Upon waking up, it took a few seconds to realize her back did not bother her. Despite her apparent fatigue, she felt oddly alert. That didn't come as much of a surprise; Eric's blood had done more than help her back; it was keeping her tiredness at bay.
Sookie knew without that blood, she'd also be looking worse for wear, she knew that from experience. Burning the candle on both ends often left her skin feeling lackluster. Usually, a day out in the sun often solved that problem, but it wasn't always possible when her day was packed. With their upcoming trip to Monaco and Paris, it was two weeks of going from hotel to conference room back to hotel. They had the weekends off, but they were still workdays for Sookie. She worked on her reports then.
With vampires on her staff, staff meetings were held at weird times and, thankfully, not often. With gran still not awake, she made do with a couple of slices of toast and a cup of coffee. With minutes to go, she poured her coffee into a travel mug and made her way to work. On such a morning, she welcomed living just a stone's throw from her workplace.
Sookie had just cleared the cemetery when she spotted Mael and Zoe's Honda. Mael had an obsession with Honda that Sookie just did not understand. Not that she'd asked why his every vehicle and bike he owned was Honda.
"Good morning, boss." Zoe teased, knowing Sookie hated the term.
"Zoe." Sookie greeted with an eye roll. Zoe was the youngest vampire Sookie knew. She was hit by a van in February 1972 on her way home from the library. Mael found her and knew she had minutes left to live; something about her compelled him to beg her to allow him to change her. Surprisingly, he had given her an option, which was rarely, if ever, done. She knew Eric had felt the same pull when he saw Pam and had changed her.
With their backpack, it was clear they would be spending the day in the office. One of the reasons she had light-tight accommodations on the premises.
Sookie entered her office with a satisfied sigh. She loved everything about the space, especially the attached balcony. The staff meeting had gone well, and preparations were underway for their upcoming trip. Of course, Gavril was still dead set on the office getting a name. He managed to come up with Brigant House, which Sookie had vetoed. She might use the name when it came to the supernatural community, but she would not give her office the Brigant name. She didn't need the locals asking any questions.
She spent the rest of the day on the balcony, working on the schedule for all the readings they had in the next six months. Sophie-Anne was their latest client; she was sending Barry and Justin to do the reading with Mael and Aisha as security. After the two weeks in Monaco and then Paris, they had California, Texas, the king's residence, and the sheriff of Area 1 in Austin. Except for Moscow insisting she do the reading herself, she had no trips outside the US, which was welcome. Barry and Justin enjoyed traveling, so she had no qualms about sending them to all corners of the world. Lucky for Leonid, neither Barry nor Justin spoke Russian, and their attempts to learn were abysmal. Then Barry and Justin had back-to-back readings in the Midwest. It is best to schedule all of them together. Then she had New York, which might clash with Rhodes. She had to schedule that for after Rhodes as she had to take that herself. The city of Brooklyn had a telepath residing there. Barry had found her but, unfortunately, had informed Sookie within earshot of a spy for Carmine. She had flown there at the last minute to make sure his people had no chance of finding her.
She hadn't realized how quickly time had flown until she heard Eric talking to Tray. "Hello, min karla." She threw her head back, accepting a kiss on the lips. "We received your package." He sounded highly amused.
"Yes, I guessed if anyone could scare her straight, it would be you and Pam." Bella teased.
"We did. She also gave up other drainers. Pam and Chow are dealing with that." Eric informed her.
"How did you deal with Longshadow?" Sookie asked suddenly, having remembered Charles Twining would have shown this week.
"I detained him, called his maker, and asked him to repay the money Longshadow had stolen. He did, and I released Longshadow and told him never to set foot in Louisiana. Why?" Eric moved to stand in front of her.
"Do you know a vampire by the name of Charles Twining?" Sookie asked instead.
"No."
"Good, Hot Rain sent him as he was not happy with your payment for killing Longshadow," Sookie muttered as she stretched.
"Is your back still hurting?" He asked concerned.
"Oh no, I have been sitting in this chair too long. My back is perfectly fine. Thank you for that." She stood then.
"So, who is it?" Eric mumbled, collapsing on the couch next to her.
"I can't tell you that, and you are my bonded. Or at least one more exchange, and you are my bonded." Her playful look was anything but.
"Are you trying to tell me something, Miss Stackhouse?" He asked, injecting a teasing lilt into his voice.
"I don't know, am I." Her attention on her laptop.
"So, I managed to get Zoe to tell me when you had a few days off." Sookie finally looked up from her laptop. "The plan was to take you away and complete the bond. Pam told me I was taking too long with it, but I wanted it to be special. Unlike giving you an engagement ring without calling it that." He lifted her hand with the ring, running his finger over her knuckles.
"Oh," Sookie murmured, a little embarrassed. "I can wait." She added, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Or, I can come with you and complete the bond on the weekend. I noticed your weekends are free. Even better, it's Paris, the city of love." His intonation of love had her laughing. "Woman, you are impatient." He teased.
"Excuse me, but how was I supposed to know why you were taking so fucking long with completing the bond. I initiated the second bond, thought I'd let you have the final one." She muttered with a haughtiness that belied her obvious embarrassment.
"Oh, how magnanimous of you." He quipped.
"It is, isn't it." She failed to stop her laugh.
"Come on, who is it?" He tried again.
"Monaco is pretty straightforward; we are looking for an embezzler. The CEO has his suspicions, and he's looking for proof."
"Does he know you are a telepath?" Eric asked, concerned. It wasn't beyond the human government to try and take Sookie for their own purposes. Hell, if she weren't protected by the council, many vampires would try it. He suspected some would still try even knowing.
