Eric

I woke up at noon the next day feeling like I'd been run over by a steam roller. My head was pounding and my body felt like it weighed tons. I looked over to the side of the bed to see that a large glass of water and a couple painkillers had been kindly placed there. Resisting the urge to hurl, I popped the tablets into my mouth and downed the whole glass of water in one go to provide my blood with some lubrication.

I'd attempted to drink away my sorrow of pushing Sookie from me, but it evidently wasn't working as now I only had a stinking hangover to go along with my foul mood. When the painkillers eventually began to kick I dragged myself into the bathroom and took a scolding hot shower before shaving and trying to make myself feel human again. My hair felt strange being so much shorter, but I was almost impressed with myself that I'd actually remembered Thalia cutting it. I had to admit it did make me look different, and certainly less distinctive than having the longer hair. I liked it though.

Thalia and Stan had obviously gone home at some point after crashing in the spare room since they weren't downstairs. I headed into the kitchen and made myself a large mug of strong coffee and plate full of dry toast to soak up any remaining alcohol in my system, and then crashed on the sofa. I noticed that my phone was still sat on the coffee table. I picked it up, hopeful that I may have missed a call from Sookie, or at least have a text message, but there was nothing.

I couldn't really blame her and I didn't know why I was so expectant. I hoped that she wouldn't hate me for pushing her away, that she somehow understood that I was doing it for her own good. It didn't make it any easier, however.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening flat on my back on the sofa watching crap on TV. I hated that I was so reliant on others, I wanted to be able to do things for myself, but that was not an option. I was going to have to get used to these four walls and wait until I had the means and opportunity to leave the States and return home.

The next day was spent in much the same manner. I'd so far avoided alcohol since overdoing it on my first night here, so there was little to do but read, watch TV or surf the internet. I looked for stories about Sookie or Compton, but saw nothing. I wondered whether she would manage to get the evidence she needed to destroy him. At least it was evident that she had friends she could trust that hated her husband as much as I did.

I thought of my ex-wife and daughter, wondering what Lucie was doing while I was in this hell. I hoped to some extent that Felicia would always keep Lucie sheltered from my wrong doings, but I also didn't want her growing up thinking that another man was her father. I hoped that one day I might get to see her again, even from afar, but I was aware that that was not a possibility considering the charges that would always hang over my head.

It made me all the more determined to not fuck with anyone's life again. Me getting close to any woman was quite simply not an option. Even if I did manage to get back to Europe and stay under the radar I knew that I couldn't let anyone else know the real me, know what I had done. I wanted nothing more than to fall in love with Sookie and spend time with her but I didn't want to be responsible for further heartbreak. My actions had already ruined my own family and I didn't want to ruin anyone else's.

Stan did come over for a bit in the evening, where we discussed options for me to leave the country, but we hadn't yet decided what the best course of action was. He didn't stay long, however, obviously in relation to my foul mood, but promised he'd call if he had any news. I wasn't feeling so hopeful so simply went to bed after eating to try and get some sleep.

.

I was woken the next morning by Stan walking noisily into my room, opening the curtains to let the bright sunlight in and pulling the covers away from me.

"What the fuck?" I queried, while glaring at him with sleep filled eyes.

He threw a newspaper at my head which I somehow managed to catch. "Read that."

I picked up the newspaper, which was a copy of the New York Times, and immediately noticed a picture of Compton pressing his body against some dark-haired woman. The story below reported that the woman in the picture with him was the same one that Compton had been interviewed by for the TV interview, and that he'd also been having an affair with some woman called Lorena for years and had fathered two of her children. I could only imagine that she must have been paid well for admitting that.

It did, however, put a huge smile on my face. I was pleased that Sookie would have the opportunity to get away from her husband, to divorce him and get to live a normal life. I hoped that Sookie was okay, as I had a feeling that things were going to get a little crazy for her. This kind of news would no doubt create some media attention, particularly considering Compton's recent interview. How the mighty had fallen.

After reading the article through twice I showered and went downstairs to find Stan sat in the kitchen reading the sports section of the newspaper.

"Happier now?" Stan asked as I walked into the room and poured myself a large mug of coffee.

"I'm pleased for her." I told him, though my face didn't display the emotion. "This is the start of something new for her, and she's destroying Compton in the process, which ultimately has been my goal. I hope that maybe my intervention in her life has made things better for her and worse for her husband." I sat down at the table, still clutching my own copy of the newspaper. "At least some good has come of it all." I said glumly, almost too myself.

