Chapter Two
It was Yvetta's night in the shower and consequently the club was about three people away from breaking the fire code. Even in the midst of finals, college boys would flock like starving seagulls to watch her sway and dip under the blue neon spray. I have to admit that she makes quite the attraction. If I ever returned to Fangtasia I would install a similar apparatus but maybe outfit it to drip blood instead of water. However, I might have to find my own Estonian beauty to recreate the same success
Much of the club's position as the anchor of the collegiate party scene was due to Yvetta's raw magnetism. She was the kind of woman I would have enjoyed if I had not long given my heart to my beloved. Now even the most sensuous women hold little appeal for me. I was hers as thoroughly as she was mine.
Aside from the allure of the now drenched Yvetta, the club boasted a German imported speaker system that blared its electronic dance music perfectly throughout the spartan floor. A blue-carpeted spiral staircase leading to the private party rooms flanked one side of the room. My spacious bar took up another.
I'd initially tended the private rooms but management decided I was better utilized in the main floor especially with the female and gay clientele. The tips improved so I had no complaints. Besides I enjoyed being in the center of things.
I quickly filled the orders that were coming from all sides of the bar. As per usual an inordinate amount of women flanked my bar having temporarily lost their boyfriends' attention to Yvetta. I whizzed through the cranberry vodkas and red headed sluts making sure to offer every customer a full smile. It was in my best interest to make each woman believe that I found them wildly attractive. Raising a nine-year old who favored organic foodstuffs was expensive.
"Gin and tonic—no lemon." A distinctive southern drawl caught my immediate attention. I whipped my head around seeking the source of the voice…Good God it sounded just like her.
She was blond, pretty but not her. I closed my eyes as a wave of need swept through my insides.
"You okay?" the co-ed with the Louisiana accent was leaning over the bar. I managed a nod but did not look up as I handed her the drink she'd ordered. She shrugged, left a ten dollar bill and went back to her friends
Somehow I made it through the rest of my shift. My tips suffered at my state of mind but I found that I did not care. All I wanted was to get home to my daughter. Only she could ease the ache.
At closing I straightened as best as I could and took stock of the bottles I would need to replenish before the next opening. My tips were already in my wallet.
"Rough night?"
I looked up to see Yvetta already dry and dressed for the cold. She lived a few blocks away but the late hours made it necessary that she bring her car. We usually walked to the parking lot together on the nights our schedules coincided.
"Definitely not as pleasurable as yours" I replied.
"Are you kidding me? Twenty minutes in and I'm all pruny. Thank God that this place is so dark that no one notices it. My skin could be flaking off and all they would see is the bumping and grinding."
"You are a vision." I granted.
"So are you but in an entirely different way. Tell me Eric. Don't you ever get lonely?"
Every second of every minute of every day but I did not say it. "I think we all get lonely at times."
He hand reached upwards to graze my neck. "Yes but I don't see why we can't remedy it. Look, I know you have a lost love somewhere but this does not have to go beyond a little friendship with benefits. I bet we can chase the memories away at least for a night."
It was tempting. My body coveted release as it had once coveted blood.
"I'm sorry but no. My memories are enough."
"Suit yourself but the offer still stands. I think we would be perfect for each other." She said with certainty.
Maybe at some point before I met Sookie Stackhouse but not now.
An hour later I found myself in my dark apartment. Adele's caretaker was asleep in the living room sofa and my child was spread out over the loveseat. I carefully lifted her sleeping form on my arms and carried her to her room. I laid her down and covered her with a couple of blankets. She stirred but did not waken. I kissed her good-night and moved towards my own windowless room.
The cold, empty bed was unwelcoming and for a second I imagined myself taking up Yvetta on her offer. It would be close to sacrilege.
No. I only wanted my bonded, my wife, my Sookie.
TBC.
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