I think this chapter has brought everyone back on track. I must have re-written it 4 times, I hope you can't tell. I've had a few days off work, and to avoid boredom and crappy tv, I've been working on this. It lets me think about Eric all day long, and my husband doesn't even get jealous.

Love hugs and European kisses to Charlaine Harris for her wonderful imagination, and naughty warm thoughts to Alexander Skarsgard.

Hope you enjoy J

The cab was really comfy, so was Eric's shoulder. After we climbed in the back of the cab, he took hold of my hand and put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, and drifted to sleep.

I woke as Eric was trying to lift me out of the cab.

'hang on, I'm fine' I said, almost crawling out of the cab.

Eric put his arm firmly round my waist and we walked up to the front door.

Upon entering the apartment, I slumped on the sofa.

'you gonna be ok there?' Eric asked, sitting next to me, 'will you make it to bed?'

'that's a good question' I said, and tried as hard as I could to think of anything else to say. Sadly the only thing rolling around my head was 'bed, bed, bed'. 'maybe I should go to bed' I told him, and tried to stand, ending up sat back down next to him.

'come here' he said, standing and holding out his hand to me. I took hold and was swept up into the air, I may have screamed but I ended up laughing wildly at being dangled over Eric's back.

'put me down you beast' I shouted, slapping him firmly on the ass.

'must rescue drunken damsel' he said, doing a good impression of a caveman.

He carried me across the room, through my door, and deposited me on the bed.

I just lay there laughing.

'if you need anything, just yell' Eric said, pulling a sheet and flicking it to cover me.

'will do' I shouted from beneath.

When I heard my door shut I removed the sheet in wriggled out of my jeans. I found my pyjamas and crawled back under the sheet. I drifted to sleep thinking of the wonderful man next door.

My dreams were a little weird, running down corridors and turning corners, only to catch a glimpse of Eric turning the next corner. He seemed to be searching for something, and I knew I had to catch up, but as with all dreams, I wasn't moving fast enough. The corridor vanished and I was running through a forest, still with Eric ahead, appearing from behind trees.

My progress seemed to be slowing, and the trees were getting harder to see through. Like there was a fog rolling in. I stopped running, having lost sight of Eric. I wandered around, soundlessly calling to him, seeing small movements in the fog. Suddenly I notice I was rising from the forest floor, I looked down and saw I was wearing a flowing white dress, which was doing that movie style 'blown by wind' look.

As I looked around for something to grab a hold of, I saw the forest clear and become light. As I watched, I saw where the light was coming from. It was me, I was glowing but it was a pale blue light, like the sky on a sunny day. I saw that I had stopped rising, and looked around the forest, finally I spotted Eric. He was walking slowly towards me, transfixed on the light. I began to descend back to ground level, reaching the floor as Eric reached me. He smiled and put his hands on my shoulders. 'wake up' he said.

'wake up?' I thought

Suddenly my eyes flashed open, to see Eric leaning over me.

'are you ok?' he asked,

'yeah, was I talking in my sleep?' I replied, slightly worried.

'no, but your sat on the sofa' he said.

I looked around, and sure enough I was in the living room.

'how did that happen?' I said, mostly to myself.

'no idea, but you were quiet. I only came out here because I thought I'd left the light on' he said.

I was confused, thinking that I may have to sort out my head pretty soon.

'did we put the lights on?' I asked, not really remembering

'I didn't think so, but I woke and thought I saw a blue light coming from under the door. I came out here, and you were just sitting here' he said, sitting down next to me.

'I was having a really weird dream though' he continued,

'oh really, what were you up to?' I asked, crossing my fingers.

'I was at work, to begin with, looking for um… someone. Then I was surrounded by trees, I heard my name and saw a light, then I woke up' he explained.

'that sounds different, I like forest dreams' I said yawning. 'I'd better get back to bed, sorry if I woke you'.

'what were you dreaming about to end up out here?' he asked as we walked back to our rooms,

'oh, I can't really remember' I said vaguely.

I went back into my room after saying goodnight again, and switched on my laptop. I got a drink from the bathroom and settled down, just as the thing finished loading.

I clicked straight to my email, hoping for the gem of wisdom from Julie. I wasn't sure if it was still relevant, after all Eric had said earlier that he thought he had found someone. As much as I would like to think it was me, no counting chickens.

Julie's email was short and sweet.

"Dear Sookie,

Work is chaos, of course they aren't coping, they don't cope when we are at full staff. If you can get a job out there, Brilliant! Don't look here with rose tinted glasses, go for it! As far as Eric is concerned, you just be your normal gorgeous self and he couldn't possibly resist. If you aren't sure, wait for him to say so. Just relax honey, your in California! Less of the 'mighty' next time, mystic will do fine.

