Arriving at Merlotte's was weird. It was her first time around humans since the attack, and she immediately noticed that the brain chatter was worse than normal. Usually, she could ignore a lot of the extra stuff she heard, but it all seemed to be amplified. She tried harder to block them out as she tied her apron on.

Sam asked Sookie into his office as soon as he saw her. She followed, though a little hesitant. She still had not exactly worked out what she should, or should not, tell him about her little adventure.

"As you can see, I am in one piece." She flourished a hand as if she were Vanna White. She even did a little twirl to show that she was whole.

Suddenly, Sam was right in front of her when she finished turning and faced him. Her boss had enjoyed the show. His eyes were bright, and he pulled a strand of her hair towards him to smell it.

Goosebumps broke out over her arms as he took another step closer. "Yes, you most definitely are. In fact, you look amazing." Sookie had noticed that her hair was shining brighter than normal and even her skin seemed more golden, but she had thought that perhaps it was just the good soaking of sun. Sam noticing somehow made it more poignant and boy, was he noticing. Their bodies were now touching he was so close.

"Sam…" She had meant it to bring him back to reality, but the breathless quality of her voice must have sounded like an invitation because he moved his hand to her neck, leaning in for a kiss.

He tensed before their lips touched, and Sookie felt her hair moved once again from her neck. She really needed to invest in some turtleneck. No matter how unreasonable they were for southern Louisiana. Sookie would have sworn that Sam's growl could have been heard by the patrons in the bar. He was still holding her to him a little too tightly as he looked over the large patch of skin on her neck that was still healing.

"Did he do this to you?" His voice was dangerous as he tried to draw her in even closer, but it was becoming a matter of science now. She had always had trouble concentrating in school, but she distinctly remembered there being a rule against two objects occupying the same space.

"Sam, you are hurting me." She brought her hand up to push against his chest, and his stormy grey eyes caught hers.

"Answer me, Sookie… did Eric hurt you?"

"No, actually. He killed the vampire that did." Let him chew on that. "Now, let me go!"

He did not. Sookie began to struggle in earnest; she was getting sick and tired of these abnormally strong beings who thought they could just control her whenever they felt it prudent. Sam was definitely strong, but not as strong as Eric. After a good push with both of her arms, Sookie managed to separate herself from Sam. He looked shocked for a moment, and she managed to feel smug for half a second as she stepped away from him. When he closed the distance again, she stood her ground.

"You drank his blood again…" Sookie paled at his accusation. Was it the scar? Could he tell from the healing? "You should not be that strong."

Now that was something neither the website nor Eric had mentioned. Vampire blood made humans stronger. Interesting. "Well Sam… I didn't have much of a choice. I was kind of bleeding out in his office."

"Sookie, this is bad. Eric will know things about you now, like how you are feeling or even where you are. He can probably track you now."

"That is super helpful, Sam. I will keep that in mind the next time I try to sneak up behind while sad!"

"I told you this was a bad idea! You should never have gotten involved with those things." Sam's anger was bubbling over, and even though she knew he wasn't angry at her specifically, she was the one he was now yelling at.

"Yeah, well, it is a little too late for that ain't it!"

"If you hadn't been so fucking stubborn and let me help you, I could have gotten you away from here. I swear, sometimes you are just dumb!" Sam never cussed, and Sookie flinched at the word directed at her.

"You wouldn't be the first to think so, but did you ever stop to think what he might have done to those I left behind if I'd just ran away after agreeing to work for him? Did you ever think that maybe I'm keeping everyone I love safe?"

"You can't trust them Sookie." He grabbed her arm, willing her to understand.

"Oh really? That's rich coming from a man who has been lying to me for years!" He dropped her arm and backed into the desk as if she had physically attacked him. Her anger was getting the best of her, and she knew it. He had provoked her too far. "I don't know that Eric has ever been dishonest with me, so that makes him more trustworthy than you right now…" She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. It was too late to take them back, and she was much too angry to apologize.

Without ever breaking the glare that was still pinning Sam to his desk, Sookie took off her apron and threw it in the chair. He looked down at it, but she turned on her heels and walked out. She had no idea if she had just quit or was simply staging a walk out for the night, but she was in no mood to analyze it. On the way to her car, her cell phone rang.

"What?" She did not even look to see who was calling. The sun had just set, and only one person had her number that she knew of.

"Are you alright?" Eric did not seem put off by her angry greeting.

"I am pissed as hell." She ended the call before he could say anything else; conversation was not on her list of things to do. Maybe she could see if there was some wood to chop or something else physically intense, and then she would probably attack a carton of ice cream, but there was no world in which she was going to answer any phone again tonight.

