Drawn.A/N: Hey ya'll haha. I haven't gotten much of anything done since I arrived in Savannah...there's just not enough time in the day! But, I already had this written, so I figured I could post it, cause I love you guys that much. There will be more work on Stiletto this weekend hopefully, but I'm kinda suffering from some writer's block, which might be related to homesickness as of late. Savannah is great, but it's way different than home. So enough of my rambling, here's your chapter.
Chapter Fourteen- Ignorance: Not Always Bliss
Around eight in the morning, I was sitting up in my bed. Eric was out like a light. He was a little scary-looking, because he literally looked like a corpse, but I was used to it by now. I swung my legs over the side of my bed, stood up, and stretched out. My muscles were a little sore, but nothing that a good, hot shower wouldn't fix.
Once I moseyed into my bathroom, I took a moment to analyze my body in the mirror. First, I closed the door and flipped on the vanity lights. Turning to the side, I noticed a long scratch running down my side, but a little more toward my back. I ran my finger down it; it stung a little, but nothing major. I thought to myself a moment, trying to think of when it happened, and I narrowed it down to sometime between rounds three and four, both of which I was on top for. Upon further examination, I also realized that there were some nice sized handprint-shaped bruises on my hips where Eric had gripped them, also during rounds three and four, I'd imagine. I wondered when the hell I'd started bruising this easily. I probably always had, I just never noticed it because Cale was no where near as aggressive as Eric was. While Cale projected the role of scary vampire really well, not to mention the fact that he was an ass most of the time, he was actually quite the sensitive kitten in bed. I'm sure I'd be dead already if I had vocalized that thought, but thinking it never did any harm. After assessing that the bruises didn't really hurt either, I turned the shower on.
I made my shower a quick one, after I decided that a shower by myself paled in comparison to the one I had shared with Eric a couple days ago. After hopping out of the shower, I grabbed a towel and dried off. I went out into the main part of my room, in search of something to wear once again. One trip to my dresser and some rummaging around later, I was clothed in a pair of Soffe shorts and the t-shirt that Eric had been wearing. I was really starting to get accustomed to the way his clothes smelled and felt, and I was starting to get happier that I had agreed to let him stay here a couple of days.
I went downstairs, figuring everyone else in the house would be in full swing. I was right and I found both Sookie and Amelia in the kitchen, making breakfast. I smiled pretty big when the smell of bacon hit my nose. "You know you guys are like the best housemates ever," I said. I smiled, picking up a piece of super-crispy bacon. After I finished chewing, I spoke again, "Need help with anything?"
"Nope. We're pretty much almost done," replied Sookie.
"Yeah, we figured you'd be down later," added Amelia, waggling her eyebrows.
"Ha ha, very funny," I laughed a little, even though the memory of the reason we ended up having sex was still pretty fresh in my mind. I took the plate of breakfast that Sookie handed me and sat at the table. After taking a couple of bites of scrambled egg, I decided to tell them everything. They'd do the same, if they were in my position. "There was kind of a…snag in my relationship with Eric last night," I said. That was the only way I could think to describe it, other than just spilling it all out in one convoluted, run-on sentence. When I looked up from my plate, both Amelia and Sookie's attention was focused on me. In addition to their attention, Sookie had a knowing-look on her face.
"Sookie, do you know something?" I asked her straight up, rather than look in her head.
"We talked…when he first slept here. He said he was going to stop using you. Ugh…I could kill him!" Sookie replied, slamming her fork down on the table, quite forcefully.
"It's ok, Sook. He said that you guys had talked. He also said that he's stopped using me, he said he stopped before we slept together." I looked at Sookie, as if to reassure her that it was ok.
"Oh he did? And you believe him?"
"I do. The whole reason we even had an argument is because I saw Cale again at Fangtasia."
"That means he probably wouldn't have told you that he was trying to use you. All the more reason to watch ou--" I knew Sookie's brain had made the connection. "Cale, your ex? He was at Fangtasia again?"
Amelia sat there, fully engrossed in the conversation, but also fully confused. "Yeah, Cale my ex. Two nights ago he just strolled all up to the bar while I was working."
"You mean he approached you?" Sookie interrupted.
"Yeah. That ass has some serious nerve. He even knew that I was with Eric, or whatever." Amelia's eyes bugged slightly; I could tell she had caught on. "Yeah, and he even, and I quote, 'wanted to give me a chance to be with him again'." I rolled my eyes.
"I must be missing something. How did this lead to your argument with Eric?" asked Amelia.
"Well, after I told Cale to fuck off and that I was seeing someone, he decided to be oh-so-cavalier and tell me that I was basically Eric's fuck-buddy. For some reason, I believed him. Mostly because I had done exactly what he was telling me were 'signs' or whatever and that I had…and some other stuff." I looked down at the floor.
I knew Sookie wasn't buying it. "What else happened, Dahlia?"
