A Job to Do in Shreveport

[onceaviking]

The time has come for Jay to take a trip with Eric to Shreveport to secure his house.

Eric is waiting for him by the door, dressed much as he normally is in black jeans and a wife beater.

His door opens to his office at Fangtasia, where it's close to four in the morning and the staff is closing up. Nobody pays Jay any particular attention. Not getting into Eric's affairs is one of the things you learn when you work for him, and everyone here has learned that lesson.

Eric looks through his emails, while Jay waits, and then calls for Pam before heading out to the parking lot where his car is parked. It's a red Corvette, shiny and new.

Pam greets Jay with as much enthusiasm as she can muster, which is very little indeed. The ride to Eric's place takes place in silence and she is quickly out the door and inside the house.

The house is a large bungalow with a spacious garage, where Eric parks next to a rented pickup. Everything is very neat, almost hotel like. Inside, the kitchen is spotless and empty, apart from a bag in the counter and a calendar on the wall depicting a rough, coastal landscape.
Eric throws his keys on the counter and turns to face Jay.

"I've asked my day guy to stop by around 11. He'll get you lunch and whatever else you need. He knows where your hotel is as well. The Remington Suite it's called. Parking space has been reserved and the spa's included."

He nods at the plastic bag on the counter. "There's instant coffee, juice, and some sort of breakfast thing in there. The neighbors doesn't tend to be too nosy, but some of the soccer moms might try their luck. Feel free to take advantage, just don't take them inside. "

Comments

[runningred]

"No, I'm not. I'm from New York." Or close enough. Jay keeps working as he talks to them, making sure anything more interesting than plants are out of sight. "I'm just passing through."

[onceaviking]

"You know who you're working for?" one of the others say from the back of the group.
The ringleader has walked a little closer. Making sure her top is showing her off to her best advantage.

[runningred]

"The Willis Todd landscaping company." Jay replies with a smile, pulling a business card from his back pocket. Pays to be prepared. "Beyond that, no idea. The company books the jobs, I just do them." Very carefully not noticing jailbait cleavage.

[onceaviking]

The girls all come closer.
Cleavage leans forward and half whispers.

"They're vampires," with the sort of secret thrill teenagers master better than any others. "One if them is dreamy," one of her friends sighs.

[runningred]

Jay feigns surprise, glancing back at the house. "Really? That explains why they're paying so well."

"I can't say I've seem them around but then, I only work during the day. I just figured the owners of the place were out of town. We get a lot of people who want their yards done up while they're on vacation."

[onceaviking]

"There are at least two, a man and a woman. She's old."
It's said with all the scorn of the young.

One of the others says,"Maybe she's his mom?" But that doesn't see to be a popular theory.

"I saw them the other night," one of the girls announces. She too seems to favor the jailbait look too. "And he winked at me. The tall, good looking one."

"Did not," the others cry out, followed up with, "Your're such a liar, Brianna."

[runningred]

"Do vampires even have mothers?" Jay asks, "God, could you imagine never being able to get away from your mom. Ever." He pulls a face.

Jay cocks an eyebrow at Brianna. "Do you really want a vampire paying attention to you. I hear that's not always a bad thing."

[onceaviking]

They all laugh at his joke, far more than it deserves.

He is cute.

"Totally," Brianna says. "He's so hot. And I heard about a girl over in Bossier who'd gotten with a vamp, and he bought her a car."

"Yeah, right," one of the others say. "Or you end up dead like those chicks from Bon Temps."

"Nobody knows if that was vampires," one of the quieter ( and more dressed) girls offer, but the general consensus seems to be, that it had got to be.

Strangely enough, it doesn't seem to diminish the appeal of the local vampires any.

Or their handyman for that matter.

"You staying in town long?" Brianna asks. Fowardly.

[runningred]

Interesting that the murders keep coming up, and that not everyone seems so set that it's someone in the vampire community. Unfortunately it's harder to take the quiet, sensible one aside with the silly ones vying for attention. "Sounds like this Bon Temps thing has a lot of people shaken up. How far away is Bon Temps from here?"

The part of him that was trained by the world's greatest detective is having trouble shutting up.

"Oh, I'm only here for a couple of days. Just till I get this job done, then who knows where they'll send me next."

[onceaviking]

"You should go hang out with us, sometime," Brianna says and is then pushed with equal amounts of glee and embarrassment by one other friends.

"Bon Temps is just a tiny little hick town," one of the other girls say. "They've got vampires there too though. Ever since they came out of the coffin they're everywhere."

"As long as they're as fine as the ones here ..." One of the others mock simper and the others laugh. High pitched, girly laughs.

"Anyway, " Brianna says, "He was totally checking me out. They were standing around outside, waiting for a ride or something and he saw me looking at them, and he was so checking me out."

The others do not seem convinced.

[runningred]

"Thanks but," you're way too young, "I'm in town for such a short time. And if I don't get this job done in time, I won't get paid. It was nice talking to you, though." He smiles at Brianna, "And if he was checking you out, he's clearly a man of taste. Now if you'll excuse me, ladies. I better get back to work."

He intentionally moves to the far back of the yard, clearly out of chatting range. Even though the age difference isn't that great (Jay's technically only just 21) in life experience, he's worlds away from the giggling girls. Enough to make him feel painfully old and a bit of a pervert for chatting to them.

[onceaviking]

And his parting remarks does nothing to decrease the giggling.

The girls slowly move away, down the street, tittering on about hot vampires and their hot help and leave the street empty and quiet.

[runningred]

Jay gets on with the work, getting the first line of defence in and hidden by new plants and flower beds.

There was something far too enjoyable about designing Eric's new garden, as more than just cover for shock mines and gas dispensers. The garden drew on all the best research on defencive fortifications Jay could find. The shape of the gardens and placement of taller and shorter plants limited the path an intruder could use to get to the house to the defences could be more targeted.

It had been a complex exercise to design but putting it all together what labourous. Not that Jay minded, it give him time to think. About the murders associated with vampire mostly.

Was it a vampire? Then surely Eric would be involved as the district sheriff. Or was someone trying to set up the local vampires? Did it have to do with the blonde he mentioned?

As it started to get dark, Jay packed up the tools, shifting everything into the garage for the night before sitting on the front step with a big bottle of water and an energy bar, surveying his days work.

[runningred]

Happy with the day's work, Jay makes sure everything is clean and tidy before leaving a note for Eric.

Hey. Bit under halfway there. Have gone to the hotel to clean up. Call me if you need anything from me. J.