Sam was smart enough not to come after her. Eric obviously knew that she was angry and upset, but he also seemed to know that she was in no real peril. Unfortunately, her grandmother's bushes had suffered the wrath of Sookie, equipped with some gardening shears. The next day, Sookie stood outside surveying the damage. They would all survive, but it would be a while before they looked like anything more than tumbleweeds with sprigs of green.

Another restless night sleep had not left her feeling any better. Most of her anger had dissipated, but she was still incredibly hurt by Sam's treatment of her. He knew her better than to get a rise out of her like he had and expect it all to be okay. Of course, she felt terrible for some of the things she had said, but her stubbornness kept her at her own house. After all, she had not been wrong, and he was the one who provoked her.

It had, however, become clear to her that she should not have left things the way that she did. It was wrong to leave Sam an employee down for the night, and he might have assumed she was quitting. She did not want to lose her job, or Sam's friendship, but she didn't want him thinking that he could control her.

Sookie heard the pick-up turn onto her gravel road before she turned around to see it. Maybe she wasn't the only mind reader in Bon Temps. Sam jumped down from the cab and crossed over to her an unnatural speed. She was surprised to find herself caught up in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Cher."

She relaxed into him, her resolve melting at the sadness in his voice.

"It's alright… I know you didn't mean it." His shirt moved as she spoke into his chest.

"I still shouldn't have said it. I am just so worried about you."

"I wasn't exactly calm and collected. I'm sorry about what I said too, Sam."

He backed up a step she he could look at her in the eyes, though his hands remained lightly on her arms. "Except you were right, weren't you? I didn't trust you when I should have, and I kept something important from you."

Sookie looked down, toeing a rock that was sticking up. "I still shouldn't thrown it in your face like that. I do trust you, Sam."

"I know, Cher. And I trust you as well."

"Then you have to let me make my own decisions." She looked up at him. He might say he trusted her. She might even know his big secret now, but his actions last night had made it very clear that he didn't trust her to know what was right.

"Yeah… but that is going to take some doing. At least where vampires are concerned."

"But you will try?" She did not know if she could still be friends with him if he continued on this way.

"If you will come back to work, I will."

"Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"Is it working?"

"I hadn't really quit. I just couldn't be trusted around people last night."

"I understand, Cher, and I am glad that you still want to work for me after I was such an asshole. You really are the best of all of us Sookie."

"Thank you, Sam."

"I need to get back before the delivery guy leaves. I will see you tonight?" The hope in his voice brought a smile to Sookie's face.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

Eric had called with another non-descript job before the week was out. She would have preferred a little more time. Unfortunately, her car was having troubles, and there was no way she could pass up the money.

This time, it wasn't Monday, and the club was packed. Sookie felt marginally better that so many people would be around. Witnesses. It had served her well in the past. The bouncer vamp quickly recognized who she was and had her skip the line, much to the chagrin of every fangbanger who had been waiting in the long line. She had thought about going to the employee entrance again but had wanted to differentiate this night from the last time she was at Fangtasia as much as possible.

Sookie had chosen to go with pants again, khakis this time. The shirt was a floral print that made her feel girly but looked nice. Eric sat on his makeshift throne separated from the thralls by sheer power of presence. It was really impressive considering how many people in the bar wanted nothing more than to throw themselves on Eric. Well, they wanted a little more than that, but Sookie was trying to block that out.

"He wants you in his office."

"Hello, Pam." Sookie had jumped when the vampire appeared behind her, but she saw Eric blur towards her accompanied by cheers from the bar patrons.

"And in my car, that booth, your porch, my bed, your bed… really anywhere."

"I see we are back to that."

"As I told you Sookie, I would miss it to much; your blush is mesmerizing." Her cheeks were indeed bright red.

"Shall we?" She said trying to get them back to business.

"I keep offering, but you keep saying no." The smug smile was firmly planted on his face, so Sookie just started towards his office without him. It took a little guessing as she had come in a different way last time, but she found it all the same. He did not seem in any hurry to correct her or show her the way. He just followed behind.

Once in door, he swept past her to the chair behind his desk. A new chair had been placed by his desk, and Sookie couldn't help but notice the concrete floor had recently been repainted.

Eric indicated the new seat, and she obligingly sat. It was one of those swivel chairs, but she resisted the urge to take a spin. It would have been very unprofessional.

"I am going to take full advantage of having a telepath."

