A brunette woman walked into a bank, and immediately all eyes turned in her direction, it was impossible not to notice her. Her clothes were draped across her body in a way that signaled that they were clearly designer. Her skirt showed plenty of leg, without being slutty, and her blouse was fairly low cut that showed off a rather ample amount of cleavage, but she pulled it off without being trashy.
She stopped half way into the lobby and looked around hesitantly, clearly looking for someone to help her. All of the male tellers on the floor, and even a couple of women, including the manager immediately headed towards the woman and began vying for her attention.
Their attention was detracted however when the doors of the bank slammed open and six men barged in, waving guns around. They were no amateurs, two of them setting up position by the doors, two herding the tellers out from behind the gates, and the final two going up to the group of tellers, grabbing the manager, and dragging her towards the back.
A seventh man walked in with another following him slightly behind. He pulled out a pistol from his waist coast pocket and shot a couple of rounds in the air making everyone shriek and duck. He was tall with brown hair and mustache, with a giant cowboy hat on his hair, and a huge belt buckle.
"Okay everyone, get on the ground, and slide your cell phones towards the center of the room. Don't do anything funny because yes indeed, this is a robbery!" He hollered out in a southern voice, and everyone immediately obeyed him, and within a minute there were thirty cell phones sliding across the floor.
The only person who had not obeyed him was the brunette woman, who was still standing. The man who came in behind the southern ring leader moved over to her, grabbed her gently by the arm, and led her out of the bank. As they passed the southern man, he tipped his hat and winked to the woman causing her to giggle.
The man and woman walked out of the bank side by side and then immediately parted ways, with him going left, and her turning right.
Within the bank, the southern man was still standing with his pistol in the air, his eyes darting around everywhere, making note of anything and everything that was going on.
The men who had disappeared with the manager in the back came out, still tugging her along, both of them carrying large money bags in their hands. When the other men saw them, they abandoned their positions and walked the men out of the bank, their guns at the ready.
The leader waited until they were completely out of the building and in a waiting car before he tipped his hat once more and said, "Y'all have a good day, y'hear?" He turned and walked away jauntily, his black cowboy boots clicking on the marble floor.
He too entered the waiting car, and then was gone with the rest of his men.
They were in and out under ten minutes.
Later that evening Sookie and Eric were sitting in their hotel feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries. "Wait," he murmured, "You have some chocolate… right… there." He leaned closer and closer with each word until he punctuated his statement by licking the chocolate off of her cheek, making her blush.
"So things went well today," she said conversationally after getting over her embarrassment.
He brightened up at the aspect of talking about one of their jobs, which was one of his favorite things to do. "Yes, it went very well, we got over 500 thousand in cash on premise and two million transferred electronically to the account. All thanks to my beautiful accomplice," he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in close to his body.
"Well they guys were very efficient today, and I noticed that Tray put in some hair gel," she giggled, snuggling in closer to him, so she was practically glued to his side.
He gave her A Look. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."
She giggled some more at his expression. "I know, I did look fabulous as a brunette, didn't I? Maybe I should just dye my hair?"
"Don't you dare," he growled out, kissing the top of her hair, and then petting it lovingly.
"Okay, I won't," she said simply, kissing him simply on the lips, and then bringing her head back down to his chest.
They sat entwined around each other in silence; occasionally leaning together to kiss each other on the lips, though there was nothing overtly sexual about it. They were simply enjoying their time together, saying very little, and rarely anything of substance.
After sitting in silence for minutes, Sookie broke the relative quiet and said quietly, "Eric, I have something to tell you."
"What is it my love?" He asked absently, running his finger up and down her arm.
She paused, and then took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
She felt him stiffen next to her, and she looked up at him as he pulled away slightly, and saw him staring down at her in shock. "You're what?" He whispered, running his hands through his hair frantically, she could tell by the way his eyes were flickering rapidly that he was thinking fast. About what, she had no idea.
"I'm pregnant!" She said joyfully, sitting up on their knees and kissing him on the cheek, though he seemed to be frozen in shock. "Eric, are you alright?"
