A/N: Thanks again to everyone reading this story! I'm loving the theories and guesses about Eric! All of you make me smile with every comment :) Thanks again to FDM for betaing. This chapter is quite short, and I'd like to apologize in advance for that. The chapters pick up length again shortly.

Chapter 5 – Getting To Know You

Three days later Sookie received a phone call from Pam to set up a night to do the first interview, and two days after that Sookie was on her way to Fangtasia once more. Pam met her outside and escorted her into Eric's office.

"So wonderful to see you again, Sookie," Pam said. "I'll go get Eric now. He'll be fully in character, so if you'd like to turn on your voice recorder now that would be fine."

"Okay then," Sookie said, and Pam left the office. Sookie pulled out her digital voice recorder and set it on the desk in front of her after hitting the record button. She pulled out her notepad with her questions written on it, and grabbed her best pen. She was ready, and just as she finished the office door opened again.

Sookie stood up as Eric walked into the office in front of Pam. He had his hair down, and was wearing a pair of tight leather pants, shit kickers, and a leather vest. That was all. She hadn't realized just how defined his muscles were, and found herself admiring his abs and perfect chest for a moment longer than is acceptable.

"Miss Stackhouse, this is Eric Northman," Pam said, introducing them for the sake of the interview. Sookie was supposed to play the part of the nervous interviewer who'd never met these people before.

"Pleased to meet you," Sookie said, holding out her hand for him to shake, but he only glanced at it before moving around the desk and sitting in his oversized chair. Sookie took her seat again, and Pam left the office quietly. It seemed awkward to Sookie since she knew both of them, but she also understood how it would translate to the article.

"You may begin your interview now Miss Stackhouse," Eric said, his voice deep and suddenly accented.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you for allowing this interview to happen," she said, and he simply inclined his head slightly. "So tell me, what is a day in the life of Eric Northman like?"

"I rise when the sun sets, I feed, and I come here."

"Feed on what?"

"Sustenance," he said, eyeing Sookie's neck.

She swallowed, and jotted a couple of things down on her notepad to take a moment. She hadn't expected Eric being in character to be this hot, especially since she wasn't aware she was attracted to vampires. What worried her even more was the fact that the thought of him biting her turned her on so much.

"You started Fangtasia five years ago. What made you do it?"

"I'm opportunistic," he said. "Obviously, there's not much else for a man who can't be up during the day to do."

"What do you have to say about the reports that you sleep with most of your female patrons?" Sookie asked, and Eric quirked an eyebrow at the way she leaned forward slightly, like she was very interested in that particular answer.

"I have to say that I find that sexist. A vampire's sexuality is very fluid, and many of the male patrons come here hoping for a chance with me as well."

"Does that mean they get it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't discriminate," he answered with a devilish smirk.

Just as Sookie was about to ask another question, the office door opened and Pam strode in.

"Time's up, he's needed on the floor," she announced, and Sookie looked back and forth between them, confused.

Eric reached forward and stopped the recorder before explaining.

"We decided that the articles would be more mysterious and intense if you could only interview me for a short while each time."

"Oh really? And just how many interviews am I going to be coming here to do?"

"To be determined," Pam piped up.

"Okay, I get what y'all are trying to do, but I can't afford the gas to drive here and back a bunch of times, especially if I'm missing a night's work. So can we just finish this now?"

"Pam," Eric said, nodding at her, and Pam pulled a hundred dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to Sookie.

"No, I can't take this," Sookie said as she tried to hand it back to Pam.

"We had planned to give it to you for gas all along, and since you brought the concern up first we know you'll use it for what it is intended," Pam explained.

"You really don't have to do this," Sookie said, her demeanor becoming defeated with their logic.

"Don't worry about it. If these articles are as huge as we expect, we'll more than make up for it in increased revenue," Pam grinned.

"Lovely, Pam," Sookie said, and stood up.

"Wait," Eric said. He picked up the voice recorder and hit the record button again. He looked right at Sookie as he spoke into the mic. "Unfortunately work calls, Miss Stackhouse. It's been a… pleasure meeting you."

With a wink and a sly grin, he hit the stop button and handed Sookie the recorder.

"Uh, thanks," Sookie stuttered out.

"Would it be agreeable to you for us to do this once a week as a standing appointment?" Eric asked.

"I think I could work that out. Can I talk to my boss and call you with the day that will work for me?"

