"I saw the suit again. I rode up one of the elevators with him." Katherine was perched on the edge of Bonnie's desk, cup in hand and scrolling down her phone with her other hand.

"Hmm…That's nice." Bonnie replied absentmindedly as she shot through her e-mails.

"Where do you think he hangs out? Jean Georges, Le Berdanin, Bouley, Daniel-hey you've been do Daniel with Mr. English right?"

"Zip it."

"Maybe I can bump into him at Del Posto or something"

"I told you I don't want to talk about Kol"

"I wasn't talking about your delectable English dick, I was talking about mine. I'm talking about Elijah Mikaelson."

"Really? And when did this sudden ownership of one billionaire Elijah Mikaelson commence?"

"I'll forgive you for being a cranky cunt because you're looking so sexy in that dress and I'm feeling benevolent."

Bonnie was about to respond with her own retort when her phone rang. She raised a finger telling Kat to hold that thought. Then grabbing her phone, she balanced it against her shoulder and continued to peck at her keyboard.

"Hello."

"How's the State of Sex in New York City this morning?" came the voice sounding gravelly and hot.

"Er- disastrous like running with scissors." she didn't know who was at the end of the line but the voice fed her insatiable curiosity.

"Am I allowed to ask how this week's column is coming along?"

"Is this my new editor?"

"Sorry, this is Mason. We met a few nights ago at my bar." He chuckled and warm glow crept up the back of her neck.

"Hi Mason."

"Do you wanna have dinner tomorrow night?"

"I don't know." She hesitated, stealing a glance at Katherine who was eyeing her curiously.

"What's your gut telling you?"

"My gut is telling me yes."

"Your gut is right. Listen to it."

"Okay, call me later? With a smile she hung up the phone and stared at her screen before resuming with her heated conversation with Katherine.

..

"I wanna ask you something." Caroline said without looking up from her plate. They were having an early dinner at Poached, a small neighborhood cafe that served eggs round the clock.

"Shoot."

"So Tyler and I have been talking aaaaaand we've sort of come to an agreement regarding sex and uh-you know-protection. I mean we have been dating for a while and now that we're moving in together…well it just makes sense that we-"

"Poke holes in the condoms." Bonnie laughed as she doused her poached eggs with the café's homemade sauce.

When Caroline shot her with a look, she quickly raised her hands in self defense and said, "Ok I'm obviously kidding. This is a very serious dinner with very stern looking eggs so I must keep my face as serious as this conversation. "

"You want to stop using protection with him but you're not sure if you can trust him."

"Yes, no-yes I mean I do trust him but I don't want an STD." Caroline stammered looking rather apologetic like she felt guilty for not trusting her dog of a boyfriend.

"Sweetie if you're worried that this guy is still sticking it in someone else why are you moving in with him?"

Caroline chewed purposely before changing the subject, "Anyway, this is me giving you my official two weeks notice. I'm moving out in two weeks and I think that gives you plenty of time to find a roommate."

"A new roommate-hooray." Bonnie rolled her eyes and stabbed a tomato slice with her fork. She didn't want a stranger invading her space, didn't want to deal with secondhand sex that would leave her sleep deprived. She didn't want to deal with the passive aggressive behavior she'd obviously exhibit because said roommate was getting laid on the regular when she was still nursing heartbreak from a certain Englishman.

"I spoke to Mason. I think he really likes you." The blonde quickly declared, taking a sip of her orange juice.

"Yeah?" Bonnie arched a brow as she anticipated a breakdown of the conversation that her friend had with her possible new boyfriend. Boyfriend? Ok perhaps she was taking things too far and far too quickly.

"Which is why I told him to take it easy with you. You know, go slow because you're not really ready to go back to the dating market." Caroline explained as she dug into her eggs again.

Bonnie choked on her drink and coughed out, "You told Mason that I'm not ready to date?"

"Are you?"

"You had no right"

"I have every right. Mason is Tyler's brother and I don't want him to get hurt."

"So you're choosing him over me?"

"There are no sides here, Bon. I'm choosing to do the right thing."

"Dick move, Care-Bear, even for you."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Do you know how much of a mission it is to meet someone even remotely dateable in this city?"

"I know which is why I think he should hold out for someone who's ready and you should well…you should get over Kol."

"I am over Kol."

"So you want Mason?"

"Yes."

"You want to use him as your rebound?"

"No. I liked him, we were flirting and there was a vibe."

"The flirting was perfunctory because you thought you had to and that vibe you felt was your stomach reacting to the bad kiwi in your cocktail."

"There was bad kiwi and you knew about this?"

"Focus, Bon. You cannot see Mason because you are still getting over Kol."

Bonnie shook her head even though she knew it was futile to fight Caroline when she was like this, "You had no right." She simply said and gathered her purse.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes. I'm heading home. I'll see you later."

"I'm heading out to Brooklyn tonight."

"Of course you are. Have fun."

..

Bonnie composed herself before entering the noodle bar he'd picked in Soho. She was happy that Mason called her two nights later to ask her out again on an official date even though Caroline didn't approve. It meant that Mason was his own man and she like that a lot.

When she spotted him at a table, he rose to meet her. He looked good, nice casual button-down shirt with a pair of jeans that did ridiculously awesome things to his ass. His eyes raked over her, taking in the details. She'd curled her hair in that way that magazine liked to call beach waves, painted her lips a glossy red and picked out a nice black top and a pair of jeans.

After greeting him with a kiss on both cheeks, they settled down and mason ordered a round of drinks.

.

"Wow the paper must pay a pretty buck!"

Bonnie took a sip of her martini and smiled, "I wish."

"How do you supplement your salary then?"

"I beg your-"

"I'm sorry I just noticed the big Chanel tag on your bag and-. Don't mind me."

"It's fake." She replied just as the server came out carrying small bowls of broth laden over rice noodles. He laid the dishes out in front of them and took leave so they could resume their conversation.

"Oh yeah?" Mason raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, his gaze travelling down her body to pause at her chest.

"The rest is all real, trust me." She smiled, nudging his leg with her knee.

"So tell me about yourself. Why'd you move to New York?" she asked attempting to change the subject.

"Are we really doing the standard date questions thing?"

"Its mandatory since this is a uhm…real date."

"Well…I used to a firefighter."

"So you traded in being a hero to open a vegan bar?"

"Yes. I'm a class act." He joked, taking a swig of beer.

Minutes later the drinks flowed as did the conversation. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had fun on a date because she couldn't really call what she did with Kol dating.

An hour later they were outside waiting for a cab and winding down on their conversation.

"Well, thanks for a great evening. I had fun."

"Me too." She told him. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Bonnie edged closer to the street and peered at the traffic for a lit cab.

She lifted out her hand to hail a cab but he reached out, took hold of that hand and drew her closer to him. With one arm around her waist, he lifted her chin with his other hand so that she could look at him. The heat of his hand over her cheek made her heart jolt. She couldn't figure out what to do with her hands at first almost like she'd forgotten their function but when he smiled she seemed to remember and slid them up to his shoulders and around his neck.

With his lips a mere breathe away from hers, he said "I like you. I really like you."

Then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It was a slow soft kiss, one scented with warm beer and soy sauce.

And she kinda liked it.

..

A/N: Short chapter but hey I'm finally back. Dealt with health issues, my laptop being down etc. but here I am, back for another crazy ride.