[Reviews - 111]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 4833 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
A longer chapter. I skipped some time here too... which I'm sure everyone notices. lol. I hope you like it! Please leave reviews, good or bad I want to hear what you have to say. Any advice or suggestions are welcome too. It's good to hear anything, even if I may decide not to use it. Thanks!

Also, I wanted to thank Cissi for the inspiration for the story. I love your story Everlasting Love. And thanks to... cordykitten (you're a loyal reviewer, thanks hun), PhotographyNut, PrettyGirlBPD, Melly, flyingnicole, Minna, and djonie. PS - Spike/other is not a sexual situation in this chappie. :) And you won't have to put up with much more of it.
Chapter 3 – As Time Passes By

-5 years later-

San Francisco, California

Buffy was a woman working hard in the fashion industry. She loved her job and she loved coming home to her son. During the day she left him with a daycare service that her office supplied. She’d pick him up just after work and head home with him. He was her world and had been for the last 5 years. Ever since his birth that March his happiness was all that mattered to her. She worked hard through school so that she could get a good job when she graduated and be able to provide for him.

She hadn’t been home in the last 5 years either. She called and she emailed and sent pictures to her mom and Willow, but she didn’t visit. They had come out to visit her a few times and it was wonderful to see old friends and family again, but she still didn’t want to go back to Sunnydale.

The way Buffy looked at it was she’d made a new home. Sunnydale wasn’t home anymore. It was a part of her past, a past that she had moved on from. Right now she was content to continue living her life in San Francisco. She was happy enough.

Her job was good and she enjoyed it. She remembered sitting in her kitchen in Sunnydale the day she found out she was pregnant with Will. She had flipped through the style pages of the paper. That day had never left her mind and in college she had pursued fashion as a career. She didn’t design clothes perse but she put outfits together for rich people attending big events. As of yet she hadn’t worked for any big name celebrities like those in Hollywood, but her name was extending through the circles. She hoped that maybe one day she would be one of those people known for putting together such and such’s outfit for a big awards gala, but she was content to wait for that day to come. She would work hard until it did.

San Francisco was a nice city. It offered a lot for her career, not as much as LA would but it was still good, and it was nice for Will. She took him out to the park near their apartment on the weekends and sometimes they went to the zoo or aquarium. He liked seeing all the animals, big and small. He was curious about everything. It made her more curious about how he saw things around him. She was more cynical now. The turn her life had taken had hardened her to a lot, but she was still Buffy. Deep down she still had a soft, good heart and she still cared. She just didn’t like to show it for fear someone would trample on it.

Her love life was a different thing now. In high school she had dated the popular guys, the jocks and even an actor once. They never turned out that well. William was always there to catch her then. Now she didn’t have anyone but herself to count on and she had someone else counting on her. The last thing she wanted right now was the complications that dating would bring. So, she didn’t give herself time to date. Part of her reasoning behind this was the fear that no guy would want to date a single mom, more than that though she was afraid.

Buffy Summers, career woman at 23, was afraid of putting her heart on the line. After that night with William she kept her heart safely guarded behind walls and gates and locked away tight. If she had let anyone get close enough to see her in a candid moment they would have seen that the only time she gave herself over completely was with her son.

Will was the light in her life. When she was with him everything else faded away. It was hard raising him by herself, but she had made it through whatever came and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way now. Everything she did was for him.

At the age of 5 Will didn’t understand what his mother did for him. He didn’t understand a lot of things about life and how things could have been or could be. Buffy never talked about William. When Will was born she had named him for his father, but that was all. She still thought about him, but she had moved on with her life as she believed he had as well. After calling that one day she never tried to contact him again.


It was late August in San Francisco and Buffy was walking home with Will. Today was Friday and she had the whole weekend to spend with him. During the week she left him at the daycare down the street from her work and picked him up when she got off. They usually walked the few blocks back to the apartment, but some days they took a cab or Buffy drove. When it was nice she liked to walk though.

Today was one of those nice days. They wouldn’t have many more like this. In a few weeks Will would be starting school. It would be one of the many first things he did and his father wouldn’t be there. There was a nagging in the back of Buffy’s mind that told her this should be different. They should be a happy family now, but they weren’t. She hoped that when she did take him to school for his first day of kindergarten the other kids wouldn’t take notice of his absentee father.

Buffy herself knew what it was like to not have a father figure around and she could only imagine how hard it would be for Will in the future. She didn’t worry about that now though. They were together and Will was happily hopping over the cracks in the sidewalk.

He hung onto Buffy’s hand and pulled himself up a little each time they crossed a crack. He was the sweetest child and it warmed Buffy’s heart to see him smile and to know that he was happy.

