Perfect Valentine Chapter 18

SPOV

After the enjoyment and the relaxation of the weekend, getting up to go to work Monday morning was a real letdown. I groaned when I heard the alarm. Trying to bury my head in his shoulder, I scooted closer to Eric, only to find his pillow next to me, not him. I sat up, turned off the radio and called, "Eric, you already up?"

He walked through the bedroom door, naked except for a pink floral apron around his waist, carrying a tray of breakfast breads and fruit Maria had sent home with us. Steam rose from the mugs which rested on the tray as well. "For ages now!" he teased, "actually, I've only been up about fifteen minutes. You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to wake you, but decided I'd bring you breakfast in bed when the alarm went off."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," I said as I reached for the mug of coffee he held out. "This looks lovely, as do you, by the way." I giggled. He put his hand on his hip and did a turn, his other hand holding out the apron. "I fear I'll end up a spoiled, pampered woman being married to you."

"You deserve it, but I'll probably just become one of those workaholic husbands who hardly has time to look at his wife," he waggled his eyebrows as he sipped his own coffee.

"Then I'll become demanding and petulant. See how you like that!" I stuck my lip out in a pout, which brought peals of laughter from both of us.

Eric put his mug down, sat on the bed beside me, and gave me a serious look, "Don't become petulant and demanding, Sookie. Promise me that if I get too focused on work or anything else, and you feel ignored at all, you'll slap me upside the head and remind me how lucky I am to be married to you."

"Won't have to. But if I get to acting spoiled, you'll do the same to me, right?" I asked, not being as serious as he was, but not silly either.

"I can hardly wait!" he said leaning in to kiss my cheek. "You gonna eat any of this food I slaved all morning to prepare?"

"Pfft, thank you, Maria," I mocked, getting up to select a sweet roll and a selection of fruit.

"I'm taking a shower first, okay? I want to get to work a little early. You don't mind driving yourself in, do you?" he asked, already striding toward the bathroom.

"Hm, starting already, I see. Putting work ahead of me, and we're not even married yet," I grinned. "Seriously, I don't mind at all. I was thinking about calling Amelia and Tara about lunch anyway. They'll be wanting the 411 on your family, and the ranch."

EPOV

Driving in to work, I again thought back over the weekend we'd just had. I loved Sookie with all my heart, so, of course, I enjoyed showing her the ranch I was so proud of, but I had to admit the number one "feel good" moment of the weekend had been Dad's reaction to our engagement, to Sookie, and to my good judgment in picking her. When I'd taken the job in the company, I'd hoped it would help our relationship, but it hadn't. If anything, it deteriorated. Went from cold ambivalence to downright suspicion of every move I made, every idea I explored. Now I guess I realize Dad was only trying to make sure I found my own way through the complicated world of business, but it was tough while it was going on. I was glad he approved of my work now, and of my choice in a mate, but in my mind, the pressure was on to keep the level of my performance up to his standards. I wanted to, but as I told Sookie this morning, work wasn't going to be my whole life. I'd never let that happen.

Arriving earlier than usual caused a minor uproar in the office. Secretaries and junior execs scrambled from the break room, water cooler, where ever their gossip sessions where being held to their desks, offices, or cubicles. I had to smile and shake my head. For the last several weeks, I'd been in charge of the office. Things had not been this tense. I knew it was the thought that Lars Northman would be walking in any minute that had sent employees to their work stations. "He won't be in until around noon, guys. Relax, don't goof off, but relax. It'll all get done." I swear I heard a collective sigh, saw shoulders lower, but everyone continued to work at their desks. I grabbed a cup of coffee, asked Jean for messages and the latest news, and closed the office door behind me.

Since I'd left early Friday, the messages were more numerous than usual for a Monday morning, but nothing earth-shattering. It was too early to call the west coast, so I arranged the little pink slips to begin making my calls. First up, New York.

"Northman Enterprises, how may I direct your call?" came the voice over the line. "Hello, Sue, this is Eric returning Russell's call from Friday."

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Northman, I'll connect you right away," Sue's pleasant voice responded.

There was always something going on at the New York branch. Russell Edgington had a knack for keeping the pot stirred up, so to speak. My father had flown up there countless times to handle some mess. He'd even had to make a stop by the branch before they'd flown to Europe last month. I wondered what it was this time.

