"Congratulations"
Bonnie looked up as Anna tapped her knuckles lightly on the wall of her cubicle. She shot Bonnie a smile and strolled into the small space and perched on the edge of Damon's desk. Picking up a small plastic jar filled with sharpened pencils, she plucked one out and brought it up to her nose so that's she could smell it.
"Do you mind?" Damon gestured for her to get off his desk and Anna merely shrugged her shoulders, a mask of nonchalance on her face.
"It's too early in the morning for your feminist attack, Damon" she replied, twirling the pencil between her nimble fingers.
"Who said anything about attacking feminism?" he raised an eyebrow, pulling out a drawer on his desk to retrieve a powder blue stress ball.
"You hate women" Anna said matter-of factly, not bothering to look at him and Bonnie cringed behind her cup of cold brew.
"And you hate men" Damon countered and snuck a look at Bonnie.
"I know you don't like me but I don't care because I'm here to support Bonnie" her face bloomed, "We women need to stick together"
Reluctantly Bonnie nodded an affirmation and tapped her fingers against the side of the paper cup. She didn't want to get involved; she wanted to remain neutral like Switzerland on this one.
"So congratulations Bonnie, everyone's talking about the column"
"Thanks" she mumbled back and pushed back a strand of straightened hair behind her ear.
"You knocked it out of the park" Anna continued with her adoration, punching the air in front of her with her fist.
"Hey guys, kudos on the column. It's about time we addressed violence against abortion providers." Katherine popped her head in the cubicle, followed by Enzo.
Seeing as there was no room on Damon's desk, Enzo rested his ass on Bonnie's desk and crossed his arms against his chest, "And Damon citing abortion as the ultimate form of terrorism against pre-born babies has to be ground breaking" he said giving Bonnie a wink.
"Are you holding that position?" Katherine asked, holding a mock microphone to Damon's mouth. He grabbed her wrist, tapped her hand a few times before bringing the mock mic closer to his lips.
"You bet" he finally offered, waggling his eyebrows at Bonnie.
There were further discussions about the Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Europe and the Democratic Party's position on abortion before they started discussing their Labor Day weekend plans.
"We're having an after-work drinks thing, you two should come" Anna said as the rest walked out, leaving Bonnie and Damon in their cubicle.
"I can't, I have a date" Bonnie looked up from her laptop, gaze darting to Anna and avoiding Damon at all costs. She wasn't sure why she cared what she thought but somehow his opinion mattered. She could feel him shift in his seat next to her but she kept her eyes focused on Anna.
He cleared his throat and asked, "You have a date?"
"I have a date" Bonnie's eyes travelled to Salvatore and one corner of her mouth curved into a satisfied smile. He paused, drumming his fingers on his desk before picking up his stress ball and giving it a tiny squeeze.
"Is this like a date date or an imaginary tale playing out in your head?" he teased, cocking his head to the side but Bonnie noted the slight twitch of his jaw muscle.
"Tell you what, I'll bring you back a tin-foil swan with my leftovers" her smile broadened and she caught the agitation in his voice when he replied,
"Hmm, yum"
"Double yummy yum" she grinned, her hazel eyes flashing with mischief. Digging his elbow into his desk, he leaned closer and narrowed his gaze at Bonnie.
"I can't wait to lick the sauce right off the top" he said, a self-satisfied leer playing across his lips. Her eyes rushed to his lips, lingering there for a while before scurrying back up to the bluest eyes.
"You'll be sticking it in your mouth sooner than you think" she promised as she mirrored his move in order to have the upper hand.
"Okay, not to interrupt this riveting conversation about the yummy train to strangeville but I'd really love to have you there" Anna announced and they both looked up, seemingly having forgotten that she had been standing there.
"You can think of it as group orientation" she explained to their blank faces.
"Plus its Anna's birthday" Jeremy said and held up two fingers behind Anna's head. Bonnie couldn't quite recollect when he'd gotten there.
"Jer!" she jabbed her boyfriend's rib and rolled her eyes. Bonnie's eyes darted back to Damon and she took another sip of her coffee.
"I'm not holding you hostage on this, if you can't make it then-"
"We'll be there" Damon cut Anna off with an exasperated sigh and tossed his stress ball back into his drawer.
"I'll be there" Bonnie corrected, a note of annoyance evident in her voice.