Big hugs

Julie xx"

'fair advice' I thought to myself. Now on to my mission, dream meanings.

After a good half an hour trawling through piles of crap on the internet, I finally found one website that made a little sense. I won't bore you with the details, but apparently this dream 'is normal when falling in love with someone new to your life.' I scrolled to the bottom of the page by habit, and saw a list of 'abilities'. There was pyrokinesis, telekinesis, summoning, casting, telepathy, animal control and levitation.

This was very interesting, I had always wanted telekinesis, would make lab work a bit easier.

The page I was sent to listed the ways to tell if you had telekinesis. Did things move or shake when you were upset, have you ever woken to find something unusual in your bed?

This was quite a good giggle, I scrolled down to the bottom and clicked on 'telepathy' my Gran used to tease me that I was telepathic, but I never ever told her how right she was.

The list read: hearing non-spoken words. Head-aches after prolonged exposure to crowds, directional dreaming, dream-sharing*.

*occurs in rare cases of special connections.

I sat there staring at the page. Special connections? Maybe there was a connection I was missing, there had been a few things recently that had confused me. I though back to the one thing that stood out in my mind recently.

Eric, sitting in the diner, looking very pale as I spoke about Pam. Now what did I say… something about her calling me into the corridor. She had asked me bluntly 'what could I offer you to become permanent?', I had told her I just needed some time to settle in, she had said something about a promotion, and I told her I liked being in the lab. That was the first time she had been really insistent. She was racking her brain for anything to convince me, including Eric's growing affection.

Then Eric's face in the diner, he looked like he'd been betrayed. Like he knew she'd come to see me, right after talking to him. I heard him quietly 'she didn't…. what did she tell her'.

I closed my laptop and lay back on my bed. This just felt silly, I was obviously still drunk.

I slid my laptop onto the floor and got comfy, falling asleep after turning over a few times restlessly.

The morning light woke me, again, and I swore to close the curtain before getting into bed next time.

I showered and dressed, trying to clear my mind of the night before.

Walking through to the kitchen, I found Eric already there, making coffee.

'I was just about to wake you' he called,

'oh?' I said, checking the clock, 'crap, I slept in' I mumbled, 'stupid alarm clock' I thought.

'quick coffee before we go?' he asked,

'wouldn't survive without' I said, 'maybe less drinking on a work night'

'yeah, we got a little carried away. Some of us more than others' he said, winking as he passed my cup.

'the sleep walking probably didn't help' I added, taking a drink.

'its was amusing, finding you sat out here.' he told me, moving around the counter to sit on the stool next to me.

'yeah, who knows where I might end up next' I turned and wiggled my eyebrows at him, which made him laugh.

'wouldn't bother me' he said taking his last drink of coffee. I swear there was a twinkle in his eyes.

Our trip to work was quiet each of us curled up in the back of a cab. I felt a bit under the weather, and Eric looked a little tired.

We arrived, said out 'see you laters' and I headed straight for the lab.

After a few hours of working on a machine with no progress, I decided to grab a coffee before I damaged something in a fit of rage. The previous night had spooked me a little, and being alone in a lab gave me far too much time to think. What was I expecting from my stay here? What the hell was with those dreams? And did Eric share my dream, or was it just a coincidence?

I stood waiting for my coffee in the canteen, looking out of the window and the beautiful scenery. It may have been in a city, but it still had a certain charm.

'You gonna drink that today?' said a voice, bringing me back to reality. Pam was stood watching me, seemingly amused at how high I jumped.

'Oh! Sorry I was just thinking' I said, collecting my coffee and getting out of her way. She moved to a table with me.

'There is something I would like you to see, I know I've been pestering you about staying, but I think this may help make up your mind.'

'Really? What do you want to show me?' I asked, a little concerned.

'Actually Eric will be showing you, I came looking for you while he went to retrieve his car.'

I stared at her for a moment, unable to reply. I had this sinking feeling something big was about to happen, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it.

She led me down to her office and we chatted while we waited for Eric to return.

'I rang this company's new owners, to resign my post. Unfortunately they brought to my attention, a clause in the sales contract I missed. It seems I have to remain here for a full year to run the company after the sale is finalised, the sale finalised yesterday.' she said, sounding a bit pissed off.

'however the problem is this, my new company' she told me, holding out the folder to look at.

'I have already set it in motion, and to stop now would be bankrupting. So I need you two to get it running for me.' she finished. Sitting back in her chair with a triumphant glow.

'Whoa, I work for the people you are wanting to leave, how can I help?' I asked, confused

'Sookie, this is the reason I have been trying to get you to stay, I want you for my company.' she said, like it was obvious.

'but you didn't know anything about me until last week' I reasoned.

