A/N:
You had a really long chapter 12. Here is a short chapter 13. I just wanted to get you something since the wait has been longer than planned (sorry!).
I spent all my writing-time on my entry for the Eric and the Great Pumpkin-contest. It`s called Winter Vampire and is about falling in lust and then falling in love. Yes, I`m shamelessly plugging it *bats eyes*.
Thank you for all your great reviews! You are the best readers a girl could have. I even got a great recipe (I`ll be trying it on Friday – yay!).
Thank you so much to Rascalthemutant for reading through this in spite of network problems and headaches *kisses headache away*.
“Sookie?”
“Yes, it`s me.”
There was a moment of quiet.
“You called me earlier today, Sookie. Has anything happened? I mean, it`s great to hear from you, but we usually talk online and not on the phone.”
“Where are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean where are you? I went to Oslo to find you, but you weren`t there.”
Bill went quiet again.
“You went to Oslo?”Bill was clearly surprised. He needed some time to process that piece of news, but then he continued in his normal voice. “I got a new job and I`m in Copenhagen now.”
I wanted to shout `why didn`t you tell me?` or `why haven`t I heard from you`, but I used the most neutral voice I had. “I know. I`m in Copenhagen too. Can we talk?”
That caught him off guard, but he said yes and when I offered to come to his room, he said yes to that as well. We hung up and I stood still for some time. A week ago, I would have been thrilled by the prospect of meeting Bill in a hotel room in Copenhagen. Now… now I had his boss waiting for me in my bed expecting us to continue what we started before Bill called.
As if Eric could read my mind, I had an arm snaking its way around my waist, pulling me towards the bed. I was tempted, but it just wouldn`t be right, so I pushed the arm down.
“We can`t do this, Eric,” I said.
“Of course we can, Sookie.” His arm was back on my waist, but this time without the pulling.
I turned around and looked at him. “Bill is here,” I said. “And no matter what we just did, I need to talk to him.” Eric growled. Then he got up and came over to me and gave me a big hug while inhaling deeply into my hair. He rubbed his groin slightly against me, giving me a close feel of what I was saying no to.
Then he went to the bathroom where I could hear some distinct sounds of pleasure. I was dressed when he came out again, sporting a satisfied smile. I gave him a quick hug and was going to turn away when Eric pulled me closer and started to kiss my neck, his teeth gently scraping my skin.
“Don`t kiss me,” I whispered and removed myself from his embrace. I couldn`t have sex with Eric just because I found him attractive. I was an adult, I told myself sternly; true adults don`t have sex just because the other person is skilled and pretty.
“I`m going down to Bill`s room and I`ll try to make him believe things are fine between us and then I`m giving him an offer from you. Hopefully he`ll be on the plane home with us tomorrow,” I said.
“That`s probably the worst plan I`ve ever heard. What if Bill wants to celebrate seeing you again?” Eric made quotation marks with his fingers when he said `celebrate`.
“You are right that the plan isn`t perfect, but that`s what I have right now.” Even I didn’t know what I would do if Bill wanted to get reacquainted physically.
Xxx
I knocked on Bill`s door and was shocked when he opened. He was much thinner and paler than when he had left Louisiana. His dark hair had lost its glow and he looked like he had been denied sleep. He stared at me, then pulled me into a deep embrace.
“Sookie,” he said with a hoarse voice. “I`ve missed you.”
His embrace felt like home and for a few moments I lost myself into it. Then I pulled away.
“Why are you here, Bill? What happened?”
Bill looked embarrassed. He signaled with his hand to the chair and I sat down. Bill sat on the edge of his bed.
“It`s a long story, Sookie. To make it short, I was tricked by someone I owed a favor and now I`m stuck in a job I don`t want and with no way of getting out of it.”
“Who is this someone?”
Bill looked away. “It`s someone who helped me through school and made me the programmer I am today. When I was approached to help this someone, I had to say yes.”
I noticed that Bill never said anything that would reveal the gender of `this someone`. I of course knew that it was a woman and that her name was Lorena, but I wanted Bill to say it.
“What is `this someone`s` name?”
Bill looked like he was going to faint and he whispered “Lorena”.
“Lorena?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but it did have a high pitch to it.
Bill took my hands.
“I`m so glad you are here now. I just can`t believe it.” He smiled at me, but I noticed how he had changed the subject. I decided not to push it further – at least not right now. Knowing more about his relationship with Lorena wasn`t really high on my list of favorite topics.
“You say you were tricked. What is keeping you here?” I asked him.
“I don`t really have anywhere to go. No one will hire me.”
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Bill opened it and in entered the other topic I really didn`t want to discuss with Bill.
Eric.
Xxxx
Watching Eric and Bill was like watching Animal Planet. There was no doubt as to who was the dominant and who was the submissive of the two. But like an annoying terrier, Bill couldn`t just acknowledge Eric`s superiority.
“Eric,” he said with ice in his voice.
“Bill.” Eric gave Bill a short look, telling him that he wasn`t important. Then his eyes met mine.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Sookie.” I was going to answer him, but Eric`s remark apparently got the bark out in the dog that didn`t have the nerve to bite.
“Of course Sookie is okay with me. She is MY girlfriend.”
“I wouldn`t be too sure about the personal pronouns, Bill. It seems to me that Sookie is her own person.”
I couldn`t handle any more of this male pissing contest so I exited the room without running. I would have preferred to have thrown out the two guys and just crept under the sheets, but since this was Bill`s room, I figured I could take the lift up to the top floor and go to sleep in my own bed. Preferably for a couple of weeks until everything had blown over.
Xxx
I actually did fall asleep and I slept well. When I woke up, I realized that I had only half an hour until the breakfast buffet closed, so I just jumped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, brushed my hair, and ran to the lift.
When the doors opened, Eric walked out looking great as ever. There should be a law against meeting handsome men before you have had your morning cup of coffee.
“Bill agreed to come work for me again. I gave him an offer he couldn`t refuse. And him seeing you again also did the trick. It was a wise choice to bring you over from Louisiana,” Eric said with a smile.
“That`s great, but can we talk about it later? I would really love to have some breakfast.” And I would also prefer not to discuss Bill with you, I thought.
I tried to get past him and into the lift before the doors closed, but no such luck.
“I`ve ordered you breakfast in your room. Well, actually I ordered breakfast in bed for you, but you seem to have ruined that part by getting up.” Eric looked at me. “Maybe I can persuade you to get undressed and get back under the covers?” Eric wiggled his eyebrows.
“Eric. About that… ” I didn`t want to use the worn out phrase `let`s forget about what happened` because I definitely knew I couldn`t. “I can`t… we can`t…”
“Don`t worry, Sookie.” Eric had his arm around me and for a few seconds, I leaned into him. Then I walked back to the suite, hoping breakfast would be there soon.
A/N: Oh, I hate writing Bill. Can you tell? I was going to let Sookie and Bill have a major talk, but I figured 1, Sookie would never have the talk and 2, I would just hate writing Bill`s side of the conversation. Luckily a huge Viking decided to knock on the door!