"No, when it comes to my human clients, they have no idea how I do what I do; they just know that I'm damn good at it," Sookie said with a shrug.
"Good," Eric murmured. "Are you done for the evening? I promised Pam I would park my butt on the throne tonight until at least midnight." He muttered wearily.
"I'm afraid not. I want to complete the work schedule for the next six months and then email the relevant monarchs. One or two always decide they suddenly want to change the date." She put her laptop aside, looking for her handbag. "You couldn't…" She pointed to the bag that was on her desk. "I have a set of keys to my apartment for you." She giggled at the speed at which he grabbed the bag. "I will be in lalaland by the time you are allowed off your throne, but you can stay at mine."
"I will like that." He leaned in for a kiss then. Sookie moaned loudly and pressed herself to the Viking's firm body. Eric leaned back on the couch, taking her with him. His hands wandered down, and he took a firm hold of her dress shirt when a knock on the door comes. "Fuck." He muttered angrily.
Sookie slowly sat up,
Despite her obvious merriment at his frustration, the heat in her eyes says differently. "Come in." She said in a tone belying the need in her voice. If she was honest with herself, she would have happily fucked Eric on the couch.
"Sorry for the interruption, but we have an Arlene Fowler here who wants to talk to you." Sookie's eyes widened, and she immediately dropped her shield. "Cody has been bragging a little about his mummy's new job and how much fun he has here after school. Arlene is here hoping for a job, especially where she can bring her kids." Sookie groaned in despair.
"I could tell her you are too busy." Porter offered.
"Trust me, that would be a waste of time. She sees getting a job here as the answer to some of her prayers. The worst thing is, I would have found something for her, but she hates anything that is not human, and hardly anyone here is. I can just see her mouth turning the locals fearful of this place and them burning the place down. I will be down in a minute. Put her in the waiting room, and please, no display of supernatural abilities." Sookie dropped back on the couch in annoyance.
"Will do," Porter said as he left them alone.
"She would have been a friend, or I would have been a friend. Pam described her as a fair-weather friend, there for you until the wind blows the other way. Not forgetting when she started dating
Spradlin, she aided him and his friends in their attempt to kidnap me and crucify me." Sookie said sadly.
"Why?" Eric's voice was barely above a whisper. The more he learned of what would have become of her, the more he is grateful for her nightmares.
"He is a member of the Fellowship and a zealot one at that. Arlene has this knack of believing in what her boyfriend believes in."
"She goes from being a shitty friend but a friend to aiding in your attempted murder," Eric growled.
"She does." Sookie stood, slipping her foot into her Louboutins; she checked herself in the bathroom mirror.
"I have to get to Fangtasia. Please call when she's dealt with," Eric grumbled. Not wanting to tempt fate, he left by the balcony. "I might just kill her otherwise." He mumbled. Sookie, having heard him, chuckled despite herself.
"I'm afraid this is my fault. Cody and I have done nothing but sing your praises." Holly said, looking somewhat sheepish.
Sookie smiled. "I know. Anybody else, and I might have found something for her." Sookie hadn't seen much of Arlene since she left for college. Not that she spent much time in Bon Temps to see most of the town folk, even on the occasion she went to church, she didn't see Arlene.
"Sookie… wow, it has been a while. You look really good." The red-haired was all smiles.
"Hello, Arlene." Sookie quickly sat down before she could lean in for a hug. She didn't need to hear or see anymore than she was already doing. "How are you?" Sookie asked, simply because it was the thing to do.
"I'm good, got two kids now. I work at Merlotte's; I know Jason well; he comes in quite a bit. We never see you though." She was gossiped about constantly even when they knew jack shit about her, more or less making the local watering hole a place she frequented.
"Yes, unfortunately, I travel quite a bit for work, so I'm not around much. I'm home for a couple more days and then I'm in Europe for a few weeks. Mostly, I also live in Shreveport." Sookie said with a shrug.
"I remember when people talked about you hear what we was thinking. Called you crazy, look at you now. If this is crazy, give me some." Almost everyone remembered the days she had little no control over her telepathy, but now they mostly dismissed it as gossip. Of course, the likes of Portia and Bud were sure it was the very thing that had made her successful.
"You asked to see me," Sookie asked.
"I was hoping for a job." She mumbled.
"Okay, doing what exactly?" Sookie sat back and crossed her legs.
"Whatever you got Holly doing." She replied.
"Holly can type sixty words a minute, take notes in shorthand, and understands the IT setup we have here. She is also my assistant when required. When I'm out of town, which is almost all the time, she takes my calls, arranges my schedule, liaises with the clients, and a hell of a lot more. She is very capable, so I went through the trouble of stealing her from Merlotte's." Sookie watched Arlene deflate; knowing what she knew, she felt sorry for her.
"You must have something." She muttered desperately. "Who cleans this place?" She asked, suddenly elated.
"We have a company that does that." They did, Terry Bellefleur's company handled their cleaning. They dealt with the lower levels themselves.
"I could…" A knock on the door had Arlene jumping.
"Come in," Sookie uttered, happy for the interruption.
Of course, they'd send in Nana, her glare was enough to make the oldest of vampires lose their train of thought. "You asked to see me at nine. It's nine." She groused.
"Right, of course." Sookie stood. "If there is nothing else, I have to get back to work." With a resigned nod, Arlene stood to leave. "Just out of curiosity, do you even know what we do here?" Sookie had to ask.
"Don't really care. From what Holly says, it's a great place to work." Her thoughts were very much like most of the town. She believed Sookie got rich folks out of trouble. She truly wished Arlene didn't care what they did what they did. Who knows, the money might have swayed her thinking until the likes of Spradlin came along.