"Yes, that's fine. I must go now, but I'm looking forward to our next interview," he said as he walked around his desk. Eric picked up Sookie's hand and gently kissed the back of it. "Until next time, Sookie."

"Right…" Sookie sighed, causing Eric to chuckle as he walked out of the room.

"Oh boy," Pam said drolly, rolling her eyes.

The next morning Sookie took the time to transcribe the audio from her recorder, and found herself becoming quite swoony at the sound of Eric's voice.

"Snap out of it, Sookie. He pretends to be a freaking vampire for crying out loud," she told herself after she turned the recording off.

A glance at the clock told her she still had an hour before she had to get ready for work, so she turned the kitchen TV on the news while she fixed a quick breakfast. She half-listened to the weather and news until a breaking news alert sounded.

There is an Amber Alert out for a 7 year-old female from Shreveport. Her name is Tracey Jones, and she answers to both Tracey and Trace. She was last seen walking home from school yesterday around 3:30, and was wearing light blue capris, a white t-shirt, white sneakers, and had a pink backpack. Her hair is dark brown, and was in pigtails. If you have seen this girl, please call the number on your screen.

Sookie stared at the picture on the screen and wasn't surprised to find tears in her eyes. The girl was the same age Sookie was when an adult took advantage of her trust. She prayed that the girl would be found safe and sound, and then tried to put it out of her mind. There was no sense in worrying about things she couldn't do anything about.

When Sookie walked into Merlotte's she saw an unfamiliar man talking to Sam.

"Morning, Sookie," Sam greeted her with a smile. "This here's Derek, he's our new busboy. Derek, this is Sookie, one of the waitresses."

"Nice to meet you, Derek," Sookie said, shaking his hand. She noticed that he seemed a bit old to be a busboy, but didn't delve into his mind. It was a rude thing to do and she had gotten out of that habit a long time ago.

Derek nodded and then went into the back with Sam so he could be shown how things were run. Sookie made sure her section was set up, and then went to talk to Sam about setting a day for her interviews with Eric.

"I don't have a problem with it, but are you sure it's worth you missing another night of work every week?" Sam asked when she explained the situation.

"It'll be fine. They've given me money for gas, and I've set it for a night that we're not so busy here."

"Alright then," Sam sighed. "I trust you to know what's best."

"Thanks, Sam."

Sookie chose to do the interviews every Wednesday, and called Pam after she got off work to tell her. The next week Sookie arrived at Fangtasia and Pam met her outside again to escort her inside. Eric arrived the same way he did the time before, only he was wearing black slacks and a red silk button up shirt. He was mouth-watering, and once again Sookie had to ask herself why she was so attracted to someone who was such a huge part of a culture she didn't like, and who also seemed to go against everything she wanted in a man.

For the next three weeks she did her best to stunt her growing attraction and feelings for Eric, but it was becoming much harder. She tried to tell herself that she was simply attracted to him not only because was he very good-looking, but because she couldn't read his mind. It was hard for her to figure out if his sideways glances and occasional warm smiles were because he felt the same, or because he was trying to get into her pants. Because she couldn't just pluck the answer right out of his head, it made him even more of a mystery than he already was to her, and that was appealing to her.

The day of their fifth, and final, interview Sookie found herself both excited and sad. She hoped the article turned out to be a success, so that she and Eric could possibly have more reason to see each other in the future. She liked being with him; his silent company, as well as his ability to spar verbally with her and understand her sense of humor.

"Last night?" Sam asked Sookie as she filled ketchup bottles.

"Yup. I'm excited to put it all together and start shopping it around," she told him with a smile.

"I hope everything works out for you, Sook," Sam smiled. He hadn't been too happy about her spending a night a week with The Vampire, but he could see that she was excited about the article.

"Thanks, Sam," Sookie said, and gave him a quick hug.

As Sam walked back to his office, Derek came up to Sookie. She was considering taking a dip into his head because of how twitchy and strange he'd become over the few weeks he'd been working.

"Hey, we're slow now, can you tell Sam I had an emergency? I got a phone call and I need to go," he told her.

"Sure, you go on ahead," Sookie said, plastering on her fake smile, but as he walked away she let down her shields and reached into his mind with hers.

What she saw there nearly made her scream, but she was too shocked to let any noise escape her throat. It wasn't until the busboy was driving down the road that Sookie turned and ran into Sam's office.

"We have to go! Now!"