Chapter 35
Buffy woke, turned her head,
but instinctively, she knew she was alone. Leaning up and looked at the clock, it was 8.10am. She ran her hand over the rumpled
sheets next to her, the sheets were cold, Spike had been up for some time.
Putting on her robe, she padded
down stairs. She could see Spike still in his dressing robe, talking on the phone. There was a large brown envelope torn open,
with several pieces of paper on the dining room table.
She heard Spike say,
“Yes, well, if you think
it will be financially viable, then go ahead…………no, not fully yet, but I promise you I’ll read
the projected figures properly………I will”
Spike heard a noise behind
him, turned and saw Buffy. He grinned and winked at her, she smiled back. Moving the mouthpiece of the receiver away from
his lips he whispered,
“Be with you in moment
babe” Buffy nodded and headed towards the kitchen for juice.
She could hear Spike on the
phone.
“Please believe me Charles…”
When she opened the fridge
door, the compressor motor kicked in, drowning out the conversation. Buffy selected the juice and let the door close.
“…………Just
because I said I’ll be coming home is in no way detrimental to either you, or your standing. Charles, please believe
me. My father trusted you implicitly to run the Carrisbrooke estate, and you have no fear of me changing that, I assure you”
Buffy gulped juice from the
glass, and gave a start when she heard Spike say,
‘I’ll be coming
home’…she felt the tears prick the back of her eyes. Perhaps he WAS thinking of leaving after all…
She rinsed the glass and left
it upside down on the drainer.
“………………I
promise, and yes I let you know, okay then Charles, take care, bye-bye……………………Kitten,
where are you?………Baby? – Oh there you are!” Spike came into the kitchen, and cuddled her up.
“Sorry about that Kitten,
but I had to phone England” Spike said smiling. When Buffy couldn’t even raise half a
smile, or return the cuddle, Spike frowned and looked at her, raising her chin to look him in the eyes.
“What’s up love?”
Buffy bucked herself up, and
gave a rueful smile.
“Nothing! I um, I woke
alone” Spike resumed the cuddling; Buffy still saddened half-heartedly put her arms around him, resting her head against
his shoulder.
“I know pet, but with
the time difference between here and good old England, I have to phone him early from here to get him quite late in the evening
there, else I can never catch hold of Charles, as he’s always SO busy…he’s the head honcho there, runs the
estate for me”
Buffy just nodded. With his
trademark head-tilt and his ‘who’s a sexy boy then’ grin, Spike whispered,
“So…wanna go back
to bed?” He began kissing and nuzzling her neck. She wanted to resist, talk things through, she wanted him to arrest
her fears that he was leaving, leaving LA, leaving Aphrodite and leaving her, but he was now doing wondrous things to her
throat and her body automatically responded, she shivered and let out a gasp and let her head fall back. Suddenly she felt
herself being swiftly picked up and carried upstairs.
Their lovemaking was gentle
at first, building to a terrific climax that made Buffy want to weep. When Spike carefully moved off her, she wanted to just
curl up into the foetal position and cry.
“What’s the matter
Kitten…am I being too much for you? Did I hurt you or if you didn’t want to, you only have to –“
Buffy couldn’t trust
herself not to cry, so she put a finger on his lips and cuddled him to her.
“You worried about tonight
then?” Spike gently rubbed her back, holding her to him
He felt Buffy shake her head.
“What is it then Kitten…come
on sweetheart, you can tell me”
“Hold me,” She
whispered, feeling the tears pricking her eyes again.
She realised that she was
holding her breath in a bid not to cry, and when his arms tightened around her, she let out a gasp and the tears leaked out.
He felt her body heave slightly,
and knew she was crying.
“Hey now…come
on Kitten, please don’t cry…is there something worrying you? – I wish you’d tell me, I can’t
bear it when you cry…”
“I’m………I’m
okay…being silly is all” Spike went to lean out to stroke her hair out of her face, but Buffy kept her arms tightly
around him. They stayed like that, quietly holding each other for some minutes. When he felt that she’d calmed, Spike
said
“Do you like sheep?”
