Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns the characters. They're just temporarily acting in my fantasy.
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has read my story and added it to their favorites and story alerts. I was floored by the number of emails I got stating that someone had added the story! And thank you especially to those who were kind enough to review. I appreciate all of you!
I realized shortly after posting chapter 1 that I had spelled the title of my story wrong - should have been "Rouler", not "Roulet" - and I think I've corrected it, but if not I apologize. I do actually no how to spell it correctly, even though I took French over 20 years ago! ; )
Chapter 2:
Friday, March 19th arrived amid a flurry of activity at Les Bon Temps Rouler. Sookie, Arlene and Lafayette had spent the week leading up to it working 12 hour days, subsisting on caffeine, pizza and Chinese takeout. Sookie arrived at the University Club, the location of the Merlotte Children's Hospital charity event, at 8am sharp, bearing her Blackberry, her day planner and a caddy of coffee from Dunkin Donuts.
"Good morning, Beautiful," Lafayette sang, relieving her of the coffee and opening the glass front door for her.
"Ughhhh," she groaned. "I hate how cheerful you are this early in the morning." Lafayette laughed as he tugged Sookie's long blonde ponytail and turned to open the door again for Arlene who was standing outside grinding out a cigarette butt with her heel and talking animatedly on her cell phone.
"No Mom, I'm not going to call him," they heard her say with an exaggerated eye roll. "I haven't seen him in 6 years and he's going through his second divorce!" Lafayette and Sookie exchanged knowing looks and left Arlene behind to continue her conversation. It was no secret that Arlene's mother wanted her daughter to move back home to rural Alabama and would go to any extreme to get her there…including setting her up with every available single or almost-single man in town.
"Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!" Arlene groaned loudly as she approached, clipping her phone back onto her belt. "That woman is going to cause me to be committed one day!"
"So where are we?" questioned Sookie, slipping automatically into business mode.
Arlene took a deep breath, massaging her temples to relieve the headache brought on by her mother's ranting. "Well, the stage and sound guys will be here in an hour to begin construction. It's a pretty elaborate setup, so they will need 4 or 5 hours. The tables and chairs were delivered last night and people from Shreveport Arrangements will be here shortly to set them up and to finish the lighting and decorations. Flowers will be here by 3 and the caterers at 4."
"And Eric Stud Muffin, I mean…Northman?" asked Lafayette, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"His flight arrives at 2:00 and a car service will pick him up at the airport and take him to the children's hospital where one of the Merlotte reps will meet him for his tour and visit," Arlene continued, pointedly ignoring Lafayette's joke. She was still fuming over the conversation with her mother. "The Merlotte people will bring him here by 6pm for a quick sound check before the show."
"And his entourage?" Sookie inquired.
"Just his manager and a few musicians, "said Arlene. "They will be picked up separately from the airport and taken to the hotel."
"Nice work as usual, sweetie," Sookie complimented her. "Let me know when he's been picked up at the airport." With that, she set off to find her make-shift staging area and to begin her checklist navigation.
At 5pm, Sookie came out into the main atrium to survey the results of everyone's hard work. White twinkle lights hung from the high ceiling and adorned dozens of ficus trees around the room. Gorgeous arrangements of white tulips and roses, and white votive candles decorated every table. The fairly elaborate stage, featuring a shiny black grand piano, was set up at the front of the room with a large dance floor situated just below it. Three bars and multiple food stations were scattered around the vast room and several tables lined one wall, displaying various items for the silent auction.
This looks amazing, she thought to herself before grabbing her bag and setting off for the ladies lounge to change her clothes.
Arlene walked into the lounge as Sookie was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She had changed from her workday uniform of dress pants and ballet flats into a Tadashi 2-piece dress with long layered black skirt and white sleeveless wrap top. A little gel and a flat iron smoothed her long blonde hair into a soft evening look. She topped off the ensemble with rhinestone chandelier earrings and elegant black heels.
"Wow, you look great," said Arlene, unzipping her own garment bag and removing a black wrap dress and spike-heeled black boots.
"Thanks, but it's all an illusion," laughed Sookie. "I'm actually exhausted and have bags under my eyes beneath the makeup." A young girl from the catering staff opened the door into the lounge and Sookie looked up wide-eyed as she heard the first notes of the grand piano outside, followed by a beautiful baritone voice.