At that moment, I figured that if I couldn't tell Sookie and Amelia what I'd seen, I couldn't tell anyone. Out of all the people that I knew, no one would understand it better than Sookie and Amelia, especially Sookie. "Uh, I kinda….might have…read Eric's mind?" It was suddenly so quiet in that kitchen you could have heard a pin drop. As quiet as it was, Sookie didn't seem anywhere near as surprised as Amelia.
"I figured that might have something to do with it. You're a very accomplished telepath. Is this the first time you've been able to read a vampire?" I shook my head, I wasn't ready to divulge any more than that. "Cale?" she asked; I nodded.
"Was it like complete sentences?" she asked.
"Not exactly. It was more like pictures. Very detailed images." I moved my eyebrows and they got the idea. I really didn't feel like vocalizing what I had seen.
"And did you tell Eric?" both Sookie and Amelia spoke.
"Oh God no. I did tell him about Cale being at Fangtasia, both times."
"And?"
"He told me that I didn't have to worry about Cale if he came in again."
"So all is well and good?" asked Amelia.
"Yup."
"So then I have to ask-- those noises I heard last night were you guys arguing?" Amelia waggled her eyebrows. I blushed about six shades of red. Amelia just shook her head, "I thought so."
I smiled sheepishly, "You can't blame a girl for make-up sex." Both Sookie and Amelia burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes. We resumed eating and when everyone finished, I got up and cleared the table.
"Do you guys want to do a little shopping today? We could hit Merlotte's for lunch 'cause I'm not due in until 2," said Sookie as I was rinsing the dishes. Shopping sounded pretty good. As far as I was concerned, nothing complimented make-up sex and girl talk better than retail therapy.
"Sounds good," Amelia replied and I nodded in agreement. "We'll meet back down here in like 30 minutes or so?" she asked and we all murmured our agreement. Amelia and I headed upstairs, but parted at her door. After I was in my room, I closed the door and looked at Eric for a moment. I let my shield down slowly and focused. I saw a picture of myself, but I wasn't bent over any surface or anything. I was dressed in the outfit I was wearing yesterday when we went to Outback. Eric was simply thinking of me. I smiled wide as I went to my closet, grabbing a pair of jeans and a comfy tank top. I set them on my bed as I rummaged for a bra.
After getting dressed, I kissed Eric's cheek and met the girls downstairs. Amelia offered to drive, and Sookie took her car since she had to work. We decided to drive into Shreveport since it was still pretty early in the day. After finding a little strip of stores, we parked and went inside a store that sold mostly flirty little dresses. We combed the entire store; I'm pretty sure we tried on everything they stocked between the three of us.
We settled on two dresses a piece. One of Sookie's was a pink jersey-knit dress, and the other was a yellow spaghetti-strapped sundress. Amelia's were two blue numbers; one was a strapless party dress in a lighter blue, and the other was a tank top dress in more of a cerulean. Both of mine were a vintage 40's style; one was light purple with lace trim, the other was a deep, forest green that was similar with the lace, but was a little more on the slinkier side. I figured it'd be something to wear to Fangtasia. Then we paid and left for Merlotte's.
After we were done shopping, we arrived at Merlotte's around 12:30pm. We sat at a corner booth and a man, who I assumed was Sookie's boss, Sam, came to our table. "How are you guys doing today?" he asked, and we all smiled at him. Sookie introduced me to him, and we ordered our lunches and Sam left us to place them.
"I like this place," I commented. Sookie smiled, and I could tell she took a lot of pride in her job. I also knew that Amelia had worked from time to time, and it had become more frequent since Arlene was calling in "sick". We all knew that she was uncomfortable about the shifters, going so far as to quit during the initial reveal. According to Sookie, Arlene had to seriously swallow her pride and beg Sam for her job back, once she realized that this was a small town and her options were limited. That, and her skill set was equally as limited.
We had all finished our meals and Amelia and I were polishing off a basket of fries while Sookie went to change. While Sookie was in the back, Sam walked up to our table again. "I'm really sorry about this, but Holly's son isn't feeling well. She said she was going to wait with him until the babysitter got there and then she'd come back. Is there any way that you can stay until then, Amelia?"
"Sure, no problem."
Sam sighed, relieved, "That's great. Now I just have to call Terry and ask if he can bartend. I just have so much paperwork to catch up on since I've been gone with my mom. I just feel bad because Terry has been here every night this week."
"Hey Sam, I know you don't know me that well, but I have a lot of bartending experience. I can stay too, if that's alright."
"Oh God, Dahlia, that's more than alright. Let me just grab you and Amelia some shirts," Sam replied and disappeared in the back. Sookie came out shortly after, tying her apron on.
"What was that all about? Sam practically ran me over on his way to the back."
"No biggie, Sam just asked if Amelia could fill in for Holly and he also needed to catch up on some paperwork, so I offered to fill in as bartender," I answered.
"Oh, awesome. The bar is pretty straightforward. If you can work the one at Fangtasia, than ours should be a breeze." She smiled and walked to the bar as Sam came back out. He handed me and Amelia t-shirts and we went to the back and changed. When we came back out, Amelia grabbed an apron and I went to the bar. Sookie was right, this bar was simpler than Fangtasia's.
