The peal of her mobile phone woke her up from the couch where she had dozed off while watching Larry King. Straining her eyes against the harsh morning light, she fumbled for the phone and pressed it against her ear.
"Yeah?" she croaked and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Miss Bennett, this is Vicky Donovan from Whitmore magazine"
"Hi," Bonnie sat up, suddenly alert as she swiped a hand through her tousled, dark hair.
"Mr Saltzman would like you to come in at ten this morning."
"This morning?" her eyebrows shot up and she rose to her feet, shaking the sleep off her shoulders.
"Will that be a problem, do you need to reschedule?"
"No, not a problem at all. I'll be there." Bonnie assured her. She rubbed the back of her neck. Her body hurt from the flat cushions and her uncomfortable sleeping position.
"Great, see you then" Vicky told her before hanging up. Bonnie stood there a while longer with the mobile phone in her hand trying to feel awake enough to jog upstairs and take a shower. The TV was still on but she had probably set it on mute when she fell asleep. Reaching for the remote control, she increased the volume so that she could hear the brunette CNN news anchor report about the GOP debate in Cleveland, Ohio.
It was sure to be an exciting day.
After a hot shower, she drank a double espresso and scrolled down her IPad as she read the New Yorker. She went over the headlines then the real estate section because for some reason looking at pretty apartments always calmed her. She blamed her obsession on her passion for story telling because the homes listed on that screen had stories to tell. There were families who had hung Christmas lights in those homes, children running around in their pajamas, lovers sharing breakfast in bed and a dog licking a little girl's nose. Real estate wasn't just about structure, it was about life lived and memories shared. That's why she loved it.
..
Damon heard the sound of a soft tap on the wall of his cubicle and took his eyes off his laptop.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Vicky asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"Nope, I'm good" he replied, sizing her up as he took a sip of coffee from his Star Bucks cup.
"You're needed in Ric's office" she said, cocking her head at him.
"Do you know what it's about?"
"Forgot to ask" she sighed before disappearing behind a wall of cubicles. Running a hand through his hair, Damon drummed his fingers on the desk, eyes fixed on his laptop screen. He left the article and rose to his feet then took another swift gulp from his cup. Cautiously, he moved around the maze of cubicles, hands tucked into his pockets as he made his way toward Ric's office.
After knocking lightly on the door he waited for Ric to order him inside.
"Damon, thank you for joining us" Alaric smiled and beckoned for him to enter. Damon noticed her the minute he crossed over the threshold. He took in her curves in a mid-calf black pencil skirt; he followed the lines of the crisp white shirt to the swell of her pert breasts. Her dark hair was pinned up into a high ponytail to accentuate the green eyes hidden behind her horn-rimmed glasses.
"This is Bonnie Bennett, Bonnie this is Damon Salvatore" Alaric made the introductions, arms crossed against his chest as he sat on top of his desk.
"Good to meet you, Damon" she smiled sternly and held out her hand.
"Likewise" he replied, shook her warm hand and then turned to cock his eyebrow at Alaric.
"What's up?" he asked Alaric, rapping his knuckles against his jeans.
"I'd like to make the two of you an offer" Ric said after clearing his throat. His eyes darted from Damon to Bonnie then back to Damon.
"I'm dividing the column between the two of you" he finally announced, a pleased smile crossing his lips.
"Dividing the column?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow and stepped away from Damon.
With a slight nod, Alaric continued, "You have to present opposing opinions on different subjects"
"Your first assignment is to discuss the idea of making voting obligatory." He said, addressing them, "Remember to offer solutions to the issue at hand and not to simply raise the issue"
"Wait, are you seriously giving my column to him?" lifting both hands, Bonnie shook her head and fixed her eyes on Alaric.
"Technically it's not your column and if anyone were to get a column around here it would be me" Damon chipped in and stole a glance at her.
"And why is that, because being a fossil around here entitles you to your own column?" her green eyes darkening, she came back right at him with a snarl.
"No because I'm qualified and I've worked damn hard too" Damon said pointedly as he inched closer to her.
"This is not fair" she hissed, spinning around to face Alaric.
"Life is not fair Miss Bennett. If you want the job, you're gonna have to work with Mr. Salvatore" he said matter-of-factly with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What will it be?" he cocked his head, tapping his foot.
"I'll accept the offer" she mumbled, chewing the inside of her cheek.
"Damon?" Alaric turned to his long-time employee, a quizzical look on his face.
