Took me a hot minute to get this up...wrapping up my summer school semester (fingers crossed I didn't screw up too bad), and I've reached the point where I'm no longer "written up" so to speak. I was running about 3 chapters ahead, and now I only have one complete ch. in the pipeline after this. But, it's mostly all mapped out, so I'll be getting it up as quickly as possible. However, if all goes well (wish me luck) I should have a new teaching job soon. Without further ado...
Most of Wednesday came and went without much going on. I did some laundry, padded around the house, and generally had a lazy day. It was kind of nice. I wish Amelia hadn't had to work, because it would've been fun to be lazy with her. I actually had a fleeting thought about us running through the sprinkler when it gets hot again; I'll have to save that idea.
As I was getting out of the shower late in the afternoon, I thought to myself that I should not get too comfortable. I haven't gone more than a few weeks without some sort of cataclysmic event happening in a couple of years…if I start to get too comfortable, I won't be ready to deal with the next crisis. I've gotten over blaming the vamps; I'm pretty sure I'd find myself in a few messes regardless. Jason would have become a werepanther with or without my entre into supe politics, and I'd still know about Sam. I'd probably be the Were pack's telepath-on-retainer had I not fallen in with the vampires.
I pulled on a sweater and sat outside to read my library book. I picked out another romance, mostly because I'm a creature of habit. It's hard to read these stories without my mind drifting to Eric, but maybe that's part of the reason I read so many of them, at least on some level.
The sun drifted down below the horizon and it got even chillier outside, so I grabbed my book and now-empty mug and returned to the house. I was staring absent-mindedly into the fridge (which Gran would get on to me for), trying to decide what to have for dinner, when I heard a knock on the door. It was Bill.
"Hey Bill, come on in," I said, hugging him and directing him to the couch. "I was just trying to decide what to have for dinner." I knew he wasn't a big fan of watching me eat, but he's the one that came over at supper time.
"I just came by to…well, as you would say, 'hang out,' if that's alright."
"That sounds kind of nice, actually. You're the first person I've had contact with all day. I guess Ames had some errands to run after work."
"How is Amelia doing?"
"Really well, actually. We had a great time on our trip, and she's actually thinking about giving Pam a call," I replied, turning to rummage through the kitchen some more. Bill followed.
"That's interesting," Bill remarked. He's never been Pam's biggest fan, but she's Eric's second, so there's little that can be done to avoid her. He doesn't see her for the big softy that she is.
"Well I don't think it'll be a booty call, if that's what you're thinking."
He just looked at me like I was from another planet.
"Oh, Bill. You know, a booty call—when you call someone just to hook up," I explained, laughing a little. "Pam really seems to get Amelia, strange as it must sound. I think Ames is ready to get back in the groove, and Pam has been a good friend to her."
Bill looked skeptical, but dropped it. He knew that Pam and I were pretty close, too—inasmuch as we could be.
I settled on a chicken salad sandwich and potato chips. The chicken salad was Halleigh Bellefleur's, and it was fantastic. I knew that the free food would be drying up soon, and I may have complained about some of it, but it was definitely nice to have a constant supply of food to choose from for weeks.
I sat in the wingback chair across from the sofa to give Bill a wide breadth as I ate. Even though it was his conscious choice to be here during my meal, I didn't need to rub it in his face.
"So what've you been up to, Bill?"
"I had a couple of freelance jobs this weekend while you were gone, just minor computer issues. It seems I've become the go-to vampire tech support person as of late," he said, smiling mostly to himself. He deserved to be proud, he's really made a name for himself in the field among the vampires.
"That's great, Bill, really."
"I've mostly just been working, playing videogames and piano lately. I've been trying to get back to a normal routine. It's been nice."
"Oh man, do I know whatcha mean. This is the most normal my life has been in a loooong time," I said, grinning.
"Well I certainly understand how you must feel getting back to your routine with your heart really in it once more. I have to say, I don't know what that's like. Perhaps because I haven't really had a 'job' before."
"It helps, y'know? Like you said, it's part of the routine. Just to make you feel whole again," I added.
"That's exactly it; the feeling I was chasing—trying to feel whole," he said, staring straight into my eyes.
I cast my eyes back down to my sandwich, taking the last couple of bites and returning the plate to the kitchen. I grabbed a Diet Dr. Pepper and remembered my manners.
"Oh, Bill! I'm so sorry, I didn't offer you a Blood. Need one?" I half-yelled to the living room.
"No thank you, Sookie. I had one before I came."
I sank down into the couch next to Bill, drawing my legs up Indian-style and turning to face him. "I'm glad you came by, Bill. Otherwise I'd be really bored tonight."
"No Eric?"
"He's had a lot going on. You know how it goes," I said, rolling my eyes. "What do you want to do?"
"Would you like to watch a movie?"
It seemed like an odd request, but one I was happy to indulge. "Sure! Any preference?"
"Just pick one of your favorites."
I picked Fried Green Tomatoes, which is a tad chick-flicky, but I knew he'd at least appreciate the southern generational aspects.
Right after I put it on, Amelia came home with some groceries. She put them away, made a few trips up and down the stairs to do some laundry, and mostly stayed in her room. She said she was chatting with Octavia online and had some sort of witchy web conference.