"Listen, about that other night…at your place" he began once Anna and Jeremy had left and she stopped him by lifting her hand.
"Ancient history"
"Too much wine, I think" he said opening the first three buttons of his shirt and rolling up his sleeves. She focused her eyes on his face even though her pulse raced at the mere idea of his bare skin.
"Like I said, ancient history" she waved him off and returned her attention to her laptop and her story.
"You're really gonna stand this poor sap up for Anna's birthday dinner?"
"Yup" she hummed, remembering to take out her mobile phone from her handbag so that she could text Kai and cancel their date. He was unusually quiet for a long time, picking at the keyboard before swivelling around to face her again.
"You wanna go test out your theory around lunch time today?" he asked, distracting her rhythm.
"My theory?" Bonnie shot him a look, hands poised over her laptop.
"That your jazz knowledge exceeds my mine"
She mulled it over before enquiring, "What did you have in mind?"
"There's a record store on Bleecker Street, it's been known to have some pretty great stuff"
..
Damon got behind her and peered over her shoulder at the record in her delicate hand. His cheek brushed over hers, his stubble scratching her skin as cool air from the vent above them cooled the back of his neck. His breath was warm and the slight quiver on her neck made his mind churn and these were not tender thoughts about taking strolls around Central Park but rather heated thoughts with her over the kitchen sink wearing nothing but a garter belt and stockings.
"Duke Ellington" she said, jolting him from his filthy thoughts. Damon blinked owlishly and raked a hand through his messy hair, stepping back slightly to gather his thoughts.
"I think I might go for some Miles Davis" he said, clearing his throat.
"Do you think we should get something for Anna?" Bonnie asked, tracing the corners of a record with her delicate fingers.
"We?"
"What?"
"You just referred to us as a we"
"Aah, Charlie Parker, The Complete Savoy"
"Stop avoiding the issue. I think it's cute that you we'd us. It makes us sound like a team…or a couple" he cocked his head, nudging her with his elbow.
"There's nothing like the fresh smell of vintage vinyl and the first crackle when the needle drops on it" she brought the record to her nose and closed her brilliant eyes.
"Do you want to get Anna something?" Damon asked, following her to the front of the store where the cashier sat.
"I think it would be the polite thing to do" she noted, glancing over her shoulder quickly, her brilliant eyes washing over him.
"Okay Emily Post, what did you have in mind?"
"Well, "she hummed as she fished through a dollar box on the counter. Pulling out a pink feather boa, she draped it around Damon's neck, tickling his flesh with her warm fingers and stood back to access him.
"Now all you need is a tutu and we can wrap you up in a nice pink bow and you'll be Anna's perfect gift"
"Why don't we get her one of these Nazi badges so that every time she spews one of her little Feminist propaganda speeches, she can pin it on her lapel or something?"
"This place reminds me of London" she said airily, choosing to ignore his statement.
"Yeah, what do you miss most about it?"
"I don't know. I mean its eclectic, it's vibrant. It's sort of like a Dali painting; you don't need to get it because it gets you" she opened her purse and slid her card to the cashier to pay for her record and the pink feather boa. Damon followed suit but his eyes stayed fixed to Bonnie as she lingered around the exit, scrolling down her phone.
"And I had some bloody awesome open house Sundays over there" she continued but did not look up from her task.
"Open houses?"
"It's a little thing I do on Sundays"
"You're a strange girl, Firecracker"
"What happened to Thatcher?"
"You prefer Thatcher?"
"No, I'd prefer it if you called me Bonnie which is my actual name"
"Now where's the fun in that?" Damon smirked, brushing past her as they headed out the door to the throng of traffic noise.
"You realize that we have just made our first purchase together?" he asked and though she did not offer a response, her demure smile was enough for him.
Four hours later they were pushing their way through a post-work crowd at a small Indian restaurant to meet up with the rest of the gang. She felt Damon's hand on the small of her back, guiding her as they scanned the tables and the bar for their colleagues. Anna raised a hand to hail at them over the chorus of laughter and the chime of dishes inside the crowded restaurant.
"…tandoori shrimp, some lemon rice and more naan bread for the table" Katherine ordered as soon as the new couple settled down and Bonnie nodded when the server draped in a silk sari offered her a glass of wine from the bottle on the table. Jeremy sniffed the crushed garlic sprinkled on a morsel of naan bread and gave Anna a piece to taste.