"I'm game" he smirked, his gaze pinning Bonnie to the spot.
With that, Alaric stretched out his arm for a firm handshake. "Bonnie, welcome to the zoo"
"Ladies first" Damon offered as the two of them left Alaric's office.
"Let's get one thing straight, I don't need you to play the gender card with me. You will treat me like any other male Neanderthal in your office" Bonnie hissed, her eyes locked onto his.
"So you're a feminist" he smiled, walking beside her in an attempt to match her strides.
"You know if I was a man I wouldn't have to share my column with you"
"Right, because if you were a man you'd get overlooked for a position you're highly qualified for because of some cute, little British female intern"
"I'm not an intern and I'm not British" she huffed and held up her hand-bag between them as if to shield herself from him.
"Did your perky accent get the memo?"
"You're such a nutter"
"I'd argue if I could" he chuckled, strangely intrigued by the flicker in her green eyes.
"You know that feminism basically boils down to Adam, Eve and the apple"
"And here I thought that the serpent had something to do with it" she smirked and stepped even closer, closing the gap between them.
"You know the good book, I'm impressed." His smile broadened as her musky perfume filled his nostrils.
"You know what you are. You're a cliché, like soft serve pretzels and Broadway in New York" she matched his smile with a stern one.
"You don't even know me and FYI, pretzels are a Philly thing" Damon corrected her much to her obvious disdain. He knew her type very well. She was the sort that refused to ride on anyone's coattails, she was also the type to never want to identify as a woman because she was a person.
"I'm a great judge of character" she insisted as her eyes coasted down his body and somehow the mere action alone jolted his groin.
"Then would it be safe to assume that you're like a red double decker bus, chips and warm beer?" he cleared his throat in attempt to compose himself.
"Don't forget the fried fish, cricket and endless rain" she added, head tilted up so that she could look at him through her long eyelashes.
Willing his cheeks not to flush, he schooled his features and responded, "Aah yes, must not forget the rain and cricket. Oh what culture you guys have over there"
"Yeah, kind of like your sissy pseudo-rugby which you call American 'football'?"
"Have you actually seen a game of football?"
"No because there's no world cup for American football now is there?" she teased with an arched eyebrow, "And oh wait, there's no world cup baseball either."
"Okay, okay" Damon lifted his hands in protest.
"America's like a bloody island and I bet you're the king of the island"
"And the legend of stiff upper-lipped Brits lives on" He spat, catching a glimpse of Vicky as she approached them.
"You do know that I'm not British, right? " Bonnie narrowed her brilliant eyes again, "My father's American and my mother is Somali"
"What does that make you?" he gestured down to her chest and was almost sorry that he did.
"Human" she snarled with gritted teeth and for once he was grateful that Vicky was about to interrupt their heated moment.
"I'm Vicky; I'm in charge of morale around here" the brunette announced and smiled at Bonnie.
"Bonnie"
"Yeah, we spoke on the phone. If you will follow me, I will show you to your cubicle and get you settled in"
"Thank you" Bonnie managed to tear her eyes away from Damon and offered Vicky a sincere smile. Then with the flip of a switch, she spun back to glare at Damon and hiss a firm, "Salvatore"
"Bennett" Damon nodded, arms crossed against his chest as she watched the two women walk off together.
..
"Did I miss the broadcast?" Damon asked Enzo as he climbed on the leather topped chair at the bar.
"Nope, you're still in time to hear Taylor's position on security" he replied with a shrug and took a long pull from his beer. Noting that his friend was lost, Enzo explained and leaned closer to Damon so that he could hear him over the noise.
"He's going to build the next Great Wall of China, mate" he expanded, gesturing to the big plasma screens mounted all over the bar, "He wants to build a wall to keep out the Mexicans"
"And I think he's proposing that we get Jon Snow to guard it" Katherine walked up behind Damon and slapped a hand to his back. She took her seat next to Enzo and tossed her small handbag on the counter before beckoning the bartender.
"Naturally I think Gandalf the Gray would be better suited for the position" Enzo chuckled, lifting his beer in salute, "I mean who can yell 'you shall not pass' better than the gray wizard while guarding that wall?"
"Is that the hallmark of the Taylor campaign, a Game of Thrones ice wall?" Damon chuckled, glancing around the bar to a noisy crowd playing a game of chug, "And who's going to build this great white wall?"
"I'm pretty sure there are some goblin slaves we can courier over in slave ships" Katherine laughed titling her head back to gulp down a shot of tequila. Damon ordered a double shot of bourbon.