We watched in a comfortable silence, and Bill even laughed a little at a few points. During the Tawanda scene, I cracked up as usual. Bill was openly laughing (as much as he ever does), but I'm pretty sure he was actually finding the humor in my reaction rather than the scene. I stretched out, reclining against a pillow and laying my legs across his lap. He placed his hands on my legs, and although this wasn't an intimate position, it was nice…and it did give me butterflies.
I found myself hoping Eric didn't call anytime soon, because if he knew Bill was here and felt my butterflies, he would be extremely hurt. Eric doesn't do hurt well. In fact, he'd act out or ignore me for a few days while he fumed. Pam would tease him relentlessly, and that would only make it worse.
We stayed close the rest of the movie, and when it was over, Bill rose to leave.
"Sookie, it has been a lovely evening. I'm going to return home now, and I hope that we can do this again sometime."
I jumped up to walk him out.
"Yeah, I had fun. Thanks, Bill," I said, pulling him into a hug. "We will have to do this again."
He kissed me on the cheek as he was leaving, and his face lingered near mine for a long second before he turned to leave with vampire speed.
I cleaned up the kitchen and straightened up the living room before heading into my room to lie down and read. I'd felt so good this week I decided to go into work tomorrow and pick up a shift. I'm sure someone will want the day off. Plus it'll give me something to do, and I could use it.
I woke up the next morning and readied myself for work. The good feeling wasn't leaving, and I was really remembering what it was like to be myself. I was so over being such a harpy. I survived a tremendous ordeal, and made it out with some folks that I care a lot about. I have to start appreciating life instead of wallowing in misery.
Neither Holly nor Danielle wanted to give up their shift (they were saving up some cash to go to some concert in Shreveport this weekend), so I told Sam to get caught up on whatever he needed to in the office, and I'd handle the bar for him. He was relieved, apparently he had fallen behind on some things lately.
It was a normal day, but a little on the slow side. I knew we weren't walking out of there with a lot of cash, but it was great just to be out and about, talking with folks. Around 3:30 after the last lunch stragglers headed out, I was in such a good mood that I had an Abita. I don't drink beer often, but today was the right kind of day. Sam came out right about that time and poured himself one too, sitting down at the bar to chat.
"All caught up?"
"Sure am," he grinned. "Sook, I have something to tell you," he added, leaning in and looking slightly serious.
"Shoot, Sam."
"Arlene was sentenced this morning."
Arlene had gotten a plea bargain for her involvement in my near-miss crucifixion. She was able to retain custody of her children after she completed a shortened sentence and a very, very lengthy parole. Sam said she was sentenced to 5 months. I almost felt bad for a split second, but then I remembered what could have happened to me if they'd gotten to follow through with their plan, and it quickly went away.
"Well Sam, it's a shame that it had to happen that way. I'm sorry for Arlene—not about her going to jail or any of that. I'm just sorry she got sucked into that whole mess. It's too bad that she's so easily led."
Sam just nodded, and we both took big draws off our beers.
I cleaned up and headed home. I arrived just after 4:30, and Amelia had left a note on the counter when she came home for lunch. She was going to the mall in Monroe, then seeing a movie. I stood in the kitchen, looking around blankly. The more I thought about Arlene, the more it really did affect me. We were good friends at one time, even if it was a fairly one-sided relationship. I needed to talk about it, just get some thoughts out there, so I tried Eric. No answer.
I tried again a little while later with the same results. I then texted Busy? to him and still got no response. I was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of communication. I understand his position and responsibilities, but this is wearing thin.
Still, I wanted to talk to someone, so I called Bill.
"Hey Bill, got a minute?"
"Of course."
"I just needed to talk to someone. Arlene got sentenced today, and even though I'm all for her going to jail for what she tried to do to me, it's still a big deal, y'know?"
"I do know. I don't mind listening."
I told him about her sentence, we talked about our relationship, and I lamented that I really did still miss the old Arlene, before the FOTS mess started, even though she wasn't a very good friend back then, either. Bill was very reassuring and didn't try to make me feel stupid for feeling the way I did. I could have called Pam, but she would have been rather curt with her advice. I could imagine it: "If it'd been me, I would have drained the bitch. She got off easy, Sookie, be thankful you're rid of that garbage."
We chatted for about 20 minutes before I let him go to go on about my night.
The next day was errand running day. I returned Tupperware to folks around town who had brought food, and ended up spending most of the day talking to folks I didn't really want to spend the whole day with. Still, I was grateful for their kindness, and it was the least I could do.
I finished up by dropping off bills at the post office and running our check by the water dept. I fixed some dinner, took a shower, and decided to go have a drink at Merlotte's to pass the time. It was an uneventful night, but that's alright.
After I got home and kicked off my shoes, about to go to bed, my phone rang. I knew instantly it was Eric. This bond was very strange in how it worked sometimes.
"Hey Eric," I greeted dryly. I tried to hide my frustration, but I was doing a very poor job.
"Hello, lover. I want to apologize again for my prolonged absence. I was hoping we could have our evening at my home tomorrow?"
"That sounds fine, Eric. Promise it will happen?" I regretted the question the minute it left my mouth. If it doesn't happen, it wouldn't be for any reason that Eric had control over, and I knew it.
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that it does."
"Then it's a date," I said, not able to help smiling at the idea of finally getting to spend some time with Eric—and getting some answers.
"I will explain. Everything."
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Viking."
He made his sexy rumbly-hum sound that I've come to love.
"Until then, Lover."
"Goodnight, Eric."
