Chapter 18 : Maniac

No more TV. I lay back on the couch as Tabitha jumped upon my chest. I stroked the kitty as I thought about tonight. I then realized the quiet. I got up from the couch and walked around the big empty house.

Silence; it was what I've always wanted. Not this kind of silence though. I expected to have a family by now and a couple of children running around the house.

I chuckled. That's just wishful thinking for me. I gave up on that dream a long time ago. There was no man that I can be married to.

It wouldn't be possible for us to stay happy. I wouldn't be able to stay out of his head. Just as soon as I thought that he was lying, I would go where I had no business.

Just as those thoughts filled my mind, I went to the bathroom and ran myself a hot bath. Once I was soaking in the tub, I began to cry.

I hate the silence of a big empty house. Maybe that was why I was happy to be at Fangtasia. I was around others. I had company.

It was nice to be able to talk to people outside of work. It felt good not to read a person's mind for work.

It felt good to read the minds of the fangbangers just for fun. It was especially nice to speak to someone without worrying about blocking their thoughts from my mind.

I then wiped the poor Pitiful Pearl tears away. I slid underneath the water. The water would hide the tears. They always do.

Suddenly, I emerged from under water.

"Turn me upside down and paint me blue!"

Did I really tell him that I'm telepathic? No one knows but me, Jason, and my grandparents. My grandparents are dead.

Jason's been doing his own thing. He has no time to think about what I can do. He never wanted to talk about it anyway. Mom and dad knew but they died.

My colleagues at work don't know; except for my best friend and I've never officially told her. No one else knows. I can't trust everyone else.

But Eric; it was okay that he knows, right? He didn't even ask what I meant when I told him that everyone at the bar was thinking about sex. It's okay that he knows.

I relaxed. I trust him.

I don't know why but I trust him not to say anything. I don't think he'll tell Pam or any of the other vampires but I wonder if he'll tell her the other stuff.

I wonder if he will tell her that the bar wasn't there when I drove by the first time and that it just appeared out of nowhere.

Maybe it was there. I probably wasn't paying attention and missed it when I drove past.

If he were still alive, Grandpa Niall would explain it to me. Whenever strange things would happen, he was always there to make it better.

He could explain it all away. He knew just what to say to put me at ease. I miss him and Gran so much.

After my musing, I bathed and removed myself pruned body from the tub. I lotioned myself down and moisturized my face.

I put on an old LSU tee shirt and began brushing my teeth and as usual, my phone began to ring.

I spat the toothpaste out and wiped my mouth with the back of hand. I ran downstairs to the living room to get my phone from my purse.

Please let it be him.

Please let it be him.

I looked at the caller ID on my phone. It read 'E'. That's the way I entered his name into my phone. I screamed. I then ran back upstairs as my phone continued to ring.

It's him!

I need to give him his own special ring tone so that I'll know that it's him.

I jumped on the bed and waved my legs back and forth in the air.

'Play it cool Sookie', I mumbled. 'Pretend like you don't know who it is.'

I breathlessly answered the phone. Running down the stairs to grab your cell phone and then running upstairs to bedroom and jumping in the bed and flailing your legs in the air like a maniac really takes a lot out of a person.

"Hello?" I finally said.

"Sookie are you alright?"

He sounds so good. If I didn't know any better, I would think that he was worried about me. "Yeah, I'm ok. May I ask who is calling?" Phone etiquette is very important, ya know?

"Eric."

He almost sounded disappointed that I don't 'know' who it was. I had to play hard to get. I couldn't let him think that I was going to be some side piece for him.

He didn't even answer me when I asked if he had a girlfriend or a wife. I had to be on top of my game.

Women have to play hard to get, right? I was going to take hints from Gran. She always said never let a man know that you are excited to see him. Keep them guessing. She probably meant that for the phone calls as well.

Here goes nothing.

As soon as I went into my office I called Niall's private line. "I need to speak to the prince. This is important."

"And you are …?" The voice on the other end did not sound too interested in anything that I have to say.

He knew damned well who I was! Niall only gives his private number to a select few. Remaining calm and making sure that the secretary could hear the venom dripping from my voice, I said, "This is Eric Northman. I am the husband of his great-granddaughter. I need to speak to the prince as soon as possible. Would it be at all possible for you to get him to the phone?"

The secretary said in a short and ill-humored tone, "No. It is not possible that I get him to the phone."