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Author's Chapter Notes:
The songs mentioned in this chapter are:

1. “Lady Marmalade” from Moulin Rouge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29EnyqVPpAc
2. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv6lHwWwO3w
3. “The Saga Begins” by “Weird Al” Yankovic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evLRkSSzH14
4. “A Song for the Lovers” by Richard Ashcroft (lyrics are in the text of the story.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnh8nszFU0&feature=related
A crowd had gathered outside the Hyperion Hotel, but Spike didn’t concern himself with that. Carlos stood across the street with his camera ready, John had gone inside with the director ten minutes ago and Spike was charged with standing by the doors to capture the moment the five remaining contestants arrived for the next week of filming. The temporary barricades kept the onlookers at a good distance and Spike’s only problem was going to be keeping the sun from getting in the way of a good shot.

The bachelorettes were stuck on the freeway in traffic and they were a few minutes behind schedule. He set the camera down and stretched as he stared at the building again. How did a guy like Angel, a P.I. with a thriving business and a hotel owner, feel so desperate that he had to go on a show like The Bachelorette to compete for one girl’s attention and then end up being second best only to become the Bachelor?

Like all the buildings on the block, the hotel looked run down and sad, away from the main streets. Spike had been inside for a brief time when they first arrived. The lobby was small but clean, and nicely decorated. The stairs on the left were blocked off, but Angel had informed them that enough rooms had been renovated that each bachelorette could have her own, although the crew that were staying had to double and triple up.

The boss spoke through his earpiece and let the cameramen know that the limo was just around the corner. Spike set the camera back into position on his shoulder and waited as it pulled up. The driver ran around the front of the car and opened the door. Out came the girls, one by one. They were smiling and seemed to be in good spirits, despite the little dramatic ending, two nights ago, to the rose ceremony.

The sun hit Buffy and framed her head like a halo as she exited the long vehicle. She was dressed in white, and her tanned skin glowed with health. He watched her pause and glance around. When their eyes met, she smiled shyly then looked down. Spike’s chest tightened and he almost dropped the camera. That look was for him!

As he followed the group inside the lobby, he smiled at Buffy’s curvy back. A few conversations, a few hot kisses and a lot of time capturing her image and personality on film and he was falling hard for the girl. And out of everything she’d done and said, that genuine and warm smile was the crumb he needed to give him hope for something more.

“Welcome to my home, ladies,” Angel said, as he came out of a small office next to the check-in counter with his arms open wide. “I hope you find everything to your liking and that you get a glimpse into what my life is like.”

Spike followed the group around as they got a tour of the lower level. Angel had the hotel closed down for the week so the restaurant attached to the hotel was empty. He introduced everyone to Eve and Lindsey, the married couple who ran the restaurant and the front desk. Then he showed off his office. Spike was glad that Carlos got the job of being stuck in the small space with all those people. Angel introduced his partner in the private detective business, Wesley.

Last on the tour of the bottom level was what Angel considered to be his biggest money maker, Caritas. He explained that the majority of his profits from the brisk business he did at the nightclub went to renovating the hotel rooms. A brightly dressed man came out of a back room and Angel introduced his business partner, Lorne.

“Hey, kiddies!” the over the top man said, with one hand out. “Welcome to Caritas, where the karaoke machine is always ready and the sea breezes keep flowing.”

He reminded them all to come back that evening, since the club was closed to the public just for them.

After leaving Caritas, the girls were shown to their rooms on the fourth floor, where their suitcases were already waiting for them. Spike hadn’t seen his room on the second floor yet, but he doubted it was as nice as the ones the girls had. He followed Buffy into her room and watched her take in the maroon décor.

“This is nice,” she told a director who was standing behind Spike.

Just as the director left, Faith came in, flopped on one of the queen-sized beds and said, “Looks like Angel is doing well for himself.”

“Yep, it does. Think you could handle moving out to L.A. and living in this big hotel?” Buffy asked as she hung up her clothes.

“Oh, yeah. I could get used to this.” Faith looked at the camera, smirked and then said to Buffy, “Isn’t this nice? We have our own rooms. All to ourselves, all night.”

Buffy chose to ignore the innuendo, but Spike’s imagination drifted to all the possibilities. He caught her eye and smiled when she blushed. A voice from his earpiece telling all the crew to take a break until after dinner distracted him from his wicked thoughts.

