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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello everyone. I've finally finished the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Five

As Buffy strode down the path toward the library she psyched herself up for the coming meeting. She could do this. It was simply a matter of mind over...well, libido.

Her brown flats barely made a sound as she walked. She'd deliberately chosen them, along with the brown tailored pants and simple white blouse, which she had buttoned all the way to the neck, with this meeting in mind. A severe bun and very basic, neutral make-up completed the look. She'd never felt less sexy in her life. Which was exactly the way she wanted it.

This was a supervision meeting with her supervisee and nothing more. They would talk about his research paper, with no unnecessary emotion or underlying tension. And she absolutely, definitely would not picture him naked.

Making her way down the steps that would take her to the café entrance, she paused to see if she could find Spike. Her breath hitched when she caught sight of him in a back corner. He held a pen in one hand while reading something on the table in front of him. The end of the pen was caught between his lips and he seemed to be sucking on it lightly. Hmm, I wonder if he's curling his tongue against it.

Cursing, she looked away. You haven't even sat down with him yet and already you're having lewd fantasies about his tongue. That's just great.

She plastered a neutral expression on her face as she approached the table. “Good afternoon. I see you're hard at work already?”

He looked up in surprise, the pen leaving his mouth with a soft pop, and gave her a cheerful smile. “Hey there, love. How are you?”

“Great.” Buffy dropped a small stack of paper onto the table. “I'm just going to order myself some lunch and then we can get started. Have you already ordered?”

When he nodded, she added, “I won't be long.”

“Buffy?”

She paused to look back at him and saw the hint of a frown marring his brow. “Is everything all right?”

“Of course.” She smiled. It wasn't too wide, nor too indifferent. It was a perfectly professional smile. “I'll be right back.”

Standing in line, Buffy forced herself not to look over at their table. She knew he was watching her. Somehow she could just feel it. His gaze rested on her as surely as if he had an arm wrapped around her waist. She couldn't help but wonder if he was checking her out, or if he was just wondering what drugs she was on that were making her act so weird. If she turned around now would he be undressing her with his eyes?

Don't look. Don't look.

She looked.

He was watching her all right. Like a hawk. No, like a panther. Oh, yeah. A panther just waiting for the right moment to pounce on its vulnerable prey. He was watching her like he wanted to bend her over the table and–

“What would you like?”

“Spike,” she said on a sigh.

“Umm...I'm afraid we don't sell...err...spikes. Would you like another moment to look at the menu board?”

“What?” Her eyes snapped back into the focus. There was an irate young man standing in front of her with an absurd orange cap on his head. He had his pen and pad at the ready. “Oh, I'm sorry. I was in a different world for a minute.”

“Uh-huh. Well, in this world there are six people lining up behind you so...”

Buffy ordered her food and paid as quickly as possible before escaping back to the table. So much for the confident ultra-professional she was supposed to be today.

“Okay. Let's get started,” she said as she sat down at the table and got out her notepad and pen. She forced herself to look at him. “Tell me, William, how has your research been going?”

He just sat there, staring at her, confusion clouding his eyes.

“Is there a problem?” she asked. God, stop looking at me like I kicked your puppy.

He shook his head, as if to clear it. “No. No problem.” He shuffled through the papers in front of him for a moment, before handing her several neatly typed pages. “I've drafted four basic hypotheses based on our last discussion and I'd like to know what you think of them. Also, I've included a list of the articles I've found in my literature search. I haven't quite finished reading them but I should be done in the next few days.”

Buffy scanned the pages quickly, noting that he had several seminal articles, as well as plenty of the latest research in the field. “This is good. Excellent work.” At the end of the last page she added a couple of extra names. “I also want you to look these authors up. I think you'll find them useful.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

She raised her head, unable to resist giving him a little smile. “You're welcome.” Their eyes met and held for a long moment and Buffy felt her heart beat quicken. There's that panther again.

