Part 9
The Fight
"I was never meant to be a father," he had whispered to her in that balcony, after a long moment of silence, long after Hope had marched her way out. There was pain his voice, one that radiated from every word that fell from his lips. "Everyone can see it. Now Hope can see it too."
She held his gaze, did not turn away. Despite the confession, that look did not change. "Even the best of them doesn't become a father overnight. Being a father is making an effort every day."
"And I could just manage it for a few days. Face it. Screw up as a son, then as a brother. Of course, I'll screw up as a father. She hates me. Who can blame her?"
Her thumb brushed over his cheekbone and she cupped his face so he would look at her. "Mister, can you please stop talking bad about my boyfriend?"
At that, his lips quirked. "Boyfriend, huh?"
Caroline leaned forward to press her lips on his. "If you're not my boyfriend, I am being a very bad role model right now."
He closed his eyes and accepted her kiss. Then he sighed. "How is Elijah a better father to my own flesh and blood?"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Klaus. But Elijah spent years with Hope that you haven't. Like I said, it's making an effort every day. You're going to get there." And then a small smile teased her lips. "You're not exactly a man known for giving up. Keep at it, and you'll eventually wear her down."
At this, his eyes crinkled. "Like I did you?"
"You might have to work a little bit harder," Caroline suggested. "I have to confess—I was already half in love with you the moment I saw you step out of that helicopter. You are not a badlooking man, Mr Mikaelson."
"And the truth shall set you free," he parried. "I was so much more emboldened that day because I swore I could feel your eyes burning through my pants."
Caroline chuckled. "You did look amazing walking ahead of me."
"Will you come away with me?" She could see the heat of his gaze, and the sight gave her a thrill in itself. "I want you, Caroline. And I am delighted you admit you want me."
She raised her eyebrows. "It's not like I wasn't transparent."
"Sometimes a man needs to hear it directly."
"The school—"
"Is going on a break after field day." Before she objected, he added, "You seem to forget I am subscribed to your parent mailers. Rebekah had already booked this school break for a girls' vacation with Hope. My daughter is very excited to swipe her way across the fashion capital. My sister even more so."
"Let me think about it."
~ o ~ o ~ o ~
She was hot, sweaty and she was not really born for the sun. She was also on her period, and she missed the submission deadline for her Literature homework. All in all, the day was crap, and looking out into the field, seeing the ropes and the tires and the bars and the sacks—suffice it to say that she knew her day was not getting any better.
Why? Why was the world so against her?
No one suffered more than she did. Hope Mikaelson. Yes, she had the worst luck and a dark fate.
And now it was field day.
She could malinger. It should be easy to convince the school nurse that she was suffering through cramps, and field day was Mr Saltzman's thing anyway. She could pretend to be too sick for it. Mr Saltzman was not going to interrogate for truth the moment she says the word 'dysmenorrhea.'
Then again, Hope was sure that opting out of field day activities was going to send her directly under the headmistress' watch. Almost every other member of the faculty was already assigned to an activity in the field day. There were also some adult volunteers from the community that participated, mostly to snacks and hydration stalls. She even recognized the brunette woman who walked in and out of the white first aid tent in the entrance. Dr Salvatore from Lockwood, which made sense. Hope might fool the nurse easily, but she had a feeling she could not do the same with Dr Elena Salvatore.
It was not like she had many choices here. See previous grumbling for the day. And so she stalked towards the registration booth to look for her team assignment. She then proceeded to where her team was gathered, already stretching and gossiping as usual.
"Mrs Salvatore looks so different today, doesn't she?" commented Rafael as he did lunges before them.
Hope turned towards where Rafael nodded. The headmistress walked around to around the field, stopping by the booths and checking in with the teachers. She spoke with Mr Saltzman and Mr Williams, no doubt to check of their readiness for the event.
"Miss Forbes," she found herself correcting Rafael, for all the good it did. "I heard she prefer Miss Forbes, instead of Mrs Salvatore." Hope found her lips curving slightly at the sight of Caroline laughing just as Ms Tig joined the huddled faculty. "She looks happy," she murmured in consideration.
Different, she reflected on Rafael's earlier observation. Really different. Adults don't act like that. At least that was not what she was used to. It had been a long time since Hope saw her own mother burst into laughter that way, and her dad—uncle—had always been such a somber, dignified character that she swore in fifteen years she had never seen him carefree. With Uncle Kol based in Australia, grandma Esther in England and Aunt Rebekah in Paris, she had never had a chance to see how other adults interacted the way she had after moving to Salvatore boarding school.
