I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERIES OR ANY RESEMBLANCE THERE OF.

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Chapter 15 – Talents

(Eric POV)

It's cold; bitterly cold. The wind seems to soak into my blood, into my muscles and bones – it's miserable. It's miserable, but I have no choice. I'm the leader now. As their leader, revenge must be my focus. My father was murdered, killed by an enemy horde. They must pay. My duty is to my people; I know this in my head, but my heart is thinking something else. My hands reach down and grip the sword at my side – my Father's sword. I sail to avenge his death.

They boat rocks beneath my feet. I can see the shore, but I can no longer see her. Every time I think of her, the wind whips me, my own personal hellish punishment. I have no choice, and she knows this. She's braver than I am. She didn't let me see her cry. She lifted her head high; she set the example for the women we leave behind. No, she didn't cry in front of me, but I can feel the freezing tears rolling down her face now. She stood on the shore to watch us leave. She stayed longer than the others.

I can't see her anymore, but I can feel her pain. I can feel the rocks jab into her knees as she falls from exhaustion. And suddenly, the wind turns from pain to dread. Something is wrong. Something is wrong, and she knows it. She knew it before but didn't say anything – my brave, beautiful, proud woman let me leave, but I know now why she's crying. It's more than her missing me. I can feel what she's feeling: its the ending to our story. Somehow I know what she does; I'll never see her again.

I was haunted when I woke up. Sookie was in the shower, and I was thankful that she didn't see me shudder while trying to hold back the tears. If it's true that what we've been seeing is our past lives, then maybe I don't want to see anymore. This wasn't some cheerful Victorian romp. There were no comforts in that life – it was cold and hard. To top it off, I lost Sookie in that life. Why would I want to relive that? Did Sookie have the same dream?

"Hey Sugar," she said. I looked up to see Sookie walking toward me towel drying her hair. She was wearing her new silk Kimono. The Kimono was payment for the previous day. After our little romp in my office, we got to work and started the much needed interviews for some new staff. I fired the 6 idiots from the theft ring and with Sookie's help and 'skills,' found 4 new seemingly trustworthy bartenders. I still had one bartender and one cocktail waitress to find and the next round of interviews was later in the day. Adding to yesterday's achievements was my success in finding the only form of payment I knew Sookie couldn't say no to: lingerie, hence the Kimono. "You ok? You look like you've seen a ghost," she said.

"Sookie, what did you dream about last night?"

"Not sure I dreamt of anything. Why, what's going on?" she said as she walked back to bathroom to hang the towel to dry.

"I had a dream, or a memory, or… God, I don't even know what to call them anymore."

She looked concerned. She sat down next to me and put her hand on my back, and rubbed. "Tell me?"

"I was on a boat..."

"…and little Alexandra came running to you wearing a white dress? I've had that one."

"No, I wish, but no."

"Oh, sorry, continue."

"It was cold, really cold. I was on the boat, watching the shore. I couldn't see you anymore, but I knew you were there."

"I was crying," she said quietly, bowing her head.

"Yes! How did you know?"

"The shore was rocky; I fell to my knees and scraped them."

"I couldn't see you, but I knew you fell. I knew you were crying."

"I wasn't crying because I scraped my knees. I think I was crying because somehow I knew…"

"…you would never see me again?" She looked up to me, and nodded. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. I assume you got killed on whatever voyage you went on."

"Probably. When did you have the dream?"

"In Puerto Rico. I didn't know what to make of it, so I didn't tell you. Things were still so new between us." We were silent for a long time. When the phone rang, we were both startled. Sookie picked up.

"Hello…oh, hi…yes, it has been a long time…I know I feel just awful about that…nope, no excuses…I don't know, what did you have in mind…oh that would be wonderful…what can we bring…you sure…ok…ok…thanks to you too…yup, we'll see you then."

"Who was that?"

"That was Lafayette. He was calling to scold us for not having seen them since we got back weeks ago."

"Oops!"

She laughed. "And they're throwing us a party to launch us into society."

"Sounds frightening."

"What society is he talking about?"

"Who knows? Sometimes it's the art crowd, sometimes it's the yatch set, sometimes it's the who's who and who's gorgeous – never know what you're gonna get."

