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Buffy entered the Bronze confidently, side by side with Willow. She held her head high and tried to look like this was the way she always looked and acted, although her mind kept telling her that it wasn’t. But she pushed the reminder to one side. For the night, this was the real Buffy. She saw Willow notice their other friends and followed behind her to greet them.

“Hey guys” she said as she walked up to the table. The small group looked shocked by her appearance. Willow hadn’t told them about her plans to make Buffy over so the look was unexpected. “What?” she questioned looking at them

“Um Buff. What happened?” asked Xander. Xander was another friend from high school. He, Buffy and Willow had been part of a little group and had always been there for each other. Their friendship had survived a lot of trials in the time that they had known each other and it seemed it could get through anything. Xander had always thought Buffy was fine the way she was, but she could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t totally opposed to the change.


“I just felt like a change” she shrugged, she didn’t want to make a big deal about it. It wasn’t anything important, she had decided that on the way to the Bronze. If she wanted to be different she had to be more confidant and laid back so she was trying not to let things affect her so much.


“I, I think you look really good” Willow’s girlfriend Tara complimented. Tara was new to the group. Willow had met her in their first year of college and the two had been inseparable ever since. They were perfect for each other.

Tara was also one of the nicest and most genuine people Buffy had ever met and she had quickly become part of the close- knit friendship that the other three shared.

“Thanks Tara” Buffy smiled at the shy girl, glad that she only complimented her. She didn’t want to answer a load of questions. She wanted it to simply be accepted and as always with Tara it was. Tara and Xander moved over to let the others sit down

“Yeah Buff, you do look great” Xander agreed “just strange seeing you all dressed up and confident looking” he gave her a small smile before turning to everyone else

“So does anyone want a drink?” he offered as he stood up, while Buffy moved to let him out. After everyone had given him their order Buffy sat down again and the excited babbling began
“Oh my god, what have you done to her Wills. Because you really do look good and I knew that this one was up to something earlier today”

Willow huffed at her girlfriend, she had thought she was very sly earlier when she had been preparing everything for the makeover while Tara knew nothing but obviously not. The other two girls giggled at the annoyed look on her face

“Well, Willow decided I needed a change. So she made me over” Buffy gave as simple an explanation as possible. She liked a gossip with the two once in a while but still felt awkward answering questions.

“Well, she did a great job.” Tara said. Willow couldn’t help but smile

“I did didn’t I?” she agreed happily. The others laughed and soon all three were in a fit of giggles. They were still at it when Xander returned with his hands full of drinks, He handed the drinks out before taking his seat again

“Thanks Xan” the girls chorused, once again breaking out in laughter. Xander groaned, they hadn’t even had anything to drink yet and they were giggling like girls. And Buffy didn’t drink at all. He was in for a fun night.

The four sat around for a while chatting and catching up when a song that Buffy loved started to play. It wasn’t a song she would normally dance to in a club. Mostly because when she came to The Bronze she stayed in her seat the whole time unless she was going to the bathroom. But, to fit in with the night’s new and improved Buffy Summers she was going to dance. She jumped up and looked at her friends

“Who wants to dance with me?”

Willow and Tara stared, this was nothing like the Buffy they knew. Willow had hoped that the new look would make her feel better about herself but she hadn’t expected this much of a change.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that” she chastised “for tonight I’m being thee person I want to be. I love this son and I wanna dance” she announced

“Ok Buff. We’ll dance with ya” Xander stood up, closely followed with Willow and Tara and they quickly made their way to the dance floor.

They stood in a circle moving to the beat of Aimee Mann’s Pavlov’s Bell. Buffy danced in a way that she never would have never dreamed of before and she enjoyed it. She enjoyed the feeling of doing what she wanted. She moved her hips rhythmically allowing herself to become lost in the beat. Her friends watched her as she danced, each wearing a smile, pleased that their friend looked happier and more full of life than they had ever seen her. It was amazing what a change of clothes and a haircut could do for a person’s confidence. Her friends weren’t the only people watching. Standing by the bar a tall man with dark eyes looked on at the beautiful woman on the floor. His eyes never left her even as the song finished and she walked back to her seat.

