Sunday, August 23, 2009
Northman and the Nanny Ch 3
Chapter 3
EPOV
I was surprised but relieved when Sookie accepted the job on the spot, as much as I was still a little unsure about my selection, I sure as hell didn’t want to start that whole process over again. I had reluctantly set aside my idea of what the perfect nanny should be opting rather to go along with a small voice in my head that said this was what was best for Holly. I just wished the voice was louder but I prayed this gamble paid off.
With most of my work wrapped up for the weekend I decided to call it a day so I would have ample time to talk to Holly about Sookie’s visit in the morning, get her fed and get her to wind down by her bed time. Holly knew we were looking for someone more permanent to look after her during the day but I hadn’t really told her much more than that yet. With her fifth birthday right around the corner, Holly was not your typical four year old; her comprehension level was pretty high and her vocabulary could rival that of most teenagers today. I practically begun reading to her the day she came home from the hospital. My ex-wife of course thought I was ridiculous reading law journals and legal briefs to a newborn but I saw it as a way for me to get done what I needed to yet still be able to spend time with my daughter. Of course as she got older and more alert my reading selection became more age appropriate but when she began talking I made it a point to teach her as many words as I could regardless of how absurd it sounded hearing a two year old say “ostrich”.
So it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand was going on, it was just that I didn’t want the added stress of having to give her an update everyday while we were searching. The only thing bigger than my child’s vocabulary was her inquisitive nature and I promise she could what and why with the best of them.
o~O~o
“Come here Little Bit, I want to talk to you about something.” I called to Holly from the living room. We had just gotten home from dinner where somehow the little con artist had managed to get another night of pizza out of me.
“If this is about Barbie’s hair…she wanted it cut.” Holly said walking into the living room. I swear one day, if she chooses, my daughter is going to make a kick ass attorney ‘cause she could argue her way out of or justify almost anything.
“What…no this isn’t about your Barbies but apparently we will be talking about them in a few minutes.” I said as I watched her solemn face brighten then return somber. I sat down in the oversized chair and waited as she crawled up in my lap. With one arm around her, I held my other hand up and she placed her tiny hand against it lining up our fingers and thumbs together. In the last two or more years I could not recall a night that we did not go through this little ritual. Once our palms were together Holly would comment on the difference in size each day stating that her hand was a little bit bigger than the day before.
“It’s bigger today, look Daddy, see right here?”
“I believe you may be right baby.” I said kissing the top of her head. “Holly, you know Bill and I have been looking to find someone to stay with you and watch you during the day, right?” I waited then continued after she nodded her head.
“Well, we think we’ve found somebody but I want you to meet her and spend a little time with her to see what you think how does that sound?”
“What if I don’t like her? I mean what if she’s like Mrs. Fortenberry? I don’t like Mrs. Fortenberry.”
I couldn’t blame her there; I wasn’t a real fan of Maxine Fortenberry either. When we opened the firm we were young and inexperienced so we chose to hire the most experienced staff we could afford and she was brought on as Paralegal Supervisor but over the years she had gotten downright mean and on more than one occasion had voice her displeasure with Holly being in the office. But once she is respectfully reminded whose signature is in bottom right hand corner of her paycheck she moves on to some other subject.
“Well, that’s why we want you to meet her…to see if you like her. But I promise you she is nothing like Mrs. Fortenberry.”
“When do I have to meet her?” I could tell by her use of “have” rather than “get” that she was very apprehensive about this get-together.
“She’s coming by in the morning at 10:00 so you can show her around and talk with her a while. Okay?”
“Kay.” She said and after a few minutes she asked, “Daddy, can you tell me about her?”
I spent the next little while telling her what I knew about Sookie; well the things that would interest a four year old and she asked more questions. By the time her bath and bedtime rolled around, much to my relief, she sounded like she was actually looking forward to the visit.
And again I prayed that this was the right move.
o~O~o
“Holly….we have company.” I sang down the hall as I made my way to the front door silently noting the fact that clock on the DVR said 10:00 on the nose.
I opened the door to see Sookie standing there dressed casually in a pair of white pants with a bluish-purplish top, I’m sure there was some fancy name for the color but to me it was bluish-purplish, and a pair of white sandals.
“Sookie…welcome. Won’t you come in?” I said stepping aside to let her pass.
“Good morning Eric, I hope you’ll pardon me while I gawk at your beautiful home.” She joked.
“Of course…I appreciate the compliment. Did you find us ok?”
“I did, your directions were flawless.”
Suddenly we were interrupted by the thumping of little feet on the hardwood floor.
“Daddy, is this her?” Holly asked as she clung to the side of my pant leg.
“Yes Holly, this is Ms. Sookie Stackhouse.” I answered.
“Hello Holly, how are you this morning?” Sookie asked as she squatted down to Holly’s level, her face appearing like she genuinely cared about the answer.
“I’m fine.” Holly answered. “You have a funny name.”
“Holly! That’s not very nice!” I scolded but fortunately Sookie was laughing and didn’t appear to be put out by my daughter’s sudden lack of manners.
“Daddy, it’s not a bad name, it’s just a funny one.” Holly argued but was still timid from my reaction.
“It’s ok Holly, my name is very different and it is a little funny. We may just have to come up with a nickname for you to call me, ok.” Sookie offered.
“OK.” Holly said as the smile returned to her face. “I like your blouse, that’s a pretty color.” She added.
“Why thank you Holly. This is called periwinkle, it’s my favorite color.” Sookie told her. Or bluish-purplish.
“I like it too.” Holly said with a grin.
“Well, why don’t we go in the living room where we can talk for a little while?” I motioned toward the living room and allowed Sookie to lead the way.”
“You’re right daddy; she does look like a princess.” Holly whispered except Holly had not yet mastered whispering so her words could easily be heard in the next room never mind just three feet ahead where Sookie currently was. Lord, just kill me now. If Sookie heard, she made no indication and since the floor was obviously not going to swallow me up and put me out of my misery I chose to verbally ignore the comment but rather smiled and nodded to Holly.
“Have a seat Sookie.” I said pointing to the couch and I took a seat in the chair. I expected Holly to come crawl in my lap and was surprised that she chose to take a seat beside Sookie on the couch.
“My daddy says you can teach me to swim.” Holly said jumping right in.
“If you want to learn how to swim, and it’s ok with your dad, then we’ll find a pool and I’ll teach you how to swim.” Sookie said with a smile.
“We have a pool, but I don’t get in it much because daddy’s too busy most of the time.” Holly said matter-of-factly.
My heart broke a little when she mentioned I was too busy, I mean we were together virtually around the clock so it was easy sometimes for me to forget that most of that time was spent doing what I needed to do rather than what she wanted to do.
“Well, if you have a pool then I have to teach you to teach you.” Sookie said after receiving an approving nod from me. “Because having a pool and not being able to swim is like having a bowl of ice cream and not having a spoon.” Sookie tease and Holly giggled.
“What else can we do?” Holly asked and Sookie turned on the couch pulling one leg under the other so she could face Holly.
“Well, I thought some days we could go to the museums. We can go to the library, we can go to movies. We can go shopping some and I could even teach you to cook a little.” Sookie began to list other things they could do together but Holly’s eyes lit up when she mentioned cooking.
“You’ll teach me to cook in the big kitchen?”
“Of course, you can’t expect your dad to cook all the meal can you?”
“Daddy doesn’t cook!” Holly said sounding appalled at the mere suggestion. Sookie looked over at me.
“I…er…no I don’t cook.” I don’t know why all of a sudden I was embarrassed by that fact but there it was.
“Eric, I’m sorry I wasn’t implying anything…just…well, what do you do for meals?”
“We eat out.” Again for some unknown reason I was embarrassed.
“All of them?” Sookie asked incredulously.
“Well…yeah…practically.” I said trying to find my defensive voice but failing miserably.
“That’s not healthy, not to mention ridiculously expensive.” She countered.
“I know, but there’s only one of me, I’ve done the best that I could.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to justify myself to her when I really wanted to yell “that’s none of your damn business” but there was a part of me that like the fact that she honestly seemed to care.
That little voice in my head that had been sticking up for her all along was beginning to get a little louder.
“Well, that stops now.” She said with surprising authority. “From now on, I’ll cook the nights I’m here and I’ll make sure there is food for you guys when I’m not.”
I nodded my head, for some reason afraid to respond any other way but mentally reminded myself to adjust her salary to accommodate the additional service. Meanwhile Holly got off the couch and came over to me in the chair.
“Daddy, is she going to put you in time-out?” Holly asked apparently concerned about my wellbeing.
We all laughed and I picked her up and pulled her into my lap.
“No, honey but you better be glad you got pizza three times this week, because I don’t think that’s going to happen again.” I informed her. Knowing the addiction my daughter had to an Italian pie I expected this revelation to upset her or at a minimum elicit a pout but no.
“Daddy it will be ok, she’s going to teach me to cook healthy stuff.” The little traitor said and I marveled at how quickly female bonds are created.
“OK well…Holly why don’t you show Sookie around while I go check my messages and email? You remember which room we decided would be hers, right?”
“Come on Sookie, I’ll show you your room and then we can go play in mine.” Holly offered her hand to Sookie as she got up off the couch and they began their tour.
I spent quite awhile in my office answering emails and returning calls not because I was particularly busy but because I wanted Holly to be able to spend some time alone with Sookie before we made our final decision. After about 30 minutes I quietly made my way to Holly’s room. Yes I was eavesdropping, but it’s my house and my daughter, so I didn’t feel guilty one damn bit.
“…I’m sure she was looking for something a little shorter for the summer, but what is she going to do now in the fall when she wants it longer and her hair doesn’t grow back?” Sookie reasoned.
“I guess I didn’t think of that.” Holly replied. “I better not cut any more of their hair, huh?”
“I think that would be wise. But at least you only cut one of them; all the others still have long hair.”
And the little voice in my head got a little louder still.
SPOV
The conflict that was going on in my head was insane. I had just landed my college dream job and could finish my degree without worrying about money, late hours or having to decide between moving in with Sam or getting a new roommate. But there would be no celebrating; the best that I could hope for tonight was damage control.
I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up what I needed to make Sam’s favorite dish, a meal that was not a particular favorite of mine but every little thing helps. Right?
I had just finished preparing dinner when I heard the key in the door followed by Sam’s footsteps towards the kitchen.
“Something smells wonderf…oh shit Sookie! You took the damn job didn’t you?”
TBC
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Heart's Desire Ch 29
Chapter 29
SPOV
“Uh…Eric! Good to see you man, I wasn’t expecting you here today.” John said seemingly startled.
“And why is that John, this is my company?” I had felt Eric stiffen when John rounded the corner so I shouldn’t have been surprised when Executive Northman showed up.
“Of course it is dude.” He said with a nervous chuckle.
Dude?
“John this is Sookie Stackhouse, she’ll be joining Northman Inc., she’ll be responsible for shoring up our charitable donation process and improving our community presence.” It surprised me a little that he did not refer to me as his girlfriend but I tried not to read too much into it as I offered my hand to John, who was now visibly nervous.
“Nice to meet you Sookie.” John said as he shook my hand.
“Likewise.” I said with a small smile.
“So Eric, how is the rehab coming?” John said in a veiled attempt to get the conversation back to safe topic.
“Fine.” Eric said without elaborating. “So what are you doing up here on my floor?” Eric continued. If you couldn’t hear the suspicion in Eric’s voice, the look on his face was a dead giveaway.
“Umm…well, I hope you don’t mind, I’ve had Debbie working on a few things for me since her work load has been a little lower lately. I hope that’s ok.” He stammered. I had never met John Quinn before but it was obvious that he was not only nervous but a little taken aback by the nature of Eric’s questions.
“No, that’s fine. As a matter of fact I was planning to have her reassigned down to your floor while I’m here today.” I tried not to smile as the tone of Eric’s voice made Debbie’s reassignment sound more like the description of a potted plant that was being moved from one spot to another.
“Are you sure? I mean, I’m sure she could probably provide quite a bit of assistance with some of Pam’s responsibilities.” John asked.
“No, she’s been enough help already. I’m sure I’ll be fine, besides I know where to find her if I need her.” Eric said. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we have several things we need to take care of while we are here today.” Eric said placing his hand in the small of my back to guide me around John.
“Sure, I’ll see you soon. Good to meet you Sookie.” He said as he quickly made his way to the elevator.
I looked at Eric, searching for any indication of how he was feeling but his face was blank, void of any emotion or expression as we continued on to Pam’s office.
The door was closed but Eric didn’t bother to knock, instead he just opened the door, waited for me to walk through and then followed me in to greet an extremely startled Debbie.
“Eric…I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.” She said quickly regaining her composure.
“I’m getting that a lot today.” He mumbled but she chose to ignore the comment and focus on me.
“Sophie, so good to see you again, how have you been?” No you didn’t.
I felt Eric stiffen and I quickly placed my hand discretely behind me to squeeze the hand he had placed on my back to let him know I recognized the tone of voice and I could handle the situation.
“I’m good Donna, how about you?” I said in the same sickenly sweet tone. Back atcha bitch!
Eric cleared his throat effectively putting an end to our fun and games and I watched as his eyes swept over the room and the desk that Debbie had apparently taken up residence in.
“Debbie was there something you needed from in here?” Eric asked somewhat tersely.
I could see Debbie’s countenance change as all the smug confidence was over taken by the same unsettled look that had plagued John Quinn just a few minutes earlier.
“I…um...well, I was just following up on the status of a few things Pam and I had been working on together, and well it was just easier to do it from in here.” She stammered.
“Well, if you will get me a brief overview of anything you have going on with those projects by the end of the day I would appreciate it. Meanwhile if you want to go ahead and start boxing your personal stuff up, Human Resources will have you reassigned and moved downstairs later today.”
Damn! Executive Northman don’t play.
Debbie looked as if she was going to try to say something but Eric’s words left little room for discussion so she began gathering up the things she had scattered on Pam’s desk.
A couple of minutes later Debbie exited the office and Eric closed the door and sighed heavily.
“So how did I do?” He asked as he walked back over to me.
“Well, if scaring the shit out of them was your goal…mission accomplished.” I answered as we sat down on the couch in the back of the office. “Eric, I’m going to feel bad about all this hostility if all this turns out to be nothing but a big coincidence.”
“Sookie listen to me…I don’t want you to feel bad no matter how this turns out. I didn’t accuse anyone of anything; I just want them to be thrown off guard a little, this way if there is something shady going on, maybe it will force them to do something stupid in an attempt to cover their tracks.” He said giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Now, we need to think about what we need to do to this office to get it ready for you.”
“Eric I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to take this office. Why don’t we just see how things go and we think about office space later?” I felt him stiffen at my suggestion.
“Sookie you’re not having second thoughts are you?”
“What? No…Eric, believe it or not that decision was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made. But I’m really not comfortable with taking Pam’s office.”
“Love, I told you I don’t want anyone else to have this space.”
“I know you did, but Eric I think you should leave Pam’s office just the way it is for awhile.”
“And why is that?”
Did I really want to answer this question? I mean aside from the unnecessary animosity that would be created the day everyone came in and found out that the boss’s high school diploma carrying girlfriend had moved into arguably the best office in the building, I still couldn’t help but think that emotionally it would be better for Eric if her office remained the same for a little while longer.
“I just think it maybe a little too soon to be removing Pam’s presence from the office.” I turned towards him and took his hands in mine. “Look, I’m not trying to tell you how to mourn but you’ve only been out of the hospital for just over a week and this is only the second trip you’ve made to the office, you may want to wait a little while before you make those kinds of permanent changes.”
I held my breath as the words left my mouth, grief causes unnatural reactions in people and although we had been wrapped tightly in our own little cocoon of happiness lately, the man was still mourning.
“You’re right, it can wait.”
We sat there silently for a few minutes as Eric seemed to be lost in thought, I fought the urge to pry and try to find out what was going on in his head choosing rather to be silently supportive.
“What do you say we head back to my office so I can take care of a few things, we’ll talk to Selah and then go get some lunch?”
“Lead the way.”
We made our way back to the other end of the hall and just as we reached Eric’s office door Selah walked out of her office.
“Sookie could I speak with you for just a moment?” She asked.
“Sure.” I said while turning to Eric. He leaned down gave me a kiss on the forehead and told me to meet him in his office when I was done. I followed Selah back in to her office and took a seat in her guest chair.
“Sookie, I just wanted to thank you again for including me Saturday night, it really means a lot to me that you thought to invite me.”
“Selah, don’t mention it. Did you have fun?”
“I had a really great time. Hoyt is such a sweetheart.” She said as a small blush covered her face.
“He is a good guy, I’m glad you had a good time. What about your cousin?”
“She had fun, I don’t think she really made a connection with Malcolm but she found a relatively good looking redheaded guy to kill time with.”
“Well I did apologize in advance for Malcolm.” I said with a laugh.
“Yes you did, but he was all right besides he spent most of the night with some ‘butter face’ girl at the end of the bar.”
“Butter face?”
“Those were his words, let’s see…how’d he put it...oh yeah…“everything looked good about her but her face”. And with that both of us started laughing.
“He’s one to talk.” I offered. As the laughter died down a little Selah’s face got a little more serious.
“Look, I wanted to ask you about something.” She said playing with the lid of her ink pen and I nodded indicating for her to go ahead.
“Hoyt has asked me to go with him to the Fourth of July get together you guys are having at Northman Estates and I told him I thought I should talk to you or Eric before I accepted his invitation and if you don’t want me to go I completely understand. It’s just that…” I cut her off from her rant.