As they made their way home Buffy remembered that she needed to stop off at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. There was a store just a block before their apartment building and they stopped their before going home. Picking through the vegetables her cell phone began ringing.

She glanced at Will sitting in the seat of the grocery cart before answering her phone.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi,” said the young woman on the other end. “My name is Lilah Morgan and I’m an agent in Los Angeles. Is this Ms. Summers that I’m speaking to?” The woman sounded very professional and it struck a cord with Buffy.

“Yes, I am Ms. Summers. How can I help you Ms. Morgan?” Buffy replied curiously.

“I’m calling on behalf of my client Harmony Kendall. She needs an ensemble for an Emmy’s after party in a few weeks and I heard you were the one to talk to about that.”

“Oh,” was all Buffy could manage at first. She was shocked to be getting a call about something so big.

“Oh?” Lilah echoed.

“Yes… I’m sorry. I’ve just never taken on an event as big as the Emmy’s.” Then she added hurriedly, “I’d love to though.”

“Great! As I said the party isn’t for a few weeks, but we would like you to come out to LA to meet with Miss Kendall and do some preliminary measures, color talks or what have you. Will tomorrow do?”

“Tomorrow?” Buffy hesitated for a split second and looked at Will. She could find a sitter for him. They had a nice neighbor that would surely take care of him for part of the day. “Tomorrow will be fine. What’s the address?”

Buffy took down the address and thanked Ms. Morgan before saying goodbye. When she had put her phone back in her purse she leaned forward and gave Will a big kiss on his cheek.

“Mama’s moving up!” she said excitedly.


When they got back to the apartment Buffy told Will to play in his room while she put the groceries away and then went over to talk to her neighbor Winifred Burkle, who they called Fred. They were friendly to one another and had had dinner together, but it wasn’t a strong friendship. Buffy knocked on the door.

“Hi Fred,” Buffy said with a warm smile.

“Hi Buffy,” Fred replied. “How are you?”

“I’m great! That’s actually why I’m here. I just got this call about doing a job in LA and I need to go tomorrow for a meeting so… I was hoping you could watch Will for me.” Buffy got a hopeful look as she waited for Fred’s response.

“That’s great Buffy! I’m so happy for you and of course I’ll watch Will. I love watching him. He’s such a great kid.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” Buffy leaned forward and unexpectedly hugged Fred.

Fred hugged her back easily, but was surprised by the hug too. They’d never been close, but Fred didn’t say anything about the hug.

Buffy went back to her apartment and made dinner for her and Will. Their life was relatively quiet, but it suited Buffy. In Sunnydale she had been quite popular and it had been hard to keep her pregnancy hush hush. She wasn’t ashamed of Will but she felt very alone and abandoned and she didn’t want to be the talk of the town for getting pregnant. She always had determination and when she set her sights on something she wanted she got it.

Now that she was living in San Francisco, raising her son on her own, she could look back and see where her determination had taken her over the last 5 years. It had gotten her through college while working and taking care of a baby. It had put her at the top of her class and gotten her a job in a successful fashion office. After she was hired a year ago she set her sights on something a little brighter.

She wanted to work for the stars. She wanted to be the go to girl of LA fashion. Tomorrow she was getting her start in just that.


-Saturday-

Buffy woke up at 7 to start getting ready for her day. Her meeting with Harmony Kendall wasn’t until noon, but she would need to get Will set for Fred’s and drive to LA. She took a shower and brushed her hair out. Then she got dressed in something classy but not fancy. She wanted to appear both fashionable and professional. Deciding on a flowing knee length blue dress with spaghetti straps and a tan blazer she glanced in the mirror with appreciation of the outfit. She slipped on a pair of white sandals and went to wake up Will now that it was nearly 8 o’clock.

Will was good in the mornings as long as he slept well the night before. Buffy could still remember the earaches he got as a child. They would keep him up through the night. She’d bring him into her room to sleep with her so she could rub his back. He always liked that whenever he wasn’t feeling well.

This morning he picked out a t-shirt and shorts. He got dressed and then went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Afterwards he went out to the kitchen to wait for Buffy to make him breakfast.

She applied some light make up and went out to the kitchen to get Will something to eat.

“What do you want pumpkin?” she asked him sweetly.

He smiled and sat up a little straighter as he said, “Umm… I want some toast with jam.” He looked at his mom and she looked back and he added, “Please” with a little grin.

“Not a problem.” She smiled once she had turned around and started getting his request ready. She tried her best to teach him manners. She wanted to be proud of him and she really was. Will had grown up a lot in the last 5 years. In a way Buffy was happy to see how he grew a little more each year, but it also made her sad. She wished she could always have her baby boy but she knew that couldn’t be.

