Prologue

There have been many different words used to describe me –selfish, cold, pig-headed, stubborn– and my ex-wife’s favorite, misogynistic. Now personally, I think she’s wrong. The definition of misogynistic, directly quoted from the dictionary is “characterized by a hatred of women”. I however do not hate woman, quite the opposite actually. I think they’re bloody fantastic, I love woman…which in all likeness is probably the reason my ex-wife left me in the first place. Can’t rightly say I blame her.

When I married Cordelia I had this great idea of the newlywed life and of how much I’d always love her and how perfect it was going to be. Not the bloody case was it? For one, now that I look back on it I realize that I never loved Cordy, it was the idea of the perfect life that I loved. I envisioned it to be like my parents marriage which was seemingly perfect in everyway until my mom, Anne, died. Their marriage was ideal, the kind of love that they had was something I’d gladly give up my womanizing days for. So I guess when I asked Cordelia to marry me I had by that pointed made myself delusional to the real state of things and how much we actually did bicker and argue, more like siblings then lovers really.

By this point I’ve gotten so comfortable with my lifestyle, that I really could care less if I ever find ‘the one’, the thought almost makes me laugh. So as far as I’m concerned this is how my life is going to be until the I’m old and rich and have my telly and good ol’ Jack to keep me company. Did I mention I’m a bastard corporate lawyer?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

William ‘Spike’ Giles made his way through the 15th floor offices occasionally exchanging a few words with the men and smiling charmingly at the woman. Because William Giles didn’t leer, he charmed the woman in and out of his bed. The woman in his office were off limits however, at least on his floor. Couldn’t afford any sexual harassment charges from any woman he may not feel inclined to call back, he was one of the most prominent lawyers the Wolfram & Hart had. How would that look on his record?

“Wesley, where are the project files for the current…”

The files were handed over before he could finish the sentence and he patted the other man on the shoulder, genuine grin on his face. “Good man, that’s why I like you Wes, always ahead of the game.”

“And here I thought it was because of my ability to keep up with the bull you spout.” He replayed keeping up with the quick strides.

“Ah, that would put you in the same category as my ex.”

“Phone call for you Mr. Giles. Line one.”

He slapped Wesley on the shoulder one last time and nodded a quick affirmative to his secretary before proceeding into his office.

Sitting down in his cushioned black chair he looked out at his office. God he loved this job. He had the best office on the floor, spacious and lavishly decked out as he wished. One side was designated for awards and recognitions; the other held a large leather couch. Spinning the chair around he looked out the wall sized window. The view was a bonus.

Picking up the phone he pressed the line one button and prepared his business persona. “William Giles speaking.”

***
The music blared from the cars speakers, Spike tapping along to the beat, occasionally singing the lyrics. It was his form of stress relief, well, besides the more adult kind. The car turned into the driveway and Spike turned it off, putting his sunglasses into place and grabbing his suitcase.

The life of William Giles did not hold many surprises. He was a simple man, he woke up in the morning, went to work and spent some time with his friends on the weekends. The woman didn’t some as surprises, they came expected. So when he reached the front door that he locked everyday after leaving the house, only to have it very unlocked, he was confused as hell.

Twisting the handle he slowly walked in, half expecting to be jumped by some big guy, or find his house cleaned out.

“Hi Will.”

He turned sharply in the direction of the living room. Sitting on the couch, feet kicked up onto the coffee table and flipping through the channels on his big screen television was his only niece.
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A/N: Like it so far? Please comment. Also I don't believe prologue's or epiloue's count with the regular 1000 word per chapter rule (or it didn't used to). So since this is I'll just add a song that II was listening to while I was writing the car part. Besides the admin has way to many problems to deal with nevermind somehow changing the formattng of the site to fit this one thing. Well, onceagain, hope you like it so far. :)

Seether - Truth

If I gave you the truth, would it keep you alive?
Though I'm closer to wrong
I'm no further from right
And now I'm convinced on the inside that something's wrong with me
Convinced on the inside, you're so much more than me, yeah
No there's nothing you say that can salvage the lie
But I'm trying to keep my intentions disguised
And now I'm deprived of my conscience and something's got to give
Deprived of my conscience
This all belongs to me, yeah

I'm beaten down again, I belong to them
Beaten down again, I've failed you
I'm weaker now my friend, I belong to them
Beaten down again, I've failed you

The deception you show is your own parasite
Just a word of advice you can heed if you like
And now I'm convinced on the inside that something's wrong with me
Convincd on the inside you're so much more than me, yeah
I'm beaten down

Chapter 1

“What in bleedin hell…”

The teen gave him a teasing smirk. “That any way to welcome a family member?”

“How did you…and where is…” He stopped talking, trying to gather up his wits at the unforeseen turn of events. He was at a complete loss. “You didn’t run away did you?”

She rolled her eyes. “And come here? Hardly.”

“So why are you here? And how did you get in?”