Stan slammed the newspaper he was reading onto the table causing me to jump slightly. "For fuck's sake, Eric, if you're going to continue to mope I'm going to leave. You're turning into a girl! Why don't you grow a pair and either go get your girl or just get the fuck over it and fuck someone else. Jeez!"

"It's not that simple." I said calmly while suppressing the rage that was growing inside me.

"I'm sure it's not, nothing ever is with you." I glared at him but he ignored my look. "It is black and white, you either call the girl back and see if she's still willing to put up with your whining ass, or you forget her. This emo look on you isn't good and you're going to get yourself caught if you're indecisive in any way."

"You're right." I admitted. It was all too true that if I was indecisive I would fuck things up for myself.

"I always am," he stated arrogantly. "Now, I have other stuff to do but I'll be back tonight. I just thought I'd pop by to bring you the good news of your girlfriend in New York."

"See you, Stan." We bumped fists and he was gone.

I cooked myself some eggs and bacon and drank more coffee before heading back into the living room. I picked up my phone to see if Sookie or Octavia had called, but was pissed off to see that at some point the battery must have died.

I turned the phone back on, but couldn't hide my disappointment when there were no messages left for me. Maybe she really had believed what I said and thought that I genuinely didn't think she should be with me.

I was distracted from my thoughts by Octavia calling me.

.

Sookie

I'd given Octavia Amelia's address and she followed me into Manhattan to Amelia's brownstone. I hadn't called Amelia to tell her of our pending arrival, yet she was waiting on the step of her house as soon as we pulled up. She hardly gave me chance to get out of the car before she pulled me into a huge hug.

"Sook, are you okay? You're pleased right?"

I managed to pull back from her, I took a deep breath and wiped the freshly fallen tears from my eyes. "I'm okay Meals. It was just quite a shock. I don't know why I'm getting so upset, it's not as if it's anything I didn't already know."

She squeezed me tightly again. "Sook, I'm sorry that we didn't give you the heads up about this, but we needed your reaction to be believable. If you knew beforehand Bill might have been suspicious. Forgive me?"

"Of course, I don't know what I'd do without you."

I gave her a kiss on the cheek and pulled my bag out of the trunk of my car. While I'd been talking to Amelia, Octavia had been grabbing the rest of my stuff and came closer. "Amelia, I want you to meet Octavia. She's been a godsend! I was wondering whether you'd mind it if she stayed with you as well for a bit since Bill knows where she lives and may come looking for her."

"Of course, it will be good to have some company. Octavia, you're more than welcome to stay as long as you need to. Do you have plans?"

"Not set in stone, though I'll probably return to Sweden. I need to see what Eric's plans are, though."

I felt the lump in my throat return at the mention of Eric's name. I tried to suppress the feelings I felt for him, but it was too damn hard. I was drawn out of my thoughts by Amelia as she took hold of my arm.

"Come on, let's go inside, I'll show you to your rooms."

The three of us carried all my bags inside and placed them in the guest bedroom I'd used the few times that I'd stayed at Amelia's before. I looked at all the bags of clothes in front of me and was amazed I had quite so much stuff. I probably had enough outfits to wear two a day for a year. And that was a conservative estimate. I'd also brought everything that meant anything to me, which to be honest wasn't that much.

What I had brought was all the jewellery that Bill had ever given me during our courtship and marriage. He'd always been one for trying to buy my affection with jewels, when quite simply an orgasm would have been a nice change. I placed the box of priceless goods on the dressing table and looked down at my own left hand. I'd kept my engagement ring and wedding ring on by habit. It truly meant nothing to me. Even during my kidnapping I'd kept it on despite the fact that Eric could easily have sold it for some much needed cash. I wondered why he didn't do that since he was out to destroy Bill anyway.

I took the rings off and added it to the collection. It felt like quite a weight off my mind taking the rings off.

Amelia had been showing Octavia to her room before she came back and sat with me as I unpacked.

"Octavia's gone to her apartment to bring the rest of her belongings. She was apparently already packed and ready to leave anyway."

"Okay," I said, weakly.

"It's okay to be upset, Sooks, no matter how much you hated the asshole. He betrayed you by cheating on you and that's going to hurt whether you loved him or not."

"You're right. I guess I do feel betrayed most of all. I know my marriage was more of a convenience than one for love, but to fuck another woman while I had been kidnapped was just awful of him. Maybe that's why he refused to pay the ransom. Maybe he just didn't care. But I have to admit to being surprised that Lorena spoke up."

