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Chapter 5

“Angel, it’s Spike. Look… can you do me a huge favour? I’ve left the Henderson file at home. Could you drop it into the office for me? Thanks mate.”

“So this is Central Park,” Buffy remarked as she took in her surrounds.

She was four days into her trip and Angel had finally taken some time off work to show her the sights, sounds and, at times, the smells New York City has to offer.

“For some unknown reason I was expecting more gangs and crime,” she half-joked.

Angel laughed. “Sorry to disappoint. Maybe after we’re done here I could take you to the bad side of the tracks for a mugging.”

“Gee thanks, you really now how to make your sister feel welcome,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s just that when I picture New York it has a bit more… action and danger to it,” Buffy admitted, sounding genuinely disappointed.

“You do realise that life isn’t what you see on TV, right?”

“Intimately so some days. I wish everything could go back to normal after the half hour finishes,” she sighed as she stopped and looked out over the lake. “That and I wish I could bump into Carrie and the girls having cosmos at some hip bar downtown.”

They fell into an easy silence as they continued to walk around the park. Buffy let herself relax as she watched life pass her by. Lunchtime joggers working off the previous night’s over indulgences. Others at hot dog stands partaking in similar over extravagance. Owners walking their dogs, or in some cases vice versa. It felt safe being on the outside looking in. Her detachment helped her relax. She had been so involved back in Sunnydale, the talk of the town, it had taken its toll on her. Her hope was that in coming to New York she would be able to relax and wind down some. However, she had forgotten to factor Spike into the equation, sharing a living space with him had made her more on edge than ever. It wasn’t anything in particular that he was doing, in fact they had successfully avoided each other since the night of her arrival. But she was felt as though she was walking on eggshells, senses heightened trying to avoid him. And it would seem he was doing the same.

“How are you doing?” Angel asked, shaking her from her thoughts.

“Peachy with a side of keen,” she replied on auto pilot.

“Okay, and which shower do you think I just came down in Buffy? I’m your brother, I know when something is going on with you. Besides, with all the stuff that has gone on with you the past few months you would have to be some kind of robot to have it not affect you,” he pointed out, eyebrow arched in suspicion.

That was the thing with family, you could always count on them to state the glaringly obvious when all you wanted to do was sweep it under the carpet and never think about it again.

“Thanks big bro, you sure know how to make a girl feel better,” she replied sarcastically. She tried to collect her thoughts. How did she feel it changed from minute to minute?

“Well?” He was not giving up on this.

“I honestly don’t know Angel,” she sighed. “Sometimes it feels as though Riley ripped my heart out and put back in, but all upside down wrong way up, so its still there but I don’t know how to use it anymore. Other times I’m grateful to Riley that he told me now, before we got married, and saved me all that heartache and grief. And then I get pissed off at myself for being grateful and… well it just goes into a tail spin from there,” Buffy finished as she calmed herself back down.

“Right, so you are doing okay then?” Angel seemed unsure of what to do with her outburst. Buffy laughed at her brother’s inability to handle her response.

“Its okay, Angel I don’t understand it either,” Buffy replied as she linked her arm in his and continued walking. “But I am hoping one day it will become a little less foggy.”

“Oh by the way, we have to stop off somewhere on the way home I need to drop something off.”

*****

“Cordelia, can you please let me know when Angel gets here, he has something I need ASAP,” Spike asked as he watched his assistant get hot under the collar. It was one of the worst kept secrets that Cordelia Chase had a thing for his best friend.

“Oh, really which one is Angel again?” Cordelia asked as she tried to sound nonchalant.

“You know the one Cordy, tall dark and forehead, my roommate.” He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the wanna-be actress. Surprisingly she made a really good assistant.

“Oh Angel… I know the one now, I’ll keep an eye out. I just need to pop out to the ladies room for a moment.” And with that she gathered her bag and raced off.

This time Spike did not contain his laughter as he made his way back into the office. Why women felt the need to make themselves presentable for a guy was beyond him. Did women not know that nine times out of ten all they had to do was pay them some kind of attention and they would be interested? Except for Buffy, she would have to do a lot more than that to interest anyone. If she thought her shiny blonde hair and cherry red lips were enough to entice a man then she was very mistaken. And the smell of vanilla that seemed to follow her wherever she went was not at all alluring, if anything it was downright annoying. It was the reason he had been avoiding her since her arrival, he didn’t need her all up in his face clouding his thoughts with how annoying she truly was.

“Spike, Angel is here,” Cordy’s voice came across the phones loud speaker, cutting short his internal rantings.

“About bloody,” Spike opened the door and was stopped in his tracks not by Angel but by the cause of his said rants. “Time”

“What are we doing here at his office?” Buffy asked, her distain dripping from her words.

“I told you I had to drop something off before we went home,” Angel replied.

Spike saw Cordy’s face drop as she jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Buffy, this is my assistant Cordelia Chase, and Cordy this is Angel’s sister Buffy,”

Cordy outstretched her hand as soon as she realised that Buffy was not encroaching on her turf. “So pleased to meet you, Angel’s sister Buffy.”

The relief on her face was evident. An awkward pause followed rather than stand it Spike threw his friend a bone.

“Buffy, can I see you in my office for a moment?”

“Huh?”

Spike could tell she wouldn’t have been more shocked if he’d turned to stone that very moment.

“Yes, I need to talk to you about something very important,” he said, trying to make subtle gestures to indicate what he was trying to do.

“Me, are you sure you don’t mean, anyone else other than me?”

This girl was going to be the death of him, he knew it. He took matters into his own hands literally. He took her hand and dragged her into his office.

“No I meant you. Excuse us, we have some important business to attend to.” And with that he left Angel and Cordy staring into each others eyes.





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