Disclaimer: I don't own anything to with the Southern Vampire Mysteries, that all belongs to the wonderful Charlaine Harris.
I woke up panting with my heart thudding in my chest so powerfully I wouldn't have been surprised if I broke a rib. The dream was still fresh in my mind. I could almost feel the cool touch of his skin on mine. My hand moved to my stomach where his hand had been resting to make sure there was nothing there. Of course, there wasn't.
"It's just a dream," I told myself. If it was only just a dream why was I still out of breath? "Get it together, Sookie." I grabbed a hair tie from the bedside table and pulled my hair off my sweaty face. The alarm clock only read 6:30 which explained why I hadn't been woken up by Addison yet; I had roughly an hour to get myself together.
I got up and went about my morning as normally as possible. What happened last night was still playing on my mind and I was on tenterhooks to find out what trouble I was going to find myself in now. If I had any luck at all, Eric would believe that I had moved on and really didn't need him in my life. I still had to call Pam again.
"Morning, Sweetie!" I called out cheerfully as a very sleepy little girl padded into the kitchen, even rubbing her eyes. "You want some pancakes? I'll even let you have chocolate sauce." So maybe I was feeling a little guilty and was trying to make up for that with sugar.
"Please and thank-you," she replied as she hopped up onto one of the tall stools by the breakfast bar. She was quiet. Usually, about a minute after waking up she was full of the energy that could only come with youth.
I continued to cook the pancakes, flipping them, expertly, when needed. It seemed like it was a waiting game with Addy; she would have questions, I just had to wait to see what they would be. I refused to delve into her head to figure it out. I didn't particularly like delving into anyone's head now, least of all my little Addison's. I would just have to wait her out. So, to take my mind off of everything I focused on my cooking.
I loved my new kitchen. I'd saved up for nearly a year to be able to remodel the entire thing, hell, I'd even had an extension put on the back to make it larger. I now had an expansive oven, at the side of which I was beginning to accumulate a rather impressive plate of pancakes. Oh well, I could always reheat them later. The new window was bay style and had a plush seat with many cushions in it so when I was alone I could curl up and watch the sky while I ate. The breakfast bar was an extension of the work surface that wrapped around into the room slightly. In the middle, the centre piece really, was my Gran's antique oak table that had been in the family for a few generations. I'd had it refurbished, mainly to protect it from further use, so it looked especially beautiful.
"Are we going to church this morning?" Addy's little voice broke my internal swooning and I was back down to Earth with a bump.
"Yep," I replied as I switched off the entire oven, and got the warmed up plates out. "We got just enough time to enjoy these, get ready and go. Your Dad isn't coming, he had to go have a brunch meeting in the city, but he's going to pick you up from Uncle Sam's later."
"Okay." I placed everything down in front of us and hopped up onto my own stool. Whatever Addy was mulling over it definitely wasn't affecting her appetite as she dug into the pancakes, successfully getting chocolate sauce over a good third of her face. I had to admit I was a little bitter; the time when I could eat like that and not worry about anything was long gone. "Okay, I'm stuffed." She finally decided, pushing her very empty plate forward and slouching down on the stool, patting her flat stomach.
"That's good, Sweetie. You go wash yourself clean of that chocolate and I'll take care of this lot. I'll be through in a minute to check on you." She nodded, and scampered off to the bathroom in the hall. I shook my head and proceeded to eat the remaining pancake on my plate. As I had thought, I still had a good half a dozen left for supper later, or perhaps even breakfast tomorrow.
After washing up the plates, which didn't take much doing since I'd been tidying up after myself as I cooked, I went to check up on Addy. She was already back in her bedroom, with a very clean face, standing in front of her little wardrobe that she kept at mine. The doors were thrown open and she seemed to be heavily contemplating something.
"What's got you thinking?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist to pick her up in a massive bear hug.
"I want to wear a dress."
"Okay." I had no idea where she was going with this one. I knew to at least three that she had in that little closet. Besides, we were going to church, it was perfectly fine to wear a dress.
"I don't know which one. I love the pink one and I love the purple one!" I giggled slightly at her dilemma.
"The pink sun-dress. You look beautiful in it." I popped her back down on the floor and helped her get dressed.
