Eric woke up the next evening hungry and hoping to hear news of his waitress. He dressed in his black suit and deep red shirt. Tonight was his turn to sit in the bar, a spectacle for the tourists to ogle and brag to their friends at home about. He sat upon the platform which held his gothic throne; another prop in the charade of what the humans believed was common practice for the vampire world. His eyes skimmed the room watching as humans and vampires fraternised, drinking and whispering and drinking some more. This continued until a short man wearing an un-ironed shirt and tatty jeans, he crossed the room towards and Eric and bowed to his knee.
"Sheriff Northman" he greeted.
"Rich have you gained the information I asked for" Eric said as he motioned for the man to stand.
"Yes sir, the owner of the bar is a Sam Merlotte. He has three waitresses and a cook on his books. He has owned the bar for as long as he's lived in Bon Temp. Another interesting fact about Mr Merlotte, he's a Shifter." He eyed Eric pleased with himself.
"Thank you Rich, you have done well. You are dismissed" Eric gestured him away.
Eric reflected upon the information that he had been given. So her boss was a shifter, this could be useful if he was not willing to part with the girl. Tomorrow he would go to Merlottes and make his proposition heard. Though for now his appetite was coming to get the better of him. He waved over Lola.
"Lola, bring me a Tru Blood, make it O Positive"
"Right away Mr Northman" She turned on her heels and headed towards the bar.
A few minutes passed as she brought the heated bottle over to him, placing it on the small table next to him.
"Thank you" he nodded in appreciation as she turned to return to her duties. Again this synthetic blood developed by the Japanese did not have the same effect as human blood had but it quenched the thirst and allows vampires who chose to mainstream to abstain from the traditional lifestyle. Eric had not decided to completely mainstream, though he did try to drink the synthetic when he could manage to restrain himself or indeed when he did not have a willing 'donor'.
He finished his bottle and motioned for another to be brought over. Lola had come over and replaced the empty bottle with a new warm bottle.
Eric picked up the new bottle and took the first sip then placed the bottle down.
"Pam" he called in a tone only just a bit louder than would be conversational. In an instance Pam was by his side her hand on the back rest of the throne.
"You rang M'lord" she mocked
"Pam, I'm leaving for the night, I have urgent business to attend to elsewhere" He said getting to his feet.
"Off to bang your little waitress?" her eyes glinted in the flashing disco light.
"No, I am off to offer her the temporary job in the place of Miss Ward, as I had explained last night" He began to walk away.
"Just be careful Eric, she may not hold quite the same view of our kind as these feeble humans that are so willing to waste their life for the cheap thrill of spending time with us." Her eyes looked serious yet her smile was as friendly as she though she were having a normal conversation as she often did.
"Just keep Fangtasia out of trouble while I'm gone, only if you can manage that my dear" Eric smiled back at her mockingly knowing Pam would be very capable of dealing with any issues that would arise in the bar.
Eric headed towards his red corvette producing the keys from his pocket, it was a long drive but it gave Eric more time to think. Also on the plus side taking the car showed him to be more in tune with human practises, something that may impress the waitress.
By time Eric had pulled up outside Merlotte's bar, he had a clear idea of how to persuade the owner and the waitress if necessary. He parked his car on the far side of the lot; it seemed to be one of the more upmarket cars in the lot that was filled with dusty pick ups and older model cars, though he could not see that of the waitress. Still, he may be able to do a deal with the boss first then confront her. He walked across the lot being eyed by a couple of sun beaten people heading towards a beat up green Ford Galaxie 500, who seemed too far over the legal limit to be driving anywhere. They whispered and chortled between themselves taking sly glances at the 6'4 of the blonde Viking crossing the lot. He paused as he reached the door to the bar, seeing that the couple had stopped too and faced them dropping his fangs and flashing a smile at them. They turned away immediately and fumbled with the car doors so as to run away from the vampire. Eric simply retracted his fangs and chuckled to himself as he pushed the door open. When had entered the bar it went deathly quiet, all the customers froze holding beers and food in there position, the waitresses stopped dead in whatever task they had been completing and the strawberry blonde barman looked up from the glass he had been cleaning. The only noise in the bar was the jukebox playing some 50s era rock and roll. Eric crossed the small space between the doorway and the bar and settled into a stool. The bar began to slowly drift back into the normal activity as people began discussing the new stranger in the room.
"Good evening, I am looking for a Mr Sam Merlotte?" asked Eric politely watching the barman return to cleaning the glasses.
"Well I guess you found him, I'm Sam Merlotte, the owner of this bar" he extended a hand to Eric causing a buzz of discussion in the bar. "What can I do you for, I'm afraid I don't have much choice in Tru blood yet but I'd be happy to fix you something else"
"Thank you, do you have any O positive?" Eric asked watching Sam as he looked into the low fridge behind the bar.