Getting up she walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbed a can of beer opening it, only to have it snatched out of her hands. With an indignant huff she grabbed a coke instead. “Mom sent me. She’s met some new honey and he decided to take her to Paris.” She said exadurating the name. “Oh, and you put your spare key just about the same place as everyone else on earth, might want to get a new spot to hide it.” She said tossing him the key.

He leaned his weight on his left hand, placing it on the counter. His sister had never been the most responsible person in the world. But to leave her daughter with another family member, without even mentioning it before hand was more then unexpected. And flying halfway across the world on a whim, without that daughter, wasn’t something he thought her capable of.

“Did you fly here alone?”

She nodded boredly tossing the empty can at the garbage can and missing. She shrugged it off and smiled innocently at his annoyed look.

“And how long do you suppose your mother will be…unavailable?”

Her good mood seemed to be spoiled and he knew why. She understood what he was asking her, ‘when do you think you’ll be leaving?’. He understood it wasn’t the girls fault but his life wasn’t used to accommodate a teenager.

She got up from her seat and walked passed him, a barely repressed look of anger and hurt on her face. “I’m tired. Already set everything up in the guest room. Don’t worry, I wont get in your way.” With that she went up the stairs taking them two at a time.

“Night Kate.”

It looked like tonight’s date with Julia was off.

***
The two occupants of the kitchen sat across the table from each other. A lengthy silence had started shortly after Spike had made breakfast. He sat there eating, stealing awkward glances at Kate every now and then while she tried to ignore them.

“Um, I have to work today.”

She glanced up from busily poking her bacon. “Yeah? I’ll be just fine, there’s supposed to be some big chick flick marathon on one of the channels and I’ll just order some pizza. “She pushed the plate away from her. “I’m vegetarian by the way.”

He cleared his throat. “Actually, I planned for you to spend the day with Cordy, I probably won’t be back til’, er, late.”

Her sigh served to make him feel even more tense, he’d never dealt with teenagers before and so far it was a mystery to him. Maybe it would have been different if it was a guy but it wasn’t. “Fine, I get it. You don’t trust me alone in the house, wreckless teen. Blah blah blah, all that crap. And Cordelia agreed to this little arrangement?” She had spent time with Cordy on numerous occasions while the two were still together. Altogether she liked her ex aunt, but she wasn’t someone who she could really relate to. Or put up with for more then a few hours at a time.

“Yeah.” ‘After a lot of groveling... He could almost hear the conversation on the phone replay in his head, and was glad it hadn’t taken place in person. Cordelia wasn’t known for being the most understanding person ever. Or maybe he just saw it that way because he was used to being the boss and usually got his way, so when a little opposition was sent his way he got easily frustrated. Yet anther reason why he wasn’t made to take care of teenagers.


“William Giles! How can you think of dumping your niece onto someone else after she got sent to you? That’s a little cold even for you!”

Spike sighed rubbing his closed eyes. “Look I’m not dumping her on you! I just need you to watch her for a little while, just when I’m at work. It’s not like your someone she doesn’t know.”

“That has nothing to do with it! She’s your responsibility now and I’ll have you know I have a job too.”

“My bloody responsibility? Her mother send her alone to me and flew off to Paris with some sod, and this is my fault? Somehow now I have no choice but to take care of a teenage girl, when I have now clue how to bloody well do that!”

He could almost see her caving in. Almost. “Besides you’re a woman.”

“You had better not be implying what I think you are. I a business woman in the fashion industry, who never planned on having kids in the first place. So don’t you dare give me the whole ‘woman are made for it’ bull shit.”

“Look..”

“I’ll do it. But not for you, for Kate. And only for today, after that I won’t be able to so you’ll have to figure it out. Maybe…maybe I’ll be able to convince my sister to help you out since she usually works evenings.”

“Thanks Cordy, I owe you.” He sighed in relief.

“Yeah, you owe me about ten thousand.”


“Ok, whatever. But I doubt she’ll be ok with it for much longer.” His complete ignorance and lack of tact caused him to miss the slight dejection in her voice as she said it.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you guys will do some fun stuff.”

A knock on the door made his face light up. “That must be her now.”

Kate walked to the door behind Spike. Smiling politely at Cordelia when the door opened. She looked exactly how she had remembered the fashionista. Designer clothes and killer high heels.

“Hi Kiddo. Looks like your stuck with me for the day.”

The slim brunette gave her a wry smile as she grabbed her things. “Looks like.”

“Be good.” Spike said before closing the door. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hi sweets, looks like we’re back on for tonight.”
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A/N: I just want to say thanks for the reviews and I hope you read the authors notes in the begining because they explain some of the plot. Thanks

Chapter 2

“What do you think? The red or gold?”