“Selah, it’s fine. I don’t have a problem with you going and I don’t think Eric will either but if it will make you feel better, I’ll speak to him or you can speak with him for that matter. But I don’t see it as a problem. I would however ask that you not mention it to rest of the employees. I mean you’re his assistant and in my opinion you play by a different set of rules, but I would hate to start unnecessary drama.”
“Thank you, that means a lot to me. But if you don’t mind I would really appreciate it if you would ask Eric about it.” She asked.
“Wouldn’t you rather just speak to him yourself?”
“Not really. I’ve never had to speak with him about a matter this personal before and I don’t want to put him or me, for that matter, in an embarrassing situation; if that’s ok…he’ll speak more openly to you.”
It’s funny where life takes you sometimes, just a few weeks ago she was posing as his girlfriend and today she’s asking me to speak with him on her behalf because she’s never spoken to him about something personal. Life is just full of surprises.
She told me that Hoyt was coming back to Shreveport for the weekend to visit her. She offered to make the trip to Bon Temps but Hoyt felt it would be better for him to come here. I suppose he’d rather not ask his mom to set one more plate at the breakfast table. We chatted for a few more minutes and then I left to find Eric.
Eric was just getting off the phone when I walked in.
“Everything ok?” He asked raising one eyebrow in speculation.
“Yeah, just a little girl talk. She did however mention that Hoyt had invited her to the Fourth of July thingy, but she didn’t want to commit unless it was ok with us.”
“Well, I’ll admit I’ve never really socialized with any of my co-workers outside of business function so it’s a little weird, but I think Saturday night went ok. How do you feel about it?”
“I told her I thought it was fine as long as she didn’t discuss it with other employees.”
“Well, I’ll leave it up to you; if you’re ok with her being there then I’m ok with it.”
“Good. Now are you ready to get something to eat?”
With speed undetectable by the human eye, Eric was in front of me with his hand on my hips.
“Oh, I’m always ready to eat.” He said, his voice husky and low.
“Don’t even think about it Northman. You promised me lunch, now you are going to take me out for a proper meal.”
“OK, but you’ve had Executive Northman all morning now Naked Northman is demanding equal time tonight.” Hell Yes!
“Well, I think I can slip him in.”
TBC
Heart's Desire Ch 28
Chapter 28
EPOV
“Sookie, that’s been driving you crazy hasn’t it? So where do you know him from?” I smirked shaking my head, glad she had finally made the connection. Fewer things are more annoying than not being able to put a name with a face or not being able to recall where or how you know someone. Episodes like that can be fatal in business transactions so I could relate to her relief.
“Well, I don’t know him, but I’ve seen his name.” She said as she began to step out of the tub.
I could tell she was too preoccupied to continue our peaceful soak together so I crawled out of the tub behind her and began toweling her off.
“You’ve seen his name where?”
“With the charity stuff.” She said as she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a tank top and shorts to put on.
“Are you sure?” I remembered Debbie saying they had changed the procedures some but I couldn’t imagine why he would be involved in the process. “Are you sure you just didn’t run across his name on some other company related paperwork?”
John had been with the organization for about 4 years and was responsible for finding and researching companies for possible takeover or those that could benefit from our help with restructuring. He had never been my favorite person, his approach was open and aggressive which while on occasion I found to be somewhat over the top yet I still preferred it to the sneaky, stealth maneuvers that some companies employed. Aside from Pam and myself, he was probably the busiest man in the company and definitely one of the best compensated which aided his not so secret desire to move as high and as fast as possible up the socioeconomic ladder.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
It was amusing how fixated she had become on the subject, she was like a little pit bull getting a hold of something and nothing was going to make her let it go.
“Well, it’s nothing to worry about; we’ll take a look tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, do you want to go to the office to work or just work from here again?”
I knew soon I wouldn’t be able to get away with working from home quite as much, but for now most of my responsibilities could still be handled remotely and although Sookie had agreed to stay I still enjoyed the privacy being at home provided.
“It’s up to you; whatever you want to do is fine with me.”
“Well, how about we stay here tomorrow and maybe plan to go in to the office Tuesday or Wednesday?”
“That’s fine.” She shrugged as we headed out to the kitchen to put something together for dinner.
The rest of the evening was thankfully quiet, a stark contrast to the last couple of days. It had been a long time since my house had seen that type of activity and while I really enjoyed getting to know Sookie’s friends, this little bit of down time was all it took for my body to remind me that I was still recovering from my injuries.
I awoke the next morning a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Without looking I reached over to find Sookie but my hand was met with a pillow instead…a very cold pillow. I looked over to the bathroom only to see the door open and the light off.
As I made my way down the hall I could hear the faint tapping of Sookie’s tiny finger nails on her laptop in the library.
“Sookie what the hell?” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes that had still not adjusted to the morning light.
“Oh shit…Eric you scared me half to death.” She said obviously startled by my interruption.
“What are you doing in here already this morning?”
“Eric I’m sorry, you know that whole John Quinn thing has been driving me crazy and now I know why.”
“Well, I’m sure whatever it is it can wait until after breakfast. Come on Love; let’s go get dressed while Mrs. Hadley whips something up for us.” I said nuzzling her neck.
Through the entire meal, I could see that Sookie was still distracted with whatever discovery she had made earlier this morning as I was having a hard time keeping her engaged in any sort of conversation.
“Sookie, why don’t you just go ahead and tell me what has got you so worked up about John Quinn this morning.” I said taking another sip of coffee.
“No Eric, I don’t want to tell you, I’d rather show you. I want to make sure that I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing.” She said cryptically.
“OK, come on; show me what you’ve found.” I thought I had managed not to sound condescending but the raised eyebrow informed me otherwise.
“I’m sorry Love, you’ve just been so damn funny about this. Seriously…show me what you’ve discovered.”
“OK, first let me explain all the data I’ve pulled together.” She said as she entered the library.
Since Sookie began working on her database, she had given me the “Cliff’s notes” version of her work, but I had yet to take the time to sit down and see everything that she had pulled together. Apparently I had grossly underestimated the little pit bull.
“I’ve pulled all the charities together with all of their pertinent information as well as additional information such as percentage of administrative cost, board members, who we send the money too and such. But I have also been looking at their percentage of administrative costs to help determine who is making the best use of the money. Which ones may be close to a breakthrough where a little more help from us could be the final push that sends them over as well as how appropriately those who receive funds from us previously were using them.”
I sat there mesmerized by then amount of data she had pulled together. I had no idea. And it didn’t escape my notice that she said “us” when she referred to the company and I had to work hard to suppress the grin.
“So where does John Quinn fit into all of this?”
“Well let me first say, I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am just bringing the information to your attention. OK?” I nodded my head.
“OK, let’s see what happens when I search the database for ‘John Quinn’.” She said as she typed the name in the search field.
We sat there for a couple of moments waiting while the system did its search and sure enough four different charities popped up that were linked to his name.
“I don’t understand, what does this mean.” I asked, still not grasping what she was trying to show me.
“Eric, with the exception of the “Grant a Dream Foundation”, each one of these charities received a million dollars on their respective year. “Grant a Dream Foundation” has an application in for this year’s dispersements.”
“Sookie, I’m still not making the connection.” I interrupted, trying to hide my growing impatience.
“Let me finish.” She scolded. “When I did my background search on these companies, each one of them have the same names listed as their leadership committee, all local addresses and all four of them have John Quinn listed as the treasurer.”
“Sookie, while the name Quinn is not as popular as Smith or something, I’m sure there is more than one John Quinn out there.”
“And I don’t doubt that. It’s possible that this is all one big coincidence, but that’s not everything.” She continued. “Each one of these companies, except of course “Grant a Dream Foundation”, folded the year following receipt of your donation. And just for the record, none of the other charities have folded.”
She paused for a moment, and I could tell there was something else she wanted to add.
“What are you not saying Sookie?”
“Well, I’m not really sure exactly how to say this without sounding petty.”
“Just spit it out.”
“OK, you remember the other day when we were in your office and Debbie Pelt was so eager to take all this off my hands?” She motioned to the computer screen.
I nodded.
“Remember she said that she had been taking care of a lot of this for Pam?”
Again I nodded.
“Well, the three that folded, the ones that have Quinn listed as the treasurer, were all approved by her.”
I was a little surprised by her implications.
“Sookie, I appreciate the fact that you are not a fan of Debbie’s, I’m not either, you know that. But just because she approved those applications and the organization subsequently folded, doesn’t mean she’s involved in anything shady.”
“Eric, these were the ONLY ones she approved.” She paused before continuing her explanation. “Look, I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything, honestly. Hell I don’t know Quinn from Adam’s house cat, but I can’t help but feel something is not right here.”
I had to agree that it did look a little too suspicious just to be coincidence. John and Debbie had both come to work for Northman Inc. at about the same time and I knew Debbie spent a lot of time down on John’s floor, but did I believe they were capable of something like this? Maybe.
I stared at the information on the screen; Sookie had painstakingly taken me back through all of the data she had gathered and shown me exactly where it had originated from. We checked and double checked all of the information she had pulled together and I had to admit there was enough evidence to be more than a little suspicious. Now the question was what to do with the information that I had.
“So now what?” Sookie asked somewhat timidly. I could tell she was not relishing her role as being the possible bearer of bad news.
“I don’t really know. I’m trying to determine the best way to handle this; I mean I have a team of forensic accountants we use to snoop out things like this when we approach another company but John’s ties to them are too tight. I think I’m going to place a call to my attorney and see what he has to say.”
“Forensic accountants?” Sookie asked.
“Yeah…they are the kind of folks you call in when you suspect fraud or embezzlement of some kind. They sort of follow the money and recreate the trail.”
I made a quick call to my lawyer; he was in court but called me back just a few minutes after I left my message. I relayed the information to him, exactly how Sookie discovered it and all the details she had uncovered and he agreed that it warranted further investigation. He said he would get me the name of another accounting firm that specialized in investigating this sort of thing as soon as he got back to his office and I could contact them to set up a meeting.
I hung up the phone and glanced over at Sookie who was still looking despondent.
“What’s the matter Love?”
“Eric…I just feel so bad about all this?”
“Why do you feel bad?” I asked incredulously.
“I don’t know. I guess if it’s true…if they really did do something wrong…then I feel bad that they did that to your company. And if it’s not true then I feel bad for making you jump through all these hoops for nothing.”
I pulled her over to me and wrapped my arms around her.
“First of all, you are not making me do anything. We, my attorney and I, both think you’re right this does warrant a closer look. Second of all, if you could link all this together, then someone else could as well and we want to make sure that any of our business dealings, even our charitable giving is above reproach so if nothing else the investigation will insure that. Look, I don’t want you feeling bad about this, I’m so damn proud of you right now, I could bust and I know this is going to sound bad but this is all the more reason why you should be working for me rather than back at the restaurant.” I felt her stiffen at my last sentence and I knew it had not gone over well.
“Sookie, I’m not trying to insult you or belittle your work as a waitress, please know that,” I could only hope she could hear the sincerity of my words, “but you are capable of so much more. I mean just look at what you have done with just this process alone. You have taken a simple request of reviewing some applications and turned it in to a true selection process with the data to back up any decision made. Do you understand how impressive that is?”
She seemed to be considering my words as she kept her eyes down studying the hem of her tank top when finally she sighed.
“Thank you for saying that and I know you are not trying to hurt my feelings. I guess the reason I’ve always been so defensive about being a waitress is because otherwise I would feel guilty about not making something more of myself.”
“Sookie there is nothing for you to feel guilty about; you did what you had to do with the choices you were given, you should be proud of that. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything; I just want you to understand you have options now and I don’t care what you choose to do as long as you are happy…and of course here with me.” I added with a sheepish grin.
“So you don’t care what I choose?” I could hear a little amusement in her voice.
“Nope.”
“Suppose I want to sit around all day do my nails?”
“That’s fine.” I knew she was joking, that girl could no sooner sit around all day than I could swim the English Channel.
“And eat bon bons?”
“Just let Mrs. Hadley know which are your favorite brand and she’ll get them for you.” She laughed at my quick response. “I just want you happy…period. If that comes from you working…fine, if it comes from you going back to school…fine, if it comes from you being barefoot and pregnant…fine, as long as you’re happy.”
I confess that last suggestion slipped out of my mouth before I realized I had even thought it. I guess the time we had spent yesterday with little Nava had brought the idea of children in a more prominent part of my brain, but this was not how I would have brought the subject up if I had just thought before I spoke.
Sookie pulled away and turned to look at me.
“Eric are you saying you want to have children with me?” She sounded surprised and I wasn’t sure just how that made me feel.
“Of course.” I responded as if there was no other possible answer to her question.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and crushed her lips to mine and I couldn’t help but feel her kiss was not one of passion or need but rather one of gratitude and I was reminded again just how fragile my little pit bull was. She pulled away and looked questioningly up at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Sookie, when I said I loved you that was it for me. I’m all in. I want a life with you and everything that goes with it. I know what I want; I’m just waiting for you to get caught up.”
“Oh Eric, thank you…thank you for loving me. I never knew someone could be this happy and I certainly never expected it to be me.”
“Sookie, loving you is the easiest thing I have ever done and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing it.”
We sat there for awhile holding each other before finally deciding it was time to get started with work.
“Sookie how would you feel about us going to the office today instead of staying home? I know I suggested staying here today but in light of what you’ve found, I think I would like to go to the office and just to see if we can pick up on anything.”
“That’s fine, I just find something more appropriate to wear. I really need to bring more of my clothes from home, I didn’t really pack with the office in mind when I packed to come here.” She said somewhat absentmindedly mumbling to herself while looking through her clothes in the closet.
“You know Sook…we can send for your stuff or go pick up your things whenever you want or if you want to wait til the weekend we can…but I wouldn’t mind a trip to the mall this evening if you want. I’m sure the walking would be good for me and we could get you a few things to hold you over. Besides we need to celebrate your new job don’t you think?”
She tried but she couldn’t hide her excitement and apparently I had found one of her soft spots…shopping. Who knew?
A short time later we were in the car on the way to the office.
“I think I’m going to get Selah to start working on cleaning out Pam’s office, at least the business related items. If I trusted Debbie I would have her do it but I didn’t trust her before and I certainly don’t want to risk anything now, so I think I’ll have Selah take care of it. I know I need to, but I don’t think I’m ready to handle her personal items, so I will probably just have them carefully boxed up and stored for now. And then we can convert that office to yours.”
“MINE?” Sookie almost yelled.
“Yes, yours. You’re going to need some place to work from and I like the idea of you being close to me.”
“Eric, I can’t take that office. That would cause all kinds of hard feelings with your employees.” She said shaking her head.
“Nonsense. I own the damn company, and I say who goes where. Look, you really didn’t tour the rest of the building, but I assure you the other executive’s offices are just as nice as those on my floor. They may be a tad smaller but really the only other difference is that they are not as high up. Besides, that office was Pam’s and I don’t want anyone else in there.”
Sookie had decided not to argue any more about the office, but I knew her well enough to doubt the discussion was over.
We finally got to the building and we went straight to my office to check in with Selah and put Sookie’s laptop in my office. For obvious reasons we had decided not put her data on the shared drive, we had copied the files to my computer at home but for now we would just have to carry her laptop back and forth between the office and home when she needed to work.
“Come on, let’s go down to Pam’s office and see what all needs to be done before I talk to Selah about it.” I said as we made our way down to the other end of the hall.
Just before we reached the end of the hall, I could hear a female voice coming from the office and as we got closer I recognized the voice as Debbie’s. I touched Sookie’s arm and motioned for her to wait as I held my finger to my lips to let her know not to speak.
“You’re just paranoid, you need to stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine.” I heard her tell the other person in hushed tones.
“I hope you’re right, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I need to get back downstairs; I’ll see you at home tonight.”
I recognized the voice immediately and just a couple of seconds the owner rounded the corner where instantly his face turned to one of shock.
“Hello John.”
TBC
EPOV
“Sookie, that’s been driving you crazy hasn’t it? So where do you know him from?” I smirked shaking my head, glad she had finally made the connection. Fewer things are more annoying than not being able to put a name with a face or not being able to recall where or how you know someone. Episodes like that can be fatal in business transactions so I could relate to her relief.
“Well, I don’t know him, but I’ve seen his name.” She said as she began to step out of the tub.
I could tell she was too preoccupied to continue our peaceful soak together so I crawled out of the tub behind her and began toweling her off.
“You’ve seen his name where?”
“With the charity stuff.” She said as she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a tank top and shorts to put on.
“Are you sure?” I remembered Debbie saying they had changed the procedures some but I couldn’t imagine why he would be involved in the process. “Are you sure you just didn’t run across his name on some other company related paperwork?”
John had been with the organization for about 4 years and was responsible for finding and researching companies for possible takeover or those that could benefit from our help with restructuring. He had never been my favorite person, his approach was open and aggressive which while on occasion I found to be somewhat over the top yet I still preferred it to the sneaky, stealth maneuvers that some companies employed. Aside from Pam and myself, he was probably the busiest man in the company and definitely one of the best compensated which aided his not so secret desire to move as high and as fast as possible up the socioeconomic ladder.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
It was amusing how fixated she had become on the subject, she was like a little pit bull getting a hold of something and nothing was going to make her let it go.
“Well, it’s nothing to worry about; we’ll take a look tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, do you want to go to the office to work or just work from here again?”
I knew soon I wouldn’t be able to get away with working from home quite as much, but for now most of my responsibilities could still be handled remotely and although Sookie had agreed to stay I still enjoyed the privacy being at home provided.