And she barely knew her father.
The giggling in the corner called her attention. Hope saw the girls huddled around Penelope's phone. The other girl turned the screen to her, showing a photo of Caroline on the Virginia Register's online magazine. Their headmistress was wearing the cream sparkling gown that she had worn to the ball. She looked like a princess, and the aura was completely at odds with the efficient woman who wore her black blazer and suit pants out in the afternoon sun.
"You didn't invite us, Hope," Penelope declared as she started swiping through the online gallery.
Hope shrugged. "It was my dad's party, not mine."
Penelope turned her phone again to assault Hope with a photograph of her dad holding the headmistress close against him, right there in the center of the dance floor. It was the first time Hope saw that. She did not even know that her dad and Caroline still went back to the ball after she walked off the study and her conversation with her dad.
She expected Miss Forbes to know this was not good, and be the professional she was and excuse herself to go home.
Heck, she expected her father to recognize how unfair he was being and call Miss Forbes a cab, then knock on Hope's door and promise to fix the error of his ways.
But her door had been silent the whole night, so Hope just wished hard that Niklaus Mikaelson was stewing in his own guilt.
"I would look different too, happy, if I was dating a billionaire."
Hope's eyes widened, slammed into Rafael's who suddenly straightened stiffly at the implication. "Hey now," he said immediately.
"You're such a bitch, Penelope," Hope found herself claiming.
Penelope arched her brows, then looked at the two other girls around her. "Tell me if I'm wrong." She shrugged. "Who among us girls never dreamed of landing some rich, hot guy like this."
She saw the Saltzman twins running towards them, the grade school classes having been dismissed already. Lizzie caught the photo in Penelope's phone. Hope glared at Penelope in warning. At the sight of the picture, the blonde twin exclaimed, "Oh it's Caroline with Prince Charming!"
Penelope grinned in triumph, as if the child's statement proved her point. Hope prompted, "Prince Charming? Have you seen him before?"
Josie nodded emphatically. "He comes and brings her food, and flowers, and gifts."
Hope narrowed her eyes. Where the heck had she been in these non-singular encounters? Probably Chemistry. Maybe Non Linear Algebra.
Lizzie sidled to Hope and whispered conspiratorily, "And makes her sleep when she's sleepy and doesn't want to sleep." The twin laughed under her breath. "He made her sit in his car and drove her home to get some rest. I think he reminded my dad to watch out."
"And he turns her into a princess," Josie butted in. "Remember the shoes?"
"Silly, Josie. Caroline's always been a princess. She just needed a prince."
Ignoring Penelope's growing triumph, Hope turned back to observe Caroline. She did look lighter. Worry-free. But Hope never noticed how opposite to this her headmistress had been, and she had spent so much time with Caroline recently.
Maybe it was because they only talked about Hope, her family, and her troubles.
Mr Saltzman waved his children over, and both Lizzie and Josie scampered off to where their father was. Penelope sidled up to her. "He'll turn her into a princess all right. I think I'm going to pay attention more when she subs for our class. Imagine a small town girl landing a whale like your dad. No wonder she wants to be called Miss Forbes now. I bet she's thanking her lucky stars that Stefan Salvatore upped and died on her."
"Alright, Penelope, that's enough," Rafael said quietly.
"Luckiest woman in the world," Penelope breathed into Hope's ear. "Win win. Hope gets to be valedictorian, and Mrs Salvatore gets her happily ever after with the the hot billionaire."
"That's it!" Hope exclaimed. She whipped around, then grabbed Penelope's hair and tackled her to the ground.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Hope squirmed in her seat. She looked up and saw her reflection in the mirror. She winced at the sight of the bandaid on her forehead. She had asked at least a dozen times for Dr Salvatore to skip the adhesive and just disinfect the wound, but the pretty doctor stubbornly refused to listen to the high schooler tell her the best way to do her job. Who knew?
Besides, Dr Salvatore wryly told her, Hope's decision to get into a fistfight in the middle of school grounds was enough to convince her that Hope was not the best thinker in the world.
Mr Williams walked her to the headmistress' office, and Hope dragged her feet as she shuffled in.