"It looks like Mr. Northman has arrived," she said with a pained smile toward Arlene as she gathered up her things and walked out into the hall.
After stowing her bag in an unused storage room near the staging area, Sookie proceeded nervously out into the atrium. The lights had been dimmed and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust after the brightness of the hallway. As she looked toward the front of the room, the stage lights came up and she saw what would soon be the object of every guest's attention tonight…Eric Northman. Wow, he's really gorgeous! she thought to herself. She had seen him once on a talk show and a few other times in pictures, but all she could remember was that he was extremely tall and had a really nice voice. Dressed handsomely in a tailored black suit with white dress shirt and silver-grey tie, he looked older than she remembered. As she stood watching Eric and listening to him test the piano and microphone, Lafayette wandered up and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Mmmmm…now that's a beautiful sight," he murmured. "…and Eric looks pretty good, too," he said with a wink, leaning down and kissing her cheek.
"Hush, you goof!" she laughed good-naturedly, squeezing him around the waist. "Though you clean up pretty nicely yourself," she said, eyeing his dark grey suit, black dress shirt and grey tie approvingly.
After a few minutes of conferring with the sound technician, Eric stood and descended from the stage via a set of steps on one side. "Time to meet the talent," Sookie said, flashing a nervous smile at Lafayette.
"Mr. Northman…uh, Eric," she said as she met him halfway across the dance floor, extending her hand to him politely. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse." He looked down at her and took her small hand between both of his very large ones, a brilliant smile lighting his face. Oh my god, he's beautiful!
"It's very nice to meet you, Sookie," he said warmly. I could get lost in those big blue eyes, she thought.
"How was your trip? Do you have everything you need? Can I get you anything?" she began to babble helplessly. Can I have your children? Oh my god, I didn't say that out loud, did I?
"I'm great, thank you," he assured her, not seeming to notice her distress. "The trip was fine and the tour of the hospital was incridible." His brilliant blue eyes lit up as he talked. "I got to meet a bunch of the kids and we had story time. Those kids are really amazing…they're so strong and positive despite the hell they're going through. I have to admit I got a little choked up when we were leaving, though." His expression grew serious with that admission.
"I can relate," she said. "I do volunteer work there and often find myself in tears on my drive home. I just want to hug every one of them and make it all better." Crap, I'm getting teary-eyed just telling him about it! And why is he still holding my hand?
He smiled again and then looked away awkwardly and released her hand, having noticed her emotional expression.
"Well, I'd better get back to work," she said reluctantly, noticing the guests beginning to enter from the front of the room. "Is there anything you need right now?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you," he said. I think I have about 45 minutes before the performance, so I'm going to get some water and relax for a bit." Sookie turned and motioned Lafayette over.
"Lafayette, would you please get Eric a bottle of water and whatever else he needs?"
"Absolutely," said Lafayette with a bright smile, clapping Eric on the shoulder and steering him toward one of the bars. As the two walked away, Sookie shook her head slightly to clear it and smiled tiredly at Arlene who was approaching with the first of the night's endless minor crises that would need to be addressed.
Eric's performance began at 8pm and Sookie and Arlene stood off to one side, allowing them to view the show while still being readily available for handling any issues that arose. A hushed silence fell over the room as the lights came up onstage and Dr. Sam Merlotte, President of the Merlotte Children's Hospital, appeared to introduce Eric. He kindly thanked him for agreeing to perform in support of the children, shook his hand, and then stepped aside to let Eric take over. As he drew the first notes of Autumn Song from the grand piano, Sookie slowly let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. His voice floated over the crowd like a warm summer breeze, taking them with him on a beautiful journey. Sookie found herself being transported to another place, just by listening, and if the hazy look on Arlene's face was any indication, she was being transported, too. He performed a 45-minute set that had the crowd on its feet applauding after every song. He ended the set as expected with his most popular hit to date, Your Smile. As the last notes faded away and the stage lights went down, Sookie turned abruptly and headed for the back door.
"Where are you going?" asked Arlene with concern.
"I need some air."
