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Title: Acting The Part
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS
characters belong to me.
Feedback: Love some, thanks.
Rating: Up to NC-17
Summary: AU. William St. James is
an actor in a hit television show. While
appearing at a fan convention, he meets
Buffy and her six year old daughter, Melanie

AN: Hey, check out the pretty picture vamps
made for the story:
www.offangsandfairytales.net/actingthepartmain.html



Part twenty-five:



The waiters at Veronique's were dressed
as though they were about to perform in a
symphony orchestra.

After turning over his car keys to the valet,
William took Buffy's hand and walked her up a
purple and black carpeted path. He pulled open
a large frosted glass door with a 'V' etched into
it, and was greeted instantly by a hostess dressed
every bit as elegantly as the waiters were.

The whole restaurant staff functioned liked a
team, smoothly and effortlessly, addressing William
as "Mr. St. James". They were shown to a secluded
booth on the far side of the dining area, set back into
the wall and surrounded on either side by large
potted plants.

He ordered wine from one waiter and their food
from another. A third one placed expensive crystal
glasses before them. The wine arrived, and the
waiter hovered anxiously waiting for William
to sample it.

Buffy took a sip from her glass as the waiter
disappeared. "What do you suppose they do
with it if the wine doesn't get a thumbs up?"

William chuckled. "Maybe they take it back into
the kitchen and polish it off themselves."

It was clear that the wait staff was accustomed to
serving well recognized clientele. They made
obvious and, for the most part, successful efforts
to keep anyone from approaching their table in
search of an autograph.

One or two fans did manage to get past the barrier,
but William was unfailingly polite and pleasant,
signing whatever they asked him to sign and even
posing for a woman to take a photograph with her
cell phone.

"Does that ever bother you?" Buffy asked, taking
another sip of wine.

He grinned at her. "Actually....it doesn't. I suppose it
might, somewhere down the road, but it's still fairly
new for me." He shrugged. "I kind of like it, and they're
the reason the show is successful in the first place.
Doesn't matter how good the acting or writing is if
no one's watching it."

"That's true. I never thought of it like that." She sat
back in her chair as the waiter set a plate in front of
her, cautioning her that it was a bit hot to the touch.

They talked while they ate, making nothing more than
causal conversation. She told him what was happening
at 'Melanie's Garden' and he told her more about the
season finale of the show, informing her that there was
going to be a hell of a cliffhanger, but refusing to di-
vulge any further information about what it might be.

"I made reservations at the hotel," he said, wiping his
mouth with a linen napkin. "I thought we could drive
down on Friday evening, and that would give Melanie
all day Saturday and Sunday. My secretary told me that
it's impossible to "do" Disneyland in only two days. I
guess they've added a lot on since the last time I was
there, but I thought we'd just stick to the main park."

"Two days will be fine," Buffy said. "She's going to be in
heaven."

He looked pleased, she noticed, and she couldn't help
wondering if he was subconsciously trying to compete
with Angel in a 'let's see who can score more points
with Melanie' contest.

"I reserved a suite," he went on. "There are two bedrooms,
but if you'd rather have a separate one for you and Melanie,
I can arrange it."

It was a sticky situation. On one hand, she'd like nothing
better than to put Melanie to bed in one room, then join
William in the other, but she knew she'd be opening a
Pandora's box of questions from her daughter if she did,
questions there were no answers for just yet.

"I think....as long as there are two bedrooms, the one
suite will be fine," she told him.

"You sure about that, love?"

No. No, she wasn't. But it was the right thing to do at
this point, so she nodded and smiled. "Very sure."

He reached across the table and took her hand, raising
it and placing a kiss on her palm. "It's going to be very
hard sleeping in one room while you're right behind the
door of another one, so close to me." Looking up at her,
he winked devilishly. "Very...very...hard," he added,
making his double meaning clear as to what would be
the 'hardest' thing about it.

Buffy caught her breath at the feel of his lips caressing
her hand. "I know," she said softly. "For me, too."

"But we have to set a good example for Melanie."

"Uh-huh," she nodded again, staring into his eyes,
nearly gasping out loud when he teasingly bit the
tip of her fingers. Her skin prickled with awareness,
and a warm flush suffused her entire body. She picked
up a glass of ice water to cool herself down, trying to
decide whether it would be more effective to drink it
down fast or dump it in her lap. "We definitely do."

"It wouldn't look right."

"No, it wouldn't."

"She might not understand."

"Might not."

"So...do you think we can get a little time alone
together before we go?"

"You can count on it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"This is a nice car."

William turned to look at her, waiting for the traffic
light to turn green. "Thanks. I like it, too. It's the first
thing I bought when I landed the job on 'Outpost Space."

"Really? I would have thought the house."

