A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews and comments guys. They ramp me up. This is still a slower part of the story but at least Eric is in it. I want to get to some more action. Especially the romantic sexy stuff. I do listen to your suggestions, hence the extra load of Pammer time in this chapter. I love her. I will try to get another chapter up by tomorrow, maybe sooner, if possible. I do have some chores and things I should do lol. The litter boxes won't clean themselves hahaha. As always, characters are property of not me, and I have no beta, so pardon any word crappery. Love you. P.S. Anyone else love that Tard Kitty (short for Tarder Sauce) with the grumpy poo face? I love her! So much, in fact, I ordered Xmas cards with her on them. Random, I know. ^..^
"Suzie and I were just speaking of Bill's punishment and she sounded like she wished to join in."
"Oh, did she? I will have to remember that for next time. Who knew our Suzie was a sadist. Tsk tsk. Does that only include corporal punishment or does it extend into your bedroom habits? I have a paddle in my desk drawer, with your name on it, if that's the case. I believe Pam does, too."
"Stop!" I flushed as red as a tomato. "TMI and thank you, no it does not extend there, if it's anyone's business."
Pam, taking her cue from Eric's torture,"Really, Suzie, you should have just told us you're into that. We're very open here" she lightning fast, laid a paddle, a riding crop and a cat o' nine tails on her desk. Fondling the riding crop obscenely, "Oooh, let's get Compton back in here and you can make him your bitch." She threw the crop at me and I instinctively caught it.
"Ohmigod, you guys stop it!" I stomped my foot, "this is creepy and you're just trying to get a rise out of me."
They both snickered at me, "You're too easy. Pam and I are going to have a lot of fun with you. Tell me, when you blush, do you blush all over?"
I swatted his leg, then her butt lightly with the crop and threw it on the desk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
In unison, with equal enthusiasm, "Yes!"
I sighed. "Okay, kiddies, when you're done acting like horny teenagers let me know. Because I had a lot of things I wanted to go over with you and we need to hustle if we're going to fill in the rest of the staff." I put my best serious parent voice on.
"I like it when she's bossy, Eric, don't you? She would make a good dominatrix." He nodded his agreement. They had to get one last dig in, but they both sobered up.
I quickly explained what I had done today and he was as pleased by it as Pam had been, maybe even more. They seemed to give me carte blanche when it came to anything involving human staff, as long as I ran it by them before it became permanent. I asked him if he had seen the bar yet, and told him the new layout, which made him hop up to go look. He was gone maybe thirty seconds and was back.
His eyes were wide and he had a million watt smile. "Suzie it looks fantastic! What a clever idea-the bartenders will be able to see every table. And you made room to add more tables and expand the dance area! Plus, it's shaped like a giant fang!" He beamed.
"The only tables they won't be able to see, since they're all attached, are the booths. I was wondering if we put mirrors above those, then the bartenders could see the tables that way..." He was very still for a long moment and I was beginning to wonder if he hated the idea.
"We should make the whole ceiling mirrored. Paint the dance floor red, in a tear or blood droplet shape. When you look into the mirrors from below you would see a fang with a drop of blood at the tip!" He looked at both of us, eager and pleased with himself.
I almost fell over, at the sight of Pam clapping her hands together like a little girl in excitement. "Master, that is excellent."
"Suzie, would you oversee the construction during the day? I would like to have them here Monday, but they will need to start in the morning. Would that be possible? I know it is not the hours we discussed, so I would pay time and a half."
"Eric, please. It's no problem at all. I'll just work in here, while they do their thing. There's no need to pay me extra. We are closed Monday, so it's no inconvenience at all, since I won't have to stay late."
He pulled out his phone, dialed, barked out a few orders to be here at 10am Monday, that a detailed email would follow and hung up, with out so much as a how do you do. "That's settled. His name his Herveaux. He and his team should be able to get it done in one day."
"Uhm, not trying to put my nose where it doesn't belong, but that seems a little unrealistic, to get it all done in a few hours? I would have estimated at least a week."
"He will get it done." Oh. Okeedoke. "Shall we attend the meeting now? We only have an hour left, before opening." We three headed out and while Pam and Eric headed to the front of the seating area, I headed to the back. I was very glad my mental shields were very strong in that moment. I didn't need my telepathy to read the thought,s based on the stares I was getting. I wanted to listen in on the human minds to hear if I was going to have any genuine trouble with anyone. Everyone there followed me with their eyes. I smiled politely and took my seat. There were three other vamps tonight. Longshadow, a red haired male and an exotic looking, tall woman. I couldn't read them.
