A.N: So, after a particularly rude guest review I read, I feel like I need to stress this: I have not yet read any other Klaroline fanfiction on this website aside from "Nights I Can't Remember" by lonelywinter (which I am currently in the middle of reading, and which is nothing like this story). Not that I am required to explain myself, but I took the idea of workplace!AU from an external website which listed 100 different AUs to try, and this is where I got the idea from. Any similarities to other stories are purely coincidental – I can understand that this AU is a popular one, though – and there's only so many different ways it can be run.

Another thing – I don't take flames lightly. If you're going to give me a rude review, have the backbone to not hide behind a guest review. Thanks dolls!

A.N (2): The rating is going up to M from now. There is involvement with Kol going to happen (not necessarily romantic) so if you're strictly Klaroline only I'd try and have some diversity ;)

Chapter Three

The weeks were slowly dragging on, and Caroline was really enjoying her new job. Everything was simple and repetitive – as much as the work was more difficult than what Rebekah had for her, it was fun. Rebekah had her acting like a slave – running around and picking up various items of dry cleaning, plus sending her out last minute to the stores on Fifth to grab a bag of skirts from Marc Jacobs for an impromptu fashion shoot. Caroline hadn't just been Rebekah's assistant, she had also been Nadia's personal lapdog. While Nadia got to swan to premieres and important events with Rebekah, not to mention getting to go along with her to London, Milan, Paris and Rome for fashion weeks, Caroline was left behind, red-faced and picking up the pieces.

Working for Klaus and Elijah was much different. They were a fast-paced pair, and Caroline had to stay on her toes to keep up. But she was smart, and she learned fast. While she didn't really have a clue about investments or finance (Math had never been her strong suit), she was good at organisation. Three weeks down the line, and she had managed to have both Klaus and Elijah's work and personal lives in check, and she hadn't even originally been branded as an assistant to Elijah. She had made a great friend of Lexi – and today was finally the day that she'd agreed to go for drinks with her.

When Caroline sauntered into the office with a Styrofoam tray holding two cups, she sent a beaming smile at Lexi. She was sitting back at her desk, filing her nails before the day officially started.

"Tea for our bosses?" she commented, with a wink.

"Seriously – I wish they would buy tea and make it here," Caroline muttered with a grin. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get hold of Taylors of Harrogate English Breakfast tea? None of the food stalls on the street sell it."

"I don't know anyone who can drink tea on a morning," sighed Lexi. Caroline grinned, and sashayed past her desk, into her office. After placing her bag on her chair, she stepped into Klaus and Elijah's office with their drinks.

Klaus wasn't here yet, but Elijah was sitting in his high backed desk chair, reading the Business and Finance section of the New York Times. He placed the newspaper down upon her arrival, and folded it neatly. "Thank you, Caroline," he thanked politely, and stood up to take the Styrofoam tray from her hands. Caroline smiled, and bowed her head as she stepped out of the office. Of all the Mikaelsons that Caroline had met, she felt the most intimidated by Elijah. He was nice enough, and was always polite to Caroline, but he was nothing like Klaus and Kol. He was tall and dignified, and was the only member of the office to arrive every morning, half an hour before the day started, wearing a full suit and tie. Klaus often arrived in shirts and blazers, but he rarely wore a tie, unless they were going to a meeting, and Caroline usually had to offer him a reminder to tuck in his shirt, as it was something Elijah constantly called him out on. He was the brains behind the company, he worked with numbers and shares and the stock market, while Klaus maintained clientele. Each of them had their own particular area of business, and that's why they worked so well together.

Caroline liked Elijah, but she struggled to talk to him. Klaus, on the other hand – as uncomfortable as she made him feel, they had developed a healthy work rapport. Caroline could pull together his work schedule, and they could still pass the occasional joke between one another – but she was sure she would never be able to have a joke with Elijah.