Spike suddenly asked her. Buffy had stopped crying, she opened her eyes and looked puzzled.
“Huh?”
“I said…”
Spike shifted to look at her, and this time she let him move
“Do you like sheep?
Well, lambs actually. And pigs, little baby piggies – they are adorable, apparently”
Spike could register the look
on her face: he knew she was thinking that he’d totally flipped. So he continued,
“Only Charles said he
thinks that for one of the new attractions for the visitors to the Carrisbrooke estate in 2005 would be to have a ‘Petting
Zoo’ for the children – it would be in keeping with the whole wild-life, animal husbandry thing we’ve got
going on there, along with the stables, rare breeds, the bird sanctuary and the falconry exhibitions………from
the projected figures he’s sent me, it looks financially sound…anyway, I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“Wha-what?”
“Carrisbrooke –
my estate – you’ll love it – I can’t wait to take you. I just said to Charles, we’re more than
likely to go over there after Christmas”
“We? You mean…you
want me to see it too?” Buffy felt elated
“COURSE! I thought that
it would be ideal for us to stay there when you’re on tour there…use it as our base. You can meet all the staff,
and show you all around, the history of the place is amazing – goes right back to the 16th century you know
– ooohh!”
Buffy squealed with excitement,
and cuddled Spike up tight. Spike grinned. What ever had made her blue had passed, thank goodness!
“Poor old Charles…he
always gets a bee in his bonnet when I say I’m going over there, he thinks he’s going to be out of a job –
he’s silly – even if I did eventually decide to go back, I’d still need him there, he’s like the heart
of the place………is that your tummy rumbling?”
“Um yeah, I really,
really AM starving now!”
“Well………what
do you fancy, besides me of course!”
Buffy giggled and said,
“Hmm…bacon…scrambled
eggs…sausages…grilled tomatoes, and toast”
“ I see…good job
I went shopping then, isn’t it!” Spike got up out of bed, and Buffy went to follow.
“A-a, not you, you my
darling, you stay there, and I’ll bring you breakfast in bed”
Spike kissed her nose and
Buffy giggled, reached for a magazine and snuggled down, she loved being waited on hand and foot………
*********
Cassie Newton was on tenterhooks
about Glory finding out about Riley Finn’s wife being there with him, it would spoil everything.
“Are the two guests
aware what time they have to be here for rehearsals?”
“T-two? Cassie stammered,
thinking she’d been rumbled.
“That bitch’s
soldier toy and her father”
“Oh um, y-yes, don’t
worry – golly, is that the time, you better go, you know how the traffic is!” Cassie said willing Glory to leave
for the other studio’s to do her chart show.
“Hmm…yes…right,
I’ll leave you to show them the run-through………I don’t want any cock-ups tonight, do you hear
me Cassie, I’ll hold you personally responsible if-“
“Yes, yes, YES! Go,
I’ll cope – go, you’re drivers having a fit!” Cassie practically pushed Glory out into reception.
Glory’s driver was actually
sitting there calm as you like reading the paper – he didn’t look panicked at all.
“And see if you can
get some stories from them, about her child-hood – or teenage years from her dad if possible. Stuff to make her squirm”
“Glory…just go,
have faith in me!” Glory left. A young couple passed her on the way in, the automatic doors staying open for them. Cassie
leaned back against the wall, eyes closed trying to control her breathing, she fumbled for one of her anti-stress tablets
as she could feel her already weak heart pounding.
With the tablet under her
tongue, Cassie took a few seconds to calm, when she heard her name being called.
“Miss Newton…………Miss
Newton – are you alright?”
“Wha-oh um yes, yes,
I’m fine...did you-“
“This is Mr and Mrs
Finn – here for the Friends show,” The receptionist said.
