Naughty or Nice Contest
Title: The Plan
Your Pen Name: Ohfortuneslost
Beta'd by: The lovely and talented
Disclaimer: I do not own Southern Vampire Mysteries!
"Yeah, sorry about earlier, I just finished cleaning the dishes." Sookie Stackhouse flopped down on her boss's comfy, cushy couch, and sighed in relief. She had been on her feet, washing the dishes for hours, and her fingers were all pruny; it was nice to just take a break.
"He's got you cleaning the dishes now? Is that even in your job description? You're his personal assistant, not his maid," Amelia all but shouted through the phone.
Sookie chewed nervously on her hair. "I know Amelia, but I just want to, otherwise, who else would do it?"
"Whatever, you're coming to visit me for Christmas, right? I'm looking up flights right now." Sookie could hear the clicking over the phone, and rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so actually, I haven't talked to him about it, but I think I'm just going to stay here for the holidays," Sookie said hesitatingly
"What the hell Sookie? No. No way. He has you every other day of the year. He can give you up for Christmas." Amelia sounded even more enraged, if that was possible.
"I know, but I want to," she hedged.
"Sook, I hate to be the one to you this, but you have got to wake up girl! He's your boss, you're his personal assistant, you need to stop mooning around, trying to get him to fall in love with you!"
"But I can hope, right?" She asked in a tiny voice.
Amelia sighed over the phone before responding, "Of course you can, but there's a difference between hoping, and just giving up your life all for a guy who hasn't even really looked at you! You need to come home, and find a man who sees you."
She wrinkled her nose. She knew Amelia was right, but she couldn't help being madly in love with her boss.
Eric Northman.
Never had there been a finer specimen of the male species. A rich music producer, he was tall, blond, and had gorgeous blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through your soul.
She had met him at a gala that she had helped to organize for Amelia's father Copley, two years ago. As she laughed and chatted with Amelia, and danced with a couple of men, she noticed him staring at her throughout the evening. At first she was flattered, thinking that she had caught the beautiful man's attention.
She was proven wrong however, when he went over to speak to her. "Excuse me; are you the woman who put together this lovely party?" He asked, and his voice was like silk pouring over her, and she immediately blushed.
"Yes," She murmured, blushing more furiously, as he gently picked up her hand, leaning over to elegantly kiss it ever so lightly.
"I was wondering if you would do me the honor of becoming my personal assistant. I am unfortunately most horribly unorganized, and I could use someone as organized as you around."
She already had a job, and she was about to turn him down, when he looked into her eyes, and she melted like chocolate on a hot skillet. She was his.
He however, was not hers, but those were details better left for another day.
That was how she found herself, two years later, curled up on Eric Northman's couch on a Friday evening, during Christmas time, waiting for him to get home to either ravish her, or dismiss her so she could go home; she would take either or.
She was about to respond to Amelia's comment when she heard the squeals of tires outside on the driveway. "I have to go Amelia, Eric's home." She heard giggling, and her heart sank. "He brought home a date." She reported glumly.
He had been at a function, not unlike the one she had organized where they had met, however she hadn't been invited to this one. He often went to those sorts of things, but was usually considerate enough to not bring anyone home with him. This one had to be special, and it made her heart hurt to even think it.
"So I assume this conversation is over? Fine, whatever, go make yourself hurt even more, I won't harp on you about the Christmas thing anymore. But Sookie, for the love of God, I'm begging you, do not under any circumstances, follow behind them picking up their clothes again. Eric is a big boy, he can pick up his clothes," Amelia said.
"Well, I have to at least pick up her clothes, so I can dry clean them; you know how he feels about them. He wants them up and gone by the time he's awake."
"And this is the man you're in love with? Charming. Alright, go have fun little slave girl."And with that, Amelia hung up. Sookie stuck her tongue out at the phone, before hanging it up on the hook.
She slowly made her way to the front door, in anticipation of their entrance.
They came in moaning and writhing, tearing at each other's clothes as if they couldn't be removed fast enough. They left a trail throughout the house, like breadcrumbs, as they made their way to his bedroom.
Sookie dutifully followed behind, picking up clothes and sorting them; she draped the woman's clothing over her left arm, Eric's clothes over her right.
As she picked up the scattered clothing, she mused over her job, and her life. If she had seen someone else doing her job, two years ago, she would have found it incredibly demeaning, and if she wasn't in love with Eric, she probably still would.
But there was something about being completely in charge of his schedule, his house, his car, everything, that made her feel so powerful. Trusted.
So she stayed. Technically, by his side, and many considered her to be one of his closest friends and confidantes. She wasn't sure if he would agree with that statement, but it made her happy to think about it, even if it was the relationship she desired. But she would take anything she could get.
