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 Thirty-one:
A sudden flurry of personal appearances to
promote the season finale of 'Outpost:Space' kept
William from visiting as much as Buffy and Melanie
would have liked. During a two week period at the
end of May, apart from an almost daily phone call,
they had no contact with him whatsoever.
On Wednesday, May 25th, the weather turned bad,
producing a sudden rainstorm complete with a
thunder and lightning extravaganza. Buffy had been
working overtime preparing for the "End of School"
sales event she'd been planning, having posters
printed and stock marked down, rearranging displays
and clearance racks.
After collecting Melanie from after school care, she
stopped at the market and purchased the ingredients for
Melanie's absolute favorite dinner....Kraft Macaroni and
Cheese, and hot dogs.
At the check out stand, Buffy picked up the TV Guide
and opened it to Wednesday, showing Melanie the full
page ad for that night's show. The little girl studied it
carefully, sounding out the words slowly.
"Season.....finally?"
Buffy smiled. "Finale," she corrected.
"What's it mean?"
"Means the last new show until next fall. During the
summer, you'll just see reruns of the shows you've
already seen."
Melanie didn't miss a beat. "That's okay."
"Yes, I didn't think you'd mind." Buffy placed the TV
Guide on the conveyor belt and began unloading her
cart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were both fairly drenched when they finally got
inside with the groceries.
Buffy stripped Melanie's clothes off and popped her into a
hot bath, then changed into a dry pair of sweat pants and a
old flannel shirt.
She put away her groceries, then started the water boiling
for the macaroni. In the bathroom, Melanie sang quietly as
she played with the half dozen 'Bathtime Barbies' that lined
the edge of the tub. Buffy drained the pasta and dumped it
back in the pot, added a chunk of butter and the powdered
cheese, then reached into the cupboard over the stove for
her measuring cups.
Hands on her hips, she scanned the shelf. "Melanie?"
"What?"
"Have you seen the measuring cups?"
"Yes." That was all.
Buffy sighed and headed down the hall. Melanie's literal
turn of mind could be frustrating at times. "Where are they?"
she asked, stepping into the bathroom and pushing the
curtain open around the tub. "Oh, Melanie...."
Half the contents of her kitchen was currently floating in
Melanie's bath water. All of her measuring cups, her large
ladle, a Tupperware mixing bowl, two rubber spatulas, the
small sauce pan she sometimes soft boiled an egg in, a
jumbo sized plastic soda cup from McDonald's, and a wire
whisk.
Melanie offered up the measuring cups in one soapy little
hand. "Can I have them back when you're done?"
"No, you may not." Buffy tried for a 'no nonsense' face. "And
you'd better hustle it up if you want to have your dinner and
homework finished before the show starts," she said in a
voice that meant business. "It's extra long tonight and I want
you ready to hop right into bed the second it's over."
"I will."
While Melanie finished bathing, Buffy washed her
measuring cups and added milk to the macaroni mixture.
She stirred it up until the butter melted, then placed two
hot dogs into their buns and wrapped them in paper towels
before placing them in the microwave.
As she was setting the table, Melanie walked into the
kitchen wearing her Snow White nightgown, a
miniature copy of the yellow skirted, blue-bodiced number
worn by the Disney princess. She had a red hairband pushing
back her damp curls, and wore a pair of red slippers with Snow
White's face on them. In her arms, she carried a stuffed 'Bambi',
'Thumper, the rabbit', and 'Flower, the skunk'....animals from an
entirely different movie, but Melanie didn't make those distinctions.
Still in her bedroom, was a stuffed version of all seven dwarfs.
The entire ensemble and it's accessories came from the Disney-
land Character Shop, courtesy of William St. James. The reason
Buffy had allowed the over-indulgence was because, unlike most
children her age, Melanie actually played with all her stuffed toys.
Being the solitary child she was, she made up elaborate games
that included every single one of them at some point. None of her
animals gathered any dust on shelves or languished in toy boxes
after being played with one time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After dinner was eaten and the dishes were washed, Buffy
sent Melanie to brush her teeth. She supervised the small
homework assignment she'd been given, then settled down on
the couch beside her and switched on the television.
It was an exciting episode. The crew of the Phoenix were
in considerable jeopardy for nearly the entire two hours,
and the captain himself was in not one, but two rather
lengthy fistfights. Buffy was more than a little impressed
by the fighting skills he was exhibiting. He'd explained to
her once that the fights were scripted and choreographed
down to the smallest detail, and a stunt man handled the
more elaborate and potentially risky maneuvers, but quite a
bit of the work was all his own and he spent a great deal of
time working with a martial arts teacher to perfect his craft.
Shortly before the final commercial break, something
happened that bothered her far more than she'd thought
it would. something that the writers had been flirting around
the edges of and teasing the audience with for the last 5 or 6
episodes.....Captain Amara and his female second in
command, some sort of tall and very beautiful alien with
jet black hair that reached nearly to the backs of her
knees....finally gave in to the sexual tension between
them and had an encounter Buffy had to send Melanie
out of the room for.
It was easy to tell herself that she was stupid for
feeling jealous. That there was nothing between
William and this woman except for the words the shows
writers put in their mouths.
But stupid or not, the sight bothered her. She almost
wished for a moment that he wasn't such a good actor,
as he certainly appeared to be enjoying himself.