"Hey, speaking of immigration, how's the sexy British lass?" Enzo yelled, smiling wickedly at Damon.
"You tell me, mate" he returned the grin and swirled the alcohol in his glass before taking a healthy gulp.
"If there's gonna be a British invasion at Whitmore, I'm gonna need another tequila" Katherine shouted, pounding the bar with her fists.
"I thought you liked my English sausage, in fact you called it proper" Enzo quipped, glancing at her over his shoulder with a wink, "Of course it was the wee hours of morning and you were drunk off your tosser"
"We always fall in love over too many shots of tequila" she mused and handed him a bottle of tequila. Rising to his feet, Enzo positioned himself behind her and pulled her hair, titling her head back before pouring tequila down her throat.
"You can come pass out on my bed tonight, sweetheart. I won't mind" he grinned and watched as Katherine came up for air, shook her head and swallowed the alcohol.
"Okay, before you two start spewing facts about Clinton as part of your foreplay, I'm gonna order another bourbon" Damon noted with a smirk.
"Look what the minx just dragged in" Enzo's eyes locked toward the door and Damon followed his gaze. Keeping his eyes on Bonnie, he swirled his drink and downed it.
"You're staring" Katherine chuckled, waggling her eyebrows and Damon fought the fire that was beginning to creep into his cheeks.
"You gotta give it to Taylor; the man's a genius for cutting out the middle man. I bet Warren Buffett or Howard Hughes wish they'd thought of that concept." He said pointedly, hoping to sway the conversation back to politics.
"Billionaires no longer need to buy politicians, they just become the politicians!" Enzo cheered and a group that was huddled in a corner booth cheered with him.
"I don't care who says what but Taylor is my Draco in leather pants" Katherine purred and linked her arm with Enzo's, "I never thought I'd say this but I miss Sarah Palin" she added with a groan and Damon knew he was in for a long night and that his friends were going to hook up again tonight.
..
"Megyn Kelly is brutal tonight, "a brunette said as Bonnie took a seat next to her at a booth by an arched window. Vicky had extended an invitation to come and watch the GOP debate with them at Miguel and she had agreed. She wanted to fit at her new work place.
"Hey, if Taylor can dish it then he can take it" someone else said before Vicky broke in to make the introductions.
"That's Anna," Vicky said pointed to a brunette girl with great skin, "and this is Davina. Everybody, this is Bonnie"
"Hey, I saw you around the office today" Anna raised her glass at Bonnie.
"Hi, cool top" Davina smiled and gestured to Bonnie's black draped blouse.
"I've always liked Megyn Kelly's hair and her sharp wit." Anna pointed to the screen again and Bonnie was glad that the attention had deflected away from her.
"I hear they pay her a ton" Bonnie added, eager to be a part of the conversation. Vicky gestured to a server so that they could order another round of drinks.
"Fox News's Stepford agenda, blonde news anchors with big blue eyes" Anna rolled her eyes and shot Bonnie a questioning look as if she was trying to figure her out.
"I wonder if it's in their contracts, perpetual blonde hair and a compulsory Socal cleanse" Davina snorted and down the rest of her vodka and lime.
"Hey, I have a friend who's a news anchor and she's pretty brilliant" Bonnie half teased as everyone placed their order with the waiter.
"Is she blonde?" Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Yes but that's not really relevant because she's a-"Bonnie began before Anna interrupted her again.
"Then she's part of the Stepford agenda" the brunette said and exchanged a look with Vicky.
"Welcome to Anna's feminism class" Vicky joked and smiled at Bonnie.
"So who's your homecoming king tonight?" Davina broke the awkwardness by directing the question at Anna.
"My money's on Jeb Bush" Anna responded and raked a hand through her dark curls.
"Beep, no personality" Bonnie retorted with a smile and Anna hesitated before melting into a smile of her own.
"Well I think Marco Rubio's a dream boat" Davina simply said much to the amusement of the rest of the table.
"Well that's swell, Marcia Brady." Vicky laughed, turning around to swipe her drink from the server's tray. He set the drinks down in front of each woman and they picked them up.
"How was your first day?" Anna asked, tearing Bonnie's eyes away from a couple that had been engaged in serious kissing in a booth not far from them.
"Good, pleasant. I wish I was in Cleveland covering the debate but what you gonna do?" she shrugged and took a sip of her dirty martini.
