We entered the bar around 9:30 PM â not exactly early anymore. To shake off the shock from earlier, I headed straight for the counter.
Alcohol. My go-to solution for things that were inexplicable or too confusing. Despite the crowd and noise, I didn't have any trouble catching the bartender's attention.
As soon as I approached the counter, the roughly 30-year-old man â tan, dark hair, and beautiful brown eyes with pearly white teeth â had turned away from his previous customers and was now eyeing me with barely disguised interest. "Hey there, gorgeous, what can I get you?"
I brushed off his suggestive tone, ignored his dirty looks, and placed my order.
"Bourbon. Neat."
He smirked and nodded. He was actually quite cute, but a bit too aware of it. When he slid my drink over with a wink, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Sookie and Sam had now also navigated through the crowd and appeared beside me.
"Wow, Ash, you made it to the bar pretty quick!"
"Let's just call it efficient. Otherwise, it sounds like I have a problem. Plus, you two need to order something too. Drinking alone isn't a good sign..."
Sookie laughed, and a smirk appeared on Sam's lips too. "Well, in that case..."
Sookie turned her attention fully to the bar, and like magic, the bartender reappeared, grinning broadly at her. Sookie returned the grin much friendlier than I had before.
"Hi, a Gin and Tonic for me, please, if it's not too much trouble," she requested with perfect Southern charm.
"And a beer for me!" Sam chimed in quickly and far less Southern, before the Casanova behind the bar could disappear again to the next group of girls. Overall, Sam never really seemed like a true "Southerner" to me. His behavior got me thinking. I furrowed my brow.
"Say, Sam, where exactly are you from?"
"Didn't your mom teach you? I was brought by the stork...", he began to deflect the topic. I rolled my eyes and rephrased my question more directly.
"I don't mean that, you goof. I was just wondering why you're not like...," I gestured around, then pointed to our prime example, Sookie, "Southern."
He shrugged. "I'm not from around here!"
"And where from, then?"
"Here and there!"
"That's cryptic!"
"That was literally your answer at your job interview, Ash!" he replied, raising an eyebrow in admonition. So, I dropped the subject and took another big sip of bourbon. It burned warmly on its way down.
"Yeah... alright." I turned to my friend. Sookie glanced around the bar, her brow furrowed. I followed her gaze.
Sure, this wasn't necessarily a trendy New York scene club, but those were always too contrived for my taste anyway. Instead, the interior was cozy wood paneling adorned with various trophies from passing-through country singers. Round tables had been cleared to the edges of the room, full of flirtatious and drunken townies, dressed in the fashion of the last decade. Our little trio definitely lowered the age-average too. Was that Sookie's problem?
"If it stays this crowded, we won't have a chance to dance tonight!" she grumbled, answering my unspoken question, before being interrupted by the bartender overly eager.
"I'd dance with you anytime, sweetheart!" he cooed in Sookie's direction, as he pushed her ordered drink across the counter "It's on the house!"
Sam rolled his eyes and paid for his beer.
Sookie's expression changed from grateful to disgusted before she handed him the money despite his offer and declined it with thanks. I'd bet my next paycheck that she had just been the leading lady in his dirty daydreams and chuckled. "You know what they say about eavesdroppers."
She looked at me puzzled.
"They hear things they don't want to hear!"
Sookie wrinkled her nose.
"Yeah, there's some truth to that."
The situation from the morning at the library once again whirled through my mind. My trembling was barely noticeable now, but my fingertips still tingled as if they were asleep or had been shocked. But the bourbon helped. My glass was empty.
"Another one!"
Sookie raised her eyebrows now. I stared challengingly back. She sighed. Then she reached out her hand. "Keys!"
"All good!"
"Ash, if you want to drink, then drink. But I'm not letting you wrap yourself around a tree!"
"Sookie, you know alcohol hardly has any effect on me!"
She ignored me and extended her hand even further towards me. Groaning, I started rummaging in my bag.
"I wouldn't have driven anymore anyway!" I tried to convince her further, "The plan was to leave my car and pick it up tomorrow after..."
I picked someone up and spent the night with them, I wanted to finish the sentence, but Sook cut me off.
"What one plans and what one does are often two different things. Believe me," she tapped her temple to remind me of her ability to read minds, "I know it! Better safe than sorry!"
Reluctantly, I handed her the keys. "Killjoy!"
