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Part 14- (b)




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
All's forgotten now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



He looked over the menu, choosing foods that he
liked and thought Buffy might enjoy as well.

The waiter was hovering nearby, and appeared at
their table side when William beckoned him.

"Nous commencerons par prendre du pate de
Foies de Volailles Maison, apres...cela des
Escargots, une salade de chevre chaud, le carre
d'agneua roti, et enfin comme dessert, le fondant
au chocolate."

Scribbling on his pad, the waiter nodded. "Tres
bon choix, monsieur," he murmured.

"Merci." William handed him their menus. "Ce
sera tout."

After the waiter's departure, William looked at
Buffy and found her smiling at him in delight.

"Okay, I'm impressed," she said. "Now, I wish
I'd taken French."

He returned her smile. "You do?"

"Yeah...that was beautiful," she nodded. "Order-
ing food in English NEVER sounds that good."

"It's a beautiful language," he agreed. "One of the
'Romance' languages."

Buffy giggled. "Very romantic."

William's dark eyes were alight with amusement. He
leaned over the table and took her small hand in
his. "Buffy," he said softly, "Tu es belle a chaque fois
que je te vois. Tu es belle a la lumiere, au clair de lune,
eclairee d'un rayon de soleil, mais te regarder maintenant
a la luere de ces bougies et je retombe amoureux de
toi, comme au premiere jour."

Her eyes became wider with every word that passed
his lips so eloquently. He spoke with such tender-
ness...such a depth of sincerity...that she almost
knew what he was saying without having to ask.

Lifting her hand, he placed a sweet kiss on the
back of it. "Tu m' enchantes."

She entwined her fingers with his, almost unable
to speak past the lump in her throat.

"That was beautiful," she finally said, squeezing
his hand. "What did you say?"

William returned the pressure of her hand. "I
said that you get more beautiful every time I
see you. You're lovely by moonlight...and by
daylight...but seeing you now in candlelight
makes me fall in love with you all over again.
You've enchanted me."

Buffy smiled sweetly. "I love you, too," she
whispered, her eyes shining with the fury of
passionate adoration he brought out in her.

Every word he spoke...every syllable...was
a caress that she could feel.

And she never wanted to be without it again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're all alone.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Buffy stared down at the plate the waiter had
placed in front of her. She looked at the plate,
looked up at William, then back down at the
plate.

Struck by a sudden premonition that she was
about to regret not insisting he order in plain
English, she regarded the offering in front of her
with a dubious eye.

A mound of grayish, brownish paste was
surrounded by little slices of toast and..

**Are those PICKLES?**

....draped over it. There was a small pile of
lettuce on the side of the dish, with a cherry
tomato balanced on top.

The whole thing looked highly unappetizing
to her.

"Um...maybe," she said doubtfully, "we shouldn't
spoil our appetites for dinner. And...and I had a
late lunch," she tacked on, lamely.

William smiled at her. "Just try it," he urged.

Buffy sighed and picked up her fork. "What is
it?"

He reached over and removed the cutlery from
her hand, then picked up a knife and spread some
of the mess on a slice of toast.

The maneuver was so smoothly done that she
didn't even have time to be embarassed by her mistake
before he was giving her the piece of bread.

"This," he explained, "is Pate de Foies de
Volaille."

Buffy took a bite and chewed.

"It's chicken liver."

Her jaw stopped moving, and she stared
at him. "Chicken...liver?" she mumbled through
the mouthful of food.

"Mm-hmm," William nodded, putting together
another serving. "Do you like it?"

Actually....she kind of did! Surprise, surprise...it
was pretty tasty once you got past the idea of
eating a chicken's liver.

She swallowed and shrugged her shoulders. "It's
good," she said, and took another bite.

Apparently, she'd been worried for no reason about
him ordering in French. If the rest of the meal was
as good as this, then.....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"You've gotta be kidding me."

The food in front of Buffy now made the gray and
brown glop of chicken liver look like ambrosia.

"Don't say anything until you've tried it," William
teased, picking up the utensils that accompanied
this this offering. "It's delicious."

"You can have mine," she said promptly.

It was a sincere remark. No way was she going
eat something she squished in her mother's rose
bushes on a regular basis.

Picking up one of the snails with a tiny pair of
tongs, he dug it's innards out with a small fork.

Buffy immediately drew back. "No, thank you."

Her demeanor seemed to amuse him. "Escargot
de Bourgogne," he announced. "Sauteed in
garlic and butter. Try it."

Groping for an excuse not to, Buffy said, "Some-
times I have trouble with shellfish...kind of an
allergy thing, so.."

"This isn't shellfish," he replied.

"It has a shell."

"It's not a fish." He held out the fork and it's
disgusting passenger. "I promise you," he added.
"You put enough garlic and butter on it, even
shoe leather will taste good."

"That's not very reassuring," Buffy muttered,
opening her mouth and accepting his offering.

As it turned out, he was right!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All's forgotten now, my love..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"William...maybe you'd better tell me what's
coming next," Buffy said, wanting to prepare
herself.

"Salad is next," he informed her. "Salade de
Chevre Chaud."

"Oh!" What a relief. Salad was something she
knew.

Or so she had imagined....

"This is salad?" This was NOT salad!

"That's right," he said. Some mixed greens, tomato
and vinaigrette. Salad."

Buffy made a face, which he missed. "What's that
on top of it?"

"Melted goat cheese."

Well, she'd HAD to ask!

Gamely, she picked up her salad fork and plunged in.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're all alone.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


How much longer was this meal going to last?

It was a question she'd been wanting to ask out
loud since the melted goat cheese.

Buffy looked glumly at the new plate of food. "And
this is...?"

"Carre D'Agnuau Roti," he answered. "It's a..."

She held up one hand. "Never mind. I don't want
to know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let it out, let it all begin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is there anything else coming?" Buffy asked,
wiping her mouth on her napkin.

William leaned back and smiled. "There's dessert."

She didn't want to even imagine what kind of
desserts they served at this place. Probably some-
thing like pine cones dipped in marshmallow cream.

Patting her tummy, she shook her head. "I don't
think I can."

Once again, the waiter set a plate in front of her.

"Maybe I can!"

Now, THIS was more like it. She could actually
identify this food. A slice of chocolate cake
cake arranged in swirling patterns of hot fudge.

"Fondant au Chocolat," William said, watching
the delight on her expressive face. "I thought you'd
like it."

Buffy took a bite and gazed heavenward. "Good."

It was so good that it almost made up for the snails.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Learn how to pretend..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TBC.....
(Needing feedback here, y'all)





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