Ghost in the Machine – True Blood
It was dark by the time a minivan pulled into her driveway. Christine had been trying to not stare out the window, obviously waiting, but it was hard to miss the minivan lights shining into the living room. A woman got out of the vehicle and Christine frowned as she took in the outfit and it didn't look like the woman she was expecting. As the woman came closer the blonde hair and pale features became clearer and Christine just stared, a bit shocked, at how very normal Pam looked when not at work.
Pam was wearing pink. She was dressed in a soft looking pink dress, classy enough for a nice restaurant, but not such a nice restaurant Christine would feel uncomfortable, not a formal dress type of place. Christine glanced down at her own outfit and decided she was still okay. She walked to the front door even as Pam was making her way to it, and shook her head to try and clear the surprise away. She had expected the gothic looking woman, not the version that would fit in fine at any Tupperware party.
Christine opened the front door and smiled, even as she searched for some indication she hadn't made a huge mistake wanting to date this woman. Pam looked so damned conservative in that outfit and it made Christine somewhat uncomfortable.
Voice spoke up even as Pam came to a stop with a smile at the porch. "She's still Pam, it's just clothes. Her personality is like the gothic wear, her taste is the pink clothes." And Christine found that somewhat comforting. She wasn't a wild woman, but she got along much better with the dark types than the conservative types who seemed to like objecting to her lesbian focused novels every single time, rather than just not reading them.
"Well, for a rental this seems like a nice enough place." Pam glanced at the house meaningfully.
"Want the nickel tour?" Christy offered, thinking of the way the house wasn't really her style, but given how Pam was dressed, perhaps she'd appreciate it more. "Come on in."
"Sweety, you need to be a bit more reserved about your invitations into your home." Pam smiled and stepped inside. Christine didn't know if there was some southern etiquette that she should follow, or not, but Pam didn't sound very southern. "My, who did you borrow this place from?"
"An older lady and her retired husband. They went to my house in Washington for her research on a historical romance novel she was writing. I think they also wanted to vacation there." Christine admitted, but since she was doing the same thing here she didn't mind it. For research she wouldn't have needed as long as she was taking.
The house wasn't very large, so showing Pam the living room, kitchen and breakfast nook, and office was rather quick. Pam's teasing smile was familiar when Christine opened the door to the bedroom. "So this is where the magic happens?" Pam teased and Christine found herself blushing.
"If you mean the dreams that inspire my writing, yes." She smirked at the blonde with her, knowing what Pam was really teasing her about. One look at the room didn't inspire any passionate thoughts. It was country and cozy, it had a softness of a grandmother's room to it, in spite of that, it was the better of the two bedrooms in the house. The other was so frilly Voice refused to live in there. They didn't even go into the upstairs, with the mastersuite, after that first day.
"We have a reservation at a French restaurant I heard is very nice." Pam was glancing at her watch, so Christine took a mental inventory of where her purse and jacket were. At the club she shoved everything into her pants pockets, but for this she was bringing her purse. "We should get going."
Glancing at Pam's outfit once again, Christine could see Pam smirk at her perusal. "How did you end up working at Fangtasia?"
"What, I don't look like the type of person who would work there?" Pam's voice held a hint of a laugh.
"Right now, no." Christine opened the front door for Pam.
Pam stared into her eyes and moved closer, rather than step outside. "Disappointed?" The woman was standing so close, and Christine didn't look away from Pam's eyes either. This felt like Pam, the one she'd met, full of confidence and attitude.
"No." Christine gave Pam a smile. "No, not at all."
"Good answer sweety." Pam nodded just a little and smiled, while backing up and then walking out the door. Christine locked the door on the way to follow her.
"The minivan though, that's a kicker." Christine muttered and got an indignant look from the blonde, before Christine smiled at her.
"This minivan can haul anything I might need to move." Pam explained as they walked over to it.
