William threw the phone against in the wall and watched it smash into a thousand pieces. His intention in calling was to see how Buffy and Ella were keeping. He had been distracted in his wonderings, what had they been doing? Were they having fun? Were they missing him as much as he was missing them? He had finally called for his own piece of mind -- if he had kept his wonderings up, he would never get any work done.
All his good intentions flew out the window as soon as he had heard Buffy say that git’s Riley’s name. Something in him snapped. He could hear himself on the phone lashing out at Buffy and berating himself for it but what else could he do? Perhaps tell her how I feel would be a good start.
He did not mean to take it out on Buffy but he wanted her to hurt, to feel the pain that he was feeling. He knew it was childish and wrong but he did not care. Most of all he knew it was his fault. All he had done since she had arrived was ignore and push her away. Not because he hated being around her but because he liked it, he liked it a lot.
In the short time she had been here, she has given him glimpses into a life he never thought he could live; moreover deserve to live. He had closed himself off to an emotional life a long time ago and he had packaged it up in such a way he thought it was the best thing he could have done. In fact, he wondered why more people did not choose a life like his, saving themselves from the torment, stress, and pain that relationships held.
She had wandered into his life and in less than a month she had unravelled the package leaving him to pick up the pieces and try to fit them back in. Why did she do that? She had no right. He was happy with his lot; really happy in fact, he was as happy as he had ever been. What had she done to him to make that happiness seem so hollow?
His anger gained a new momentum. He was no longer just angry with himself for being angry, he was also angry at Buffy for showing him the other side of the coin.
Remorse would soon follow. He knew that, but for the time being, he was in the anger stage and that is where he wanted to stay.
Buffy was seething, but it was the kind of seething that could give way to tears at just the right prompting. She could not remember ever being so angry in her life. And frustrated. She had actually missed that asshole. She had been so happy to hear his voice on the other end, and then he had treated her like crap and made a dig about her inability to take care of Ella. Hello—she was the one that was home with her, wasn’t she? Where was he? He was in fucking London! At least she had taken Ella out with her, got her out of the house and spent some time with her. Again, he was in London for a week.
“So, did class do anything at all to help?” Riley asked after class.
Folding up her mat, she smiled at Riley, though the smile was not heartfelt. “Sorry, I’m having a crappy day. Got a lot on my mind.”
“Anything you want to talk about? I’m told I’m a good listener.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, “Really, it’s nothing. Just…family stuff. So, how long is the centre going to be out of commission for?”
“Who knows? They say a month, but one can never tell. Not an ideal place to have a class, here in this cramped room, that’s for sure. I’m trying to see if I can find another location that’s cheap and has plenty of room, I don’t want—“
“Have it my house,” Buffy blurted out.
Riley stared at her, “What?”
She was most likely going to catch extreme hell for this from William, but at that point in time, she did not care. In fact, she was looking forward to seeing his face when he arrived home and found she had turned the ballroom into a yoga centre.
“Have it at my house,” she said again. “I have this gigantic ballroom that never gets used since I don’t know very many people here, my brother-in-law has no friends, and therefore no life, and it’s not the 1800’s, no one has balls anymore. It’s a huge room for plenty of people to be able to spread out in. It’s perfect. And, you don’t have to pay any rent. On one condition.”
Riley was looking dazed, “And that is?”
“You let me co-teach the class. I need to make some money on my own and I’m barely skilled in anything else. I love yoga and I love teaching yoga. I know I don’t look like much—“
Riley held up his hand, cutting her off. “Buffy, stop.”
She clamped her mouth shut, and watched as Riley held out his hand. “It’s a deal,” he said.
Smiling, and really feeling the smile that time, she took his hand and shook it eagerly.
William was in a bad mood. He had had to rearrange his entire schedule to be able to make it home earlier than planned, which meant having to cram in meetings that were best spread out.
He gave every excuse for why he had to get home earlier than the weekend, but the real reason, the reason why he made himself mad to get home, was so he could keep a watchful eye on Buffy and Riley.
After some of his anger had abated, and only some, he had been filled with an even more intense loneliness than what he had been feeling before he rang Buffy.
Images of Riley and Buffy together, with little Ella between them floated unbidden to his mind and it made him sick. No, that would not happen. First, there would be no taking Ella from him, and second there would be no taking Buffy – Dammit!
He was going to ring her pretty little neck for making him feel this way.
Coming into the house and discarding his suitcase at the door, William opened his mouth to shout for Buffy. That fantasy of her and Ella coming to greet him when he arrived back home had apparently been just that – a fantasy and just as he had opened his mouth, to shout for her, he heard voices coming from the ballroom down the hall.
Her voice, followed by a man’s voice and then others joined in after. Curious.
Stalking quietly down the hall, he found the ballroom doors closed. Narrowing his eyes, he opened the doors in one great swoop.
He stopped and stared. People were everywhere and on yoga mats. In addition, Buffy was up at the front of the room, right next to Riley who was helping her into some position that looked much like a sexual position they had done . . .
“Buffy!” William roared, “What the hell is going on in here?”