She sat down at her desk and flipped through Klaus' two planners until she found the current week, and she ran her finger down to today. With a small sigh, she leaned back in her chair – today was going to be a particularly busy one. Klaus was to be present in two meetings during the morning, and he was hosting a seminar in the afternoon. Then he had a date with a woman called Rose at eight. Caroline chewed her lip as she checked the time of the first meeting – it started at nine, and it was already ten to. Klaus still hadn't arrived.

As she picked up her work phone and started to dial his number, Kol strolled into her office, with a smile on his face. Caroline smiled back, automatically – she couldn't deny that over the last few weeks she'd started to become more comfortable around Kol. He had a great deal of interesting stories to tell her, he made her laugh, and his bubbly presence generally made the office a little less drab.

"Calling Klaus?" Kol asked. Caroline nodded. "I wouldn't bother – he's not going to be in today."

"Oh…" Caroline's face fell, wondering why he hadn't thought to call her. After all, she was the one who managed his week-to-week schedule, and she was the one that would have to greet the other businessmen that would be waiting to be shown into the boardroom for the first meeting. She quickly jumped to her feet, and stuck her head around the door to Elijah and Klaus' office.

After she told Elijah that Klaus was going to be out of the office today, his brow creased. He told Caroline not to cancel the meeting, and that he would go to it on behalf of Klaus, and told Caroline to take the day off.

"Wh…are you sure?" Caroline asked. She wondered absent-mindedly what would happen about her days' pay, but Elijah answered that, too.

"There's really no need in you being here, when you are Klaus' assistant. He's left you no work to do, and I will be out of the office myself after I've taken his place in the meetings. Don't worry, you'll be paid for a normal day – just do me a favour, and cancel his seminar this afternoon. Oh, and you'll probably need to remind him about any personal arrangements he has this evening."

Caroline nodded, and stepped out of his office. She noticed that Kol was sitting in her desk chair, looking at Klaus' personal planner.

"Kol!" she hissed, snatching the planner out of his hand. "He has a date with Rose?" he scoffed.

"No wonder he hasn't showed up today. Any date with Rose is definitely for business, not pleasure."

Caroline ignored him, and picked up her landline phone. After cancelling his seminar, she packed up her things. Kol raised his eyebrows at her.

"Elijah let you off?"

"Yep," Caroline replied smugly. "A whole day off. I haven't had an entire day off work since before I moved to New York. Have a good day," she added, as she put her cardigan on. Kol jumped to his feet.

"Not so fast, Forbes!" Caroline stared at him, questioningly. "I have the day off too. Wednesdays are my free day."

"So why are you here?" she asked.

"I came by to tell you that Klaus won't be in, of course. The apartment building is only around the corner – I'm staying in the apartment below his."

Of course he was – the Mikaelsons weren't about to put their son up in somewhere like the Bronx, where Caroline was still forced to live. She gave Kol a strained smile, and picked up her handbag. "Well, I hope you have a great day off too," she told him, and started to walk out of the office. After giving Lexi a quick briefing of what was happening, and assuring her that she would see her in the evening, she headed towards the elevator.

Kol dived in beside her before the doors could shut. "Go out with me?"

Caroline raised her eyebrows at him. "Huh?"

"Spend the day with me!" Kol insisted. "It'll be fun."

Caroline smiled at him, and struggled not to giggle. "Kol, you're my boss' brother. Both my bosses, that is."

Kol nudged her playfully. "I suppose you have so many great things planned for today?"

That silenced Caroline. All she had been planning on doing was hopping on the subway straight back to Webster Avenue, climbing back in her snuggie and laying in front of Netflixfor the rest of the day. It wouldn't be too bad to spend the day with Kol – and she would only be coming back into the city at seven anyway, for her drink-thing with Lexi. So she stood up straight, and offered him a bright smile. "Okay, Kol. Sure."

He grinned, and Caroline was soon about to have one of the craziest days of her life.

Kol was insane. Caroline didn't know that there was so much to do in Manhattan, that didn't involve going for brunch or seeing a show on Broadway. The first thing he did was lead her down a backstreet behind a tyre shop, where a bicycle with a quaint white basket was placed against the wall. Caroline raised her eyebrows as Kol put a finger to his lips, and quietly wheeled the basket out of the other side of the alley, away from the view of the tyre shop.