"What, like an entire soccer team?" Christine teased, but then wondered if Pam did have a bunch of little ones at home. That wasn't a pleasant thought, it didn't fit the picture she had of Pam before she saw the minivan at all.
"Maybe I need to haul around a dozen bodies." Pam stood stiffly and tried to look intimidating in her pink outfit while staring Christine down, all while she opened the passenger side door for Christine.
Christine just smiled and glanced in the back. "You'd never get a dozen back there."
"I would if it were that children's soccer team you were talking about." Pam told her and Christine chuckled, and could feel Voice's amusement as well. Voice insisted on telling her that there really was enough room for that.
Once they pulled into the street, Christine found she was able to relax and just let Pam find whatever she was looking for. It was a nice change of pace from her constantly making sure she had her map in the car when she went places. She hadn't been here long enough to head out and be sure she'd find her way back easily.
"So this vampire you're writing about. Is she the villain of the piece?" Pam spoke after a moment of silence that started to get uncomfortable.
"No." Christine grinned, "She's the love interest for my main character, Sarah."
"Really?" Pam's smirk was rather mysterious. "You find vampires sexy? And a lesbian one at that?" Christine tried not to blush, but it wasn't completely successful. There was something so very suggestive in Pam's voice.
"They can be." Christine admitted, but she paused, wondering if she should be so forward. "But then again, so are you."
Pam's grin widened to so much it was surprising and her eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth as she looked at Christine. "You are such a sweety." Christine blushed, but she did notice she was called that a lot. It almost appeared to be a pet name, so she smiled back shyly. "I remember you telling me you didn't like to date your fans, because they would make assumptions about who you were."
That seemed like a huge segue, and Christine frowned a little. "Yeah, reading my letters and emails pretty much was a huge hint they didn't see me behind my characters."
"I bought one of your books," Pam gave her a glance and Christine started to feel a little nervous about where this was going. "I thought I'd put off reading it for a day or so, to get to know you first." That seemed like such a gift at that moment, and Christine felt touched that Pam thought to do that. "Though I wouldn't mind if you signed it." Pam added with a smile, and glanced down at the bag between the front seats that Christine had not noticed yet.
With a brief glance to make sure it was okay, Christine reached down to pick up the bag and slide the book out. She groaned softly when she saw which one Pam had. "You had to pick the kinkiest thing I ever wrote?" She whispered under her breath, but apparently it wasn't too quiet because Pam laughed, loudly. "Okay, this is not me. This is exactly what I've been afraid of." Christine spoke firmly and gave Pam a teasing glare, because she could see Pam had worked hard on this joke.
"I don't know dear, the summary looked rather racy." Pam's smile was worth the embarrassment Christine felt. "Did you get a consultant on that one, or did you do all your own research?"
"Oh god." Christine hid her eyes with her hand at that question. She'd done her research, ordered books, she didn't actually experiment, but she couldn't say she did her own research when Pam asked her that way. "You enjoy making me squirm don't you?"
"I don't know, but I assume I will." That was so suggestive that Christine felt an ache at the delivery of it, the tone, the promise of it. Christine's blush went to yet another level.
"I read books." Christine ignored the last comment, because she had no idea how to address it. "Looked at websites. I had to a lot of that KIND of research for that book, but I didn't go further."
"Shame, maybe later." Pam seemed so smug and Christine slid her one book that touch on the world of bondage and basement dungeons, and Mistresses, back into the bag. It was the closest she came to writing porn, and it had been fun to write, but it was something she was constantly having to live down now.
"So, what kind of restaurant are we going to again?" Christine tried and Pam shook her head knowingly, before answering her. The talk was a little more tame as Pam told Christine what she'd heard about this place, as they pulled into its parking lot.
The way Pam sat still rather than getting out had Christine turn toward her. Pam's voice was more serious. "I understand what you are worried about with your books. Women make assumptions about me, and true or not, it does get tiring. I like that you don't seem to assume much of anything." Pam gave her a small smile. "I completely understand your desire to have me get to know you a little before I see this side of you." Pam pointed at the book.