"Well lucky for us, he said we could bring reinforcements."

"I'll call Pam, you call Tara. When is this launching anyway?"

"Sunday, at noon."

I sighed audibly, "Laffy and his damn brunches."

(Sookie POV)

As ominous as Eric made it sound, I was actually sort of excited. Far as I could tell, besides Pam, Eric's only family was Niall and Lafayette, and they were as close to parents as I would get. Of course I had already met the 'parents' before, but the first time I was passed out and the next time I was a sweaty mess. Not the best first impressions, but this time I was going to do it right. Bake some kind of pie, wear something pretty, smile and laugh at their jokes.

But I had time to fuss about it later. Today was round two of interviews at the club. We still had one waitress and one bartender to find. The sneaky bastard 'paid' me with a gorgeous silk Kimono that he knew I wouldn't be able to say no to. I couldn't help but wonder what today's 'payment' would be. We got dressed and downed our coffee before heading out. I made a note to invite Amelia over for dinner; we still had plenty to talk about. But before I did that, I needed to get a dining table and chairs, and maybe some candlesticks too.

We made it to the club by 11am. Our first interview started at 11:30 – there were 22 people scheduled to come. It was going to be a long day. Pam had been spending most of her time looking for new properties, and we dodged the 'explaining bullet' when she was absent yesterday and later in the day due to the property search. However, when we finally laid eyes on the gorgeous 5'9" caramel skinned and brown eyed beauty that was the real estate agent, suddenly we understood the intense nature of Pam's real estate bug.

The first person showed up 10 minutes late and was therefore an immediate no. One by one, they came in. Some lied about their experience; some were just so desperate for a job they would take anything. Juliana came in on time, wearing a cute dress that was casual but interview appropriate. She was an NYU student looking to make some extra cash. I was used to women having less than professional thoughts about Eric. Most of the thoughts were innocent enough – 'Wow, he's hot,' and 'I'd love to see him naked,' that sort of thing, but when I dipped into Juliana's head, I was not amused!

"Ooo the things I would do him. I can't wait to straddle and lower myself on to him. I bet he's huge, he has to be. I'd do anything he told me to do… lick, suck, crawl. He is all kinds of yummy. I wonder how many girls he does in a week? I bet I could get him into bed quickly. All I have to do is flash the tits, rub my ass against him accidentally; he'll be putty in my very capable hands…"

When her interview was done and she had left, Eric looked at me satisfied and said, "I liked that one."

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

"Whoa, ok, ok. What is it? Is she a thief? Has she killed someone? WHAT!" I felt a little embarrassed then. "Sookie, you're actually blushing! Now I'm really intrigued."

"It's nothing, I just don't want her working here. That's all."

"Is someone… jealous?"

"NO! I mean… No, it's just… she doesn't have the enough experience is all."

"Try another one. What did you hear?"

"She… nothing."

"Sookie," he said, letting his hands grab me at the waist, "I won't hire her, not if you're that adamant about it, but I'm really fucking curious what she said."

He looked at me all sultry-like, sex dripping from his words. How could I say no? "Fine! She said she wanted to straddle you. She said she knew you were big and that she would suck and lick you. That it wouldn't take long to get you into bed, and that she would flash her tits and rub her ass against you and that you'd be putty in her capable hands."

He pulled me closer to him. "You know, jealous Sookie is really fucking adorable."

"Yes, well, let's just make sure I stay jealous and not escalate to spurned, ok?"

"Ok," he said and then sucked my earlobe.

"Ungh, Eric."

"Hmmm?"

"Eric…"

"Yes, lover." Shit, it was hard to stay focused when he called me that. "I want you to ride me, suck and lick me, and make me putty in your capable hands. I wouldn't mind being flashed with your delectable tits and being rubbed with that ass either."

"Eric, I hate to ruin the moment, but we're about to have company."

He let me go just as a stunning pair walked in. They were tall, thin – she with sparkling eyes, he with dark sexy ones. They didn't quite look alike, but something in their carriage made me think they were related. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and tank with sequins on it that made her twinkle even more, her long blonde hair was in a high ponytail, and she had some killer arms! He had on a pair of low slung jeans and a tight white shirt that showed off every chiseled muscle. The girl walked right up to us, stuck out her hand, and started talking.