"What are we doing?" Caroline asked, trying to hide her shock that he had just stolen a bike from outside a shop. Kol grinned at her, and climbed onto the seat, and then placed his hands on the wicker basket.

"Climb on," he told her.

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Just go with it, Forbes," Kol ushered, and punched her lightly on the shoulder. She groaned inwardly, and awkwardly climbed onto the front of the bike, so that she was sitting on the handlebars with the basket under her legs. Kol kicked off, and then they were cycling around New York.

If Caroline saw anyone else doing this, she would have scoffed at them for being so ridiculous. But as much as she wanted to convince herself that this was stupid – she couldn't deny it. She was having fun. Kol swerved in and out of traffic dangerously, causing cars to beep and drivers to shriek out of their car windows, but Caroline just laughed – there was something exciting about the rush of adrenaline that she felt while she was on the front of this bike.

He stood on the pedals while he cycled her across Manhattan – past Central Park and the Natural History Museum, and gliding effortlessly along the sidewalk past the Harlem River. She turned her head to look over the sparkling green waters of the river, where she could see the mainland and the Bronx. She was laughing hysterically when Kol finally swerved down below the sidewalk, right beside the river, and pulled the bike up, allowing her to climb off. She hadn't even noticed how much her backside and thighs were aching from sitting on the wires of the bike, and she couldn't even begin to imagine how much Kol's shins must be aching from cycling the both of them around the city. She leaned against the wall, uncaring that her hair was mussed from the wind, and her cheeks were flushed. This had been the most fun she'd had since she moved here.

Kol was pulling something from his back pocket, and Caroline leaned over to look. It was a miniscule plastic bag, with a suspicious white powder inside it. Warning bells started to chime in Caroline's head – she had never done drugs, and had only ever been around Elena's little brother smoking marijuana. This looked like hard drugs, the type that always sprang up the stories of teenagers ending up in the ICU with liver disease. Kol grinned at her and opened the bag, and then proceeded to take a pinch of the powder between a finger and thumb. He pressed it to his nostril and breathed in, and then smiled dangerously at Caroline. Without speaking, he offered her the bag.

Caroline stared into the minute white crystals, her brain ticking. "I….I don't do drugs."

"Neither do I," replied Kol. "Take a pinch, and then we'll party."

Caroline chewed her lip thoughtfully. She had come to New York to make a better life for herself, and how was she ever going to make a better life if she didn't try new experiences? So, after taking a deep breath and trying to push away the thoughts of what her mother would say, she dug her fingers into the cocaine.

Several hours later, and Caroline was having the time of her life.

She had never felt so amazing in her life. Every nerve in her body was standing on end, and she felt like she was floating on air. All the thoughts that spiralled around her head normally were clouded, translucent, allowing her to just enjoy this moment. She was dancing in the dark, with strobe lights flashing and her arms around Kol's neck.

Only Kol would be able to find an underground rave in the middle of the day. While she thrashed around to the heavy music in the dark, uncaring that she was sweating and her make-up was running, she allowed Kol to drag her into the men's bathroom. He pushed her into a cubicle, and took out that bag of magic from his pocket again, spreading a small amount out on the counter. He used a credit card to cut it into two sharp lines, and then handed Caroline a rolled up dollar bill.

She was already high and living on the edge, so she had no problems with leaning over and using the dollar to sniff up the line. Kol took the other one, and as her mind began to fog over again, she leaned back against the wall of the cubicle.

Before she could say anything, Kol loomed into her vision. His hands clamped onto her waist, and her hands found his hair. They were kissing – it was sloppy, messy, but Caroline didn't care. She laughed into his mouth, and then shoved him away. There was something she had to do. What was it she had to do?

"Kol," she muttered. "I have to…I have to call Klaus and make sure he goes for his date," she told him, and fumbled in her handbag for her work phone. She was too gone to see the buttons properly, and Kol ended up pulling it out of her hands and stuffing it into her bag.