"Telepath!" she corrected me.
I laughed. Okay, maybe I felt a little bit of the bourbon after all.
Sam had already gone ahead and found us a spot. As soon as we arrived, Sookie and Sam were engrossed in conversation. I was pretty sure they didn't notice me anymore. Which was the whole point of this, right? Or was it?
Unexpectedly, a feeling of loneliness overcame me as I slumped on the bench next to them, feeling like their third wheel. In the past, it had never been a problem for me; I had always been good at being alone... or had I?
I sighed and let my gaze wander through the now truly crowded bar while absentmindedly sipping on my bourbon. I tried to focus and look for someone who seemed sympathetic. Who maybe moved rhythmically to the beat, had a smirk on his face. Maybe dimples? Fine lines around the eyes that told me he knew how to have a good time. Good for a one-night stand, so to speak. There were a few quite handsome men around. Clearly interested, just like me. Who was I kidding? It had been months since I'd been with a man.
I wouldn't have reacted to Eric Northman like that if I hadn't been so chronically under-fucked, I justified to myself.
Still, the choice of the man my attention was now automatically drawn to was quite obvious. Like hypnotized, my gaze was drawn to a tall man. Broad shoulders. Muscle shirt in black. Pale. Shoulder-length hair. Blond. The physical resemblance to Eric was so obvious it was ridiculous. And my immediate physical reaction to the stranger was just as clear. My heart raced, my mouth went dry, my body tingled as heat pooled between my legs. I was about to get up and give in to the urge that drew me to him. Better a stranger in a bar than the inappropriate original, right? If he was good in bed, my mind could rest for a bit, my body give me a retrieve. If he wasn't I could tell myself, that Eric would be just as bad. A win-win so to speak. I was about to get up to approach the look-alike, pushing up my boobs a bit to entice, when he turned in our direction. I jerked my head away, heart stuttering.
"This must be a bad joke!" I groaned.
My heart immediately started racing and doing somersaults that my voice sounded thin and feeble, and I had to clear my throat. So much for the calming effect of alcohol. Pumped full of adrenaline, my hands reached for my glass. Empty! And the bar so far away!
"Another one!" I yelled across the room. The barman's eyes widened in shock. Sookie and Sam turned around, equally stunned.
"What are you doing?!" Sookie hissed through gritted teeth.
"Don't ask!" I croaked and coughed as I pushed the second empty glass aside and buried my face in my hands. The last thing I needed now was an audience for my heartache. And, by the look of things, that's exactly what I was getting.
I tore my gaze away and muttered a half-hearted explanation in Sookie's direction.
"I'm gonna powder my nose or something!" Slightly puzzled by my choice of words and probably my tone as well, she looked up. I strained to regain control over my feelings and shut them off.
"Everything okay with you?"
"Sure?"
I felt her probing my brain, but I rebuffed her. Her eyes widened in surprise, but before she could speak, I had already turned around and disappeared through the crowd to the bathroom.
As soon as I reached the sanctuary of the restroom, I exhaled the held breath.
"Damn, damn, damn!"Angrily, I looked up at the ceiling, my complaints directed at some goddess in the sky. "Are you kidding me? Can't I catch a break for one lousy evening?"
I went over to the sink and gripped the edge tightly, staring fixedly at my reflection in the mirror. For months, almost years, there had been no sign of Eric Northman, and then suddenly he appeared on the scene and kept popping up every ten minutes. I didn't really believe in this level of coincidence. I'd been through too much in life to talk about "fate".
For heaven's sake, my job in our little gang of thieves had been, to recognize patterns and predict them. Computer and risk analytics. If running into Eric multiple times in this few days wasn't a warning sign, a pattern, then I didn't know what was. My breath became shallow, and I felt myself slipping into a panic attack. My fingers tingled again, and my thoughts raced. I had to get out of here fast.
As much as I tried to push it aside and didn't want to admit it to myself, I felt insanely drawn to Eric. Mr. Northman. The vampire.
And that was a powder keg I needed to get away from quickly.
Like, literally!
I couldn't just walk out the front door anymore.Decisively, I dug my phone out of my pocket and started typing.
Hey,I met someone. Heading to his place now. See you guys tomorrow. XO Ash!
Sookie replied less than two minutes later. Two minutes in which I desperately wondered if my broad hips would fit through the small window above one of the stalls. If I stood on the edge of the trash can and did a pull-up, maybe...