Amelia gave a sly smile. "It took some work, but Billy Boy has never really given her child support or looked after her. She loves him, always has, and was understandably pissed off that she couldn't be with him because her family weren't rich enough. Her own marriage was over a few years ago and she's been left with nothing. Bill never did a thing to help her out and just used her for a regular fuck. Turns out she was more than willing to spill the beans on him, but we may or may not have paid her to speak up."

"You bribed her?" I asked, feeling a little shocked.

"Bribery is a harsh word, but we did pay her for admitting their affair. The Times also paid her to speak up once they received an 'anonymous' tip off of her affair with Bill, and your ex-husband is going to have to pay child support, not to mention a huge settlement to you when you divorce his ass."

"I guess I need to consult a lawyer." I said as I stared into space.

My whole world had been turned upside down in the last few weeks. A month earlier I was living a relatively happy life with my husband, spending his money and ignoring the fact that he had mistresses and was fucking other women. In the few weeks since, I'd been kidnapped, manage to fall for said kidnapper, had set about destroying my husband and had now left him.

"You have a meeting this afternoon." I turned to look back at Amelia who had a smug look on her face. "What? I knew you'd want to get things started so Daddy had words with Mr Cataliades and he's arrange to meet with you this afternoon. He's the top divorce attorney in the city, if not the north-eastern corner of the States and Billy Boy will not have a chance of defending himself. You're going to be one wealthy woman when this is over, Sookie."

Yeah, but would I be happy?

I was again brought out of my musings, but this time it was my cell phone ringing in my purse, and not the one that Eric had the number for. I half expected it to be Bill, but it was my mom instead. I should have known that she'd be on my case and I knew that she wouldn't be on my side.

"Hi mom!" I said, trying to keep my voice light.

"Sookie, dear, have you read the Times today?"

"I have, mom. And I've left him."

There was a pause on the line before she spoke again. "I know you're upset, sweetheart, but you need to give Bill another chance. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you."

Didn't mean to hurt me? "Are you kidding? He was fucking Lorena before he even met me! He was cheating on me throughout our whole relationship! He had children with her! How the fuck can he 'not have meant' to hurt me?" I was absolutely livid that my mom had dared to say that to me.

"Mind your language, young lady. I understand that you're upset, but I am not going to let you throw away your marriage over this. Particularly considering everything he did for you while you were kidnapped."

"You had better not be serious!" I yelled. Amelia gave me a querying look and did hand gestures at my phone before continuing. "Mom, he was fucking another woman while I was being held hostage. I'm amazed that he even bothered looking for me!"

"Sookie Compton you will not talk to me in that manner. I did not bring you up to swear and you will accept your place beside your husband as the dutiful wife. It is your role in society. Do you think your father didn't have mistresses? It is to be expected for someone in your position. I have spoken to Mrs Compton and it seems that Bill is willing to take you back despite what you have done. Now I understand that the two of you were planning children? To save your marriage you should see to it that you get pregnant very soon."

I was too astounded to talk. I'd put my phone on speaker so that Amelia could hear as well. She looked as stunned as I did. I couldn't believe that my own mother would speak to me in that way and expect me to put up with a cheating husband. I was equally astounded to discover that my own father had cheated on her and she'd never had any problems with it, that it was to be expected.

"Well?" My mom asked when I hadn't spoken.

"I don't think so, mom." I said calmly. "I have a meeting with my attorney this afternoon and I am going to leave Bill. I don't give a flying fuck what you think."

"You will not leave him."

"I can assure you that I will."

"If you do that, Sookie, you will be disowned from this family."

"Like Hadley?" I asked. "I don't fucking care. I don't need to see you and I don't want your money. Bye mom."

I hung up the phone and threw it down on the bed. Amelia and I sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke up.

"No offence, but your mom's a bitch."

I laughed at Amelia's comment. "She always was a bitch. I was more of a daddy's girl, he is more normal than her, but I guess she always wore the trousers in the relationship. I used to feel sorry for him at times, and I guess I can't blame him for cheating on her. I'm just shocked that he did and she knew about it."

"Understandable." Amelia commented. "So you're going to avoid your family?"

"Yeah, although I have a feeling getting out of New York could be a good idea. I'll meet with the attorney this afternoon first to discuss things and see where I stand."

"Who's Hadley?" Amelia asked out of the blue.

"Hadley is my cousin, dad's sister's child and a year older than me. She was a hugely rebellious teenager and ran away from home at sixteen after getting into drugs. Not one of us had heard from her for years until she wrote to me earlier this year. She was in desperate need for money so I gave her some. It seems that since she's been married and divorced and has a son that lives with her ex-husband. She's been in a bad way but is going through rehab and seems to be doing well. She's living in New Orleans at the moment. Unsurprisingly, she was also denied her inheritance as well."

