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Chapter 2

Buffy’s love life hadn’t quite been something to be overjoyed about. Angel, her first boyfriend was a total loser and things didn’t last long. He moved to LA because he needed space and didn’t care what she wanted. The second guy she was with, Parker was the next loser. He used her for sex, and dumped her when he didn’t need her anymore.

She always thought about the man she met in front of her bookstore, 5 years before. Buffy wondered why she never heard from him. She thought for sure she gave him her business card, but it had been a very long time. She never did try to find him. She believed that he was married or had a girlfriend. Or Spike forgot about her.

That night she dreamed of him, like every night before. It always went the same way; meeting outside the bookstore, a candlelight dinner at a French café, then back to his room, ready to make love, but before anything could happen, she’d wake up right as things heated up.

“Damn it!” Buffy sat up, frustrated. “I’ve got to figure out more about him. I can’t just wonder about him.”

Dawn had gotten up to go to the bathroom, when she heard her sister swear. She stopped by, stood in the door frame, and switched on the light. Buffy shielded her eyes from the bright light. “DAWN!”

“I heard you cussing, what’s wrong?” As if Dawn hadn’t any clue. She knew all to well that her sister was thinking about William Preston.

“Nothing,” Buffy said, blushing.

“Don’t lie to me,” Dawn giggled. “I know it was him. You’re always thinking or dreaming about him.”

“Am not!” Face growing even redder.

“MMMHMMM! Tell me another one.”

“Shut up, Dawn. Go to bed.” Buffy through a pillow at Dawn, who side-stepped it

“Hey! That’s not very nice!”

“Too bad!”

“Fine!” Dawn stormed off to her room.

“Fine!” Buffy went to sleep, dreaming of him once again.

***
The next morning, Dawn had already left for work. She worked as a reporter for the New York Times; she got the job after graduating from college

Willow and Xander had already gone downstairs the shop and opened it up. They had moved with Buffy and Dawn five years before. They helped Buffy acquire the book store from one Rupert Giles. Mr. Giles son, Marcus, had gotten into serious trouble back home, and Mr. Giles had to sell the business in order to bail the young man out. Afterwards he had to stay in England to keep his son out of trouble.

Buffy had begun to stir, she looked over at the clock, and it read 9:30am. She rolled out of bed, and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. Twenty minutes later, she returned cleaned, fresher, and ready to head down to work.

As a side job, she was an appraiser. The day she met Spike, she was on her way to another book shop to appraise an old journal, written on parchment paper. She had been excited about that, and that’s why she had rushed out the door that day. The day that changed her life. The day that brought her; her Blondie god.

Buffy walked down the backstairs into the stock room, and out into the front room. Willow was just finishing up with a customer when she had glanced over at Buffy and smiled. Buffy was wearing jeans, white a tee-shirt, with a black suit jacket and sandals. Her hair was pulled back in a bun. Willow was also wearing jeans and a red top. Her hair was left long and loose.

“Hey Buff,” Xander said, stocking the book-shelf as she entered the room. Xander was wearing some ridiculous outfit. Buffy never understood why he chooses to wear those clothes, they never matched anyway.

“Hi.” She greeted with a smile.

The young blonde customer left and Willow had been checking her out. She was wearing a nice floral dress with white sandals and her hair was pushed back in a pony tail Buffy just rolled her eyes with a smile. Willow noticed Buffy’s expression.

“What?” Willow asked as she feigned innocence.

“Oh nothing!”

“She was referring to the way you were checking out that girl,” Xander cut in.

“Oh, her?” Willow asked. “She’s been here few times...I think...I think he name is...is...is Tara.” As soon as Willow said the blonde girl’s name, she began to blush and she quickly looked away.

“Does someone have a crush?” Buffy asked, teasingly.

“Just a little,” Willow said, embarrassed.

Just then Dawn entered into the bookstore, with a large notebook sticking out of her bag. She was dressed in a black pant suit, with a long black suit jacket to match. Her hair was left down. She wore very little makeup, as she didn’t need a whole lot to make her look pretty, she was a natural beauty.

She had a big grin plastered on her face.

“Hey Dawn!” Willow greeted her from behind the counter.

“I’ve got a scoop for you,” Dawn proclaimed.

“What is it, Dawnie?” Buffy asked.

Dawn walked closer to Buffy and placed a hand on her sister’s shoulders. “I have been keeping a secret from you, Buffy.”

