At 5:50, Caroline sat in the lobby, tapping her foot in anger.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered under her breath. She was playing right into his hands. She knew she should have left the moment he hung up on her. She also knew that leaving wouldn't make this end any sooner.
She had picked out the most modest outing dress she owned. Modest for Caroline Forbes, however, wasn't that modest. The black dress hugged down her body to her knees. The one strap of the dress gave lead way to more exposed skin on her back and of the shoulder of her other arm. A silver necklace hung from her neck and silver earrings propped her small shaped ears.
She was smart to leave the bracelet in the drawers of her room.
Throwing her now curly luxurious hair over her back, Caroline stood up and walked over to a tall mirror, giving herself one last check. Her vanity was not helping her out at the moment. She wanted to look like she hadn't tried to please him, but of course she had walked out of her room looking prepared for a photo shoot.
'You will not let him win tonight,' she ordered herself as she applied a shimmer of lipstick. 'You have fought him off for three months, tonight will be no different'.
Her thoughts froze as the reflection in the mirror displayed the hybrid himself walking into the lobby.
He looked the same as ever, with the exception of his hair looking like it just had a trim, and goddamnit he looked gorgeous.
Caroline quickly took in his attire. Black shoes and dress pants and a dark blue buttoned up shirt. A black tie hung from around his collar and to her reluctant happiness, saw that he had not removed his stubble.
Hell would freeze over before she admitted that she found his stubble sexy.
She saw him turn to face her, saw his mouth open slightly, and in a flash he was beside her. Thank God there was hardly anyone around.
She turned to face him, expecting some smirk and a sexy hello, but instead found him just staring at her face, as if memorizing every single feature he could look at. His chest was slightly heaving and when Caroline looked directly into his eyes, she swore he looked as if he had just seen an angel descend on Earth.
"Well, I'm ready to go," she spoke coldly, trying to break the tension.
Klaus cocked his head to one side. The moment broken, the smirk Caroline knew so well on him appeared.
"You look flawless tonight, love," he crooned before taking her arm in his and wrapping it around his own before she could protest. "But of course, you already knew that."
A limo awaited them. Caroline rolled her eyes as Klaus opened the door for her before climbing in after her. She scrabbled to the far end of the seat, trying to make as far a distance from him as she could.
"The L'atelier De Joel Robuchon, Robert," Klaus gave orders to the driver. The limo took off and Caroline was left to face Klaus.
She strained her eyes out the window, hoping to avoid him any discussion with him. Of course, it was unavoidable.
"Really, sweetheart, are you going to be ignoring me this whole outing?"
She turned to face him. "Fine," she snapped, annoyed at his fake look of pain. "What do you want to talk about?"
Oh lord that was stupid. She remembered the last time she had asked that question...and what his reply was.
A smile spread across his face. "I want to talk about you, Caroline. Is it not a curious thing that we have quite a little history together, and yet one of the only things that you have ever told me about yourself is that you like horses?"
"No. I'm too smart to tell you everything about myself, Klaus."
Klaus moved down the long aisle seat, coming close but not too close to make her feel uneasy.
"What is your favorite color?"
Caroline stared.
"What?"
"Color, Caroline, what is your favorite color?"
"Well, today it's pink. Yesterday it was red."
Klaus gave her a quizzical look.
"I change colors day to day," Caroline said defensively,
Klaus chuckled, giving her an admiring look. "See, that wasn't such a bad thing to know about you, now was it?"
"What's yours?"
Now it was Klaus' turn to look surprised. "My what?"
"What's your favorite color, don't you have one?"
"Light blue," he answered without hesitation.
"Why?" Caroline was determined to turn the tables on him.
"It's the color of your eyes."
Klaus compelled themselves a private section of the restaurant, much to Caroline's dismay. A waiter arrived at the table with two wine glasses, filled with a dark rich red liquid.
"Wait, is this..."
Klaus nodded his consent, taking a blood filled wine glass. "I have a special friend here. And none but the best for you darling."
"And, it's from a blood bag," he continued, addressing her cold stare.
Before taking her first sip, Klaus stopped her with his free hand to her drinking glass.
She looked up with question.
"Cheers to a lovely evening with a very lovely woman," Klaus tapped her glass and took a sip.
Caroline took a small sip. Feeling the rich warm liquid slide down her throat, she had to force the glass down before drinking all of it in one gulp.
"So Caroline," catching a hint of nervousness in smug voice, Caroline looked up. "Was it I who inspired you to go out and see the world?"
Under the arrogant countenance, Caroline could see little sparks of hope flickering in his eyes. She felt a rush of power at the thought that she, Caroline Forbes, could make Klaus the hybrid feel nervous.
You asked for it big boy.
"Oh I don't know," Caroline feigned pondering as she watched Klaus' eyes become more and more childlike. "I had always wanted to see London. And I was more inspired to get out because of chaos in town more so than because some old hybrid told me I should get out."
"Then perhaps I reminded you there was a world out there that you could escape into?"
He didn't give up, did he?
Caroline shrugged, hoping to put an end to the conversation.
Luckily the food arrived. Klaus had apparently ordered before they arrived, giving the cooks time to prepare half of the meals on the menu.
"You don't have to eat everything love, it's more of a buffet if you will."
"Why are you doing this?"
Klaus raised his head up from cutting some pork, an eyebrow raised. "Doing what darling? Giving you a buffet?"
"No!" Caroline threw down her knife. "Wasting a month trying to find me! Taking me out to eat in a limo! Telling me your favorite color is the color of my eyes! And yes, buying me a buffet! Why are you doing this?"
Klaus continued to gaze at her. Suddenly, his hand reached out and swiped his finger across the corner of her mouth. Caroline froze at the sudden feel of contact. Eyes never leaving hers, he brought his finger to his lips, tasting the blood leftover from her drink.
"I fancy you Caroline. I find you beautiful, strong, honest, stunning, entertaining, and most importantly you are full of light, something that a vampire doesn't normally possess. I wish for you to be mine. I wish to show you the world, one city at a time, and give you everything that your heart desires and deserves. I have all the patience in the world, Caroline. I won't stop for anything until you belong to me and me to you. I will never stop trying, love."
Caroline couldn't say anything. How could she? She stared disbelieving at him.
"Now eat up love, your dinner is getting cold."
It was going to be a long evening.