Sookie looked at him sideways, but besides a small smile, the statement was in no way predatory. Still, she was not sure what to make of the statement, when a man in a business suit entered the office.

Eric, who managed to look professional in a black tank top and black jeans, made introductions, though he did not shake the man's hand.

"Sookie, Mr. Philips here would like to begin providing our liquor. He is here to tell us how much money we could save with his company." She was pretty sure he was trying to get some sort of message across to her, but she was not getting it.

She did, however, shake his hand, happy to find that he was simply considering her as a business associate of Eric's instead of considering anything else about her. It was nice to be considered an equal.

Mr. Philips presented them both with folders containing numbers that Sookie was not completely unfamiliar with. Sam needed help every once and a while, and Sookie was his go-to assistant. Still, these were much larger quantities than she was used to, and some of the numbers were staggering.

As soon as he started to go through the numbers out loud with them, it dawned on her why she was present. The whole time that he was saying one number to them, his mind was going over the actual product cost and profit margins. His mind was especially vocal, which made it easy for her to pick up on the exact numbers.

She began to keep notes on the page with a pen from Eric's desk. Mr. Philips was so used to his little speech that he forged ahead without so much as a noise of understanding from his listeners. Eric was watching Sookie intently, so Mr. Philips had also turned his attention to her. He seemed to think she was the one actually in charge of the accounting. The thought had almost made her laugh, but she had kept up her professional demeanor, trying to stay away from the Crazy Sookie smile.

Once he had finally finished speaking, Sookie looked to Eric, not quite sure what to do with all the information she had. He swept his hand towards Mr. Philips, giving her the go ahead.

"Well, Mr. Philips, that was quite a proposal." She kept her voice sweet, and smile secure. "But we both know that you are getting your products for far less since y'all are getting them straight from the distributor."

He was impressed by how well informed she was, and she smiled a little more. Only now he was worried. His boss really wanted this account. He knew that Eric had other ventures that served alcohol, and they hoped if they could supply Fangtasia, contracts for the other businesses would soon follow. His boss had used the phrase "or it's your ass." Of course, now he had to deal with someone who knew what they were talking about. He could not go too low or the contracts would be worthless.

"Let's see if we can work out something that will be more mutually beneficial." Sookie's smile was now borderline crazy. She was on a little bit of a power trip; a very rare feeling for the waitress.

A half hour later, Sookie had gotten him to the lowest price he thought he could give without losing his job. She loved the haggling and the power her disability was giving her, but she did not want to cost him his livelihood. He seemed like a nice guy who only wanted a little more respect at work. The contracts would get him that, and he could honestly say he had to work hard for them.

Sookie shook his hand again before he left and walked him to the door. When she turned around, Eric was watching her with the oddest look on his face.

"I find you incredibly surprising, Miss Stackhouse."

"A good surprising?"

"Oh yes, very good."

Sookie stood against the closed door, reveling in her professional victory. She wanted to do a little dance, but that would have been as bad as spinning in the chair, maybe worse.

"I think I may have to give you a raise after this. You are definitely worth every penny."

"You bet your cute ass I am." Okay, maybe she was reveling a little too much.

Eric actually chuckled at that. The sound seemed to fill the room. It was strong, fitting. "Cute, is it?"

"It's just a figure of speech, Eric." She was red again but tried to play the slip off.

"I don't believe I am familiar with that phrasing."

"Yes, well, I doubt English is your first language."

"Perhaps not, but I have been speaking it for several centuries more than you." Hearing his age still was a shock to her. Sometimes when they were speaking so naturally, his true nature was lost to her.

"Is there anyone else coming in tonight? That much reading kind of took it out of me."

"He was it. I did not know what your limitations would be. You are free to retire for the evening."

"Alright, I have to admit, that was fun!"

"I am glad you think so, I have plenty more vendors for you to see. We will spread them out."

"Sounds good, see you later then." She opened the door to leave.

"Sookie, thank you for your hard work tonight." Eric was already looking down at some other documents, but he had just thanked her.

"No problem. It is what you're paying me for, after all." She didn't want to make a big deal out of it, if he wasn't.

"Of course. Good night." He waved his hand for her to exit.

"Night Eric." She left his office and walked down the empty hallway to the employee exit at a leisurely pace. As she fearlessly left the club for the first time, she thought maybe their last porch meeting wasn't a fluke. Maybe interacting with Eric really didn't have to end in bloodshed.

My business savvy is non-existent, so if I messed up something in the last scene or if the price/cost variations don't make sense, please take pity. I am not being paid to do background research here.

Next will be another small fast forward…