Just over four hours later we were sat in Sam's trailer playing board games. Sam had treated us to lunch, which actually only consisted of sandwiches but they were very nice.
"Addy! You're going to end up winning again!" Sam cried out, mock annoyance in his voice. We were playing Junior Scrabble and Addy was just about to win her second game. It was our little compromise; she got to play something highly fun for an hour or so, if we also played an hour of something educational. Luckily for me, Addy loved learning, she was still a sponge for just about everything. So, Junior Scrabble pretty much fit the bill for both categories.
"Haha," she laughed joyfully. Since coming to Sam's she seemed to have come back to life again. She was definitely no longer quiet. She still hadn't asked her questions, though I was in no doubt that they would come. "I beat you both!" Her dimples made her face even more adorable than usual.
"Well done, Sweetie!" I congratulated her. Her blonde curls danced around her shoulders as she shook in delight. "Okay, can you tidy this game up?" I asked. She was apparently so happy she just nodded her head and started packing everything up while singing a Disney song I couldn't quite place. "You sure you don't mind watching her?" I asked Sam when she was occupied.
"Not at all. Besides, you're covering the bar and waitressing. I think I got the better end of the deal," he chuckled.
"I think you might be right on that one."
"Are you working now?" Addy asked, a slight whine already apparent in her voice. Where had the happy kid from a moment ago gone?
"I'm afraid so, Sweetie. However, you get to stay here with Uncle Sam and play some more games. I bet you could beat him at Mouse Trap."
"Okay," she nodded, her bottom lip only ever so slightly sticking out. She'd always been used to me working a lot so tantrums and crying had always been on the rare side.
"Your Dad will pick you up in a couple of hours anyway. He sent me a text to say he was leaving in about an hour. He's coming straight here to pick you up. Now, give me a hug." I opened up my arms toward her and she quickly scampered across the floor to me. Her little arms wrapped tightly around my waist and she buried her face into my shoulder.
"I love you." She whispered sweetly. My heart melted. Every single time she told me.
"I love you too." Slowly we untangled ourselves and I got up from the floor where we'd been playing the games. I grabbed my denim jacket and purse. "I'll see you later Sam. Bye Addy." I waved to them both and let myself out of the trailer, ready to start my shift.
My shift passed by quickly with it being so busy. I didn't even get a chance to grab my well earned breaks. It was however, very good news for the grill. So, it was with relief that I pleasantly ushered the last customers out of the door and locked it soundly behind them. Sam was already behind the bar, doing inventory and counting the cash register.
"What a night." I untied my apron and popped it down on the bar, taking a seat so I could breathe for a minute before finishing up the cleaning. All the other waitresses had already left; it was my turn to close up anyway.
"Yep, five percent up on last Sunday night. Here ya go." He slid a glass down the bar to me; a trick he could only manage when the bar was freshly polished. He also had a tendency to send it flying too fast for me to be able to catch.
"Thanks. What delights do you hold?" I asked to my glass as I picked it up to take a sip. The glorious tropical taste of coconut and coca cola danced on my taste buds. Definitely what the doctor had ordered. "Cheers." I leant across the bar and chinked my glass along the side of Sam's beer bottle.
"Have you worked on those plans yet?"
"Not yet, I'm still thinking everything over before I reveal all!" I laughed. I finished the rest of the drink and went back to tidying up the tables, not that there was all that much left to do. "Hit the radio." Sam did as I asked and turned on the radio that lived behind the bar to the local music station. Everything always seemed to go just a little faster when there was music playing.
"There's another one waiting for you, Chere." Sam called out after a few minutes. It was always like this with me and Sam; comfortable. We didn't always need to talk to each other, we just enjoyed being in each other's company. He was one of my best friends and he'd stood by my side for a lot of stuff. I had returned the favour as well.
It didn't take long, just one more drink, before everything was sorted for the night. Everything was ready to get started again in just twelve short hours for the breakfast people. Thank God it wouldn't be either of us opening up tomorrow.
"You got any plans for the week?" I asked, sipping on my third drink. If a girl couldn't relax at the end of one hellish week then there was something wrong with the world. I didn't have to rush back to take care of Addy, I didn't have work in the morning; I could do as I wanted.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Sam sat down on his stool behind the bar and slouched back so his elbows rested on the small work surface underneath the spirit bottles.
