"Dating is a sport" Bonnie told the camera while Katherine stood behind her, adjusting the thin straps of Bonnie's green trapeze dress.

"I once dated a guy from Brooklyn; turns out he was dating me and another guy in Brooklyn. The different boroughs thing worked well for him" Matt announced from behind the lens of the video camera. Slowly he circled the two girls, aiming the camera at Bonnie.

"So what happened?" Bonnie asked with a wince as she felt a pinch on her shoulder from one of Katherine's red talons.

Matt paused, dropped the camera from his face before responding, "I stuck it out; he dumped the other guy eventually because he was geographically undesirable. So yes, you are correct. Dating is a blood-sport, especially in New York"

Bonnie was about to offer her much needed commentary on the issue when she felt Katherine's hands on her chest, adjusting the fabric covering her breasts.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she cried, swatting at Katherine's hands.

Seemingly agitated, Kat puffed and rolled her eyes "Remember, men are visual creatures. It pays to show a bit of skin."

"Yeah but I don't want my tits spilling out of my dress, sista"

"Now, remember no word vomit. I know you haven't dated for a while but-" Matt smiled, adding his own brand of cynicism.

"Hey!" Bonnie warned him with a quick glance and took to the floor to look for her shoes. They were all huddled inside her bedroom with a box of pizza and two bottles of wine while they helped her prepare for her date with the fashion photographer.

"And by dating I mean general conversation over dinner not just cheap wine followed by cheap sex and a pricey cab ride home." Matt added, lifting a sandal from the floor by its glittering strap. Suddenly it dawned on Bonnie, she hated dinner dates and she was plausibly setting herself up for the worst date in history.

"I'm gonna have an awful time aren't I? I'm not equipped for this." She groaned, snatching the scandal from Matt before plopping down on the bed beside Caroline.

"Well that's like saying the sun is gonna rise tomorrow morning." Katherine scoffed.

"Or that water is wet" Caroline chimed in, holding up her Ben & Jerry's superfudge chuck ice-cream.

With his hands firmly on his hips, Matt addressed the trio "Look, nothing is as fucked up as dating in New York but it's also fucking exciting."

"Until it's not." Someone retorted while Bonnie was tying up her scandals. They were thin, spindly heels and hurt like a bitch.

"We're going to this bar in Chelsea called Shame to get drunk as fuck so when your date bums out you know where to find us" Katherine grabbed the bottle of wine from the table, refilled her glass and held out the bottle to Matt.

"Hey, don't jinx her, she's not going to bum out" Matt cooed in turn, offering Bonnie a sympathetic smile.

..

Later she found herself in Upper East Side pulling up outside's Enzo's apartment in an Uber cab. The place was classy with a doorman, a fancy awning and a red carpet to wipe your feet before stepping into the lobby with a glistening marble floor. She made her way to the bank of elevators and punched his floor number-not the penthouse.

Outside his doors she double checked her dress, shoes and hair before knocking. It took a couple of minutes for him to come to the door but when the door swung open, her pulse raced.

"Get in here" he grinned, raking a hand through his floppy hair. He was dressed in black leather pants and an open denim shirt. Bonnie's gaze dropped down to is bare feet before her mind registered. Smiling graciously she stepped over the threshold of his apartment while he assaulted her cheeks with kisses.

"Nice place." She offered, taking in the black and white wall sculptures hanging over a glass console, more black and white portraits and a rainbow colored ottoman strewn with photography magazines.

"This beats waiting for a shitty table at some overcrowded bar." He said over his shoulder as she followed him down the hall sprinkled with even more black and white photographs.

"They say life is what happens when you're busy waiting for a table in a New York restaurant, am I right?"

He smiled to himself and gestured toward the kitchen, seemingly her joke was lost on him.

"Can I offer you a drink?"

"Yes, thank you. I'll have a chardonnay"

"You know what you drink says a lot about you" he said, opening his double-door refrigerator.

"What does a chardonnay say?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow, placing her clutch on the marble counter top as she pulled out a bar stool. He had glittering glass pendants hanging over the island and illuminating it.

