So it seems as though some people simply read the sex scene and didn't pay attention to things that Sookie was feeling and thinking. Whoever wants to quit reading because they didn't understand that chapter, well I can't do anything about that. If you read the chapter again and pay attention to Sookie, not just what's happening then you may have a different take on it. I don't write smutty scenes out of the blue for no literary purpose….For those of you who are still reading and picking up on the other parts of the story God bless you for helping this amateur writer keep going!

I woke up the next day in total darkness and with a pounding headache. Eric was dead beside me and the neon green letters of the alarm clock were telling me it was almost one in the afternoon. I stretched out and tried to orient myself in this unfamiliar room. As I tried to make my way off the bed, I realized I was behind some kind of heavy black curtain. Even though the windows were light proof, I guess this was just an extra vamp security measure. This must be the canopy that was rolled up to the top of the bed banisters last night. Last night. Oh my goodness I was getting little flashes of memory from last night and they more than made me blush. Ok, I'll have to think through what happened last night in a few minutes, right now I need to get out of this damn dark vampire room and get to the bathroom. After some more fumbling and kicking a dresser in the dark causing a string of profanities, I finally made my way out of the bedroom but making sure Eric would be safe from the light before I opened the door.

After I took care of my bathroom needs, I started rummaging through Hadley's medicine cabinet looking for aspirin. This was a futile attempt of course since my cousin was a vampire and had no need for aspirin. Sulking to the couch, I flopped down and was hit with more flashes from last night. I must have been ten shades of red at that moment! Had I really bed a stranger last night? With Eric participating?! And a woman at that! My head was spinning and I didn't know if it was the alcohol or the realization of the things I had done and had done to me the night before.

"Ok think Sookie. Were you just drunk enough that you were completely uninhibited?" I was talking to myself out loud like a crazy person.

"No, I don't think that's it." Surely I would have realized if I had been that wasted! It would have taken more alcohol than what that mini fridge could hold to make me do some of the things that I was realizing I did. Oh geez I was feeling flush.

"What the hell were you thinking Stackhouse?!" Alright time to reign it in, I was having a one sided lecture with myself at this point.

Trying to recall the events of the previous evening in order went something like this. First, the ride down here in the limo; well that seemed normal enough. Then we talked to the Queen for a few minutes, ok didn't think anything was strange about that. I remember feeling the magic around the condo but being able to pass through it and looking around Hadley's place, nothing crazy there. I know I went to put on pajamas and Eric was giving me a sexy grin (when is it not sexy though?) and that's when things start to get a little fuzzy. That's where the flashes of um, let's say adult situations come into play.

My brain was in overload and realizing through my headache now that I could hear other brains in the condo below me, was enough to make me decide I needed some fresh air and lots of Tylenol. Problem was, I didn't have a car and I didn't know where the heck I would go anyways. I slipped back into the bedroom and threw on some jeans and my Bon Temps High hoodie. I ran my hands over almost everything in the room until I felt Eric's cell phone on the nightstand, and headed back into the living room.

I searched through the contacts until I found what I was looking for.

"Hi, Mr. Cataliades it's me Sookie" the demon seemed happy to hear from me luckily.

"Good afternoon child! What can I do for you?" he replied.

"Well I'm feeling a little under the weather and I was wondering if you could maybe come get me and take me by the store, if it's not too much trouble?" I hoped I wasn't bothering him.

Well that was surprisingly easy. I wonder if the Queen was ordering him to wait on me? I hope not, I hate feeling like a burden to people. I layed my head back on the cool leather and tried to relax my throbbing head until I heard a loud knock at the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, please no more knocking" I opened the door to see Mr. Cataliades standing there with an eerie smile.

"Ms. Stackhouse, you look as though you have seen better days. Perhaps it has something to do with all the empty bottles I found in the back of the limo?" he was positively enjoying this!

"Yea I think that was maybe not a good idea" I said, knowing that wasn't totally to blame for the shenanigans of last night.

