3 Months Later

"Eric Northman if you do not come back to Louisiana immediately I'm going to lose it!" Sookie shouted into her phone. She was pacing the parking lot of Fangtasia where, along with Eric's office, she spent as much time as possible lately, while the contractors worked inside.

"Why is that, dear one?" Eric replied over the phone, as calmly as if they were discussing the weather, not Sookie's outrage.

"Ginger has decided that three months was too long of a vacation and has started coming in everyday, second guessing every decision I make, following me around and if she's not doing that she's sitting on your damn throne, just glaring at me," Sookie complained. "I've had enough! She's not even helping, she's just criticizing. I've got enough shit to deal with now that school has started, I can't babysit her on top of it." Eric chuckled into the phone. "It's not funny! She's driving me up the wall!"

Eric just laughed more, "Sookie, I'm not laughing at you. But she has worked for us for twenty years, so I know exactly how you feel. Put her on the phone."

Sookie carried the phone back into the bar and shoved it into the blonde's hands. "Eric," she said, angrily, before stomping back to Eric's office to take a break.

After her vacation in Mexico, she'd thrown herself into the re-haul of Eric's bar with gusto. After consulting with Arlene and Sam, she'd taken to it like a fish to water. She was almost done with everything except hiring and she was going to speak with Eric about that after he finished with Ginger.

They had set their feelings for each other on the back burner, as they both knew they would be separated from each other for many months and it was too much to deal with, on top of everything else. They'd decided to pick up the conversation once Eric returned and things settled down a little.

They still spoke to each other at least once a day, more than that if there was a lot going on at the bar. She had decided to class up the ambience of the decoration, while still sticking to the basic theme of the bar, as it was a tourist attraction. But she had wanted to make it a little more elegant, for the sake of the vampires who had to put in time there, and Pam had wholeheartedly agreed.

She had begun school about a month before, and was enjoying it much more than she'd ever enjoyed school before, considering the majority of it could be done online, and not in a classroom full of people's thoughts she had to wade through just to pay attention. She was looking forward to Eric and Pam's return so she could have more time to focus on school, rather than the bar and the unwanted distraction of Ginger.

Almost as if she knew she was being thought about, Ginger opened the door to Eric's office and Sookie had to hold her temper in check to keep from yelling at her. "Eric wants to talk to you," Ginger said, sounding subdued.

"Thank you," Sookie said, as politely as she could. "Eric?"

"She will not be bothering you again. I have reminded her who her bosses are, and that I told her specifically not to return to the bar until we told her to."

Sookie breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

"You are most welcome. Now, did you only call to get rid of Ginger? Or did you have an update?"

Sookie smiled, "I did have an update. The last of the work has been done on the bar itself. I have the vendors lined up when we're ready to stock before opening, and at this point all that's left is hiring. Since I don't know when you'll want to open, I wasn't sure when you wanted me to line up interviews."

"Sookie, that is good news. I'm very pleased to hear how quickly you've managed this. Pam and I can be back in the country in about a month. We have a few more things to wrap up here, and I want to make sure the scientists are progressing as well as they'd said they would before we leave. I feel that our presence here motivates them to work faster, so I don't want to leave just yet. But as to hiring, you can begin to look for candidates. Pam will send you a list of requirements and necessary skills, and qualities to look for when screening. Then we will set up a time to do the interviews, which I am looking forward to. I always enjoy seeing you work your gift," he concluded, amusement evident in his voice.

"Now, I never said I would read them all. You're makin' assumptions," she tempered playfully, but they both knew she was bluffing. "But I will. Since you did ask me so nicely."

"Thank you, Miss Stackhouse," he purred, "I apologize for being presumptuous. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can find a way to make it up to me," she flirted back.

"I'm sure I can. In fact, I think I have. When does the work conclude at the bar?"

"I think they'll be done by the end of the week, why?" she asked.

"Do you think you can post all of the positions we're looking for before then?" he asked, instead of answering her question.

"Yes, but again, why?"

"Since your presence will not be needed at the bar until interviews begin, and you can do your schoolwork and refining the candidates from a distance, I think it would be good for you to come to Sweden for a few days. See what we've done so far, since I do intend for you to be more involved, eventually."

"I assume the part you're leaving out is so you can have me read the people you've got so far, right?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, Sookie. Once again, you assume the worst of me," he said gently, but sounding disappointed. "What I was actually leaving out was that mostly, I would just like to see you."

Sookie felt ashamed. She had thought she'd moved past mistrusting Eric's intentions, but apparently not quite. "I'm sorry, Eric. I spoke without thinking. I would love to visit you."

"Thank you, dear one. And so you know, that was not something I hadn't considered. But it will do no good, as they'll likely be thinking in Swedish. Which might be something you'll want to learn if you choose to continue working with us. But that's beside the point. The point is I would have asked you. I hope you know that I will never expect you to use your abilities for me without asking first."

"I know, Eric. I'm sorry."

"Accepted. Let's move on. Sweden is very cold in the winter. I want you to use your company card and go shopping before you leave, so you will have warm clothes while you are here. I'll have Pam send you a list of things you might want to bring, and where to find them. As you know, she is the one with superior insight into clothing and shopping, just ask my credit cards," he finished wryly.

Sookie laughed, "Okay. I will."

"Really? I would have thought you'd fight me on this, you hate letting me buy things for you."

"True, but since this is mostly a business trip - with the added perk of getting to spend time with you, I figure I'll let the boss pay for it. Just don't tell him," she added, playfully.

"Mmm, true, but I don't think he'll mind," he replied, "Especially if you buy yourself a few nice dresses, too, so he can show you off around town. He is quite proud of his beautiful, intelligent, wonderful associate."

"I'll see what I can do."