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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - Preparations


Interview 1998

The day I got the phone call from my manager…was a day I’ll never forget.

November 1997
London, England

Spike and Buffy were spending a rare afternoon at Angel and Cordelia’s home, along with Willow. However, it wasn’t a social visit, per se. Acid Reign was two months away from their first big tour. And one week away from their big promotion tour of the United States, including stops at Jay Leno and David Letterman. So, while Cordy, Buffy, and Willow were chatting with each other across the room, Angel and Spike were seated at the grand piano, going over their music, rearranging it for live performance.

The girls, seated around a small table, watched as the men went over the sheet music. On occasion, Angel would play a little of a melody before Spike joined in.

“So,” Buffy said, turning to Cordelia as Spike hummed the melody of a song in the background, “Willow tells me you’re an actress?”

Cordy smiled, “Yep.” Then she hesitated, then conceded, “Well, I’m trying to be an actress. Haven’t had my breakthrough yet.”

Buffy smiled, “There’s still time.”

Cordy nodded, “Of course. I haven’t given up yet. Besides,” she motioned to Spike and Angel, “not everyone can have their luck.”

“They had quite a journey to get there, too, though,” Buffy said thoughtfully, remembering their fight and determination. “If you want something bad enough, it’ll come.”

“You’re right. Speaking of journey, are you coming along next week?”

Buffy moaned, “No. I want to. But, classes are kicking my ass right now.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re getting your Ph.D. How’s that going for you?” Willow asked.

“Oh, kill me now.” She dramatically dropped her head down on the table, “What on earth was I thinking?”

The thud of her head hitting the surface distracted Spike and Angel, who stopped what they were working on to look in their direction.

“Is everything alright, love?”

Without looking at him, she gave him the thumbs-up sign. “Everything’s fine.”

Spike looked at the other girls, brow raised in question.

“Willow did the mistake of asking her how her dissertation was going,” Cordy said with a smile.

“Ah. I see.” With a small laugh, Spike and Angel returned to their task at hand.

Willow smiled and returned to their conversation, “That bad, huh?”

Buffy lifted her head and gave a little whine.

“So, what are you working on?” Cordy asked with a smile.

Buffy looked at her, brow raised questioningly.

“Pretend I care,” Cordy amended, waving her hand.

Buffy sighed dramatically then launched into her seemingly well-rehearsed spiel, as though she’d been waiting for the opportunity to discuss it.

“I’ve decided to look at Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. Yeah, I know. Everyone knows about that painting, but I’m taking what is apparently a new approach to it.” She shrugged, “Personally, I thought it was common sense, but when I started researching, I discovered no one seems to look at Leonardo’s work in comparison to what was going on around him. Like he lives in a freakin’ bubble.”

“So, you’re popping the bubble?” Willow asked, slowly.

“Exactly. So, I’m taking the Mona Lisa and comparing it to the many other female portraits done at the same time. How was Leonardo’s different? How was it similar? Hell, for that matter, just how perfect is the Mona Lisa? I mean, have you noticed her blobby hands? Or his outrageous perspective in the background? For someone who liked to complain about Botticelli’s and other fellow artists’ lack of correct perspective, he wasn’t exactly that great at it himself. Or, if you really want to shake up the art world, did you know that there may be more than one Mona Lisa? That the one in the Louvre might not be the original? It‘s certainly not the one that Giorgio Vasari describes in his Lives.”

“Hmm…really?” Cordy said, thoughtfully. “So, how would one go about proving that?”

Excited that she managed to attract Cordy’s attention, Buffy took a deep breath and began, starting her conversation with Raphael this time. “Well, Raphael is well-known to have loved the Mona Lisa. In fact, he loved it so much, he copied it. A bunch of times. Which of course would have been impossible if the painting really was in France with Leonardo at the time…”


Meanwhile, across the room, while the girls discussed art, Spike and Angel were hard at work. Angel was seated on the piano bench as Spike leaned against the back Of the piano.

“On Moon and Back, I’m thinking maybe we could rearrange that to be a piano ballad. Fit it in the middle with the other ballads,” Angel said as he examined the sheet music he’d written for the song.

“I like that idea,” Spike said.

Angel placed the music on the piano, studying the notes on both staffs, deciding where the important melodies laid, and his fingers glided across the keys. He played a few introductory notes. Instinctively, Spike joined in right when he should.

“She’s taking her time
Making up the reasons
To justify all the hurt inside
Guess she knows
From the smiles and the look in their eyes
Everyone’s got a theory about the bitter one -

Spike halted his singing, saying, “I like it. Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Alright. Good. So, that’s two and a half ballads,” Angel said, referring to the one song that they shortened so that they could use it as a sort of segue to blend into the other after.

Angel’s phone then rang on the kitchen counter. He quickly got up and answered it.

“Yeah?…Yes, he’s here, too. I’ll put you on speaker phone. Hold on.”

Spike looked at him questioningly as Angel placed the caller on speaker.

“Okay. What is it, Lorne?” Angel asked.

“Oh, Angelcakes,” Lorne said excitedly. “Cheekbones, you listening?”

“Yeah, mate,” Spike said, leaning against the counter.

“Oh, you two aren’t going to believe it. This promotion tour couldn’t be better timing. Aren’t you excited?” Lorne asked animatedly.

“We might be if you told us why we should be, mate,” Spike said dryly.

“Oh, sorry. Your single, the one that was just released a couple of weeks ago in America - it’s shot up to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.”

Angel and Spike stared at each other, amazement coloring both their expressions.

“Did you hear me?” Lorne asked when he received no answer. “You guys are number one.”



Interview 1999

Gaining popularity in your own country is amazing in and of itself. And I will be forever grateful for that.

But, as anyone will tell you, the music world in the States…that’s the hardest place to make it. And when you do, when you take that country by storm…

It’s a complete rush.

It’s unbelievable.



END CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


Chapter End Notes:
The song is, once again, To the Moon and Back by Savage Garden



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