“It’s up to you; whatever you want to do is fine with me.”
“Well, how about we stay here tomorrow and maybe plan to go in to the office Tuesday or Wednesday?”
“That’s fine.” She shrugged as we headed out to the kitchen to put something together for dinner.
The rest of the evening was thankfully quiet, a stark contrast to the last couple of days. It had been a long time since my house had seen that type of activity and while I really enjoyed getting to know Sookie’s friends, this little bit of down time was all it took for my body to remind me that I was still recovering from my injuries.
I awoke the next morning a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Without looking I reached over to find Sookie but my hand was met with a pillow instead…a very cold pillow. I looked over to the bathroom only to see the door open and the light off.
As I made my way down the hall I could hear the faint tapping of Sookie’s tiny finger nails on her laptop in the library.
“Sookie what the hell?” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes that had still not adjusted to the morning light.
“Oh shit…Eric you scared me half to death.” She said obviously startled by my interruption.
“What are you doing in here already this morning?”
“Eric I’m sorry, you know that whole John Quinn thing has been driving me crazy and now I know why.”
“Well, I’m sure whatever it is it can wait until after breakfast. Come on Love; let’s go get dressed while Mrs. Hadley whips something up for us.” I said nuzzling her neck.
Through the entire meal, I could see that Sookie was still distracted with whatever discovery she had made earlier this morning as I was having a hard time keeping her engaged in any sort of conversation.
“Sookie, why don’t you just go ahead and tell me what has got you so worked up about John Quinn this morning.” I said taking another sip of coffee.
“No Eric, I don’t want to tell you, I’d rather show you. I want to make sure that I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing.” She said cryptically.
“OK, come on; show me what you’ve found.” I thought I had managed not to sound condescending but the raised eyebrow informed me otherwise.
“I’m sorry Love, you’ve just been so damn funny about this. Seriously…show me what you’ve discovered.”
“OK, first let me explain all the data I’ve pulled together.” She said as she entered the library.
Since Sookie began working on her database, she had given me the “Cliff’s notes” version of her work, but I had yet to take the time to sit down and see everything that she had pulled together. Apparently I had grossly underestimated the little pit bull.
“I’ve pulled all the charities together with all of their pertinent information as well as additional information such as percentage of administrative cost, board members, who we send the money too and such. But I have also been looking at their percentage of administrative costs to help determine who is making the best use of the money. Which ones may be close to a breakthrough where a little more help from us could be the final push that sends them over as well as how appropriately those who receive funds from us previously were using them.”
I sat there mesmerized by then amount of data she had pulled together. I had no idea. And it didn’t escape my notice that she said “us” when she referred to the company and I had to work hard to suppress the grin.
“So where does John Quinn fit into all of this?”
“Well let me first say, I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am just bringing the information to your attention. OK?” I nodded my head.
“OK, let’s see what happens when I search the database for ‘John Quinn’.” She said as she typed the name in the search field.
We sat there for a couple of moments waiting while the system did its search and sure enough four different charities popped up that were linked to his name.
“I don’t understand, what does this mean.” I asked, still not grasping what she was trying to show me.
“Eric, with the exception of the “Grant a Dream Foundation”, each one of these charities received a million dollars on their respective year. “Grant a Dream Foundation” has an application in for this year’s dispersements.”
“Sookie, I’m still not making the connection.” I interrupted, trying to hide my growing impatience.
“Let me finish.” She scolded. “When I did my background search on these companies, each one of them have the same names listed as their leadership committee, all local addresses and all four of them have John Quinn listed as the treasurer.”
“Sookie, while the name Quinn is not as popular as Smith or something, I’m sure there is more than one John Quinn out there.”
“And I don’t doubt that. It’s possible that this is all one big coincidence, but that’s not everything.” She continued. “Each one of these companies, except of course “Grant a Dream Foundation”, folded the year following receipt of your donation. And just for the record, none of the other charities have folded.”
She paused for a moment, and I could tell there was something else she wanted to add.
“What are you not saying Sookie?”
“Well, I’m not really sure exactly how to say this without sounding petty.”
“Just spit it out.”
“OK, you remember the other day when we were in your office and Debbie Pelt was so eager to take all this off my hands?” She motioned to the computer screen.
I nodded.
“Remember she said that she had been taking care of a lot of this for Pam?”
Again I nodded.
“Well, the three that folded, the ones that have Quinn listed as the treasurer, were all approved by her.”
I was a little surprised by her implications.
“Sookie, I appreciate the fact that you are not a fan of Debbie’s, I’m not either, you know that. But just because she approved those applications and the organization subsequently folded, doesn’t mean she’s involved in anything shady.”
“Eric, these were the ONLY ones she approved.” She paused before continuing her explanation. “Look, I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything, honestly. Hell I don’t know Quinn from Adam’s house cat, but I can’t help but feel something is not right here.”
I had to agree that it did look a little too suspicious just to be coincidence. John and Debbie had both come to work for Northman Inc. at about the same time and I knew Debbie spent a lot of time down on John’s floor, but did I believe they were capable of something like this? Maybe.
I stared at the information on the screen; Sookie had painstakingly taken me back through all of the data she had gathered and shown me exactly where it had originated from. We checked and double checked all of the information she had pulled together and I had to admit there was enough evidence to be more than a little suspicious. Now the question was what to do with the information that I had.
“So now what?” Sookie asked somewhat timidly. I could tell she was not relishing her role as being the possible bearer of bad news.
“I don’t really know. I’m trying to determine the best way to handle this; I mean I have a team of forensic accountants we use to snoop out things like this when we approach another company but John’s ties to them are too tight. I think I’m going to place a call to my attorney and see what he has to say.”
“Forensic accountants?” Sookie asked.
“Yeah…they are the kind of folks you call in when you suspect fraud or embezzlement of some kind. They sort of follow the money and recreate the trail.”
I made a quick call to my lawyer; he was in court but called me back just a few minutes after I left my message. I relayed the information to him, exactly how Sookie discovered it and all the details she had uncovered and he agreed that it warranted further investigation. He said he would get me the name of another accounting firm that specialized in investigating this sort of thing as soon as he got back to his office and I could contact them to set up a meeting.
I hung up the phone and glanced over at Sookie who was still looking despondent.
“What’s the matter Love?”
“Eric…I just feel so bad about all this?”
“Why do you feel bad?” I asked incredulously.
“I don’t know. I guess if it’s true…if they really did do something wrong…then I feel bad that they did that to your company. And if it’s not true then I feel bad for making you jump through all these hoops for nothing.”
I pulled her over to me and wrapped my arms around her.
“First of all, you are not making me do anything. We, my attorney and I, both think you’re right this does warrant a closer look. Second of all, if you could link all this together, then someone else could as well and we want to make sure that any of our business dealings, even our charitable giving is above reproach so if nothing else the investigation will insure that. Look, I don’t want you feeling bad about this, I’m so damn proud of you right now, I could bust and I know this is going to sound bad but this is all the more reason why you should be working for me rather than back at the restaurant.” I felt her stiffen at my last sentence and I knew it had not gone over well.
“Sookie, I’m not trying to insult you or belittle your work as a waitress, please know that,” I could only hope she could hear the sincerity of my words, “but you are capable of so much more. I mean just look at what you have done with just this process alone. You have taken a simple request of reviewing some applications and turned it in to a true selection process with the data to back up any decision made. Do you understand how impressive that is?”
She seemed to be considering my words as she kept her eyes down studying the hem of her tank top when finally she sighed.
“Thank you for saying that and I know you are not trying to hurt my feelings. I guess the reason I’ve always been so defensive about being a waitress is because otherwise I would feel guilty about not making something more of myself.”
“Sookie there is nothing for you to feel guilty about; you did what you had to do with the choices you were given, you should be proud of that. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything; I just want you to understand you have options now and I don’t care what you choose to do as long as you are happy…and of course here with me.” I added with a sheepish grin.
“So you don’t care what I choose?” I could hear a little amusement in her voice.
“Nope.”
“Suppose I want to sit around all day do my nails?”
“That’s fine.” I knew she was joking, that girl could no sooner sit around all day than I could swim the English Channel.
“And eat bon bons?”
“Just let Mrs. Hadley know which are your favorite brand and she’ll get them for you.” She laughed at my quick response. “I just want you happy…period. If that comes from you working…fine, if it comes from you going back to school…fine, if it comes from you being barefoot and pregnant…fine, as long as you’re happy.”
I confess that last suggestion slipped out of my mouth before I realized I had even thought it. I guess the time we had spent yesterday with little Nava had brought the idea of children in a more prominent part of my brain, but this was not how I would have brought the subject up if I had just thought before I spoke.
Sookie pulled away and turned to look at me.
“Eric are you saying you want to have children with me?” She sounded surprised and I wasn’t sure just how that made me feel.
“Of course.” I responded as if there was no other possible answer to her question.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and crushed her lips to mine and I couldn’t help but feel her kiss was not one of passion or need but rather one of gratitude and I was reminded again just how fragile my little pit bull was. She pulled away and looked questioningly up at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Sookie, when I said I loved you that was it for me. I’m all in. I want a life with you and everything that goes with it. I know what I want; I’m just waiting for you to get caught up.”
“Oh Eric, thank you…thank you for loving me. I never knew someone could be this happy and I certainly never expected it to be me.”
“Sookie, loving you is the easiest thing I have ever done and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing it.”
We sat there for awhile holding each other before finally deciding it was time to get started with work.
“Sookie how would you feel about us going to the office today instead of staying home? I know I suggested staying here today but in light of what you’ve found, I think I would like to go to the office and just to see if we can pick up on anything.”
“That’s fine, I just find something more appropriate to wear. I really need to bring more of my clothes from home, I didn’t really pack with the office in mind when I packed to come here.” She said somewhat absentmindedly mumbling to herself while looking through her clothes in the closet.
“You know Sook…we can send for your stuff or go pick up your things whenever you want or if you want to wait til the weekend we can…but I wouldn’t mind a trip to the mall this evening if you want. I’m sure the walking would be good for me and we could get you a few things to hold you over. Besides we need to celebrate your new job don’t you think?”
She tried but she couldn’t hide her excitement and apparently I had found one of her soft spots…shopping. Who knew?
A short time later we were in the car on the way to the office.
“I think I’m going to get Selah to start working on cleaning out Pam’s office, at least the business related items. If I trusted Debbie I would have her do it but I didn’t trust her before and I certainly don’t want to risk anything now, so I think I’ll have Selah take care of it. I know I need to, but I don’t think I’m ready to handle her personal items, so I will probably just have them carefully boxed up and stored for now. And then we can convert that office to yours.”
“MINE?” Sookie almost yelled.
“Yes, yours. You’re going to need some place to work from and I like the idea of you being close to me.”
“Eric, I can’t take that office. That would cause all kinds of hard feelings with your employees.” She said shaking her head.
“Nonsense. I own the damn company, and I say who goes where. Look, you really didn’t tour the rest of the building, but I assure you the other executive’s offices are just as nice as those on my floor. They may be a tad smaller but really the only other difference is that they are not as high up. Besides, that office was Pam’s and I don’t want anyone else in there.”
Sookie had decided not to argue any more about the office, but I knew her well enough to doubt the discussion was over.
We finally got to the building and we went straight to my office to check in with Selah and put Sookie’s laptop in my office. For obvious reasons we had decided not put her data on the shared drive, we had copied the files to my computer at home but for now we would just have to carry her laptop back and forth between the office and home when she needed to work.
“Come on, let’s go down to Pam’s office and see what all needs to be done before I talk to Selah about it.” I said as we made our way down to the other end of the hall.
Just before we reached the end of the hall, I could hear a female voice coming from the office and as we got closer I recognized the voice as Debbie’s. I touched Sookie’s arm and motioned for her to wait as I held my finger to my lips to let her know not to speak.
“You’re just paranoid, you need to stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine.” I heard her tell the other person in hushed tones.
“I hope you’re right, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I need to get back downstairs; I’ll see you at home tonight.”
I recognized the voice immediately and just a couple of seconds the owner rounded the corner where instantly his face turned to one of shock.
“Hello John.”
TBC
Heart's Desire Ch 27
Chapter 27
EPOV
What the hell is that? I thought as the strange noise pulled me reluctantly from my sleep. Lying there facing Sookie I saw her eyes flutter open when the sound came again from the other end of the house.
“Nava’s here.” Sookie said excitedly and I returned her smile.
Last night with a little coaxing, Sookie was able to talk Tara into picking up the baby from the relatives that were babysitting and bringing her here to spend the day with everyone and I had to admit I was kind of looking forward to seeing her.
“What?” I asked. Sookie was staring at me like I had grown another head overnight.
“I don’t know…it’s just…well most men would be a little weirded out by the presence of a baby.”
“First of all, I’m not most men.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there.” Sookie mumbled more to herself than to me.
“Secondly, I’ve always liked children. I’ve never really been around many, but I’ve always enjoyed them. Nava, is that how you say her name?” I asked clarifying the pronunciation “will be the youngest one I’ve ever been around, but I’m kind of looking forward to meeting her.”
I had barely gotten the sentence out of my mouth when Sookie lunged forward aiming her mouth straight for mine before stopping abruptly and covering her mouth with her hand.
“Oh sorry, I almost forgot…morning breath.”
“Oh hell no! You little tease…I don’t give a damn what you think your breath smells like or what I’m sure mine smells like, we’re just going to have to deal with it!” I said before crushing my lips to hers.
Morning breath my ass. I could not get enough of this woman. We rolled around on the bed kissing for a few minutes before finally coming up for air.
“I love you Eric Northman.” She said breathlessly.
“Really? You didn’t change your mind overnight?”
“Never.”
“I may hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it.”
I grabbed her and pulled her back down on the bed for another quick round of kisses until we heard another cry from the living room.
“Come on Ms. Stackhouse, let’s get a quick shower and go greet our latest guest.”
o~O~o~O~o
While Sookie was still getting dressed I made my way to the kitchen to find something for breakfast and to get a cup of coffee. Almost everyone was up milling around in the kitchen, munching on muffins, fruit and bagels and arguing over who was going to get the last cup before another pot of coffee was made.
“So where is our new guest?” I asked JB as he scooped the coffee into the filter of the maker obviously conceding to the birthday boy and making the next pot.
“Tara just went upstairs to change her. I hope her crying didn’t wake you guys up.” He said apologetically.
“Nah, we were up just too lazy to get moving, hearing her announce her arrival was all the motivation it took to finally get out of bed.” I lied trying to put his concerns to rest.
Once the coffee finished brewing, I poured a cup for me and one for Sookie, grabbed a muffin for her and we all headed out to the lanai. A few minutes later Tara and Sookie walked outside to join us and I was witness to the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Sookie was holding Nava who had snuggled herself into the curve of neck and was sleeping peacefully.
When picturing my future, I always saw myself with a wife and children…several children. Probably in part due to the sometimes isolated feeling I had growing up. Understand, I loved my sister but the age difference between us seldom lent itself to being playmates and then after the death of my parents her role swiftly changed to that of guardian rather than sibling. I wanted children but I desperately wanted my children never to experience that void.
Strangely enough seeing her with Nava makes me realize that I have all these plans and dreams worked out in my own head yet it’s a topic Sookie and I have never broached. While I was in the hospital she often joked about her lack of babysitting experience which was blamed as the reason for the pudding winding up splattered on my chest. But did that mean she didn’t want kids? I mean I was really never around children, yet I knew I wanted several; could this be the true for her too?
“Eric, are you ok?” Sookie asked shaking me from my internal conversation.
“I’m fine Love. How is this little treasure? I see she has found my favorite spot to nuzzle.” I said stepping behind her to get a better look at the face of the tiny angel but catching a glimpse of a beautiful blush from Sookie.
I put my hands on the tops of her arms, afraid of disturbing the baby if I were to wrap my arms around her. I put my head close to hers and whispered “you will make a wonderful mother” before placing a soft kiss on her cheek and feeling the tiny quiver that shook Sookie’s body.
We all sat around the table chatting, some nursing hangovers from the night before but no one in a real hurry to swim, ride Jet Ski or do anything else.
“Eric, could I speak to you in the other room for a moment.” Jason asked, nudging my arm. I admit the seriousness of Jason’s request had me a little concerned.
“Sure, we can go in the library.” I said as we excused ourselves from the others.
We silently walked to the library, I pointed to a chair suggesting he take a seat as I closed the door behind us.
“This room is so formal, I kinda feel funny in here in my t-shirt and shorts.” Jason commented and I could hear a little reservation in his voice.
“Nonsense.” I tried to put him at ease. “Sit.” I said while throwing my leg over the arm of the chair hoping to make him realize this was just another room in my house. He chuckled a little and took a seat in the leather chair across from me but didn’t say anything else.
“So, what’s on your mind?” I asked not knowing which was stronger, me wanting him to be comfortable around me or the shear curiosity of what he wanted to talk about.
“First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for this weekend and opening your home to all of us. This has been a fucktastic birthday for me and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I tell you we’ve had a great time.”
“You’re welcome. You guys being here has meant a lot to Sookie and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you.”
“Yeah, well Sookie is the other reason I wanted to talk to you.” Ah, I was wondering when we would get to the big brother talk.
“Normally this is the time when I would ask you what your intentions were with my sister and then go in to this long speech about how if you hurt her will stop at nothing to hurt you, but for some reason I don’t feel like all that is necessary with you.”