So she made his coffee, dropped off and picked up his dry cleaning, made sure his cars were in working order, and tried to be the best personal assistant she could be, in the hopes that one day he might, in Amelia's words, see her; and never want to look away.
She was stopped short of picking up Eric's shoes, when the door was slammed firmly in her face. She heard squealing, and bed springs squeaking, and sighed. That day was looking farther and farther away.
She put both outfits in plastic bags, and then picked up her purse, and grabbed Eric's wallet to grab a credit card so she could stop by a 24 hour dry cleaner on her way home. She didn't bother writing him a note about it, she knew he would never miss it, and she would just return it to his wallet the next day.
She dropped off the clothes, with the promise to be there the next day, bright and early, so they would already have the garments ready for her.
It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to get over Eric, she mused as she drove home, the bright lights of New York City washing over her in a mesmerizing haze. She had been on several dates since being in his employment, and even had one steady relationship, Bill Compton, though that had been a mistake.
On top of having nothing in common with each other, she had later found out that he had been cheating on her the whole time with a woman named Lorena. She was saddened by that, and betrayed, but eventually she moved on, knowing that she and Bill weren't right for each other anyway.
She sighed as she pulled into her driveway. It was two in the morning. Theoretically, the woman that Eric had slept with would be waking up around six, so that meant that Sookie needed to get up at five to stop by the dry cleaners, pick up the clothes, and drive to Eric's estate in time.
Sometimes she wished she could just stay at Eric's house, but she never asked, always afraid of what the answer would be.
She slept fitfully, dreaming of giggles and squeals, and she woke up disgruntled, which quickly morphed into grumpy after she realized her coffee machine was not working. She made her way to the cleaners, and picked up the garments without any incident.
She got even more pissed, as on the way to Eric's, she got caught up in traffic. She felt like slamming her head against the steering wheel. It felt like one bad thing was stacking up after another.
She finally pulled up into Eric's drive, careful not to get anywhere near his precious baby, the corvette. She got out, trying to juggle her car keys and the two garment bags, hoping she didn't drop any of them.
She inserted her key into the door, and as soon as she stepped in, she heard something that made her stomach drop to her knees. She heard laughter. Eric never laughed with his overnight guests. It was unheard of.
This one was special.
"Sookie, is that you?" She heard him call from the kitchen.
"Yes, I have your dry cleaning, if you have coffee." She called back.
He appeared in front of her, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, arms crossed and smirking at her. "Holding my items hostage? How very advantageous of you. Fine, you may have your coffee, after you give me my date's clothes, and hang mine up."
He took the garment bag with the woman's clothes in it, and returned to the kitchen, where she could hear giggling start up. Sookie groaned quietly. All this giggling was going to give her a complex.
When she entered the kitchen, Eric gave her a giant cup of coffee, and with a happy grin on his face, introduced her to his date. "Sookie, this is the lovely Pamela. Pam, this is my personal assistant, Sookie Stackhouse."
Pamela was very pretty, like Eric, she had blonde hair, and blue eyes, but whereas his lit up with happiness, hers remained inflamed with mischievousness. Her eyes darted back and forth between Eric and Sookie, looking very interested. "Ah," she said at last. "The woman behind the man. It is nice to meet you."
Sookie blushed and returned the greeting in kind, before beginning to make Eric pancakes, while going over his schedule for the day.
"Just cancel everything. It's Christmas! I'll spend some time with Pam, instead of in my stuffy, boring office!"
Upon hearing his words, she panicked, removing her eyes from the griddle, to look at him horrified. Had he fallen for this woman so fast?
"… Okay? Sookie! Are you okay?" She jumped out of her reverie, to see his concerned face. Flustered, she turned her attentions back to the griddle.
"Shit!" She exclaimed upon seeing the now thoroughly burnt pancake. She immediately scraped it off into the sink, and began to start anew with more batter.
"That should be fine Eric, I'll just have to call them and let your appointments know that you will meet with them at a later date. I'll have to go over those with you tomorrow, because I'll need to fit them anywhere possible, so you might be working late for the next couple of days." She tried to ignore the fact that Pam was gazing intently at them.
"That'll be fine, as long as I can spend the day with Pam." he said, smiling at Pam who eagerly returned the smile, flashing her perfect teeth.
So the days leading up to New Year's went on in that same vein. Sookie did everything she could to be the perfect assistant, and therefore make Eric see that she was the perfect woman for him, but he continued to see Pam whenever his schedule allowed.
Sookie was far too honest, and too much of a lady to lie about whether or not he could see Pam, and she would never get in the way of Eric being happy, even if she herself was miserable.
So that was how she found herself feeling absolutely rotten, standing next to a beaming Eric in the middle of Tiffany's.