"I'll have the lamb Roganjosh with basmati rice on the side" Bonnie ordered and handed the lush menu back to the waiter.
"Butter Chicken, nothing on the side" Damon made it a point to point his gaze at Bonnie as he handed the menu back to the server. They settled quickly into conversation with the rest of the group and the din of the restaurant and her sips of red wine calmed her. She listened attentively while Davina quoted a passage from a book about the Israeli conflict and how it affected the American culture. From the corner of her eye, she saw Damon relish his food with his fingers and marvelled at the sensuality of the act. He used both hands to break his naan bread into two before dipping it into his coconut dhal and pushing it into his mouth. He smiled as his eyes watered, relishing the taste. Quietly, she studied him over the rim of her glass and marvelled at the softness of his face from the flickering candle lights on their table. She was struck by an urge to curl a lock of hair behind his ear and to caress his cheek.
"Bonnie if you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would they be?" Katherine asked, jolting her from her hallucination about Damon. Kat held a piece of tandoori chicken on the tines of her brass fork before taking a bite.
Responding in a mechanical tone, Bonnie said "Abraham Lincoln, Doctor Maya Angelou and Billie Holiday"
"And none of those are even remotely fuckable" Katherine sighed, taking a large sip of wine from her glass. Jeremy rolled his eyes and then paused to study the contents of his plate, cautiously probing a piece of meat with his fork.
"What about you?" Bonnie glanced at Katherine.
"Give me Cary Grant any given day" she purred and turned Enzo's face so that she could nip his lip with her teeth. He smiled; his brow beaded with sweat from ingesting too much spicy food.
"I came across a book on female genital mutilation recently and the author was Abigail Benn-"Anna began and Bonnie didn't bother to look up from her plate, nonetheless she responded.
"She's my mother" she mumbled between mouthfuls. There was a hush around the table and the clatter of forks against porcelain died briefly.
"Your mother?" Anna's eyes grew wide, "The great Abigail Bennett is your mother? I attended one of her seminars at UCLA last summer where she spoke about her asylum in America and it touched my heart. She is such a champion for feminism" she explained, speaking speedily.
"Indeed" Bonnie feigned a smile as she took a sip of her wine. Leaning back in her chair, she allowed the server to clear her plate then set down a bowl of mango ice cream for her dessert.
"She's an incredible woman" Anna exclaimed, her excited eyes looking startled at this new turn of events.
"Yes she is" Bonnie replied, dying to kill the topic of her acclaimed mother.
"Speaking of incredible women, I'd like to make a toast to the birthday girl" Damon announced, rising to his feet and Bonnie's eyes travelled to him as a grateful smile touched her lips. She knew that he was loathed to do anything nice especially for Anna but she was thankful for his attempt at heroism. She mouthed a thank you before her eyes flitted over to Anna and Jeremy.
"To Anna, you're only as old as the man you feel and tadpole over here looks like he's still teething so you'll have many more years to study the ins and outs of white feminism."
"Thank you Damon" Anna rolled her eyes, a blank expression on her face.
"Anytime"
By the time the group dispersed and left the restaurant, it was raining a soft drizzle. They hung outside; shoulders hunched under flapping awnings as they finished the tail end of their conversations over a chorus of honks and screeching tires before a few of them flagged down taxi cabs and called it a night. Katherine and Enzo offered to share their cab with them but Damon told them that he and Bonnie would wait for another one.
She didn't fight him.
As the taxi pulled up to her apartment building, Damon stepped out of the car with her much to her disbelief.
"What are you doing?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow and studied him curiously.
"I'm walking you to your door" he replied nonchalantly, placing his hand on her lower back again and the fact that her body tensed to his touch did not deter him.
"You do realize that this was not a date right?" she swung a look at him, damp hair falling into her mouth as they hurried to stand under the green awning where her uniformed doorman was waiting.
"Nonetheless I had a great time" he stepped back and buried his hands in his pockets. Bonnie nodded, playing with the key in her hands.
His brows furrowed and he asked, "You'll never admit to enjoying my company will you?"
"I seem to remember a whole lot of people at the birthday dinner tonight; incidentally it's also where you made a misogynistic arse of yourself yet again"
"At your expense fair maiden" he bowed theatrically.