I’m sure my expression was somewhere between grateful and curious. Grateful that he didn’t feel the need, yet curious as to why.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “I will still hurt you if you hurt her, but yet somehow I feel that if she were hurt you would be hurting too.” He paused gathering his thoughts. “Look, Sookie loves her friends and loves to have a good time but until this weekend, I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never really seen her happy and I’m pretty sure you’re the reason for that.” I couldn’t help but smile at the accusation.
“And although I didn’t know you before this weekend, I can’t help but feel she has had a similar impact on you. I can tell you care as deeply for her as she does you…I mean…hell, the way you handed Malcolm his ass for disrespecting her was evidence enough. I could hear in your voice that you really loved her. And the fact that she allowed you to stand up for her in that manner told me she really loved you.”
“You’re a good man Northman, and it has nothing to do with all this.” He moved his arms in a sweeping motion to indicate our surroundings. “Because all this matters not a damn to Sookie, she would have fallen in love with you if you lived in a ‘van down by the river’ if you were who she was supposed to be with.”
I laughed at his reference and nodded my head because I knew he was right, my possessions meant nothing to her. Hell she admitted that she cared for me long before she ever knew whether I owned a damn thing and after years of women throwing themselves at me for either what I could give them or the status being with me brought, the satisfaction of that knowledge could not be described.
“Don’t get me wrong, the fact that you do have all this makes me as her brother, very happy.” Jason continued. “Happy in knowing that as long as my sister is with you that she will be taken care of, although it’s doubtful she will allow you to take care of her in the manner in which you wish and I think she deserves.” He sort of mumbled that last part and we both chuckled in agreement that Sookie would never allow me to give her everything that I wanted her to have.
Suddenly he stopped laughing and looked up at me.
“She’s not coming back home is she?” He asked very somberly.
“I hope not.” I answered honestly hoping I was not betraying Sookie by discussing this without her knowledge or permission.
“I didn’t think so.” His response both excited me and upset me. While I was thrilled that he obviously felt I had a chance at getting Sookie to stay here with me, it was also painful to see the hurt he was feeling having his sister, his one last relative, move away.
“We’re not that far away, Jason.” I tried to console. “I would make sure she got the chance to visit often, and I hope you know that you and your friends are always welcome here.”
“What will she do here? Because you know Sookie would never just sit around and play house. ”
“Believe me, I know.” I offered. “And while it would be perfectly ok with me if that is what she chose to do, the fact that she wouldn’t is one of the things I love about her. But in answer to your question, I have offered her a job in my company. She has actually already been working on restructuring our charitable contribution process within the corporation and I would like to expand those responsibilities. We have also discussed her going back to school.”
As soon as I said the last sentence, I felt the need to clarify it and from the look on Jason’s face, he needed clarification.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I scolded. “I love your sister EXACTLY as she is! Going back to school is something she suggested when I was in the hospital, it wasn’t my idea…I don’t give a fuck whether she goes back to school or not. Look, Sookie is a smart, beautiful, caring woman and the only thing I want to change about her is her address, but if she wants to do something like go back to school or pursue some other career, I will support her and do anything I can to make it happen.” I didn’t think now was the time to tell him about me wanting to change her name too, that could wait.
“Sorry man…it’s just…well you know.”
“Yeah, I know, but at the risk of sounding like a total wuss…I love your sister…more than I ever expected that it was possible to love another person and I intend on doing everything I can to make sure she has everything she needs and is happy for the rest of her life.”
“I know you will, but I these things needed to be said.”
We both nodded and sat silently for a few minutes before deciding to join the other back outside. As we got to the door of the library, Jason spoke up again.
“You know she’s all I have left.” The timbre of his voice betraying the depth of his emotions.
“I know man...me too.” I said and I patted his back as we walked out of the room.
o~O~o~O~o
Everyone spent the rest of the day lounging around and talking, it seemed the activities of the last couple of days and the pending end to the trip had quite the sobering effect on the atmosphere.
“How hard has it been getting back to work since being discharged from the hospital?” The question might have felt invasive if it had come from anyone other than Amelia.
“Well, I haven’t quite taken 100% responsibility of the company back yet, but we have some good people in the organization that are really good at their jobs so I don’t expect it will be difficult. It might not be easy at times and I would certainly much rather be running things the way Pam and I had planned, but this is what I would have expected her to do if the roles were reversed and what I believe she would want me to do.” I said trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.
“I’m sorry Eric; I didn’t think my question through before I asked it.” She apologized.
“It’s ok; these are things I need to deal with sooner or later. I’ve been putting off dealing with her estate and things and the company wants to have a memorial service for her especially since I was in the hospital when she was buried, but it’s just hard to force myself to do these things.”
I didn’t know if talking about it would make it easier to deal with, but somehow just getting it out there did seem to lift some of the weight I had been carrying. It was hard not to feel guilty at times being so happy and in love with Sookie so soon after the death of my sister, but I knew Pam would want me happy and would want me to live my life with a memory of her but not in homage to her. A point Sookie had helped me see.
“Well I hope you know we’ll be there for you in any way we can, Eric. I’m afraid you’re stuck with us now.” She said and I knew she meant what she was saying.
“She’s right; we’re like stray cats that have found someone to feed us, we’ll be here rather you want us or not.” Tray added trying to lighten the mood a little.
“Did Pam have an assistant; can he or she help you with any of this?” Tara asked unaware of the total hell it would be on me to work with that woman in any capacity.
“She does have one, but I would rather not call on her, she and I don’t really work well together. I will work it out somehow without requiring her assistance.” I know they really didn’t need to hear my distaste for Pam’s assistant, but I trusted these guys and didn’t feel the need to hide my opinion.
“So if you don’t like her, what will happen to her job now that Pam’s gone?” Amelia asked and I wondered if she was just curious or whether she and Sookie had discussed Debbie previously.
I looked over at Sookie who was seated on my right at the end of the table. Although she was avoiding my gaze, I could see she was intently waiting on my answer.
“Well unfortunately I have no cause to let her go, so she will probably be reassigned to one of the other executives in the company; most likely John Quinn, our New Acquisitions VP.”
I looked over at Sookie expecting her to look relieved, but instead she looked as if she was trying to remember whether or not she turned off her curling iron.
“What’s wrong Love?” I leaned over and whispered.
She kind of shook her head as if to shake herself loose from whatever thought she was having.
“Nothing…I just feel like I’ve heard that name before…anyway…it doesn’t matter, it will come to me later.”
Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and although I was glad to be getting Sookie all to myself again, I was going to miss having these guys around. I was glad when they accepted my invitation to visit again over the upcoming July 4th holiday but I made sure the invitation was only given to the established couples and Hoyt and Jason. When the time came, they could decide for themselves whether to invite Malcolm and Dawn, while I no longer harbored any ill feelings toward Malcolm, I couldn’t see myself giving him the invitation personally.
“Seriously Eric, if you need any of us for anything, please call. We really are here for you.” Amelia said before hugging me good bye.
“It’s true man, call us if you need anything.” Hoyt added as he shook my hand and then climbed into the back of the limo.
Sookie and I stood there for a few minutes waving to the cars as they pulled away. She had been extremely quiet for the last few hours and I feared her desire to leave and go home was growing.
“I can’t tell you how thankful I am for everything you did this weekend for Jason and my friends.” She said wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Sookie stop thanking me. I told you, I want this home to be your home; I want you to feel free to invite family and friends over anytime you wish. Besides, I honestly enjoyed them being here.” I said placing a kiss on her forehead.
“You really mean that don’t you?” She pulled back to look up at my face.
“That I enjoyed them being here? Of course I did.” I responded, wondering if anything I did this weekend made her feel otherwise.
“No, the part where you want this to be my home too.” She said diverting her eyes to the ground.
I put my finger under her chin gently forcing her face toward mine.
“Yes Sookie. I want you here with me…all the time…permanently…forever.” I wanted there to be no mistaking exactly what I wanted.
“Good, because I don’t think I want to go back to Bon Temps. I think I want to stay here with you.”
As much as I wanted to pick her up like a prize I had won and run screaming though the house, I had to contain myself. She didn’t say she was moving in, she said she thought this was she wanted.
“You ‘think’?”
“I’m sorry, bad choice of words. What I should have said was…it is my heart’s desire to stay here with you.” She said smiling overly dramatic.
I thought my chest was going to explode. I had lived in fear all weekend that the time with her family and friends was going to persuade her to return home and now that she was saying she wanted to stay, I was reeling from the surprise.
“Well, when you put it like that…” I said as I picked her up and carried her through the doorway and back to the bedroom.
“Ms. Stackhouse, do you have any idea just how happy you have made me this weekend?” I said as I placed her on the bed.
“Well if it is a fraction of how happy you have made me then I say we are two happy souls right now.” She said as she began kissing and pulling me down beside her.
Our kisses were becoming more urgent with each passing moment and my cock grew with each moan that escaped from her. With one hand I pushed her shirt up and began rubbing circles over her abdomen and up across her ribs while one of her hands wrapped around my board short covered dick.
She pulled away from me, her voice ragged with desire.
“I want to taste you.” She said and I almost came from the suggestion alone. I didn’t trust my voice so I just channeled my inner teenage boy and nodded so hard I could have shaken something loose.
I quickly shed my t-shirt and shorts while Sookie sat up, removed her shirt and bra then moved to the lower end of the bed. Without any teasing Sookie swiftly and firmly grabbed my now pulsating cock and pumped it twice before slipping it in to her hot little mouth. I arched my back and grabbed the bed covers not trusting myself to touch her without gripping her too hard just yet. I began to groan as her mouth, after a few trips up and down my now slick shaft, pulled away and began sucking my balls.
“Oh fuck!” I said willing myself to adjust to the sensation so that I could become a more active participant in this party but reluctantly realizing it wasn’t going to happen.
“I need to feel you inside me.” Sookie said sitting up and quickly stripping off her remaining clothes.
Once her panties were off, I reached for her core to make sure she was ready for me only to have my hand brushed away.
“No, no fingers. I want your cock. Now!”
“Yes ma’am.” Was all I could get out before she propelled herself forcefully down on me, taking me completely inside of her all in a single stroke.
We both knew we weren’t going to last long and with just a few strokes we were each yelling the other’s name as we both reached our peaks.
“God woman, I love you.” I said between panting.
“I love you too.” She said placing a tender kiss on my lips.
“You care to join me in the tub?” I didn’t think I had recovered enough to stand in the shower.
“Sounds good.” She said while crawling off the bed and following me into the bathroom.
I filled the tub adding the bath oils that Sookie liked and in just a few minutes we were inside soaking and bathing one another. Suddenly Sookie sat up and turned around.
“Oh my God Eric, I remember.”
“Remember what love?”
“John Quinn, I remember him!”
TBC
EPOV
What the hell is that? I thought as the strange noise pulled me reluctantly from my sleep. Lying there facing Sookie I saw her eyes flutter open when the sound came again from the other end of the house.
“Nava’s here.” Sookie said excitedly and I returned her smile.
Last night with a little coaxing, Sookie was able to talk Tara into picking up the baby from the relatives that were babysitting and bringing her here to spend the day with everyone and I had to admit I was kind of looking forward to seeing her.
“What?” I asked. Sookie was staring at me like I had grown another head overnight.
“I don’t know…it’s just…well most men would be a little weirded out by the presence of a baby.”
“First of all, I’m not most men.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there.” Sookie mumbled more to herself than to me.
“Secondly, I’ve always liked children. I’ve never really been around many, but I’ve always enjoyed them. Nava, is that how you say her name?” I asked clarifying the pronunciation “will be the youngest one I’ve ever been around, but I’m kind of looking forward to meeting her.”
I had barely gotten the sentence out of my mouth when Sookie lunged forward aiming her mouth straight for mine before stopping abruptly and covering her mouth with her hand.
“Oh sorry, I almost forgot…morning breath.”
“Oh hell no! You little tease…I don’t give a damn what you think your breath smells like or what I’m sure mine smells like, we’re just going to have to deal with it!” I said before crushing my lips to hers.
Morning breath my ass. I could not get enough of this woman. We rolled around on the bed kissing for a few minutes before finally coming up for air.
“I love you Eric Northman.” She said breathlessly.
“Really? You didn’t change your mind overnight?”
“Never.”
“I may hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it.”
I grabbed her and pulled her back down on the bed for another quick round of kisses until we heard another cry from the living room.
“Come on Ms. Stackhouse, let’s get a quick shower and go greet our latest guest.”
o~O~o~O~o
While Sookie was still getting dressed I made my way to the kitchen to find something for breakfast and to get a cup of coffee. Almost everyone was up milling around in the kitchen, munching on muffins, fruit and bagels and arguing over who was going to get the last cup before another pot of coffee was made.
“So where is our new guest?” I asked JB as he scooped the coffee into the filter of the maker obviously conceding to the birthday boy and making the next pot.
“Tara just went upstairs to change her. I hope her crying didn’t wake you guys up.” He said apologetically.
“Nah, we were up just too lazy to get moving, hearing her announce her arrival was all the motivation it took to finally get out of bed.” I lied trying to put his concerns to rest.
Once the coffee finished brewing, I poured a cup for me and one for Sookie, grabbed a muffin for her and we all headed out to the lanai. A few minutes later Tara and Sookie walked outside to join us and I was witness to the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Sookie was holding Nava who had snuggled herself into the curve of neck and was sleeping peacefully.
When picturing my future, I always saw myself with a wife and children…several children. Probably in part due to the sometimes isolated feeling I had growing up. Understand, I loved my sister but the age difference between us seldom lent itself to being playmates and then after the death of my parents her role swiftly changed to that of guardian rather than sibling. I wanted children but I desperately wanted my children never to experience that void.
Strangely enough seeing her with Nava makes me realize that I have all these plans and dreams worked out in my own head yet it’s a topic Sookie and I have never broached. While I was in the hospital she often joked about her lack of babysitting experience which was blamed as the reason for the pudding winding up splattered on my chest. But did that mean she didn’t want kids? I mean I was really never around children, yet I knew I wanted several; could this be the true for her too?
“Eric, are you ok?” Sookie asked shaking me from my internal conversation.
“I’m fine Love. How is this little treasure? I see she has found my favorite spot to nuzzle.” I said stepping behind her to get a better look at the face of the tiny angel but catching a glimpse of a beautiful blush from Sookie.
I put my hands on the tops of her arms, afraid of disturbing the baby if I were to wrap my arms around her. I put my head close to hers and whispered “you will make a wonderful mother” before placing a soft kiss on her cheek and feeling the tiny quiver that shook Sookie’s body.
We all sat around the table chatting, some nursing hangovers from the night before but no one in a real hurry to swim, ride Jet Ski or do anything else.
“Eric, could I speak to you in the other room for a moment.” Jason asked, nudging my arm. I admit the seriousness of Jason’s request had me a little concerned.
“Sure, we can go in the library.” I said as we excused ourselves from the others.
We silently walked to the library, I pointed to a chair suggesting he take a seat as I closed the door behind us.
“This room is so formal, I kinda feel funny in here in my t-shirt and shorts.” Jason commented and I could hear a little reservation in his voice.
“Nonsense.” I tried to put him at ease. “Sit.” I said while throwing my leg over the arm of the chair hoping to make him realize this was just another room in my house. He chuckled a little and took a seat in the leather chair across from me but didn’t say anything else.
“So, what’s on your mind?” I asked not knowing which was stronger, me wanting him to be comfortable around me or the shear curiosity of what he wanted to talk about.
“First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for this weekend and opening your home to all of us. This has been a fucktastic birthday for me and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I tell you we’ve had a great time.”
“You’re welcome. You guys being here has meant a lot to Sookie and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you.”
“Yeah, well Sookie is the other reason I wanted to talk to you.” Ah, I was wondering when we would get to the big brother talk.
“Normally this is the time when I would ask you what your intentions were with my sister and then go in to this long speech about how if you hurt her will stop at nothing to hurt you, but for some reason I don’t feel like all that is necessary with you.”
I’m sure my expression was somewhere between grateful and curious. Grateful that he didn’t feel the need, yet curious as to why.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “I will still hurt you if you hurt her, but yet somehow I feel that if she were hurt you would be hurting too.” He paused gathering his thoughts. “Look, Sookie loves her friends and loves to have a good time but until this weekend, I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never really seen her happy and I’m pretty sure you’re the reason for that.” I couldn’t help but smile at the accusation.
“And although I didn’t know you before this weekend, I can’t help but feel she has had a similar impact on you. I can tell you care as deeply for her as she does you…I mean…hell, the way you handed Malcolm his ass for disrespecting her was evidence enough. I could hear in your voice that you really loved her. And the fact that she allowed you to stand up for her in that manner told me she really loved you.”
“You’re a good man Northman, and it has nothing to do with all this.” He moved his arms in a sweeping motion to indicate our surroundings. “Because all this matters not a damn to Sookie, she would have fallen in love with you if you lived in a ‘van down by the river’ if you were who she was supposed to be with.”
I laughed at his reference and nodded my head because I knew he was right, my possessions meant nothing to her. Hell she admitted that she cared for me long before she ever knew whether I owned a damn thing and after years of women throwing themselves at me for either what I could give them or the status being with me brought, the satisfaction of that knowledge could not be described.
“Don’t get me wrong, the fact that you do have all this makes me as her brother, very happy.” Jason continued. “Happy in knowing that as long as my sister is with you that she will be taken care of, although it’s doubtful she will allow you to take care of her in the manner in which you wish and I think she deserves.” He sort of mumbled that last part and we both chuckled in agreement that Sookie would never allow me to give her everything that I wanted her to have.