"Hi I'm Claudine, and this is my brother Claude. So glad you had time to see us! See we just moved, and although we're getting some decent jobs here and there, it would be great to have some something steady. Wow, this place is huge! I had no idea! I bet it's just a blast to work here!" she went on and on at her enthusiastic and honest pace until finally her brother elbowed her. "I'm so sorry; I tend to talk a lot when I get excited."

"Hadn't noticed" Eric projected to me. I had to stifle my laugh. "Sit down please." They did. "So tell me what you do currently."

"Oh well I'm a self-defense instructor, and Claude here is a model."

"I see, and does Claude speak?"

"Yeah," answered Claude.

I dipped into his head, but there wasn't a lot to listen to. The only thing I got from him was an overwhelming ego. He sure did think very highly of himself. True, he was fairly drool-worthy – he sort of looked like a guy on the cover of a romance novel? You know, the dark romantic lead with the open white shirt billowing in the wind? That was him – he knew it too. Claudine was different though. She had so many things running through her head; it was like filtering through a hay stack. She was excited to be here, she was hoping that Claude wouldn't ruin the interview with his Neanderthal answers, she was thinking I should put highlights in my hair, she was wondering if she could take down the security guard at the door… she was kind of nuts, but I also kind of liked her.

"So," continued Eric, "You were a bartender in LA for almost 2 years before you moved here. Why the move?"

"I'm a model, not an actor," was all Claude had to say. I could hear Claudine moan internally and glare at her brother. "Oh Christ,Claude, you can't have a personality for like 5 minutes?" she was thinking.

Eric moved on to Claudine. "You've done some waitressing off and on while you were in LA. Why did you move to New York?"

"He doesn't talk much, I know, but he's my brother, my twin actually, and we're all we have." In her head, she was thinking "God did that sound too pathetic? I didn't mean it like that. Oh man, he's going to think we're freaks or something, that we killed our parents and had to run to NY to escape the cops!" Then she said aloud, "plus there are more teaching opportunities in NY than LA… you know more crime and stuff?" she said almost questioningly. "Oh moan, I sound like a fruitcake! Get it together Claudine!" I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. She was nuts, but a funny nuts. She was going to fit in just fine in New York.

A few minutes later, the interview was over. Eric looked at me, "Well?"

"Hire them. She's a nut, but she's fun too."

"What about the brother."

"He's hot. Pam said hot bartenders sell more booze."

"They do, but he has a ten word vocabulary. What's in his head?"

"Nothing, but he's crazy self absorbed. Not unlike another hunk I know," I said winking at him.

He smiled, "Fine, and her?"

"She groaned every time her brother opened his mouth. It was really funny actually. She didn't have a single inappropriate thought about you. I say hire them. Anyway, she's a self-defense instructor. She can keep an eye out for the sleaze traipsing through the place. Plus she's seriously cute, and she thinks I need highlights."

"You think yes?"

"Maybe, I've thought about highlights and all, but they're a lot to keep up and…"

"Sookie!"

I laughed a little, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Ok, if you're sure, I'll have them start tomorrow." She stood up and stretched a bit. "And now that interviews are over, it's time for payment," said Eric.

"Oh please you know…"

"If you tell me one more time that I don't have to pay you, you won't get your surprise."

"Surprise?"

"Get your bag. We're taking a little walk to my new favorite store in New York."

I looked at him. He was smirking like a kid… I knew that look. I ran to the bathroom, freshened up, grabbed my bag, and met him at the door. We walked to Soho and stopped in front of a store that made my knees weak. I actually heard myself make a noise that sounded like a high pitched "meep!"

"You like?" I nodded. "I asked Pam where I could find some Sookie-worthy lingerie, and she told me to take you here. I for one can't wait for a fashion show." Then, he led me into paradise. A paradise with furry slippers, garter belts, leopard, and lace… Oh, Agent Provocateur, where had you been all my life?

A/N

For those who are unaware of Agent Provocateur, check it out, the link is on my profile, although the site is kind of shitty, the stuff is dee-vine.

So again, thank you for the revs, can I have some more please, sir?