Miss Forbes' back was turned to her. "Take a seat." Caroline could barely look at her, Hope thought miserably. She sank in the leather seat in front of her desk. She looked down at her nails. They were grimy. Fisticuffs on the grass field was not the most hygienic or ladylike of fights. And then Miss Forbes walked around the desk and handed her a bottle of water, then leaned her hip against the desk.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Forbes. I will correct my behavior."
"I've interviewed Rafael." Hope looked up at Caroline in surprise. "While you were being treated by Dr Salvatore, Rafael came here and gave his statement. It does seem you've been baited a bit there."
Hope nodded sadly. "It doesn't matter. I took the bait."
Did dad not given her golden nuggets of leadership since she turned one? She should have known better. She was better than this.
"You did. And whoever escalates a war of words to a physical fight is always the loser."
"I know." Hope jutted her chin up. "Are you going to call my dad?" She hated seeing the disappointment in his eyes. "He's away on business. Only my father is around." And of course, not discounting the fact that this was really Hope's own fault, Klaus Mikaelson would side with the school. With Miss Forbes.
"It would be hard to hide this from him, especially because there is a cut on your forehead. Klaus isn't blind, Hope."
"I'm a fast healer," Hope pointed out quickly. "Just give me my punishment. I—Maybe not detention. I know beggars can't be choosers, and Mikaelsons are never beggars. But please don't send me to afterschool detention. I try to visit my mom at Lockwood every time I can."
"Understood. We'll need to be creative then." Miss Forbes placed a hand on Hope's shoulder. Hope looked up to meet those blue eyes. "Before we get to your punishment, which you certainly will have, I want to start off by saying thank you."
"You do?"
"I'm starting to suspect that you don't hate me as much as one would assume, if you're willing to defend my dignity with a brawl."
Hope shrugged. "Grandma did say I got some of Uncle Kol's temperament."
Caroline grimaced at the revelation. "We're going to have to work on that then."
Why did that comment send her heart soaring? Dang it.
"I also want to apologize, Hope."
"Why?"
Instead of going to her seat behind the desk, Miss Forbes pulled the other seat in front of the table, so that they would be seated face to face without a barrier between them. "Because I was selfish. When I built this school, I promised to put the children first. And with your father, unfortunately, I did not do that." Hope watched as Miss Forbes leaned forward, her expression intent. "I am very sorry I neglected to think about your feelings, Hope. I see you've missed some deadlines, and now you've gotten into a fight. Therefore, I can conclude that you are terribly bothered by my dating your father."
"And if I am, you're going to leave him alone?" Hope could not help the hopefulness of her voice.
"I was going to say that I had hoped you would rethink it. Klaus is still young. And your mom found love with your dad, with Elijah. Do you really dislike your father so much that you'd wish he would be alone?"
"I don't mind if he dates."
"I promise you, Hope, I don't have ill intentions with your father."
Hope snorted in disbelief. "Why would I doubt that?" She shook her head. "It's not you, Miss Forbes. He's not a great guy. I mind that he's going to hurt you."
There was such stark relief in Miss Forbes' face. Hope was flabbergasted. How Miss Forbes would ever have thought that Hope's disapproval was because of her, and not because of the father that abandoned her and her mother to gallivant around Europe was beyond her. Miss Forbes, she thought, who stepped up as an unofficial stepmom and guardian to those orphaned Saltzman children, and tied herself to the responsibilities of a school full of children in her twenties while she recovered from a near death experience?
This was—enlightening. Miss Forbes was not so much more evolved, or confident, or put together as she was. She simply handled her own insecurities better.
She had already learned so much from her on their calls. And Hope realized she still had so much more to learn.
"I'm a big girl, Hope."
"Well you'll have to excuse me, but I'll still be watching out for you." Her voice was firm when she declared, "I remember one of your talks at the gym, Miss Forbes. Women watch out for other women."
"I'm very happy to have you looking out for me, Hope."
"Which is how I got into a fight with Penelope in the first place. But, Miss Forbes, you need to understand. She is a different animal altogether. She is a real life villain!"
"I know Penelope. Maybe in my lowest, most insecure high school days, I was Penelope."
"You?" That was just plain crazy.
"Ask Dr Elena Salvatore. Actually, scratch that. Don't." Miss Forbes laughed. She looked young. Younger than her dad definitely. She will really have to be on her toes. "Suffice it to say that I was no angel. I always doubted my self worth, lived under a shadow of being second best. Your dad—your dad makes me feel like finally, I'm first, you know."
