Bonnie woke up with her head on Mason's shoulder, her face smooshed into his neck and her arm, stretched across his taut stomach.

Fuck. Fuckity fuck! Fuck life. Fuck it all.

"Morning." He lifted his head to look at her.

Her response was a whisper, "Hi."

"I could get used to this"

"What?"

"Waking up next to you."

He brushed the hair on her nape with his thumb. Quickly, she propped herself up on her elbows and gave him a sideways glance.

"Are you dating other people?" she blurted.

Sitting up he looked at her earnestly and said, "No."

"Can I take a shower?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." She patted his knee and ran a hand through her shoulder grazing bob. Sh could feel his eyes on her as she walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. On his bathroom counter sat an electric toothbrush in a cradle and a towel hanging from a silver rack.

After she washed her face, she stepped into the shower and last night's memories came rushing back. She cringed when she thought about how she's behaved.

Later, she found him in the kitchen, the soft morning light spilled over his tanned shoulders. He looked really good, she thought, especially with the stubble. A tantalizing whiff of coffee helped to clear her head a tad even though she was still in a hung-over fog.

"Hey" Mason leaned across the counter and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Hi"

"How do you like your coffee?"

"Well…uhm...usually from Starbucks but I don't really care. Uhmm…black I guess?"

"How many sugars?"

"Three."

He poured two cups and set hers down on the counter.

"Bagels or donuts?"

"When did you manage to get donuts and bagels?" Cautiously she took a sip from her mug while he took a long swallow, his eyes scanning her face.

"While you were taking your shower."

"Impressive but I have to, uhmm…you know." she motioned to the door with her thumb.

"It's a Sunday. Where're you rushing off to, church?" he smiled, catching the bagels as they popped out of the toaster. He brought them to her on a plate along with a smoked salmon spread and a butter knife.

"Actually me and the girls have a different sort of religion." She shrugged, watching him twist a lid.

"Oh yeah?"

"It's called a boozy brunch."

He looked like he wanted to say something, thought better of it and sipped his coffee.

"You want anything from my closet?"

She looked down at her short bandage dress. It screamed walk of shame.

"Thanks but I'll be ok. I really need to go or I'll be late."

He walked her to the door, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks for taking in a stray last night."

"Anytime, "he smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Sliding his fingers into her hair, he palmed the back of her head and lowered his head to kiss her. His kiss was sweet and warm and she could feel his erection through the fabric of his sweatpants.

After some time she separated her mouth from his and dropped her gaze to his groin and stared at the peak of his tent.

Looking embarrassed, he pinched the bridge of his nose and smiled sheepishly, "I'll call you."

She thought about his erection in the Uber all the way back to her apartment.

…

After visiting chapters of his old life, Kol was back here in the city with the most iconic skyline, where bars closed at 5am and you could eat any cuisine anytime anywhere. There were Indian, Bangladeshi and Vietnamese eateries around every corner in almost any borough.

And it wasn't only about the food but the city was also brimming with culture. Kol saw New York with fresh eyes. It dawned on him that he could travel the world without leaving New York, of course he'd still travel but it was nice knowing he could settle down for a moment and not feel like he was giving something up.

He poured himself a generous amount of whiskey in his glass, stared at it, brought it to his lips then lowered it. He wanted to do this sober.

His mother deserved that much.

Leaning back against the plush leather seat of the limo, he closed his eyes and opened them again when the car came to a crawl, then stopped.

He stepped and Alfred, his driver shut the door behind him. The tension in his neck and shoulders didn't cease as his shoes striked the ground. It only mounted and he passed rows of headstones heading for the one belonging to his mother.

He hadn't been here in ages and suddenly as he stood before her black granite headstone, he felt like a little boy again. He cast a look over his shoulder when Alfred waited then looked back at the headstone.

"Hi mom, it's me Kol." He choked the flowers in his hand before adding, "I'm sorry for everything."

…

After a shower and a change of clothes, Bonnie met her tribe at The Standard for their bottomless mimosas. A wall of windows opened onto a street buzzing with cars and street traffic. The waitress set down a pitcher of mimosa in front of them as Bonnie settled into her chair.

Matt who had been reading the vows section of the New York times, lifted his head from the newspaper and exclaimed, "Why the hell are you here instead of snuggled up in bed with hot Mason. I mean as far as Sunday in New York fantasy, a bed snuggle that involves a naked Mason and his dog isn't that bad."

"A naked Mason and his dog in bed?" Katherine quipped.

"That only sounds perverted because you're perverted." He stuck out his tongue.

Bonnie quickly ordered and stole a fry from Caroline's plate while she prodded her eggs with a fork.

