“Bloody hell!” He exclaimed, generally surprised that he had been shafted by Buffy. While their date had started off rather slow, taking well over an hour to draw the petite blonde out of her shell, but the night had definitely heated up before dinner was even finished; ending up with them tumbling into his bed in a tangle of limbs.
Confused as to why she would have left at all, especially without saying goodbye, Spike crawled out of bed and walked across the bedroom to call her room; completely unconcerned about his lack of clothing while doing so. Leaning against the expensive looking desk, he shook a cigarette out of a nearby pack, lit it and inhaled deeply before picking up the phone and punching in the numbers to Buffy’s room. Irritation filled his veins as the call remained unanswered; the aggravating sounds of a shrill ring grated on his nerves. With a growl of frustration, he disconnected the line and called the front desk. When the annoyingly chipper sound of an obvious morning person came over the line, he asked for any information regarding the occupants of room two fourteen.
“Let’s see, Mr. Thorne,” The receptionist murmured while clacking away on the keyboard in front of her, “My records show that Ms. Summers and her guests checked out early at approximately half past eight.”
Glancing at a nearby digital clock, Spike noticed that the time was already nearing eleven in the morning and that Buffy was no doubt already long gone. “Thank you.” He ground out between clenched teeth and slammed the phone down on the receiver without waiting for the receptionist to disconnect first. Anger and irritation bubbled to the surface, tinting his normally pale cheeks with a fiery red tinge, as he puffed away on the cigarette and plotted what to do next.
Five minutes later, he was on the phone with his agent, Rupert Giles, who’s overly stuffy attitude was grating on Spike’s last nerve as he explained the situation at hand. “Look, Rupes, I don’t bloody well care what you have to do to find her…just do it!”
“William,” Rupert replied as calmly as possible, rather irritated that his client and nephew had interrupted his golf game. “I have every intention of locating this woman for you. All I am inquiring about is why your request is so urgent? I mean honestly, how many other women have you romanced and subsequently vanished the next morning? It seems to me that maybe you’re just getting a taste of your own medicine.”
“You’re right; I’ll give you that, old man.” Spike chuckled into the phone, finally releasing some of the tension within. “My karma has most certainly come back and bit me in the arse on this one, but there’s more to the story that I really do not want to get into over the phone. Do what you can to find her for me and have me on the first plane out of New York on Tuesday after my interview that morning.”
“I’ll see what I can come up with and get back to you, just don’t let this woman get so far under your skin that you can’t concentrate on your assignment. This interview is extremely important to your career, as well as the photo assignment the day before.” Rupert advised, mentally picturing the grimace on Spike’s face. “Rest up and don’t fret. I’ll contact you as soon as I know something.”
For Buffy, the car ride home had been horrible, the combination of nausea from her hangover and the tension in the air made the five hour journey miserable. Thankfully, she had managed to doze fitfully in the backseat of Willow’s car for the most part and had been able to avoid the curious stares from the confused friends; both of which were being wonderful about her situation by letting her come to them on her own time and not bombarding Buffy with their questions.
Two days later, Buffy was back at work and firmly planted back into reality having pushed any thought of her weekend with Spike to the dark recesses of her mind. However, her plan kept slipping away as her memory fought to return and kept popping up with hazy details of her time with Spike that included an Olympic style event of sex-capades, a blur of champagne induced happiness and the confusing repeat image of Elvis serving them out of a drive thru window.
Pushing the latest image of Spike’s naked body out of her mind, Buffy forced herself to get back to work. Tonight was the last PTA meeting of the school year and she had several parents to meet with regarding their darling angel’s lack of performance. Flipping through each and every color coded file folder, she wrote necessary notes in the margins while tapping her foot against the floor in perfect rhythm with the current song playing on the tiny radio on her desk.
When she finished, Buffy was shocked to find out that she had worked right up to lunch and figured Willow, who taught computer science down the hall, would be at her office momentarily. Jumping out of the swivel chair, she headed to the back of the office to store the completed work in the file cabinets; needing to lock them up tight just in case a wayward student decided to investigate their records.
After knocking on the closed door marked Guidance Counselor, Spike was shocked to hear a voice from the other side shout, “It’s open, Will….come on in!” Shrugging his shoulders, he briefly questioned how she knew it was him, wondering if maybe his little spitfire was a bit on the psychic side before stepping across the threshold of the brightly lit office with the false bravado of a celebrity who wasn’t use to being jilted by women.
Closing the door softly behind him, Spike took a few seconds to visually appreciate the sight before him; Buffy was leaning over a file cabinet, lost in thought as she hurriedly filed away papers, all dolled up for work in a sleek black pencil skirt that teasingly hugged her womanly figure and showcased her perfectly rounded ass and a short sleeve silk shirt the color of a full bodied merlot tucked in to accentuate her tiny waist. All in all, he was fairly certain that the male student body was very appreciative of the high school counselor. Just seeing Buffy again had his hormones running rampant and he had to mentally stamp out the flames that were building before he made a spectacle of himself in a high school. Remembering why he was there, focusing on the humiliation and pain of her disappearing act, Spike leaned against the door and waited for Buffy to turn around.
“I’ll be finished up in a sec, just have to put these files away.” Buffy announced without bothering to look up as she put the final folder in place. Locking the cabinet, she exclaimed, “Ok, all set for some lunchy goodness! Whatcha in the mood for to-ARG! What are you doing here?” Buffy shrieked in surprise, completely thrown off balance by the fact that Spike was standing where she thought Willow would be.
“ ‘s nice to see you, too, kitten.” Spike quipped as he slowly approached Buffy, who was frozen in place resembling a deer in head lights. Suddenly, just as he was about to be close enough to touch her, Buffy snapped out of her daze and stepped away from him; choosing to stand behind the relatively safe location behind the desk chair. Masking the hurt in his eyes with amusement, Spike held up his hands in mock surrender and stepped backwards towards the chairs lined up in front of her desk. “Right then, no greeting kisses then?”
“I…I’m just surprised is all. Not so much expecting you, I was waiting for Willow.” Buffy stammered, fidgeting with the ring on her finger in attempts to channel the nervous energy coursing through her body. Never in a million years did she ever think that Spike Thorne would show up in her town or any place she might be located; and yet, there he was standing in her office as if his presence there was the most logical thing in the world. Mustering up the courage to inquire about his visit, she asked, “Why are you here anyway?” Instantly cringing with shame as the tone of her voice sank in and realized how bitchy she sounded.
“What?” Spike questioned with feigned innocence, trying to stamp down his typical smartass comments; instantly irritated with the blonde’s attitude towards him. Flopping down in a nearby chair, he crossed his hands behind his head and glared up at Buffy with a crooked smile and asked, “Can’t a man visit his wife at work?”
Predictable, yes, I know, but funny!