Fangtasia

What a mother hubbard

The Louisiana sun was beating down and seeping into my skin, making it tingle. I had been in the sun around 15 minutes and I knew it wasn't going to be long before I retreated back into the shade of Sookie's porch. For the moment though, I savoured the feeling. I didn't care that I was going to burn to a crisp, all the better to remember the sun when the night came. It was a normal thing to happen to me, and with all the crazy crap that had been going on lately, it was a good thing to feel normal, even if it meant I ended up like a lobster.

So I took a deep breathe, re-adjusted the red spot bikini Sookie had left out for me and tried to relax onto the towel in Sookie's yard.

Remaining motionless, I let the stillness of my surroundings wash over me. It wasn't quite silence but it was close enough for me. The occasional wind rustling the trees, and the crickets that must be surrounding the house were calming, clearing away all the little things in my head. Of course, this meant my mind wandered to one thing that was floating around in there which wasn't such a small topic of thought.

Eric

I huffed at myself but wasn't really surprised. I dreamed of being with him every night since Long Shadow's blood entered my system, including the one just passed. And along with being left terrified by the image of Long Shadow and the feeling of his blood on me, I felt the disappointment that that dream didn't continue in the way that I wanted it to. Of course I'd had dreams about Eric before then but this one was always so clear and I was always so certain it was him... well, it had potential over the mere mortal dreams, let's just say that.

And now he had offered me a job?

I was surprised by Sookie's reaction to the idea. She didn't think it was so bad and that I should take advantage of the very old and very rich vampire while I could.

"And" She had reasoned "haven't you been working for him anyway?"

Well, yeah I had been but that had been to repay a debt. So did this mean that I was a free agent again? I could refuse and head back home or carry on with my trip?

Thinking of that made my mind wander to what else Eric had said.

But Grace doesn't matter, I thought bitterly. She had no concern for my well-being so why should I worry about her?

I knew without a doubt that Eric had said it give me another reason to stay. Little did he know that I didn't care. OK, I did care; I didn't want Grace to be hurt be the breakup, but that didn't mean I wanted to be around to pick up the pieces.

Nice try Eric.

OK so I wasn't going to consider Grace as a deciding factor here. At all. Fine. So what do I do now?

Removing as much of my emotional decision making parts of me, I considered it as purely a job offer. I had over 6 months left on my visa - which didn't permit working. But Eric could sponsor me to get a working one, so that wasn't an excuse to leave. I didn't know what 'wage' Eric would give me, and more importantly I wasn't sure what I would be doing? I saw Pam work the door and dress up for the patrons but I'd never seen her behind a computer, or doing paperwork. So what would Eric expect me to do?

OK, so I needed to find that out before I made a decision. I guess that meant I was interested. Purely as a job offer of course. I mean, there was nothing waiting for me back home - certainly no job. And the US had the same unemployment problems as the UK, so wasn't I lucky to have a job anywhere?

"You keep telling yourself that."

That's what Sookie had said last night. Of course she had added "you can rationalise it all you want but you are thinking as much with your privates as Eric is" I was mildly outraged at the time but now in the light of day I had to agree with her.