A New Vampire

Chapter 2

Caroline pressed hang up on her cell and groaned out in frustration. There were about a million mask requests coming into the company because of the upcoming masquerade ball, and Caroline was in charge of processing all of them. There were phone call requests, write in requests, and a ton of online requests. She wrote down the caller's request onto a form, and put it into the pile. Another intern walked in, and grabbed the large pile off her desk, and quickly walked out. Everyone knew that Caroline was the favorite intern, but she was also the one who could get whatever she needed, when she needed it. The internship was almost over, and Caroline was the first in line to get the job. Sure, it was just a local fashion company, but it was something.

Caroline logged onto her computer, and started printing out the online requests. Once they were all printed, she organized them by design, then color. Her boss was unbelievably picky when it came to this stuff, and Caroline tried to be annoyed by it, but she knew she was the exact same way. As she was organizing, she got 5 more calls, and filled out the forms for those. She shuffled those into the online mix.

Once she was finally finished, Caroline stood up with the papers, and walked out of her tiny cubicle. She walked them over to processor's (the person in charge of sending orders to the factories) office, and smacked them down on his desk. Him and Caroline had a bad start, so now they just ignored each other unless they absolutely had to interact. She walked back to the intern cubicles, and went into her own, and checked the time. Only one more hour of hell, she thought.

Caroline loved fashion, but what she was doing wasn't fashion, it was doing paperwork. The only thing that kept her sane was knowing that she was being highly considered for assistant designer. Then she'd actually be able to do what she loved.

The end of her shift finally rolled around and she was met by her boyfriend's white Mercedes out front. His name was Colin, and they met in college a year or two ago. She got into the overly nice car, and kissed him on the cheek. He had one hand on the steering wheel, the other in his lap, and he smiled at her. He had aviator sunglasses on, blue jeans, and a loose v-neck tee shirt. Caroline played with her ring.

"You know I've never understood that ring," Colin said, without looking over at her.

Caroline fake laughed. She'd managed to hide who she was for this long, and she didn't plan on telling Colin for a really long time. She still didn't really see them as being a serious couple. The two had known each other for a few years, but they'd only started officially dating about 6 months ago. Despite that, it still only seemed like they had a casual relationship.

"How was work?" he asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes and said, "It was okay, I'm just so ready for it to be over. Do you wanna do something tonight?"

"Sure," he said.

There was silence, but it wasn't awkward.

"Are you hungry?" Colin asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm starving," Caroline said, looking out the window. It was sunny, which was kind of rare for Mystic Falls. It was beautiful outside.

They parked on the curb in front of The Mystic Grill and Colin turned the car off. Caroline looked over at Colin, and although it was already starting to get stuffy in the car, she kissed his lips. It turned from a borderline innocent kiss to a full-on make out. They kissed intensely for a minute or two, then they both turned to exit the car of their respective sides. They walked in together, and despite the fact that Caroline went to the Grill all the time, she had a sudden feeling of deja-vu walking in there. All of a sudden it was weird to her not seeing Matt waiting tables, Tyler at the bar, and basically everyone she knew spread throughout the restaurant. Now she didn't know a single person inside. She shook her head slightly, pushed the feeling aside, and focused on Colin. She interlaced his hand and hers, and they sat down at a table at the far end of the restaurant. They talked about random stuff until the waitress asked them what they wanted to drink. Colin asked for a Coke, and Caroline said she just wanted water. Caroline made light conversation with him, and changed the subject anytime it got too deep.