"That is why I'm not telling you anything about her." Voice whispered to her.
Voice's words, following Pam's had Christine's mind racing. She didn't know what to say to Pam so she gave her a soft smile and when Pam took that and turned to get out of the van, Christine took her time getting out. "So, when you aren't threatening to read my books," Christine asked as they made their way toward a very nice looking restaurant. "What do you read?" Christine was going to spend some time talking with Pam, getting to know her, before obviously something came up.
"I just finished reading a collection of Dear Abby letters." Pam told her and Christine started to smile.
"I read that in high school." She told Pam. "I loved it. I bought a copy as research for character development. It's beside my desk at my own house. I got the Ann Landers one too."
Pam took Christine's hand gently in her own as they made their way to the man waiting to open the door. "I like to read it to see what people are thinking about these days." Christine squeezed Pam's hand a little, the coldness of it making Christine feel somewhat protective. If they weren't already on their way inside Christine might offer Pam her coat.
"If you really read that book of mine you just bought, you could look for a minor character that was inspired by one of the letters." Christine could see Pam start to reconsider waiting to read that book for her, but at that moment she didn't care. She would later, but she was having fun now.
They were seated quickly, and Christine glanced around at the décor and the way they had privacy even in the middle of the restaurant. It was just designed for an intimate feel. Christine glanced at the table, and noticed that her menu was somewhat wider than Pam's. She almost asked if one of them got the wrong one, but Pam was staring at hers intently while caressing her lips with her index finger. It was too sexy, way too sexy and Christine buried her attention into her own menu, as she wondered if sex on the first date was really out of the question, or if she should loosen up if it were offered and take it.
Christine almost asked about something on the menu, to see if Pam had tried it, but then remembered Pam hadn't been here before either. Making up her mind to just try the dish, Christine set her menu down and took a sip of her water.
When the waiter came by Pam just smiled at her and then pointed to her own menu. "I'll have that." Her voice was somewhat seductive as she pointed out her order to the waiter, who just nodded and wrote it down. Christine ordered her own meal out loud, and was asked about something to drink.
"I don't really know wines very well." Christine spoke, glancing at Pam. She was the one that worked at a bar.
"Get her the reddest wine you have." Pam stared into the waiters eyes a moment and Christine wondered if the man knew Pam from somewhere, because he nodded as if he fully understood which one she was talking about. It was an odd way to order, but wine never made sense to Christine, so maybe very red was somewhat special.
"So, with all the talk about your book, we never did get to the big question." Pam leaned forward, her eyes wicked and sexy. "I know you say you aren't like your characters, but would you date a vampire?" The waiter swung by, saying nothing as he put a red wine in front of her and a thicker red liquid in a similar glass in front of Pam.
Christine's eyes widened for a moment, her body froze, as it all clicked suddenly, and unexpectedly. She stared at Pam, finally taking in how pale she looked in normal lighting, and remembering how cold her hand had been on the way in here. Her heart hammered once and Pam started to look concerned, just more proof. "I had no idea." She whispered, but then the question Pam asked came back to her and Christine swallowed a little nervously. "But I am, aren't I?"
Pam just raised on eyebrow as a comment and picked up her glass to take a sip of something far too thick to be wine.
Voice prodded her. "Talk now or lose it all." Voice was firm, and sounded a bit irritated with Christine, but this was a shock, a surprise. Christine had never talked with vampires before and she was still stuck on the idea that Pam was one. Pam, who she'd been talking to as if she were human since the very first moment she met her.
"I would never date someone because they were a vampire." Christine spoke softly, watching Pam. "But I would date someone who was a vampire." Christine had never even considered it really, but she liked Pam. Pam gave her a small smile, and Christine's eyes widened just a bit to see a hint of fang in that smile.