"Wow, I'm guessing your mom wanted to keep that one quiet."

"You have no idea! Hadley was always quite the disgrace! I guess I'm joining that club!"

"If you're intent on leaving New York, why don't you go and see her?"

"It's an idea," I admitted, but my mind was elsewhere.

"Or you could go and find your bad-ass kidnapper." Amelia gave me a knowing look.

"That's an idea as well. I need to speak to Octavia first, however."

"Sure thing, Sooks!"

Amelia spent the morning with me as I unpacked my bags. My mom, Bill and Bill's mom called me multiple times on my cell, but I ignored every call. After the tenth call I turned the thing off as it was quite simply pissing me off. Octavia had come back around lunchtime and cooked Amelia and I a fantastic lunch of chorizo omelette and salad. The woman was a truly fantastic cook.

"I wanted to ask you whether you'd heard from Eric recently?" I said to Octavia after we'd all eaten.

"I called him from my apartment when I went to get my bags, actually. I'd tried the other night but it went straight to voicemail."

"How is he?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"Grumpy!" she told me. "He still doesn't sound in a good place. He told me what he said to you, but I don't think he believes it himself. I think he's just trying to do what's right."

I felt a surge of hope rise within me. Should I ignore what he told me and track him down anyway?

"Do it, Sooks." Amelia said, seemingly knowing what I was thinking. "I know you want to go and find him, and I think you should. At least if you see him in person you can make a decision together. You have all the money you need and you know that Dad will help you with anything else."

"I don't even know how to do that," I admitted. "I don't know where he is or how to find him."

"I can give you Stan's number," Octavia offered. "Eric's staying in one of his houses in Dallas. Speak to Stan and see what he says."

"Okay, I'll call him."

Amelia squealed and hugged me while Octavia gave me a warm smile. I had a few hours until my meeting with Mr Cataliades so I took the opportunity to call Stan. He was understandably suspicious of me at first, but I explained who I was and that I'd got his number from Octavia, or Atta, as she'd introduced herself to him. Stan confirmed what Octavia had told me that Eric was miserable, and I was relieved to find out that he also considered me seeing Eric in person would be a good idea.

Stan told me that it would be better that I travel overnight and go into Shreveport airport rather than Dallas to avoid being seen and followed. Stan even arranged for a driver to pick me up and he booked a hotel room in a fake name for me. I was astounded at how quickly things were moving, and I went online to book flights from New York to Shreveport, which involved a short change at New Orleans. I was due to leave at seven that evening.

I packed a large bag with mostly casual clothes but made sure I put in a few of my favourite dresses and some sexy lingerie. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but then I didn't also want to be caught off-guard. I took all the documents that Cope had got for me in the name of Adele Hale along with the dark wig that was on the ID. Amelia promised to speed through the sale of my apartment and also sell my car for me. It had been a present from Bill and I had never really been fond of it. I'd wanted an Alfa Romeo, but my husband didn't want me driving anything Italian. Idiot.

At the specified time, Amelia drove me to her father's house where Mr Cataliades was meeting us to go through my divorce. I told the man everything which he recorded on a small digital recorder. Obviously the press information was a huge part of the evidence I needed and he informed me that I was within my right to claim half of his earnings for the three years we'd been married. I was well aware that that would be a lot.

Mr Cataliades told me that he was more than happy to deal with anything on my behalf and I signed the necessary documents that he needed me to. It felt incredibly good to be drawing a line under being Sookie Compton. From that point onwards I was to be known as Stackhouse again.

After eating dinner at Cope's house Amelia drove me to JFK airport to begin my journey to Dallas. I hugged her tightly before I had to leave.

"Amelia, thank you so much for all that you've done for me. I love you so much."

"No problem, Sookie. Just take care, okay? Go and get him!"

I gave her one last squeeze before zipping through security and going to the departure lounge to wait for my flight. Amelia had agreed to keep a hold of all my stuff as well as lie to my family where appropriate. Cope had told me over dinner that he was no means done with Bill. It seemed that Cope was having a huge amount of fun in destroying Bill on my behalf. Cope was also going against Bill for certain contracts and was hopeful that Bill would lose business as a result of the scandal his divorce would bring. I simply told him that I was more than happy for Copley to ruin Bill as much as he wanted.

I boarded the plane on time and took my seat in first class. Things had moved at breakneck speed since lunchtime when I made the decision to see Eric, but as I sat in my seat I had chance to think things through.