"Oooh, what you doing?"
"I have a date." He said it calmly but there was a smug smile on his lips that he tried to mask by taking another sip.
"And who's the lucky lady?" For the dating scene, I had a tendency to live vicariously through my friends.
"She's a shifter I met a couple of weeks ago at a mutual friend's party." The true shape-shifter community was small so it wouldn't take much to get them all together. They were seriously outnumbered against the Weres.
"Karla?"
"Yeah, that's the one. I finally plucked up the courage to give her a call. We're going into the city on Thursday, since neither of us have to work the following day." He didn't bother to hide his smile this time.
"Well good for you. Here's to one of us finally getting a date." We chinked glasses again.
"You have to leave?" He asked when I got up from my seat. I was only planning on going to fill up my glass again.
"Well, considering I'm probably not legal to drive anymore, I'd say I'm staying." I laughed a little. I hardly ever drunk anymore, aside from my wine, so it didn't take much to get me quite tipsy. "I'll just crash on the pull out in the office."
"You sure, you can take the trailer if you want."
"I am not kicking you out of your own bed. I'll take the pull out. Wait, you're not leaving me to drink alone already are you?" I asked, a little upset that we'd been relaxing for about half an hour.
"No, just checking. Now what do you say to playing a little pool?"
There was one very good thing about spending so much time at Merlotte's: I was good at pool. Whenever it was quiet, such as during some breaks, when I was just hanging out with Sam, we would play pool. Over the years, no matter how bad I was when I started, I had gotten good. It's just a shame Sam had several years on me. Which was how I came to be handing over twenty bucks as I lost the final round.
"Okay, now I think I've taken enough of your hard earned cash for one night. I will see you in the morning." He placed a light kiss on my forehead and grabbed the cue from out of my hands. "Night, Sookie." He called out, while I was still mock huffing by the table.
I had actually won against him in two rounds. Which was good, if you didn't consider we'd played at least five. Resigning myself to having to practice more I grabbed what was left of my bottle of hard lemonade and wandered into the office.
Carefully, as my hands didn't seem to be quite as coordinated as usual, I pulled out the sofa bed and flopped down. Since we'd only purchased it for use when Addy needed to nap here which didn't happen very much, the mattress was still plush. The blankets were baby pink with yellow flowers, highlighting the fact that they were intended for a little girl.
"Crap!" I muttered as I remembered I had never called Pam again like I'd said I would. I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and fell backwards against the pillows to get comfy. I dialled Pam's number and listened to the rings.
"Hi Pam, it's Sookie again. I was asked to give you a call, again, so here I am giving you another call. Give me a ring back or call Eric. Let someone know where you are! Please. Oh, and it's Sookie by the way!" I hung up the phone and let it fall to the mattress. I'd told Eric there would be no point calling her again, but did he listen to me? No.
It was thoughts of Eric that reminded me that he'd turned up on my doorstep to, at least at first, find out if I'd heard anything back from Pam. So, in my clouded logic, I picked up the phone again and dialled a number I hadn't done in years. I was surprised, for many reasons, that I actually managed to get the right number from memory.
"Fangtasia, the bar with bite, where we make your darkest desires come true and life truly does begin at night. Eric speaking." My mouth popped open in surprise. He shouldn't have been answering the phone. All that my mind could come up with was crap. "Sookie?" How the hell did he know it was me? Even if they had called ID, I'd changed my cell phone number several times. I hadn't said a word. I hung up the phone and grabbed my bottle of lemonade for a little more courage. He shouldn't have been answering the phones. He never answers the phones at Fangtasia.
My phone began to ring in the semi-darkness as only the small desk top light was on in the room. I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked, already cursing my own stupidity. Stupid Sookie!
"So it was you then."
"How did you know it was me?" I asked in a quiet voice. Still surprised it was actually him on the phone.
"I am not entirely sure, I just did." Cursed vampire hearing, he probably could tell from my breathing or something else that silly.
"Why are you answering the phone? You never answer the phone."
"Sookie, it is passed two in the morning. We closed Fangtasia. I am the only one here." I could just imagine him sitting in his luxury leather office chair, bare feet propped up on the desk with his laptop balanced in his lap going over paper work.
"Oh," was my intelligent reply. I had no idea it had gotten so late. I shrugged my shoulders and took another sip.