"Vanilla, boring and predictable which is quite surprising because it goes against your chosen profession" his smile belied his obvious sarcasm as he pulled out a bottle of chardonnay and set it down in front of her.

His dark eyes swung back to Bonnie's and he asked "You're in the sex industry, right?"

"Uhmm…well you could say that but uhmm…I'm more like a sex journalist. I report stuff about sex." She explained, eyes squinted as she tried to figure him out. He pulled out two wine glasses from a cupboard and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Therefore you work in the sex industry" he said very matter-of-factly. She pursed her lips then cleared her throat, pushing back a tendril of hair behind her ear.

Getting back to the kitchen island, he filled both glasses with the wine and shot her a quick glance, "Something wrong?"

"Well…you kinda make it seem like I'm a…uhm… prostitute" Bonnie explained, snatching up one of the glasses.

"You think there's something wrong with being a prostitute?"

"No, hey…I mean…hey, get that dollar right?" she raised the glass and glared at him over the rim.

"Where're you from?" he asked, retrieving a platter of cheese from the far side of the counter and placing it between the two of them.

"West Virginia, Mystic Falls"

"Never heard of it."

"What's your five year plan?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean you must have one, you're what-thirty?" he leaned over and picked up a piece of cheese from the platter with his fingers.

"Twenty six!"

"You look very mature for your age…and you should really take that as a compliment. "He smiled with a shrug, and then paused to take in her expression.

"You went to school in Virginia?"

"Yup." She trekked him with her eyes over the rim of her glass. He walked over the stove, set the pots down on the table and started dishing up.

"How long you been in New York?"

"About five years"

"I find cutlery redundant so I hope you don't mind eating with your hands." He grinned, placing a plate of Ethiopian goat stew on the table in front of her.

"Oh, I should've asked, you're not a vegan or anything are you?"

"Nope, I like meat." Bonnie feigned a smile and pulled her napkin from the silver butterfly ring.

"Good, I dated enough vegans in L.A." he watched her closely, still leaning over the table as she placed the napkin on her lap.

Picking up her fork and fully aware that she was under scrutiny; Bonnie shot him a glance and asked "You stayed in L.A?"

"My work allows me to move around but there's nothing like the urine soaked subways in New York. You gotta love this place, right?"

"Right."

With a shrug, he finally settled on the seat opposite hers "Plus I'm sick of dating wannabe actresses."

"Hey, at least New York has models right? It's like their breeding spot or something."

"You grew up in Virginia, moved to New York City. Have you ever travelled anywhere else?" he asked, flicking back his floppy, curly dark hair.

"No."

"No? If you're not passionate about travel, what're you passionate about?"

"Writing." She said quietly, desperately wanting to change the subject. When they had finished their meal, he gave her a tour of the place as customary. Bonnie assumed that he must have given a lot of tours to a lot of women, especially models.

"Is that you?" she asked, nodding to a huge black and white picture of Enzo hanging over an unused fire place.

"Yes" he smirked, taking a sip of wine from his glass.

"You're very naked."

"You've never posed nude for an artist before?"

"No"

"You're missing out on a very visceral moment. It's an experience that leaves you naked emotionally…very vulnerable."

"Aha" she tried not to roll her eyes as she took another gulp of wine.

"It's beautiful." He smiled and continued to stare at his photo. She was starting to feel uncomfortable like she'd purchased tickets for a Broadway show only to be stuck in a seedy sex show.

"So…uhm…was asking me out a social experiment?" she stammered, staring into her glass.

"A social experiment?"

"You date models right?"

"I enjoy the company of beautiful women" he assured her and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"For like-minded conversation and all that, right?"

"And all that."

"Are you in fact a modelizer or just photographer who photographs models?"

"You have great eyes" he noted, avoiding her question.

"Uhmm…thank you?"

"Drama is only sexy for so long" he mused, fiddling with the tip of her dangling earing, "I want someone calm, nice and sweet." He said softly and Bonnie tried to imagine him with some nice, mousy-haired girl instead of the blondes with high cheekbones he was so accustomed to. Nope, they just didn't go together, it was like pairing Chanel with Topshop.

