Chapter 4: Meetings at the gallery
It was 8:00 o’clock and the gallery was now open for the exhibition. Willow and Tara were at the doors checking tickets and Joyce was standing just behind them to welcome everyone to the gallery. Buffy had taken up the task of serving the drinks and was filling the glasses.
The room was slowly filling with people, so Buffy made her way to the backroom to arrange the food trays and get more wine. She just walked out of the room when Spike and Giles walked into the building, just missing them.
Joyce gave them a warm welcome. “Rupert! It’s so nice that you could make it!” she said, smiling widely at him. Giles shook her hand and smiled back at her. “It’s good to be here, Joyce, you know I always come to your exhibitions when I get the chance. I’d like you to meet a new friend of mine. This is Spike Devine.” Giles motioned to Spike who was standing next to him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Devine,” Joyce said, while shaking his hand.
Spike took it and placed a soft kiss the back. “The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Summers, but please call me Spike. Mr Devine makes me think of my father.”
Joyce blushed at Spike’s gesture and replied, “And you may call me Joyce, Spike. And you’re very welcome to the exhibition. Are you a fan of art?” she questioned.
“Art is one of my passions, drawing as well as writing. It speaks to me in a certain way, and I’m glad I have now found a place where I can go to admire new art.” Spike smiled at her.
Joyce motioned the two men further into the gallery while she welcomed the other guests.
Spike and Giles walked to the table where the drinks were waiting for them and each took a glass. Just then Buffy came out from the backroom with new bottles of wine. Giles was the first to see her and called out to her.
“Hi there, Buffy. How are you feeling today? Still enjoying your work at the company?” Giles asked gently.
Buffy sighed and shook her head. She was just about to reply when she noticed a man standing behind Giles with his back to them. He had platinum blond hair and she only knew one person who had such particular hair colour. Giles noticed the direction her gaze shifted to and smiled to himself.
“Oh dear, how rude of me. Buffy I’d like you to meet Spike Devine, Spike, this is Buffy Summers, daughter of Joyce Summers whom you just met.”
Spike had turned around to them and gazed into the lovely face of the woman he’d been worried about the last two weeks. She looked as beautiful as ever. He extended his hand to her and she took it tentatively.
“Hello love, nice to see you again. I haven’t seen you at the pub since the party.”
Buffy blushed when she thought back of what had happened at the party.
“I’ve been busy,” she mumbled uncomfortably while avoiding his gaze.
Spike frowned at this, thinking that was not the main reason he hadn’t seen her lately.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to fill more glasses and get the food out,” Buffy said.
“Of course, dear, I will speak to you later,” Giles replied with a smile and watched the girl retreat.
“She’s a sweet girl, although very shy around people she doesn’t know. Once you get to know her, you’ll see that she’s a very lively girl,” Giles said to Spike who was still watching Buffy’s retreating back. Giles knew Spike was determined to find that out for himself.
Spike nodded and promised himself that he would talk to her later that evening to try and lure her out of her shell. He was too intrigued by her to let her passive attitude towards him prevent him from getting to know her.
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Spike was walking around the gallery and watching the paintings when he was tapped on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Joyce smiling at him.
“Hello Spike, enjoying the exhibition so far?” she asked while handing him a glass of wine.
“It’s wonderful, really. It’s been a while since I went to a nice art gathering, and this one is just perfect. You’ve got a lovely gallery here, Joyce. I will visit it often, I can assure you,” Spike replied.
He looked around and noticed Buffy standing with Willow and Tara, having an animated conversation. It was wonderful to see her so relaxed, and he could see the liveliness in her gestures that Giles had mentioned earlier that night.
Joyce following his gaze and noticed it was focused on Buffy. She smiled to herself. Knowing that Buffy wasn’t an easy woman when it came to relationships, she hoped things would go differently this time. She liked Spike, even with his big bad image she’d heard about from Giles, amongst other things. She could see he had a kind heart. He would be good for her daughter.
Smiling she took Spike’s arm and said “Come on, Spike. Let’s meet my daughter and her friends. I know you’re dying to get to know them a little better.”
She laughed at the expression he gave her, knowing he’d been caught staring at her daughter.
