A/N Not a lot happens in this chapter as far as plot progession goes. But, it was necessary to help move things along. I've already started on chapter 10.
SPOV
As I left Eric's room and went to my own to prepare for bed, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Too much was happening all at once. I had just ended my relationship with Quinn. Bill Compton was most likely on his way with every intention of killing me. To top it all off, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop myself from developing feelings for Eric.
The lunch we'd shared with Pam today had been surreal. She had a dry sense of humor, and was completely blunt and honest about everything. I liked her instantly. And seeing Eric interact with her made me want to be around him all the more. Part of me wanted his time on parole to last forever, because it meant I'd get to spend lots of time with him. The other part wanted it to be over now, because then I'd be free to pursue something beyond a friendship.
I was lost in thought as I left my bedroom and went to the staff restroom down the hall to shower. I didn't think it would be proper of me to use Eric and Barry's bathroom, so, I'd just have to deal with the longer trip. When I was finished and had put on my pajamas, I headed back to my bedroom. I had just turned the corner to the bedroom hallway, when I froze. It looked like Eric had just finished showering as well, because he was in front of me, walking away from me….in nothing but a towel. I thought the view from behind was great when he was wearing jeans, but, with a towel hanging precariously from his hips, was about as close to heaven as you could get. Well, that was until he turned his profile to me and opened his bedroom door. I had a feeling that male models the whole world over would happily sell their soul to the devil to have abs and a chest like his.
Luckily, he hadn't seen me standing there, so once his door had shut, I hastily made my way to my own room. I felt as if I was in need of another shower, this one, much colder. I'd never thought of a man as beautiful before, but, that was the only way I could describe his body. I knew that unless I could get the image of him out of my mind, I'd never get to sleep. So, as a way of calming myself, I sat on my bed and brushed out my hair while humming the lullaby that Gran used to sing to Hadley and I when we were little girls.
After a few minutes, I had to admit to myself that it wasn't going to work. There was only one other way I could think of that would let me get some sleep. I turned off my light and crawled under my covers. As I lay there, I remembered his hand holding mine under the table at the staff meeting earlier. Then, I pictured his hands roaming my body, and let my own hands mimic my thoughts. I softly began to moan at the pleasure that I felt by massaging my breasts and pinching my nipples. My hands slowly made their way down my belly and to my core. I slowly slipped two fingers inside myself, and rubbed circles over my clit with my other hand. I felt the pressure building in my abdomen quicker than I'd expected. Apparently, imaging Eric's hands on my body was quite accelerant. I cried out his name when I hit my moment of ecstasy. Afterwards, as I drifted off to sleep, I idly hoped the walls were thick enough that neither of the men in the rooms surrounding mine had heard me.
I woke the next morning with a smile on my face. It had been quite some time since that was the case. I knew that my fantasies and dreams (yeah that's right, I had a dream about him, too) were the cause. I went to the restroom, and then decided that instead of getting dressed, I'd go to the kitchen to make breakfast for Barry before he had to leave for work. Apparently, I wasn't the earliest riser. As I strode into the kitchen, I was greeted by the site of a very topless Eric. He was wearing a pair of cotton lounge pants, and nothing else. He was leaning against the counter, drinking a mug of coffee and reading a newspaper. When he looked up and saw me, his entire face lit up. Why oh why can't I have this effect on a man that I can be with?
"Well good morning, sleepy." Sleepy? I couldn't have slept in that late.
"Morning. What time is it?"
"Almost 10. Coffee?" I nodded yes, and thought about how odd it was that I had slept that late. I hadn't slept past 8 in years. Eric handed me a mug of coffee, and resumed his position of leaning on the counter. He did not, however, go back to reading his paper. Instead, he just stared at me. After a moment, I couldn't help but smile.
"What? Do I have like funny sleep lines on my face or something?" This made him laugh. That was a sound I could get used to first thing in the morning.
"Oh, no. I'm just trying to figure out if you're more of a bacon and eggs, or fruit and toast kind of woman." Hmm, hadn't seen that one coming.
"Toast and fruit, I think." He immediately went to the fridge and began preparing a plate of fruit, and put a slice of toast in the toaster for me. Within 3 minutes, I stood across from him, leaning on the opposite counter, and we simply watched each other as I ate my breakfast.
