Chapter Eight
The room was completely dark when I finally woke up. I looked at the clock on the bedside table and it was 10am. I slowly began to move and untwine myself from Eric. I clicked on the small lamp next to the bed and gathered up my clothes and went into the bathroom to take care of necessities. The room was small but the shower and the floor were slate grey stone with the shower closed in with those glass blocks that look like ice. There was a black toilet and black pedestal sink and a linen closet. All the basics in Eric style. I am not sure what would have possessed him in putting a toilet in the bathroom but I guess it must just have been for aesthetic purposes. I got dressed and gathered my purse and used the key Eric gave me to unlock the steel door and relock it as I walked out. I exited the stairwell the same way we came in and made sure my vampire was sealed up tight in his daytime resting place. I took the time to look at the rest of the house. One of the rooms upstairs was set up as a home office. Another large bedroom with an attached bathroom in stone and marble and glass and on the other side of the bedroom was a small sunroom area, I could see myself spending time sitting there reading. There was another decent sized room that had some exercise equipment in it. I had no idea that vampires worked out. There was another regular style bathroom in the hall. I went downstairs and as you entered through the front door there was a foyer with beautiful stone flooring that led down a hallway with hardwood floors that opened into a large room with beautiful chocolate leather furniture and a large flat panel television mounted above the fireplace and more stereo equipment then I think I could figure out all tucked neatly in a built in nook. Off this room to one side was the kitchen that opened into a formal dining room and off the other side was a small hallway that had the stairs on the other side of the wall. There was a small half bath and a closet in the hallway then the hallway opened up to a very large room with a wall of windowed doors, so much for security. The room was huge and contained a pool table and another TV with a Wii hooked up and a couple of leather recliners and another leather couch and a wet bar area. The house was very modern not at all like my own home, the home I grew up in. I walked over to the glass doors and stepped out to the decking of one of the most beautiful swimming pools I have ever seen. It was complete with a Jacuzzi and a rock waterfall. Then I noticed where Eric's hiding area would be a doorway in the back of the house. I used the key to open it and it was set up like a pool house. There was storage and pool equipment and chemicals downstairs and upstairs area with some casual furniture and a changing area. This is how he hid the fact that his house was longer on the end outside then it seemed inside. Very clever. Time was slipping away and I needed to get back to Bon Temps and get ready for work tonight. If I was lucky I could grab a nap before I went to work.
As
I pulled into my driveway in Eric's black Corvette Amelia was
sitting on the porch. She just stared at me as I parked the Corvette
next to her Mustang and got out. "I was worried about you when I
got home this morning and your car was here but you weren't. But I
see you got a new car. How did you score that beauty?" she
questioned.
"It's
Eric's" I said as I walked up the steps to the porch.
"Eric's?
So you two are together?
"We
are a little more then together Amelia. We are in love. I love him.
He loves me and I am happy beyond what I ever thought I could be when
I am with him."
"Sookie
are you sure? This is Eric we are talking about."
"I
know who I am talking about" I snapped at her. "Amelia, thanks
for your concern but it's real and it is with Eric, the Eric I
think maybe only I know."
"Ok
I trust your judgment so what's with the car did he give it to
you?"
"He
told me I could have it. He told me he would buy me a new one if I
wanted. But I am going to give it back to him when I see him again.
But first you and I are going to go shopping in style. He gave me his
credit card too!"
"Sookie
what's going on? This isn't like you."
"Don't freak out on me. I have
to go shopping to buy more new clothes since my last ones were
destroyed in the fire. I have another Summit meeting to go to, this
time in Florida."
"Oh
great because every time you go to one of these vampire meetings it
turns out so well for you."
"I
know, I know and I thought the same thing. But it's part of my
life. I chose this and I have to live up to it. But right now I have
to go in and eat and get ready for work. I have to tell Sam tonight I
will be taking off work again. Come in with me I want to tell you
something else." I needed to bounce this idea of me living with
Eric off of someone else. I already knew that Amelia wasn't going
to be the most objective person which I really don't understand she
doesn't really know Eric. So we went inside and I started pulling
out stuff to make turkey sandwiches and Amelia grabbed some chips and
a couple of Cokes.
"So
what is that you wanted to tell me, Sookie. Is it about me moving
out? Have I overstayed my welcome?"
"No,
not at all," ok well that wasn't the complete truth but that was
something else I was indecisive about. I liked having Amelia here but
then again I liked having my privacy not that I had needed much of it
in the last several weeks but having it the other night was great.
"It's more about me and Eric. Eric wants me to move to Shreveport
and live with him and manage the human wait staff at Fangtasia," I
said this so fast I think all the words just kind of ran together.
Amelia
just stared at me for a long moment, "And"
"AND,
I really want to. But I am afraid. Not of Eric, not of our
relationship, but leaving everything I have ever known, leaving all
my friends."
"Shreveport is only an hour
away. What would you do with your house?" Not quite the response I
had expected I think she was thinking of herself.
"Well
I hadn't thought about that yet. Since I haven't even decided
what I want to do I hadn't thought of anything else. Eric has a
beautiful home and I loved being there with him. Last night was so
great."
"Yeah,
spare me the details of that or wait maybe give me the details,"
she said with a grin and a couple of quick raises of her eyebrows.
"AMELIA," I said faking
shocked. "Actually I will tell you about last night. We went to bed
and held each other. That was it. No sex, no feeding, not that it
hadn't happened already, "I said with a quick smile, "but I
have never gone to bed with a man and just went to sleep. It was nice
and it was Eric's idea."
"Are
you serious," her shock was not fake. "Eric chose to crawl in bed
with you and snuggle."
Her disbelief was very apparent.
"Yep, I told you he loves
me."
"So
when do you have to decide if you are going to move in with him and
go to work at Fangtasia?"
"There
is no time limit. It is an open ended invitation whenever I think I
am ready."
"He
didn't give you a time table or an ultimatum he is leaving it
completely up to you?"
"Yep"
I said matter of factly.
"Wow,
this from a Master Vampire to a HUMAN. He does really love you!"
Again her shock was not fake and she took a bite of the sandwich I
just sat in front of her.
"How was your trip to New
Orleans? How is your house?"
"Sookie,
it is so depressing. Things are so messed up still. My place isn't
ready yet. I hope you don't mind me staying here a while longer. My
dad is so busy making money that he seems to have put my place on the
back burner. I think I might have to get with my insurance company
and get a different contractor."
"You're
welcome to stay, you should know that," now I was feeling guilty
for my earlier thoughts, "I just want you to know Eric and I are
together and sometimes that means we will need privacy and I really
don't want to inconvenience you, but sometimes we may want to be
alone, here."
"Hey I understand. If me being
upstairs with headphones on isn't privacy enough just let me know
and I will skedaddle."
"Thanks,
now I have to go get ready for work. I have to be there in about an
hour." I got up and Amelia let me know she would clean up. I went
and jumped in the shower and got ready for work and jumped in my, uh,
Eric's car and off I went.