"You're one of those serious investigative journalists like Jane Mayer aren't you?" Anna leaned closer to her and narrowed her eyes, "I've heard of women like you"
"Yeah, you're like bigfoot at Whitmore magazine" Davina pointed and nudged Vicky's elbow before gesturing to the dart's board.
"I don't know how serious of a journalist I am if I'm sitting behind a desk in a cramped cubicle instead of being out there on the field" Bonnie said looking into her glass at the murky martini.
Fishing an olive from her martini, she turned to ask Vicky and the girls, "How long have you guys been at Whitmore?"
"Three years" Anna replied and took a pull from her beer.
"A week" Davina smiled sweetly with a half-shrug.
"Too long" Vicky responded sourly, looking deeply into her glass.
"You should've been here last year; we had a staff field trip to Washington" Anna noted and stole a look at Vicky.
"Yeah?" Bonnie raised her eyebrows, her gaze darting between the two women.
"Vicky here nearly had a Monica Lewinsky moment with the first commander in chief" Anna said with a stifled laugh.
"She's kidding" Vicky insisted, noting the look on Bonnie's face.
"About the liaison with the president or about the white house trip?" Bonnie asked.
"Both. The best you can hope for here is a field trip to Star Bucks for some cold brew coffee" Vicky laughed, throwing her drink back down her throat.
..
Two days later after successfully avoiding Bonnie at the office, he found himself at the work gym for his Saturday morning workout. He purchased a bottle of water from the juice bar, scanned in his membership card and located the treadmills in order to find Enzo.
"Hey, what'd I miss?" Damon greeted Enzo and tossed his towel over the rail of the treadmill.
"For starters, you missed Mary Poppins over there and her show on the Stairmaster but you're just in time to watch her tackle that guy"
"Mary Poppins?" Damon quizzed as he climbed onto the treadmill next to Enzo's.
"I'd like to go several rounds with her, mate" Enzo gestured to a woman punching at a kickboxing instructor with her boxing gloves. Damon hummed, his eyes exploring her sleek body in a black sports bra and black ski pants. It took confidence and a great body to pull the look off and she had both. He adjusted the waistband of his sweatpants to give room to the growing erection that was occurring in there. When she removed her head-guard and shook her ponytail free, Damon groaned.
It was none other than Bonnie Bennett.
"And I'd rather shoot myself" Damon spat and increased the speed on his treadmill.
"You're telling me you wouldn't hit that?" Enzo asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
"She's as uptight as Margaret Thatcher" Damon argued, his feet pounding the surface as his pace increased.
"You know what they say about domineering women in the bedroom" Enzo teased, still hiking away at a steep incline.
Rolling his eyes, Damon smirked, "Yes because Margaret Thatcher in pleather wielding a whip is my ultimate fantasy"
"Actually domineering women love to be submissive in bed" Enzo counted, his eyes following another blonde female passing them in a blue leotard before coasting back to Bonnie, "You know she likes it rough, just look at her with all that pent up anger"
"I bet she's a screamer, a loud and beautiful screamer" Enzo continued, obviously enjoying the effect this argument was having on Damon.
"You're an idiot" Damon resigned with a sigh and shut down his treadmill. He wouldn't be able to get a good workout today.
"You should make a go at it, you'll thank me later" Enzo called after him as Damon proceeded to make his way to the locker-rooms. After splashing cold water on his face, he made his way toward the exit to leave the gym. He was in the process of tossing his backpack over his shoulder when someone bumped into him.
"Salvatore" she greeted when he spun around to face her.
"We got to stop meeting like this" he grinned, accessing her and received an expected scowl from her. Shaking her head and pursing her lips, she said
"Ladies, first" motioning for him to exit before her.
"Why, thank you" Damon obliged and stepped onto the busy sidewalk.
"You use those to block out conversation?" he pointed to the earbuds dangling around her neck.
"Yeah, kind of how I'm about to block you out in a sec" she smiled, twirling her finger around the white wire linking her iPod to the earbuds. He couldn't wipe the smirk off his face as his eyes darted down to the sweat pooling at the base of her throat.
"How's your article going?" he asked as they stood under a big green awning, shielded away from the glaring sunlight.
"It's practically writing itself, yours?" she gave him a challenging grin.
"I whizzed past the first draft" he said confidently.
"Great" Bonnie noted and her eyes escaped to the street where Damon assumed she was searching for an available cab.
"Good and of course I'm anti compulsory voting." He baited her into a debate in an attempt to keep her from leaving. He told himself that it was because he was bored and needed a way to entertain himself.