"I want to get Pamela something nice for New Year's and I need you to help me pick something out for her." He said, hands in his pockets, casually browsing the store. She just stood there, feeling like an idiot, before he turned to her saying, "Well go on, find something, you and Pamela have similar tastes, so it shouldn't be too hard."
She looked at him doubtfully, but refrained from saying anything. She very much doubted that she and Pam had the same tastes, as Pam tended to the more dramatic and expensive jewelry. But nevertheless, she began browsing through the cases.
She was sure she wouldn't find anything in that store that was up to her tastes, but then she stumbled upon a brooch that made her gasp with its beauty and cuteness. It was a silver owl with tiny little diamonds and sapphires imbedded into it.
Immediately, Eric was by her side, looking at her chosen piece, and he smirked. "That will do nicely Sookie, good job!" He said approvingly, before waving down a store worker. She turned away from their conversation, because it was really none of her business how much money Eric spent.
Two days later, Sookie was going through Eric's office at his house, cleaning it, straightening pictures, throwing away old documents, and generally tidying up. She began to go through his drawers, not snooping, just organizing everything, for Eric liked everything to be 'just so'.
When she reached the bottom most drawer, she found a powder blue jeweler's box. She knew she shouldn't, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she was just dying to see that cute little owl again. She peeked over the desk to make sure Eric hadn't come in while she had been occupied; he could be rather sneaky when he wanted to be. When she was sure that there was no sign of him, she eagerly opened the box and gasped at what she saw.
For nestled inside on the white silk was not the owl brooch she had picked out, but instead she saw an incredibly gorgeous ring. It was all diamonds, displayed in an elaborate, yet delicate setting. She felt tears come to her eyes as she looked down at the beautiful ring.
Eric was going to propose to Pam. On New Year's Eve. In what was most likely going to be a dramatic and romantic fashion.
"Sookie?" Eric asked from within the doorway, and she jumped, narrowly missing hitting her head against the chair.
"Yes?" She asked, trying to make it seem as if she wasn't trying, but she wasn't succeeding very well, and she decided to just get it over with. She rose with the ring box still in her hand.
Eric had opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he had been about to say, died when he saw what she was holding.
She closed the box with a snap, and made her way over to him. She pressed the box into his unwilling hands, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek as she made her way out the door with tears streaming down her face.
She miraculously made it home without an accident, and began to pack her clothes and book a flight.
Just as she was about to leave, she made a phone call.
"Amelia? It's me, Sookie. I'm coming home."
Talk about plans backfiring.
He squeezed the box that held Sookie's engagement ring tightly, but careful not to dent it. He admitted to himself, two years ago, when he hired her, that the whole charade was ridiculous, but he was in far too deep to stop. And by then, he had Sookie by his side every day, and he couldn't bring himself to care.
When he first saw her at the gala, it truly had been love at first sight. He watched her throughout the night, laughing with her friend as if she didn't have a care in the world, and after hearing her laugh for the first time, he knew that he had to have her.
So he made his way across the ball room floor with every intention of asking her for a dance, and then after he had sufficiently charmed her, out on a date. But when he stood in front of her, he, of all people, lost his cool, and he stupidly offered her a job as his assistant.
Luckily for him, she accepted, and he spent the next two years getting to know her as best as he could, and trying to get her to fall in love with him as much as humanly possible. He wanted her to love him as much as he did her.
Through those two years, while he did not spurn lovers, he did have needs after all; he did not bring them back to his house where there was the possibility that Sookie might see them.
Towards the end of her second year working for him, however, he began to grow impatient. She was clearly, if not in love, than enamored with him, and he decided that then was his chance to make his move.
He had a plan. A plan that had just backfired. It was a plan to propose to her by New Year's Eve at the very latest. He kept dropping hints to Sookie that he needed her to stay over the holidays, and of course, she caved, just as he'd hoped. Then he went into step two of the plan.
He got his old friend Pam Ravenscroft to pose as his new lover in the inane attempt to make Sookie jealous. As far he could tell, it worked, and she nearly went insane with the jealousy, but it was still not enough to make her confess her feelings to him, and he was still not confident enough to fully confess his feelings to her.
So, under the guise of buying Pam a New Year's Eve present, he brought Sookie to Tiffany's to see which ring interested her, and if he could buy her anything at all that she desired.
There wasn't much however, as she looked at most of the items with either contempt or fear, at how much the items would cost, which he knew was a big problem for her. She didn't just accept money. But he bought the owl for her, with the idea that it could be a lead in present, break her down over price and propriety, and then present the ring to her.
But then she had actually found the ring, which he had not been expecting. She of course had immediately thought that he had plans to give it to Pam, which was ridiculous, but she didn't know that. So she gave him back the ring, and finally, finally kissed him, but only to say goodbye. Then she walked out of his office, his home, and his life.