I walked down and got into a black Cadillac, thankful that he hadn't brought the limo just for a quick ride to the store. We drove through the city for a few miles until he pulled in to a drug store. I ran inside and grabbed a big bottle of aspirin and a bottle of orange juice. While I was shopping my phone rang in my purse, it was my brother Jason. Well great, I thought.

"Hey Jason what's up?" I asked less than cheerful.

"Hey Sook, how's life in the big easy?" Poor Jason, he wasn't picking up on my less than stellar attitude.

"It's fine I guess, we just got here last night. You should see Hadley's place, it's beautiful."

"Really? That's good I guess. It's nice to know she had somewhere nice before she died, um again." He sounded the way I felt thinking of Hadley as the undead consort of the Queen.

"Yea, well I'm actually at the store right now Jason, is there something in particular you were calling about?"

"Oh yea! Just wanted to tell you about something strange that happened last night. I was sitting at the bar at Merlotte's with Hoyt when this girl came in asking about you. She wanted to know if you were working and she seemed pretty irritated when nobody really paid much attention to her. Anywho, I took the liberty of introducing myself to her and she said she was an old friend of yours and was hoping to see you while she was in town. I told her that you and your boyfriend had taken off to New Orleans for a few days and that I could show her around town if she wanted." Who the hell was Jason talking about? I searched my brain trying to think of who would be looking for me in Merlotte's but I didn't have a clue who it might be. Luckily for me (heavy sarcasm) my brother told this stranger that my home would be empty for a few days and where to find me. Sometimes I wish he would think with something other than his Johnson.

"Ok, well what did she look like?" I asked nervously

"She was about your height, short brown hair, very athletic, and pretty feisty!" I could practically hear him grinning about bedding her through the phone.

"Did you happen to catch her name brother?"

"Of course I did, what kind of man do you think I am? It was uh…Sara…no…Shelly…no….OH yea it was Sandra."

I felt my heart stop for a minute, what the hell was Debbie Pelt's sister doing at Merlotte's and looking for me? I already told that crazy were bitch that I didn't know anything about where her sister was, which was only a partial lie. This couldn't be good.

"Jason whatever you do, don't go around her again and don't tell her anything about me, she is not an old friend!" I was trying to impress the seriousness of the situation on him without him asking a bunch of questions.

"Geez, I'm sorry Sookie, I didn't know"

"It's ok Jason, I'm not mad at you, just stay away from her ok?"

I hung up and went to pay for my purchases. It seemed that Eric and I were not going to get a simple carefree vacation after all. I slunk back into the car and asked the demon to take me to a drive thru. After stuffing my face with a cheeseburger and fries and swallowing a few aspirin, I was starting to feel better by the minute. Mr. Cataliades asked me if he could show me around the city.

"Well that sounds fun if you really want to. If you're being forced by the Queen to do this though, I promise I won't tell her if we don't go"

"Oh Sookie, don't you know by now that I don't mind spending time with you, in fact I find it calming."

Ok, didn't see that coming. What did he mean by that? I didn't get the impression that he meant it in an inappropriate way, but then again his brain was just a red mass to me so if he were thinking about barbecuing me, I wouldn't know it.

"Thanks Mr. C, I feel the same spending time with you. I can't hear you so that is about as calming company as I can ask for other than vamps."

"Great! On we go then!"

We drove through town until we reached Bourbon Street; it was beautiful and lively even in the daylight. I could hear jazz musicians playing on the sidewalks outside some of the restaurants the closer we got. Every so often Mr. C would point out a building and tell me the history; he was as good as having a tour guide! Funny thing is he didn't even seem bored or annoyed when I asked him more questions and looked giddy as a schoolgirl. We drove a little outside the busiest part of the city and he showed me the beautiful cemeteries that seemed to have an otherworldly charm. Yea I know some people are creeped out by cemeteries, but not me. I find them soothing actually. Plus, I know that the real scary things in this world were not buried in these cemeteries.

I was having such a good time; I had let myself forget that I had some strange and disturbing feelings that something wasn't right here in the big easy. Isn't that always when you get slapped upside the head? When you let yourself forget that things are not always as they seem…