Kat sat in the chair next to the photographer’s equipment eyeing it with longing. For a while now she had wanted to major in photography as soon as she got into university. The first time she had mentioned the idea to her parents had also been the last. It always seemed like nothing but the trial and error process with her parents, but it always seemed to end in error. When her father heard the idea he smiled at her indulgently and told her it was a nice hobby. It reminded her of the way a parent would smile at a scribbled drawing of a two year old to make them feel good about themselves, even though they knew it was silly. Her mother had a response that she preferred, because even though she had given her a petulant frown, she had told her straight, that the idea in her eyes, was ridiculous. That she should be thinking of marrying someone with a great deal of money, or if she really wanted to try being a working woman then being a doctor was fine. Kat couldn’t stand the sight of blood. That must have slipped her mothers mind. And even though her mother’s answer was a little harsher, she preferred it because it was the truth, she wasn’t trying to spoil her or treat her like a child.

She turned her eyes to the model. “I think you looked better in green.” A smile graced her face at the annoyed look of the model. Green had been the color that she had absolutely opposed to from the beginning. Something about a radio active bridesmaid disaster.

“Miss Chase, does this kid have to be here? It’s ruining my concentration; you do want these promotional shots to turn out right don’t you?”

Cordelia rubbed her temples in agitation. She could understand that Kate was bored, she was a teenager with possibly different tastes then her, but dealing with a model who didn’t seem to like her was growing into a pain. Although she preferred her ex niece to any other obnoxious teenager because she didn’t seem nearly as spirited, she did have her own more subtle way of throwing barbs. It would have almost been entertaining if she wasn’t paying the large amount of money for all the equipment and the model so the shoot could take place.

“How about the red, the gold seemed slightly too showy for this particular style.”

Kat rolled her neck, was it really possible to die of boredom? Glancing off to the side she saw Cordelia shake her head irately at something and step of to the side. Taking it as an opportunity she picked up the large camera. She peered through it, playing with the focus. As she adjusted it to the right setting a very annoyed looking photographer came into view. In shock she tried to take the camera from her face but managed only to let it slip from her hands. Wide eyed she stared at the now broken camera at her feet and the red faced man that stood nearby. The lens was no more. A crack down the middle made sure of that.

“Oops?” He was furious, she could tell, although it wasn’t a hard thing to notice when he was practically having a silent hernia right in front of her. It would almost have been entertaining if it hadn’t been because of her.

“Miss Chase!”

She winced at the loud yell that erupted from the decidedly small man. Boy could he have a temper. She watched Cordelia run into view and survey the scene. Kate averted her eyes as she talked to the photographer, who was still very red faced. And then Cordelia came over and asked her to accompany her into another room.

“It was an accident, I swear.” She wasn’t particularly sorry about the man’s camera, but the small amount of respect she held for her ex aunt, even if it was just from the fact that she had been married to a guy like Will and survived, made her want to apologize.

Cordelia smiled lightly, despite her still tense body stance.

And it had been an accident. How was she supposed to not drop the camera at seeing that pudgy little man. He was so unlike anything she had ever pictured a photographer to be. Short, bald and decidedly mean. Definitely not good looking. He didn’t even walk like a normal person, she could swear he lurked.

“It’s fine.” She glanced at her watch. “Uhm, look. I don’t want to seem inhospitable or like I’m not enjoying your company, cus’ I am!” She averted quickly. “But I should probably be taking you back now. Don’t worry tomorrow will be better, you’ll be spending some time with my sister. I know what a boring place this can be, especially for a teenager. You’re ok with that aren’t you?”

Kat nodded. She had to be. What other choice did she have?

“Good.” Cordelia smiled.

***
Elizabeth flipped through her organizer, mentally calculating the hours that she would be working each time, and the amount of times she had been phoned, or not, to come back. Tonight she was scheduled from four to eight with some breaks in between. Nearly three years of routine and now she was making a detour. Her sisters powers of persuasion still managed to render her speechless after some sort of agreement.

Pulling into a long driveway she glanced in her rearview mirror once again questing herself on what had possessed her to agree to the arrangement of taking care of her sisters ex husbands niece. Teenage years hadn’t exactly been her sweetest years. She had slightly above average grades, average looks –but not enough to get noticed by guys- and a few friends. Who had no lasted past high school. The few guys that she had liked were either a mistaken fondness that turned into friendship, or relationships that eventually lost all of the attraction. If she remembered it correctly Cordelia had been the one with all the jaded romances which caused her to stay up late and eat lots of oreo’s with her sister. Elizabeth had been the shoulder to lean on, the reliable friend, and the confusing daughter. Ever since her parents divorce all she had wanted was consistency.

Sometime during her reminiscing she had managed to successfully park the car and get out. So why was she agreeing to take care of a teenager who had whatever she asked for but not what she wanted? She reached the front door and rang the bell. Maybe it was the realization that she was one of the only people that the girl would have, that compelled her to do it.

The door swung open and she was greeted by the face of a man she had only seen once before in her life. “Hello pet.” His eyes then turned to look at the dark haired teen. “Kate this is…”

“Elizabeth.” The blonde supplied slightly annoyed.

“Right, right. Well I have to be off for a meeting, you know where the extra key is, and make sure you don’t break anything this time alright luv?” Kate nodded mutely turning her eyes away, convinced that her new babysitter, for lack of a better word, would not think she would be a nuisance.

Elizabeth frowned. Or maybe it was this jackass that made her want to take the offer.