Unexpected Chances

Chapter 2

"I'll take it..What the-." Elena mumbled to herself as she packed up her desk that afternoon. Her mind raced with thoughts of what Damon's brother was like, surely he couldn't be that bad, she just silently hoped that he wasn't anything like the eldest Salvatore, because at the moment everything about him was driving her to the brink of being thrown into a jail cell for ringing his neck.

Elena was too busy packing up her small box of belongings to even notice the light knock at the door. "Excuse me." A man's voice said politely as she lifted up her head from a picture of her and Damon that she had kept buried in her desk, it was one of her favorites and for these past few years she couldn't get herself to just throw it out, until now. Her long straight brown hair had covered her face and as she moved it away from her eyes, all she had noticed were those same dark and shiny black shoes that he had always worn.

"What do you want Da-." Elena began to say as she looked up and saw the brown hair and green eyes of a handsome and much younger looking man standing in the doorway of her office, her eyes landed on his as he gave her a shrug of his shoulders and a smile appeared on his face.

"I thought that I would come down here just for a moment and introduce myself, properly." He said as he moved towards her now almost empty desk. "I'm Damon's brother. Stefan, Stefan Salvatore that is." He told her politely as he extended his hand towards her and waited on her to respond.

"Oh..Your...." Elena began to say as she felt her cheeks begin to turn a slight hint of red...Goodness, Damon had never even mentioned how gorgeous his younger brother was...from everything that Elena had heard from Damon, he made Stefan sound like a loner, like a hermit!

Elena suddenly regained her words as she extended her hand towards his and then she felt it, that sudden rush of energy, that spark that she had never felt with Damon.

" I'm um..Elena. Elena Gilbert. I'm guessing that Damon already told you a little about why I want to come work for you...instead of stay here." Elena commented as she looked passed Stefan and into the opening of desks where her eyes caught a glance of Caroline, filing her nails as her feet were perched up on top of her desk.

Stefan followed her gaze as he looked out into the sea of desks and he instantly knew who she was probably silently cursing under her breath. "Yeah, he informed me about that little....development." Stefan commented as he shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as Elena started packing again.

"Well, Miss Gilbert. If you need any help moving your stuff to the fifth floor. I might be able to find some time to help you out." Stefan commented with a smile on his face, one that showed off his perfect straight white teeth.

Elena once again looked up at him and suddenly felt nervous under his intense gaze. "I...ummm...I should be okay. But I will keep that in mind. I really should be getting back to packing...and plus, its Friday...Sort of anxious to go home and relax." Elena said quietly as she watched Stefan nod his head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Friday's are good." He said awkwardly, knowing all too well that he would probably be stuck at the office, once again not wanting to go home to his now practically empty house.

Stefan hated that house and he hated being alone in it. The home was a two story house with as many as five bedrooms and for some reason, since Rebakah had ran off with Hugo the cabaña boy from the spa that she had frequented. Stefan hated the house even more and never wanted to see it again, so that was the reason he had made his home on the couch, in his office that over looked the city of Chicago.

Stefan smiled suddenly as an idea crept into his mind. Damon had told him a little bit about Elena, but up until the moment that he had just seen her, he too had never officially met her before. "Miss Gilbert, do you drink?" Stefan asked as he leaned against the door frame of Elena's office and he watched he lift her head up from the small pile of things she had in front of her.

"Not that much. But, I do like coffee." She commented as she tilted her head to the side in a bit of confusion. Did Stefan freaking Salvatore, just ask her out on a date? Her new employer...HER boss....Seriously, was she dreaming or something....Elena quickly snapped out of it when she heard Stefan's voice.

"Great, then...Do you have any plans tonight? I mean, I know you said you wanted to relax and go home and all but..." Stefan's voice trailed off as he looked at her, taking in her stiffened shoulders and her exhausted facial expression, he knew that look all too well. It was one of exhaustion and he had felt that more in the last few months than anything else, ever.

"Oh no. You're not asking me out on a date. Mr. Salvatore...are you?" Elena asked him, trying to calm her breathing and the sound of surprise in her voice. It had been far too long since a guy had been nice to her and it was stupid to think that every guy that she worked with instantly wanted something more.

"No, Elena. It's just coffee, at a nice little diner in downtown, I go there a lot to think when I get stuck in the office and need a change of pace, a change of scenery." Stefan commented as he pushed himself off of the doorframe and gave her a grin.

Of course, he wasn't hitting on her! He was just trying to be nice...God, now she knew what pining over Damon had done to her brain. It had killed all the cells in it that made her once know the difference of a guy just simply being nice and generous over a guy who wanted to just proper her up onto her desk and have his way with her.

A change of scenery, something Elena could definitely agree too. "Sure. Coffee is good...Ha, it sounds good." Elena said suddenly before she realized how stupid she had just sounded...coffee is good...Of course it was good! It was the one thing that she couldn't live without!

"Okay then, I will be back to pick you up later in the day, so that we can go on our little...coffee.. get together." Stefan smiled wide as he shook his head. "It was nice meeting you Miss Gilbert; I look forward to getting to know you some more over our little coffee date." Stefan said with a laugh as he excused himself from her office and headed back to his, all the while thinking to himself how interesting the night would probably end up being for these two broken hearted people.