"Let's just go and see him!" he exclaimed. "You can tell him in person, and I'll thank him for not coming into work."

"Why?" Caroline asked.

Kol leaned in and kissed her on the nose. "Because if he had come into work, you would be your usual boring self and you wouldn't have come to my world."

So in her drug haze, Caroline allowed Kol to drag her out of the party and back onto the street, where she was surprised to discover it was still light. He hailed a cab quickly, and before she knew it, they were on the way to Klaus and Kol's apartment block.

It was a grand, mirrored building that wasn't far from work. Kol pulled Caroline out of the cab, and they rushed past the doorman without acknowledging him – Caroline assumed that he was used to Kol's antics by now. When they were in the elevator, Caroline was high enough to let Kol shove his body up against hers, and start burying his face in her neck, leaving wet kisses along her collarbone.

She had never felt like this before. While she felt so sensitive to every touch, she had never felt so numb. Normally, she would be shocked and embarrassed at Kol trying to have his way with her – but in her drug-fuelled craze she didn't seem to care.

Naturally, Klaus lived in the penthouse. Access to the penthouse required a code, and Kol tapped it in quickly, and they were suddenly soaring up to his quarters. When the elevator doors sprang open, Caroline took a look around at the huge apartment, which was quite studio-like, with a large kitchen-dining room-living room area, and floor-to-ceiling windows at every wall. Kol put his finger to his lips, and took Caroline's hand, leading her through the apartment.

He didn't give her a tour – he simply tip-toed straight through to the bedroom. Caroline looked around the lush red décor, before she spotted Klaus sitting on the edge of his bed, a look of ecstasy on his face. He was clutching someone's dark hair, her head bobbing up and down on his groin.

Caroline shrieked in embarrassment, and backed out of the room. She found herself crashing into his kitchen island as she screwed her eyes shut, knocking several dishes and plates off, which shattered around her feet. Kol burst out laughing, rushing over to help her. They both fell to the floor in a tangle, with the shards of porcelain around them.

"Caroline?" a stern voice spoke. Caroline looked up suddenly – Klaus was standing over them, hastily dressed in his jeans but no top, with his arms crossed over his chest. An Asian woman floated out behind him, wrapped in a silk robe.

"Klaus," she replied, taking in his half-naked form. She stifled a giggle, and tried to stagger to her feet – she instantly caught her hand on a shard of a broken dish, and it sliced a gaping wound in the palm of her hand. He lunged down suddenly, and pulled her to her feet, holding her hand between both of his.

"For heaven's sake," he muttered. "You're going to need stitches."

Caroline simply laughed, apparently unable to feel the pain. "No. I don't have insurance, you see."

Kol started laughing, and Klaus turned his attention to his little brother. "What the hell are you laughing at?" his gaze flickered between the two intruders, resting a little while longer on Caroline, with her flushed cheeks, too-bright eyes and the vacant smile on her face. "Are you high?"

"Naturally, brother," Kol reached into his pocket and pulled out the cocaine. "Have some – it might help you pull that stick out of your arse."

Klaus' face flamed angrily, and he threw Caroline down onto the sofa, where she lay, clutching her wounded hand and giggling. He reached down and grabbed Kol with one hand, using the other to land a brutal punch in his face. The oriental woman gasped, but it was over as soon as it started. Klaus shoved Kol towards the door. "Get out of my sight. We'll talk tomorrow when you're sober. Pearl, I think you should leave – I'm going to have to take Caroline to the hospital."

The Asian woman – Pearl – nodded, though she looked unimpressed. As she collected her things together, Klaus kneeled beside Caroline, looking at her sternly. She was still smiling at him, and as much as Klaus wanted to be angry with her, he felt his heart softening a little.

A.N: Please R&R - also, slight advertisement here! But as a way of developing more ideas for TVD AUs, I've set up an AU Roleplay forum! So please join if you'd be interested :D

forum/Vampire-Diaries-and-The-Originals-AU-Roleplay-Experience/171630/