AN: Hello my dear readers and thank you for those of you who took the time to alert and review the last chapter although there were not as many as usual. Is Friday a bad day? I can change it if you like.

About the chapter length. I know that some of the chapters are quite short but I only stop writing when I feel like, I have achieved the point of the chapter. That means that some of them are shorter than others but believe me they are how they are supposed to be. I will though take into consideration that you guys want longer chapters when I write from now on.

Here is the next chapter for you.

Enjoy,

Mydarkside975

Chapter 16: Pesky Paparazzi

Elena

After telling her about his hateful enemy, a black SUV rounded the corner and pulled up to the curb right in front of them. He opened the door for her then walked around the car to get in the other side.

They dropped her off at the apartment but did not leave before they had exchanged phone numbers.

Yesterday was a good day and his apparent talent for unearthing the philanthropist side in people was a huge asset to their foundation. It was amazing really that he went with her but she could not figure out what he wanted from her.

Before today, she thought he just wanted revenge because of the way she left him that night after the fundraising event and she expected him to try to seduce her or at least try to charm her. But apart from that little weird moment at the Shawarma bar, he was completely well-behaved.

"Elena! Is that you and Damon Salvatore at the mall?!"

She just entered the office when the screeching sound of Rebekah's voice made her flinch. She was holding an iPad and pointing at something on the screen that Elena had no way of seeing this far away.

"Good morning to you too, Rebekah," she sighed walking to her cubicle far away from Rebekah's.

"Did you even read the news this morning? Gosh, and you call yourself a journalist," Rebekah said exasperatedly as she followed her. Wow, that girl could not take a hint.

She took her bag off, put it on the table and pulled her laptop out. She usually read the latest news while she ate her breakfast but today, she did not have time for breakfast. She thought she could catch up on the news at work.

"Look!" Rebekah lost her patience and shoved the iPad in her face forcing her to look at the screen.

There they were; she and Damon wearing bright green T-shirts, each holding a stack of leaflets. He was talking to the generous 5,000-dollar-check-Lady and Elena was staring at them. God, how embarrassing but that was not it because Rebekah scrolled down and showed her a couple of other pictures of her and Damon eating Shawarma wraps and then out on the sidewalk where he was putting his hoodie around her shoulders. The headline of the article read; "Damon Salvatore's new mystery woman". Great, she thought. Now people were going to dig after her. Why did she agree on taking him to him, again? Oh right, because she lost her damn mind.

"SOOO is that you and Damon Salvatore?" Rebekah said almost tripping with excitement.

"Yes, so?" She would play this cool and not share too much maybe the whole thing could blow over soon.

"Are you kidding me?! You know Damon Salvatore? And you took him to the mall when you could have been anywhere in New York? The guy has VIP access to any place worth seeing and you choose the mall?" Her eyes were open so wide that Elena was worried they would pop out any minute.

"What makes you think I took him to the mall?"

"Ha, I know you Gilbert and your freaky need to be a superhero. Isn't that the logo of that charity you work for?"

And she knew Rebekah too well. She was going to grill her for all the details before she considered leaving her in peace.

She had to leave.

To deal with Rebekah, you had to have patience and major deflection skills to be able to distract her from her mission. Both of which Elena did not have.

"You know what, Rebekah? I actually forgot I have an errand to run. Could you tell the boss that I'll send in my article by the end of the day?"

She did not wait for her reply as she gathered her things and bolted before she got another question, she did not have the energy to answer.

"But wait! Did you talk to him? Can you arrange an interview for me…?" Rebekah's voice trailed behind her as she left hurriedly.

Damon

The blissfully magnificent scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen as he worked on cooking a decent breakfast. He could not remember the last time he had actually been in a kitchen to cook something. He used to love doing it… before.

When the coffee finished brewing, he filled a mug to the brim and brought it to his nose taking in the heavenly scent before taking a sip. He put the mug down on the kitchen island next to his half full plate and his laptop.

He liked reading in the morning. He surfed the internet for a bit trying to find something interesting when a headline grabbed his attention.

"Damon Salvatore's new mystery woman"

Dammit!

There were pictures of him and Elena from the day before. They were taken from a long distance but you could clearly recognize his face.

Fuck! He hated those assholes.

They never left him the fuck alone. What more did he have to do to get rid of them?

He smacked the laptop shut his temper flaring as he left the half-eaten meal and went to find his phone. He had to make sure she was okay.

And that she still wanted to know him.

He managed to take two steps before his blood froze in his veins and he stopped dead in his tracks as a flood of memories attacked him.

Three years ago…

With brown luscious locks cascading down her back, she sat there on a barstool laughing at something her friend was saying. Her laugh lighting up her face and the mesmerizing sound of it drifted all the way to the other side of the bar, where he was sitting.

The blond beauty next to him completely forgotten, he could not look at anything else but her. Then her friend hopped down from her barstool and headed for the restroom leaving him the perfect opening to approach her.

He seized his chance taking over the spot previously occupied by her friend. To his surprise, she let him.

"You wanted a change of view?" She asked twirling her finger around a curly lock of hair.

"On the contrary; the view is magnificent but I needed a closer look."

She smiled and he bought her a drink.

He flirted and she flirted right back. Time went by fast. He was wrapped up in her; her tantalizing laugh, her eyes that had this mischievous look in them and the swing of her curls when she moved like they strived to caress her.

By the end of the night, he only knew two things about her. Her name was Katherine – he could call her Kat – and she was an actress currently filming on location in New York. She was staying in a hotel and somehow she agreed to let him drive her home.

They were exiting the club through the back door to avoid the ever-present paparazzi but as they stepped outside, the flash of a camera went off blinding them for a second. He lost his temper and in two strides, he was in front of the guy. He grabbed his camera and threw it to the ground as hard as possible. It broke into pieces and the guy started threatening him. He told him to fuck off, took her hand and walked the few steps to his waiting car.

He drove her to the hotel then went home.

The next day their pictures were covering the tabloids with all kinds of assuming headlines full of words like "New Victim", "Affair" and "Secret lover".

He wanted to break something. He needed to.

He did not find anything close by other than the dry wall. He balled his hand into a fist and drove it into the wall. Searing pain shot through his arm going all the way up to his shoulder.

His knuckles were scraped and slightly bleeding and his ring finger was bent in an awkward position, probably broken, he thought. He was okay though.

His hand hurt like hell but he was okay.

AN: Thank you so much for reading. Please tell me what you thought about the chapter. That is the only way for me to know if I am going in the right direction. Have a nice weekend.