'no, but I was still looking, and so was Eric. It was Eric who pointed out your possibilities, and since you have arrived, I admit I have tested you a little. You pick up new knowledge very quickly and work well with all those who are important. Of course, if there is anyone else you know who would like the chance to help set up a company, just say and we'll assess them' she stated.

'oh' was all I managed.

While I sat staring at her, for the second time in less than an hour, Eric knocked and entered her office.

He quietly sat down, and waited for the shock to filter through my system.

'this is all so weird' I whispered

'why don't you two take the file home, have a chat and see what you think. There's a meting at 2.30pm you should attend.' Pam said,

'um, ok' I said, Eric and I stood and left her office. I'm sure I hugged the folder all the way to the car.

We got back to the apartment, and I went to sit at the table, still hugging the folder.

'you can let go of that, it won't float away' he said, putting the kettle on.

'I know, its just a little strange' I said, looking at the folder I gripped so tightly.

'Pam has intuition, or something. She's good at spotting people who are special.' he explained.

I looked over at him.

'special?' I asked, concerned.

'yeah, y'know, special' he said, like he wanted me to understand it in the 'other' way.

'so what's your special skill?' I tried to joke

'I predict the market movements accurately, so we can stay in a profitable business' he said, pouring water into our cups,

'oh, how do you do that?' I asked,

'just watch the market trends I guess, I just seem to have a gift for it' he said, sitting down and passing me a cup of tea.

We opened the folder and I began to read through the plans, Pam had indicated who was to move companies if they agreed, and it was well thought through.

'she knows what she doing then?' I commented,

'oh yes, she even has the building lined up, and funds to start preparing.' he told me.

'it's a lot to take in' I said,

'she asked you because she knew you were up to it' he told me, 'your good at your job, and she likes you' he said, smiling and passing me a plate for my lunch.

'she likes me?' I said, astounded

'yes, and she's not the only one. You are easy to like' he said

'that's sweet of you to say' I told him, beginning to blush

'I mean it, I love spending time with you, your so much fun' he said, punching my shoulder lightly

'I guess it a good job I'm sharing your flat then' I giggled

After we finished our tea, Eric suggested we should go see the building. Had a feeling this was going to be his way of winning me over for the company.

'I think you should drive' Eric said, as we approached the car.

'only if you read the map, I guess if I'm staying I should get a car and apartment of my own' I said, climbing into the drivers seat and handing the folder to Eric.

'there's no rush, I told you I like your company' he said, opening to the map

I fiddled with the car for a moment, to find the controls. Then we set off, the new building was a little closer to where Eric lived, but on a new site away from the main city.

After about half an hour of driving Eric pointed to a building and we pulled over. It was a large and modern, bigger than any I'd ever worked in.

We walked up to the door, Eric removed the keys from the folder and we entered.

The foyer was very tastefully decorated, with a stylish desk for the receptionist. We continued through one of the large doors to one side and found our selves in the office area.

The carpet was a pale green, and the walls were sky blue. Huge windows filled two walls, and there were even skylights to allow more natural light.

'this is amazing? Did Pam specify everything?' I asked, in awe of the place.

'yeah, Pam wanted to make this building different. I think she means to keep it longer than normal' he explained.

We continued though the room, finding a door which led straight to the labs. Each of the labs we passed through were perfect. Clean wipeable work space, lots of cupboards, and lots of sockets. The lab was mostly painted white, with blue accents.

'what do you think? Eric asked

'its amazing, I can't wait to start working here' I replied, trying to get the situation to sink in.

'Pam had a… feeling that you would. She said she'd bring you here if you couldn't decide.'

'Pam seems to know a lot about people, without actually knowing them' I said, continuing through the lab

'yes… she does' Eric mumbled, before stating more confidently 'let's get you back to tell Pam the good news.'

'Huh?'

'You just said you can't wait to start working here, I'm taking that as you making up your mind.'

'Well, yeah. I guess I have.' I replied, dazed.

We drove back to work, Eric and I talking about California and the states in general. By the time we got to work, we had come to the conclusion, I could always have extra air-conditioners to deal with the ridiculous heat. Eric laughed at my jokes about the heat, but to be honest, I was loving the sunshine.

When we arrived back at work, Eric practically frog-marched me to Pam's office, telling Bobby to hold all calls as he passed.

'you two were quicker than I expected' Pam said after Eric shut the door, 'I take it you've reached a decision, Sookie?'

'yes, Pam. I'd love to work for you, if I can ask one tiny little thing?' I said, crossing my fingers.

'you can ask' she smiled,

'can I keep working in the lab, under whatever job title you think, I just love my job the way it is' I asked,

'certainly, if that's your only stipulation, I'll get a contract written as soon as possible. Glad you decided to stay, what changed your mind?' she asked,

'oh it wasn't any one thing, I just thought it was a good idea, a new adventure.' I smiled at her, my new boss.