"Well. Maybe late." She replied, her lips pressing against his again. "I have two consecutive meetings in about… already five minutes late." She groaned.

"Well. You best go because I have very impure intentions." He mumbled.

"Like."

"Like tearing off your clothes, throwing you on that desk, shoving my cock in you and fucking you sensless." He whispered.

She gasped.

He smirked at her reaction.

"As much as I'm tempted," She said, taking a step back, "I gotta go. See you tonight."

Before she could go, he held her wrist, "I'll be making us dinner. Be there on time."

"I will." She said, pecking him on lips before running off to the meeting.

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She was so late again. It was almost midnight but Giuseppe wanted her to meet some potential clients, one guest after another, she never realized when it was so late. She unlocked the door and swiftly entered.

She tip toed to the living room and found him asleep on the couch, maybe waiting for her. She bent on her knees, next to him. She felt bad for breaking her promise, but Giuseppe trusted her with the deal she couldn't bail on him exactly.

As she gazed at him, she felt immense love for him. She slowly ran her fingers through his silky soft hair as he slept. She never knew when she fell asleep.

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As soon as Damon woke up and remembered how he ended up sleeping on the couch, he was furious but then when he moved, and found his hand tightly clasped in Elena's, he froze.

He gasped, looking at the awkward position she had slept in. She was half on the floor, her head against the couch, her hand tightly grasped his.

She slept on the floor. He thought, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Hmm. Baby." She groaned as she felt him moving. He rolled his eyes, picked her up, bridal style, and carried her to the bedroom.

"Sorry." She whispered, still half asleep.

"We'll fight after you wake up." He said, kissing the top of her head. "Sleep now."

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..

She was working on a file, scribbling some notes, while her fiancé tried to feel her up.

"Damon. I'm working." She said, rolling her eyes.

She felt him, move her hair to a side as he sucked on her neck. His lips trailed a path from her throat to her cheeks. She moaned, loving the way, he felt. His other hand went down toward her boob, fondling it.

"Mmm. I have a meeting," She mumbled.

"You're always busy." He complained. "I hardly get to see you."

"Well. Someone has to work." She said. "Speaking of which, where were you last night?"

"At Enzo's party. You were supposed to go with me, but you ditched me for that boring meeting with Smiths." He complained as he nibbled on her neck.

"I… work." She moaned. He turned her to him, kissed her on her lips and lowered her onto the table.

"Baby… we can't now." She was so tempted but she had so much work. She had to sign all the payrolls and then prepare for a meeting for a promotional ad.

"I haven't had you for a week." He pleaded. "I need you."

"I'm busy. We'll play at home."

"You're always busy." He complained. "It's meetings, ads, tours, paper work, collaboration details, sleep and repeat. You barely have time for me." He hissed.

"Well. It's not like I have a thousand workers to work for me. Unlike you, my father is dead. I have to work for money. My daddy doesn't pay for me." She replied.

Her taunt hit him right in his heart. His nostrils flared.

"I… I didn't mean that." She apologized realizing what she had said. "I'm sorry. I'm just too stressed."

"Save it." He said as he rushed out of the room.

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"I'm sorry." Elena mouthed from a little further but he looked away.

"I still can't believe Elena said that," Bonnie whispered. Damon huffed.

"She shouldn't have said that. You work just as hard." She added.

"Well. She'll see. They'll see. I have been working on this project with Mikelsons. They are ready to give us the permit to travel to their areas and we don't even have to pay the toll tax." Damon said proudly. He'd been working sincerely on this project for a year. He knew that his father would be impressed by his work. And So will Elena. She'd know that he's not just a spoiled brat born with a golden spoon, he'd earned everything.

"Gentleman. Let's began the meeting." Mr. Giuseppe Salvatore spoke. He motioned Elena to brief every one of the objectives of the meeting, something which used to be once Damon's job.

After an hour, when Damon told Giuseppe about his accomplishment, he didn't seem impressed at all, rather he seemed annoyed. "Yeah, no. We're not doing that anymore. Elena has pitched a deal which will get us seventy percent profit than that."

Damon's eyes widened, not expecting the reaction at all.

"You really need to up your game if you want to earn in our industry, Damon. Your strategies are really not attractive. I'm just glad that we have Elena. I don't know what we'd do without her." Giuseppe said proudly as he patted Elena's back.

Damon bit the inside of his cheek as he glared at Elena. He'd shared his idea with Elena and told her how the project would go with his father, she was busy that time so she hardly heard what he said and told him anyway that Giuseppe would love the idea. Did she wanted to embarrass him purposely?

Elena bit her lip as she stared at Damon. If only she had checked his file. Dear Lord. She knew how much he had worked on the project. She knew he would be very disappointed with himself. He was already really upset that Elena wasn't giving him time, then she told him that he was only living on his father's money and rubbed her success in his face. She must take a day off and make up for her words, and comfort him.

She was lost in her thoughts when meeting was dismissed.

Damon rushed out of the meeting room, with Bonnie following him.

