Sookie carried on for the next couple of days pretending like the remodeling crews weren't there. It wasn't very hard for her considering she never spoke to any of them simply because none of them could actually speak to her in a language she would understand. Other than that, she made herself scarce around her property, really throwing herself into this new role she was playing. It was the type of script that required a lot of time, dedication, and background research. The role was Oscar worthy and just thinking of the Academy gave Sookie little shivers. It's not that she wasn't taken seriously as an actress, but she had done more work along the lines of non-character based dramas and comedic fluff. This starring piece she was working on was a hard hitting story based on true crime events. That would really blow her name up!
After spending all day and most of the night with a group of criminal psychologists discussing the case history and getting into the minds of the characters in the story she would be portraying, Sookie was finally on her way home. She pulled into the garage and let herself into the house, disarming the alarm inside the door. She couldn't wait to see the final product when her home was complete because right now, it looked like hell. All of the floors had been stripped downstairs and all of the cabinet doors in the kitchen had been removed to make way for the new ones. Also, almost the entirety of her furniture had been removed from the home and put into storage. With everything that was left covered in white sheets, her house looked like a cheesy little ghost town.
Sookie rolled her neck realizing she had a lot of tension built up. She knew the best fix for that and immediately grabbed a serving tray and loaded it up with a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers, and fruit slices. She walked out of the backdoor to where the hot tub was literally calling her name, beckoning her into its soothing waters. Sookie plopped her tray down beside the hot tube and kicked her shoes off.
The one thing she loved most about the location of her house... no neighbors. Well, no neighbors that could see into her backyard. She unbuttoned her pants and let the drop to her ankles, kicking them off on to the tops of her shoes. Her shirt was soon to follow. The wind blew, causing a cool breeze to bring goosebumps out on her exposed flesh. She shivered slightly and quickly hopped out of her bra and panties before sliding into the water.
Sookie let out a loud sigh. The tension had already begun to make its way out with just the heat of the water. She reached over to the tray and uncorked the wine, pouring herself a generous glass. She took a long sip... letting the wine roll over her tongue and down her throat, warming her more than the water was. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, enjoying the peace and quiet. Before long, half the bottle was gone as well as the majority of the food. Sookie was feeling nice and bubbly as she let her mind wander around to the things occurring in her life. The one nagging thing that kept popping up in her mind was that she had not seen Eric since that morning he woke her up. Him not being there kind of disappointed her, and then she chastised herself for the thought. She wondered where he was, wasn't this a big job for he and his company? She huffed out loud and rested her head back against the hot tub pillow.
She was drifting in and out of sleep with visions of a half naked, tanned Viking; his ice blue eyes practically piercing through her soul. She woke with a start when she heard the distinct male sound of someone clearing their throat. Sookie blinked a few times, not sure if what she was seeing was still part of her dream. Eric stood over her, looking down with a bemused expression on his face. He was also shirtless and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Sookie swallowed hard and continued to stare at him.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to have to jump in there and save you. You started slipping under while you were sleeping."
Sookie sat up a little bit, noticing her chin was almost submerged. "Well thank you for the concern." She looked around for a second. "What are you doing here so late? You are like a master of odd hours." Eric let out his characteristic booming laugh, causing her insides to squirm. He crouched down so that he wasn't towering over her when he spoke.
"I wanted to get those cabinets up before morning, that way your dishware isn't exposed when I put in the counter tops. The marble cutting and fitting is going to create a lot of dust."
"Thank you for thinking logically." Sookie said a little sarcastically and immediately covered her mouth as soon as the words were out. "Sorry, I'm just usually surrounded by incompetence."
Eric nodded. He glanced over at the food tray, noticing that it was mostly gone. "Want me to run into the kitchen and get you some more food and wine?" He went and raised that infernal eyebrow as well.
"Sure, that would be great." Sookie watching his denim clad ass walk away and enter her house. She let out a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. She also looked around, noticing her pile of clothes neatly folded now. Eric must have done that. Wait, her clothes? Sookie blushed beet red, realizing that she had held a conversation with Eric while she was entirely nude. She glanced down into the water, crossing her fingers that nothing could be seen. She hadn't turned the lights on so it was dark and the bubbles seemed to have masked everything. Well, they masked everything except for the swell over her breasts over the top of the water line. In what seemed like no time at all, Eric was back. Sookie noticed a second glass on the tray.
"I was wondering if it at all possible to join you and relax for a minute? I have the cabinets set and the varnish is drying." Up went the eyebrow again.
Sookie's stomach started doing flips. "You mean join me... in here?" She raised an arm out of the water and gestured around her.
Eric set the tray down. "If you aren't comfortable with that, I'll just get back to work. But I promise you that I will stay on one side and not touch you. Let's just consider this a business meeting, updating you on the progress of your house as well as my vision. Ok?
Sookie numbly nodded. "What are you going to wear?"
Eric's face cut a devilish smirk. "I figured I would wear the same thing as you."
A/N: Next chapter will be up in two shakes of a lambs tail. Thanks patient people. I love you.