One Day You'll Show Up at My Door

Party Planning

Caroline Forbes was living in New York City. She rarely thought about Mystic Falls; unless of course, she was thinking about how much she missed her friends. But over the past twenty-five years, they had all scattered. She had been back to her hometown once and that was to help her mother move into the Mystic Falls Retirement Village.

Now she had a career. She was the premier event planner in New York City. People were literally killing each other to move up the list. She still felt bad about what happened to poor Mrs. Grant. As she looked out over the city through the panoramic window in her office there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said not pulling her gaze from the view.

"Caroline, I've got the latest list of clients," the voice said. Caroline turned to find her faithful assistant, Delta Gibbs. She was tallish, with dark brown hair and green eyes. When Caroline first met Delta, she lived on the street around the corner from her apartment. She would bring the homeless girl food every morning and she would invite her back to her apartment every night for dinner and a hot shower. They were instant friends. Delta confided in Caroline. She told her about her family's fall from grace and how she came to live on the street all alone.

Caroline, needing a friend and wanting to help make Delta's life better revealed herself to her. She wasn't afraid. She only asked that because Caroline was the only person in her life that she change her so that they could be together forever. After they both cried and hugged, Caroline fed Delta her blood. Delta told Caroline to leave the kitchen; she wasn't going to force her to kill her. The blonde nodded and went to her bedroom. A few hours later there was a knock on her bedroom door. She opened it to find Delta standing before her a blood stain in the middle of her shirt. Caroline hugged her and they've been spreading party planning magic ever since.

Delta knew everything about Caroline's past. Meeting Damon, becoming a vampire, being a cheerleader, the time her mom tried to kill her, the time her dad tried to kill her, dating Matt, dating Tyler, Klaus and whatever they had or didn't have. Caroline told her about all of her friends, Elena, Stefan, Bonnie and surprisingly enough Damon. Delta loved hearing about Caroline's old life. It made her feel like she knew the people and the places. It made her feel like she belonged. She was grateful that Caroline had accepted her so easily into the life she had started in New York for herself because she didn't think that she would last too much longer on the street. Their friendship was strong and it bled into their work relationship.

"Ok, let's hear it," the blonde said returning to her desk.

"Marshall Termis," Delta read the first name.

"Ew. No. He's got a serious case of the grab hand. Next," Caroline said with a flick of her wrist.

"Rachelle Long."

"Next."

"Dr. and Mrs. Westfield," Delta said.

"What do they want?" Caroline asked.

"A period party. The 1860s or 1870s." Delta read.

"We could make that work. Call them, set up the appointment, do all the prelims and then we'll get started," Caroline said as she turned on her touchscreen desktop.

A few weeks later, after all the groundwork was done, Caroline and Delta took to the serious task of planning what turned out to be the world's most ridiculous party.

They had compelled their way into several permits; like the one for horse-drawn carriages. Apparently, the Westfields thought it would be a good idea if all of their guests were picked up by carriage and transported to the venue that way. They were getting on Caroline's nerves.

As the party drew nearer, Caroline found herself more and more busy. She and Delta had arrived at the venue early the Saturday before the party and from the moment the decorators first arrived Caroline was busy. Delta went to the office that the hotel had allotted them and grabbed the fax that was coming through from the Westfields. It was the guest list. She flipped through it and began to panic.

"Caroline!" Delta called out as she followed quickly behind her boss.

"What?" she asked not looking at her. "No! Oh my God, are you trying to ruin this party? Put the statues in each corner!" she said holding her hands up stopping the workers from moving. "If you put them in the middle there won't be anywhere for dancing." They grumbled something and did what she said.

"I think you need to look at this," Delta said trying to hand her the papers.

"Ok give it...NO! They have to face each other! They're two fighting lions." Caroline said stopping them again. "They have to look like they're about to fight each other. Not like they're about to attack the crowd," she said wide-eyed. The workers grumbled again but did as they were told.

"Caroline! Look at this. Please," Delta said putting the papers in her face.

"Oh fine," Caroline said snatching them from her hand. She skimmed them, signed off on them and handed them back. "There. I'm busy. Much better but not so close to the wall." she said walking away from her assistant. Delta let out a sigh. She took the list back to the office. She picked up the phone and called the calligrapher.

"Yes, this is Delta Gibbs with Forbes Planning. I'm going to be faxing the guest list to you shortly. Can you please make sure that Niklaus Mikaelson and Tyler Lockwood, Jr. are the first to receive theirs?" she said her hand on her forehead. She knew that Caroline was going to freak about them coming but it was crazy to think that she would be able to avoid them for eternity. "Thank you," she said hanging up.

"Delta! I need you!" she heard Caroline call. She sighed heavily before she grabbed her clipboard and left the office.