Three hours later, she left the store with a short dark red dress, a long black cocktail dress, and a white off the shoulder short dress. She also bought some summery sundresses, which Lorne insisted were her style and looked great on her. She also picked up some tank tops and shorts as well as some capris knowing that was what she was more than likely to wear. Lorne carried a bag of earrings and necklaces that were mostly silver. She refused the fancy gems saying she couldn’t bring herself to wear them but had accepted the shoes to match her outfits. She also, despite her protests of going to a lingerie store with Lorne, had bought tons of stuff from Victoria Secret.
Overall as she walked with both her and Lorne’s hands full, Buffy felt cheerier than she had in a while. She found herself humming happily a tune that was echoing in her head not recognizing it as one that Spike often sang. Her step was lighter and her hair bounced around her face making her look even more amazing along with her new outfit which was a blue tank top that was cut perfectly for her body and a pair of white capris with matching white sandals that gave her a bit of height. She was short so she loved that she felt taller in them. She felt like a million bucks and refused to think about the fact she had probably spent just that. For Dawn she had picked out some summer outfits and two summer sundresses. She knew Dawn would just love them. She couldn’t resist adding in a few pairs of shoes, some simple jewelry and a new watch for Dawn as well.
Buffy paused as they entered the building becoming lost once again in the rush of the demons and vampires going about their day. Lorne watched her for a moment and then stepped into the elevator while she followed. She found herself humming again and Lorne smiled at her. She had no idea what Lorne was thinking and it was probably a good thing because Lorne, having heard her hum, knew Spike had been wrong about the girl. Spike had insisted, as did Angel, that Buffy had moved on and was enjoying her real life adventures being normal. This was not the case and in fact a certain blond vampire was her destiny. Lorne was tempted to tell her but she didn’t ask and he wanted to do some research about it first. He knew it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths anyway but he could only hope that he could convince Spike to find her rather than her spot him.
Lorne grinned as the elevator opened up and he walked up to Angel’s desk waiting patiently for him to get off the phone. As soon as Angel did Lorne jumped into a description of their day. Buffy smiled hesitantly as Angel admitted, “You look great. They treated you ok? If not I’ll fire them.” Buffy waved her hand in front of his face trying to cut him off, “They treated me fine. Bloomingdale’s was amazing. Just what every girl needs and more…” Angel smiled although he felt a little jealous Lorne got to spend the day with her instead of him. He never enjoyed shopping though and Lorne obviously did.
Angel spoke up saying to Lorne, “Have Troy bring up the limo to take Buffy back to her hotel. Buffy, I’ll be back in about an hour when the sun goes down to take you to a restaurant where you can eat.” Buffy wanted to protest because it would be awkward that she would eat and he wouldn’t but instead she nodded. Lorne grinned exclaiming, “If you bring her to the club, we can invite the whole gang.” He wanted Spike to meet Buffy there but Angel hurriedly said, “No, I’d like to spend Buffy’s first night in L.A. with her alone at the restaurant. I have some things I’d like to talk to her about and we need time to catch up.”
Lorne nodded thinking he might be able to talk to Spike anyway while they were busy tonight. Spike often would come drinking at his club so it would be a great time to start the process of reuniting the young lovebirds. He placed his hand on the middle of Buffy’s back guiding her from the room as Angel went back to work. Outside in the hallway Lorne asked Buffy a pointed question, “Just how much do you miss your guy?”
Buffy’s eyes flooded with tears, “Is it that obvious?” Lorne didn’t want to offer his services as a song reader so instead just commented, “You look sad and looked sickly when you first arrived. It was obvious you were heart broken.” Buffy nodded not saying anything as she glanced down at the new white sandals her feet sported. She hated talking about Spike because it hurt her and made her miss him even more. She finally glanced up at Lorne admitting, “He died saving my life and the world. I waited too long to admit I loved him and then it was too late. He died leaving me alone never knowing how much I did care for him.” Lorne opened his mouth to say something just as the elevator door opened and a normal looking guy in a tux stepped out.
He took the bags from her and Lorne balancing them with ease as he offered Buffy a place in the elevator. “After you, ma’am.” She waved to Lorne calling “Thanks” as she followed the limo driver saying, “Call me Buffy. Who are you?” The man looked awkward, “I’m Troy but most don’t call me anything.” Buffy nodded. “So Troy, you’re human. How are you mixed up in a place like this?” Troy smiled, “Benefits are great, the job is amazing especially with the amount of people I meet and get to know. Plus my wife is here. She died a few years back and since she had signed a contract with them, she has to stay at Wolfram and Hart forever. I, naturally, will stay too even after death as part of my contract.”
Buffy blinked, “So if any of these demons or vampires are killed, they are kept as something?” Troy nodded as the elevator sounded, “Yeah, zombies. It’s not so bad really. It’s just part of the contracts they have here.” Buffy whispered softly more to herself than to him, “I wonder what contract Angel signed.” Troy didn’t answer and instead helped her into the limo then returned to his driver spot. Within minutes Buffy was stepping out in front of her hotel and was assisted to her room where Troy deposited everything at the doorway. He nodded as she said, “thanks” and disappeared after stating, “I’ll be back with Angel in an hour so you should get dressed in your best.” Buffy sat down on the bed overwhelmed. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called Willow, greeting her with “You will never believe my day so far…”
Buffy stood in front of the mirror having refreshed her makeup just a tad after putting on the long black cocktail dress and matching black shoes. She had pulled her hair back so it was partially away from her face being careful not to ruin the curls since she didn’t have a curling iron to repair them. She smiled at her reflection thinking she looked good. She felt very uneasy about this night wondering just what Angel had in mind. Was this a date to Angel? She certainly hoped not but she really did think it sounded like it was. She hadn’t had a date since Robin and that was hardly a date being interrupted by Xander’s fetish with demons. The closest thing that she had to a date with Spike was when he had surprised her a few times by having special food brought into his crypt.
Spike had really fixed the place up for her. She sighed finding her thoughts on Spike yet again. Did he get to go to heaven since he had died saving the world just like she had? She had asked Willow to do a spell seeing if she could make sure but Willow had said she couldn’t trace him. She could only sense him in the ghost realm, which meant they hadn’t decided what to do with him yet. It was probably confusing for the Powers that Be to decide on what to do with a souled vampire. Do they go to Hell for their wrong doings or do they go to Heaven? She was tempted to beg Willow to bring him back to life but Willow had already volunteered that she couldn’t do that. First off because the ingredients required her to do more dark magic and she wouldn’t touch the stuff and secondly because it would be bringing William back from the dead, not Spike, and she didn’t feel right doing such a thing to a guy who had been dead over 120 some odd years. Buffy had realized she was being selfish and had dismissed the idea.
A knock on the door aroused Buffy from her thoughts. She quickly opened it to see Angel dressed in a tux standing there holding a single red rose. It was almost romantic so she took the rose from him, pricking her finger. He tried to bring the pricked finger to his lips but she refused. The last person who had tasted her blood was Spike and that is how it would be. She had put the rose in with the fresh flowers the hotel room had offered and smiled, “So where are we going tonight?” Angel linked his arm with hers and whispered, “A demon restaurant that way you can eat until your heart is content and I can drink my blood so you aren’t eating alone. That ok with you?” Buffy nodded as she walked out to the car to find Troy standing holding the door open for them.