After thirty minutes of listening to Russell rant in general about the state of his particular branch, and specifically about one department head, whom he had no authority to replace, I suggested, "Russell, why don't you send me an email detailing the transgressions, forward any evidence you may have, and I'll bring the matter to my father's attention. We'll get back to you as soon as possible." Before he could protest that he needed action NOW, as he usually did, I continued, "I have several other calls to make, so if you'll just get on that email, I'll handle this right away. Good day, Russell."

I hung up to his sputtered, "But, but..." and went on to the next slip. Before I had a chance to turn around, the morning was gone. I walked out of the office for another shot of coffee, to see Dad walking in, not with his usual scowl, but with a smile.

As he walked through the employees, all hard at work, he nodded, patted backs, generally acted like a man who enjoyed his job. He always had, enjoyed his job, that is, but he rarely acted like it, not here, anyway. When he spotted me, his step quickened. He approached, slapped me on the back and said, "How's it going, son? Had a busy morning?" He must have noticed my need for caffeine and my already rumpled pants from sitting in the chair all morning talking on the phone. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was a glint in his eye, and a smirk on his face.

"Just a couple dozen phone calls. Not a big deal, except..." I indicated we should go back to my office, which we did as soon as he'd gotten his own coffee. "Russell's got another personnel problem. I asked him to send an email detailing his suspicions. I wanted you to take a look at it before I took any action."

"Good job, Eric. I'll look for it. Looks like you're doing fine, here, so I'll let you get back to work. How's Sookie?" he asked as he turned toward the door.

"Just great, Dad. We had a good time at her parents last night, and they are anxious to meet ya'll next weekend. She's going to call Mom later today," I answered, pride in my voice.

"Good, good. Well, I'd better get to work too! Can't let my son show me up, now can I?" he laughed.

I just shook my head and went back to my pile of messages. Only two more calls, then I could order some lunch.

SPOV

If I thought getting up this morning was hard, driving through traffic, and facing the work already piled on my desk was almost unbearable. I'd never been one of those people who hates her job. I'd always loved it, didn't mind working, enjoyed it even, but today, well, the country had made me lazy, it seems. I was glad to see everyone, of course. They all wanted to know about the house, the land, the parents. Sophie Anne was right there with the rest of the girls, asking questions, and wanting all the details, but she was the boss, and knew work had to be done. "Why don't we get to work right now, and I'll order in lunch for all of us. Sookie can tell us everything then," she suggested. A few groans could be heard, but pretty much everyone was okay with that, so we headed to our places and began the workweek.

Since Sophie was getting lunch brought in, I couldn't see Tara and Amelia today, but I called them anyway and we agreed to meet for lunch tomorrow. I assured them the weekend was wonderful, and promised all the juicy details.

As usual, the lunch spread was fabulous. Salads, sandwiches, even soup was placed on a table in the break room, where we all descended on it like jackals. As we munched, I told them about the weekend and answered their questions. When we were finished, and going back to our respective desks, Octavia stopped me, "Sookie, I'm so glad this relationship has worked out so well for you. Sometimes I worry that I meddled where I shouldn't have, but it seems I may have been right after all."

I put my arms around her in a hug, "Oh, Octavia, you were so right to say what you did. I was such a mealy mouth, I probably would still be in a rotten relationship with Bill if you hadn't offered the advice you did. Instead, I've found the love of my life in a man who shows me respect, as well as love. I will be eternally grateful to you."

When I got back to my desk, I decided to text Eric. I wanted to talk to him, but I was afraid he'd be in a meeting or something, so I just sent: CALL ME PLS.

A minute later, my cell rang, "Hey, beautiful, what's up?"

"Just wanted to hear your voice," I answered. "How's your day?"

"Ton of phone calls. Dad came in happy as a clam. That doesn't happen often, well, ever. It's the Sookie spell again, I'm convinced of it," he said with a smile in his voice.

"Will you be late?" I asked, cringing at how it sounded, all possessive and needy and, well, demanding, just what I didn't want to be.

"Don't think so. Hope not. I miss you," he answered, his voice lowered to his smoldering sexy tone.

"Miss you too. I need to get busy, though. See you later, Eric, I love you."

"I love you, too. See you soon," he answered and hung up.