Just as I was finishing the last bite of toast, Quinn entered the kitchen. He stopped just inside the doorway and accessed the situation. For some reason, I suddenly felt exposed, since I was only wearing a pair of men's boxer shorts and a camisole. I wasn't sure why it didn't bother me when Eric saw me like this, but it did with Quinn. I mean, I'd had sex with Quinn for goodness sake, he's seen me in lots less than this!
"Well, good morning you two," he said after a moment of awkward silence, then turned his focus on me. "Sookie, I have some things that I want you to keep with you at all times." He pulled two items out of a bag he'd held in his hand. "I've got a pepper-spray dispenser here, and also a taser. Now, if someone should decide they want to harm you, these things won't stop them for long, but, it should buy you enough time to get some help." I nodded, appreciating his thoughtfulness. He then turned his attention to Eric. "Northman, while you're a resident here, you're not supposed to have your own personal cell phone. However, considering the circumstances, we've decided to wave that policy. I have a prepaid phone for you that we'd like you to keep with you at all times. The numbers for our main office here, Sam's cell, my cell, Sookie's cell, and the direct line to the Shreveport police department have all been preprogrammed for you." Eric nodded and took the phone from Quinn.
"Sookie, what plans did you have for today, so we know where you'll be?" Quinn asked.
"Well, I thought that I might go to Walmart to pick up a few things I'll need while I'm here, and then I still need to go and check out Eric's bar, get myself familiar with it, and then I'd work on some paperwork getting prepared for Barry's upcoming release."
"Okay. If you wouldn't mind, give me a quick call when you both arrive at and leave from the bar. That way we've got a good idea as to whether you're on the move, or staying in one place."
"Sure thing, Quinn. Thank you," I said with a small smile. I meant it. I knew that, no matter what happened between Quinn and me in our romantic life, I could trust him with my life. He would never let me down, and he's the best at what he does.
I excused myself to go get dressed for the day, and shortly after I left the kitchen, I heard Quinn start to say something to Eric. I stopped and hovered for a moment so I could hear what was going on.
"Listen, Northman, I don't think it comes to a surprise to anyone that I'm not overly fond of you. That being said, I wanted to thank you for your willingness to help in this situation. It's obvious that you are taking Sookie's well being very serious, which has earned you my respect. And, also, I just wanted to let you know that, I do trust you to protect her. In fact, if not for the restrictions enforced by the terms of your parole, I'd be issuing you a firearm today." I continued walking towards my bedroom, and began getting ready for my day.
EPOV
I was stunned by Quinn's confession that he trusted me to protect Sookie. I have no problem saying I don't like him, but, I can tell that he takes his job very seriously, and that does raise my opinion of him, if only a little.
I went to my room to get ready to accompany Sookie on her errands for the day. It had taken all of my willpower not to jump her when she walked into the kitchen for breakfast. When I saw her in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and camisole, and remember the sweet sounds of her moans the night before, I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to reading my paper. She was too much of a distraction. The sooner my parole was over, the better. I knew I had to be with this woman, I just didn't know how I'd be able to take the waiting game we'd be playing.
About half an hour later, Sookie knocked on my door and asked if I was ready to go. We took her car and headed to Walmart. There were various items that she wanted to get so she wouldn't have to move them from her house (shampoo, toothbrush, etc), and she wanted a few specific food items for our kitchen. I was amazed at how comfortable it felt strolling through the aisles of the store with her. It had been a long time since I'd done something this domestic. During the last year of our time together, I had only made it to the grocery store with Cindy maybe 5 or so times. She had her shopping schedule set around Mattie's nap schedule, which unfortunately, didn't coincide with my work schedule.
Since she'd never been to my bar before, she allowed me to drive us there. When I pulled into the parking lot and let her know we had arrived, she looked up at the building, and then turned to me with a questioning look on her face. "Are you serious? The name of your bar is 'Hell's Inferno?'"
"Yup," I said while silently chuckling. "It was Cindy's idea. She knew what kind of establishment I wanted it to be, and she said that, compared to other bars in the area, it'd be hotter than hell's inferno because the other ones are so tame. It stuck."
She laughed when I told her this, and got out of the car to follow me inside. I saw Pam's vehicle already in the parking lot, so I knew she'd beaten us there. Sure enough, she was in her office when we walked in.
"Sookie! It's nice to see you with your eyes open again, darling," she said as she came and gave Sookie a light kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks. I'm sorry about how things ended yesterday; I guess I was just a little shocked."