“What?” Buffy was shocked. All kinds of bad thoughts went through her head. She was scared to even name them, for fear one of them would be it. “What is it, Dawnie?”

“I’ve been tracking...I’ve been tracking William Preston for you all these years.”

“What the hell have you’ve been doing that for?” Buffy didn’t know what to feel. She wanted to be with him so badly, but she didn’t know where he was. Or if he was still alive. “Why?” She finally asked breaking the silence that was growing between her and her sister.

Willow thought that it was best that she and Xander leave the room so that they could have a little privacy. She came out from behind the counter and grabbed Xander’s arm, “Come on Xander, I think we should go in the back. We’ve got something too do back there.”

“What?? I don’t want to go. It’s just getting...” She pinched him hard on the arm. “Ow.” He gave her a dirty look. She gave him one of those looks that said if you don’t come with me, I’ll rip something vitally important from your body. He knew that look all to well, especially when Anya would give it to him, if he didn’t have lots of sex. “Ok. Ok. I’m going!” Willow and Xander left the room.

With her hands on her hips, Buffy asked her sister once again, “Why the hell did you go and do that for?”

“I was only doing it with your best interest in mind. I know you haven’t had luck in any of your relationships.”

“That’s my business. Not yours!”

“I know and I am really sorry. But I’ve got good news.” Dawn beamed excitedly. “Really good news.”

“I just can’t believe you did this behind my back for 5 years, Dawn. How could you? More importantly where did you get the money to start it?”

“It was easy. A lot of it I looked up on the internet, and when I got this job, it was even easier, especially when my editor handed me the assignment today to interview him.”

Buffy was taken aback. She hadn’t expected to see him again. She wasn’t really sure if she wanted to kill her sister or wrap her hands around her and hug her tightly. Buffy just stood there shocked.

“Well??” Dawn asked.

“I’m speechless.”

“First time for everything,” Dawn quipped.

“Wh...What...did you find out?” Buffy stuttered. She was dying to know if he was with anyone.

“A lot of things,” Dawn said removing the notebook from her bag. “Let’s go over to the table there, and discuss this a little more.”

“Oh yes.” Dawn and Buffy walked over to the table and sat down. Dawn opened up the notebook. The whole thing was filled with information on this man. A man that Buffy only met for a moment, but it meant a life time of changes for her. She was excited and dreading it all at the same time.

“We know that his name is William Andrew Preston. He was born August 25, 1975 in London, England. His parents are Andrew James Preston and Mary Ann O’Brian. She was born in Ireland and moved with her family to London... Andrew was born in tiny town outside of London, but it didn’t say exactly where. It must have been so small...William attended an all Boys’ School in London. He went on to The Arts Schools of London...He actually got kicked out of the acting program because they thought he wasn’t good...William left England shortly after that, and appeared in a few off Broadway plays, until he got his big break at 25. He was in Les Misérables. That was about the time that you and he met. After that, he moved to France, because a French theater lured him there for this huge play, that never made it, and he stayed...Met a woman named Drusilla Larson. He dumped her a few months later and she started stalking him. She was crazy, Buffy.” Dawn stopped and looked at Buffy for a moment as she was processing everything. “They had to put her in a mental institution. This traumatized him so much that he didn’t go out that much. His neighbor/friend, Clement Martin, basically dragged him out of his apartment from time to time.”

“Oh god, poor William...How are you going to interview him, if he’s in France?”

“I’m not going to interview him in France; he’s coming here to New York.”

“What?” Buffy stood up and her chair hit the bookshelf nearby. Xander and Willow stuck their heads out far enough to where they could hear what was happening.

“My source said that William looked you up, and is on his way here as we speak!”

“Oh god.” Buffy was freaking out, pacing back and forth. Not sure what she should do. “Oh god!”

Dawn was laughing. Willow and Xander were giggling.

“I have nothing to wear.” Buffy looked at her outfit. “My hair. I have to have something done to my hair. My nails. My nails need to be done! Oh my god, he’s coming here. He’s coming...to see me??”

“Yes, I think so Buffy,” Dawn said with a smile.

“How long do I have?”

“Uh,” Dawn looked down at her watch, “he left around 8:30am or 9:00am his time. It takes about 8 hours straight, to get to New York...So I’d say he’ll be here around 3 maybe 4.”

“I’ve got to go to go shopping. I’ve got to have my hair done.” She ran up the stairs, grabbed her bag and her keys, then ran out the door to her car. She hadn’t even seen that Xander and Willow were spying. They just giggled as they came out into the front room.