He knew other men would just walk away from the trouble, but he wasn't weak like those men, and would walk straight into the fire called Sookie. He knew immediately that she would be headed home to Bon Temps, Louisiana, to stay with her roommate, Amelia, so he tried to call her first, to get her on her side.
The only problem was, was that she wouldn't give him the chance to explain the plan.
"And tell me exactly why I should get Sookie to forgive you? You treated her like a slave! Every time I talked to her, I half expected her to start calling you 'Master'!"
"That's not true; I only hired her so I could get her to fall in love with me!" He exclaimed, running his hand through his hair in aggravation.
He winced as the words came out; he was not good at displaying his emotions, or telling people what he was thinking. There was silence on the other line, and he waited with bated breath.
"Fine. I'll talk to her. But I'm not sure how well it will go, you know how stubborn she can get." Amelia said, huffing angrily.
He let out a short burst of laughter, and visions of Sookie with a burnt Kardemumma Bulle, his favorite dish, and the only one she could never get right. "Yes," He said humorously, "I know how stubborn she can be."
"Well, she's flying in tonight, and I'll try to talk to her, but this might be something that you have to do face to face," Amelia said resignedly.
He was already way ahead of her, and had booked his flight. They said their goodbyes and hung up.
He packed only the most essential, which pretty much included the ring, and a small carry-on bag, for if Sookie said yes, he fully intended on bringing her back to New York with him. All through the flight, he was nervous and antsy, and ignored the pretty flight attendant who kept flirting with him.
As he got off the plane, he immediately rented a car, and drove straight to Bon Temps. He got lost along the way, and had to ask for directions, as the town wasn't on any of the maps he had purchased.
He finally made it to Bon Temps, where he had to get directions to Sookie's house from a man at a gas pump who looked suspicious of him.
Eric was delighted to see as he pulled up, that Sookie was sitting on the front porch, reading a book, though she looked up, and was shocked when she saw who her visitor was.
"Eric? What are you doing here?" She inquired, setting down her book, and rising to meet him. He ran up the steps and kissed her. She stiffened against him at first, but then relaxed, and returned the kiss fervently. When he released her, he was proud to see her dazed and happy expression.
"Sookie, you left before I could tell you about the ring, and you left before I could tell you I loved you. I have to rectify that mistake." He got down on one knee, and she gasped. He pulled out a box and opened it to reveal the diamond and sapphire owl, and she let out a peal of laughter and relief. "I am a good man. Apparently at times a coward; but overall, a good man. I love you. I want to spend every day of my life supporting you, making you happy, and giving you insanely expensive gifts such as these." He gently pushed the box with the owl into her hands, and brought out a second box, that caused her to laugh again. "So I am a proud man, on my knees, asking you: Sookie Stackhouse, will you marry me?"
He opened the box to reveal the ring, and she began to laugh and cry, nodding her head saying, "Yes, yes, of course I will!"
He jumped to his feet enthusiastically, and once again kissed her, swinging her around him. Their kisses turned more heated, and more fervent, and they stumbled into the house, frantically tearing at each other's clothes. They vaguely registered Amelia announcing that it was time for her to go, as they made their way down to their underwear.
"Your room is upstairs?" he asked breathlessly between kisses, before running her tongue down the column of her throat, reveling in the moan it achieved from her. She nodded as her hands ran up to his head and tried to force his mouth lower down her body. "We're not going to make it that far." He announced before pushing her down onto the stairs, shoving her underwear down to her ankles, and putting his mouth where she most desired it. She cried out from the sensations he was causing, and began to arch her back, ignoring the pain as the steps began to dig into her back. Just as she was about to come, he removed his mouth from her core, ignoring her whimper of loss.
"Do you want to come with me inside of you my dear?" he asked, and chuckled at her meek little nod of her head. "Like I said, I will spend the rest of my life making you happy." With that, he shoved down his boxers, and plunged into her heat, both of them crying out at the sensation.
Sometime later, they had finally made it to Sookie's room, and were lying, exhausted on her bed. She was draped across him, drawing lazy circles on his chest. He turned his head to check the time, and let out a chuckled. She looked at him with a quizzical look, and he explained, "It's 12:05. Happy New Year, my love."
She let out a chuckle as well, before kissing his chest, and then beginning to trail kisses lower and lower, as he looked on with his arms behind his head and a contented smile on his face.
A Happy New Year indeed.
A/N: This is the first out and out citrusy/lemony piece I've ever written, so I'm a little embarrased. This is an entry for the Naughty or Nice contest, so please read; and I would really like for you to reveiw it, give me some feedback and tell me how I did on it.
That being said, the Support Stacie Vampire Author Auction is happening NOW! I have two stories up for bid, one all vampire, one all-human, so bid on me for a good cause! Link is in my profile.