Cassie gulped, god! That had
been a close-run thing…
“Oh, um, right –
would you like to come this way please?” Cassie led them both down a corridor and into a hospitality room.
“As it will be only
Mr Finn we require, you will be able to enjoy our hospitality facilities, Mrs Finn, while I take your husband through his
paces for tonight. I will fetch you your security pass to sit in hospitality this evening later, okay – help yourself
to anything you like”
“Um…how long will
we be here?” Sam asked, still in the dark as to what sort of show it was.
“Half and hour, tops
– then he’s all yours until tonight!” Cassie smiled and held her arm out towards the door, Riley left after
kissing his wife and saying he’d see her later.
Sam helped herself to coffee,
and ignoring the magazines and newspapers provided, she took out the tourist guide to LA from her purse and began to read.
The door opened again, and
a man entered, with a woman carrying a clipboard.
“If you just stay here
for a moment Mr Summers I’ll find out which studio the rehearsal is going on in”
Sam looked up briefly and
smiled, but she didn’t speak.
The man nodded politely.
The door had barely closed,
and Hank Summers was poised, halfway to a sitting position, when the lady that bought him there re-entered the room and said,
“This way please, you’re
in studio 5” he left with her.
After ten minutes, a few other
people came in, and Sam ventured to ask one of the ladies with clipboards what the show was about, as Riley had been decidedly
cagey about the whole deal.
“What show is it?”
“Something about friends?
A reunion of some sort, I think – it’s my husband on the show, he’s one of the guests I think” Sam
said
“Oh, this is that new
show…um I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about it myself really…it’s Glory Benson’s new
show”
“That’s right”
“Um, I could see if
I could find out anything for you, how long are you-“
“OH, um, no, no it’s
alright, my husband is here now, thankyou all the same, I’ll find out soon enough I suppose!” Sam said brightly.
“Hey!” Riley rubbed
his hands together and smiled nervously at his wife. He still hadn’t quite plucked up the courage to tell Sam exactly
whom the show was about yet………
“Hey…so, good
rehearsal?”
“Yeah, you know, do’s
and don’ts, don’t clap loudly when you have a microphone on, don’t mumble – speak when spoken to…the
length of the anecdote I’m going to tell”
“So, who is-“
“Come on baby, why don’t
we go do some sight-seeing, hmm? – And maybe a little shopping too – Then I’ll buy you lunch” Riley
took his wife by the elbow and steered her towards the door.
“Okay, but I’ve
got to wait for my security pass yet, so I can sit in here and wait for you while you do the show. That girl, the one who
bought us in here said that she’d – oh look, here she is” Cassie came in, handing Sam a small card.
“There you go, there’s
your pass – just show that at reception and somebody will take you down there, please don’t be late, now you must
excuse me – I will see you both later, bye-bye” Cassie left, and Riley and Sam went out into the hot LA sunshine.
“So babe, where shall
we go for lunch?”
“Outside! – I
want to be outside on a day like this!!” Sam twirled around happily as they walked towards the car that had bought
them to the studios.
**********
“Okay then Mr Summers,
have you got all that? You will be the final guest, and you come out from behind the screens, greet your daughter, greet Glory,
a handshake only, kissing is strictly forbidden, that includes ‘air-kissing’ Miss Benson is very insistent upon
that, if you do have contact with her in any other way other than a handshake, she will prosecute, will you sign here please,
to say you’ve been told and understand the rules”
Hank scribbled his signature
on the sheet, and the lady with the clipboard said that he could go, but to return not any later than 5.30pm, as he had to
be ‘locked away’ so not as to spoil the surprise – the main element of the show.
*************
“I’m sorry pet,
but with Cordelia out, I’ll have to do a couple of hours in the office at least” Spike said, loading the dishwasher.
“Oh yes, she’s
got that big date with 007, hasn’t she!”
“Uh huh, so have you
thought, what are you going to do today?”
“I might go shopping…see
what’s new at Victoria’s Secret…………”
Spike rinsed his hands and
grinned.