He said goodbye to the girls and headed down to his room. John and Carlos were already there and were sitting on the beds, staking their claim.

“Looks like I get the musty old cot in the corner, yeah?” Spike said, not really caring. He’d slept in much worse places in his time.

After they got their belongings settled, the conversation drifted to Darla with Carlos the first to bring her up.

“So, John, talk to your girlfriend lately?”

John groaned. “She’s not my girlfriend. I can’t believe I was having sex with a murderer.”

The day after Darla’s arrest, the story came out that they’d found her ex-boyfriend dead and packed in a deep freezer that had been put in a rented storage unit. She’d stopped paying the rent on the space and the contents had been auctioned off, contents sight unseen. The crew had sat around a TV and watched an interview with the guy who had won the auction and had discovered the frozen body.

“Are they giving you conjugal visits?” Spike asked with a wide grin.

“Hell, no. In fact, I have an appointment with my doctor to make sure I’m disease free,” said John.

Their long break lasted until after dinner that night. Beside the three roaming cameramen, there were three stationary cameras set on tripods in the nightclub. Lorne bustled about playing host while Lindsey had been talked into DJ duty. Eve was at the bar, mixing drinks and the girls were gathered around a couple of tables near the stage.

Spike got his orders and tested the sturdiness of one of the tables before pulling it a little closer to the group of ladies and hopping up on it. Buffy, Faith and Gwen sat together, talking and laughing. Cordelia and Lilah stood by the table, drinks in hand, looking bored. That was until Angel walked in and then they became bright-eyed and sickeningly cheerful.

Spike endured the awful music, he endured watching Buffy, along with the others, dance around Angel, but he felt like walking out when Lorne insisted that it was karaoke time. He recalled how none of the women had chosen singing for a talent a week ago and he didn’t think he could stand to sit and watch the women embarrass themselves.

Lorne opted to go first, and when he sang voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir, complete with suggestive leer, everyone cracked up. Spike nearly fell off his precarious perch, he was laughing so hard, when he got a good look at Andrew in the back, leaning against the wall, nodding just his head to the music and mouthing the words.

When none of the girls wanted to go next, they started chanting for Angel to go up. He good naturedly kept a smile on his face, but held his palms up and shook his head slowly. “Trust me ladies, you don’t want me to go up there. Every one of you would walk out and pack your bags.” He turned to Lorne for help. “I’m telling the truth, aren’t I, Lorne?”

Lorne came down off the stage and stood behind Angel, putting a hand on his shoulder. “He’s not lying. As a matter of fact, he’s permanently banned from my stage unless he’s making an announcement.”

Lorne finally talked the girls into going up as a group and singing together. He promised he had the perfect song for the occasion. Gloria Gaynor popped up on the big screen behind them and the first beats of ‘70s disco hit the air. Spike was glad they had other cameras on tripods, because he had to give up holding his, knowing the shot would be too shaky. He put his camera down and clapped to the music, laughing when Lilah got out in front and started belting out the lyrics to “I Will Survive” while the other girls stumbled over them and tried to stop from laughing.

Buffy looked incredible on that stage with the lights shining on her and her eyes bright with merriment. When she started dancing with Faith, his jaw dropped. He stole a glance at Angel, who had a very similar expression on his face. The girls bumped and gyrated their hips and if the sight hadn’t glued him to the spot, he would have made his excuses and gone to his bunk.

The song died down and the women stepped off the stage. Spike’s grin faded as one by one, Angel took each girl into his arms and gave her a bear hug. He grabbed his camera, cleared his throat, and reminded himself why he was there. Lindsey went up next and played a soulful tune on his guitar, the women practically swooning at his liquid voice.

As soon as Lindsey put his guitar down, the director called it a wrap for the night, but the women were all a little tipsy and they protested. Lorne got up on stage and said, “Just because the cameras are off doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?” Cheers rang out from the girls and Andrew. “Put the equipment away boys and come on back. Drinks on the house, if you sing for us.”

Spike was tired, but he didn’t like the idea of Buffy hanging out all night with Angel while she was tipsy.

