***Thank you again for all of your reviews. And thanks again to Mel and my SIL for editing the chapters for me. I hope everone enjoys this chapter. And as always I do not own the Sookie characters, Charlaine Harris does.***

News and Work

When I got up in the morning the sky was overcast and carried the crisp smell of rain. I had talked to Sam last night before I left the bar. His mother was healing quickly and he thought that he would be home next week. I told him about the trip to Las Vegas next month and he was concerned for my safety but told me that I could have a month off if I wanted it. I told him I wouldn't do that, I enjoy working for Sam, he's a good boss.

I decided to get up and go make some coffee and breakfast. I made pancakes and sausage and Amelia came downstairs just as I was getting ready to go see if she wanted any.

"Smells good, do you need me to do anything?"

"Nope, I just finished," I said as I started dishing up a couple of plates. Amelia poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Octavia called me last night. She's on her way back today."

"Okay," I said handing her a plate.

"So how's that tall, blond Viking of yours doing?" she said, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"He's doing good. We talked on the phone last night but he's been busy with meetings. He didn't say if he was coming up tonight or not," which I suddenly found strange. I found myself hoping that he would because, I really did enjoy him being near me. "How's Tray doing?" I asked, derailing that train of thought. I hadn't seen him in about a week and I hoped they were still doing alright.

"Tray's fantastic," Amelia had a huge smile on her face. I heard it before she said it but I kept my face straight, she'd been waiting all morning to tell me herself. "He asked me to move in with him!" She was practically jumping out of her seat.

"Amelia why did you wait so long to tell me!" I exclaimed. I was so excited for her.

"I don't really know, I guess I was just waiting for the right moment," she said.

"That's fine, as long as this is what you want. If you're happy, I'm happy," I explained. "So have you guys decided when you'll be moving in with him? Are you still going to work at Merlotte's or do I need to find a new waitress…again?"

"We haven't decided when yet, but I'll still work at the bar. I enjoy it there. Besides, I wouldn't want Tray to think he had to support me financially." Amelia was pretty proud that her father didn't support her and she wanted to keep something of her 'freedom' as she called it in her head.

"That's good. I hate having to hire new people," I was grinning from ear to ear. "What am I going to do when Octavia moves out?"

"I could think of a few things," Amelia said as I was getting mental images of Eric. I laughed and shook my head. She had no clue how close her mental images were to what Eric and I had already done in this house. I could feel my cheeks warming as I thought of the past.

Amelia started on the dishes so I decided I would go take a shower and get ready for the day. I was on my way to my room when I heard a car pull up outside. I went and opened the front door to see a delivery van in my driveway. The lady pulled out a magnificent bouquet of white Lilies. They sparkled in the sunlight, and they were breathtaking. I signed for the flowers and then placed them on my coffee table.

"Well those sure are something," Amelia said as she came into the room. "Are they from Eric?"

I took the card out of the little plastic holder and read it. "I hope you have a wonderful day, until we meet again, E." He was really trying, and I loved it.

"He's being so sweet. That's a good sign," Amelia nodded appreciatively.

"Yeah, it is a great sign," I said smiling, then I went to find my phone to leave him a voicemail. After that I showered and dried my hair. I didn't have to go to work for a while so I sat down with a book. It was one of Amelia's and it was really good. It was about a girl in high school who falls in love with a Vampire. But the Vampires in the book weren't like my Vampires. They don't sleep and they can go in the sun, but they don't because they sparkle. I know it sounds strange but it is a pretty good book, it just sucks you in.

I had read quite a few chapters when the phone rang. I reached over to grab it and noticed on the caller I.D. that it was Holly.

"Hey Holly! What's up?" I asked her.

"Hi Sookie, I was wondering if you would be willing to come in an hour or so early so me and my mom can go look at some wedding invitations?" she asked me.

"I sure can, I'll see you in about an hour," I told her as I glanced at the clock. That would give her an extra couple of hours to look at wedding stuff.

"Thanks so much, it is a huge help," she said before hanging up and going back to work.

I marked the page I was on and then went and got ready to go into Merlotte's.

When I arrived the parking lot was surprisingly empty. It had been a while since we had a slow day, but I pulled around back like always and went in the back door. I was putting my purse in the drawer in Sam's desk when Holly came in. "Hey Holly were we very busy today?"

"Only at lunch time, it's slowed down since then. My last table just left so you're all set. I really appreciate you filling in for me today Sookie. I just can't believe the wedding is in three weeks! There's still so much work to be done," I could tell how overwhelmed she was getting.