“Well………as
long as you promise to model it for me!”
“You are naughty!”
Buffy said, grinning
“It’s YOU that
makes me naughty – c’mere you, MINX!” Buffy squealed laughing as Spike grabbed her and began to tickle her.
“Have a look to see
if they do anything for the winter…you know, thermal long-johns!” Spike said, grinning
“Ohh, kinky! That what
turns you on is it? - Long-johns!” Buffy giggled
“No, but you’ll
need something warmer than a thong for England in the middle of January!” Smiling, they were just about to kiss when
Spike’s phone rang.
Both sighing, their shoulders
sagging in unison Spike went to answer it. He came back saying it was Xander, asking what time he was going into the office,
as he wanted to go and take Harmony to the dentists to have the new crown fitted.
“You go on, I’ll
sort the dishwasher and that…if you see Harmony tell her not to worry” Buffy said
“Thanks, Kitten…I
will – bye then” he snatched a quick kiss and was gone, leaving Buffy to go shopping.
*********
“Is that you, Mr Pavayne?”
“Just Pavayne, no Mr
– yes it is”
“Cassie Newton from
Glory Benson’s show, this is just to remind you about tonight, Miss Benson said that you can be at the side of the stage
– but you must keep well hidden until she says, understand?”
“Yup, I will, thanks,
bye”
*******
“OOF – Why don’t
you watch were you’re………hey, don’t I know you?” Glory frowned up at the big guy, who had
been coming along the corridor in the opposite direction.
“Well, well…Glory
B. I’m Angel Stebson – Angel O’Connor, as I was when I fronted the Sharks”
“That’s it!”
Something clicked in Glory’s mind, and she suddenly remembered the photo in the papers earlier on in the week, of him
and Buffy.
“So…you know Buffy
Summers”
“Yes, VERY well actually.
We dated for a while…now I think it’s just a matter of time before she comes round, she’s playing hard to
get, but -“
“Are you busy tonight?”
Glory smiled a big false smile and linked arms with him.
“Tonight, no, why?”
“Only, how would you
like to guest on my new show…the first guest is Buffy Summers…………(Glory went on to explain the
concept of the show) …………and that’s about it. You come on, tell a little story… naughty
one if you like, all adds to the fun!”
“Yeah – well great,
I have a story, one day we were coming out of school, and her gym knickers fell out of her bag, but she didn’t notice,
so I picked them up and stuffed them into my pocket, and-“
“YES! Well great, that’ll
be fine, you’ll come then?” Glory couldn’t be bothered to listen so she cut him short.
“I’d LOVE to…where
is it?”
“Tonight, you have to
be at Studio 5, car-lot 9 Burbank studios, no later than 5.30pm I’ll leave you a pass at reception”
“Brilliant – well
thankyou Glory…it’s been……...great” Angel smiled and began to think of ways to spice the story
up a little - Buffy could hardly object, could she, if she didn’t know what he was going to say.
**********
“There, comfy? Shall
I open a window – are you warm enough?”
Dru fussed over Cecily, straightening
her pillows and comforter.
“I’m…ow…I’m
okay – god my throat is SO sore!”
“That was from where
they put the endoscope down your throat and into your stomach!” Dru said brightly.
Cecily winced and closed her
eyes.
“Oh Dru, shush! I don’t…I
don’t want to know, pass me my drink, will you?” She croaked.
“Here you go –
now, when you’re ready, I‘ve got LOTS to tell you!”
Cecily to be truthful was
almost wishing Dru to be her usual morose self; all this ‘full-of-the-joys’ was too much, she was almost bouncing
off the walls with happiness, and although it WAS better than her being Zombie-like, Dru’s incessant bright chatter
was too much for her to take at the moment.
She was trying to cope with
the pain in her throat and stomach, and withdrawl symptoms; the painkillers the doctor had given her hardly touched her.
