Sorry it's short, I didn't have time to write more this week.
Disclaimer: If I were the owner of SVM, I'd run before Eric reads the last book and finds me.
Beta'd by Breathesgirl
Previously:
I kissed him to shut him up and thankfully it worked. He graciously followed me to my bedroom.
He didn't disappoint.
It was a doorbell that woke me the next morning. Not my favourite way to wake up. I groaned and stretched. I was still pretty much incoherent. When my eyes landed on the clock and reality hit me.
Shit!
I overslept. The reason why I overslept was because... Oh, no, Sookie, don't go there. Not now. You can't afford to be thinking about that right now. You're already late for work.
First things first.
I sprang from my bed and groaned again. I was sore in all the places I wasn't used to, all the good places. I could swear had never felt some of these muscles now before. I wasn't even aware I had them!
Well, no wonder, Sookie, everyone would be sore after...
No! No! No! Shut! Up!
Eric would be so proud of himself.
That's when I realised I was standing, completely naked, in the middle of my room. I cursed quietly and threw an old housecoat on.
"I'm coming!" I yelled so the person ringing the bell so persistently would stop and know I was on my way.
I didn't look in the mirror – I wasn't going to make the same mistake again – but I wasn't stupid. I was sure my hair looked like a rat's nest, so I grabbed a baseball hat on my way to the door.
That's how I opened my door: In a housecoat and a baseball hat. Barefoot. No bra. No panties. Awesome.
I regretted that I didn't have sunglasses to complete my outfit so I could hide behind them: But, hey, I was wearing my Crazy Sookie smile!
If only Pam could see me now...
Thank God it was only a delivery guy. He looked at me funny but he didn't comment. He was a generally nice person, a rarity in this day and age, and he wasn't even thinking anything particularly nasty. He thought I looked like I'd just woken up, which I had, and was probably hung over. If ONLY! He even felt bad for getting me out of bed. My smile became more genuine.
"Can I help you, sir?" I asked.
"Sookie Stackhouse?"
"That's me."
"I have a delivery for you."
He handed me an elegant, flat box. It was white with a red bow. Not too big and completely innocent looking. I took it from him and peeked inside curiously. That turned out to be a bad idea. I shut it and hoped I did it fast enough that he didn't see what was inside. My face was now matchy-matchy with my red bow in the colour department.
I was going to kill Eric!
I signed the papers quickly and went back inside the house. I closed the door and let out a long breath as I opened the box again.
It held the exact item my current outfit lacked: sexy lingerie. Now my face matched the bow AND my gift!
I examined it more closely. Now that I had calmed down, and wasn't afraid someone would see it, I could admit it wasn't so bad: Lacy and silky but not scandalous. I remembered that Eric had ripped my underwear the night before so this was probably a replacement. I had no doubts Eric's gift was of a much better quality and certainly much more expensive.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't going to kill him. In a twisted, pervy Eric type way it was a nice gesture. If only it wasn't forcing me to think about the fact that last night was real and working me into a near panic...
...Working! Work! Yes, that's right! I needed to get to work!
I jogged to the phone and called Merlotte's.
"Merlotte's, Sam speaking."
"Hey Sam, it's Sookie."
"Sookie! What happened? Where are you? Is everything alright? I was beginning to worry!"
"Sam, I'm so sorry, everything is fine, I just overslept."
"Okay. When can you be here?"
I really did have a great boss.
"Give me half an hour."
"Okay, see you then."
I said my goodbyes and hung up. I took a hasty shower and brushed my hair. When I looked in the mirror for the first time that morning something caught my eye. I frowned.
There was something on my neck but I was sure Eric hadn't bitten me there so how could this happen? I examined it more closely and my eyes widened in shock.
I had a hickey. Not a fang mark but a freaking hickey! Was this some kind of vampire joke?
I stared at it helplessly for a moment before deciding to try to cover it with make-up. The cover job wasn't perfect but it worked for the most part. After taking care of it I dove into my room to dig out a fresh uniform and tried to avoid looking at my bed in a laughable attempt to ignore what had happened there last night.
I didn't have time to cook breakfast so I grabbed an apple after I dressed. I could always eat something from the bar on my break.
I left in hurry.
I rushed into the bar calling my apologies to Sam as I threw myself into my work. Fortunately it wasn't very busy so I was able to take care of all my customers pretty quickly.
Despite my late awakening and inner turmoil I discovered that I actually felt quite energized. It was easier to make small talk with the customers, too, since I had managed to work out some of my anger and frustration.
I was now more nervous about the inevitable 'what next' than mad about... well, every single aspect of my life. If I'm going to be honest with myself that's how I'd been feeling since I found out what Bill had really been up to.
After getting things in order my day was running more smoothly... that is, until I almost dropped my tray when I heard a stray thought from one of the regulars who was wondering what had happened to improve my attitude since he was last in. He, it just had to be a man, was convinced that I must have gotten laid.
Was it that obvious?
Then he started thinking about how I must have been cheating on Bill since everybody knew he was out of town which made me really angry. The next thing I knew he was wondering if there was any chance he could 'get some' from me too since I was obviously an easy lay if I was so ready to spread my legs when my boyfriend was away. He thought I was probably used to kink since I was dating a vampire.
What a pig! I stopped listening when he started imaging some of the things he thought I might have done. Things which he wanted me to do for him. I had to stop myself from hitting him with my tray.
It got me thinking though: if this is what people thought about me now, how much worse would it get if they actually knew what I was doing? Maybe I should say 'when' they knew? I became painfully aware that at some point people would figure out what my new secret was. Then I'd have to face their judgement. It was not a pleasant possibility.
I plastered on my craziest smile.
"Will there be anything else?" I asked as I put his beer not too gently on the table.
He jumped. I startled him. Good.
"That'll be all, Sookie." He actually had the audacity to smile at me! Jerk!
"Okay then. Just holler if you need anything else," I said through gritted teeth.
He looked at me weirdly. He wasn't why I was so hostile all of sudden and what the reason for my mood swing was.
Now he was wondering if I was pregnant. If that was case he didn't want to have anything to do with me. In my mind I rolled my eyes at him. I just couldn't believe some people.
Oh, Sookie, Sookie. There is nothing to be ashamed of. A lady should always have nice underwear. If she's not wearing any, she can at least hold it in a box in her hand! Good thing Eric thought of giving it to you!