Suddenly he stopped laughing and looked up at me.
“She’s not coming back home is she?” He asked very somberly.
“I hope not.” I answered honestly hoping I was not betraying Sookie by discussing this without her knowledge or permission.
“I didn’t think so.” His response both excited me and upset me. While I was thrilled that he obviously felt I had a chance at getting Sookie to stay here with me, it was also painful to see the hurt he was feeling having his sister, his one last relative, move away.
“We’re not that far away, Jason.” I tried to console. “I would make sure she got the chance to visit often, and I hope you know that you and your friends are always welcome here.”
“What will she do here? Because you know Sookie would never just sit around and play house. ”
“Believe me, I know.” I offered. “And while it would be perfectly ok with me if that is what she chose to do, the fact that she wouldn’t is one of the things I love about her. But in answer to your question, I have offered her a job in my company. She has actually already been working on restructuring our charitable contribution process within the corporation and I would like to expand those responsibilities. We have also discussed her going back to school.”
As soon as I said the last sentence, I felt the need to clarify it and from the look on Jason’s face, he needed clarification.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I scolded. “I love your sister EXACTLY as she is! Going back to school is something she suggested when I was in the hospital, it wasn’t my idea…I don’t give a fuck whether she goes back to school or not. Look, Sookie is a smart, beautiful, caring woman and the only thing I want to change about her is her address, but if she wants to do something like go back to school or pursue some other career, I will support her and do anything I can to make it happen.” I didn’t think now was the time to tell him about me wanting to change her name too, that could wait.
“Sorry man…it’s just…well you know.”
“Yeah, I know, but at the risk of sounding like a total wuss…I love your sister…more than I ever expected that it was possible to love another person and I intend on doing everything I can to make sure she has everything she needs and is happy for the rest of her life.”
“I know you will, but I these things needed to be said.”
We both nodded and sat silently for a few minutes before deciding to join the other back outside. As we got to the door of the library, Jason spoke up again.
“You know she’s all I have left.” The timbre of his voice betraying the depth of his emotions.
“I know man...me too.” I said and I patted his back as we walked out of the room.
o~O~o~O~o
Everyone spent the rest of the day lounging around and talking, it seemed the activities of the last couple of days and the pending end to the trip had quite the sobering effect on the atmosphere.
“How hard has it been getting back to work since being discharged from the hospital?” The question might have felt invasive if it had come from anyone other than Amelia.
“Well, I haven’t quite taken 100% responsibility of the company back yet, but we have some good people in the organization that are really good at their jobs so I don’t expect it will be difficult. It might not be easy at times and I would certainly much rather be running things the way Pam and I had planned, but this is what I would have expected her to do if the roles were reversed and what I believe she would want me to do.” I said trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.
“I’m sorry Eric; I didn’t think my question through before I asked it.” She apologized.
“It’s ok; these are things I need to deal with sooner or later. I’ve been putting off dealing with her estate and things and the company wants to have a memorial service for her especially since I was in the hospital when she was buried, but it’s just hard to force myself to do these things.”
I didn’t know if talking about it would make it easier to deal with, but somehow just getting it out there did seem to lift some of the weight I had been carrying. It was hard not to feel guilty at times being so happy and in love with Sookie so soon after the death of my sister, but I knew Pam would want me happy and would want me to live my life with a memory of her but not in homage to her. A point Sookie had helped me see.
“Well I hope you know we’ll be there for you in any way we can, Eric. I’m afraid you’re stuck with us now.” She said and I knew she meant what she was saying.
“She’s right; we’re like stray cats that have found someone to feed us, we’ll be here rather you want us or not.” Tray added trying to lighten the mood a little.
“Did Pam have an assistant; can he or she help you with any of this?” Tara asked unaware of the total hell it would be on me to work with that woman in any capacity.
“She does have one, but I would rather not call on her, she and I don’t really work well together. I will work it out somehow without requiring her assistance.” I know they really didn’t need to hear my distaste for Pam’s assistant, but I trusted these guys and didn’t feel the need to hide my opinion.
“So if you don’t like her, what will happen to her job now that Pam’s gone?” Amelia asked and I wondered if she was just curious or whether she and Sookie had discussed Debbie previously.
I looked over at Sookie who was seated on my right at the end of the table. Although she was avoiding my gaze, I could see she was intently waiting on my answer.
“Well unfortunately I have no cause to let her go, so she will probably be reassigned to one of the other executives in the company; most likely John Quinn, our New Acquisitions VP.”
I looked over at Sookie expecting her to look relieved, but instead she looked as if she was trying to remember whether or not she turned off her curling iron.
“What’s wrong Love?” I leaned over and whispered.
She kind of shook her head as if to shake herself loose from whatever thought she was having.
“Nothing…I just feel like I’ve heard that name before…anyway…it doesn’t matter, it will come to me later.”
Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and although I was glad to be getting Sookie all to myself again, I was going to miss having these guys around. I was glad when they accepted my invitation to visit again over the upcoming July 4th holiday but I made sure the invitation was only given to the established couples and Hoyt and Jason. When the time came, they could decide for themselves whether to invite Malcolm and Dawn, while I no longer harbored any ill feelings toward Malcolm, I couldn’t see myself giving him the invitation personally.
“Seriously Eric, if you need any of us for anything, please call. We really are here for you.” Amelia said before hugging me good bye.
“It’s true man, call us if you need anything.” Hoyt added as he shook my hand and then climbed into the back of the limo.
Sookie and I stood there for a few minutes waving to the cars as they pulled away. She had been extremely quiet for the last few hours and I feared her desire to leave and go home was growing.
“I can’t tell you how thankful I am for everything you did this weekend for Jason and my friends.” She said wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Sookie stop thanking me. I told you, I want this home to be your home; I want you to feel free to invite family and friends over anytime you wish. Besides, I honestly enjoyed them being here.” I said placing a kiss on her forehead.
“You really mean that don’t you?” She pulled back to look up at my face.
“That I enjoyed them being here? Of course I did.” I responded, wondering if anything I did this weekend made her feel otherwise.
“No, the part where you want this to be my home too.” She said diverting her eyes to the ground.
I put my finger under her chin gently forcing her face toward mine.
“Yes Sookie. I want you here with me…all the time…permanently…forever.” I wanted there to be no mistaking exactly what I wanted.
“Good, because I don’t think I want to go back to Bon Temps. I think I want to stay here with you.”
As much as I wanted to pick her up like a prize I had won and run screaming though the house, I had to contain myself. She didn’t say she was moving in, she said she thought this was she wanted.
“You ‘think’?”
“I’m sorry, bad choice of words. What I should have said was…it is my heart’s desire to stay here with you.” She said smiling overly dramatic.
I thought my chest was going to explode. I had lived in fear all weekend that the time with her family and friends was going to persuade her to return home and now that she was saying she wanted to stay, I was reeling from the surprise.
“Well, when you put it like that…” I said as I picked her up and carried her through the doorway and back to the bedroom.
“Ms. Stackhouse, do you have any idea just how happy you have made me this weekend?” I said as I placed her on the bed.
“Well if it is a fraction of how happy you have made me then I say we are two happy souls right now.” She said as she began kissing and pulling me down beside her.
Our kisses were becoming more urgent with each passing moment and my cock grew with each moan that escaped from her. With one hand I pushed her shirt up and began rubbing circles over her abdomen and up across her ribs while one of her hands wrapped around my board short covered dick.
She pulled away from me, her voice ragged with desire.
“I want to taste you.” She said and I almost came from the suggestion alone. I didn’t trust my voice so I just channeled my inner teenage boy and nodded so hard I could have shaken something loose.
I quickly shed my t-shirt and shorts while Sookie sat up, removed her shirt and bra then moved to the lower end of the bed. Without any teasing Sookie swiftly and firmly grabbed my now pulsating cock and pumped it twice before slipping it in to her hot little mouth. I arched my back and grabbed the bed covers not trusting myself to touch her without gripping her too hard just yet. I began to groan as her mouth, after a few trips up and down my now slick shaft, pulled away and began sucking my balls.
“Oh fuck!” I said willing myself to adjust to the sensation so that I could become a more active participant in this party but reluctantly realizing it wasn’t going to happen.
“I need to feel you inside me.” Sookie said sitting up and quickly stripping off her remaining clothes.
Once her panties were off, I reached for her core to make sure she was ready for me only to have my hand brushed away.
“No, no fingers. I want your cock. Now!”
“Yes ma’am.” Was all I could get out before she propelled herself forcefully down on me, taking me completely inside of her all in a single stroke.
We both knew we weren’t going to last long and with just a few strokes we were each yelling the other’s name as we both reached our peaks.
“God woman, I love you.” I said between panting.
“I love you too.” She said placing a tender kiss on my lips.
“You care to join me in the tub?” I didn’t think I had recovered enough to stand in the shower.
“Sounds good.” She said while crawling off the bed and following me into the bathroom.
I filled the tub adding the bath oils that Sookie liked and in just a few minutes we were inside soaking and bathing one another. Suddenly Sookie sat up and turned around.
“Oh my God Eric, I remember.”
“Remember what love?”
“John Quinn, I remember him!”
TBC
Heart's Desire Ch 26
Chapter 26
EPOV
I probably should have said something in the car when they suggested After Dark, but honestly the conversation hardly lagged enough to bring it up and when it did, the right words seemed to fail me. But when Carol, one of the waitresses, greeted both me and Selah by name, the look on Sookie’s face made it clear that this was not something we could just wait and talk about when we got home.
“What the hell Eric?” I cringed at the tone she was using.
“Sookie, I can explain.” I regretted the word selection as soon as I said it. What female ever wants to hear “I can explain”, but before I could make a correction she was off and running.
“You can explain? Explain what? How aside from work you never really socialized yet everybody in this place seems to know you by name? How they even know Selah by name and seemingly expect to see the two of you together but yet you never dated? Which one would you like to start with first? Huh? Pick one!” Her voice was getting louder, but she was still trying to keep the conversation private.
My first reaction was to be pissed. Pissed that she obviously doubted my word and pissed that she was willing to jump to a conclusion without hearing me out first. But the look on her face was not one of anger, but rather one of hurt and that made me hurt. I grabbed her and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and putting my mouth to her ear.
“Sookie, I own the damn club.”
I allowed the words to sink in before pulling back to look at her, when I finally did she had a tear sliding down her cheek.
“Oh my god…Eric, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked softly.
“Once Jason said this was where he wanted to come, it’s not like I could just announce ‘Oh, by the way I own that club’ could I? I wasn’t trying to hide it; I just couldn’t come up with a way to mention it without sounding arrogant. But I think the bigger question is why did you just assume I had lied to you?” I tried to make sure my tone wasn’t accusatory, but damn it we needed to get this shit straight.
That question was all it took to turn that single tear in to a monsoon. I didn’t want to do this in public, so I told Amelia we would be right back and I ushered Sookie back to the office. Once we were inside, I guided her over to the couch where we sat until she composed herself.
“Eric…I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am.” She said between sniffles.
“Sookie, you’ve already apologized. I just want to know why? Why did you doubt me?” Now it was her turn to flinch at my tone. I wasn’t trying to be hateful, I knew she was hurting, but damn it so was I.
“Eric, I don’t know. I guess I’ve just been so happy lately that I can’t help but think that this is all too good to be true. I mean nobody could really be as perfect as you seem so I guess subconsciously I have been searching for a flaw.” Her usually suppressed insecurity was rearing its ugly head again.
“Sookie I can assure you I am far from perfect, I can give you a long laundry list of my flaws, but I told you from the beginning, I don’t play games.” I could feel this conversation spiraling out of control so I took a second to regain control.
“Look, I can be a real bastard when it comes to business dealings, but when it comes to us, I have not and will not lie to you. What I have told you about my past relationships is the God’s honest truth and as far as owning the club…well if it will make you happy, when we get home I will gladly make you a list of the various companies and businesses I own. But in the future I would appreciate not being punished for sins committed by others.”
There was nothing more she could say at this point; there was no way to undo what had been done. I cupped her face in my hands and wiped her tears away with my thumbs before I pulled her to me and hugged her tight. I wasn’t mad, just hurt by her lack of faith in me until I recalled the old adage, ‘trust is not given freely, it has to be earned’. The realization that the strange circumstances that we had come together under that had made our relationship stronger than most in so many ways had probably left it more immature in others. Obviously my word was not enough; I was going to have to prove my loyalty to her.
Aside from this weekend and the two hours we spent at my office earlier this week, we had not been together as a couple in normal social situations and tonight, as evidence, our little bubble of bliss popped!
Then it came to me.
“Sookie, would you go out with me one night next week?”
Sookie looked confused for a minute and then a big smile broke out across her face.
“Yes. I would like that very much.”
“Perfect, I’ll call you later this week and we’ll iron out the details.” I joked.
She smiled and I could see the light returning to her eyes as she reached for another embrace.
“I love you Sookie and the sooner you accept that and all that goes with it, the happier we’ll be.” I whispered as I kissed the top of her head.
The desire to take her and bend her over my desk and christen this office as I plan for us to do to all of my offices was almost unbearable, but make up sex is about reconnecting after an argument; it shouldn’t be the apology itself.
I looked at my watch, and although it felt like we had been in there forever, we were really only gone for a few minutes but we needed to rejoin our guests. Sookie used the private bathroom to freshen up and repair the tear damage to her make up while I called the hostess to make sure the loft was available.
We joined the others on the floor and I caught a few wary looks from Amelia, Tara and Jason which I returned with a reassuring nod. Seconds later Carol came to tell us the loft was ready so we placed our drink orders and made our way upstairs.
The second floor consisted of two lofts, one on either side overlooking the bar and dance floor below. On nights where we have a capacity crowd, one side is usually opened around midnight for the overflow while the other was reserved for private parties and such. As it was still rather early, I instructed the whole loft area remain closed for our group, opting to take the hit financially to insure privacy.
”So Northman, how did you manage the VIP treatment with such short notice?” Hoyt asked, apparently impressed with the accomplishment.
I stilled myself trying to find the right way to approach the topic when Sookie decided to assist me.
“I arranged this for us.” She announced. I looked at her trying to determine her angle.
“You?” Jason asked her doubtfully.
“Yep. It’s amazing what you can get done when you’re sleeping with the owner.” She said giving me a wink.
“No shit? This is your place Northman?” He said.
“It is.” I said with a small nod.
“Well fuck me.” He yelled over the noise. I relaxed at his stamp of approval.
The earlier tension was finally gone and everyone seemed to be enjoying the drinks and music.
“Alright Hookers, let’s go show these city slickers how it’s done.” Sookie announced throwing her arm around Tara and Dawn. Each one grabbed their drinks, took one last swig and made their way down the steps to join Hoyt and Selah who were already on the floor.
Jason, JB, Tray and I all walked over to the rail to get a better view of the dance floor below. The girls seemed to be getting in to the music and were apparently oblivious to the attention they were receiving from those around them.
“Your sister’s a good dancer.” I practically shouted to Jason in order to be heard over the noise.
“Yeah, it’s gotten me thrown out of more than a few bars.” He shrugged.
I hadn’t even had time to consider is words when noticed a group of eager frat boys had circled our dates. Oh hell no! As I turned to move toward the steps, Jason put his hand on my arm to stop me.
“Hold on there, Lancelot…you go charging down there like a knight in shining armor and you’ll be polishing your own sword alone tonight.” He grinned. “Sookie can usually handle herself in these situations…give her a chance.”
“Yeah, she and Amelia together are quite the force to be reckoned with on the dance floor.” Tray added. “They’ll let us know if they need us to step in.”
I considered at least going downstairs to be closer if she did need me but decided the view from upstairs provided a better vantage point. After a few minutes I saw one of the cretins step behind Sookie, place his hands on her hips and lean in to whisper in her ear. I could feel my grip tightened on the hand rail as I watched her expression become guarded and her smile change to a forced attempt to be polite. I couldn’t make out what she was saying to him, but she inclined her head toward the loft and as his eyes looked up and saw the four of us looking down on him he quickly removed his hands from her hips. When the song finally ended Neidermeyer and the rest of the boys of Delta House made a swift exit. That’s my girl!
We all laughed, danced and drank until the 3:00 am last call rang out and again I marveled at the friendship shared by this group and their inclusion of others. Selah seemed to be enjoying herself, she and Hoyt had spent most of the evening on the dance floor and surprisingly her cousin had taken to Malcolm as well which diverted his attention away from Sookie sufficiently enough for me not to plot his death.
With the exception of Tara and JB, who admitted parenthood had left them more exhausted than they had anticipated, everyone was still going strong when we arrived home.
“Aw Pooh… come on, let’s get you to bed.” Tara said wrapping her arms around a worn out JB trying to help him into the house.
Out of everyone, JB had probably gotten the most inebriated and it became apparent when we ran in to the frat boys again and he told them in no uncertain terms that the “bat rastards” had better not so much as “lay a retina on our babes again” or he would “call down the thunder”. Fortunately everyone else was still sober enough to think it was funny and brush it off.
“Woman, why do you insist on calling me a nickname that is just euphemism for shit?” JB complained as his wife helped him up the stairs. Apparently his vocabulary improved with alcohol.
Sookie had gotten really quiet by the time we said our goodnights and made our way to the bedroom. I figured her melancholy mood was because her weekend with her friends was coming to an end. I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately in a selfish attempt at thwarting any homesickness she maybe having.