"Wait, Sookie, are you drunk?"
"Nooo!" I replied emphatically, even shaking my head for good measure.
"Yes, you are." If I didn't know any better I'd say there was amusement in his voice.
"So what if I am? It's none of your business." If he'd been here in person I would have stuck my tongue out at him.
"At least answer me this, are you with someone?"
"Nope," I replied, popping the 'p'. "I'm all on my lonesome. Sam just went to bed and I'm trying to sleep on the stupid pull out sofa. It's actually pretty comfortable."
"Okay. Are you safe?" He was beginning to sound like an old fuddy-duddy. I laughed at my internal monologue.
"Yes, I'm fine. I can take care of myself." I finished the bottle of lemonade and set it down on the floor. I think I'd probably had enough for one night. "I am old enough to drink you know." I giggled, remembering the first time I'd laid eyes on Eric. It was my twenty first birthday and I was being meticulously carded at Fangtasia.
"I remember." I could just imagine a small smile playing on his lips. "First of July. You will be thirty next."
"How did you remember?" Although, if I admitted it to myself, I could still remember his birthday.
"Vampire. Now, do not get me wrong, I like that you have drunk dialled me, but is there a purpose to your call?" He was back to his standard American accent. At least he wasn't as stressed as the other night. Myself, I don't think I could feel stressed right now.
"Erm." I wracked my brain trying to remember. There must have been something. I wouldn't just call Eric, of all people, out of the blue. "Oh, yes! I called Pam again and it went straight through to voice mail. I even left a message. I just wanted to tell you so that you wouldn't have to drive all the way out here again." I may have been rambling.
"Thank-you. I do get the impression that you do not want to see me again." I wonder what might have given him that idea? It might just have been my repeated 'get the fuck out of here' messages and vibes.
"Yeah. That's right. I don't want you turning up on my front porch ever again!" It was a little hard to get angry when I was this relaxed though.
"Okay. But talking to me on the phone is alright?" Again with the humorous tone.
"Maybe."
"Will you ever tell me who the miniature human was?" He sounded resigned, or bored.
"Not if I have my way about it." The image of Addy, curled up and asleep in her bed flashed through my mind.
"Fine, Sookie. Have it your way." I felt like that statement should have come with a massive 'but' attached to it.
"Talk to me." I had no idea where that request came from but as soon as I heard it, it sounded like the best idea I'd heard in a long time. "Please."
"What would you like me to talk about?" His Swedish accent was beginning to seep back into his words.
"Anything," I replied as I settled down further into the pillows and drew the blanket around my shoulders.
"Okay. I had to find a new barmaid. The last one got pregnant by one of the fangbangers. She ended up getting her morning sickness at night which was how we all found out. She cannot keep working at the bar while carrying a child, it is not safe, so she has been put on permanent maternity leave. I do not know whether we will actually have her back when she has given birth or not. She did not think to tell us and she knows our rules." I couldn't help the yawn that almost split my jaw.
"That's boring. You have to get a new barmaid. Boohoo. We're always on the lookout for new barmaids here, it seems like a permanent job to hunt for them. Tell me something interesting." Another yawn stopped me from rambling any further.
"Okay, Sookie." He paused for a moment, as if he was thinking of the right thing to say. "När jag var barn leker vid havet..."
"Oh my dear God." I whispered as I became aware of light streaming down on me. My head pounded beyond belief so that even my thoughts sounded as though they were being yelled. What did I do last night? I whispered inside my own head. The light hitting my still closed eyes was painful. "Not good." I tried rolling over but a shooting pain inside my skull stopped the motion. Lying perfectly still I tried to figure out what was happening. I knew I wasn't at home; the bed didn't feel right and the pillow under my head smelt faintly of Addy, mixed with food and beer? There was only one place where all of those things could meet. I was laid on the pull out sofa bed in Merlotte's back office.
"What time is it?" I must have been drinking with Sam again and crashed on the sofa. It took way too much effort to think hard enough to figure everything out, although I doubt I'd actually drunk enough to really forget. A glass of water and everything would probably come flooding back.
Carefully, without moving my head, my arm snaked out from under the warmth of the blanket to search for my phone. I found I was close to the edge and bingo my phone was on the floor an inch away the mattress. It must have fallen at some point during the night. I picked it up and brought it in front of my face, my eyes still closed.
