Life Starts After Dark

Skylar’s POV

Every employee at Merlotte’s was looking at me strangely on Monday night. Apparently, Sam hadn’t given them any news.

The only staff member that wasn’t freaking out was Sookie, and that was because I was sure she knew something. I didn’t know how any of that was possible, and it freaked me out when she did things like that.

“So, give me all the juicy details,” Arlene demanded, looking excited as she leaned her elbows against the counter to get closer to me.

“I can’t do that!” I said, blushing. “It would be too weird if you knew about the personal life I have to have with my boss…how also happens to be your boss,” I said in a low whisper.

“Oh, come on!”

“No way, Arlene. That’s very unprofessional.”

“So is dating your boss.”

“He asked me,” I said in a defensive tone.

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

“Skylar,” I heard Sam call from the hallway where his office was. “I need to speak to you for a minute.”

“See you later,” Arlene said, wagging her eyebrows. What did she think, that I was going to go have sex with him in his office?

“Hey,” I said, when I entered his office, closing the door behind me.

“Hey,” he said in an uneasy tone.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. I had a bad feeling that it would be awkward now that we had gone out. “Are you going to fire me or something?” I asked nervously.

“Of course not!” he yelled as if it was an incredibly stupid question that I had asked.

“Sorry,” I said, feeling offended that he was practically yelling at me and I hadn’t even done anything yet.

He must have read the hurt on my face, because he immediately looked at me intently with those twinkling blue eyes of his, and took my hand.

“I’m sorry, Skylar. I have been just uptight since last night, and don’t think that it’s your fault, because it isn’t. It’s just that I have something to ask you.”

“Yes?” I asked, really confused by the whole situation unfolding in front of me.

“Have you associated with vampires since you moved here?”

Then everything clicked. I knew exactly what he was uptight about, and it pissed me off to no end. Now I was angry.

“Oh my God! He threatened you, didn’t he?” I puffed, grabbing my hand back and pacing about the room. “I could kill him! I will kill him! Have you got any sharp wooden objects lying around?”

“What kind of relationship have you got with Eric?” he asked, and then I stopped dead in my tracks.

What had he said to Sam. Was this about to open up a can of worms?

“Relationship?”

“He seems very…possessive of you.”

“Oh, dear lord! What am I going to do? Is he just going to try and kill every guy I come in contact with from this point on? What the hell? Oh, no. I guess I am moving again. What the hell!” I said everything in a mumbled tone, apart from the last sentence, and then Sam was looking at me as if I belonged in a mental institution.

“It’s really complicated. That’s all I can really say about it. I don’t even know what is going on half of the time.”

“Did you two date?” he asked. I knew the answer I gave him would determine my relationship status with Sam. He would not continue to see me if he knew I was being intimate with a vampire. Which I wasn’t, not really anyways.

“No! Of course not!” I said, sounding a little too defensive, but Sam visibly relaxed after that.

“I don’t know how I should put this, but I don’t think it’s very…wise for us to be seeing each other if there is a vampire involved.”

“Oh, trust me, I am going to deal with him as soon as my shift is over. That bloodsucker is going to wish he never met me.”

“I don’t think that is a very good idea,” Sam urged, looking frightened.

“Don’t even worry about it, Sam. I have everything completely under control,” I assured him. “Now, I think that I should get back to work,” I said, ending the conversation as I left his office.

I refused to answer any of my eager colleagues’ questions for the rest of the night. And when I went home, I looked for something heartbreaking to wear. It would showcase the fact that I could be hot, and also that I would never be Eric’s.

I chose all black for the evening. Black skinny jeans, black heels, and a black lace top with a v-neck collar. I even decorated my eyelids with smoky black eye shadow and eyeliner, defining my lashes with mascara. I topped this all off with some classic red lipstick, and then left the house, my anger building up more and more as I thought of what Sam had told me.

I sped to Shreveport, cursing Eric the whole way. When I reached the Fangtasia parking lot, I pulled into the closest empty parking space, and then marched up to the entrance. I thrust my ID in the vampire’s face before strutting past her and into the bar.

The Faint’s “Posed to Death” was playing loudly, and I liked the way it thrummed in my chest. It seemed to add fuel to the flames that were already burning angrily inside of me.

My eyes scanned the room for the one particular seat I was looking for, and when I spotted it, I immediately made a beeline for it. I didn’t want to get too close though, or else it would mean he would want me to sit down with him, which was not something I felt like doing at the moment. I was much too wound up for that.

I caught his eye. He looked just as cocky and gorgeous as ever, which annoyed me to no end. He made a lazy motion for me to sit in the chair next to him, but I ever so subtly shook my head and headed for the exit. I knew he would follow.

I opened the door, walking into the cool evening air, and it had not had a chance to close behind me before Eric slipped through the rapidly closing gap. He stood beside me, and looked down expectantly into my eyes.

“I hate you!” I said, punching him hard in the chest, and receiving a painful shooting pain that ran up my arm. “Damnit!”

“Such passion!” Eric exclaimed in a mocking tone, and I wanted to hit him again just for the hell of it.

“Don’t even start with me Eric! I have never wanted to kill anyone so much in my entire life!”

“Well, then I suppose I should be very afraid,” Eric teased.

“What the hell were you thinking? You do not own me, Eric! I can date whoever I choose, and it’s none of your business!”

“I must say, you look ravishing this evening,” he noted as if I had not just blown up in his face.

“Stop it! God, you’re infuriating!”

“Are you sure you are not mistaking that with some other feeling?”

“Ugh!” I was so angry that I had literally started to cry. And not just a few tears, either. I was sobbing uncontrollably.

Eric made his way towards me, looking suddenly alarmed. I don’t know if in all his existence he had ever seen a person just completely freak out this way.

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” I screamed repeatedly, beating my fists at every part of his body that I could reach when he came close enough. He didn’t even try to stop me. He just took all of the beatings as I handed them out to him.

“I love you,” he said, so quietly I barely heard it over my own screaming.