When the show resumed, her mind was so preoccupied
that she nearly missed the big finish...the cliffhanger the
audience had been told to expect in various magazines
and interviews, a plot development so carefully guarded
that even most of the cast had no idea it was coming.
Buffy watched in amazement as Captain Amara battled it
out with an alien twice his size. As the music swelled
dramatically, the action slipped into slow-motion. The
alien wrenched a piece of pipe from the wall of the star-
ship and smashed it into the side of the captain's head. He
collapsed on the floor in an unconscious heap. The creature
then knelt beside him and twisted the captain's neck until
a sickening snap sounded.
The action then focused on approaching footsteps. Slowly,
the camera panned up from a pair of boots, over shapely legs
and a curving torso clad in tight red leather, up to the face of
the woman Captain Amara had been dallying with moments
ago.
But instead of reacting as expected, the woman smiled. Glossy
red lips parted and she said, "He's finally dead" in a tone of
long denied satisfaction. The screen went black save for three
small words....'To Be Continued...'
Melanie turned to her mother with tears welling up in her
eyes. "What happened?"
Buffy fumbled for the remote and punched the 'off'
button, then slipped her arm around Melanie's shoulders
and pulled the little girl onto her lap. Why hadn't he warned
her about this?
She did her best to explain how TV shows sometimes did
such things...threw out shocking plot developments, then
left their viewers hanging for three or four months. Melanie,
however, couldn't get past the concept that William's
character was dead.
Sudden inspiration saved her.
"Listen...how about if we call him and you can talk to
him yourself," she suggested. "Would that make you feel
a little better?"
Rubbing her small nose with the back of her hand,
Melanie nodded.
"Okay, then." Buffy retrieved her purse and searched
through it for the slip of paper with his phone number on
it that William had given her the day they'd first met at
the convention. Punching in the numbers, she settled
down on the couch next to Melanie.
The number rang nine times, and Buffy was about to
hang up when someone finally answered....a soft and
decidedly feminine voice practically purred, "Hello."
Certain that she must have dialed the wrong number,
Buffy hesitated.
The voice on the other end of the line repeated it's
greeting, following it up with a sexy sounding chuckle.
"Um....I'm sorry...I must....I think I dialed the wrong number?"
Buffy stammered. It came out as a question.
"Well, maybe not," the woman replied. "Who are you
trying to reach?"
"William...um....St. James...."
"No, this is his number....hang on."
Buffy's brow furrowed.
"Hey, baby," she heard the woman call out. "Phone call....how
should I know who it is?.....One of your legion of women, I
assume....hey!...."
More giggling. Her stomach tightened.
"Hello?" William's voice, finally....sounding highly amused.
She didn't know what to say. Everything seemed to be
backed up in her throat for some reason. Dimly, she heard
him say "hello" a second time, then once more. He sounded
on the verge of hanging up when she glanced down at her
daughter's worried face and her vocal paralysis broke.
"It's me....it's Buffy."
"Buffy?" He actually sounded delighted to hear her
voice. "How are you, sweetheart? I was going to give you
a call in a little while after my...."
"That's okay," she said quickly. "Um...actually, Melanie
wanted to talk to you." She sketched the situation out for
him briefly, then handed the phone to her daughter.
Buffy made busy work for herself around the room,
trying not to listen and succeeding for the most part. She
vaguely heard Melanie talking and asking questions, and
could tell by her tone of voice that she was being reassured
about Captain Amara's fate.
"He wants to talk to you, Mommy," Melanie said,
holding out the phone.
Buffy started to take the receiver, then stopped
herself. "Um...tell him I'll talk to him...some other time."
"How come?"
"Just tell him."
She sat down at the computer, listening as Melanie
relayed her message.
"She said can she talk to you later....I don't know....
no....just sitting down.....okay....."
Buffy hit the on button and waited, then turned the
machine off again.
"Mommy? He says can you please talk to him for
just a minute?"
Hating herself for putting Melanie in the middle of
this, she shook her head. "Not right now, honey," she
said, keeping her tone light. "I need to...um...do
something with my accounts...okay? I'll call him
later."
Clearly confused, Melanie put the phone back to
her ear. "She said not now....um....I don't think so...okay,
I will....uh-huh.....okay, bye..."
Buffy didn't give Melanie a chance to ask any
questions. "Time for bed, sweetie."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, she came downstairs.
After putting Melanie to bed, she had taken a hot
bath and tried desperately to analyze her reasons for
not wanting to talk to William.
Unfortunately, as hard as she tried, she couldn't come
up with even one good one. Rationalize it all she
wanted, but when push came to shove it all boiled down
to one thing.....hearing that woman answer his phone,
the way she had sounded so natural, so comfortable
doing it...not to mention the "legions of women" comment,
had jarred her badly.
Dressed in her nightgown and robe, she'd gone into
the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. Sleep wasn't
likely to come along anytime soon, so the caffeine
really wouldn't make a difference.
Now, mug in hand, she flipped off the kitchen light and
headed back upstairs.
Her foot was on the bottom riser when there was a
sudden loud pounding on the front door, startling her so
badly that she nearly dropped her cup.
"Buffy! I want to talk to you....now!"
TBC....
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