The afternoon shift was pretty peaceful, although I had to ask Sookie what to do about Jane Bodehouse who had plopped her alcoholic self down at the bar around 4pm. An hour and a half later, I called her son and the bar was empty for a little while, and I was mostly making drinks for Sookie and Amelia to serve. There was little activity until 6-ish, when Arlene came rolling in the front door, followed by a small group of people who were obviously FOTS. It was mildly reminiscent of Cruella DeVille and her cronies, except in this case, Cruella was sporting a scary shade of red hair. I set down the rag I was cleaning with, and Sookie walked over next to me.
"I thought she wasn't supposed to bring those bigoted asses here anymore," she said to Sam as he walked out from the back.
"She's really not, but if they don't stir up trouble, there's no harm in them spending their money here," Sam shrugged and went into the kitchen. I shrugged as well and looked at Sookie, who shook her head. We watched Arlene wiggle her way to the back while I filled a couple of drink orders. As I was handing the last one off to Amelia, Arlene approached where Sookie and I were standing.
"So who's this, Sookie? Another one of your vampire-fucking friends?" Arlene spat. I could tell from Sookie's head that she was resisting the urge to smack Arlene. Honestly, so was I. I was getting kind of tired of people calling me a fangbanger. I could hear it from some of the patrons once they had found out that I was a friend of Sookie and Amelia.
Being as pissed as I was, I stepped in front of Sookie. "My name is Dahlia, and I'd appreciate it if you approached me if you wanted to know that. And yes, I am a friend of Sookie's."
"Ok, fine, Dahlia. So you're her friend. But you never denied fucking dead guys," replied Arlene.
"That's right, I didn't. Maybe if you tried it, you wouldn't be so uptight." At that, Arlene huffed and went to wait on her cronies. I then realized that Sam had come out of the kitchen. Sookie just smiled at me and went to check on her tables.
"Arlene giving you a hard time?" Sam inquired, a knowing smile on his face.
"You heard?"
"Yeah. You handled her well."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Now I just wanted to let you know that I finished the bulk of my paperwork and Holly just got back, so you and Amelia can leave with Sookie at 8." I nodded. "So when 8 rolls around, just come back into my office so I can get your information to get you your check." I nodded again, and Sam went back to the back. The clock turned to 8 in what seemed like no time at all. Customers just seemed to be coming and going. However, I did seem to notice that Cruella's cronies managed to hang around longer than they needed to swill beer and stuff their faces with chicken baskets.
I saw Sookie start to head towards the back, so Amelia and I followed suit. We grabbed our belongings, and Sam handed me a piece of paper to write my info down on. He tucked it into a drawer in his desk, which he locked, and then walked us out to the front of the restaurant. We smiled and said our goodbyes, and then Sam returned to his office for a moment, since it seemed that no one was interested in anything other than beer, which Holly and Arlene could manage. As we were walking out the front door, I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Cruella's table. No one seemed to be moving. I learned a few moments later that they were just waiting for us to leave first.
The first redneck wobbled his way through the door as we were almost to the cars. They were clearly not so good with the 'element of surprise' thing. He was followed by three more people, who were equally as redneck-y. "Leaving so soon? I thought vampires had to be in by sunup. It's only 8'oclock," slurred the redneck who had come outside first. I was pretty sure that he was referring to me, because Sookie had said they were regulars and I imagined they knew Sookie and Amelia were human. That, and I'm pretty pale by human standards. And this guy was an idiot, let's not neglect that fact.
"I don't know what you're talking about, there's no vampires here," Amelia responded, attempting to diffuse a possibly volatile situation.
"You're lying. The…redhead…she's a vamp," said one of the three who came out second. He was clearly more drunk than the first guy. I couldn't fight the urge any longer and I rolled my eyes. First I was a fangbanger, and now I was a vampire. Could these people get any more idiotic?
My answer to that question came in the form of a thrown beer bottle. It landed about a foot away from the car, shattered, and covered Amelia's tires and back bumper with beer. I also noted that it was cheap beer. Figures. At this point in the confrontation, Arlene had poked her nasty head out the door. No points awarded to her though, because apparently she wasn't aware that a missing waitress might alert Sam. Which it did.
Why we didn't just get in our cars and drive off, I don't know. Might have been from the shock of their utter stupidity. Might have been us just getting a little pissed off at the things they were saying while we were working. Whispering wasn't their forte either. Either way, Sam was outside in the next minute, a baseball bat in hand. "Arlene, you get your friends to go home or you're out of a job." With that, she flipped and started shooing her cronies away. That was the point where we got into our cars. Sookie waved at Sam, and we let the cronies leave before we did.
So I hope that little confrontation wasn't too random. Once again, any comments, questions, or concerns...please let me know. Or ways to adjust to being away from home, those would be awesome too. Until next time, folks.
-Sydney