Chapter Two - A Day in the Life

He gently took the notepad back from me, turned the page over, and then wrote again. He handed it back with a small, sheepish smile.

Could you repeat the name of the book you need?

"Yeah, it's Still Life With Woodpecker, by Tom Robbins," I said, mesmerized by the way he watched my lips move. Could he really tell what words I was saying just by watching my lips?

He smiled, nodded, and gestured for me to wait, then took off towards the back. I could see his head over the shelves, and watched him enter a door, then a few minutes later he came back out holding the right book.

"Thank you," I said as he handed it to me, but I had my head down and realized that he didn't see my lips, so I looked at him and repeated myself.

Again, he smiled and inclined his head. He pulled out his pad again and wrote, then handed it to me.

May I help you with anything else?

I shook my head as I handed it back with a smile, thanked him once more, apologized profusely for my mistake, which he simply waved off with a 'happens all the time' shrug. I paid for my book and high-tailed it to my car, where I proceeded to bang my head against the steering wheel while calling myself stupid. I couldn't believe I'd actually just made that big an ass of myself, and my only thoughts were of crawling into a deep hole and never coming out again.

Unfortunately, I had to get going to my next errand. I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some essentials, then went back to the apartment to wake Pam up. She just didn't get the concept of waking up before two in the afternoon.

"Pam!" I yelled as I walked into her room. "Come on, it's almost two, and you said you'd help me pick out an outfit for work tonight."

"Ugh, go away," she groaned, so I threw open her drapes.

"Dammit, Sookie!"

"Get up! Go take a shower, then you need to pay your half of the bills. The last of them came in this morning. Your dress is hanging in the hall closet. I'll make us some lunch."

"Okay, mom."

"Shut up and get out of bed," I hollered as I left her room.

I went out to the kitchen to unpack the groceries, and started to whip up some lunch. With our hours at the bar, me bartending, Pam waitressing, we usually just ate a big lunch, then a late, late, late supper. I cooked lunch, Pam bought supper if her tips were good.

"Whatcha making?" Pam asked, chipper as could be after a long, hot shower.

"I'm using up those chicken breasts. I made them really thin, breaded them, and we'll have a salad with it, which is in the fridge if you want some."

I was the cook out of the two of us. Pam was the kind of person that managed to burn microwave popcorn everytime she made it. She went to the fridge and pulled the salad out to fix herself a bowl while I finished the chicken.

"So what do you want to wear tonight?" she asked.

"Bill's coming by the bar and staying over, so something sexy, but not slutty."

Bill was my boyfriend of almost three months. He was just a bit taller than me, with cool, dark eyes, and dark, medium-length hair. He worked as an accountant, and we met in the bar when he went out with some of his accountant buddies. Bill had clearly been out of his element, and ended up spending the entire time sitting at the bar talking to me. He had the charm of a true Southern Gentleman, and by the time his friends were ready to leave I had a date to meet him for coffee the next week.

The coffee date went very well, so we exchanged numbers and started really dating. We went to the movies a few times, and out to dinner as often as my job allowed. I'd even introduced him to my grandmother, who quickly fell in love with him. It wasn't love for me, yet. It was good though, very good.

"What, Bill doesn't like slutty?"

"Bill likes slutty, he just doesn't like slutty when a thousand other guys get to see it before him."

Pam rolled her eyes and took a bite of her salad. I pulled the chicken out of the pan and plated it, then squeezed a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice over it.

"Am I going to have to put on my ipod just to go to sleep again?"

"Oh shut up, we're not that loud, the walls are just thin," I said, blushing. Bill and I hadn't been having sex for very long, but he was definitely what Pam and I called a "sprinter." The sex never lasted long, but he always got me off, and within twenty minutes he was ready to go again. Instead of having sex for an hour, we'd have sex three times in about an hour and a half. It sort of made up for him not lasting long because I was getting off three times instead of one very drawn out and built-up time.

"No, you're just loud. Are you overcompensating?"

"No, I'm not. He gets the job done. I don't want to talk about this with you, you'll just end up insulting him."

"I can't help that you're with a humorless twit."

"He's not humorless, you just don't get his sense of humor."

"Whatever you say, Sook."

I changed the subject back to my outfit, and by the time we finished lunch Pam had helped me figure out what to wear. I swear she had a photographic memory set to taking pictures of clothes only. She could perfectly recall every item I had in my closet. We shared a lot of clothes, but there were some things she wouldn't let me wear because she swore my chest stretched the fabric.

We headed to work a few hours later. We worked in a bar called Hell's Belles. It had a fully female staff, with the exception of the bouncers. The woman who owned it, Thalia, was an ex-Marine, and tough as nails, but very fair with her employees. She made a bar that was popular, not only because of the staff, but because we had live music two nights a week, and managed to book some really killer bands. Pam had been working there for a year before I started, and Thalia hired me because I'd bar-tended my way through college, and, in her words had, "the rack for it."