"Voting is a democratic obligation" Bonnie snarled at him taking the hook.
"Yes but people shouldn't be forced to vote for candidates and policies they don't believe in" he smiled, enjoying how flushed she looked from her workout and now from their debate at hand.
"Then they need to educate themselves about policies and about how the government works. You can't just keep complaining about how the country is run and not do anything about it" she countered, eyes narrowed at him like she was addressing a kindergarten kid, "Democracy is only as good as its citizens"
"Democracy being the operative word here. If you force people to vote you might as well have Stalin running the country because goodbye human rights" Damon said simply and took a long pull of water from his bottle.
"You think forcing people to vote and educating themselves about policies is fascism?" she cocked her head, shaking it incredulously at his statement.
"I think it infringes on basic human rights, so heck yeah, its fascist"
"Kind of like your gun-control policies?" she blinked at him, hands now stapled to her hips.
"Look, being a journalist is a huge responsibility. They don't say the pen is mightier than the sword for nothing."
"I bet you're excellent with your sword then" Bonnie chortled, slowly sizing him up.
"Touché" he grinned, a flicker of amusement in his eyes, "You wanna share a cab?" he asked.
"I'm going to Park Avenue; you're headed to the West Village, right?" she quipped and began to walk away from him.
"That explains it" Damon called, sneaking a hand into his hoodie.
"What are you talking about?" she spun around and shot daggers at him with her eyes.
"Your sense of entitlement" he replied with a shrug, careful to keep his eyes trained to her face and not her sleek, honeyed body in that body hugging get-up.
"You're a Park Avenue Pollyanna" he told her.
"If anyone here has any sense of entitlement, it's you" Bonnie spat as she raised her arm to hail down a cab.
"Good-bye, Thatcher" Damon yelled when a yellow taxi pulled up next to her.
"Only you could come up with such a pedestrian moniker" she smiled lightly and opened the door.
"Good-bye, Thatcher" he repeated more to himself as her taxi pulled away.
..
"What are you doing this weekend?" Caroline asked as they walked across the polished marble floors of an art gallery. She'd agreed to meet Caroline for lunch after her gym session so that they could catch up.
"It's Saturday so by all accounts I think this is it" Bonnie mumbled and scrolled down her phone to read an e-mail from her father.
"You should get out more and start enjoying the city" Caroline advised her, head tilted up so that she could view the giant spider metal installation looming above them.
"There's this book launch at a Chelsea gallery tonight and if you're free you could join us" she told Bonnie who summarily slid her mobile phone shut so that she could focus on the pieces.
"Who's us?" she asked the blonde even though she already knew the answer.
"Me and Klaus"
"I don't feel like being the third wheel this weekend. No offense" Bonnie held up her hand in protest and walked to another installation, an amour plated ladybug.
"None taken" Caroline shrugged, "My crystal ball tells me you might meet someone" she said with an ever widening smile.
"And my nipples can tell when it's gonna rain" she chuckled, their heels clicking against the marble and the sound echoing around the stark space.
"Huh?" Caroline's brows furrowed, her eyes searching her friend's face.
"Sorry, a little Mean Girls humour. It's a thing around the office"
"Come on, live a little" Caroline nudged her with her elbow before linking their arms together.
"I have an opinion piece to write for the column" Bonnie finally sighed and checked her watch. She wondered if their table would be ready at Eleven Madison Park because she was ready to eat a horse but she'd settle for a goat cheese salad and white wine.
"Aah, your column. I'm so excited for you" Caroline squealed, squeezing Bonnie's upper arm.
"It's not my column. It turns out I'll be sharing the spotlight with one bigoted male rat."
"Is he cute?"
"What are we in middle school? I tell you that I'm sharing my column with some bloke and you're asking if he's cute!" Bonnie shook her head, "You're an objective journalist Caroline and you-"
"I'm a news anchor who reads off a teleprompter. I love my job but let's remain factual" Caroline said pointedly before offering Bonnie a big grin.
"My point is that I hope you're not one of those women who base their votes on their delusional attraction to some political figure. We already know that you think JFK was hot"
"Oh honey, you really need to get laid. You overthink everything" the blonde giggled as they exited the gallery, "besides I base my vote on gender. That's why I'm voting Hillary Clinton and seriously JFK was seriously hot."
After her lunch with Caroline, Bonnie took a cab to Chinatown to meet with a source over some dim sum. Sloan was a former personal assistant to the first female minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel and now worked for the Indian embassy in New York. Bonnie had met her at an exhibition for Enrique Radigales in Chelsea and they did a yoga class together a few times but had lost touch after that.