Gritting my teeth for what I was sure was going to hurt, I squinted my eyes open and stared at the screen. Two surprising things greeted me. It was only a little after seven in the morning which explained why I couldn't hear anything coming from the bar and I was still on the phone to Fangtasia. I hit the 'end call' button as fast as I was able and slumped back into the bed, ignoring the blinding pain as much as I could. Everything did indeed come flooding back to me, it just didn't need a glass of water to make it happen.
I'd called Eric. Except it was a lot more than that. I'd fallen asleep listening to him talking to me. "Crap." It was at that moment that the office door opened and Sam walked in, looking only a little better than me.
"Rise and shine. I come bearing the gifts of water and Tylenol."
"Thanks," I rasped, my voice hoarse from dehydration. I slowly sat up, using the back of the sofa for support and took the offered gifts from Sam. The entire glass of cool water was gulped down. Another glass and time for the pain killers to take effect and I'd begin to start feeling half human again. "I feel like hell."
"You look like it too," Sam half chuckled and then left the room. If I felt like I could yell at him I would have come up with a witty remark.
Slowly, I got up, set my clothes straight and pushed the sofa back into its correct position. By the time I made it out to the front of the bar, in order to grab another glass of water, the opening waitress was already in, chatting away. Sam was behind the bar with a pained expression on his face. I was definitely feeling all of my years this morning, I imagine Sam was feeling all of his too. Although he was a lucky son of a B; with his shape-shifter metabolism he'd be feeling fine in no time.
"Oh, morning, Sookie, I didn't realise you were here," Arlene greeted me too cheerfully.
"Morning," I half groaned. "I'm going home," I mumbled to both of them and headed towards the door after downing my second glass of water.
"You safe to drive?" Sam asked.
"I think so. I'll even text when I get in so that you know I'm okay," I replied, being only half sarcastic. Most days, despite how annoying it could be, I found it sweet that Sam cared so much about me. "See you later."
Five minutes later I was walking in my front door. The Tylenol were finally starting to take effect so I was able to move functionally without pain. If this was what turning thirty did to you, I had to seriously consider refusing and remaining twenty nine. "Nope," I answered myself with a small chuckle; it was never an option for me to become a vampire.
I grabbed myself another glass of water, some more painkillers for later and crawled into bed, to let sleep take away my aches.
Several hours later when I awoke for the second time in the same day, the sun was high in the sky and I felt a hell of a lot better. My stomach didn't feel like it would throw up anything that entered it and my head wasn't opposed to movement. I took the extra painkillers, stretched and began my day, hopefully it would go better than this morning.
"I should really take note not to drink like again," I mused to myself. I knew I would never stick to it; I'd said it a hundred times just like everyone else had and never stuck to it before.
"Ah well." I reached for the frying pan; greasy food was needed. I still needed to get everything sorted with Addy and I definitely needed to stop talking to Eric, he was the last thing I needed in my life. There had been a very good reason I'd said goodbye to him all those years ago.
The next night I was sat alone at home; Addy was with her father and I'd been working since the breakfast shift. All of that meant I was enjoying a nice glass of red wine. It didn't however mean that I'd stopped working. Paperwork was spread out over the oak table in the kitchen.
Since I'd taken over part of Merlotte's and become sort of partners with Sam, I'd been working on several plans. First of all I'd convinced Sam to start stocking some different types of drinks, trying to tempt in some of the younger lunch crowd at night. Which was how I'd managed to get drunk, at least partly, on hard lemonade. It had worked, over the trial couple of months; profits had gone up slightly all due to purchasing of the new drinks. Next, we'd tried offering cocktails which had been a much bigger success; it seemed the local ladies liked to pretend they were more of a city clientele drinking cosmopolitans. Now, we were actually thinking of expanding.
My idea had started out thinking we could open up a location in the city; serving food by day and transforming into a bar at night. After going over our finances we'd found that we weren't able to put down a deposit and pay for all the work we'd have to have done in a place. Yet. We both liked the idea, it would just have to be postponed. So now, I had to bring my fresh ideas in that would wouldn't cost too much but would draw in the bucks so we could get our other plans in motion.