From the others, the overall vibe was resentment. Most wondered who I thought I was, hanging with their vamps and what exactly my position here was. And whatever it was, in order to get the job without working my way up, I must be sleeping with Eric. Or Pam. A few girls were nice. They just seemed curious as to who I was and if I would be fair to work with. Eric started right in. He went over the new policies and procedures, that everyone must read and sign them. Everything contained within would be effective tomorrow. Pam piped in with the schedule and requests protocol. Almost every mind there was thinking 'thanks a lot bitch' about me. I wanted to laugh. I was ruining their good thing.
As the meeting wound down, "I would like everyone to meet Suzie Stackhouse. She is our new Human Resources Specialist and is also assistant to Pam and myself. She has the authority to oversee all wait staff. If you have a problem, go to her. She represents us so I expect you all" he gave a pointed glare all around the room "to give her the same respect you give us. If I hear this is a problem and Pam or I have to talk to you about it, you will not be pleased with the outcome. Understood?" Boy he could command a crowd. Of course, they all agreed to 'the master' and the meeting was adjourned.
Once everyone went about the usual nightly duties, Pam slid up next to me. "What was the other thing you wanted to show us but were waiting for Eric?" He came up behind her and looked inquisitive. "There is more?"
"Uhm, can we go in the office?" I could tell the other vampires were listening but trying not to look like it. I dashed over to Pam's office and grabbed some of the ledgers and reports I had been looking at earlier and met them in Eric's office. Shutting the door, I put the paperwork in front of them. They looked at the stack, then me.
"Care to fill us in, or do we have to read through all of this first?"
"Okay, so I know you guys may or may not believe me. I'm the new kid on the block after all, so I highly recommend you have your CPA check this out, because I could be wrong."
"What? Get to the point, what is it?"
Jeez, crabby. "I think you guys are seriously missing some revenue. If you look at the last month, the numbers make no sense. You brought the same bar till in on a Saturday, as you did the previous Tuesday? That seems improbable." Now I had their attention. "Unless you really are busier on a Tuesday than a Saturday. The same thing applies to Friday, the week before. On every one of these weeks, in this stack anyway, there is one day where the revenue intake doesn't add up. Look, this week, it's Sunday, here on this one it's Friday. It seems to only be one day per week to be less conspicuous. And who's to say there aren't several more days during that same week, just in smaller amounts. Basically, you guys make so much money, you haven't noticed." Before they could get offended, "It can be very easy to lose sight of a few hundred dollars" closer to a thousand "when you bring in $15,000-$17,000 a week. The bigger concern is how long has it been going on and are there other areas it's missing from. This is just your bar tallies. It doesn't include your price for admission intake. It could be much more than just what is here. Can I ask who does your daily and weekly books here?"
"Long Shadow." Uh oh.
"Pam, did you notice the extra interest he showed this evening, when we were in your office?"
She narrowed her eyes at me, "I didn't then, but now I recall it, yes." She turned to tell Eric, "He came in the office while she and I were going over some things, but at the particular moment, she did have some financial printouts laid out. He seemed inquisitive."
Eric started growling, his fangs had popped down and he stood up.
"Wait. If you're going where I think you're going, please listen a second. That could be very dangerous for me. If you go beat his ass and fire him, where do you think will be the first place he goes?" They both looked at me as if I were speaking Pig Latin. "Hello? Me! He will want to exact revenge for blowing his cover, if in fact, it is him doing it."
"Suzie, I would forbid him from harming you and I would ban him from stepping foot back in here. He would never be so foolish to go against me-"
"Just like he would never be so foolish as to swindle money from you?"
They both growled this time, fangs down, looking ten shades of pissed and turned toward me. Well, shit. I immediately felt sweaty. Recover, Sookie. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect. My point was that he's obviously a cocky bastard who thinks he's above getting caught at anything. He's blinded by it if he had the balls to try to fuck with you guys." That seemed to pacify them for the moment. He sat back down. Mental sigh of relief-they were not two I wanted to piss off. "Would you allow me to try to do some reconnaissance? Meanwhile you could have your accountant look the files here over to get an actual amount he owes you and how long he's been doing this?" He and Pam looked at each other for a bit and seemed to be communicating without talking.
Looking back at me, "I will allow this plan of action. However, if it takes too long, I will be taking the more direct approach."
Pam, who had been quiet, "We could 'detain' him in the basement while we investigate." She looked excited at that prospect, while I tried not to think of what types of things happened in the basement that made her excited.