He shook himself out of his stupor long enough to ask in a daze, "Where? How far along?"
"Two months, remember that night in Chicago? The angry sex?" She waggled her eyebrows at him, and burst into giggles, but they slowly stopped when he didn't laugh along with her, he didn't smile even. He got up from the bed, turning his back to her.
"Eric?" She asked in a worried tone. This was not what she was expecting. She had thought he would be happy, laugh along with her, look at her stomach, anything other than this terrifying silence.
"Get out."
"What?" She asked in a panic.
"I said, get out."
"No! Why?" She burst into tears, and she began to breathe hard, feeling like she was moments away from a full blown panic attack.
She watched as he set his shoulders, and he spoke to her in a tone she'd never heard from him before, at least not directed at her. "Are you stupid Sookie? You're my accomplice, my distracter; you attract men to you like bees to honey. It's hard to do that if you're pregnant!" He shouted, still not turning towards her.
"But… but you said you loved me," she whimpered out, placing a hand protectively on top of her stomach.
"Of course I said that," he sneered. "But you're pregnant now, I can't use you, and now I want you out. Take your clothes with you."
She gasped, but didn't say anything more, afraid that if she did, she would completely break down, but she knew that wasn't healthy for her baby. So she would stay strong, leave, and forget all about him. She turned on her heel and marched into the bedroom closet and slammed the door.
"Don't forget to take your jewelry," he called out.
The moment he heard the door slam, Eric let his body morph from the strong and rigid posture he presented, into a bowed and warped figure, the very picture of a broken man.
He could hear her in the closet rummaging around, could hear things being thrown, and after twenty minutes, he heard her emerge, and he immediately straightened back up, staring out across the city sky line without actually seeing it.
He could feel her pausing, waiting for him to say something, but he remained mute. He heard her place something on the bedside table, and then heard her whisper, "Goodbye Eric."
He remained silent and still, and with a quiet sigh, she made her way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. A moment later he heard the door shut quietly as she moved out into the hotel's main hallway, and he broke down.
He collapsed on the floor clutching his wedding ring and just lay there, for how long, he didn't know, and he figured it didn't even matter anyway. He finally figured that he had to get up and make arrangements over Sookie and their… no. He wouldn't allow himself to think about the baby until he knew that they were both safe.
He pulled out his cell phone, and was about to make a call when he notice what she left on the bedside table. The hotel room key card. He figured that before he made any calls he would check to see what clothes she had taken with him, to better pinpoint where she might be headed.
He braced himself, and then entered the closet they use to share. As expected he felt immense pain upon seeing her side of the closet relatively empty. She had left all of evening gowns still on the rack, with their matching shoes still lined up neatly beneath them. Most of her expensive pumps and designer purses were still left on the shelves, but her more practical flats and less extravagant bags were gone. She had also taken all of her pants and jeans, and pretty much all of her shirts. He was marginally pleased that she was packing practically.
He moved over to the safe cleverly located behind a floor length mirror, and opened it to see if she had obeyed him and taken her jewelry with her. He figured that she was an extremely practical woman, and if she ever fell on hard times, she would just be able to sell her jewelry, if she needed the money. She had not, however, taken the jewelry. It was still sitting there, right where it was placed by her almost two months previously.
There was one thing different about the set up, and that was the well worn red ring box that he recognized rather easily. He would, he had carried the box that held his mother's ring around in his pocket for five weeks straight before getting up the courage to ask her to marry him.
He reached for it, and opened it, afraid of what he might find, and nearly wept when he saw the sparkling ring sitting snugly in its position.
He snapped the box shut and returned it to its spot, and then slammed the safe door closed. He strode angrily out of the closet, thrusting the doors closed behind him, and pulling out his cell phone, making the first of what was sure to be many, many calls.
"Hey Alcide? It's Eric. I need you to do something, it's about Sookie."
A/N: Okay, don't hate me 'kay? There is a method to my madness. This story is winding down, only one more chapter, and then an epilogue. Questions will be answered, swear. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!