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The next morning I woke up to Sexyback. With my eyes still closed I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone.

"Hello?" I said groggily, rubbing my eyes.

"Sookie, I'm outside. Get dressed and get out here."

"What? Why? Were you supposed to pick me up?"

"Don't keep me waiting." Then he hung up. I rushed to put on my jeans and grabbed an LSU sweatshirt. I slipped on my work shoes and washed my face as fast as I could.

I stepped out of my front door as I was putting my hair up and I stopped in my tracks. Claude was in the driver's seat of the coolest car I'd ever seen. He impatiently waved me in and I finished my ponytail as I opened the passenger door.

"Nice Benz," I said. "What model is it?"

"It's a 2010 Mercedes G Class SUV." We pulled out of my drive way and on to Hummingbird Road and were on our way to Shreveport before I asked,

"So what is this about?"

"I need to show you your new house."

"You're giving me your home?" Tentatively.

"I am giving you all of my earthly property. I can't take very many things with me. That includes this car."

In an even voice I said, "Claude, what the Hell?"

"What else am I going to do? Plus, I'm not doing you much of a favor anyway. You're still going to have to pay utility bills. And taxes."

"Just give me a minute to digest all of this."

"You'll be thanking me when you see all of your new property."

"We'll just see about that." After a minute Claude said,

"You should probably quit your waitressing job, too."

"Shut up!" Claude just smiled as he turned onto the Shreveport exit. I threw my hands up in exasperation.

***

We pulled into a garage complex in the ritziest part of downtown Shreveport.

"What floor do you live on?" I shut the car door.

"The penthouse, top floor."

"What number?" I asked cautiously. We entered the elevator and he punched in 50. "Why do I even ask?"

It took about 4 minutes to get to his flat. When the elevator doors opened, I was shocked by just how green everything was. The front room was a sitting room, with colorful rugs and cherry stained hardwood. The furniture was archaic by design and had Celtic knots embedded everywhere in the thick, solid wood. There was something written on the mantle of the fireplace, in a language I would later learn was Old Irish.

All of the windows were stained glass depicting various Celtic gods, and in the kitchen, where all of the appliances were new, there was a window above the industrial sinks that resembled Niall. He was much younger than the Niall I knew and his hair was braided at random intervals framing his muscular face and neck. The sword he held above his head was curved, slightly, and he wore a gold circlet 'round his head. He looked like all of the descriptions of King Arthur I'd ever seen. I let that thought slide.

There were roses in vases on all of the tables or in pots where there was space for them. The seating was very comfortable and sucked you in at every corner. He showed me his bedroom, where there was a larger-than-king-size-bed (turns out it's a Tempur-Pedic, too) covered in pillows with Persian designs and the fluffiest ever comforter I'd seen, three inches thick and bronze colored.

Claude picked up a long remote from one of his two nightstands and pressed the topmost button. I turned my head when I heard a sound from behind me and saw pieces of wall being moved to expose a huge flat-screen TV.

"I have satellite TV with every channel I could buy. It has all been paid for."

"No complaints." I fanned out my hands in an "OK" gesture.

Claude showed me his master-bath, which included a glass-framed walk-in shower that had three jets and a one-way mirror that looked down on all of downtown Shreveport. It had a bench made of unfinished wood, and Claude showed me where the dry-steam controls were. So it was a walk-in shower as well as a steam room; Impressive.

Then there was the bathtub. Or should I say the hot tub? It was big enough for six people, with steps that lead up and down to it, it had colorful lights, benches, lots of water jets and headrests.

Pointing to the tub I said, "You've had a few parties in there, haven't you?"

"Yes." He winked at me. I shuddered and made a mental note to have the bathroom cleaned by a professional company.

The counter was huge but had only one sink. I didn't mind. I planned on living alone for a while. But it had many, many cabinets and drawers (all thick, cherry stained wood) and shelves brimming with Burt's Bee's and Aveda products. I was happier than a pig in doodoo.

Then he took me out of the bathroom and back to his room, where he pointed to two doors.

"The first one is an office. The second is my closet. What do you want to see first?"

"Your closet, definitely." I let out a gasp when I saw the other side of the now opened door. It was our poster! God, did I look good. (Of course, Claude looked better, that Narcissist. Word of the Day!)

"Yeah, I like it too." He laughed at my expression. "Now let me show you the clothes I bought you as thanks." He walked into the closet and flipped a light switch.

"You bought me thank-you gifts? Claude, don't you think the new apartment and car and job are enough?" I followed him in, and boy, this closet was bigger than my kitchen! "Claude, you're giving me your life. How do you know I won't disappoint you?" He froze, then he turned to me and whispered,

"Did you ever disappoint Claudine?" Oh, Claude. I mumbled an apology and he continued into the vast cavern that was his, excuse me, my closet. He had organized everything according to time of day and event. "This is the dress section." This was at the very end of the closet, right next to a 360 mirror that I had no plans to go anywhere near anytime soon.

"I picked up the most sensual dresses I could find. Some might just cut off your circulation." I found some four-inch-fuck-me-shoes and pointed to them.

"These will get me killed."

"Or help you kill someone else."

"I'm going to need these. Are the heels silver?" We dissolved into giggles.

The rest of the clothes were either too suggestive or borderline recklessly slutty. But I loved all of them. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Coach, Michael Kors… Who could resist? But they all looked classy, and expensive.

When I felt overwhelmed Claude led me out of the closet and into his office. There was an Apple desktop and laptop with a wireless printer all set upon a huge solid wood desk. There was a pushed in leather chair that had tax records stacked on it.

"Anything you'll need to run Hooligans from here is in this office. But now, let me show you my favorite part."

He led me through a set of French doors that I hadn't noticed until now. They opened up to his balcony. It was the best view in Shreveport, if you asked me. I could see so far I almost thought I could see Hummingbird Road from here! There was an outdoor fireplace and four chairs surrounding it with potted greens in every corner.

"Do you think you could learn to live here?"

"I think I could learn to love it here."

"Good. Now that I've made you familiar, it's time to call Jason."

"What for?"

"Grandfather and I are leaving."

"As in, now?"

"Right now."

"Hold on." What else did I expect? They popped into my life and they were popping out just as fast. I pulled out my phone and was about to hit send when Claude took my phone.

"We will be going to him." He flipped through my phone book until he found Niall's number and punched it in. "Grandfather. Yes. Yes. Right now." He handed me the phone after he disconnected.

"Where are we going?" Claude put his arm around me.

"To Jason's house." Then I heard a crack! and a long whoosh! as I felt the wind twirling around me. And then I was standing in Jason's living room.

Chapter 4 is on its way!

~ChristiAnthemum