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Chapter 13 Farewell

William woke to a bright sunny day and knew that he needed to get up and get ready. Today was going to be a very busy day; he hadn’t yet packed for his trip, and he was sure that by the time he got everything he needed in the office, Rupert would probably be there to remind him of all the things he needed to do in Chicago. He had no idea why this old man would suddenly be hanging out in the bloody publishing house. They had been partners for over two years now and never once had he seen this guy take a visit to see how the company was doing, he always had one of his associates or secretaries to polish a few things up. William just blames it on mid-life crisis his red sports car can speak for itself.

As he stepped out of the shower and started to dress, he remembered what had happened at Harmony’s. He knew it was probably over between the two of them. He couldn’t help but wonder what the girl was thinking when she threw all those accusations at him. Was it that obvious that something had gone on between him and Buffy that weekend? How could that be possible? He and Buffy had barely spoken since their drive back from Sunnydale. Maybe that was it, she noticed how distant they were with each other and when Buffy didn’t go to the Bronze last night, it was the final straw. But he figured he still had to try, right? Try to get the girl back, or at least make everything between them good, or at least better. What she had said about Buffy troubled his mind again as he got into his car and drove off to his office ‘It was always her… it had been Buffy all along…’


Making his way up the building and greeting a few co-workers on his way, he still couldn’t get his mind off Harmony’s statement. Was it true? Had it always been Buffy? He thought back to the first time he had seen her, it had been the meeting where they arranged the ultimately failed date between him and Harmony. Buffy’s hair had been up in a messy ponytail, probably from all the filing she had done. How did he remember such a small detail? She had looked beautiful, her hazel eyes glittering in the shadowed room. After that, they had become fast friends and had spent quite a lot of time together. They had assembled a group of friends including Xander, the redhead and her boyfriend. Things had moved so quickly, friendship developed and could have been shattered by one unforgiving night. He could kill himself for not stopping what he was thinking right then and there, of that exact moment that chaste kiss changed both of them. He had no idea if it was for the better or for the worse. He couldn’t think of anything that would make the feeling inside of him sensible. If it was true, was he in love? Could she reciprocate his love?

It was four o’clock in the afternoon and William had just finished getting all the papers he needed for his trip to Chicago. He had even arranged his files again in fear that the old bloke would ruin everything by the time he got back. He had called Harmony earlier. He wanted to straighten things out between them before he left. At first, the blonde did not want to come to the phone, but in the end they talked and they both realized that it was for the best to give each other some time alone to think. As he got ready now to head home and finish the last of his packing, he had a sudden thought that he should call her to tell her he was leaving. He had already told everybody last night including Willow and her boyfriend; they would tell Buffy. But he knew he at least owed it to the petite blond to inform her of his trip. He figured he should probably drop by her house on his way to the airport.

~~ Meanwhile, back at Buffy’s ~~

She was having, ‘the worst day of my life’ she recited to herself. She had been up all day deciding what to wear. She had only gone to the ballet once; it was with her father when she was about twelve. She had no idea what her father was thinking bringing a twelve year old like her to that kind of place, the only thing she remembered was that she was bored. She thought that her going now would just be the same, but she had already agreed. So she decided to call Willow and ask her if she knew a thing or two about dressing for this kind of occasion.

“Hello?” the woman on the other line spoke.

“Hey, Will. It’s Buffy. I’m having such a hard time picking out what to wear. Help please…” The blonde pleaded. After she had told the redhead where Riley was taking her and they finally agreed on what she was going to wear, Buffy asked, “So… how was the Bronzing last night?”


“It was okay, same, same. Xander did bring his new girlfriend Cordelia with him. She was nice.”


“Hmm… so that’s all?” Buffy had no idea why she asked that question, maybe a little part of her wanted to know if William was there and how he was doing; they haven’t talk for over a week.

“Well…” Willow said, trying to remember last night’s happenings. “Oh! William said he was going to be leaving today for Chicago, something about business or something… but I’m sure he already told you that.”

Buffy was speechless; she was astonished and hurt that William did not bother telling her he was leaving. ‘Does he not care anymore?’ Buffy thought. Why should he care right, it’s not like she made an effort to talk to him the whole week. He probably thought she was the one who didn’t give a damn, she didn’t even show up last night. Who was she to be upset?

“Buffy? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, Will. So… I better get going, gotta change.”

“Okay. Good luck on the date Buffy.”

