Something Stupid

4

Armed with her clipboard, Caroline walked out of her office and told her assistant to come with her. She had received a call from Tyler. His boss was throwing a little festive brunch which he wanted to be perfect. Tyler had had already gotten an event planner for the occasion, but this event planner had an accident on the way to the gallery where the brunch was held. So, since he had to come up with an emergency solution fast, Tyler decided to call his girlfriend and ask her if she could jump in to save the day. And she did.

The staff was already there preparing the brunch. Caroline, who got the plans from the former event planner, now walked around making sure everyone did what they were supposed to do.

"Hey! Those glasses belong on the other side of the table! And they need to be arranged just like in the instructions you guys were supposed to know by heart for days!" Caroline was in full work mode, everything had to be perfect and god help the person who dared ruin a detail.

At the same time, a limo stopped in front of the gallery and Klaus, Finn and Elijah entered the building. Finn and Elijah went to see the caterers. Officially, because they wanted to see if everything was going according to the plan, in truth, because they wanted to talk to someone direct and honest before having to mingle with the sharks of the industry their brother had invited. They knew the caterer quite well. Her name was Sophie Devereaux and she was Kol's ex-girlfriend.

Klaus, however, went to see if the preparations were going well. He entered the main hall, accompanied by his assistant Tyler, and loooked around.
"Well, looks like there is no problem here. This hall looks-", he stopped mid-sentence before finishing what he wanted to say, "magnificent." His last word was barely more than a dreamy whisper. His eyes had caught sight of a blonde woman who was currently scolding his waiters for not arranging the chairs correctly. He looked at her like bewitched, unable to look away again. Her beauty, her demeanor and her composure, everything about her left him speechless. He felt like someone had removed all there was in this world, leaving only him and this stunning beauty.

Without taking his eyes off her, he asked Tyler who that beautiful woman was. Tyler responded by saying this was the new event planner, Caroline Forbes, who was also his girlfriend. "Caroline Forbes..." Klaus muttered her name to himself again, memerizing every syllable of it. He kept watching her some more, not quite sure how this could be. He had never felt so drawn to someone, especially not by just seeing that person. But he knew, he wanted to meet her. So, he straightened his blazer jackett and walked over to her.

Caroline now said to the woman responsible for the flower arrangements: "These need to be arranged just like the others, not as messy as they are now. Fix that, will you!"

"And how am I doing?" Klaus asked.

Caroline turned around and met his gaze, surprised.
"Who are you?" she asked, a bit perplexed.

Klaus smirked. "Right. I believe introductions are in order. Niklaus Mikaelson. I am the owner of this quaint little gallery. But please, call me Klaus."

She narrowed her eyes, but composed herself and said: "Well, you're doing great. But you would be doing even better if you stopped talking to me now and let me do my job."

Her snarky response made him raise both of his eyebrows. Obviously, she was not going to make this easy for him. If it was any other woman, he would probably back off now. But instead, he now wanted to pursue her even more than before. He liked her attitude and was utterly fascinated by her confidence. She appeared to him like a queen.

However, he was also ready to be patient and something told him that he should give her some space for now.
"As you wish, love. Why don't you come to my office when you're finished here? After all, it was of very short notice that you came here stepping in for Trevor. You deserve to be properly compensated for your efforts. I shall personally make sure that you will be, if you'll allow me?!"

With a little sigh, Caroline responded: "Fine. I'll be there in exactly 15 minutes. If you're not there, then I'll just leave and sent the bill for my work to you per mail." And with that, she turned around again and walked away.

Klaus watched her leave. It didn't take him long to figure out why this blonde beauty was so hostile towards him. He knew she was Tyler's girlfriend and he knew his assistant hated him. He must have complained to his girlfriend about his horrible boss. Klaus had to admit, he did like to vex his assistant sometimes and he had no inhibitions whatsoever when it came to making him do his work, even if that meant he would have to work late.

Caroline was upset. She had heard a lot of awful things about Klaus Mikaelson, but never met him in person before. She would never have thought him to be so charismatic and charming. She also had never imagined what he looked like. After everything Tyler had told her, she had always imagined him to be a grumpy old man. Coming face-to-face with an eloquent and surprisingly young man who showcased not only perfect manners but also confidence and style, she couldn't have been more surprised.

But she had the situation under control. Composing herself, she knocked at the door of his office, exactly when she told him she would. Part of her was hoping he wouldn't be there, so she would not habe to face those dreamy blue eyes again and just keep hating him from afar. Things were way easier that way. But, unfortunately, he was there and asked her to come in.

"Hello love, I see punctuality is another one of your strengths." he greeted her.

She remained impassive and responded: "Don't call me that. I came here for my paycheck, not for the company."

Raising his eyebrows, Klaus signed a generous paycheck he had already filled out before she came.
"You know, for someone who has never met me before, you sure seem to have a big problem with me. Is my reputation really that dreadful?"

"This isn't about some reputation. I am Tyler's girlfriend. I live with him. So I know all about you and how much you like to use your stupid power as his boss to make him miserable! Seriously, you even made him work late on Christmas!" Caroline now angrily threw at his face.

Klaus looked at her with confusion in his eyes for a second. Then his expression became serious and he carefully replied: "No, I didn't."

"What?" Caroline looked at his face, searching for any signs that he might be lying. But there were none. And why should he. His face spoke of seriousness and sincerety. Something inside her told her he was telling the truth. But she wasn't quite ready to accept it yet.

"No, that can't be. You're lying."

"I'm not lying. It's true, I do sometimes make Tyler work late. But not always. And certainly not on Christmas. I let him off the leash at 2pm that day, just like the rest of my employees. Ask around if you don't believe me." he said. Seeing her expression, he slightly tilted his head to the side and added: "But something tells me, you actually do."

Caroline didn't know how to respond to that. She took his paycheck, left his office and walked out of the building. All the way, she felt like she was in trance. Could this be true? And if it was... that would mean Tyler lied to her!

A persentinent crept up inside her mind. Somehow, she knew that her intuition was right. But she needed confirmation.

Determined, she walked to her car and started the engine. In her mind, she decided to make it her mission to find out, what was going on with her boyfriend, for better or worse.