It was only a dream, she thought to herself… There's no way Eric could ever wake up next to me in the morning.

I got up out of bed and made my way into the bathroom to do my usual morning routine. I jumped in the shower, enjoying the feel of cleanliness I received from it. Man, I could stay in here all morning! But, I have to be at work in an hour, and there's no time to relax.

As soon as I got out and toweled dry, I walked over to my mirror, finding a Post-It note. It said, "Sook-

Pam called around 3 a.m., wanting a favor. See ya tonight! -Amelia

What could Pam possibly want from me that Chow or someone else could do?

Suddenly, there was a ringtone in the distance playing Mark Provart - Circle Backwards;

Free to be lonely

It ain't so bad my friends

Free, free to be-

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Sookie! It's Arlene. Listen, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind babysitting tonight. I know it's short notice, but my aunt is in the hospital. Anyway, could you do it? Please, Sook? I'll owe ya one!"

I could almost see her puppy dogs eyes trying to persuade me over to the dark side. "Alright, Arlene, since it's a serious matter this time. And yes, you do owe me one!"

"GREAT! Thanks, Sookie!"

"Your welcome, Arlene. Now I gotta go to work before Sam ends up firin' me!"

"Oh Sookie, he wouldn't dream of firing you! He likes ya too much."

And with that, I rolled my eyes and hung up. The clock above the mantle read 11:32 a.m., so I've got thirty-eight minutes until work. I ran into the bathroom and brushed out my hair, making sure that I separated it into 7 sections. then, I added these silver strands to it so that when my hair dried, the curls would string themselves around them. I put on my workers outfit and shoes, then applied my make-up. I decided just to eat a bowl of cereal this morning as it was already 11:54. As soon as I was finished, I looked at myself I the mirror to make sure everything was suitable. Before I left, I squirted some vanilla spray all over me and was good-to-go.

As I opened the door, I saw a piece of paper fall from in-between the screen door and the front door. I picked it up and read:

"My dearest Sookie,

You above all should know how sorry I am for betraying you to the King of Louisiana, but I had no choice. He threatened the life of my maker, Lorena, so therefore I had no choice but to choose her over you.

You know how much you mean to me. You are a valuable asset, and others like Eric will misuse you if you give them the chance! Please, Sookie. Come back to me. I'll be by later if you want to talk.

Yours always,

Bill

"Oh. My God." I said, disgusted. I crumbled up the letter and threw it into the trash can, annoyed even more than what I already was. I slammed the door shut and got in my car. There had better be very few people at the bar today, because I really don't think that I can handle anymore than 10. With that, I got in to my car, started it up, and pounded the gas, not letting off until I pulled into Merlotte's parking lot.

******

"Order up!" Terry bellowed for the third time in the last five minutes. I quickly darted in-between the big crowd of people over to our newest waitress. "Daphne! Terry's got your order over there for table 5, and table 6 needs refills!"

"Sookie, is there anyway you could help me, please?! I've got 3 orders to take, a table to clean, and 4 refills. Please, Sookie!"

"Alright, alright. I'll clean the table and get the refills. But that's it!" And with that, I marched off with the four empty glasses on my tray.

"Sookie, you really need to show some tough love to that girl and make her learn what it's like during the lunch hour. If not, she'll never get the hang of it, and I'll have to fire her." Sam said, coming around the corner from his office. "You've got tables to take care of yourself. Just- here- let me get the glasses refilled."

"Thanks Sam, but you know how hard it is on me to give out tough love! Gran didn't raise me that way."

"Yeah, but she didn't raise you to be a push-over either," Sam murmered, as I left the room.

Like darting through traffic, I made my way to table 6 in my section where I saw a lot of…wait…blonde hair?!?!?I quickly rounded the corner, and lo-and-behold, there sat a 1,000-year-old-Viking-Vampire, Sheriff of Area 5's very own, Eric Northman. "Oh my God…"

________________________________________________________________________

Hey guys!

Sorry for the short chapter!

I've just been really busy with the holiday weekend, and I've got 2 new cats, Daisy and Tucker. They are so cute! We also had a death of a friend's mother, so I've been very busy. Anyway, longer chaps are ahead, with a lot more detail.