And our time apart, like knives in my heart
-Nickelback
#
She left the place as bare as a graveyard.
Her lack of presence was tangible so much so that the air buzzed with it.
Damon leaned against the door, head slamming against the wood repeatedly before he lumbered deeper into the apartment. He felt raw and ravaged as he plucked out a bottle of Jack Daniels from the bar, the beer in the refrigerator wouldn't do the job he needed the whiskey to do. His jaw clenched as he took the first pull from the bottle, not bothering with a glass. He was like fish to a hook, gripping the bottle like it was a saint that could heal him.
Damaged people don't love, they obsess.
Slowly he shuffled to the couch, lying on the thing as if his bones were broken. Everything seemed to have stopped moving; even the light had stopped breathing because with her it breathed. With Bonnie everything was beautifully surreal. Fingering his shirt pocket for his mobile phone, he fished the thing out and tossed it on the table.
He couldn't remember when it had happened but somehow he'd managed to fall asleep. The shrill peal of his phone woke him up and at first he couldn't comprehend if it was his mobile or the phone in the bedroom. He was disoriented and his mouth tasted like overripe lemons and cat urine.
"Yeah" he eventually croaked into his mobile phone just as the ringing died down.
"You gotta come out with us tonight, mate"
It was Enzo, soundly too cheerful for a Thursday afternoon.
"What time is it?" Damon asked as he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Time for you to get the fuck up and join us!" Enzo shouted and Damon strained to hear over the sharp music and boisterous female voices.
"I'm beat, brother"
"Screw that, come here" he enticed him, "what are you gonna do, sit there and moan about your ball and chain running off to New York?"
He was too exhausted to try and explain to him that Bonnie had in fact not run off to New York but was called in for an interview. People like Enzo did not understand the concept of responsibility let alone relationships.
"Hey, get your ass down here, dude!" Mason chimed in grabbing the phone fromEnzo.
"Where are you?" Damon mumbled, scratching the stubble on his chin.
"The fucking Edgewater hotel, where you can have your smores roasted over an open fire by a lass with pink puffy nipples and an ass made for taking-" Enzo advertised in an animated voice and Damon groaned as the bile crept back up his throat.
"Not interested." He managed to mutter through sickening swallows.
"Live a little, mate" Enzo insisted as he ripped the phone away from Mason. He could tell they were skunk drunk and it was this idea that drove him to agree. The booze would make him numb, make him blind to the empty apartment. He swiped his key off the coffee-table and snatched his coat as he rushed out of his apartment.
He got into his cold truck and made his way downtown to the waterfront.
When he arrived the party was in full swing. There were girls everywhere, girls taking tequila shots off each other's nubile bodies, girls submerged in the hot tub kissing on each other and of course the ubiquitous party girls who leaned over glass tables snorting up lines of pearl-white powder.
He settled in and strolled around the room looking for a potent drink before someone spotted him. She looked young, too young to belong in the set up and her eyes had a far way look about her like a dazed star-struck rabbit.
"I have your poster hanging above my bed" she yelled over the music, immediately brushing her hand down his arm. Damon watched her hand as she lingered on the skulls of his tattoo. She looked at them with utter fascination.
"How old are you?" he shouted back as someone bumped into him driving him closer to the young blonde.
"Old enough" she smiled, the tip of her tongue between her teeth. She was coming at him hard, Damon thought with a hint of amusement.
"You're my favorite band member" the mystery in her big eyes already drifting as lust replaced it. Damon found himself backing away, stumbling away when her touches became more heated and urgent.
"I bet you say that to all the boys" he chuckled but breathed a sigh of relief when Enzo came howling in the room, a screaming half-naked brunette over his shoulder.
For Damon the environment was as dangerous as a dance with wolves wielding sharp knives. He knew he had to get away and preferably without Enzo noticing. When the group started their tequila shots followed by brave heroin shots he snuck out and made his way to the small coat room.
"Leaving so soon?"
It was the young blonde again. She was following him like a meek little lamb looking for shelter.
"Yeah, gotta go home and feed my cat" he explained, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Lucky pussy" she smiled and Damon let it slide as he grabbed his coat from the coat-check girl.
"Oi mate!"
He groaned deeply as Enzo ran after him, waving his phone in the air.
"We've just been nominated for an AMA award!" Enzo howled again, laughing and hooting like a mad man.
"Yeah?" Damon asked, disbelieving.
"Pop Rock Album of the year, mate"
"Pop rock, ha!"
"Wow, do you think the Spice girls will be there?" the blonde chimed in and Damon scoffed trying very hard not to roll his eyes. He needed to leave this place as in yesterday. As he walked outside in the biting cold, he found himself smiling. It wasn't really about the chance to go to L.A for some fucking award ceremony; he was smiling because he had actually accomplished something. He'd almost come full circle since his drugged up days at the Plaza to the dingy joints he played in just to pay for a Motel room for the night.
He was content and the one person he wanted to share that happiness with was in New York. Damon thought about calling her but it was three a.m. and midnight in New York. She had a busy day tomorrow and he could always tell her about Los Angeles in the afternoon after her job interview.
There was someone else he wanted to share the news with too, someone he'd been thinking about a lot lately, especially since Bonnie came into his life. She made him feel anchored, made him sway with the calming effect she had on him and when he felt that way he thought about his family.