"As it happens we do" Sam lifted a bottle from the fridge and popped the lid off "I suppose you will want it warming?" he asked. Eric could tell this was obviously the first time anyone had had to serve Tru Blood in this bar.
"Yes, that would be welcomed" he said offering a $5 bill to Sam.
"Okay, I'll just have to have it taken through to the kitchen" He beckoned over a red headed waitress "Arlene darlin', run this through to Lafayette to warm please" He passed the bottle over to Arlene who was trying her hardest not to look at the vampire next to her and hurried away to the hatch into the kitchen.
"So Mr?" Sam pressed for a name.
"Northman, Eric Northman"
"Mr Northman, is there anything else I can do you for tonight?" He asked as he handed Eric his change. Sam seemed to be the only person in the bar that hadn't shown any real reaction to the unusual man sat at the bar.
"Well, as a matter of fact Mr Merlotte, I have come to discuss some business with you" Arlene reappeared holding the bottle of synthetic blood and placed it on the bar atop a napkin. "Thank you" Eric nodded to her as he reached for the bottle and she pulled her hand away from the bar and hurried back to the kitchen hatch to take the next batch of food to the tables.
"What business would that be Mr Northman?"
Eric glanced around the room at the prying eyes of the customers hoping to hear what was being discussed.
"Is there anywhere with a little more privacy that we can talk?" he asked making it obvious to Sam what he was looking at.
"Sure, there's my office in the back. Arlene, when you've finished with your tables could you look after the bar while I step into my office with Mr Northman here" Arlene looked up and nodded.
"Sure thing Sam, won't be a minute" She took the empty plates from a table and carried them back to the kitchen again.
"This way" gestured Sam, pointing to the narrow corridor next to the kitchen hatch. Eric followed him and the people in the bar began moving around, talking with other tables as they had with there own about the strange vampire. Sam opened a door to a little room filled with a desk covered in papers with a wooden chair, a small sofa and a filing cabinet. This was so different to the office that Eric had, this office felt more like something somebody would have in their home rather than their work place. On the wall were pictures of landscapes and bright flowers, the windows covered with a dusty wooden blind. Sam offered the shabby brown sofa to Eric and encouraged him to sit, while he sat on the wooden chair by the desk.
"So again Mr Northman, what is this business?" asked Sam leaning his elbow on his desk.
"I am the owner of a bar in Shreveport Mr Merlotte" Eric began.
"Please call me Sam, no need to be overly formal"
"Of course, as I was saying, I own a bar in Shreveport where humans come to mingle with the vampires. One of my employees has requested maternity leave which will start in just under 3 weeks time. I have come to your bar this evening to request the loan of one of your staff. Of course I will offer you a substantial amount in return for such a favour. May I ask how many waitresses you have on your staff?" Explained Eric trying not to come to close to revealing which member of staff he was most interested in.
"Well I only have two waitresses, then Lafayette in the kitchen and a few temporary staff. Not to sound ungrateful for the offer but why is it that you want one of my staff when there must be a whole heap of agencies and bars you could ask from in Shreveport" Sam tried not to sound too repugnant.
"Indeed is Mr Merlotte, but it takes a special kind of person to work in such an establishment as mine. Also I wanted to bring some new flavour to the place, all the agencies offer the same kind of girl and I'm growing rather tired of it. I understand that it will be a great trouble to you, but I would like very much for this to work. I am not a great believer in bribery Sam, but what I do know is that the kind of information I possess about you is not what you would want revealed to anyone" Just then Eric's attention was drawn to the door which after a few seconds sounded a light knocking.
"Come in" shouted Sam straightening up. The door opened to reveal the blonde waitress peering round the door.
"Hey Sam, I'm real sorry to interrupt your meeting but I just wanted to let you know that Maxine Fortenberry is kicking up a fuss about her burger and fries again. Arlene tried to deal with her but she said she would only speak to you. I'm so sorry to interrupt" She smiled brightly at the two men.
"No problem Sook, I'll be out now" He stood up and headed towards the door. "Excuse me Mr Northman, this won't take too long" Sam exited the office leaving Eric staring at the girl. He stood up and extended his hand.
"Good evening miss, my name is Eric Northman" he smiled down at her.
"Oh hey I'm Sookie Stackhouse" she reached out her hand to shake his, at the moment their skin touched Eric's fangs dropped down. Sookie's smile widened.
"Well I'll be, a real life vampire in Bon Temp" she stared at his fangs for a second longer and then recalled herself. "Oh I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to stare, just I've never met a real vampire before. My gran said that we'd never see any of your kind round here, that you're all too busy in the big cities and all" she dropped her hand put her purse in the desk drawer. "Sam lets us keep our personal items in here while we work." She smiled up at Eric, Eric stared. This was the most beautiful smile he had seen in a very long time.
"Well Miss Stackhouse, I mustn't keep you from your work. It was very nice to make you acquaintance. I hope it will not be the last time we meet"
"I sure hope so too" she beamed back at him before turning on her heel and leaving the office.