She reached out and closed her hand over Hope's. Hope looked down at how Caroline held her. "But really, it will always be you, Hope. You're first. You're the most important. He's here for you. I'm just lucky."
"You could do so much better than Niklaus Mikaelson."
"If we're looking for perfect, we'll be looking a long while. He's perfect enough for me."
"With the long talk of how I'm first, and that you regret not thinking of me first, I noticed you haven't offered to stop dating my father."
Caroline released Hope's hand. "If you're waiting for that magnanimous offer, I can tell you right now that it's not coming."
Wow. Fine.
"You sound like my father."
Because, really—the world doesn't revolve around you? She was Hope fricking Mikaelson, his only daughter, abandoned young to be raised by his brother, matured too early because of her mother. And yes, maybe she had bought in to all the words of affirmation poured over her by the Mikaelsons since she was young. But Miss Forbes did not sound like she was going to give an inch.
Maybe she was a fit for her father. Maybe they deserved each other.
But they both need to be clear that it was because Hope allowed this travesty to happen.
"Then if you really want to date him, don't stop on my account."
And Miss Forbes broke into her smile. She really was night and day, completely the opposite of her mom. "I really do, Hope. Someday, I hope you'll understand exactly how this feels."
Ummm thanks?
"And now that that's settled, please don't keep me in suspense. What's my punishment?"
There was a rapid knock on the door, and then it swung open. Both Hope and Caroline looked up to the new arrival. Hope's eyes widened at the sight of her father leaning against the doorway. She turned to Caroline wide-eyed.
"We were together the whole time. How did you contact him?" And then she turned to Klaus. "And how did you get here so fast?"
He strode into the office room and closed the door quietly behind him. Hope swore her pupils were blown at the casual way that her father approached Miss Forbes and kissed her cheek, and Miss Forbes leaning near to receive the greeting. He turned to his daughter and said, "I was already on my way, Hope. No one called me. And," he said, arching an eyebrow at Caroline, "based on what I heard when I arrived, I am now wondering why no one did."
Hope did not realize how hungry she was until she smelled the savory spices from the bag that her father placed on Miss Forbes desk.
"Did you get it?" Miss Forbes whispered.
"Straight from Richmond, love. You'll need to dig in soon while it's still fresh."
"I hope you know I'm eating six of them."
"I'm not a pauper, love. I bought you a dozen."
Miss Forbes' smile was wide, and sparkly, and she leaned forward. Hope wanted to scrub her eyes. "You do know how to take care of me," Miss Forbes said, as if her whisper did not carry, and Hope was not seated right in the same room.
"Prince Charming, remember?"
Hope rolled her eyes. That. That was why she got into a fight. And honestly, she should not get any punishment. This was going to be punishment enough. She shook her head and pushed off the chair, then inserted herself between Miss Forbes and her father to reach the bags. She opened the plastic contained and saw the perfectly grilled Oyster Rockefeller. Before she picked up one, Klaus plucked the container from her hands and handed it to Miss Forbes.
"This one's for Caroline. Special request. Knock yourself out with any of the other boxes."
Hope glared at her father. "Seriously?" To Miss Forbes, who already had her back turned to her, Hope tossed out, "I thought I was always going to be first?" She pursed her lips and then rooted around until she landed on a round container of Brunswick stew, muttering the entire time about priorities and family.
"I'm leaving," Hope declared, moving to the door with her pilfered lunch. "Please email me once you land on a sanction, Miss Forbes."
"Hope, wait."
She turned around saw Miss Forbes holding out a contained in her hand with six oysters. "I wanted a half dozen. And you're going to love these. They should go great with your stew." It was not fair that Miss Forbes had been partitioning her special order while she grumbled, and no one even told her. Behind Miss Forbes, Hope could see her father with his smirk, leaning too arrogantly and too comfortably against the desk. Like he was used to being here, like the twins inferred.
How were the twins more aware of their comings and goings than she was?
Hope took the container. Her dad cleared his throat. "Thank you," she choked out. Hope quickly exited the room, closing the door behind her.
"You're a jerk!" She heard Miss Forbes protest, and yes he absolutely was. But then she heard the playful slap, and the chuckle, and silence. And Hope was fifteen, not a child, and she recognized the next soft noises enough that she quickened her pace and she rushed away.
Tbc