"No. I think it best to let him continue as if nothing is amiss. It would be advantageous to catch him in the act. Let's keep an exact body count of who comes through the doors to know how much we should take in there. I will have Thalia keep a tally of how many total drinks she makes and tell Longshadow the same. We will see how many they report. It will make no sense if he says fifty and she says two hundred. I will tell them we want to change the drink prices and so need an estimate on how many we sell per night. I will stay out on the floor most of the night to watch him and see if the numbers he reports are accurate."
We hashed out a few other things, then Pam zipped out to go change into her Elvira-wear.
"Suzie, will you be leaving now?"
"No. I brought a change of clothes. I thought I'd like to stay and see how it all works behind the scenes."
His eyes lit up. "Good." He seemed to struggle with something for a moment. "Thank you for the work you have done today and for finding the discrepancy with our books. I apologize if we seem ungrateful, it is just hard for us to think we could be fooled by someone, especially be a vampire. And it is embarrassing that our own arrogance allowed this to happen."
"I understand."
"Yes, you do. You seem to be very understanding of a lot of things, Miss Stackhouse. You are not like any human I have ever met." He came around the desk to where I stood. "You have never met vampires before, yet you have taken everything you have seen and heard the last twenty four hours in stride. You were attacked by Compton and you brushed it off with barely a second thought, other than your desire to have been a part of his punishment. You have been subject to our tempers-two vampires staring you down, growling at you, with their fangs at the ready and yet you stand up to us." He leaned in to me and gave me a big sniff, then grabbed my chin to bore his eyes into mine. Damn those ocean blue eyes of his and what they did to my knees. "Yes, you are quite unique." Now would be a good time to tell him my little secret, but I couldn't quite get my lips to form the words. Maybe because I didn't want them preoccupied, since he was looking very much like he was going to kiss me.
Before I could say anything, even if I wanted to, or get kissed, like I definitely wanted to, Pam flung the door open. She looked at us as we were and smirked. "Aww, did I interrupt?"
He never took his eyes off me, "What do you want, Pamela?"
"The- Sophie Anne is on the phone for you." He cursed and dropped his gaze. "It seems someone has tattled on you regarding a punishment received last night."
Wait-what? "You have got to be kidding." He clenched his jaw.
"Nope. Are you really that surprised?"
He sighed and went around his desk to the phone. Pam took me by the arm, "Now, did I hear you say you brought a change of clothes?" I got it-the phone call was none of my business. "I would love to see your outfit. Come, you can change in my office."
"Let me guess, with you still in it, right?"
"Of course." She led me in and I took out my dress that I'd put in the small closet. "Ooooh-that's pretty. I can't wait to see it on."
"Okay, if you're really going to stay, turn around."
"Fine. Spoilsport." But she did.
I made quick work of swapping outfits. When I was done, I told her she could turn around. Strangely, her fangs were down and she had a weird gleam in her eye. I ignored that bit of weirdness. "I did want to fix my hair and put some makeup on."
"Here." She motioned for me to sit, and pulled a stand up mirror out of the desk. "Do your makeup, I'll put your hair up. Let me see this bag of yours." She dug through it and found what she needed so I leaned in and worked on my face. Eric came in-does anyone knock around here?-and sat down in the other chair with a huff. "How did that go?" Pam asked, picking up the mirror, so I could see my hair. Very nice-a french twist.
"Ridiculously annoying. Apparently, he was pissed I punished him over a human. I explained to Sophie-Anne that, in my club, we do not prey on humans, especially members of my staff. If they offer themselves and they choose to leave the premises together, that is fine. But there is no biting here and he knew that. She seemed appeased and said he was mostly pissed because the human slapped him with some silver and he wanted her punished for that. I told her how I handled my business was none of his business. And that was that. She knows I am right."
"Wait. So Bill Compton told on you? And he wanted me punished for defending myself against his unwanted attentions?!" Oh, I was getting pissed.
"Compton often takes the whiny, pathetic way out. It's of no consequence as he has no power or authority. Besides, we can use your anger to torture him with at a later time. So, take it easy and don't get your pink, lacy panties and matching bra in a wad-"
Eric's head snapped around to her. "You've seen them?"
"Oh yes, she gave me quite a strip show. Very sexy body, Master. You don't know what you missed."
I sighed a very big sigh and rubbed my temples."How did you know what color my underthings are, Pam? Did you peek?"
"No, I kept my word. I didn't turn around. However, I got a very nice reflection from that." She pointed to a dark abstract print behind glass that, from here, looked like it reflected very well. She grinned at me and winked. "Hurry up, we need to let the masses in soon" and sashayed through the door.
I could only shake my head. Eric threw his head back and did one of his belly laughs. "Yes, I do believe this place has gotten a lot more interesting with your arrival." He offered his arm, "Shall we?" I took it and headed out for my first night at Fangtasia.