"I am no maiden and there are no forbidden forests here"
Lifting his eyes, he cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Too bad I was hoping that you could spin straw into gold or that I could defend your honor and claim you with a true love's kiss"
"I bid you good-night, my lord" a smile tickled Bonnie's lips as she played along.
"Good night" he replied, stepping back into the sidewalk and the torrent of rain.
"Thank you" Bonnie called to the back of his wet head as he hailed another cab.
"Anytime" he touched a finger to his head as if he were tipping a hat.
..
Damon dashed underneath the jutted awning of his apartment building, past the lobby with its mailboxes unto the creaking staircase. He shook the rain from his hair and slipped out of his jacket and unlocked his front door, nudging it open with his elbow. He took out a box of cereal from the cabinet, a bowl, milk and a spoon from the drawer and poured himself a fresh bowl. He stood on the island eating his food and thinking back to the day he'd had from the record store to the Indian restaurant. He was beginning to like her, he thought with a rush as he washed his bowl and set it down to dry on the rack before cracking open the fridge for a beer.
Thatcher wasn't half bad when it came to repressed, perfectionist women he could have been sharing a cubicle with.
..
"I'll have a dirty martini with two olives" Bonnie told a waitress three days later as they dined in East Village. They told themselves that it was an after work thing to discuss their new column on police brutality and the black lives matter campaign.
"Can I have another two olives?" she beckoned the server again minutes later on her third sip of her martini. Damon examined her quietly over the edge of his glass of bourbon. She watched as her luminous eyes darted from the server and back to him.
"Thanks" she told the waiter when he set down a small bowl of green olives in front of her.
Finally noticing Damon's peculiar stare, she asked "What?"
"Nothing"
"You think that I'm too particular about things?"
"Oh you know me Thatcher; I like the simple things in life"
"There's nothing standard or simple about you Damon Salvatore" she smiled, popping an olive into her mouth.
"On the contrary, I had a pretty standard childhood. I grew up in a middle-class, mostly white suburb in Long Island, fished on weekends and played Frisbee with my dog in the backyard."
"Did you stay close to the coast?"
"Yeah, I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks in the evenings" the ice clinked inside his glass as he raised it to his lips.
"Are your parents still there?"
"Just my mother"
They paused when the server came and exchanged a quiet look before opening their small paper menus. She listened to Damon's order and quietly perused her own menu, pursing her lips. When the waitress finally diverted her attention back to Bonnie, she read the name on her tag and smiled broadly at her.
"Can I have the chicken salad, no tomatoes; swap the croutons for some olives, black olives not green and the dressing on the side?" she asked and handed what should really be called a pamphlet instead of a menu to the waitress.
There was that curious look again from Damon, she thought and suddenly blurted,
"What?"
"Nothing"
"You're giving me that look again?"
"Okay, you twisted my arm. I think you're a perfectionist who's obsessed with details, you're neurotic, analytical, pedantic, self-righteous, judgemental and-"
"You got all that from me ordering a salad?"
"Pretty much"
"I'm so sorry that I'm not some fly by the seat of her pants kinda girl"
"That makes two of us" he agreed, "because a fly by the seat of her pants kinda girl would have let me kiss her the other night"
"Let you kiss her, what is this Uganda circa the purge?" she cried, shaking her head, "well Damon, Lord of all the beasts of New York city and the fishes in the Hudson, thank you. Thank you for the reminding me why I don't date and no it has nothing to do with the shortage of eligible lads or whatever sexist propaganda your dictatorship chooses to spew this evening."
"I prefer the nickname Big Daddy" he replied quietly, looking into his glass.
"I'm not calling you Big Daddy."
"I'm pretty sure Idi preferred that nickname too"
"You just compared yourself to the butcher of Uganda"
"So what's this thing with you and your mother?" he asked, the question seemingly coming out of left field.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the many underlying issues with your mother"
Bonnie shook her head and guzzled her alcohol, she refused to entertain him.
"I grew up with a tree hugging, pot growing socialist for a mother. Stefan and I used to call her Rasputin behind her back" he chuckled and she assumed that it was to ease the tension and to help her open up to him.
"I don't have mommy issues; you on the other hand should probably confront your problems head on"
..