All right! We're on our way too. It's just too crowded here. Maybe we'll watch a movie at my place, Sam has never seen Gone with the Wind.
Yeah right, Sam
Take care of yourself.
I chuckled at Sookie's motherly manner. Then I remembered she still had my car keys, and the laughter died.
"Damn it!"
I was stuck in a damn village, somewhere in the damn middle of fuck nowhere, and I couldn't even sleep in my damn car.
Although...
I could break into my car. It wasn't like I hadn't done it before... I glanced at the bathroom window again and tested the durability of the metal trash can.
"Theoretically..."
"I wouldn't recommend that!" a voice beside me intervened.
Startled and caught, I jumped back.
"I didn't mean to, I didn't..."
A brown-haired girl about my age raised her hands in laughter. A feather tattoo adorned her left wrist.
"Hey, I'm not judging! To be honest, I speak from experience. If you manage to get through the window..." she briefly appraised me and then nodded as if she believed I could do it, "you'll find yourself on the other side in a fenced-off area for trash containers."
I slumped down and let out a sigh.
"Shit!"
"I thought the same thing back then!"
I laughed, and she scrutinized me curiously again.
"May I ask what exactly you're trying to escape from?" Her bright eyes sparkled mischievously. "Perhaps an ex? For me, it's always an ex..."
"Something like that."
"I can try to distract him," she offered in solidarity. I had to grin at her friendly manner, even though so much kindness from strangers always made me skeptical.
"Who is it?"
"Tall, blond, hair down to the shoulders..."
Her eyes widened.
"And an ass that should be framed and put in an art gallery?"
I nodded. She whistled.
"Respect! Well, I'd be happy to try to... distract him," her eyes got a slightly dreamy look about them. I, too, imagined the girl in front of me crawling onto my Viking's lap and pouncing on him. Very vivid images in various naughty positions. And I didn't like that. Not one bit. I felt a pang of jealousy as I realized I had thought of him as my Viking.
Oh God, it was already worse than I had suspected.
"That would be great!" I replied quickly and loosened my hair to hide behind it. "Better?"
"Dude, no! Opening your hair won't help in that outfit. Maybe they won't recognize your face directly, but everyone else in the bar will try to hit on you! The blonde hair shines brighter than the sun against your black dress!" She looked her up and down. "Damn. Maybe even I'll hit on you."
She had to chuckle at that. "Well thanks for once.", then she sobered up a bit. "But I really somehow need to get out of here unnoticed. So if you can think of anything better, I'm all ears!"
The girl shook her head and turned her body back towards the door. Her head was still turned towards me. "Just hurry up and don't let anyone chat you up, I guess. Ready?"
I wanted to nod, but I stopped her arm for a moment.
"Wait. What's your name anyway? I have to thank my knight in shining armor in my diary!"
She laughed and extended her hand to me. "Hi, I'm Megs. Savior for damsels in distress and sometimes just an IT expert at SoftTex over in Shreveport."
Smiling, I shook her hand.
"Ash, damsel in distress and in the meantime a waitress in Bon Temps."
"Okay Ash, let's get you past the hunk of an ex."
Megs stuck her head out the door and analyzed the situation in front of her.
"Hmm. Strange, he seems familiar somehow..."
Then she shrugged and confidently crossed the room.
I watched the scene from the mirror for a while.
One thing had to be said about my new friend. She had guts. She just walked past everyone, straight up to the 6'5 tall, god-like, and usually quite intimidating man and tapped him on the shoulder.
I was impressed - and apparently, the Viking wasn't accustomed to such direct and open approaches, because he turned around with a surprised expression as well, away from the door. Away from my path to freedom.
This was my chance.
Go, go, go.
Quickly, I made my way through the masses of sweating, dancing, staggering people: the goal, the door, never out of sight.
Twice a stranger's hand touched my butt, once someone blocked my way (whom I pushed aside with a targeted shove), and then finally, the slightly cooler night air greeted me, and I dared to breathe again.
The whole time, I had been watching the vampire and Megs out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't dare to look at them directly. She, too, kept an eye on me and did their best to engage Eric Northman in conversation. And my big ears had naturally overheard some of it
"Do we know each other?" was his first very puzzled question.
"Well, we can get to know each other rather well, if you like..." was Megs' answer.
