to the rescue (on hold - huge rewrite)

Past Lives & Spying Blondes

Marcel and Caroline begin walking out of the hotel, just as Klaus is on their trail. He observes Caroline letting go of Marcel's hand abrutly, which seems weird. They continue walking on mute, until both of them stop in front a crowded restaurant-bar. Marcel holds the door open for Caroline and she steps inside. Marcel looks behind him, checking just in case anyone is following them, at which point Klaus turns around the corner to remain unseen. As Marcel follows Caroline to a table where they order their mid-day drinks, Klaus raises the collar of his jacket to conceal his identity, putting a pair of sunglasses on. He keeps his head downwards looking at the floor, as he swiftly moves around the bar, deciding to sit at a table close to theirs.

Caroline clicks her nails on the wooden table out of stress. Marcel smiles awkwardly at Caroline, extending his hand over the table to catch hers, but she removes her hand off the table and let them sit still on her lap.

"So, how you know Rebekah?" Marcel cuts to the chase, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Mystic Falls. She stayed there for a while with Klaus and then left, after wreaking havoc in my life with the contributing assistance of her family. The question is how you know her?" She answered implying what Caroline is always implying.

"That's a long story, but basically we dated for a while back in the day." Marcel says like it's not that big of a deal, but the reality is far from that.

"Yeah, I gathered as much, I guess." She replies, as she replays in her head what's been said in their quite violent encounter just minutes ago. Glad that ended.

"What's up with you? Any progress on the hybrid front?" Caroline briefly glares at him, before taking a long sip of her drink that the waiter just brought.

"Marcel, it's not like that." Her reply typical as ever didn't persuade him in the slightest. 

"Come on, Caroline. I know why you asked my help. It's about him. I'm not just a hot guy. I can read the room and let me say, when I walked in on you and Klaus, it seemed as if you were seconds from tearing each other's clothes." Caroline's mouth forms drops, showing her shock at his bluntness. Soon, she returns back to her original serious expression, wanting to hide what she actually felt or thought.

"Uh-uh, he was about to kiss me. I did not reciprocate any feelings whatsoever." She insisted, wanting to push the accusations aside, but Marcel was not biting her bait. 

"Oh, please, darling. Klaus may be a lot of things, but never once had he abused a woman in such a way. Yes, he is a killer, but every woman he has crossed paths with was more than willing to fall to her knees for him. If you know what I mean..." He said with a knowing smile.

"Yes, Marcel, as much as you tried to conceal your innuendo, I got it." 

"That being said, you didn't seem reluctant yourself. More like the opposite."

"The only reason I asked you to lie was so I could get him off my back." She defended herself, not really acknowledging his last words.

"Yet you asked him to accompany you to London. Very interesting."

"Just because we need his acquaintances to help Katherine. What did you think? That I simply couldn't stay away from him, because he's, oh, so irresistible?" She laced her words with irony to conceal her true thoughts on the invisible Original.

"Your words, not mine." Still masquaraded behind their table, Klaus couldn't help but smirk at Marcel's indications. They might have strained over the centuries, but he always admired his perceptiveness. Now more than ever.

"You're aggravating, do you know that?" She huffed out in annoyance, needing desperately to escape this conversation.

"Yeah, well, you know what they say like father, like son." He hinted.