"No problem, have fun with your mom," I told her as I put on my apron. She smiled at me then grabbed her purse and headed out the back. I called Sam and told him the date of the wedding. It was the second weekend in November. Sam said to tell Holly that he would set up an open bar for her and cover the costs. It was his gift to her since she had worked here for so long. I made sure I called her cell to let her know before I went up to the front to start working. I also found out that she was registered at Target and made myself a note to get on-line tonight and order something so it would arrive before the wedding.

I had cleaned all my tables and re-filled all the salt, pepper, catsup and mustard bottles before we got one new customer. It was Calvin Norris. He nodded to Tray and sat down at one of my tables. I went over and got his order then headed up to the bar. I glanced over at him while I waited and saw that his eyes were closed. His mind was pretty quiet, but then again it was usually more difficult to hear shifters minds. But still, it was quieter than it usually is. I grabbed his mug and went back over to his table feeling just a bit concerned.

"Hey Calvin, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Sookie, just a little tired." He smiled at me and he got those little wrinkles around his eyes. Calvin's eyes are always full of so much emotion, but they looked vaguely empty today.

"Okay, you just holler if you need anything else," I said as I patted his shoulder once before leaving him to his thoughts. After a little while Calvin said good-bye and went home.

It was strange being so slow tonight since we had been so busy lately. We were all doing some extra cleaning when I felt the familiar warm glow start. Eric was close. I was already grinning when Eric came in. I saw Amelia wink at me from the corner of my eye. Since it was still so empty tonight, I decided sitting down with Eric for a minute wouldn't hurt anything. I warmed a bottle of True Blood and took it over to him.

"This is a nice surprise," I said sitting across from him at the small table.

"I hoped you wouldn't mind if I came to see you tonight. I'm glad I did since it looks like you've been bored," he replied chuckling.

"Yeah it's been really slow tonight. So how's everything at Fangtasia?"

"Business is going well, Pam is working tonight." I could tell he had something on his mind but I didn't ask, I figured he'd tell me when he was ready.

"Okay. So did you have anything planned for tonight?" I wasn't really sure what to say to him.

He had a sly look on his face when he answered, "I've had a few thoughts on what to do with my evening." Well I could only imagine what some of those thoughts would be, and I could imagine that some of the same thoughts had run across my mind. However I wasn't going to go down that road again so quickly. Eric was going to have to work to get back into my bed again.

"What are you thinking about, lover? I've seen many emotions cross your face just now."

"It's nothing we're going to discuss right now, Eric," I explained to him as I looked around the bar. We had been dead quiet all night so I was thinking perhaps I could sneak out a little early tonight. "Will you excuse me for a moment?"

"Of course lover, I know you are here working," he said as he nodded his head to me.

"Thanks," I got up and went over to the bar to talk to Amelia and Tray. "Hey guys, what do you think of closing up a little early tonight? I'll call Sam first to make sure it's okay with him, but with us being so slow, I don't think he'll mind."

"Sounds good, as long as Sam's okay with that," Tray said looking over to Amelia who was nodding in agreement. They were both thinking about having the extra time together, alone. Okay putting my shields back up, I didn't need the mental images.

"Great, I'll go call Sam," I said grinning as I was already headed down the hallway to the office. Sam answered on the first ring. "Hi Sam, we've been really slow and we were wondering if you would mind if we closed up a little early tonight?"

"How slow have you been?" he asked.

"Calvin Norris came in and had one beer, and Eric came in and had one True Blood," I answered knowing that with only two customers all night he would let us close up early.

"Only two people all night! Yeah go ahead and close up. No reason to be there all night if nobody's coming out. Just put a note on the front door saying we closed up early, just in case someone stops by."

"Sure thing boss," I said grinning. We said good-night and I went to tell the others to go on home. I put a note on the front door like Sam had asked and locked up. Then I turned to Eric, "So what would you like to do this evening?" And as I finished the sentence I knew I had said it all wrong.

Eric grinned mischievously, "You," he stated simply.

"Ah, no, not tonight anyway. You'll have to earn that privilege. And a couple of phone calls and some flowers aren't quite enough." I said smiling and hoping that he would understand.

"I thought you would say something along those lines," he said with a smile. "And I am okay with that, in fact I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

"Good," I said smiling to him. He followed me out the back of the bar and opened my car door for me.

"I'll follow you home, lover," he said to me as he closed my door and then he was gone in a blink of an eye. As I pulled out of the parking lot, Eric's corvette pulled out behind me.

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