First off, thank you to all of you who have checked out my writing. I of course don't own True Blood, it's characters, etc. but I do own mine. Eric will appear and be a main character (just in case you were wondering) however he doesn't show up for a couple chapters. Trying to build up some background and story plot. I will say that I'm going to use plot devises from the show, but won't follow them exactly and probably not in the same order either. Reviews are always good… it's good to get some criticism too if only to make the writing better. Thanks again!
I woke up at 9:00 the next morning feeling like death warmed over due to all the work I did in the garden the day before as well as to the smell of delicious bacon and eggs. Unfortunately, I also woke up to the nagging of my sister.
"Arabella Grace Stackhouse, stop being a lazy bum and get your butt down here!" It's official, she has become my mom.
Urghhhh… I am sooooo not ready for this right now. Maybe if I throw the covers over my head she'll give up. Uh Oh… I hear her footsteps pounding up the stairs, no such luck for me today.
"Arabella, get up! You know you need to go to Merlotte's today to see about getting a job." Sookie yelled outside my door. She was keen on me working with her at Merlotte's. It made sense seeing as we could ride together in her car, she already had a closet full of uniforms, and you couldn't get a nicer boss than Sam. It was weird though how Sookie was in denial about Sam liking her. For years, everyone and their mother could tell he was head over heels in love with her, but she just chose to not see it, or didn't want to, I really was never sure which and she didn't seem to really want to talk about it.
"Okay, Okay, I'm getting up." I mumbled as I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. "Give me a few minutes and I'll meet you downstairs."
Looking in the mirror I cringed as I saw my long strawberry blonde naturally wavy hair look worse than a rats nest, if that's even possible. I must have really been tossing and turning last night to get it this bad. I'll have to take care of that before going out today for sure. Since the rest of me didn't look any better, I figured I'd go eat breakfast with Sook and shower after.
"Oh my stars, what happened to you last night?" Sookie asked as she saw me walking into the kitchen.
"Yeah, you look like you stuck your finger in a socket." Said my brother who was leaning up against the kitchen sink.
"Jason, so good to see you too When did Tina drag you in?." I snidely commented as I sat down in front of my breakfast. (Tina was Sookie's cat.)
"Look, I just wanted to stop by…" Jason started before I cut him off with, "for free breakfast."
"No, well yeah, but also I just wanted to see my sisters, that's all." He said with a puppy dog sad look that broke my heart. I knew that the murder investigation was going to be hard on him, but he looked like it was really taking its toll on him. I felt bad for snapping at him.
"I'm sorry Jason, I didn't mean nothin'. You know mornings and me don't mix. "
"It's okay Bella." Jason said as he gave me a hug and sat down in the chair beside me.
The three of us sat there eating our breakfast in silence, each thinking about Gran and how she loved having breakfast with us every Saturday. We didn't need to say a word. Just knowing that we would always have each other's' backs was comforting in and of itself.
After breakfast Jason left. I eventually got my butt into the shower, got dressed and headed over to Merlotte's with Sookie to see about getting a job.
Heading to Merlotte's was like heading to the home of a good friend. It was unassuming and inviting, fun and entertaining. There was stuff all over the walls and such, but there was a warm feeling with all the wood accents and memorabilia which made it feel like… home. The minute I walked in with Sookie I heard the familiar call of Lafayette.
"Hooka's, where have ya'll been? The place is not the same without your gor-gous faces. Especially you Miss Bella. My, my, my you've been such the stranger. What's it been, two years now suga?" Lafayette said very loudly as he sashayed over to us with an outfit only a drag queen could love.
"Hi Lafayette. Yes, I know, it's been way too long. How've you been?" I asked as I sat down at the bar. I noticed that there were still pictures of Sookie, Tara (Sookie's best friend), me and a bunch of the other regulars pinned to the board behind the bar. God I loved this place.
Sookie eyed her friend Tara by the pool tables and said, "Heya Lafayette. Arabella, Tara's over by the pool tables and I need to talk to her, so I'll be back in a spell."
Then she said to me telepathically, "We should try to read the minds of the people here to see if anyone knows anything about the murders. But, don't make what we're doing obvious, especially when the locals start thinking nasty."
"Good idea Sook." I thought right back at her.
"Okay Sook." I said aloud and turned to Lafayette.
"Shoot girl, I've been good, but not as good as you. Look at you little miss thang, all tan and blonde and growed up in all the right places. Shoot, the boys are going to be fallin' over you for shore." He said with two snaps and an around-the-world swoosh.
"I wish. Hey, do you know where Sam is? I need to ask him something."
"He's in his office suga. I'm sure he won't mind you interrupting."
"Thanks Lafayette!" I said as I quickly took a peek into his mind. He was just thinking about the guy who just walked in and what he could 'do' for him. Time to quickly exit his mind I thought.
I got up from the barstool and made my way over to the back office. I figured this was probably going to be a slam dunk seeing as Sam was short a few waitresses and I worked here while in high school, but I still needed to make sure that I got the job. Money was running pretty low for me right about now. I knocked on the door and heard a "come in".
Sam looked up from his paperwork and said, "Hey chere. I heard you were back in town. What took you so long to come in?"
"Well, with everything that's happened, I've kinda been staying close to home." I said looking and feeling a little down when thinking about Gran and Jason.
"I know chere, it's been tough for you and Sook these days. If there's anything I can do, just let me know." He said with a sincere smile on his handsome face framed by that 'just tossled due to having sex' look his hair always had. Boy, what was wrong with my sister. This man was great looking, had a great body, great personality, just overall… great. Was I missing something here? Why wasn't she interested?
I needed to snap back to reality, focus here Arabella. "Well, now that you mention it, there is. I really need a job."
"Funny you should mention that because I really need a waitress, like yesterday. If you want, you can start tomorrow night."
"Sounds great Sam, thanks!" I squealed and ran around his desk to give him a great big ole bear hug. He didn't look like he minded. He smelled a little off, kinda like he spent the afternoon with a dog. I didn't think he had a dog. Maybe I'm just imagining things…
"Good, see you then chere." Sam said as he returned to the pile of papers on his desk.
Before leaving the office, I quickly tried to take a peek in Sam's mind. Not that I thought Sam was the killer, but I guess you never really know, right? Sometimes it's the ones you least suspect. The only thoughts I could get from him were a little jumbled, which was strange, but they mostly concerned Sookie, so I got out of his mind and left. I didn't really need to know the depths of his longing for my sister. It would just make me feel bad for him. Well, shoot, I did feel bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. At least I got a job and would finally have some cash flow.
As I left Sam's office I pushed aside the thoughts of Sam's crush on my sister and walked over to the pool area where Sookie and Tara were with a huge grin on my face. That of course tipped Sookie off that my job quest was a success.
"Sooooooo, when do you start?" Sookie asked giving me a hug.
"Tomorrow night. Sookie I know you're working tonight, but I'm not. Do you mind if I drive the car home and come by later to pick you up? There are some things I wanted to do at home."
"No, I don't mind at all Arabella. Just make sure to be here at 1:30. Saturday night tends to be really crazy and I know I'll be exhausted."
"Sure thing Sook. See you then. See you later Tara." I said as I grabbed the keys from Sookie's hand.
"Good to see ya Bella, don't be a stranger." Tara said with a smile. Tara could be crass and didn't like most people, but she was like family to Sookie and me.
"I won't. Don't go pissing off too many people tonight." I said to Tara with a smile.
"Oh, you know me, I'll be nice as pie." Tara said with a wink. Oh boy, I felt bad already for the poor saps who chose to sit at the bar tonight with her working it.
With that I made my way out the door to the car and headed home.