A large plate, overflowing with a hamburger and fries, landed on the table between them with a loud thud. Buffy jumped, her eyes darting around to see if anyone had noticed the moment that had just past between them. Although she recognised a few colleagues here and there, everyone seemed oblivious to their presence. Thank God for small mercies.

“Thank you,” she murmured to the waiter as the last of the food and drinks were placed on the table. When they were alone once more she took a sip of her cappuccino. “Now, have you had any new ideas for the study?”

Spike munched on a fry before speaking. “I was thinking that maybe I should include couples that are dating but aren't having sex. As, like, a kind of control group.”

“Do you mean couples that haven't reached the stage of having sex yet? Or couples who are in a relationship but are actively choosing to abstain?”

“The latter.” He nodded to her meal with a teasing smile. “It's not a wonder you're so tiny if that's all you eat for lunch, love.”

Buffy looked down at her salad sandwich and then over at his huge hamburger and mountain of fries. At least I'm not risking a coronary before leaving the table. She opened her mouth to say as much, then stopped. If she said that then she knew he'd have some witty comeback and before she knew it they'd be entering sexy-banter mode like there was no tomorrow. But there was a tomorrow and she planned to still have a viable career when it arrived.

“I think there could be some problems with that idea. Too many extraneous variables. Like...umm...what are you doing?”

Between bites of his burger, Spike had dumped a handful of his fries on top of her sandwich.

“I'm feeding you,” he said. “What fun is there to life if you can't even enjoy hot chips.”

Buffy stared at the offending food. He couldn't do that. He wouldn't have done that to any of his other professors. It was a dead give away.

Quickly, she picked up the fries and dumped them straight back onto his plate.

“Thank you, but no.” Avoiding his gaze she concentrated on making some notes on her pad. “Now, back to those extraneous variables. I would think that in most cases people who choose not to consummate a relationship do so for a reason. For some it's religious. For others it's a matter of personal morality. Some just don't wish to take that step until they are certain the relationship is going somewhere.”

Finally she allowed herself to look at him, to find him finishing his lunch with a sudden eagerness. She cleared her throat before she continued. “Since you're focusing on how big a role sexual satisfaction in particular plays in the continuation of the relationship, you might want to stick to people who are actually having it. Having sex, that is.”

He still wasn't looking at her. In fact, it seemed that now he was the one that was avoiding looking at her. “William? What do you think?”

“I suppose you're right.” His voice was so quiet she had to lean forward just to here him.

That was it? Where was the debate, the questions? Where was the passion she was so used to seeing in him?

“Okay, then.” She shrugged. “You're welcome to look into it further if you wish. We could talk about it more when you've researched the idea.”

“No, it's fine.” Suddenly he was staring at her all too intensely. “Did I do something wrong the other night?”

Taken aback, she swallowed. “No, of course not.”

“You just seem...different.”

She swallowed. “Not at all, William. I just–“

“There, see?” he said, pointing a finger at her. “You keep calling me William.”

Buffy raised her eyebrows at him. “That is your name, isn't it?”

“Well, yeah, but,” his frown deepened, “my friends call me Spike and...I thought that's what we were getting to be. Friends.”

The disappointment in his voice was almost too much for her to bare, but she forged on anyway. This was the best thing for both of them. “Look, I'm sorry. But this is an important year for your degree and you're going to need to concentrate on that. Besides I'm a professor and you're a student. It's just not a good idea for us to get too...friendly.”

“Technically I'm not your student. It's not like you'll be grading my thesis.”

“But I still have a direct impact on the outcome of your education here. It's a fine line, Sp–“ She cursed inwardly at her slip-up. “William. This is just the way it has to be. I'm sorry if you thought differently.”

He searched her face for a moment, as if he wanted to argue with her, before he nodded curtly. “Right then. I understand completely. Shall we get back to work, Professor?”

Buffy waited for the relief that was supposed to be filling her right now. It was done. She'd set him, and herself, straight. There would be no more heated looks or lingering touches. No more socialising. Everything was the way it should be. So why did she feel like crying?





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