"Um...no. I didn't buy the house until I was sure the
show would be picked up."

"You're very sensible," she said.

"Not really." He made a face. "I was so overwhelmed
by having that kind of money for the first time that I
wasted a ridiculous amount of it. The house and the cars
were the ONLY sensible things I bought."

Buffy shifted a little in her seat, settling herself into
it. "What else?" she asked.

The light turned green. "A lot of things I didn't
need, although I managed to convince myself that
I did," he said, neatly merging into freeway traffic.

"Well, tell me," she insisted.

"Oh....that huge home theater system that I hardly
ever use. Clothes I've never worn. Hundreds of
DVDs I've never watched. Two other cars that I
never drove. Then, after I was done indulging
MYSELF, I moved on to indulging my family and
friends. I bought them expensive gifts for no reason,
sent them on vacations all over the world, picked up
every tab. It went on like that for a long time."

"And then you stopped yourself?"

"No, my mother stopped me. I was at my parent's
house for Christmas, passing out more loot than
Santa ever dreamed of, and she made me go into
the kitchen with her and asked me exactly who I
was trying to impress."

Buffy smiled widely. "You're kidding!"

"Oh, NO, I'm not," he insisted. My mother is a
very practical, 'both feet planted firmly on the
ground' type. She teaches school part time and
doesn't put up with much. So, then she told me
to stop being such a show off, that I had no
use for four cars or a watch that cost more than
her annual salary, and had I ever heard of open-
ing a savings account."

"What did you do?"

"I sold two of the cars, returned the watch, and..."

"....opened a savings account," they said at the
same time. "That's a great story," Buffy added.

Turning onto Revello Drive, there was no sign of
Angel's car. William parked in the driveway,
leaving no room for her ex to pull in behind him,
proving to Buffy that even a modern and civilized
man could be prone to bouts of territoriality.

He shut off the engine and released his seat belt,
then did the same for her. "You know," he said,
kissing the senses right out of her, "I wish I'd
driven the Lexus tonight instead."

"Why's that?" she asked, kissing him back.

"The seats recline." He nuzzled her ear,
biting playfully. "I could lay you down faster
than you could say 'I didn't sign up for this'."

"Very funny," she said, giving his shoulder a
push.

"Oh, come on," he coaxed her. "They'll be
back any minute, and we haven't had any
quality time all evening."

"Going out to dinner wasn't quality time?"

"That was a different kind of quality."

Between the tone of his voice, the look in
his eyes, and the nearness of his body, Buffy
was finding his words seriously tempting.

His lips captured hers and they kissed hungrily,
moving their mouths together with demanding
eagerness.

But it soon became clear that the Carrera just
wasn't designed for that type of activity. Too
small for any real abandon, the gear shift kept
digging into Buffy's thigh.

"Why don't we just go in the house?" she
suggested. "We'd be a lot more comfortable."

"Race you!"

"Hey!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


He beat her to the front porch, then stood behind
her while she searched for her house key. His arms
wrapped around her waist, he rubbed himself
against her, kissing the back of her neck and
mussing her hair.

"You're distracting me," she told him.

"Good. I'm glad I have that effect on you." He
pushed her hair aside and continued his
attentions to her neck.

By the time she found her key, her hand was
almost shaking too hard to use it.

William saw her predicament and placed his
hand over hers, guiding the key straight in and
then turning the doorknob.

They almost fell into the house, then William
closed the door, pulling her close.

Much to her surprise, he suddenly stiffened all
over, staring over her shoulder into the living
room, the smile fading from his face.

"What's..." Buffy turned and followed his gaze,
her eyes widening with shock. "....going on?"

Sitting on the couch was a middle aged woman
Buffy had never seen before. She had a hard,
not particularly friendly face, and she looked
highly put out about being there.

On the opposite side of the room, as far away
as it was physically possible for her to go,
Melanie sat curled up in an armchair, shrinking
back into it as if she were trying to sink into the
very fabric of the cushions. Her face was soaked
with tears, her eyes red and swollen. "Daddy....had
to go," she whispered, her voice nearly inaudible
and hoarse from crying.

"What? I don't under....who are YOU?" Buffy
demanded, frowning, barely hearing it when
the woman told her that she was a legal secretary
at Wolfram and Hart, that Mr. Connor had called
her at home, had asked her to.......

William said nothing. He crossed the room in
three long strides and scooped Melanie up in
his arms, rubbing her back as she buried her
face against the side of his neck and clung to
him.

He had already deduced what Buffy was just
beginning to realize.

Angel had brought Melanie home, then left
her here with one of the secretaries working
at his firm.

A complete and utter stranger.


TBC...

(Gee, I must be trying to get Angel killed,
huh?)





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