"This is our ritual. I'm not gonna be one of those women that meet a man and abandons all her friends." She grabbed a clean glass from the table and lifted the pitcher.

"Good for you. Don't abandon your life and don't put your eggs in one basket. Spread those little fuckers. Always assume a man is seeing other people." Kat took a swig of her drink, giving Bonnie a wink.

"Yup keep it breezy, " Bonnie nodded vigorously then stopped mid-pour. "You know I have kept it breezy. Kol was all breezy and I had to be too breezy just to keep up. I'm not gonna be breezy with Mason. He either wants me or doesn't. I won't stick around waiting to figure out his angle."

"So what do you think about Emily?" Caroline turned to ask Bonnie just the waitress brought her egg-white omelet with extra salmon.

"She seems pretty cool. At least I won't need Kat to get into all the cool places in the city anymore. Em seems to be well connected." She jested, earing herself a playful shove from Kat.

"Oh listen to this one, "Matt cleared his throat and read out loud from the paper, "Once kindergarten playmates, Richard reached out to Rose on Facebook and now they're getting married."

Frustrated, Matt slapped the paper on the table and picked up his mimosa, "Can you imagine, you waste your whole life trying to find the One is New York only to end up marrying some idiot from Virginia. I didn't leave Virginia just to end up marrying Virginia."

"Love is love." Caroline smiled, ever hopeful and the rest just glared at her.

…

Bonnie set her Dior cross-body bag knockoff on her desk and booted up the laptop. That's when she noticed it, a big beautiful bouquet of red roses. Plucking out a card from the bunch, she read, "No more safe words, love K." and traced her fingers around the words.

"Are those hey-big-head flowers?"

Startled, Bonnie whirled around to find Emily rapping her black stiletto nails against the cubicle. She was dressed in a gray plaid pants suit over a white t-shirt and her hair fell in big black glossy curls over her shoulders.

"No. Uhm… they're nothing, they're just flowers."

Sensing that Bonnie didn't want to talk about the roses, Emily changed the subject.

"So I have two weeks left on my lease…"

"Oh right. I'll draw up a simple little contract and you can move in when your lease is up."

"Great."

"Super."

"I'll let you get back to your hey-big-head flowers."

"They're not-"but before she could finish Emily was gone.

She picked up her phone and rang Matt.

"I don't know why he would do this, why would he send me flowers?" she exclaimed as soon as her best friend picked up.

"Hi, hello, good morning."

"Sorry, hi."

"Now who sent you flowers?"

"Kol."

"Mr. Moneybags? Do you think he's back in town?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I'm in a good place with Mason."

"Yes, especially after the dick down."

"There was no dick down. I like the newness and excitement of things right now." she said into the phone.

"You are really working over-time trying to convince yourself aren't you?"

"Whatever, bitch you're going to hell."

"I'll save you a seat."

"Cunt." Bon laughed, leaning back in her chair.

"Listen gotta go. Talk later?"

"Yes, later." As she hung up the phone, her e-mail alerts pinged with new mail from Kat.

"Dinner plans?" it read once she opened it. She typed no and before she could minimize the window and work on something else, there was another response from Kat.

"Great, I have a table at Frenchette."

...

New York was a glitter of lights that night and Bonnie couldn't decide of it was New York being New York or the fact that they were dining at one of the newly opened hot spots but there was magic in the air.

French doors opening onto an autumn scented street and the sound of silverware clacking against expensive China was almost orgasmic. She adjusted the hem her black dress and turned to Katherine.

"How did you manage a table at Frenchette?" she asked swirling her glass of wine, "and how are we paying for it cause you know I'm too broke for the grub they serve in this place."

Relax, he's financing it." she gestured with her chin toward the door, "don't worry he'll only hang with us for ten minutes at best."

Bonnie looked at her friend curiously.

Kat continued, shifting in her chair "I heard the suit was gonna be dining here tonight."

"Elijah Mikaelson?"

"Who else?"

"Now you're stalking him?"

"It's called being resourceful. It cost me a ticket to some stupid pajama party in the District so it was a bargain."

"You bribed his P.A." Bonnie shook her head, taking another swallow of wine. Katherine was unbelievable.

"Yes now shush, here comes Cade."

He was one of the city's typically eligible bachelors. He looked to be in his thirties and was an obvious banker from the way he carried himself. When he got to the table, he kissed both their hands and settled next to Katherine, a big smile on his face.

They had just ordered their mains when her gaze landed on a table across the room where Elijah sat with Jo Parker and two other men. She caught a flash of the second man's face and dropped her fork with a clank. She felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach and every cell in her body twitched.

Kol Mikaelson, billionaire playboy, possessor of hugely awesome dick was back in town.

….