Since it was a Friday, the bar was really busy. We had a band playing called Lounge Flies, who were an alt rock band. They were good, despite their weird name. The locals loved them, and kept bugging Thalia about booking them, so we finally did. With the turnout we got, I was sure they'd be playing here again.

I made bank in tips, so by the time we were closing up I was in a really good mood, and when the hot bass player came over and asked for a beer I was open to flirting with him.

"Great show tonight," I said as I set the beer down in front of him.

"Thanks," he smiled, then held out his hand for me to shake. "I'm Alcide."

"Sookie."

He had big hands, long fingers, and a firm grip. He also had good eye contact, the kind that gave me goosebumps. That could have been because his eyes were the prettiest green I'd ever seen. He had dark, wavy hair, and days old stubble on his cheeks.

"You like working here?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's not so bad. I have a teaching degree, but there's a hiring freeze right now, so I work here."

"My sister is a teacher," he said, his eyes lighting up.

"No kidding? She from around here?"

"Naw, she's over in Mississippi. She had a hard time finding a job too, so while she waited she got special education certified. Lots of jobs in that area."

"I thought about that, but I always kind of felt like it was something a person should be passionate about, not get into just because they can't find a job."

"You become passionate, believe me. Janice, my sister, she made me help her with the audio equipment for a play her school did, and I saw her working with one of the kids who was autistic. I swear she loves that kid like her own. When you become the person who helps kids learn, especially the ones that have a little trouble learning the way the school thinks they should, you just become passionate about it. You're the key."

"That's a good way to look at it."

"You should consider it," he said, then one of his bandmates called his name. "I think they're all packed up. Listen, I know this is kinda spur-of-the-moment, but would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?"

My heart started beating faster, and I smiled, but as much as I wanted to say yes, I did have a boyfriend that I very much liked.

"I have a boyfriend," I said apologetically, and was happy that he didn't take it badly.

"That doesn't surprise me. Can't blame a guy for trying," he smiled. "Thanks for the beer, Sookie. Maybe by the time we play here again you won't have that boyfriend of yours."

He winked at me, then headed to the back exit. Almost immediately, Bill was taking his place.

"Hi sweetie," I said, and began to lean forward for a kiss, but then I noticed his frown. "What's wrong?"

"Who was that guy?"

"His name is Alcide. He played in the band that was here tonight."

"Why was he hitting on you?"

"How do you even know that?" I asked. I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing Bill jealous yet, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"I heard him ask you out."

"Then you also heard me tell him that I have a boyfriend. I'm with you Bill, I don't want anyone else."

He sighed, and kind of deflated, then looked up at me with much softer eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was just the first time I had to witness you getting hit on by a guy that wasn't drunk. It kinda threw me for a loop. Forgive me?"

I nodded and leaned forward again, this time getting the kiss I wanted.

"I'll be about twenty more minutes. Want a beer while you wait?"

"Actually just a water would be good, please."

Bill sat and talked to me while I cleaned up and restocked the bar, and then Pam came over when she'd finished up. There really was no love lost between Pam and Bill. They simply didn't like each other.

"Evening Billy boy," Pam said.

"Pam," he responded.

"Is he coming with us to eat?" Pam asked me.

"You know, he's sitting right there, maybe you could ask him."

"That's okay," she said, still staring at me.

"Yes Pam, I'll be tagging along, though I'll be driving my own car, so you won't have to be in the same area as me for long."

She only spared him a glance one would give an annoying fly before speaking to me again.

"Actually, I think I'm going to give a friend a call tonight. Mind if I take the car?"

In Pam speak that meant she was going to have a night with her fuck buddy, and that I shouldn't expect her home until the next afternoon.

"That's fine," I said, and handed her the car keys. "Please don't be late tomorrow."

"I won't be," she said, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and left.

"If she gets any colder towards me I'll freeze to death from sheer proximity."

I offered him a sympathetic look, and kissed him again.

"I know she can be a bitch, but I appreciate you not fighting with her. I do have to live with her."

"Oh well, at least we have the apartment to ourselves tonight."

"Yes. Yes, we do," I grinned. "Let's get going then. I'm starving in more ways than one."

"Then let's get you fed so we can take care of the other."

"Let me just take my rags to the back, and I'll be good to go."

I gathered my dirty towels, and took them back to throw them in the laundry bag. After washing my hands and double-checking my bar stock, we left hand in hand. All thoughts of my earlier embarrassment, my teaching woes, and being hit on were far away.

A/N:

Thank you all so much for the overwhelming response to the first chapter. I've had a hectic week so it took me a while to get this one done, but now that I actually have a plotline I'm hoping to get them out faster.

Yes, Bill is actually a good guy in this story, but that doesn't mean he's right for Sookie. We'll definitely see more Eric next time. I just wanted everyone to get a feel for Sookie so I hope I accomplished that :)