“Wow Buff, you looked like you had fun” Willow commented as they all sat back down

“Yeah, it felt good, letting my hair down going a little crazy” she admitted with a grin “I probably won’t do this again for a while so I’m going to make the most of it”

“Well you should. But remember Buff you can be like that if you really want to be. And I mean all of the time”

“No” the blonde disagreed “I may want that to be me. But it isn’t me. So I’ll enjoy it tonight. I’ll be right back, gotta go to the lady’s room”


Buffy didn’t notice the eyes that watched her as she left the table and were still watching when she emerged from the bathroom and returned to her table a few minutes later. He kept watching her. He wanted to speak to her, but he wanted to get her alone, so he would bide his time and make sure that he spoke to her before the end of the night.



Buffy stood at the table talking to her friends

“Buff, aren’t you sitting down?” Xander asked

Buffy shook her head “No, I feel like standing for a while” Xander shrugged and returned to the conversation

“So Tara” Buffy started “how’s the job hunt going?”

Tara had been looking for a new job for about two months. She had given up her previous job as it wasn’t what she wanted to go. Or what she had qualified for.

“It’s okay. But there are a lot of psychiatric practices looking for people, I trained in psychology so that’s what I want to do” the young woman told her friends

“I get that. Look at me. I didn’t exactly plan on working in a library. But things don’t always work out how we want them to” she said sadly. All of her friends noticed the change in her voice and looked for a way to change the subject and divert her thoughts from the painful subject that had suddenly come into the conversation.



When another good song Willow pulled Buffy by the hand towards the dance floor again, the others hot on their heels. Buffy though didn’t feel like dancing now and tried to pull away. Willow was having none of it and dragged her out anyway. Buffy danced half heartedly to the song. Images of past events played through her mind. The pictures were as clear as ever. They were a big part of the reason Buffy’s life had changed drastically. Suddenly she started to dance like before. She didn’t want to remember, she wanted to be that different person again and she was going to be. She danced wildly, letting go of her inhibitions. She was determined to forget, if she was someone else it wouldn’t hurt so she wouldn’t be her. She would be someone else.


When the song ended Buffy indicated that she was going to the bar. She needed something to relax her a bit more. While she was on the dance floor it was a lot easier to pretend she was someone else than it was when the music stopped and it was just her and her friends again.

“Can I have a vodka and coke?” she requested of the person serving at the bar, with a brief nod he turned to get her drink. Buffy put her elbows on the bar and rested her chin in her hands


“Hey, you ok?” a distinctly male voice asked from her right hand side. She turned to see a handsome man. Tall with dark hair and eyes. He smiled and she returned it with one of her own.

“Yeah, I’m good”


“Good, I was watching you out there earlier. You looked good” Buffy blushed slightly but she tried to hide it. The bartender returned with her drink, after paying for it she took a sip and returned her look to the man

“Thanks.”

“So, what’s your name”

She gave him a smirk “What’s yours?” she retorted

“Angel” he stated simply

“Buffy”

“Well Buffy, like I was saying I saw you and I thought you would be perfect to work in my club”

She looked at him, wondering why on earth he was approaching her in a club about working for him, but she decided to find out more regardless of how odd it was,. There was no harm in asking

“What, you mean like bartending?”

“No” he smiled “it’s not quite that kind of club”

“Then what do you mean?” she asked perplexed

“It’s a strip club” he explained

All of a sudden Buffy felt strange, part of her wanted to slap him the other wanted to ask him when and where

“I’m sorry” she started “but I don’t think I’m right for the job”

“Well you looked right for it when I was watching you”

“Yeah well, I’m not” she insisted

“Look, here’s my card. Think about it, maybe check the place out one night” he took the small square of cardboard from his pocket and handed it to her

She looked at the card, on it was written the name of the place ‘ Heavenly Angel’s’ then the address and Angel’s name and number. She looked at him again

“I won’t be needing it” she insisted

“Just think it over” he said over his shoulder as he turned his back and walked away. Buffy looked back at the card. She was a little confused that someone would want her to do this kind of job but tucked it into her bag anyway. She finished her drink and made her way back to her friends. When she reached them she greeted them with a smile, looking at her watch Willow gasped

“Oh, we need to go, work in the morning” she said apologetically. The others all nodded their agreement and got up to leave the club together, Buffy thinking about what was in her bag, but never telling her friends.

TBC...





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