Time passes by and people change. The world around you changes too. Five years ago Buffy wouldn’t have believed someone if they told her that this was what she’d be doing and where she’d be doing it. No, five years ago Buffy had a very vague idea of what she wanted to do with her life. That all changed with Will.

Buffy gave him his toast and jam on a paper towel while she grabbed a bag of his things to give to Fred. Then she walked Will over to Fred’s apartment and talked with Fred for a few minutes before hurrying on to Los Angeles.


Los Angeles, California

Spike rolled around in bed at 9. He didn’t want to get out of bed yet. He’d been lying in bed for the last half hour or so with the feeling that today was going to bring something he didn’t really want to face.

Life as he knew it was great. He was the lead guitarist in a small band that kept him busy and happy and he was branching out to behind the scenes work as well as acting. Over the last 5 years he had become successful in the thriving city of LA. He felt like he was happy too.

The successes he’d had in the last 5 years had been good and they served to boost his ego as well as his bank account. His band was getting more shows now and had signed a record deal about a month ago. Now they were working on some singles along with their first big record.

Spike hoped that everything would go well with the release of it. He knew all he could do was work hard and not let anything get in the way of what he wanted.

He rolled over one more time before reluctantly getting out of bed. ‘First things first,’ he thought, heading for the bathroom. Still wearing his silk pajama pants he wandered downstairs for a bite of food and some coffee.

He’d been living in his house for a couple of years now. Growing up in Sunnydale he had learned how to save his money. The first few years in LA he put everything in a savings account and just kept a little in a checking account to pay the bills. Over time the savings had gained interest and he had put enough in to put a payment down on a reasonable house. His recent record deal would only help with the house, for which he was grateful.

This morning he had woken up alone, which was something he was used to doing. His on again girlfriend Harmony usually woke up before him to hit the gym. They’d been together on & off almost since he came to LA. He’d dated a few other girls when they had been on break, but somehow he ended up back with Harmony. He didn’t know why and he often kicked himself for it, but he supposed it was more for the sex than anything else.

It was good to have a pretty girl to take to events too. This year they had been invited to an Emmy’s after party by a friend that Spike had met while doing a bit part in a movie. So, of course Harmony wanted to go all out and have someone help her with what she should be wearing. She was a budding actress, or so she kept saying. The problem wasn’t the exposure because she got plenty of that. No, Harmony’s only problem was that she was just like every other California blonde trying to get an acting job.

She walked into the kitchen while he was chugging some orange juice. She smiled her big smile at him and started babbling about what she was doing today. The only thing that caught his attention was the part where she said she had a meeting with a fashion woman at noon and she’d be coming to Lilah’s office.

“So… I totally thought it would be a good time for you to take me out to lunch after. The thing shouldn’t take long. It’s just a first meeting thingy.” She walked forward to rub his arm as if to convince him.

“Yeah, sounds nice luv,” he said simply. “I’ll meet you there at 1 o’clock then, yeah?”

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. She began to deepen the kiss, but Spike gently pulled back. “I need to take care of some things first so I should get going.” He kissed her on the cheek and then turned to head upstairs. He said over his shoulder, “I’ll see you at one.”


-Hours later-

Buffy met with Harmony and Lilah. She could sense that Harmony was, well, not all there. Lilah seemed put together and successful. Buffy wondered why she had Harmony as a client. The meeting went well. They talked over color ideas and what kind of dress would look best on Harmony. Buffy told her she could bring some dresses the next time she came so that they could get a better idea of what they were looking for, and some pictures as well so they could figure out what style and little flares to use.

The meeting ran just over an hour and Buffy left Harmony and Lilah to talk amongst themselves. The three women said goodbye and Lilah said, “I’ll call you to set up another meeting Buffy.”

“Great. I’ll talk to you soon. Have a nice day,” she said warmly.

Buffy headed to the elevator of the office building. She pressed the button to go down to the first floor. She waited patiently to reach the first, glancing at her watch twice. She really wanted to get home to Will. While she didn’t particularly like Harmony Kendall she knew that this job could get her some exposure in the circles where she wanted to be working. She sighed as the elevator dinged on its arrival to the first floor. The doors opened and she took a step forward and directly into someone.

She looked up to see the face of someone she both recognized and didn’t recognize. She was face to face with William, the last person she ever expected to see again. She couldn’t think or even move. She was frozen.

Spike felt someone bump into him. He hadn’t been paying very much attention either and when he looked up he immediately began to say, “Excuse—” He stopped there though. He was floored and his hands had gone up to hers on reflex.

There they stood, Spike’s hands on Buffy’s arms. Both were speechless and immobile.

On impulse Buffy brushed her hand along his cheek. “William…” she whispered before fainting in his arms.

…to be continued…





You must login (register) to review.