Chapter Twelve: Young and Beautiful

Elena woke up slowly as she opened her eyes and she saw that the space next to her was empty. Where was Damon? Her heart sank when she realized that Damon was nowhere to be found in the small room. He had left. He had left her.

A part of Elena knew that it was stupid to get upset. She was after all a whore and there was no reason to get upset when the client left. She still remembered how warm Elena had felt when she had been wrapped in his arms, feeling Damon's own warm body being pressed against her smaller frame.

Her pussy still ached and she guessed that it was because she had lost her virginity. It didn't hurt, it had just left a pleasant ache in between her legs. Elena turned around slightly and she didn't know why, but she hope that Damon would come back soon. Maybe he had just gone to the bathroom or something.

Elena waited for at least five minutes, but she essentially had to give up when she realized that it was probably stupid that she was waiting around like an idiot waiting for Damon. After all Damon Salvatore was a paying customer and Elena was just a simple whore. Besides he was a rich rancher, he could have anyone.

Her cheeks burned, there was no way in hell that someone like Damon would ever choose someone like her. He would probably choose a good Christian girl as his wife, while Elena would probably die a whore in the saloon.

Elena refused to get upset and instead she quickly made her bed and dressed in a blue skirt and white blouse. She tied her brown hair into a lazy bun and headed downstairs. Madam Pearl saw her when she came downstairs and smiled. "Elena, how was your night? Not too bad I hope."

"No, not too bad," Elena said. "When did Damon leave?"

"A little before midnight," Madam Pearl said as she studied her face. "Elena, are you, all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Now for tonight," Madam Pearl prompted. "Do you want to continue working as a waitress or do you want to work upstairs?"

"Upstairs." Elena said quickly. She had learned quickly enough that she made more money being a whore upstairs rather than a waitress.

"All right," Madam Pearl said. "And is Mr. Salvatore going to be a recurring customer? Will he be your only customer?"

"No," Elena said with a wave of her skirt. "No, he is not."

"How was it?" Caroline whispered to Elena with a knowing smile on her face. Elena blushed slightly, but didn't ask Caroline to elaborate because she already knew what the blond was talking about. "Come on, you can tell me. I will tell you about my first night if you tell me."

Elena would be lying if she said that she wasn't curious about Caroline and the sheriff's first night together, especially since the pair of them seemed to despise each other. "You first." She blurted out and Caroline turned pink, but didn't argue as she led Elena towards the small sitting room.

Caroline fiddled with her skirt for a few minutes before she started talking. She chuckled nervously. "I'm not really sure where to begin."

Elena shrugged. "I guess where most stories start, at the beginning. He looked terribly angry when he first saw you. Did he spend the whole night angry?"

"No," Caroline giggled. "At least not the entire night. He cooled down eventually, but the first time it hurt terribly, but then- "

"It didn't?" Elena blurted out. "It started feeling really good."

"Yes," Caroline burst out laughing, but then she became sober. "He asked me to marry him. He wanted to take me away from this so called 'life.'"

Elena's brown eyed widened. "Did you accept?"

"No," Caroline said. "I don't want to depend on anyone anymore. I learned that the hard way. Klaus is a nice man, but I don't want a man to whisk me away and marry me because he feels that is his manly duty. Besides I like making my own money even if it is in this profession. Was your first night with Damon, ok? You seemed upset this morning."

"I was." Elena said. "He left this morning without saying goodbye, before I even woke up. I know it's stupid to be upset, he is a customer after all, but I don't know I just was upset."

Caroline sighed. "Oh, sweetie are you falling in love with him? Because there is no harm in falling in love, but in our profession, is not always the wisest choice."

"I know," Elena squeaked. "Don't worry about me, Caroline. I won't make the same mistake again. Besides I think Mr. Salvatore was just interested in my virginity. Now that he has taken it he won't bother me again and I will have more customers."

Caroline didn't look convinced, but didn't argue. Katherine entered the room holding a piece of paper. She was slowly getting better and Elijah visited her almost every day. She looked a little pale, but the color was slowly returning to her cheeks. But she was still upset that Madam Pearl and Elijah hadn't given her the "ok" for her to return to work. "A telegram arrived for you, Elena."

"Thank you, Kat." She opened the telegram and saw that it was a short message from an unknown sender.

Elena STOP brother Jeremy STOP alive in STOP Wemmick's Cove. STOP.

Elena gripped the telegram in her hand. She couldn't believe what she had just read. Jeremy was alive? He was in Wemmick's Cove, a tiny mining town thirty miles east. She didn't know who had send her the message, perhaps Jeremy himself. Oh, happy day!

"Elena," Katherine interrupted. "Are you ok? Is something wrong?"

"No," Elena replied, trying not to look too happy. "It's a telegram from the store. My ribbons are on back order and won't arrive until next week."

"You're sick?" Madam Pearl frowned later that evening as Elena fidgeted trying not to look too guilty. "But you were fine this morning."

"I know," Elena said. "But I really do feel sick."

"Do you want the doctor to come and check up on you? He's coming to see Katherine."

"No," Elena argued. "I will be fine, it's just a tummy ached. Nothing major." Before Madam Pearl could argue she headed to her room. She could already hear the saloon music as well as the drunk men wanting to dance. She quickly packed a small bag filled with clean underwear, a small loaf of bread and cheese, and some bandages and salve in case that Jeremy was ill.

She was leaving tonight without telling anyone. She couldn't. There was no way that Madam Pearl or the girls would let her leave by herself and Klaus wouldn't follow on the message without knowing who send it. So that left Elena to think of a plan herself.

But she still needed a horse, there was no way that she would be able to walk to a mining town. But Madam Pearl didn't own a horse and the town was still so tiny. Damon. The name came to mind and she remembered that Damon's ranch was not far from here.

-End of Chapter Twelve-

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