Distracting her from her assessment of him, he broke in with "I want some dessert; there's a café about three blocks down that serves the most amazing dessert."

"Uhmm…"

"No one can refuse a slice of coconut cream pie with extra cream" he licked his lips, making a point of staring deep into her eyes.

"I don't know…I think I might call it a night."

His hand was still resting on her lower back when he softened, "Stay and you might see the sun rise on the East River"

"That's quite a pick-up line" she smiled, shaking her head. He was quite relentless in his attempts to get laid but she was done with that. She was a new Bonnie, she was not about that life anymore.

"It's true, there's nothing like the view of the East River from the Upper East Side" Enzo coaxed, running the pad of his thumb along her jaw. Shit, he's going to kiss me. Just as she started retreating, one hand on the doorknob and the other clutching onto her purse, Enzo made his move. Cupping the nape of her neck with his hand, his mouth closed over hers.

His kiss was slow and tentative, his tongue teasing her mouth with slow but undeniable intention. He wanted to sleep with her and it certainly wasn't going to happen.

.

As she left Enzo's apartment, she contemplated about going to the club Katherine was talking about to meet the gang but the thought of elbowing through pulsating crowds of drunk people revolted her. She had a nice buzz and she didn't want to ruin it by having to argue with people stamping on her feet and so she decided to head home to watch revolving fan on her ceiling.

..

In the morning her head was throbbing but instead of sinking her face into her pillow like she had wanted to, she braved the sunlight and the office. Squeezing through the revolving doors, she stomped through the lobby and tried to catch an elevator going up to her floor.

"Hi" someone said and as she snapped her head back, she nearly suffered from whiplash.

"Hey." She mumbled, the hair on her arms already prickling at the sight of him.

The elevator binged and the doors slid open as she stepped inside with Kol following shortly behind. The car emptied as a handful of employees emerged from the lift. Great, she thought rolling her eyes. It was just going to be the two of them. She was going to be alone with Kol Mikaelson inside an elevator of all places with no possibly of an escape. Her heart pounded against her breastbone but she tried to play it cool by tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and watching the brass arrow of the indicator jump from number to number as the lift ascended.

"Great work on your new vlog" he murmured, his breath teasing the hair at the nape of her neck. Christ, was he standing that close to her?

"Thanks" Bonnie snapped her head back to glare at him. Big mistake because her eyes locked right onto his full, sensuous mouth. It took her a few seconds before she could will them back to the rest of his face.

"You writing anything interesting this week?" he asked, his brown eyes steady on hers. She stared right back, immensely aware of the closeness on his face and the fact that his lips were mere inches away from hers made her heart beat even faster.

"Yeah, I'm writing about butt plugs and raging assholes"

"You think you might be having a bit of buyer's remorse?" he raised an eyebrow, his voice surprisingly soft. The softness, the laid-back attitude of his voice and his lazy smile infuriated her. This was all a game to him. The tender smiles he gave her, the promises that promised nothing were all a game. He liked toying with her because he was really incapable of love.

"Buyer's remorse? How the heck do I have buyer's remorse when you're the one who's been running around here acting like a kid-adult!"

"That's pretty rich coming from you, nipple-gate"

"Nipple-gate? Really?"

"Thank you for that picture by the way, looking at it gets me hard all the time"

"Well that was not the purpose of the picture" she stuttered, he certainly knew how to work his damn voice and those damn stupid eyes.

"What was the purpose then?"

"It was a political statement."

"Well look at you, my little drunk Joan of Arc troll"

"How did I not realize what a giant ass you were when we were fucking?"

"Cause you were too busy cumming half the time, sweat-pea." His languid smile sent a jolt of electricity to her groin but not nearly as sharp as the abrupt jerk of the elevator.

"What just happened?" she asked, eyes as wide as saucers.

"I think we're stuck."

..

A/N: Rather short I know lol. Next chapter will focus more on Kennett and the friends.