”Dawn, why didn’t you tell us?” Willow asked when she stopped giggling.

“I felt so bad for her. She wasn’t the luckiest in love. The last person dumped her. I wanted to keep an eye on William for her. I know how she feels about him. She’s in love with him. I suspect that he probably is in love with her. I wanted that to happen for her...For them. Can you blame me??”

“No, we can’t. We’ve wanted him to come back for some time. Don’t WE Xander?” Willow elbowed him in the stomach. “She deservers to be happy. Doesn’t she, Xander?”

“OH yeah, she deserves to be happy.” Xander added his two cents, but he didn’t think it was with this William Preston guy. There was something about him he didn’t trust. Maybe it was because he didn’t trust the taste in men that his best friend had shown.


***
Buffy stopped by every store in her price range, and she didn’t find anything that she liked. As she was driving, she drove past Bloomingdales, and she thought what the hell, why not spend a little money on a nice outfit, I deserve it.

She looked at all the racks, and loved everything that she pulled out, but they just weren’t the right one. Buffy decided she wanted something fun and comfortable. After looking for a long time, she came a crossed a white outfit. It was exactly what she was looking for, fun and comfortable. It was a military styled jacket and pants. The top had laced trim.

“This is it.” She held it front of her, looking in a mirror. “Now, all I need is to try it on.” She headed into the changing room, and within minutes she had the outfit on. She checked herself out in the mirror. “I like this. It’s very me. I hope he likes it.” The price was so high, but it didn’t matter, she wanted to look good. “Now something is missing...The shoes...A nice pair of sandals would look nice with it.” She dressed and hung the outfit back on its hanger, and continued on her way to the shoe department. She looked all over. She didn’t find anything, until a sales person came up to her.

“How may I help you, miss?”

“Um, yes, I’m looking for shoes that’ll go with this outfit.” Buffy showed her.

“I have just what you’re looking for.” Buffy followed the young woman to a white high heeled pair of shoes.

“I had something a little more comfortable in mind. Maybe a pair sandals.”

“Ok, I think we may have something.” She went into the back and brought out a new item a few minutes later. She opened the box to reveal a pair of tan thongs.

“That’s it. That’s exactly what I wanted.” Buffy sat down to remove her shoe. The salesperson put the sandal on her foot. Buffy rose to her feet and began walking around. It was the right fit and the right size. “I like these. They feel real good. I’ll take them.”

“Ok, then, will this be cash, check, or credit card?” The salesperson took the shoes and the outfit to the counter.

“Credit card.” Buffy followed.

The sales person rang the charges up. “377.00 even ma’am.” Buffy handed the Visa card to the lady, and watched as she swiped the card through.

Glad I paid that off last month. Willow is gonna kill me, but it was worth it.

The lady handed back the card and the receipt, Buffy signed it. The lady gave the receipts and the bags to Buffy, and she was on her way.

Next stop was her hair and nails. She stopped at Eva’s, her usual place. She had them touch up the color, trim and style her hair with soft curls. Eva personally worked on Buffy’s nails. She gave her a French manicure. Since Buffy was such a good and regular customer, Eva didn’t charge her full price, which made Buffy very happy.


Buffy looked at the clock, it was already getting close to one, and she hadn’t eaten anything. She had to eat something, and get back to the bookstore right away, in case he’d come. She didn’t want to think of missing him.

***
Buffy pulled up in front of the bookstore, grabbed her bags, and went inside. It had been kinda quiet. Dawn had gone back to work shortly after Buffy left. Willow had been reading a book when she saw Buffy whiz on by. Xander came out of the storeroom.

”Was that Buffy that whizzed on by?” Xander asked, jokingly.

“Apparently so.” Willow giggled.

A little while later, Buffy had come back downstairs in her new outfit, and walked out into the front room.

“How do I look?” She twirled for her friends.

“Buffy, you look beautiful!” Xander stated, as he looked her over.

“Hot!” Willow said matter-of-factly.

Buffy blushed. “Thanks guys. I really liked this outfit, plus it cost me a fortune.”

“Hey, I thought we agree, no designer outfits for a while,” Willow gripped.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Buffy replied. “At least I got a deal on my hair and nails.” She smiled.

Before Willow could say another word, Xander cut in, “Well, I don’t know about you.” He put an arm around Buffy. “...but the Buffster looks great. She’ll knock him out!”

“Hope so!” Buffy said meekly. God, I hope so!

***





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