Almost imperceptibly, he inhaled through his nose. Vampires didn't need to breathe. He had sniffed her out. Then his eyes widened, and he stepped closer to her. Towered threateningly over her.
I prayed that she understood she should get away from him as soon as possible.
But instead of backing off, she leaned closer to him.
"I know your scent female." he told her rather directly.
I gestured to Megs as inconspicuously as I could, telling her to disappear.
Meanwhile, I had almost reached the door. If I stopped now, not only would it draw the attention of the bystanders to me, but I would also be standing directly behind the Viking. And I was firmly convinced that his instincts would notice my presence immediately.
So, I left the bar and got out of earshot.
I was torn. Should I try to get into the car and drive away? Hide? Or make sure Megs was okay. We hardly knew each other, after all. And the two of them were in a crowded bar. Eric wouldn't do anything in a crowded bar...
He's a murderous vampire; of course, he would do something.
I cursed and ran my hands through my hair. Just as I had decided to storm into the bar and, if necessary, set off the fire alarm to get everyone out safely, the door opened, and a puzzled Megs stumbled out.
"Oh God, I was getting worried!" I exclaimed, relieved, and took a deep breath.
She looked at me confusedly.
"Oh, hi. The girl from the bathroom, right?"
Now it was my turn to look dumbfounded.
"Yes, you were going to help me with my ex."
She frowned.
"Really? What's wrong with him? Did you two have a fight? Listen, I'd love to help, you seem nice. But I need to get home quickly now. I have a bun in the oven."
She threw me an apologetic, sheepish smile and then hurried away, leaving me bewildered. Bun in the... what the... Her words didn't make sense. It was as if she had forgotten our entire conversation. As if her brain were Swiss cheese. And then I finally made the connection. She'd been glamoured."Damn vampires!"
Behind me, a chuckle sounded.
"I'm trying not to take that too personally!" Eric's voice rolled sarcastically over his lips. I whirled around, and my heart started racing.
Faster than I could look, he stood less than a few inches away from me, forcing me to tilt my head extremely far back to even look him in the face.
"Now, why exactly did a young woman just try to distract me from my "ex," so desperately that she tried to escape from me through the window in the bathroom?" he asked in a low, deep voice that sent a shiver down my spine. God, how embarrassing. Heat rose to my cheeks as my brain desperately tried to fabricate an answer.
"Um..."
Very witty.
He tilted his head.
"Our little conversation the night before last didn't make you my girlfriend right away," he explained to me in a tone one might use with kindergarten children. Then he scrutinized me, and a sly grin appeared on his face.
"Although I'd be happy to test our compatibility as man and woman if you feel like it! Go from there, see how we fit"
I gasped in shock. Okay, not so much shocked as perhaps a tiny bit tempted â more than would be appropriate. My traitorous body responded to him, leaning in closer.
"I think we fit well together!" he spoke my most secret thoughts and stepped even closer to me. "After a thousand years, you learn to read the clues. It's the mental sparring, you know? The back in forth. The fighting for dominance translates from a conversation right down to wanting to being leashed and fucked into submission." He  leaned in then, even closer, taking a deep, rumbling breath. Where his cold breath touched me, my goosebumps intensified, tingles spreading across my tense body. A sly grin tugged at his mouth.  I hit him with my bag, pushing him back, getting shocked with a low charge of electricity at the small contact.
His eyes widened.
"This is going way too far!" I almost panted with the weird mix of excitement, fear and arousal cursing through my veins. What the hell was happening to her? She'd never reacted this... feral towards someone. It was embarrassing and the most inappropriate.
Yet, you want it to go so much further...
God, pull yourself together Ash.
She shook her head, taking a deep breath. When she looked back up at Eric again however, his nostrils flared and his gaze shifted as he tilted his head ever so slightly. "We've met before!"
Her blood turned cold. Nope. No, no, no.
"Yes, as you said. In the bar. In Bon Temps." I gestured up and down my body. "Only now I'm not wearing a waitress uniform!"
His gaze followed my gesturing hand again over my body, and his look turned dark. Hungry. Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head, not taking the bait. "No. Before that. That smell... It's..."
With a leap, he was once again inches from me, taking a deep breath.
For his next birthday, I'd give him a book on personal space. But then he asked the question that drove away any playful behavior and sent a shiver down to my toes.
"How do we know each other?"