"Oh, don't worry. Eric filled me in a little on what's going on, so, let me just say that I'm glad you're safe and well, and hope you stay that way." Wow, this was quite the show of emotion coming from Pam.
I asked Pam to pull any current invoices and staff schedules for me and put them on my desk while I took Sookie on a tour of the place. Pam hadn't changed much since I'd been there last. But, business had been so good, it wasn't necessary. Why fix what's not broken? After a quick tour, I settled in at my desk to begin catching up on as much as I could. Sookie sat at a small table on the other side of my office, set up her laptop, and began working on the paperwork she'd need to begin processing for Barry.
We continued working like this, only taking a short break at 1pm when Pam brought in some sandwiches and we all ate lunch together. Around 6pm, Sookie began packing up her laptop, and said that we needed to be heading back to Hope House. I finished what I had been working on, and went to let Pam know we'd be leaving. I'd noticed that a few staff members had arrived, because this was one of our two delivery days when we had trucks show up full of alcohol for us! I took a moment and greeted the ones I knew, and introduced myself to those I didn't. Just as we were walking out the door, I heard a feminine squeal, and immediately regretted not leaving earlier.
SPOV
We were on our way out of Hell's Inferno, when I was shocked to hear a female shriek loudly, and then watched with wide eyes as the woman who had made the noise literally launched herself at Eric. She couldn't have been more than 5'4", so she had to jump up in order to wrap her arms around his neck to hug him. I saw his arms wrap around her waist tightly, and found myself wishing that he was only doing it as a reflex to keep her from falling, and not because he wanted her in his arms.
After she held on to Eric for a moment, he set her down and simply said, "Hello, Ginger." She reached out and held his hand in hers. As much as I hated to say it, it made me nervous at how beautiful she was. I found myself fighting off wave after wave of jealousy.
"Oh, Eric, it's so good to finally have you back! You have no idea how much you've been missed around here." It didn't take a genius to hear the sexual innuendo in her words. I wanted to smack her and tell her to take her hands of my…..my what? My resident? I realized that I no claim over Eric. If he wanted this woman, there was nothing I could do or say to stop it. I couldn't stand to see her touching him, so I mentioned to Eric that I needed to visit the restroom before we left, and went to compose myself. By the time I emerged, Eric was standing there waiting for me, alone. I guess Ginger had finally gone to get started with work.
Once we were in the car and headed back towards Hope House, Eric took a deep breath, and then began speaking quickly. "Sookie, listen, what happened back there, it didn't mean anything, really. Ginger was the first waitress we ever hired. She might seem bitchy and callous at times, but, she's good at the job, keeps the customers happy and wanting more, she's loyal."
"Eric, you don't have to explain yourself to me. It's okay for you to date while you're on parole."
"Sookie, believe me, if I were to date anyone right now, it most certainly wouldn't be Ginger." Well, that was a little cryptic. Although, I can't say it didn't make me happy to hear.
We got back to Hope House, and Eric helped me bring in the various things I'd bought at the store earlier. I asked him if he'd like to help me make dinner, and he seemed oddly enthusiastic. Apparently, he enjoys cooking. Well, that's a big bonus! I gave him the task of cutting vegetables for a salad, while I worked on preparing some chicken and paste sauce for parmesan chicken. Just about the time everything was ready, Barry came in and asked if he could join us. We told him of course, because, we'd actually been expecting him. The three of us sat in the kitchen area and ate, and talked like old friends. It all just felt so comfortable.
Once we'd finish eating and clearing up the mess, I checked in with Quinn and Sam to find out if they had any news, while Eric picked out a movie for us to watch in the common room. Quinn said that no one had spotted Bill yet, so they didn't have any clue where he was at the time being. That didn't come as a surprise to me at all. The reason he had gotten away with killing 10 women (I'm completely convinced he's guilty), was because he knew how to avoid getting caught.
When I got back to the common room, I noticed that Eric had picked The Shawshank Redemption for our movie. I smiled when I thought about Eric choosing a movie about a man being sent to prison for something he didn't do, and how the experiences and relationships he made there shaped the rest of his life. I wondered if he was subconsciously trying to tell me something.
We settled in comfortable on the couch together, and began the movie. Even after I'd slept in today, I felt myself beginning to nod off. I felt Eric pull my body into his, and he turned slightly on the couch so that my back was resting against his chest, my head on his shoulder. He wrapped one of his arms around my waist, and for the first time ever, I felt the overwhelming joy of falling asleep in Eric's arms.