~ * ~ * ~


Buffy watched Spike march out of the room with the other crewmembers and bit her lip. She hoped he’d be coming back. Lindsey got the music started again and Faith pulled her out to the dance floor, calling out for Angel to join them. He left the table and the other girls and got between them. A shiver ran up her spine at the boldly lustful gaze that Angel had as he turned to look at her and then at Faith.

Crewmembers began trickling in, one by one. With a hint of amusement, Buffy watched Andrew sit at the bar and start a conversation with Lorne who stood with Eve, drinking his sea breeze. Carlos came in with one of the other assistants and one of the cameramen. The other girls came onto the dance floor just as Spike entered the room.

He stood by the door in his black jeans and tight black t-shirt, searching the club until their eyes met. Buffy smiled at him and then turned back to the group. Faith nodded in Spike’s direction and smirked. Angel was busy with the other girls, so Buffy eased off the dance floor and sat down by her drink. She’d had way too much to drink already, but she tipped back the glass and drained it.

Very aware that Spike had sat at the next table, Buffy tapped her foot to the music and waited for him to say something. He dragged his chair closer to her and asked, “Having a good time, pet?”

“Uh huh.”

Andrew hopped up on stage and grabbed the mike. He tapped it a few times and had everyone covering their ears until the squelch died down.

“Uh … Sorry. Lorne says I have to sing for my drink.” He smiled and snapped his fingers. “Hit it, big man.” The music for “American Pie” came on but instead of Don McLean, Weird Al Yankovic appeared on the screen behind Andrew. He leaned into the mike. “I dedicate this song to my comrades in the Star Wars Fan Club, Los Angeles Chapter.”

The place erupted in laughter as he sang about landing on Tatooine. The others came to join Buffy at the table and Spike slowly pushed his chair back and waved Carlos over to join him as she maneuvered her chair so she could see him. Andrew sang his last line about becoming a Jedi soon, bowed and then hopped off the stage, heading straight for the bar.

She was drunk and she knew it, but she tried not to drool when she got a good look at Spike’s washboard abs as his t-shirt rode up when he stood, stretched and said, “Well, I’m ready for a drink myself.”

He spoke with Lorne who spoke to Lindsey. The cowboy nodded with a grin on his face and handed Spike his guitar. He took a few minutes to get comfortable on the stool on the stage and strummed the guitar to get a feel for it. The place went quiet as everyone watched him.

Spike looked up and smiled sheepishly as if he’d forgotten they were there, but Buffy saw right through his fake humble act. She could tell that he loved all the attention.

“I’m a cameraman by day,” he said into the mike in a deep voice, “But I’m an entertainer on Friday and Saturday nights.” He strummed the guitar a few more times. “I’m going to play a cover of Richard Ashcroft’s ‘A Song For the Lovers’.”

“I spend the night.
Yeah, looking for my insides in a hotel room.
Waiting for you.
Were gonna make it tonight.
Yeah, something in the air tells me the time is right so we better get on.”

Buffy was mesmerized by his hands as they worked the strings. The words floated over her and around her like a warm caress.


“DJ, play a song for the lovers tonight.
Please, play a song for the lovers tonight.

Don’t wanna wait.
Lord, I’ve been waiting all my life but I’m too late again.
I know but I was scared.
Can’t you see,
I’m moving like a train into some foreign land. I ain’t
Got a ticket for this ride but I will.

Oh, play a song for my lover tonight.
DJ, play a song for my lover tonight.”

Spike played the guitar solo with so much feeling that she couldn’t stand to stay in her seat. She stood and swayed to the music. He kept his head tilted down, but looked up at her with those amazing eyes and she was lost. She flopped back down in her seat and just stared at him.

“Are you all right?” Faith asked.

Never taking her eyes off Spike, Buffy let out a tiny giggle. “Yeah. Just a little drunk.” On love.

“DJ, play a song for my lovers tonight.
Please play a song for the lovers tonight.

Can’t stop looking back no, no.
One more for the lovers.
Oh, brother, won’t you lend a hand. I’m alone in a room.
And I’m waiting for love.
I don’t know when this dreams gonna stop.
But I’m telling you friend, I don’t want to get up.

DJ, play a song for the lovers tonight.
Please, play a song for the lovers tonight.”

Two people didn’t clap when he finished, but the others enthusiastically cheered for him. Angel stared at Spike with hooded, broody eyes and kept his arms crossed, and Buffy just sat there, too stunned to move.





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