Elena was about to go after him but Giuseppe stopped her. "Get the memos from John and send them to Tyler."

"Yes sir."

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"Damon, you okay?" Bonnie asked him, seeing him lost in his thoughts.

"I'm just… useless."

"No you aren't."

"She's so successful, I'm not insecure Bon, but it feels like everything I do, she's already done it better." He mumbled.

"Well. You still have the Cornwood project. It's the biggest project of this year. Your dad still only trusts you with mega projects."

"I want to make dad proud. I want to make her proud."

"I know how you feel. Everyone in the office can clearly see how much your father favors her over you, and I'm sorry to say that but she clearly enjoys it." Bonnie believed in brutal honesty.

Damon bit on his lip as he stared at her. "I know. I hear them laughing behind my back, talking about how Elena is the new boss. I don't want to be a boss, she could keep it but it's like, she's so busy in her work, so busy trying to prove to my father that she's better than me that she has even forgotten about me." He spoke, his voice dripped in grief. Being ignored sucked.

Once she saw the pain fading from his face, she reached her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

He was taken aback by her move but he hugged her back.

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Elena had slaved all day on the dinner that she'd prepared for Damon and herself. She hurried to the dressing and looked at herself. She was wearing a cute red lingerie underneath her silk robe.

It wasn't like they were fighting. They had made up after that day but something seemed off. He never talked about work with her as if he was afraid she would take his ideas and turn it into hers. He was spending less and less time with her and never even complained any more about her work hours. She felt as if there was a lot of distance between them now. She didn't want that. She wanted her best friend, her work buddy back and her lover back.

She wanted to spend more time with him as the wedding approached.

She had even talked to Giuseppe about it. He wasn't too eager on letting her off work. He claimed she was his best worker and he really needed her around to handle all official matters. She was the son he had always wanted. His explicit trust in her was making problems for her in both her personal and work life. None of the people at work liked her and Damon, her fiancé he seem to despise her bond with his father the most.

But today she had taken an off, today she would spend every second making up to him.

He wasn't still home. She tried calling him. He never answered. She later found out that he'd forgotten his phone at home.

She was about to put it back in his drawer when his phone beeped.

Bonnie was calling him. Again. These days she seemed to be calling him a lot. They would always be spending time together. She didn't think much of it before because Bonnie was one of her closest friends. She trusted them.

"Where are you? I'm waiting for you." She texted him.

Text message after text message. Bonnie was awfully friendly with him. Curiosity got the best of her and she unlocked his phone and opened his messages.

"I don't trust her, Bonnie. I hide all my files from her. I know she's just waiting for a chance to see my strategies and turn it into hers." He'd texted her this just a day ago.

"Very Good. I would also put a password on my laptop if I were you. Rebekah mentioned that she's stealing everyone's work. She'd even copied Caroline's idea for the promo." Bonnie had replied.

Elena felt a crack in her heart.

She sat on the bed, reading all the messages in the chat.

Damon had explained to Bonnie how he never trusted Elena. He'd shared all his insecurities, pains and secrets with her. Something that he should have shared with Elena, his fiancé. He had even told her how he trusted Bonnie way more than he trusted Elena.

At one point, Bonnie had even told him how much she liked him. Damon hadn't responded to that but he never told her to back off either.

He wasn't physically involved with her but he surely was emotionally intimate with her. She finally realized why he'd been so sneaky all this time.

She dug her fingers into her hair and pulled until tears stung her eyes. "This can't be real."

She had given herself to that man and he betrayed her, with her best friend.

And if she hadn't had enough she heard their voices in the living room. Apparently, they had no idea she was home. She slowly tip toed downstairs to the living room. But they never noticed her. Of course they never thought she would be home at this time. She never came back before midnight.

"Tomorrow is your presentation," Bonnie said to him as she took off her jacket.

"Yes. The big day."

"Nervous?" She asked.

"Obviously. Beer?" He offered.

"Yes." She replied.

He walked toward the mini bar in the corner. She followed him. When he turned, Bonnie was standing so close to him. Before he knew it she leaned in and captured his lips in a kiss. He hadn't even processed that when he heard a sob.

Bonnie quickly pulled away, gasping as she saw Elena standing at the living room's entrance.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks red, tears were rolling down her eyes.

Damon's eyes widened as he realized what had she seen.

"No. No. Baby. It's not what it seems."

Elena turned around and dashed outside the house, barefoot.

He chased after her, calling her name. "Elena. Please stop!"

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Here's chapter 2 to the story. I got a review where someone asked if reviews that I got weren't enough. Well. It's not that, I apologize if I sounded like that. Like I said, I'm a bit insecure about the plot. Also, I want to write that people read and like. No one wants to write a story that no one reads.

I would very much like your input on if you think emotional cheating is also cheating? What do you think about Damon and Elena here? Do you think Elena would be able to forgive him after this?

I would complete all my stories. Be assured of that.

Do review and give me your input please. I would really like that.

Have a very great weekend ahead.