"Mandatory voting empowers citizens and helps educate them about the electoral process," Sloan took a hearty sip of her lychee martini and licked her bottom lip then raised her eyes to look at Bonnie again, "The least number of voters in India come from the poor rural areas and the better educated they are about policies, the better" she said, swirling the drink around her glass before setting it back down on the table.
"I mean Singapore, Peru and Australia have all gone that route and I'm excited for Gujarat to find its voice too" Sloane said as she picked up an edamame and truffle dumpling with her chopsticks.
"So you don't think it's a case of ruling with an iron fist?"
"Listen, change needs to happen over there and this is a step in the right direction"
"I'm having a dinner party with my boyfriend next weekend. You should come"
"You're seeing someone?" Bonnie smiled, cocking an eyebrow over the rim of her dirty martini.
"Yeah, we met at a Nigerian art exhibition. He's funny, eccentric and I'm in love with him"
"Once you go black…" Bonnie teased, swirling her ginger and shrimp dim sum in the small bowl of soy.
"His name is Marko and he's Latina" laughing, Sloan plucked a sui mai dumpling from her steamer basket and popped it into her mouth.
"About that dinner invitation…" Sloan asked as Bonnie was paying the check.
"Uhm, I don't know. As long as it's not a setup"
Sloan's eyes widened, "You're not dating?"
"You sound shocked" Bonnie replied coolly and picked up her oversized clutch, tucking it under her arm.
"I am because you're smart, gorgeous, successful and you have a lot to offer some nice guy"
"The only problem is that New York has a shortage of nice guys" Bonnie smirked and slipped on her sunglasses.
"Take a walk on the wild side sometime. You might find that you like it" Sloan pulled her white framed sunglasses from the top of her head and shielded her eyes.
"I don't do anything wild unless it's reporting about rebel groups in Congo" Bonnie laughed and raised a hand to hail a taxi for them.
..
Damon fidgeted with his tie as they followed a waitress to their table at Aldea. They weaved through tables until they reached a table facing out the window where they could see the sparkling city skyline. The server handed them their menus, took their drink orders and disappeared back into the kitchen.
"How's your week been?" Stefan cleared his throat, glancing around the crowded restaurant with its white table cloths and shimmering silver cutlery.
"Oh, it's been a thrill" he smirked and leaned back into his seat. Pulling a bread basket toward him, he seized a sesame seed bread stick and broke it apart then dipped it into an olive oil and balsamic vinegar blend.
"I love this place and its tasting menu with its exuberant prices. It kind of reminds me of all those suffering child soldiers in Congo. Did you know that they recruit them in mosques now?" he said, leafing through the menu.
"Damon, could we not….just this once" Stefan protested with a sigh.
"Tsk tsk tsk but then again you do your part by attending all those charity balls to fund non-profit organizations with what's her name"
"Rebekah" Stefan remarked as the waitress returned with their drinks, bourbon for Damon and a red wine for himself.
"Right. The two of you make UNICEF proud" Damon raised his glass to Stefan.
"We have a couple of specials tonight. Would you like to hear them?" the waitress asked, tapping her pencil on her notepad.
"No" Damon waived it off because he could see that she was slightly nervous from the way she chewed at the end of said pencil in between tapping it on her pad.
"You ready to order?" she asked.
"Yup" Stefan nodded, his eyes fixed on the meu pages.
"Will you be having any starters?"
"No, just the mains thank you"
"You got it."
"I'll have the octopus salad" Stefan glanced up quickly then looked back down at his menu before setting it aside.
"Wild scallops with the white wine parmesan noodles" Damon gave his order and winked at her in attempt to loosen up her nerves.
"So, how do you feel about your civic responsibility to vote?" he asked Stefan as the server walked away.
"What?"
"What's your take on Venezuela abolishing compulsory voting?"
"What the hell Damon?"
"I'm writing my first article for the column and just wanted to know your view on mandatory voting"
"Alaric gave you the column?"
"Not exactly." Damon shrugged then paused as the server filled their glasses with water.
"Do you vote?" he asked, turning to the waitress.
"Yeah, I like vote on Dancing with the stars like every season" she smiled, blushing.
"Yeah, "Damon turned to Stefan and smiled, "I think I just won my argument on forcing the lay-man to vote"
"You're such an elitist pig" Stefan groaned, shaking his head.
..