I managed to beat Eric home, so I decided since he'd brought me breakfast in bed this morning, I'd surprise him with dinner. Maria had sent plenty of delicious food, so I dug through the fridge to put together a suitable feast. Since it was a gorgeous day, I set the table on the patio, complete with tablecloth and candles, put a bottle of white wine on to chill, and waited for Eric to arrive. While I waited, my phone rang. With surprise, I answered, "Jason, is everything all right?"

"Shit, can't I call my sister without something being wrong?" he asked sacastically.

"Sure, but you usually don't," I answered in like tone.

"Actually, sis, things are great. I met this girl..." he paused as I laughed into the phone. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, I just told Mama you were probably with some new girl last night, instead of with us," I bragged.

"Oh, okay, so you're a mind reader. Anyway, as I was saying, I met this girl, Crystal, and I wanted to bring her over. She's real anxious to meet you." He lowered his voice, getting serious, "She could be the one, Sookie."

"Jason, if I had a nickel...well, never mind. When did you want to get together?" I asked, not too enthusiastically.

"How about tonight? What you having for dinner?" he asked cheerfully, seeing absolutely nothing wrong in either question.

"Leftovers," I answered forcefully. "How about coming for dessert, about 8:30?"

"That'll work! Thanks, Sook, bye," he said, and hung up before I could say anything else. Eric walked in at that exact minute, seeing me starring dumbly at my phone.

"Who you talking to?" he asked, then smiled wickedly, "Or did I catch you calling your other lover?"

I put down my phone and accepted the hug and kiss he offered, "Believe it or not, my brother called me. To invite himself and his new girlfriend over for dinner."

"What time will they be here?" he asked. "I wanted to have a light meal and go to bed early, if you get my drift."

"I do. I was drifting in the same direction." I said pushing at his chest playfully, "and they're only coming for dessert. I hope you won't mind sharing the cake Maria sent."

"Not at all. The two of us couldn't finish it anyway, I don't imagine."

"Okay, they'll be here around 8:30. He thinks this is the one." I made air quotes when I said "the one." I've got our supper ready, from some more of Maria's goodies. I set up on the patio, if that's okay with you."

"Perfect," he said, "just let me go change. Opened the wine yet?"

"Doing it now," I answered, and walked to the kitchen.

As we enjoyed the food and wine, we discussed what it could possibly be about Crystal that made Jason think she was so special. We got a little snarky as we discussed various attributes she might possess to intrigue my horn dog brother so. Before we knew it, it was 8:00. Eric helped me clean up the dishes, and we waited back on the patio for our company.

When the doorbell rang, we both went to answer. "Hello, Jason," I said.

Jason had a seriously proud look on his face as looked down at the somewhat mousy girl standing beside him. "Crystal Norris, this is my baby sister, Sookie, and her fiance..."

"Eric Northman, it's been awhile," Crystal finished Jason's sentence and stepped past me to where Eric stood. Jason and I wore identical expressions of surprise. I looked up to see a rare blush color Eric's cheeks.

"You two know each other?" we said in unison.

"Oh, yes, from a long time ago," Crystal answered, looking up with a puppy dog expression at the tall blond.

"Not well, however," Eric added, "How are you, Crystal?" Then stepping around her, he reached out to shake Jason's hand, "Jason, good to see you. Won't you two come to the patio? Sookie and I have been enjoying the night air." Jason and I looked at each other again, speechless and clueless. Eric put his arm around me after pushing the door closed. Jason gathered up the still fawning Crystal, and we all made our way through the living room to the patio. "Can I get anyone a drink before we have cake? Or coffee?" Eric was masterfully taking over host duties, since I was still too dumbfounded to act the way my upbringing dictated I should.

Jason requested a beer, Crystal wanted coffee. "I'll get those," I was finally able to say, going back to the kitchen. I leaned on the counter and took a few deep breaths telling myself this was no big deal. Look at how calm Eric was. If he'd had some torrid affair with this girl, he'd be more nervous, right? Or he'd have told me something about it. We didn't keep secrets from each other. I grabbed Jason's beer, poured a mug of coffee for Crystal, and went back outside. Thankfully, Eric had poured me another glass of wine in my absence. I needed it.

Jason turned to Crystal and started, "How is it you two..."

Again she cut him off, "Oh, Jason, baby, we'll talk about that later. Let's just enjoy the evening. I'd like to get to know your sister. Ya'll have a real nice house."

"It's a rental," I said, realizing my voice sounded none too friendly. "But we like it okay."