“God, would I sound like a horrible person if I said I would be glad when everyone went home and I had you all to myself again?” She said breathlessly when we broke from our kiss.
“Shit Sookie, do you realize how much I love you right now?” Her revelation surprising the hell out of me.
“It couldn’t possibly as much as I love you.” YES! YES! YES!
Simultaneously my heart did a flip, and my dick got rock hard, a sensation while pleasurable, was still unnerving. I never doubted that she loved me, but I seriously underestimated the impact of hearing those words out of her mouth.
“Well that’s an argument we will just have to have another day. Right now I just want to hear you say it again.”
“I love you. I, Sookie Stackhouse, love you Eric Northman.”
“And Eric Northman loves you, Sookie Stackhouse.”
TBC
EPOV
I probably should have said something in the car when they suggested After Dark, but honestly the conversation hardly lagged enough to bring it up and when it did, the right words seemed to fail me. But when Carol, one of the waitresses, greeted both me and Selah by name, the look on Sookie’s face made it clear that this was not something we could just wait and talk about when we got home.
“What the hell Eric?” I cringed at the tone she was using.
“Sookie, I can explain.” I regretted the word selection as soon as I said it. What female ever wants to hear “I can explain”, but before I could make a correction she was off and running.
“You can explain? Explain what? How aside from work you never really socialized yet everybody in this place seems to know you by name? How they even know Selah by name and seemingly expect to see the two of you together but yet you never dated? Which one would you like to start with first? Huh? Pick one!” Her voice was getting louder, but she was still trying to keep the conversation private.
My first reaction was to be pissed. Pissed that she obviously doubted my word and pissed that she was willing to jump to a conclusion without hearing me out first. But the look on her face was not one of anger, but rather one of hurt and that made me hurt. I grabbed her and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and putting my mouth to her ear.
“Sookie, I own the damn club.”
I allowed the words to sink in before pulling back to look at her, when I finally did she had a tear sliding down her cheek.
“Oh my god…Eric, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked softly.
“Once Jason said this was where he wanted to come, it’s not like I could just announce ‘Oh, by the way I own that club’ could I? I wasn’t trying to hide it; I just couldn’t come up with a way to mention it without sounding arrogant. But I think the bigger question is why did you just assume I had lied to you?” I tried to make sure my tone wasn’t accusatory, but damn it we needed to get this shit straight.
That question was all it took to turn that single tear in to a monsoon. I didn’t want to do this in public, so I told Amelia we would be right back and I ushered Sookie back to the office. Once we were inside, I guided her over to the couch where we sat until she composed herself.
“Eric…I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am.” She said between sniffles.
“Sookie, you’ve already apologized. I just want to know why? Why did you doubt me?” Now it was her turn to flinch at my tone. I wasn’t trying to be hateful, I knew she was hurting, but damn it so was I.
“Eric, I don’t know. I guess I’ve just been so happy lately that I can’t help but think that this is all too good to be true. I mean nobody could really be as perfect as you seem so I guess subconsciously I have been searching for a flaw.” Her usually suppressed insecurity was rearing its ugly head again.
“Sookie I can assure you I am far from perfect, I can give you a long laundry list of my flaws, but I told you from the beginning, I don’t play games.” I could feel this conversation spiraling out of control so I took a second to regain control.
“Look, I can be a real bastard when it comes to business dealings, but when it comes to us, I have not and will not lie to you. What I have told you about my past relationships is the God’s honest truth and as far as owning the club…well if it will make you happy, when we get home I will gladly make you a list of the various companies and businesses I own. But in the future I would appreciate not being punished for sins committed by others.”
There was nothing more she could say at this point; there was no way to undo what had been done. I cupped her face in my hands and wiped her tears away with my thumbs before I pulled her to me and hugged her tight. I wasn’t mad, just hurt by her lack of faith in me until I recalled the old adage, ‘trust is not given freely, it has to be earned’. The realization that the strange circumstances that we had come together under that had made our relationship stronger than most in so many ways had probably left it more immature in others. Obviously my word was not enough; I was going to have to prove my loyalty to her.
Aside from this weekend and the two hours we spent at my office earlier this week, we had not been together as a couple in normal social situations and tonight, as evidence, our little bubble of bliss popped!
Then it came to me.
“Sookie, would you go out with me one night next week?”
Sookie looked confused for a minute and then a big smile broke out across her face.
“Yes. I would like that very much.”
“Perfect, I’ll call you later this week and we’ll iron out the details.” I joked.
She smiled and I could see the light returning to her eyes as she reached for another embrace.
“I love you Sookie and the sooner you accept that and all that goes with it, the happier we’ll be.” I whispered as I kissed the top of her head.
The desire to take her and bend her over my desk and christen this office as I plan for us to do to all of my offices was almost unbearable, but make up sex is about reconnecting after an argument; it shouldn’t be the apology itself.
I looked at my watch, and although it felt like we had been in there forever, we were really only gone for a few minutes but we needed to rejoin our guests. Sookie used the private bathroom to freshen up and repair the tear damage to her make up while I called the hostess to make sure the loft was available.
We joined the others on the floor and I caught a few wary looks from Amelia, Tara and Jason which I returned with a reassuring nod. Seconds later Carol came to tell us the loft was ready so we placed our drink orders and made our way upstairs.
The second floor consisted of two lofts, one on either side overlooking the bar and dance floor below. On nights where we have a capacity crowd, one side is usually opened around midnight for the overflow while the other was reserved for private parties and such. As it was still rather early, I instructed the whole loft area remain closed for our group, opting to take the hit financially to insure privacy.
”So Northman, how did you manage the VIP treatment with such short notice?” Hoyt asked, apparently impressed with the accomplishment.
I stilled myself trying to find the right way to approach the topic when Sookie decided to assist me.
“I arranged this for us.” She announced. I looked at her trying to determine her angle.
“You?” Jason asked her doubtfully.
“Yep. It’s amazing what you can get done when you’re sleeping with the owner.” She said giving me a wink.
“No shit? This is your place Northman?” He said.
“It is.” I said with a small nod.
“Well fuck me.” He yelled over the noise. I relaxed at his stamp of approval.
The earlier tension was finally gone and everyone seemed to be enjoying the drinks and music.
“Alright Hookers, let’s go show these city slickers how it’s done.” Sookie announced throwing her arm around Tara and Dawn. Each one grabbed their drinks, took one last swig and made their way down the steps to join Hoyt and Selah who were already on the floor.
Jason, JB, Tray and I all walked over to the rail to get a better view of the dance floor below. The girls seemed to be getting in to the music and were apparently oblivious to the attention they were receiving from those around them.
“Your sister’s a good dancer.” I practically shouted to Jason in order to be heard over the noise.
“Yeah, it’s gotten me thrown out of more than a few bars.” He shrugged.
I hadn’t even had time to consider is words when noticed a group of eager frat boys had circled our dates. Oh hell no! As I turned to move toward the steps, Jason put his hand on my arm to stop me.
“Hold on there, Lancelot…you go charging down there like a knight in shining armor and you’ll be polishing your own sword alone tonight.” He grinned. “Sookie can usually handle herself in these situations…give her a chance.”
“Yeah, she and Amelia together are quite the force to be reckoned with on the dance floor.” Tray added. “They’ll let us know if they need us to step in.”
I considered at least going downstairs to be closer if she did need me but decided the view from upstairs provided a better vantage point. After a few minutes I saw one of the cretins step behind Sookie, place his hands on her hips and lean in to whisper in her ear. I could feel my grip tightened on the hand rail as I watched her expression become guarded and her smile change to a forced attempt to be polite. I couldn’t make out what she was saying to him, but she inclined her head toward the loft and as his eyes looked up and saw the four of us looking down on him he quickly removed his hands from her hips. When the song finally ended Neidermeyer and the rest of the boys of Delta House made a swift exit. That’s my girl!
We all laughed, danced and drank until the 3:00 am last call rang out and again I marveled at the friendship shared by this group and their inclusion of others. Selah seemed to be enjoying herself, she and Hoyt had spent most of the evening on the dance floor and surprisingly her cousin had taken to Malcolm as well which diverted his attention away from Sookie sufficiently enough for me not to plot his death.
With the exception of Tara and JB, who admitted parenthood had left them more exhausted than they had anticipated, everyone was still going strong when we arrived home.
“Aw Pooh… come on, let’s get you to bed.” Tara said wrapping her arms around a worn out JB trying to help him into the house.
Out of everyone, JB had probably gotten the most inebriated and it became apparent when we ran in to the frat boys again and he told them in no uncertain terms that the “bat rastards” had better not so much as “lay a retina on our babes again” or he would “call down the thunder”. Fortunately everyone else was still sober enough to think it was funny and brush it off.
“Woman, why do you insist on calling me a nickname that is just euphemism for shit?” JB complained as his wife helped him up the stairs. Apparently his vocabulary improved with alcohol.
Sookie had gotten really quiet by the time we said our goodnights and made our way to the bedroom. I figured her melancholy mood was because her weekend with her friends was coming to an end. I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately in a selfish attempt at thwarting any homesickness she maybe having.
“God, would I sound like a horrible person if I said I would be glad when everyone went home and I had you all to myself again?” She said breathlessly when we broke from our kiss.
“Shit Sookie, do you realize how much I love you right now?” Her revelation surprising the hell out of me.
“It couldn’t possibly as much as I love you.” YES! YES! YES!
Simultaneously my heart did a flip, and my dick got rock hard, a sensation while pleasurable, was still unnerving. I never doubted that she loved me, but I seriously underestimated the impact of hearing those words out of her mouth.
“Well that’s an argument we will just have to have another day. Right now I just want to hear you say it again.”
“I love you. I, Sookie Stackhouse, love you Eric Northman.”
“And Eric Northman loves you, Sookie Stackhouse.”
TBC
Heart's Desire Ch 25
Chapter 25
SPOV
He loved me?
He loved me!
I don’t think I heard anything else clearly after that. I vaguely registered Jason saying something in response to Eric’s comments, but honestly the conversation resembled the teacher from those Charlie Brown specials I watched growing up. All I heard was waa waa wa waa. I had to get away from there; I needed the noise to stop for just a minute.
“Well, I’m going to go in and start getting dinner together.” I said scurrying from the pool.
I rushed into the kitchen and started pulling the items we had prepared earlier from the fridge, placing them on the center island. Silently cursing myself for preparing everything in advance. I needed to chop something.
My head was spinning, my mind replaying the words over and over again, ‘the woman I love’, ‘the woman I love’. He said it as if it were common knowledge, like it had always been that way. My heart was pounding so hard; “this must be what a heart attack feels like” I thought. This absolutely beautiful, successful, ungodly rich man loved me! He did, right? I mean…that wasn’t just a moment of passion or a poor choice of words, was it? Ugh!...Can you not just be happy for a minute before you go all Debbie Downer?
The door opened and I knew it was him without even looking.
“Love, I’m …” Before he got any further, I threw my hand up to stop him.
“Did you mean it?” I could barely get the words out of my mouth.
“What?” Of course he didn’t mean it. He doesn’t even remember what he said.
“What you said, did you mean it?” I don’t know where my resolve came from, but I had to know. After a long pause he responded.
“Every word.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you Sookie.”
I turned around and the look on his face removed any doubt whether he was speaking the truth.
There is really no pretty way to describe what I did next…I jumped him. Wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, forgetting his rehab and recovery, I attacked his lips with everything I had. I could just see the headlines now...
Millionaire Businessman Eric Northman Suffers Re-injury At The Hands(And Lips) Of Woman Trusted With His Rehab
“Sookie, I’m sorry…” He said when we finally came up for air. I’m sure he was probably beating himself up over going off on one of my friends, but Malcolm had it coming, I was not upset.
“Are you apologizing for loving me?” I cut him off again.
“Never.”
“Then shut up.”
“Yes ma’am.” He said returning his lips to mine. Then abruptly he stopped kissing me.
“Come with me.” He said pulling me by the arm after setting me back on my feet.
“What are we doing in the pantry, Mr. Northman?” I asked as he closed the door behind me.
“Look, it was bad enough to wake up in bed alone this morning but then to add insult to injury I was forced to shower alone! I think I’ve gone long enough without touching you today.” It was not their intent but his words caused a twinge of guilt when I thought back on my near manic behavior for the last couple of days.
“As much as I love having my name stamped across your body and believe me I do, right now this shirt is preventing me from getting to what I want.” His voice was raspy with desire as he pulled the offending garment over my head.
His hands were everywhere all at once urgently becoming reacquainted with my body as if we had been apart for weeks. Quickly he pushed up the top of my suit causing my nipples instantly hardened at the exposure to the air.
“Sorry Love, no time for sweet and loving…this time it’s going to be hard and fast.” Eric growled.
Mrs. Hadley, please forgive us for the way we are about to defile your pantry…amen.
I moaned when his hand cupped my sex and responded by wrapping my fingers around the growing bulge in his shorts.
“Baby…so wet already.” He moaned between kisses while slipping a finger past the edge of my bikini bottoms and into my slit.
“Please Eric, don’t make me wait.” I responded, my own need making itself known.
“Ah…that’s my girl, as eager for me as I am for you.”
We didn’t even bother removing clothing. Eric pushed his shorts down to his knees as he reached down to pick me up to straddle his waist. Pushing the thin strip of fabric blocking my center over to the side he pushed deep inside with one stroke. I gasped at the sweet sensation of suddenly being filled so completely.
“Eric, your legs…you can’t hold me…like this. You’ll hurt yourself.” I stuttered between thrusts.
“Don’t worry Love, I won’t be able to hold out long enough for it to hurt me.” He panted.
He held me tight with one arm while bringing the other one around between us as he slipped his hand down to allow his thumb to circle my clit. I reached up on either side of his head to grab hold of the pantry shelf behind him to help support my weight and provide a little leverage.
“Come on baby, cum for me now.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out long once his thumb touched my nub.
“Oh God…yes!”
I was still shivering from my climax as he slowly slipped from me. Eric carried me and sat me on the seat of the small step ladder over in the corner. Locating a stack of napkins, he set to tenderly cleaning me up, placing a sweet kiss at the top of my mound before repositioning my suit bottoms.
“I love you Sookie Stackhouse.” He whispered as his kissed my lips softly.
“I lo…” I started when we heard someone shout from the other room.
“Where are you Sook?” Malcolm called from the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes at Eric, frustrated by the interruption.
“Just a minute Malcolm, she’ll be right there.” Eric said through a smirk, no doubt speaking up to make his presence known.
“I guess I should go see what he wants.” I whispered to while planting a kiss on his pursed lips.
“Here…put this back on.” He said handing me back his shirt I had been wearing.
I raised my eyebrow letting him know that I knew what he was trying to do. He responded by raising his own eyebrow letting me know he didn’t care that I knew.
I grabbed the shirt and put it on with a small huff but deep down inside I was smiling at him staking his claim.
“What’s up Malcolm?” I asked following Eric out of the pantry.
Malcolm looked a little startled by our appearance and for a brief second it looked as if he was going to say something about it but decided better.
“Can I speak with you for a minute Sookie?” He asked looking at both me and Eric as if to ask permission from both of us.
I looked at Eric and he nodded.
“I’ll just take these things out to the bar and get the grill fired up.” Eric said while grabbing the tray of steaks and vegetables and placing a kiss on my temple.
“I’ll be out in just a few minutes.” I assured him then turned to Malcolm. “What did you need to speak with me about Malcolm?”
“First let me start by apologizing to you, I never meant to hurt you.” Hurt me? “I guess in some way I always felt you and I would somehow wind up together and that the teasing and picking on one another was just how we communicated. I mean I know you’ve always turned down my requests for dates, but I always thought that you were just playing hard to get and some day we would find our way to each other.” He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and continued. “But Sookie, I can’t compete with all this.” He said while making a sweeping motion with his arm. “And if this is what you’re looking for, then I guess you and I will probably never happen.” Probably??
I couldn’t remain quiet any longer.
“Malcolm we’ve known each other for a lot of years but you’re right, we will never happen. Because if you really knew me you would realize that all this,” I said while mimicking his previous sweeping motion, “has nothing to do with why I’m with Eric. But I do appreciate your apology and I hope maybe now you can move on and find someone of your own.” I gave him a quick friendly hug before continuing. “I think we should join the others now, whatta ya say?”
We made our way out to the grill area with the remaining food. Eric gave me a questioning look and I offered a small reassuring nod.
“Hey Sook, Eric says if it’s okay with you, we can try out this club we heard about in town.” Jason asked while I halfway waited for him to add, ‘can we, huh? Huh? Can we?’ like he used to when he would ask mom and dad to go somewhere when we were kids.
I flashed a questioning look at Eric who just nodded and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, I really didn’t pack ‘clubbin’ clothes.” I regretting that I sounded less that enthused with the suggestion.
Then Amelia spoke up. “No worries Sook, I took the liberty of bringing you a few more things from your closet and I’m sure I included a couple of things that would be suitable. If not, you can borrow something of mine or we can sneak away tomorrow for a quick shopping trip.” She said with a wink.
I walked over to Eric’s side. I needed to make sure he felt like he was up for this and not just going along because it was what everyone else wanted to do.
“Are you sure you’re ok with this? I don’t want you to do something you’re not up to. We could always just let those that want to go out, go and we could stay here.” I whispered.
“Love it will be fine. I know I won’t be able to dance the night away but there’s no reason why we can’t join everyone else, I’ll know when to sit down and take it easy.” He put his arm around me and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
“OK, then. I guess we are going out tomorrow night.” I announced as everyone cheered.