Giving up for the time being, I turned my attention to order forms. Since we'd started ordering in a greater variety of stock, I'd taken over ordering everything. Shaking my head I pushed all the forms away and went to grab another glass of my favourite red. Everything would look better after a few minutes break.
Twenty minutes later I was pouring over the order forms again, seeing what deals I could get so that we could make some new cocktails and not overcrowd the store room so we had plenty for the regulars. The phone rang.
"Hello?" I asked, not really focusing on what I was doing, instead wondering if I could convince the company to substitute the 12 crate box of Budweiser for four of Budweiser, four of Sam Adams and four of the local brewery's.
"Good evening, Sookie." I really didn't expect the voice on the other end.
"What do you want, Eric?" I asked, exasperated.
"Well you sure have changed your tune."
"Look, I'm sorry for the other night. I was drunk and I was only trying to let you know that I'd tried contacting Pam so that you didn't have to drag your ass all the way out here again to check." I finally paused in my paperwork. I did not need this right now.
"You always did like my ass."
"Huhhhh!" I huffed. "You are infuriating!"
"I am." He had absolutely no shame.
"What do you want?" I asked again, finding my patience slipping away.
"Well, if you remember the other night, you do remember the other night?" He asked, amusement clear in his voice. I could almost see the smirk on his face.
"Yes." I admitted.
"Well, you asked me to just talk to you. Just in case I will remind you that I definitely fulfilled the request. I now have one for you."
"Crap. Eric, I said a thousand times I did not want to be dragged into any more of you shit."
"Let me finish. Now, I request that you talk with me." My stomach sunk. He had me and he freaking well knew it. If I didn't do this now, he would always have something over on me that he would be able to drag up on anything.
"Fine."
"I sorted out my waitress issue. It turns out the girl really needed the job, she's in college and her sister has agreed to take over her shifts as she is looking for a job."
"That's good, saves you some hassle."
"Yes. We also have a special costume night coming up next week, which you are more than welcome to come to."
"No." I cringed, thinking what my Gran would say about my lack of manners. Two sides of myself were warring over everything; being pleasant that had been ingrained in me since birth and to keep Eric out of my life. "Thank-you."
"We are going to be concocting these new cocktails that look exactly like True Blood."
"Erm, that's just a little disgusting."
"Be calmed, Sookie, they do not taste the same I am assured." A bright idea sparked through my mind.
"Which supplier do you use?" I asked quickly, probably with far too much interest.
"The same as always. Why do you want to know?" His curiosity was peaked.
"I am trying to get a good deal on some order forms, do you have any tips?" I picked up my pen, just in case he did have anything I could put to good use.
"Unless you want to come over to the dark side, I do not think my methods will suit you."
"Oh." Was my eloquent reply.
"If you want the good deals, place the order over the phone with one of the managers if you can. Let them know that you have been a loyal customer or that you intend to be. If they do not have exactly what you want, change things up slightly, so it suits you and them. There is not much else you can really do." I scribbled down the basics.
"Thanks." I told him genuinely.
"No problem. Now, Sookie. I think it would do well if you went to your back door."
I glanced up at the door in question. There was absolutely nothing out of place, the security light hadn't even come on. "Why?"
"Trust me, Sookie, open the back door." I definitely didn't trust Eric even though I didn't believe he would ever intentionally hurt me. I found it difficult to trust anyone these days.
"Why?" I still didn't bother to get up from the table.
"As I said, just trust me. I think it will be something you will like." He had gotten me a gift. This was how it had all started nearly nine years ago. From experience I knew that ignoring a gift of his would not go well. He was persistent.
"Fine." I pushed my chair back and stretched out my back; too long sat at the table didn't agree with me. "I forgot to ask," I started out. I really shouldn't have been asking but I found that I didn't actually want to hang up the phone, not that I would admit it. "Did you shave? You looked terrible the other night."
"Ah, Sookie, always trying to keep my ego in check. Just open the door."
"Keep your panties on, I'm there." I replied as my hand stretched out for the handle.
Thanks for reading and also thank-you for all the feedback that has been received. I love getting it and I always try and respond. Thank you also to all the guests that reviewed obviously I could reply but it's still much appreciated. Still looking for a beta for this and another story I have planned if anyone is interested. Thanks again and have a great week.