It wasn't that I thought I was making the wrong decision, but I couldn't deny that I was worried that Eric wouldn't want to see me or even give me the time of day. I was aware that Eric rejecting me would hurt like hell, but I just didn't think I could let him leave without seeing him again, to give us that option. I felt excited and nervous about seeing him, and I wondered what the hell I was going to do when I saw him.

I was too excited to sleep on the flight to New Orleans so was pretty tired by the time I boarded the short flight to Shreveport and did manage to get about twenty minutes. We arrived on time in Shreveport and after picking up my bag I met my driver who introduced himself as Rasul and was ushered into the back of the large black BMW with tinted glass. I felt like I was some kind of movie star.

I slept for most of the journey and finally arrived into Dallas at five a.m. The room I had been put in was huge, but I was too tired to investigate and simply pulled on my pyjamas before climbing into the large comfortable bed.

When I woke I ordered a room service cooked breakfast and called Stan since he'd requested it of me and he told me the plan for the night. He'd managed to convince Eric that a night out would do him good, and since Stan owned a bar in Dallas called Fantasia it would be easy to police the people who saw Eric. Eric himself had been initially against the idea, but it sounded like Stan could be rather persuasive and he relented. I was to arrive about half an hour after Eric.

I spent the day primping and preening myself, and was relieved to see that the hotel Stan had placed me in had a beauty parlour and spa. I allowed myself to have a few treatments as well as getting my hair washed and styled and my legs and other important areas waxed. I was really hoping that my keenness wasn't going to come back and bite me in the ass as I knew I would be devastated if he rejected me.

When it finally got to a time close enough to when I had to leave, I pulled on my favourite red and white dress and strappy red heeled sandals and I was done. I felt like I was a teenager going on her first date since the butterflies were flapping their wings ferociously within my belly. I nearly threw up from nerves when it came to be time to leave.

Stan had again put on a driver for me and had sent me a message ten minutes before I left to tell me that him and Eric were at the club. The drive there was tortuously slow since the traffic seemed to be quite heavy, but all of a sudden we were outside the club.

It was obviously a trendy bar since the queue to get in was almost around the building and I got some abuse hurled in my direction when I was escorted past the line and straight in. I hoped that all the abuse would be worth it. I was met at the door by a tiny girl who gave me a quick hug.

"I'm Thalia, Stan's girlfriend. You must be Sookie."

"I am, nice to meet you Thalia."

"I've heard a lot about you from Eric. He's going to be thrilled to see you, if not a little surprised. He's been a complete miserable bastard these last few days, I'm glad you're here to cheer him up." I smiled at her again before her face suddenly became serious. "Just promise me that you're not going to fuck with him. He's been through a lot, he doesn't need more heartbreak."

It was obvious she was protective of Eric and I quite understood that. "I promise you I'm not. I don't want him to leave without me. I know we don't know each other that well, but he really affected me and I want to get to know him better."

"Well that's all I can ask." She grinned at me, and I had to admit to being a little scared. She looked like she could easily kick my ass. "He's over by the bar with Stan."

I thanked her and walked in the direction that she'd pointed. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw him. His hair was shorter than the previous time I'd seen him, but it still looked good and there seemed enough for me to be able to run my fingers through. He was dressed simply in a pair of dark blue jeans and a short-sleeved black button-down shirt. A shirt that barely seemed to be containing his broad chest.

My eyes ran over his muscled arms as I again took in the tattoos he had on each one. Tattoos I wanted to be able to study in much more detail. I'd never really been one for body art, but on him it didn't look out of place, in fact it looked hot. I watched him as he closely studied the drink in his hands, staring intently into the glass at the dark liqueur I assumed to be whiskey.

I took a deep breath and moved forward a few paces in his direction. I wanted a drink of something to calm my nerves, but I couldn't take my eyes of Eric. He looked so sad as he stood there, so lost in his own thoughts. I wondered whether I featured in any of those thoughts or whether he was thinking about Pam or his old family.

As I got to within a few paces of him I was surprised that he hadn't turned from the noise that my heart was making as it rattled around my ribcage. I was feeling so unbelievably nervous, but the last thing I wanted to do was leave.

I took one last large step and I was at his side. He was still staring into his drink, so I noisily swallowed the saliva that had built up in my mouth in preparation to engage my vocal cords.

"Hello, Eric."

His head immediately turned in my direction as he saw me standing there. His face was one of pure disbelief and shock. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he downed the remainder of his drink and looked at me again. It was almost as if he didn't believe I was real.

"Sookie? You're really here?"

"Yes, I'm here."

I wanted to say more but I was quickly engulfed in a tight hug from the huge man in front of me.


So they meet again at last!

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