Joyce walked up to the group with Spike.
“Hi girls, I’d like you to meet Spike. Spike, this is Willow, Tara and my daughter Buffy.”
Spike shook hands and took Buffy’s and gave a little kiss at the back of hers. Willow smiled and looked over at Joyce to see her reaction to the antics of Spike charming her daughter right in front of her. Knowing that Joyce had been urging Buffy to go out more and meet new people, Willow watched as the smile on Joyce’s face grew, which only meant she had faith in what was to come.
“It’s great to meet you again, love. You walked away so quickly before, I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you.”
Buffy blushed, and had no idea how to act. Noticing this, Spike smiled reassuringly at her, not wanting to frighten her off. He turned to Willow and Tara to give Buffy some time to regain her composure.
“How are you ladies finding the exhibition so far? A big success as hoped?” he asked Willow and Tara.
Willow was the first to respond.
“It’s great. The guests have been very positive and it looks like they’re enjoying themselves, which is always a good sign.” She laughed.
“We usually help Joyce out when she has a new exhibition opening. Buffy and I met in high school when she and her mom moved here. Even back then she’d help Joyce with the gallery, and that’s how I got into it,” Willow explained.
Spike looked back at Buffy to see her reaction to the conversation. “So love, are you as much into art as your mother?” he asked her.
Buffy had calmed down a bit while Willow and Spike were having their conversation.
“I like it, but I’m mostly working here to help out my mom,” she replied feeling more at ease with Willow standing next to her.
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The conversation went on gradually and Buffy felt more and more at ease. Spike was very nice and gentle, and didn’t make her feel bad or intimidated. He talked about his trip to the U.S.A. and how he started his pub.
It was almost time to close the exhibition, and most guests had already left.
Buffy excused herself from the party to clean up the dishes. When she was about to pick up a tray with dirty glasses, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned around and saw Spike standing there, and to her surprise he seemed somewhat nervous.
“Buffy, I don’t know how to ask this delicately without scaring you away, but I’d really like to get to know you better. I was wondering if you would like to go out for a drink with me tomorrow night?” he asked her.
A little taken aback by this request, Buffy bit her bottom lip contemplating her answer. After the conversation she’s had with him and her friends, she’d felt at ease with his presence. She was surprised by his persona. He’d shown them that he was a very soft and caring person. And she really wanted to get to know him better too. She was intrigued by him.
Turning on her automatic defence mechanism, she answered him.
“I don’t know Spike… I don’t know what your intentions are.” She blushed at her own insecurity.
“Buffy, I’m not asking you for anything. I just want to get to know you better. I’m not going to force you into anything you don’t want. You do what you feel is right. We’ll do this on your terms, ok?”
Sensing her insecurities, and remembering what happened back at the club, he felt this was the best way to approach her without scaring her away too much.
“Ok… I’ll meet you at 8:00 o’clock at Little London.” she replied.
Spike smiled and nodded. “8:00 o’clock it is then, love”
Giving her a last reassuring smile, Spike walked back to the group so Buffy could continue her cleaning and rethink what had just happened.
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Later that night, Buffy was on the phone with Willow, reliving the events of that evening. She still couldn’t believe that Spike had showed up and that the evening ended with him asking Buffy out for drinks. When Willow had heard the news, she’d been so happy for Buffy. All the signs of mutual attraction were there, and she knew this could be a wonderful opportunity for Buffy to get over her fears of men. Spike had shown that evening what a gentlemen he was, and that he certainly wasn’t the player type that only thought of getting into her pants.
“Just relax, Buffy. Everything is going to be just fine. You know he’s not going to push you into anything. It’s what he said himself. He just wants to get to know you. And you want to get to know him too. You can’t deny that, missy,” Willow teased her.
Buffy giggled at this.
“You’re right Wills, I do like him.”
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Right, so that's chapter 4. They meet, talk and even have a 'date' for drinks. Are you all stil happy with me? Please review to tell me what you think so far. Thanks!
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to oeveryone for reviewing! It's great to read my wok is appreciated. Also thanks to my extra beta's. I was getting in a bit of trouble without the second beta. Enjoy this chapter!