"Ya'll are getting married, huh?" she asked, big smile on her face, "When? Soon?"

"Pretty soon," Eric answered before I could say anything. "Before the end of the year anyway."

"No shit?" Jason commented, "That soon? Doesn't seem like you've been together that long."

"Well, I guess when you find true love, you know it," Eric said, picking up my hand and bringing it to his lips. "Sookie and I have been together long enough to know this will last forever, so why not take the next step?"

"Besides, Jason, by the time we do get married we will have known each other about a year. I know people who got married a lot sooner than that," I added, although I don't know why I felt the need to justify anything to him.

"How about some cake?" Eric stood up and went to the kitchen. Subtle, huh? We both knew this conversation was going nowhere, and the sooner Jason and Crystal were out of here, the better. A few minutes later, he returned with the cake, plates, forks, and napkins on a silver tray. "Sookie, you want to do the honors, or shall I?"

"Oh, let me!" I feigned enthusiasm, "You know how much I adore serving people." Jason rubbed his hands together in anticipation, Crystal smiled sweetly, her eyes still on Eric, who was giving me his patented smirk. I cut slices from the rich chocolate cake, placed them on the china plates Eric had brought(I would have gotten paper plates), and passed out the plates, napkins and forks. "Anyone else want coffee?" I asked. Everyone did, so I took the tray back to the kitchen to retrieve three more mugs of coffee. Jason raved about the cake, which was out of this world, Crystal was thoroughly impressed with the fact of Eric's family employing a cook, and the next thirty minutes was filled with mindless conversation related mostly to those two things. Wanted to get to know me, my ass. Crystal was only interested in my man. Finally, Jason had enough cake, and suggested to Crystal they leave.

"Oh, so soon?" she wailed. "I've barely gotten to talk to Sookie!"

"I know, baby, but some of us have to work tomorrow. There'll be plenty of other times to visit with Sookie," Jason showed remarkable patience with her. Maybe he hadn't noticed her eyes glued to Eric all night.

As soon as I closed the door behind them, I turned to Eric, arms out, palms up, head cocked. Before I could say it he did, "I know, I know, what the fuck?"

"Uh huh," I mumbled.

"Let's clean up and I'll explain. It's not as bad as you think, I'm sure," he said smoothing my hair. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but damn, I was so confused right now. I followed him to the patio to bring in the tray. As we put up the leftover cake and washed the plates and mugs, he explained, "I met Crystal at a party about three years ago. Alcide had taken me with him. This was during one of those periods when he and Debbie were on the outs, so he was ready to really cut loose. I guess we both partied a little too hardy that night. I got drunk, I mean wasted. Apparently I made a pass at a girl, and things got a little out of hand."

"Crystal?" I asked, incredulous that he would look twice at a girl like her, drunk or not.

"No, a friend of hers. Anyway, nothing really happened, I mean we didn't sleep together. Alcide assures me he got me out of there in time, but this girl, her name was Marla, seemed to think we had some kind of connection. She got my number somehow and started calling, and even came over one time. She would show up places Alcide and I went. Crystal was always with her. It went on a couple of weeks, I guess. I really hadn't thought about it until tonight when I saw Crystal. Are you upset?"He wasn't looking at me as he talked, making me think he was ashamed, or at least embarrassed by his actions.

"You never get drunk, Eric. Why that night?" I really was curious, because, even though Eric drank a lot of beer and wine sometimes, he never, I mean never, even seems tipsy, much less drunk enough to make out with some girl he doesn't know.

He tilted his head as if to say, "That's all you have to say?", but what he said out loud was, "I know. It takes a huge amount of alcohol, drunk very rapidly, to get me drunk. I'm a big guy. And I don't do it anymore. I used to when I was younger, but after a few lectures from Dad, and the incident under discussion, I wised up. But answer my question. Are you upset?"

"I don't know. It just seems so out of character for you. And do you think it's weird that Crystal is suddenly so into Jason, and wants to get to know me, when she stared at you, and talked to you all night, not me?" I didn't want to think we had another stalker situation on our hands, but this was all too creepy. "I'm not mad at you, though, if that's what you're asking."

"That's all I care about. It's probably just coincidence that Jason is dating Crystal. I hope so, anyway. Let's go to bed now. I need to hold you in my arms." His hand lightly brushed my cheek, then took mine and led me to the bedroom.