“Thanks, Will.” Buffy said with a smile. Now there was nothing anyone could do to stop her from going on this date. No one but herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy had just finished dressing herself and was putting on some simple jewelry, as per Willow’s advice, when she heard the soft knock on the door. “Wait a minute.” She called. “I’ll be right there.” She fixed the last of her jewelry before walking to the door. ‘Why is Riley so early?’ she thought as she opened the door.

“Hey Buffy.” William greeted her with a smile.

She was speechless, “Hi…Will?”

“What? You don’t recognize me anymore?” the blonde tried to joke. He was nervous himself but trying hard not to show it. “I see you’re all dressed up, going on a date?”

“Yeah… what are you doing here?” the blonde asked in confusion.

William was caught of guard by the blonde’s straight forward response “Well… I was just here to tell you that… I’m leaving…”

“For Chicago. I know.” Buffy supplied.

“Oh! I thought that…”

“Willow told me. So how long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know, probably ‘bout a week…”

“Ah…” the blonde replied “So… would you like to come in?” she asked, noticing that they had been talking in the doorway

“Umm… I’m not sure.” William said as he looked at his watch. “I’m don’t wanna be late for my flight… But maybe we can talk, when I get back?”

“Yeah, I understand… Maybe when you get back…” she replied. “You better get going then huh?”

“Yeah.” He said with a nod.

“Okay, good luck on the trip! Take care.”

“Thanks!” William answered as he gave Buffy as kiss on the cheek and said his goodbye.

As Buffy shut the door, millions of things flowed through her head. She had invited him in and he refused. He had seemed different. Of course she didn’t expect everything to be normal after they had slept together at that motel. All week she had tried to do anything, keeping herself busy just to let her mind forget how nice it felt in William’s arms. ‘Bad Buffy, Bad Buffy.’ But no matter how much she tried to forget, to make it seem like it never happened, she knew one thing… it felt right.

~~ Airport ~~

William was sitting at one of the lounge chair; his flight had been delayed for some odd reason. In his mind he was playing back what had happened at that motel last week. God, he could still feel her, the taste of her lips on his. ‘It was always her, Will. It had been Buffy all along. And you know it.’ How can this be happening, this can’t be right, her and me are just friends, just friends William recited in his mind. Buffy is happy with Riley, what she said was right, that night was just a clinch. It meant nothing to her. As he heard an announcement through the PA that his flight was now boarding, he got up from his seat and started his way to the gate. ‘But it meant something to me.’

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night was way too long for Buffy; the ballet lasted for two hours, two hours of complete boredom. “So… I had a really nice time…” Buffy said as she prepared to open the lock to her apartment door.

“Yeah… really nice…” Riley trailed off as he tentatively looked at his watch.

“So… do you wanna come in, you know maybe we could…”

“Umm…” Riley cut her off as he again looked at his watch, “I sort of have to go now Buff.”

“Oh! Maybe tomorrow then?” as Buffy came closer to him.

“No. Tomorrow’s no good.” Seeing the blonde back off with a sad look he quickly replied, “I’ll call you.” He left after giving Buffy a brief peck on the cheek.

‘Great, so much for that,’ Buffy thought as she shut the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Xander was sitting at a bar near Oakwood Street. He and Cordelia had had a fight. It wasn’t big but he had had said some not so nice things and she had kicked him out of her apartment. He didn’t want to go to his own place for fear of seeing Oz there snuggling up to Willow; he didn’t need that reminder. As he sat there, he looked around at the at the skankiness of the club, hookers everywhere waiting for some rich dirty old man to jump their bones. He asked himself why he even thought of going to this part of town and got up and to leave. As he was leaving, he saw a familiar face. It was Riley.

Riley was sitting by the lounge chairs at the back part of the bar; he appeared to be all alone holding a beer in hand as if waiting for somebody. Curiosity getting the better part of him, Xander decided to stay and see what a guy like Riley would be doing in a place like this. He had only seen Riley once at the Bronze, when he picked up Buffy, but wasn’t the kind of man you just forget, he had a muscular and body and a well defined face. This was definitely Riley. As Riley waited there, ordering another beer at the bar, Xander noticed a woman walking up to Riley. The woman was dressed in black halter with a neckline so low it hardly covered her breast. Her skirt was so short it barely covered her bottom. As she approached Riley, she sat in between his legs and started making-out with him. Thinking to himself that he had seen enough, Xander decided to walk out the door. He didn’t know that woman all over Riley, but he certainly knew that it wasn’t Buffy.

to be continued...





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