“So what time do I need to have Clancy pick us up?” Eric asked while dialing his cell phone. I flashed him a disapproving look while everyone else responded with their suggestions.
“10:00 it is.” Eric said settling the dispute.
We ate and drank and laughed until sometime after midnight when everyone decided to call it a night opting to get up early the next morning to eat breakfast together before taking to the lake.
I was exhausted by the time Eric and I made it to the bedroom. Everyone had pitched in getting everything all cleaned up but it was still a lot of work. And Eric couldn’t help but amusingly remind me that if I hadn’t sent the help home, someone else would be doing the cleaning. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We were lying in bed talking about the day and the plans for the next day when an idea came to me.
“Eric, would it be inappropriate or awkward for you if I invited Selah to join us tomorrow night?” I almost giggled when I saw his reaction to my question.
“Why do you want to invite Selah?” The shocked expression on his face not dissipating.
“I really think she and Hoyt would get along well together.”
“What about Malcolm, are you going to try to set him up with someone?” I tried not to read anything in to his motivation for the question.
“No. If I know Malcolm, he’ll find some bimbo to hook up with, but Hoyt won’t. It took him six weeks to get up the nerve to ask Jessica out and seeing how well that turned out, he’s not likely to try again anytime soon.” I defended.
“Well, I’m not a real fan of the idea, but I’m not completely opposed to it. Are you sure you want to spend an evening with Selah?”
He was skeptical and I couldn’t blame him but I honestly felt like under different circumstances Selah and I could have been friends. Besides in light of the Debbie Pelt’s in Eric’s world, taking up Selah’s offer as an ally may not be such a bad idea.
“I think it will be fine. I’m not expecting her and Hoyt to marry and have kids, but I think they could have a good time together.”
“Well, if you want to, go ahead. But let the record show that this was your idea, not mine.” I giggled at him using my words against me.
“Duly noted, now go to sleep.”
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next morning everyone made their way to the kitchen, each one doing their part to prepare the meal and when it was over, much to Mrs. Hadley’s delight, everyone pitched in again to clean.
Before heading down to the lake, I made a quick call to Selah who was thrilled by the invitation but she had a cousin visiting from out of town. I explained the Hoyt and Malcolm situation and she asked if she could extend the invitation to her cousin. I agreed but gave her my disclaimer about Malcolm, and she in turn offered one for her cousin.
After a couple of hours down on the lake, the girls decided to go back up to the pool, I hadn’t had any real girl time in awhile, so we were happy to leave the men with the jet skis
“Sookie, I don’t believe I have ever seen you so happy.” Tara said while pouring a glass of tea as it was still a little too early for anything stronger.
“I am guys. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this about anyone before in my life.”
“Well, I think the feeling is mutual. That boy looks at you with such love and devotion; it’s almost voyeuristic to watch. I feel like I’m intruding.” Tara grinned.
“I agree Sook, that boy loves you.” Amelia added. “I don’t know how you’re going to be able to leave here at the end of next week.”
Hearing her words made me feel as if someone had punched me in the stomach. As much as I missed my friends and home in Bon Temps, I felt pretty sure the pain of leaving Eric was going to be worse.
“Yeah, I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.” I responded somewhat sheepishly. I wasn’t in the habit of keeping secrets from these two, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about everything just yet either.
“What do you mean ‘what you’re going to do’? Are you thinking about staying?” Tara asked.
“Yes, Eric has asked me to stay.”
“What about your job? What will Sam say about you staying longer?” Tara seemed to have all the questions while the look on Amelia’s face would lead you to believe she already knew all the answers.
“Well Eric has offered me a job with his company. As a matter of fact I’m doing some work for him now with his charitable donations, and he wants to expand the position.” I could help but sound a little excited telling them about my work with Northman Inc., I was proud of it damn it!
“Sookie you know this is a decision only you can make, but you owe it to yourself to explore all your options and take advantage of every opportunity afforded to you. You are a smart girl and capable of great things, may be now is the time to get started on some of those things.” I loved Amelia, her non-judgmental way of offering encouragement was always appreciated.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the water and each other’s company until it was time to get cleaned up and ready to go out.
“Jason, what’s the name of this club you want to try out tonight?” I asked after we were all in the limo on our way to pick up Selah and her cousin.
“After Dark.” I felt Eric stiffen at the name. “Several people back home have talked about it so I wanted to check it out.” Jason sounded like a kid on his way to the circus.
“Do you know that club, Eric?” JB asked before I had the chance to.
“I’m familiar with it.” Eric answered rather cryptically before passing on our destination along to Clancy.
We picked up Selah and her cousin, made our introductions and within a few minutes we were on our way.
When we pulled up to the club, Selah turned to Eric and smiled.
“After Dark huh? Why am I not surprised?” She smirked and again I felt Eric stiffen.
We got out of the car and although there was a long line of people waiting to get in, Eric led the group right to the door.
“Good evening Eric.” The big burly man covering the door greeted. “It’s good to see you again. Welcome back.”
Eric nodded his head, indicated that we were all with him and we walked through doors without having to pay a cover. I was a little surprised by the VIP treatment, but apparently the guy had some connections.
After walking inside we were greeted with a steady stream of “Good evening Eric”, “Nice to see you again Eric” and “we sure have missed you Eric” and I was completely confused. But when I heard the first “Eric…Selah, so good to see the two of you again” I was pissed.
Never really had time to socialize, huh? Never dated Selah, huh? Eric must have picked up on my sudden change in demeanor because he took my arm and guided me over along the wall out of the flow of traffic and away from our party.
“I think we need to talk.” He said.
Ya think?
TBC
SPOV
He loved me?
He loved me!
I don’t think I heard anything else clearly after that. I vaguely registered Jason saying something in response to Eric’s comments, but honestly the conversation resembled the teacher from those Charlie Brown specials I watched growing up. All I heard was waa waa wa waa. I had to get away from there; I needed the noise to stop for just a minute.
“Well, I’m going to go in and start getting dinner together.” I said scurrying from the pool.
I rushed into the kitchen and started pulling the items we had prepared earlier from the fridge, placing them on the center island. Silently cursing myself for preparing everything in advance. I needed to chop something.
My head was spinning, my mind replaying the words over and over again, ‘the woman I love’, ‘the woman I love’. He said it as if it were common knowledge, like it had always been that way. My heart was pounding so hard; “this must be what a heart attack feels like” I thought. This absolutely beautiful, successful, ungodly rich man loved me! He did, right? I mean…that wasn’t just a moment of passion or a poor choice of words, was it? Ugh!...Can you not just be happy for a minute before you go all Debbie Downer?
The door opened and I knew it was him without even looking.
“Love, I’m …” Before he got any further, I threw my hand up to stop him.
“Did you mean it?” I could barely get the words out of my mouth.
“What?” Of course he didn’t mean it. He doesn’t even remember what he said.
“What you said, did you mean it?” I don’t know where my resolve came from, but I had to know. After a long pause he responded.
“Every word.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you Sookie.”
I turned around and the look on his face removed any doubt whether he was speaking the truth.
There is really no pretty way to describe what I did next…I jumped him. Wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, forgetting his rehab and recovery, I attacked his lips with everything I had. I could just see the headlines now...
Millionaire Businessman Eric Northman Suffers Re-injury At The Hands(And Lips) Of Woman Trusted With His Rehab
“Sookie, I’m sorry…” He said when we finally came up for air. I’m sure he was probably beating himself up over going off on one of my friends, but Malcolm had it coming, I was not upset.
“Are you apologizing for loving me?” I cut him off again.
“Never.”
“Then shut up.”
“Yes ma’am.” He said returning his lips to mine. Then abruptly he stopped kissing me.
“Come with me.” He said pulling me by the arm after setting me back on my feet.
“What are we doing in the pantry, Mr. Northman?” I asked as he closed the door behind me.
“Look, it was bad enough to wake up in bed alone this morning but then to add insult to injury I was forced to shower alone! I think I’ve gone long enough without touching you today.” It was not their intent but his words caused a twinge of guilt when I thought back on my near manic behavior for the last couple of days.
“As much as I love having my name stamped across your body and believe me I do, right now this shirt is preventing me from getting to what I want.” His voice was raspy with desire as he pulled the offending garment over my head.
His hands were everywhere all at once urgently becoming reacquainted with my body as if we had been apart for weeks. Quickly he pushed up the top of my suit causing my nipples instantly hardened at the exposure to the air.
“Sorry Love, no time for sweet and loving…this time it’s going to be hard and fast.” Eric growled.
Mrs. Hadley, please forgive us for the way we are about to defile your pantry…amen.
I moaned when his hand cupped my sex and responded by wrapping my fingers around the growing bulge in his shorts.
“Baby…so wet already.” He moaned between kisses while slipping a finger past the edge of my bikini bottoms and into my slit.
“Please Eric, don’t make me wait.” I responded, my own need making itself known.
“Ah…that’s my girl, as eager for me as I am for you.”
We didn’t even bother removing clothing. Eric pushed his shorts down to his knees as he reached down to pick me up to straddle his waist. Pushing the thin strip of fabric blocking my center over to the side he pushed deep inside with one stroke. I gasped at the sweet sensation of suddenly being filled so completely.
“Eric, your legs…you can’t hold me…like this. You’ll hurt yourself.” I stuttered between thrusts.
“Don’t worry Love, I won’t be able to hold out long enough for it to hurt me.” He panted.
He held me tight with one arm while bringing the other one around between us as he slipped his hand down to allow his thumb to circle my clit. I reached up on either side of his head to grab hold of the pantry shelf behind him to help support my weight and provide a little leverage.
“Come on baby, cum for me now.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out long once his thumb touched my nub.
“Oh God…yes!”
I was still shivering from my climax as he slowly slipped from me. Eric carried me and sat me on the seat of the small step ladder over in the corner. Locating a stack of napkins, he set to tenderly cleaning me up, placing a sweet kiss at the top of my mound before repositioning my suit bottoms.
“I love you Sookie Stackhouse.” He whispered as his kissed my lips softly.
“I lo…” I started when we heard someone shout from the other room.
“Where are you Sook?” Malcolm called from the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes at Eric, frustrated by the interruption.
“Just a minute Malcolm, she’ll be right there.” Eric said through a smirk, no doubt speaking up to make his presence known.
“I guess I should go see what he wants.” I whispered to while planting a kiss on his pursed lips.
“Here…put this back on.” He said handing me back his shirt I had been wearing.
I raised my eyebrow letting him know that I knew what he was trying to do. He responded by raising his own eyebrow letting me know he didn’t care that I knew.
I grabbed the shirt and put it on with a small huff but deep down inside I was smiling at him staking his claim.
“What’s up Malcolm?” I asked following Eric out of the pantry.
Malcolm looked a little startled by our appearance and for a brief second it looked as if he was going to say something about it but decided better.
“Can I speak with you for a minute Sookie?” He asked looking at both me and Eric as if to ask permission from both of us.
I looked at Eric and he nodded.
“I’ll just take these things out to the bar and get the grill fired up.” Eric said while grabbing the tray of steaks and vegetables and placing a kiss on my temple.
“I’ll be out in just a few minutes.” I assured him then turned to Malcolm. “What did you need to speak with me about Malcolm?”
“First let me start by apologizing to you, I never meant to hurt you.” Hurt me? “I guess in some way I always felt you and I would somehow wind up together and that the teasing and picking on one another was just how we communicated. I mean I know you’ve always turned down my requests for dates, but I always thought that you were just playing hard to get and some day we would find our way to each other.” He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and continued. “But Sookie, I can’t compete with all this.” He said while making a sweeping motion with his arm. “And if this is what you’re looking for, then I guess you and I will probably never happen.” Probably??
I couldn’t remain quiet any longer.
“Malcolm we’ve known each other for a lot of years but you’re right, we will never happen. Because if you really knew me you would realize that all this,” I said while mimicking his previous sweeping motion, “has nothing to do with why I’m with Eric. But I do appreciate your apology and I hope maybe now you can move on and find someone of your own.” I gave him a quick friendly hug before continuing. “I think we should join the others now, whatta ya say?”
We made our way out to the grill area with the remaining food. Eric gave me a questioning look and I offered a small reassuring nod.
“Hey Sook, Eric says if it’s okay with you, we can try out this club we heard about in town.” Jason asked while I halfway waited for him to add, ‘can we, huh? Huh? Can we?’ like he used to when he would ask mom and dad to go somewhere when we were kids.
I flashed a questioning look at Eric who just nodded and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, I really didn’t pack ‘clubbin’ clothes.” I regretting that I sounded less that enthused with the suggestion.
Then Amelia spoke up. “No worries Sook, I took the liberty of bringing you a few more things from your closet and I’m sure I included a couple of things that would be suitable. If not, you can borrow something of mine or we can sneak away tomorrow for a quick shopping trip.” She said with a wink.
I walked over to Eric’s side. I needed to make sure he felt like he was up for this and not just going along because it was what everyone else wanted to do.
“Are you sure you’re ok with this? I don’t want you to do something you’re not up to. We could always just let those that want to go out, go and we could stay here.” I whispered.
“Love it will be fine. I know I won’t be able to dance the night away but there’s no reason why we can’t join everyone else, I’ll know when to sit down and take it easy.” He put his arm around me and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
“OK, then. I guess we are going out tomorrow night.” I announced as everyone cheered.
“So what time do I need to have Clancy pick us up?” Eric asked while dialing his cell phone. I flashed him a disapproving look while everyone else responded with their suggestions.
“10:00 it is.” Eric said settling the dispute.
We ate and drank and laughed until sometime after midnight when everyone decided to call it a night opting to get up early the next morning to eat breakfast together before taking to the lake.
I was exhausted by the time Eric and I made it to the bedroom. Everyone had pitched in getting everything all cleaned up but it was still a lot of work. And Eric couldn’t help but amusingly remind me that if I hadn’t sent the help home, someone else would be doing the cleaning. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We were lying in bed talking about the day and the plans for the next day when an idea came to me.
“Eric, would it be inappropriate or awkward for you if I invited Selah to join us tomorrow night?” I almost giggled when I saw his reaction to my question.
“Why do you want to invite Selah?” The shocked expression on his face not dissipating.
“I really think she and Hoyt would get along well together.”
“What about Malcolm, are you going to try to set him up with someone?” I tried not to read anything in to his motivation for the question.
“No. If I know Malcolm, he’ll find some bimbo to hook up with, but Hoyt won’t. It took him six weeks to get up the nerve to ask Jessica out and seeing how well that turned out, he’s not likely to try again anytime soon.” I defended.
“Well, I’m not a real fan of the idea, but I’m not completely opposed to it. Are you sure you want to spend an evening with Selah?”
He was skeptical and I couldn’t blame him but I honestly felt like under different circumstances Selah and I could have been friends. Besides in light of the Debbie Pelt’s in Eric’s world, taking up Selah’s offer as an ally may not be such a bad idea.
“I think it will be fine. I’m not expecting her and Hoyt to marry and have kids, but I think they could have a good time together.”
“Well, if you want to, go ahead. But let the record show that this was your idea, not mine.” I giggled at him using my words against me.
“Duly noted, now go to sleep.”
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next morning everyone made their way to the kitchen, each one doing their part to prepare the meal and when it was over, much to Mrs. Hadley’s delight, everyone pitched in again to clean.
Before heading down to the lake, I made a quick call to Selah who was thrilled by the invitation but she had a cousin visiting from out of town. I explained the Hoyt and Malcolm situation and she asked if she could extend the invitation to her cousin. I agreed but gave her my disclaimer about Malcolm, and she in turn offered one for her cousin.
After a couple of hours down on the lake, the girls decided to go back up to the pool, I hadn’t had any real girl time in awhile, so we were happy to leave the men with the jet skis
“Sookie, I don’t believe I have ever seen you so happy.” Tara said while pouring a glass of tea as it was still a little too early for anything stronger.
“I am guys. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this about anyone before in my life.”
“Well, I think the feeling is mutual. That boy looks at you with such love and devotion; it’s almost voyeuristic to watch. I feel like I’m intruding.” Tara grinned.
“I agree Sook, that boy loves you.” Amelia added. “I don’t know how you’re going to be able to leave here at the end of next week.”
Hearing her words made me feel as if someone had punched me in the stomach. As much as I missed my friends and home in Bon Temps, I felt pretty sure the pain of leaving Eric was going to be worse.
“Yeah, I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.” I responded somewhat sheepishly. I wasn’t in the habit of keeping secrets from these two, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about everything just yet either.
“What do you mean ‘what you’re going to do’? Are you thinking about staying?” Tara asked.
“Yes, Eric has asked me to stay.”
“What about your job? What will Sam say about you staying longer?” Tara seemed to have all the questions while the look on Amelia’s face would lead you to believe she already knew all the answers.
“Well Eric has offered me a job with his company. As a matter of fact I’m doing some work for him now with his charitable donations, and he wants to expand the position.” I could help but sound a little excited telling them about my work with Northman Inc., I was proud of it damn it!
“Sookie you know this is a decision only you can make, but you owe it to yourself to explore all your options and take advantage of every opportunity afforded to you. You are a smart girl and capable of great things, may be now is the time to get started on some of those things.” I loved Amelia, her non-judgmental way of offering encouragement was always appreciated.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the water and each other’s company until it was time to get cleaned up and ready to go out.
“Jason, what’s the name of this club you want to try out tonight?” I asked after we were all in the limo on our way to pick up Selah and her cousin.
“After Dark.” I felt Eric stiffen at the name. “Several people back home have talked about it so I wanted to check it out.” Jason sounded like a kid on his way to the circus.