Stefan.
xXx
Bonnie rolled her shoulders to work out the kinks in her neck. Katherine's sleeper couch was not the most comfortable thing to sleep on but it would have to do for the next couple of days. It certainly wasn't as comfortable as Damon's arms or his chest for that matter, she mused with a smile on her face.
"Penny for your thoughts?" a blonde asked looming over her, hands splayed on her hips. Bonnie looked up, opened her mouth to say something and then shut it again.
"I'm Lexi Branson" she said thrusting out her hand with a big grin on her face. The smile lit her face up and turned her skin beet red.
"Bonnie Bennett" she smiled and rose to her feet, her fingers clasped around Lexi's hand.
"Walk this way please" Lexi motioned with her hand, shafts of light catching her braid as it trailed down her spine, a slashed red tee-short covering her back. Bonnie was glad to see that the attire was as casual as her current work environment so she didn't feel out of place in her Beatles tee-shirt.
"What's he like?" Lexi asked over her shoulder.
"Who?" Bonnie inquired, even though her nerves were already alert for Damon's name.
"You know how the rumor mill runs; I know you're dating Damon Salvatore from Restless Soul"
"So is he as dark and dangerous as he's portrayed to be or is he a big softie?"
"He's great guitarist" she shrugged, gawking at the walls covered with autographed portraits of artists, most of them legends in the music industry.
"Right, you're private. I can respect that" she waved the statement away like a reckless thing that meant nothing.
"I slept with Jon Bon Jovi once, so I get it" she told Bonnie when they came to a closed door. The door swung open as Lexi opened it and ushered her inside the lofty office.
"Atticus will be with you in a minute" she said flashing her a brilliant smile.
"Thanks"
"Stay put" she sang along giving Bonnie a wave with her hand. She stood in the middle of Atticus's office, hands clasped together for fear that she might break something like one of the glass figurines on his massive desk. He too had autographed photographs gracing his big white walls and a large gothic window overlooking sixth avenue. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at the street and the yellow cabs scuttling around the street like insects.
"Bonnie Bennett!" Atticus boomed startling her, he signaled to a chair opposite his desk while he leaned against the back of his chair, propping his legs over the desk.
"Now, let's begin" he announced with a rather unsettling smile.
The interview weren't pleasantly well, she communicated her ideas, her accomplishments, her desires and Atticus seemed to get her. She only doubted herself when he told her to write an essay about the death of grunge and to have it back on his desk by four in the afternoon. That gave her a good two hours to pull a rabbit from a hat.
She was sitting at a Starbucks not far from the Rolling Stone Magazine offices with a café misto in her hand when her mobile rang. Bonnie grinned like a Cheshire cat when she saw Damon's name flashing across the screen.
"Hey you" she purred, dipping the tip of her index finger in the cup and licking it.
"Hey, you" he groaned back, making her skin hum to his voice.
"How was the interview?" he asked.
"It's still going" taking a quick sip, she explained "I have to write an article and give it to Atticus Shane as part of my interview"
"I thought they had your portfolio on file"
"I guess its part of their modus operandi" she gave a shrug, wiping a drop of coffee from her keyboard.
"How's it going?"
"I'm at Starbucks and I'm more interested in the writers scattered around the place. You should feel the energy in this place, babe" she cried, eyes flitting to a wall of laptops across the room and the winding line of customers trickling outside to a congested sidewalk.
"There's no place like New York, ha?"
"Yeah, I miss you though" she chuckled; closing her eyes and spiriting herself back to Seattle.
"I miss you too" Damon breathed.
"Babe, I gotta go" she was shocked to see the ticking clock, like a watcher of doom counting her down.
"Hey, listen" he hesitated
"What's up?" Bonnie asked, lips pressed together.
"Nah, it's cool. We'll talk later"
"You sure?"
"I'm sure"
"Love you "she called as she hung up the phone.
"Love you too"
xXx
"Come on, cupcake" Katherine slapped her leg as she rushed past Bonnie on the sofa. Bonnie raised a brow, blowing into her piping hot coffee while she watched her friend over the rim of her mug.
"Going somewhere?" she asked, amused by Katherine's leather dress.
"We are going out! There's a wicked bar that just opened up in Hell's Kitchen"
"Please stop using wicked as an adjective" Bonnie huffed, rolling her eyes. She waved Katherine away from the TV as she strained her neck in order to view the screen. She was watching Sex and the City and Carrie and Big were having one of their infamous makeup sessions.
"It's got ratty couches, cheap beer and sexy bikers" Katherine said, slipping on her high heels.
"I think I'll pass"
"Why, so you can sit here and stare at your phone all night? You do know that mobile means you can tote that thing around with you"
"I know"
"Good, you and your pathetic rocker boyfriend can continue your train wreck of a relationship while we're in transit"
Bonnie groaned, scrambling to her feet. She dragged her feet to the shower to freshen up while Katherine shouted behind her.
"Chop chop, Carrie!"
"You're such a Samantha!" Bonnie yelled back, throwing a finger for Katherine's amusement.
xXx
A/N: I believe that Skype was invented around 2003? I could be mistaken and since this story takes place late 1998, they can't Skype but it's so awesome that you guys are interacting with the story and giving me ideas. Naturally, marriage is endgame but I wanted them to stand on their own two feet first-you know-marks of a healthy relationship and all ;)