Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball own most of these characters. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

(A/N: I don't know if everyone gets an alert when I delete, modify and re-load a chapter, but I'm doing that with this one just to make one small correction. Thank you to NotDorothy for pointing out that there is no light rail system in Shreveport. I've corrected that line and I thank you all for keeping me on my toes!)

Chapter 10:

Sookie was awakened from a deep sleep by the ringing of her cell phone. She reached over to grab it from the nightstand and squinted at the display.

"Hi handsome," she answered groggily. "Where are you…Knoxville or Nashville?"

"Sookie, I'm so sorry for calling this late," said Eric with sincere remorse. "We're in Nashville and we hit some heavy traffic and got here later than expected. Then we had to stop for dinner and just now arrived at the hotel. I wouldn't ordinarily call after eleven...especially on a 'school night'," he added with a chuckle, "but I didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot by not calling the very first time I said I would."

"No worries," she assured him, "but I am glad you called. I don't usually go to bed this early, but Mama and I had a few glasses of wine with dinner and that on top of the drive from Jackson just did me in. You sound tired, Eric," she said with concern.

"I am," he confirmed, "but I'm heading to bed soon myself. I just wanted to tell you again that I'm so glad you came to Jackson."

"I'm glad you invited me," Sookie answered. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time," she said with a smile that he could hear through the phone.

"I try," he said with a reciprocal smile. "And thank you," he added, his tone becoming serious again, "for giving me…us, a chance."

"It wasn't that hard," she admitted. "I couldn't imagine not seeing you again. You've gotten under my skin, Northman."

"Well, at least I'm not alone," he said softly. "I'd better let you go so you can get back to sleep and I can go to bed. We both have to work tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Eric," she sighed.

"Goodnight, Sookie," he replied. "Sweet dreams."

Sookie arrived at her office at 11am the next morning, having driven in from her mom's house in Monroe. Lafayette gave a loud wolf whistle as she walked in, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"Well, well, well…looks like Cinderella is back from the ball," he teased, "and judging by the hour she's rolling in and the obscene gift on her desk, it must have been one hell of a good time!" Sookie blushed involuntarily, but managed to still roll her eyes in exasperation at Lafayette.

"Good morning to you too, LaLa," she retorted sarcastically, opening the door to her office. Once inside, she gasped aloud. Sitting in the middle of her desk was the largest and most beautiful arrangement of roses she had ever seen in her life. They were pale pink in color, tinged with a darker pink edge. The fragrance was overwhelming and filled the small room. Picking up the tiny white envelope affixed to the enormous arrangement, Sookie felt her heart flutter excitedly.

'I miss you already. ~E,' she read silently, unable to wipe the ear-to-ear grin from her face.

"It's five dozen…I counted them," Lafayette informed her, standing in the doorway of her office. "Question is, what did you do to deserve such a lavish display of affection?"

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all the angels and saints!" Arlene exclaimed, pushing past Lafayette and barging into Sookie's office. "How many roses does it take to get into Sookie's pants?"

"How do you know he didn't already get there?" asked Lafayette.

"'Cause if he did, it would only be the standard dozen," she said matter-of-factly, placing Sookie's mug of hot tea on the corner of her desk. "Five dozen means he's still working to get the goods."

"Well, thank you, Dr. Phil," said Sookie sarcastically, sitting down and turning on her computer.

"So?" asked Lafayette expectantly.

"So what?" challenged Sookie.

"So either you spill the whole sordid story right now with details or we don't give you a moment's peace until you do," said Arlene, glaring at Sookie with hands on her hips. Sookie sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Fine," she groaned aloud. "I'll tell you everything, but you two are buying me lunch."

An hour later, Sookie was telling them about her weekend with Eric over lunch at LuLu's Soda Shoppe, a favorite Shreveport lunch spot near the office.

"So let me get this straight," said Lafayette a little too loudly when she had finished her story. "You are actually dating Eric Northman, international music superstar?" Sookie cringed at the openly curious looks flashed their way by the women at the next table.

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed. "The whole world doesn't need to know my business!"

"I think it's great," said Arlene, slurping noisily at the last of her milkshake. "He's hot, rich, single, talented, and actually seems like a pretty decent guy. What's not to like?"

"I still think he'll eventually cross over to my side," insisted Lafayette with a smirk. Sookie and Arlene both responded with an exasperated eye roll.

From the back seat of Lafayette's car on the way back to work, Sookie texted Eric: Thank u 4 the flowers! U shouldn't have but I luv them. I miss u 2…SS. Fifteen minutes later, as she was walking back into her office, she received a reply: U r welcome. Call u 2nite b4 the show.

As promised, Sookie's cell phone rang at 7:30pm, just as she was sitting down in front of her TV with an order of General Tso's chicken, some edamame, and a glass of chardonnay.

"What are you doing, beautiful?" Eric asked.

"Watching TMZ and eating Chinese takeout," she replied after a brief hitch in breath over what he had just called her.

"I can't believe you watch that crap!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Do you know how much time and money I spend trying to avoid those parasites?"

"Eric, I'm only kidding," she soothed with a laugh. "I'm actually watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I'm a Food Network addict and that's my favorite show. I didn't watch TMZ even before I knew you – I just wanted to yank your chain. Obviously I hit a nerve, huh?" He grumbled something unintelligible and Sookie laughed again. "I'll take that as a yes."

"So you liked the flowers?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"They were amazing and way too much," she said, "but yes, I love them."

"I wanted you to understand how much I miss you and I didn't think a dozen would adequately get the point across."

"God, you're sweet," Sookie sighed. "How on earth is it that you're still single and available?"

"My awesomeness is very intimidating to most people…especially women," he said jokingly.

"Awesomeness?" she teased. "Is that even a word?"

"It is in the Eric Northman dictionary. You can look it up."

"And where might I find a copy of this Eric Northman dictionary?" she asked.

"Obviously I'll be buying you one for your next birthday…which is when?" he added not-so-subtly.

"Wow, that was smooth, Northman…NOT!" Sookie chided. "But since you asked, it's August 1st."

"Hmmm…a Leo. So you're an egotistical attention whore and everything's about you, huh?"

"Oh, and when is your birthday, Mr. Smarty Pants?" she asked sarcastically.

"October 29th," he said. "A Scorpio."

"And that's so much better," she retorted. "You're a dramatic know-it-all who always has to win."

"Okay, so maybe these are vast generalizations," he conceded with a chuckle.

"How about you get to know me a little better and then tell me how well my zodiac sign fits me?" Sookie suggested.

"Deal," he agreed, laughing. "Unfortunately, I need to go now. I have to be at the arena in 20 minutes, but I wanted to talk to you before the show because it will be too late to call afterward."

"Break a leg then," she said.

"Let's hope not literally," he laughed.

"Have a great show, Eric."

"I wish you were here to see it," he said wistfully.

"Me too," she sighed. "I miss you."

"Bye, angel," he said, his voice like a caress.

"Goodbye Eric," she whispered in return.