Poetry and Cars by jamies

Joyce had to laugh as she and Buffy danced around one another: they were both trying to get ready for their respective nights out. Buffy grinned as she and her mother fought over first rights to the mirror in the bathroom. It was lovely to hear her so happy again.

Buffy stood back slightly as Joyce brushed the plum coloured lipstick onto her lips and pursed them together.

'Not too mom-sy, am I?' she asked, worried that she would give the wrong impression to the man who was swiftly becoming important in her thoughts.

'No,' Buffy answered laughingly, 'just the right amount of momsieness to make sure he treats you right.' She grinned again at the affronted look in her Mom's eyes and started to apply her own makeup. She had ages yet but somewhere in her heart she wanted her mother to know she wasn't leaving the house too dressed up. Something was making her be very careful with the friendship between Joyce and William. Nothing was going to happen to make her mom and her argue over this boy - man.

This evening should be great, thought Buffy: Giles was picking Joyce up at 5.30 and they were headed into LA for an art exhibition, and then William was going to take her out for a meal at 7, then on to the Bronze for a dance, and home by 11. It would have been better if it had been a real date with William and not just him keeping an eye on her for the olds, but she wasn't going to complain. He was cute.

Joyce smiled at her daughter. It was hilarious to see Buffy trying to hide the attraction she felt for the younger Giles man. At least she was taking it slowly. Joyce's thoughts were disturbed by the tooting of a horn outside and she grabbed her shawl before diving down the stairs at a pace that would have done Buffy proud. Giles was just walking up the path: he looked amazing to Joyce's eyes, the tuxedo fitted him like a glove and Joyce felt nineteen again.

Buffy smiled: she watched from the window as Giles opened the door to the car and handed Joyce in, like a gentleman should, before getting in himself and pulling away. The bright red sports car roared into life and her mother was away on her first date in nearly five years.

Giles thought Joyce looked beautiful. Her dress hugged her figure in all the right places, making him feel a lot younger than his driving licence told the world. Giles took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to admire the woman by his side. In that moment he made his decision: he would tell her about his past. There would be no secrets and no lies, not even by omission. He would tell her at dinner.

The restaurant was small and intimate; Giles hadn't told Joyce where they were going but Marco's was the latest place to eat in LA. They had booked for an early supper and should be through in plenty of time to make it to the exhibition opening at 9pm. Giles slipped back into the rich life very easily. He really enjoyed working as a librarian at the school but missed the finer things in life. Things he wanted desperately to introduce Joyce to. He looked around as they crossed the dining room and was grateful that he couldn't see any familiar faces. They could star-gaze after he'd told Joyce about his other life.

Meals and drinks were ordered quickly and Joyce looked around the restaurant Giles had brought her to. It seemed a little fancy for a normal date, and looking at his face, Giles seemed a little nervous. He was playing with his wine glass, swirling the ruby coloured liquid around the bowl. It was producing hypnotic patterns that had him entranced.

'Giles, what is it? You seem preoccupied this evening.'

'I am a little, Joyce.'

'You want to call it quits? Stay friends and don't know how to tell me?'

'NO!' he said emphatically, realising how his behaviour could have been misconstrued. 'Just the opposite, in fact. Joyce, I can't remember when I have felt this relaxed and happy with anyone. I want to see where this goes from here, but before we explore what's happening I have to tell you something...'

'Yes?' she asked. 'You're not dying of some dreadful illness, are you?'

'I hope not, no, it's nothing like that. It's about my past.'
'I don't care about your past, Giles. I like the you I know now; whatever you have done, whatever you want to confess, it's not important,' she told him gently, leaning across the table to hold the hand of the man who was quickly capturing her heart.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the venison pate they had ordered for a starter and took a couple of minutes to settle themselves down to their food.

'I'm glad you feel like that, but you really need to know this Joyce, it's important and may just change how you feel about me.' Giles took a deep breath. 'Just please don't tell everyone without asking me first.'

Joyce nodded her agreement and put her toast down. Whatever she was about to be told was obviously important to Giles.

'In the late 1960's I was in a band. It's how I made my money. I was married to Anne and it was my behaviour that drove her away.'

'You told me about her,' Joyce said, 'you didn't hurt her physically, did you?' Fear gripped her, she'd had enough of that behaviour when she'd been with Buffy's father. She really didn't think she could go through that again.

'Good God no, I never laid an unwanted hand on her. The band did well, Joyce, really well. Well enough for you to have heard of them.' He looked uncomfortable as he shifted in his chair, playing with the food in front of him.

'Who were they?' Joyce asked, her emotions in turmoil, trying to understand why this was so important to the man in front of her.

'Janus,' he answered simply, watching her face intently.

'My God, you're Ripper Giles!' she yelped, then grinned. 'Do I ask for a kiss or your autograph?' She softened her comment with a smile, then lifted a portion of her pate and toast up and held it out for him to eat. 'Thank you for trusting me,' she whispered.

William was speechless when he saw Buffy come down the stairs, her figure-hugging jeans showed just how toned she was, and the skimpy red top left little to his imagination. She was gorgeous. They had a wonderful time at the pizza house, sharing garlic bread and spicy wings before stuffing themselves with far too much food.

'If we both have garlic-breath we won't scare each other away,' Buffy said as she broke off a piece and tried to feed it to William, who was laughing so much he didn't dare eat it. He knew he would spray the food all over the table if he did.

'How's it going with Faith and the fund raising?' he asked when he finally got his breath back.

'It's going OK. One of their big sponsors is backing out. Too many unmarried mothers being helped, and Faith has bad morals. She's got a new boyfriend and he's black...'

'The sponsor is an asshole.' William told her flatly.

Buffy laughed at his use of the word, in the four months since they'd met he'd always come across as the straight-laced one and to hear him swear was highly amusing.

'Yep, I agree there,' she finally managed to say. 'Robin, the boyfriend, is about as upright as you can get. Princeton scholar, youngest head in the district. He's just what she needs.'

'You like Faith a lot, don't you?' he asked, watching her face as she answered.

'A great deal. She had a really tough start, but I'll let her tell you about it sometime. She's raising her brother by herself. She adores Andrew and does whatever she has to to take care of him. He's the reason she opened the magic box, there was nowhere for the good kids to go, nothing to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. Faith wanted something that would make them think of the future. Somewhere they could kick back in safety. She knew what it was like to live on the streets, surviving by wits alone, and didn't want that for others.'

'She sounds great, I'm glad she's a friend.' William told her.

'So am I, but when we first met it could have gone either way. She doesn't like bleach blond valley types and I wasn't too keen on the street hooker look, either.'

'What made you change your mind about her?'

'We got arrested. Someone reported us for breaking into a frat house. It wasn't us but we spent 10 hours sitting in a cell while the police called my mother and checked out our story. Mom wiped the floor with them, especially the police chief, and we were let go, but Faith and I had spent the time talking. We realised how much we had in common and we chose to be friends rather than enemies. She's the one that set up the church cheerleading squad for all the girls who couldn't break into the tight cliques they have in school and college.'

They finished their meal chatting comfortably, before William drove Buffy home; they had been planning on taking in a movie, but Roman Feasting did not look like the sort of thing Buffy would enjoy and the adults-only certificate was enough of a warning. Instead they armed themselves with a bucket of Ben and Jerry's and a couple of DVDs from the local store. That was where Joyce found them at 1 am when she arrived home from the most amazing evening she'd had in years. Fast asleep on the sofa, one each end, with the TV showing the blue screen at the end of Kinky Boots.