"You look happy" Sloane welcomed her to her eclectic apartment with a glass of what Bonnie assumed to be muddled, foamy white pina colada.
"I am. The column is doing great and I feel like I'm accomplishing something" she replied, picking at the parasol in the drink. Bonnie's eyes feasted over the décor, at the Frida Kahlo pictures mounted on the walls as a fist pump to Sloane's feminist ideals and the large sculpture of Parvati on a pedestal next to a wall of bookshelves.
"La Buena Vida!" Markos raised his glass for a toast when they finally sat down to enjoy the Mexican feast. Bonnie listened to the collection of discussions as she poked her mango and black bean salad with her fork while Sloane peeled the shell of her prawns to reveal lush, pink flesh. Bonnie watched in appreciation as Sloane dunked the prawn in some spicy sauce before dropping it into her mouth and licking the tips of her fingers. This act reminded her of Damon and somewhere in the recesses of her mind; she wondered what he was doing.
"Bonnie, I'd like you to meet someone" Sloane said as they enjoyed their digestif brandy shortly after their desserts. She led her to a group assembled on the velvet couches by the bookshelf.
"This is Mason Lockwood" she announced and shortly after making the introductions, she disappeared back into the thick of the crowd.
"I used to be out in L.A…you know, surfing and stuff" Mason was saying moments later on their second glass of brandy.
"So you're a surfer?"
"Nah, I run an NGO. We supply solar and wind energy to villages in the Middle East and Africa"
"Wow"
"I hear you write a political column"
"I share my byline so, "she shrugged, enjoying the smoothness of the liquor and quite inclined to go for her third glass "besides I don't want to talk about me. I think what you do is phenomenal"
"Thank you" he smiled sheepishly and she thought how silly it would be to go for a third glass of brandy and how even sillier it would be to invite Mason Lockwood home with her for a cup of coffee.
"We should do dinner sometime and you can tell me more about your solar powered energy systems" she said, choosing the safe route that she had become familiar with all her life.
Raking a hand through his short muddy blonde hair, Mason replied awkwardly, "Aah man, I'm seeing someone"
"I'm sorry" she stammered, clumsily trying to focus her eyes elsewhere. She would blame her clumsy valor on the brandy, she told herself.
"Of course if you really do want to hear about the flow of energy between the earth's surface and the sun then I'd be happy to-"
"What are you guys carrying on about?" a waif blonde joined in and Bonnie was thankful for the distraction.
"Nothing" she whispered, checking her dwindling drink.
"Solar panels and energy" Mason corrected her, gently tugging the sleeve of her white dress with his fingers. She gazed down at his hand and gulped the rest of her drink.
"I think I need more brandy" She said, scarcely looking up at him as she left him with the blonde. She could feel his eyes on her as she collected her summer coat from the hanger next to the exit and bid Marko's and Sloane good-bye.
Once outside, she pulled her cell phone out and called Caroline. After three rings, her friend picked up and Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief.
"I put myself out there and it comes back to bite me in the proverbial arse" she moaned, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder.
"What about that guy your dad set you up with?" Caroline asked and Bonnie could hear TV noise in the background and Klaus's voice similarly on the phone to someone. She wondered if she'd caught them at a bad time.
"Are you kidding?" Bonnie spat, "At this point I'd rather curl up in bed and die"
..
The next day as she quietly nestled a hangover and caressed the keys on her laptop so as not to injure herself any further with a headache, Vicky stuck her head in the cubicle and told her that she had a visitor waiting at reception. Bonnie smoothed the wrinkled lines of her pencil skirt and followed Vicky down the hallway.
Heat crawled up into her cheeks when she saw the tall man standing before her, sleek in a pair of dark jeans and sporty jacket. She took him in with her eyes, from the dark purposefully frowzy hair to his lively grey eyes.
"I figure if Mohammed won't come to the mountain then I need to bring the mountain to Mohammed" he said before she could utter a word.
"Assalamu Alaykum" she tried to smile but it came off as a nervous sneer but he didn't seem to notice or he didn't mind.
"Doctor Hopkins told me you were interesting" he said handing her the bouquet of yellow balloons.
"Er...Thank you?"
"I'm Kai Parker" he introduced himself, wrapping his fingers around her hand, feeling the weight of it.
"Bonnie Bennett" she slipped her hand inside his, feeling the warmth of it.
..