“Do you know that club, Eric?” JB asked before I had the chance to.
“I’m familiar with it.” Eric answered rather cryptically before passing on our destination along to Clancy.
We picked up Selah and her cousin, made our introductions and within a few minutes we were on our way.
When we pulled up to the club, Selah turned to Eric and smiled.
“After Dark huh? Why am I not surprised?” She smirked and again I felt Eric stiffen.
We got out of the car and although there was a long line of people waiting to get in, Eric led the group right to the door.
“Good evening Eric.” The big burly man covering the door greeted. “It’s good to see you again. Welcome back.”
Eric nodded his head, indicated that we were all with him and we walked through doors without having to pay a cover. I was a little surprised by the VIP treatment, but apparently the guy had some connections.
After walking inside we were greeted with a steady stream of “Good evening Eric”, “Nice to see you again Eric” and “we sure have missed you Eric” and I was completely confused. But when I heard the first “Eric…Selah, so good to see the two of you again” I was pissed.
Never really had time to socialize, huh? Never dated Selah, huh? Eric must have picked up on my sudden change in demeanor because he took my arm and guided me over along the wall out of the flow of traffic and away from our party.
“I think we need to talk.” He said.
Ya think?
TBC
Heart's Desire Ch 24
Chapter 24
EPOV
“So Jason starts to chant, ‘I’m a pretty little girl…’I’m a pretty little girl’, we’re thinking the boy has finally lost his damn mind, we look over there and birthday boy here is asleep mind you…in the middle of algebra… singing ‘I’m a pretty little girl…I’m a pretty little girl’. Our teacher, Mrs. Fant, looks over at me and tells me to wake the ass wipe up before he says anything more incriminating.” Hoyt says having a hard time telling his story through all the laughter.
“Yeah and if I recall, you woke me up by sticking your obscenely wet finger in my ear.” Jason interrupted.
“Well, the class felt Sleeping Beauty should have been woken up with a kiss, so you tell me; did I make the right call? If not…it’s not too late ya know.” Hoyt said puckering up.
“Shut the hell up, you tow headed nipple.” Jason retorted.
The closeness these guys shared was incredible and I was envious. I had never experienced that level of friendship; my life during those years had been completely focused on my education. Knowing my sister had put her life on hold to take care of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have been selfish of me to spend my time partying and whooping it with friends. By the time I reached my college years, I had already become so goal driven that I couldn’t be bothered with establishing those kinds of ties. Looking back on it now and with the subsequent loss of my sister, I can’t bring myself to regret how things turned out because it afforded me more now precious time with Pam. But loneliness was a bitch.
The stories had gone on and on for the last hour, each one trying to outdo the previous with the degree of embarrassment. Everyone seemed to welcome me into the group without reservation using these stories to share their history with me; that is all except Malcolm.
Whether it was him or me, I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t like the fucker. All afternoon his comments to Sookie had completely run the gambit. One minute he was hitting on her and the next he was insulting her. Twice I had bit my tongue so hard to stop from lashing out at him that I had tasted my own blood.
I wanted to be a good host. I wanted her friends to like me but more than that, I wanted Malcolm to keep his damn mouth shut and his hands to himself. When everyone else had pulled chairs together over to one side did Malcolm? Nope, the asshat chose to sit at the foot of the lounge Sookie and I was on.
Four times. Four times he had touched her bare leg and four times I had wanted him to pull back a bloody stump.
The first time he was smooth, placing his hand on her knee pretending to console her for an insulting comment that he himself had made. Ballsy! The second time, while everyone had erupted in laughter, he seemingly innocently placed his hand again on her knee allowing it to linger there longer than it should have but removing it before I had to chance to object. Fucker. The third time had been much the same but his hand remained a little longer still.
“MINE!” I wanted to scream. I felt like a two year old trying to snatch his favorite toy out of the clutches of his playmate but I couldn’t help it, this time was the final straw. Here we sat, Sookie laid against my chest with my arm around her and hers draped across my hip and down my leg…I mean…shit man, get a clue. Sookie had bent her legs up to accommodate Malcolm’s space at the foot of the lounge and he decided to place his hand yet again on her knee but when his finger dipped in the crack created by the bend of her knee I almost came undone.
Whether it made her uncomfortable or whether she sensed my impending explosion, I’m not sure but either way she decided evasive maneuvers were necessary.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’m ready to get in the pool.” She said and I shifted my position to allow her to get up off the lounge.
Malcolm and Hoyt quickly took the two steps to the pool and plunged right in while JB and Jason stood by the edge whispering for a couple of seconds before turning to quickly scoop up an unsuspecting Tara and Dawn and jump in.
I climbed off the lounge, stood up and removed my shirt and I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Sookie staring at my chest with a glint of lust in her eyes. She looked away embarrassed when she realized she had been caught staring.
“Don’t be embarrassed love, you have the same affect on me.” I whispered in her ear before placing a kiss on her neck.
She smiled, reached down to grab the hem of my shirt she was wearing and when she pulled it over her head I had my own episode of lust filled staring.
“I don’t know about you Northman, but I’d tap that.” Malcolm yelled from the pool nodding in Sookie’s direction.
OH HELL NO! That boy had a death wish. Clancy was going to have one less person take back to Bon Temps and I was already contemplating where on the estate would be the best place to bury the body. Just as I felt my body lunge toward the pool, Sookie put a hand on my chest to stop me.
“Malcolm you better be referring to the keg on the bar behind me.” Sookie replied sternly.
“Aw, Sookie babe, don’t be like that. You know how badly I’ve been wanting to get your panties off.” Malcolm said with a grin.
“Well you knew they would be too tight when you put them on.” She scoffed.
My girl was funny! But he wasn’t taking the hint.
“Ignore him, I do.” She said and she pulled up on the tips of her toes to place a tiny kiss on my cheek.
I just nodded without saying anything, not trusting my mouth to agree with her suggestion, and we made our way down the steps into the pool.
The temperature was almost perfect just cold enough to be refreshing and provide relief from the heat. After a few minutes I made my way to the edge and pulled myself up and out of the water to sit on the side not willing to take any chances when the rough housing began.
Jason dove down under and with a little maneuvering came up with Dawn perched on his shoulders; within seconds Tara and JB as well as Tray and Amelia had done the same. I looked across the pool at Sookie who was laughing at hard at her friends and their pitiful attempt at playing chicken when suddenly her eyes when wide. Malcolm had submerged and positioned himself between her legs and was attempting to resurface with a kicking and screaming Sookie on his shoulders. I stood up and moved closer to the end of the pool where they were trying to determine if her screams were one of playfulness or displeasure. Her next words removed any doubt.
“DAMN IT MALCOLM! PUT. ME. DOWN!” She screamed while grabbing and pulling two fists full of his hair to make sure he knew she was not joking.
He lowered her back into the water and was rubbing his head when he came back up beside her.
“Come on Sookie, you know you like my head between your legs.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Acceptance be damned, this was stopping now.
“Damn it Malcolm that is enough!” I said apparently quite loudly because all the playing stopped and everyone’s heads snapped in my direction.
“Look man, I’m trying to be a good host here, and as much as I want all you guys to like me, I cannot and will not allow you to come into my home and talk to the woman I love in that manner. Do we understand each other?”
I knew that question was probably condescending as hell, but I couldn’t give a fuck. He wasn’t catching on to all of Sookie’s hints so by God I wanted him to be crystal clear where I stood on the subject.
Malcolm looked around to all of his friends apparently looking for support before saying anything in response. And as bad as wanted to look at Sookie, I didn’t dare. Finally Malcolm looked at Jason silently asking for help.
“Dude, don’t look at me.” Jason shrugged. “I’ve been trying to warn you for awhile now that you were pushing your luck with her. Hell, I’m surprised Sookie hasn’t kicked your ass herself, but you honestly can’t expect her boyfriend to sit by and let you talk to her like that.”
I was surprised when Jason referred to me as Sookie’s boyfriend. She had told me before they arrived that she had not told any of them about us so I could only hope this meant that he was ok with it.
“Well, I’m going to go in and start getting dinner together.” Sookie said quietly excusing herself.
Oh shit! I was screwed. I could tell by the look on her face she was deep in thought no doubt about my outburst. I had been so concerned with everyone else’s reaction that I had not stopped to consider hers. Before I could make my excuses to follow her into the house, Malcolm spoke up again.
“Hey man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys were together and I guess all my joking has kinda gotten out of hand. No hard feelings, huh?” His apology sounding genuine.
“I appreciate that Malcolm, but I’m really not the one you need to be apologizing to.” I said. “Now if you will excuse me, I think I will go see if I can give Sookie a hand with dinner.”
I walked directly into the kitchen from the lanai. Sookie was standing by the island in the kitchen with her back to me when I walked in and I saw her body stiffen when she heard me behind her.
“Love, I’m …” She put her hand up to interrupt.
“Did you mean it?” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“What you said, did you mean it?” She said without raising the volume of her voice or turning to face me.
Did I mean it? Of course I meant it, did she not expect me to defend her? I was confused as I thought back over everything I said to Malcolm during my diatribe. Oh hell! I am such an ass.
“Every word.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you Sookie.”
With one step she launched herself into my arms, crashing her lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around her and held her until she broke away to look up at me.
“Sookie, I’m sorry…”
“Are you apologizing for loving me?” She interrupted again.
“Never.”
“Then shut up.”
“Yes ma’am.” I said pressing my lips to hers again.
TBC
EPOV
“So Jason starts to chant, ‘I’m a pretty little girl…’I’m a pretty little girl’, we’re thinking the boy has finally lost his damn mind, we look over there and birthday boy here is asleep mind you…in the middle of algebra… singing ‘I’m a pretty little girl…I’m a pretty little girl’. Our teacher, Mrs. Fant, looks over at me and tells me to wake the ass wipe up before he says anything more incriminating.” Hoyt says having a hard time telling his story through all the laughter.
“Yeah and if I recall, you woke me up by sticking your obscenely wet finger in my ear.” Jason interrupted.
“Well, the class felt Sleeping Beauty should have been woken up with a kiss, so you tell me; did I make the right call? If not…it’s not too late ya know.” Hoyt said puckering up.
“Shut the hell up, you tow headed nipple.” Jason retorted.
The closeness these guys shared was incredible and I was envious. I had never experienced that level of friendship; my life during those years had been completely focused on my education. Knowing my sister had put her life on hold to take care of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have been selfish of me to spend my time partying and whooping it with friends. By the time I reached my college years, I had already become so goal driven that I couldn’t be bothered with establishing those kinds of ties. Looking back on it now and with the subsequent loss of my sister, I can’t bring myself to regret how things turned out because it afforded me more now precious time with Pam. But loneliness was a bitch.
The stories had gone on and on for the last hour, each one trying to outdo the previous with the degree of embarrassment. Everyone seemed to welcome me into the group without reservation using these stories to share their history with me; that is all except Malcolm.
Whether it was him or me, I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t like the fucker. All afternoon his comments to Sookie had completely run the gambit. One minute he was hitting on her and the next he was insulting her. Twice I had bit my tongue so hard to stop from lashing out at him that I had tasted my own blood.
I wanted to be a good host. I wanted her friends to like me but more than that, I wanted Malcolm to keep his damn mouth shut and his hands to himself. When everyone else had pulled chairs together over to one side did Malcolm? Nope, the asshat chose to sit at the foot of the lounge Sookie and I was on.
Four times. Four times he had touched her bare leg and four times I had wanted him to pull back a bloody stump.
The first time he was smooth, placing his hand on her knee pretending to console her for an insulting comment that he himself had made. Ballsy! The second time, while everyone had erupted in laughter, he seemingly innocently placed his hand again on her knee allowing it to linger there longer than it should have but removing it before I had to chance to object. Fucker. The third time had been much the same but his hand remained a little longer still.
“MINE!” I wanted to scream. I felt like a two year old trying to snatch his favorite toy out of the clutches of his playmate but I couldn’t help it, this time was the final straw. Here we sat, Sookie laid against my chest with my arm around her and hers draped across my hip and down my leg…I mean…shit man, get a clue. Sookie had bent her legs up to accommodate Malcolm’s space at the foot of the lounge and he decided to place his hand yet again on her knee but when his finger dipped in the crack created by the bend of her knee I almost came undone.
Whether it made her uncomfortable or whether she sensed my impending explosion, I’m not sure but either way she decided evasive maneuvers were necessary.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’m ready to get in the pool.” She said and I shifted my position to allow her to get up off the lounge.
Malcolm and Hoyt quickly took the two steps to the pool and plunged right in while JB and Jason stood by the edge whispering for a couple of seconds before turning to quickly scoop up an unsuspecting Tara and Dawn and jump in.
I climbed off the lounge, stood up and removed my shirt and I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Sookie staring at my chest with a glint of lust in her eyes. She looked away embarrassed when she realized she had been caught staring.
“Don’t be embarrassed love, you have the same affect on me.” I whispered in her ear before placing a kiss on her neck.
She smiled, reached down to grab the hem of my shirt she was wearing and when she pulled it over her head I had my own episode of lust filled staring.
“I don’t know about you Northman, but I’d tap that.” Malcolm yelled from the pool nodding in Sookie’s direction.
OH HELL NO! That boy had a death wish. Clancy was going to have one less person take back to Bon Temps and I was already contemplating where on the estate would be the best place to bury the body. Just as I felt my body lunge toward the pool, Sookie put a hand on my chest to stop me.
“Malcolm you better be referring to the keg on the bar behind me.” Sookie replied sternly.
“Aw, Sookie babe, don’t be like that. You know how badly I’ve been wanting to get your panties off.” Malcolm said with a grin.
“Well you knew they would be too tight when you put them on.” She scoffed.
My girl was funny! But he wasn’t taking the hint.
“Ignore him, I do.” She said and she pulled up on the tips of her toes to place a tiny kiss on my cheek.
I just nodded without saying anything, not trusting my mouth to agree with her suggestion, and we made our way down the steps into the pool.
The temperature was almost perfect just cold enough to be refreshing and provide relief from the heat. After a few minutes I made my way to the edge and pulled myself up and out of the water to sit on the side not willing to take any chances when the rough housing began.
Jason dove down under and with a little maneuvering came up with Dawn perched on his shoulders; within seconds Tara and JB as well as Tray and Amelia had done the same. I looked across the pool at Sookie who was laughing at hard at her friends and their pitiful attempt at playing chicken when suddenly her eyes when wide. Malcolm had submerged and positioned himself between her legs and was attempting to resurface with a kicking and screaming Sookie on his shoulders. I stood up and moved closer to the end of the pool where they were trying to determine if her screams were one of playfulness or displeasure. Her next words removed any doubt.
“DAMN IT MALCOLM! PUT. ME. DOWN!” She screamed while grabbing and pulling two fists full of his hair to make sure he knew she was not joking.
He lowered her back into the water and was rubbing his head when he came back up beside her.
“Come on Sookie, you know you like my head between your legs.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Acceptance be damned, this was stopping now.
“Damn it Malcolm that is enough!” I said apparently quite loudly because all the playing stopped and everyone’s heads snapped in my direction.
“Look man, I’m trying to be a good host here, and as much as I want all you guys to like me, I cannot and will not allow you to come into my home and talk to the woman I love in that manner. Do we understand each other?”
I knew that question was probably condescending as hell, but I couldn’t give a fuck. He wasn’t catching on to all of Sookie’s hints so by God I wanted him to be crystal clear where I stood on the subject.
Malcolm looked around to all of his friends apparently looking for support before saying anything in response. And as bad as wanted to look at Sookie, I didn’t dare. Finally Malcolm looked at Jason silently asking for help.
“Dude, don’t look at me.” Jason shrugged. “I’ve been trying to warn you for awhile now that you were pushing your luck with her. Hell, I’m surprised Sookie hasn’t kicked your ass herself, but you honestly can’t expect her boyfriend to sit by and let you talk to her like that.”
I was surprised when Jason referred to me as Sookie’s boyfriend. She had told me before they arrived that she had not told any of them about us so I could only hope this meant that he was ok with it.
“Well, I’m going to go in and start getting dinner together.” Sookie said quietly excusing herself.
Oh shit! I was screwed. I could tell by the look on her face she was deep in thought no doubt about my outburst. I had been so concerned with everyone else’s reaction that I had not stopped to consider hers. Before I could make my excuses to follow her into the house, Malcolm spoke up again.
“Hey man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys were together and I guess all my joking has kinda gotten out of hand. No hard feelings, huh?” His apology sounding genuine.
“I appreciate that Malcolm, but I’m really not the one you need to be apologizing to.” I said. “Now if you will excuse me, I think I will go see if I can give Sookie a hand with dinner.”
I walked directly into the kitchen from the lanai. Sookie was standing by the island in the kitchen with her back to me when I walked in and I saw her body stiffen when she heard me behind her.
“Love, I’m …” She put her hand up to interrupt.
“Did you mean it?” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“What you said, did you mean it?” She said without raising the volume of her voice or turning to face me.
Did I mean it? Of course I meant it, did she not expect me to defend her? I was confused as I thought back over everything I said to Malcolm during my diatribe. Oh hell! I am such an ass.
“Every word.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you Sookie.”
With one step she launched herself into my arms, crashing her lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around her and held her until she broke away to look up at me.
“Sookie, I’m sorry…”
“Are you apologizing for loving me?” She interrupted again.
“Never.”
“Then shut up.”
“Yes ma’am.” I said pressing my lips to hers again.
TBC
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