“………And
I picked these this morning, although the gardener gave me a stern look, aren’t they pretty!” Dru messed with
some cut mixed blooms she’d put in a vase on the side.
“Hmm, yeah lovely, um,
Dru would you mind if-“
“Come along now –
time for your medicine!” Lorne came carefully into the room backwards, having shouldered the door open. He turned and
walked normally to the bed carrying a tray laden with medicine bottles and water.
“How are you feeling?”
He asked setting the tray down on the nightstand.
“Oh…you know…sore,
tired”
“Well, um, let me see…these
first, can you swallow okay?”
“Just about” Cecily
accepted the tablets and water and took them, and then Lorne gave her a thick chalky white liquid to drink.
“And this should sooth
the acid-burning…………there’s a good girl”
He took the medicine cup off
her and placed it back on the tray, but not before Cecily caught his eye.
“What?” he whispered,
hoping to goodness she wasn’t going to ask him to get her something ‘stronger’ in the drug department.
Cecily’s eyes held a
pained look and slid to look at Dru, then back to Lorne. He immediately knew what she meant, that she needed to be alone for
a while, and not have to listen to Dru wittering on and on, which he must admit, had begun to grate on his nerves in the car.
He gave Cecily a smile and a little nod, patting her hand.
“Right then, that’s
you all seen to – I shall bring you an egg-white omelette, then some rice pudding – you are only to have soft
bland food this week, nothing acidic. Come along then Cup-cake, it’s time for Cecily to have some sleep – you
can come up for a little while later, okay if Ceccy feels up to it?”
Dru looked across to Cecily,
who had snuggled down and looked asleep already.
“Oh, alright, but I
was…never mind, it will keep!!!” She said brightly, opening the door for Lorne and following him out.
Once the door was shut, Cecily
shifted and lay on her back, wide-awake. Lorne had told her about Rack and his heart attack, and with her own health problems
caused by drugs, she knew she had to clean up her act before it was too late.
Downstairs, Dru wandered about
the sitting room listlessly. She couldn’t put music on, as it would disturb Cecily, whose room was directly above.
“Lorne………”
She began, but then decided against asking him what she was thinking – he tending to get a little short with her when
she asked about Spike, he kept telling her Spike had another girlfriend now, and that she was to forget him……...huh
– like she EVER could!
“Hmm, sweet-cheeks?
– Which one do you think…this one, or…………this one?” From a sample book, Lorne had
laid two swatches of fabric over the back of the sofa. He continued,
“Daddy wants a change,
what do you think, the burgundy, or the bottle green?”
“Oh…the red. When
does Daddy come home?”
“Really – oh…I
thought the green…perhaps we should try – oh no, the purple’s DEFINITLEY out…hmm, this is a possibility………what
do you think, mustard yellow – it’s supposed to be old gold, but…?” Lorne looked at her expectantly,
and she screwed up her face and shook her head vigorously.
“Ew, no way. Lorne,
Daddy – when is he due back?”
“Oh...um perhaps not………
let me see, Daddy - um (Lorne closed his eyes and tipped his head back thinking, then righted it again when he’d
got the answer) Tonight. Yes, tonight, he’ll be home well before dinner he said, why shortcake? What about this colour,
the tan?”
“Oh. No reason…no,
I still prefer the red”
“Do you? But we have
so much red already”
Dru knew, that with Daddy
being home, she hadn’t got a chance of going out on her own…and she’d got something planned.
“We could go black leather………and
have white and silver Regency striped walls,” Lorne suggested.
“Whatever…I’m
going to my room to read”
“Okay kitty-cat, but
don’t disturb little Ceccy will you, she needs lots of sleep to hurry and get better, okay?”
“Promise” Dru
said, and went quietly upstairs to her room. She’d locked her door so she wouldn’t be disturbed, and drew out
a vanity case from under the bed. She opened it and took out the photos of Spike, kissed each one, and laid them on the bed,
touching and sighing over them.
