Charlaine Harris still owns these characters.

A/N: Please enjoy Love Isn't Easy and Love In L.A. before starting this story.

Sookie

By the time Eric graduated, he was already signed to direct his first feature film. That was pretty much unheard of in the film business, but he was a very special guy. At least I'd always thought so.

After Victor Madden and I came to an understanding, he left for Europe to shoot a film and made a promise that he would make time in his schedule to work with Eric on his first feature. After Victor left town, Alcide confided in me that I was the first woman to get through an entire promotion with Victor. Victor always insisted on having a female handler, but his behavior usually sent them running immediately. "You're tougher than I thought, Sookie." I hadn't felt very tough at the time though. Victor was a handful. Then Alcide also brought up that first pseudo-date that we'd had when I first worked for him. "I knew that you could handle yourself after that night I kissed you by your car. You confronted me the next morning and set me straight. A lot of young girls wouldn't be so up-front and I was impressed. And I appreciate that you didn't hold that against me. I know you'd told me that you had a boyfriend, but you can't blame a guy for taking a shot. Now that I know Eric though, I can see that you two are great together."

After my shining review at the end of my first year at the firm, I was given a raise and a promotion and was really proud of myself. I had learned a lot—some of it the hard way. I moved into a bigger desk and the new girl who took my old spot was a recent college graduate named Debbie Pelt. So while I was busy making interview schedules and writing press releases, Debbie did all the filing and paperwork that I had done when I was first hired. For some reason, she seemed to really dislike me from the start. I had a hard time figuring out why at first, and then I started noticing the way she looked at Alcide. She had the hots for him and apparently considered me a threat for some reason. Maybe it was because he and I worked so well together—I had shared my baptism by fire a-la-Victor-Madden with him and came out relatively unscathed. When I was around her I made sure to mention the fact that I had a boyfriend whenever I could to let her know that I was definitely not her competition.

That first summer in L.A. (well, my second summer, but Eric's first) Eric was planning on getting a bartending job so he could save money until his scholarship money came through in the fall, but DeCastro loved Eric's short film so much that Paramount bought the rights to the story and that earned Eric enough money to enroll in summer classes. Because he was so bright and such a hard worker, he was able to finish his degree after that next fall semester—an entire six months sooner than he had planned.

True to his word, Felipe DeCastro hired Eric for his first feature. Eric's vampire story had been expanded and re-written. It was now a full length script. Eric loved the changes and said that the writers were really great. I had regularly planted little stories in the trades hailing Eric as the next young genius director in Hollywood so he wouldn't be forgotten while he finished school. Victor Madden was cast as the male lead. Things were moving along well. Eric began pre-production as soon as he was out of school and the first thing he did once he'd made some money was move into an apartment of his own. We were both pretty excited when he found a place only a few short blocks from mine. Not only did it save us both some driving time, but it provided us with complete privacy which was heavenly. And of course, the neighborhood was a huge improvement. Eric felt so bad about my mugging even though it certainly was not his fault, and I know having to live in that bad area made him feel…I don't know…inadequate. I think it's a guy thing. Anyway, we were both happy when he found his new place.

Eric

Sometimes I feel like I am just the luckiest bastard on the planet. My dream girl and I had the perfect start to a perfect life in Los Angeles. I finished my masters and was hired by the very successful and powerful Felipe DeCastro to direct my first feature film (based on my own story idea, no less). DeCastro was producing it and hired Pam to be his assistant on the production. Thanks to my clever and ever-resourceful Sookie, Victor Madden was signed on as the male lead. (I'd just wanted to kick his ass, but I had to admit that Sookie's solution was much better.) And before I had even done anything, the press was claiming that I was the hot new director at Paramount—again, thanks to my smart and savvy girlfriend.

I was finally able to afford a decent apartment of my own in a good neighborhood. (I can't tell you the guilt I felt when I learned that Sookie had been mugged in front of my house near USC. Thank god she's okay—that's all I can say.) I was in pre-production at Paramount and things were going well.

And then the shit seemed to hit the fan.