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**FYI-Smut comes eventually, have to build up the anticipation a bit, right?** Thanks for the wonderful reviews, always spurs my muse to work harder!
Over the next few weeks, Lorne was relentless in his pursuit of Buffy and her angelic voice. After several weeks of countless phone calls and emails, Buffy finally caved and agreed to at least meet him at his downtown office to discuss his offer. Figuring she would just meet with Lorne, Buffy sat nervously on a sleek black leather couch in the office waiting room and mentally went over the speech she’d concocted on the drive over. While she was very flattered that Lorne had even considered her for the job, much less pursued her to the point of stalking, but she had a job that she loved very much! Sure, being a high school guidance counselor wasn’t nearly as glamorous or exciting as being the lead singer in a band, but it was a job she treasured and had worked hard to get.

Chewing on her fingernail, a habit she both abhorred and craved, Buffy fidgeted nervously in the waiting room. Amazingly enough she was not only on time for the meeting, but actually a good bit early; something that she rarely was able to accomplish. Somehow even setting all the clocks ahead in her house by a minimum of ten minutes didn’t help get her ready and out of the house with time to spare on most days. This morning had been the amazing exception, having been dressed and in the car a full half hour before she was supposed to have left the house. Dressed conservatively in a black knee length skirt and pale pink scoop neck blouse, she’d hit all the red lights as they turned green, found a parking spot that didn’t charge an arm and a leg by the minute, and had even managed not to spill coffee anywhere on her clothes during the drive. It was almost a sign from above that things were supposed to work out that way; if one believed in things like that.

Ten minutes later and Buffy was still waiting as patiently as one could when their nerves were on end. While she knew that she’d shown up entirely too early, so early in fact that the receptionist had only walked in herself, Buffy was eager to get things over and done with so she finally calm down. Just as she was about to announce to the brunette who was hard at work talking in to a headset and typing furiously, her red tipped nails clicking loudly on each key, the door to Lorne’s office opened and out he came in a flash of plum purple.

“Sugarplum! You look stunning!” Lorne gushed, pulling her into his arms for a hug, “I just cannot tell you just how tickled I am that you finally agreed to come in today! There isn’t a doubt in my mind that you are a perfect fit for this.” Releasing Buffy, Lorne ushered her into his office, a massive room filled with black leather and chrome furniture with various pieces of brightly colored artwork splashed on the walls. Realizing no one else was in the room waiting to ambush her, Buffy allowed herself to release the breath of tension she’d been holding in since Lorne had come in to the lobby.

“Um, thanks for asking me to do this, Lorne. It’s all very flattering, but this isn’t going to work out. I only came in today to tell you in person that I am still declining your offer.” Buffy managed to spit out, throwing her previously planned eloquent speech out the door.

“Nonsense! I know a star when I see one, and Snickerdoodle, you are going to be the brightest star. I just know it!” Lorne announced confidently as he pulled Buffy towards the set of double doors across the room, despite her objections. “Of course, first things first, you need to meet your new band mates!”

Lorne went in first, thankfully, and Buffy gingerly poked her head around his broad shoulder to glance at the other people in the room. There was a very striking brunette female perched on top of a table and two attractive males sitting across from her on another leather couch. The guys immediately stood up when they noticed Buffy behind their manager; however the female smirked and stayed rooted on the desk. Her lean legs were encased in very tight black leather pants, a pair of scuffed motorcycle boots, with what Buffy could only describe as a handkerchief instead of a shirt to complete the ensemble. Her dark locks reminded Buffy of ‘sex hair’ and her makeup was dark around the eyes with garnet lipstick on her pouty lips. She was the embodiment of trashy hot and thus, the complete opposite of Buffy. Based on her appearance, Buffy imagined that the girl had plenty of experience on top of all sorts of furniture, and then promptly chastised herself for being so judgmental.

Lorne introduced the guys first, motioning towards the shorter of the two who preferred to go by Oz, whom Buffy learned was previously the guitarist for the band Dingoes Ate My Baby until they disbanded a year earlier due to artistic conflicts. The taller dark headed guy’s name was Xander, short for Alexander, and he played the drums. He was also previously in a band called Nighthawk with Faith, the girl on the desk, who played the bass guitar. Realizing that she was the only one that hadn’t previously been in a band, Buffy felt a wave of insecurity was over her, which only added to her nervousness.

Finally, she was properly introduced to Faith, who immediately looked at Lorne with a look of disbelief and announced, “She’s the new lead singer?! What the hell is Miss Golden Girl gonna sing? The Good Ship Lollipop? This is ridiculous, Lorne, she looks like a cheerleader!”