“Don’t worry my
Sweet…you’ll soon be mine, and we can be together again!” She smiled and lay down amongst the pictures,
closed her eyes and began to dream of what they would do when they were reunited………
*********
Anya and Giles’ relationship
had been strained to say the least since the ‘incident’ in the Winds bar. It had been unfortunate for Giles that
there had been a couple of journalists in there at the time of the girls ‘spat’, and now all sorts of comments
were being made in various newspapers and magazines, little funny jibes about the size of his manhood, and the offers he was
getting were unbelievable.
Anya was pouring herself more
coffee when the phone rang. Giles had just put the last bite of toast in his mouth; he dusted off his fingers, wiped his mouth
on a napkin and answered it.
“Rupert Giles……………………who
is this, please? – I see, well Mandy Smallwood, no, I DO NOT want to pose for Playgirl, thankyou very much – or
any other magazine of that ilk – goodbye!” he slammed the receiver down and strode back over to the dining table.
“Another call wanting
you to-“ Anya began
With a flourish, Giles swiftly
removed his jacket from the back of the dining chair and hastily put it on.
“YES, it was, and I’m
TOTALLY, and HEARTILY SICK OF IT!” Anya winced and said quietly,
“I’ve said I’m
sorry Giles, and it wasn’t me that said it, Jenny-“
“I KNOW who said it,
where and why, I was THERE wasn’t I – it happened in MY bloody bar, didn’t it – now I’m a laughing
stock!”
Anya rose and went to him,
began to tidy his collar and said
“No – baby no,
they are not laughing at you – envious yes, I mean what guy wouldn’t want a co…um, all I’m saying
is, they are not laughing at you honey, far from it!”
“No – but what
am I famous for now, hmm? – My award winning, five star restaurant, huh? That I used to be in one of the top selling
bands that were awarded 17 platinum gold discs? – My cocktail bar, that serves the finest Martini this side of Manhattan?
– My award winning film review programme? – No. I’m now known as ‘Mr foot-long’ – I’m
just thought of as a piece of meat, that people think they can make smutty remarks and innuendoes about!”
“But honey…I LOVE
your mea - um, all I’m trying to say is, there are far worse things that you could renown for, that’s all - look
lets stay home tonight, I’ll cook us dinner and-“
“I can’t, I’m
interviewing Robert Niro and Kevin Pacey tonight about their new film, before they fly back to New York”
“Well come straight
home afterwards”
“I’ll see, I gotta
go” Giles finished the last of his coffee and left, without even giving her a kiss.
Anya sighed and felt really
sad. She knew things would eventually die down, but it was beginning to get to her too, people, strangers grinning at her,
and she just knew what they were thinking, that the only reason that she was with Giles was because………she
could kill Jenny, she really could.
*********
Buffy hailed herself a cab
and loaded her shopping, giving Spike’s address. When she got back, she set about putting together her outfit for tonight.
Having spent a fortune in
Victoria’s Secret, She selected a black lacy push-up bra, with matching black and fuchsia lacy panties. They were very
pretty, lacy fronted with roses ‘climbing’ up through the lace. She knew Spike would like them anyway!
She laid three outfits on
the bed, trying to decide which one to wear for tonight’s show. Her cell phone rang and she answered.
“Hi babe, been shopping?”
“Yup…spent a fortune
in Victoria’s Secret…I’m just trying to decide what to wear for tonight”
“Well, I’ve just
about finished up here, how about if I come home, and you can model them for me, and we can decide together” Buffy grinned
and said,
“I suppose me flitting
around, in the bedroom, in my scanty little undies would have nothing to do with this kind offer of yours, would it?”
Spike rumbled a deep chuckle making Buffy shiver, and her stomach go all soft…
“ABSOLUTELY! Why, have
you any objections?”
“None whatsoever! Just
get yourself back here, NOW!!!” Buffy still grinning ended the call, and Spike left the office taking the stairs, he
didn’t have time to hang around for the lift!