“Cheerleaders are good.” Xander chipped in. “Very good, in fact.” Xander’s comment was followed by a great deal of vigorous smiling and nodding from Oz’s direction. “ZanMan tells no lies.” Oz added with shrug. However, both of them zipped their mouth when given the stink eye by Faith.

Faith’s obvious dislike for Buffy had her seething. Who the heck did Super Skank think she was? Just because she didn’t dress like a hooker or someone who should be riding on the back of a motorcycle didn’t have a damn thing to do with her ability to sing. Glaring at Faith, her eyes flashed with annoyance as she spoke. “Yes, actually I was a cheerleader in high school, but that has nothing to do with what I can and cannot do now, thank you very much, Trailer Trash Barbie.” Buffy replied tartly; forcing her face to not reflect the shock she felt on the inside as she heard her own response. Fired up, Buffy turned to Lorne and announced, “I’m ready for my try out now.”

The next two months passed with a speed that had Buffy’s head spinning. Between working her day job at Hemery High School and practicing at night with the band, which had finally settled on the name Serenity, she was burning the candle at both ends. Each night she came home late, well past her pre-band bedtime of nine thirty, quickly showered and fell into bed completely limp with exhaustion. Truth be told, although she was loving every minute of her new lifestyle, Buffy wondered just how long her body was going to be able to handle this strenuous schedule before she collapsed.

Idly humming along with the song playing on the radio, Buffy enjoyed the not so busy Saturday as she patiently waited in traffic on her way to the studio. Since it was the weekend, her band members had thankfully decided on a short afternoon practice, instead of the five to six hour practices they’d been churning out lately. So, after a whopping ten hours of sleep and treating herself to a pedicure and manicure, Buffy felt like a new woman.

Eventually, traffic opened up enough that she was able to maneuver her way thru the web of cars and make it the final couple of blocks to her destination. Groaning when she noticed that everyone else was there waiting on her, Buffy jumped out of her secondhand Jeep Cherokee and sprinted up the stairs. When she entered the studio, Buffy was greeted with a scattering of hellos and a hug from Lorne, as per usual, before being quickly ushered to the couch; where she took a seat by Xander.

Ever the Drama Queen, Lorne announced he had fantastic news and then took a moment, pausing for dramatic flair, before telling them that Serenity had been booked to play the following weekend at the Bronze, a local club that was known for its variety of bands that played there weekly. After the group calmed down, he went on to explain that there was a cancellation of the opening band, which was usually a local up and coming group. After that Lorne rambled on for a bit about how they ended up getting the gig, but Buffy zoned out since she was far too excited about their first ever performance to concentrate.

Eventually, they managed to calm down and get organized; quickly setting forth figuring out which songs they should play and in what order. Since the opening bands were only allowed only three songs they had to be very selective of which ones they wanted. Of course, since Oz and Faith were their creative team, churning out song after song until the early hours of the morning, the ones that were picked had no significant meaning to Buffy and therefor, she had no attachment to any of them and didn’t care which ones were chosen. While she wrote her own songs in secret, and had several tucked away in her diary already, she had as of yet to grow a spine and show them to her band mates.

Although band practice had originally intended to last until six that evening, the introduction of their first gig together spurred them on until the wee hours of the morning yet again; causing Buffy to pull in to her driveway shortly after three in the morning. Bleary eyed and exhausted, she’d stumbled up the stairs to her bedroom and went straight to bed; hoping to get a few hours of sleep before she had to meet her best friends from college for brunch.

The next morning after a measly five hours of sleep, Buffy rolled out of her comfy bed stumbled in to the bathroom to step in to a scalding hot shower in hopes of waking herself up. Plans were to meet at the diner next to Willow and Tara’s bookshop in Venice, so Buffy had to hurry up so she wouldn’t be late and prayed traffic wouldn’t be too horrible. It didn’t matter that her best friends were more than aware of her issues in the punctuality department since they had known one another since college, that didn’t mean that Buffy didn’t at least try to be on time to meet them. Once out of the shower, she pulled her long blonde locks in to a messy bun, added a touch of mascara and lip gloss to an otherwise naked face and threw on a tank top with a pair of jeans so worn they were velvety soft. After locating the pair of sandals that had somehow managed to wind up in the laundry basket, Buffy was out the door and on her way to Venice Beach.

Willow was just sitting down at their usual table by the window, overlooking the sandy beach and grayish blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, when Buffy arrived. Having been Buffy’s best friend since their first day of freshman year when they’d ended up living together, Willow already knew to order Buffy a double mocha latte when she ordered her own. Buffy slid into her chair just as Tara entered the shop and joined them. Buffy sighed wistfully as she watched the two greet one another with a soft kiss, their faces alight with happiness. She wished that one day she could find someone that made her as happy as the two of them were….in a male package, of course!





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