Buffy had decided to sleep in late the next day. Just before she left the previous day, one of Walsh’s cronies had come to give her an envelope with the information about the new job. He’d also informed her that she was now on leave and wouldn’t need to return to the lab. They just couldn’t seem to get rid of her fast enough.
So there she sat, at 11:30 on a Tuesday watching TV and making a mental list of all the things she thought might need to be done before she left. The loud ring of her phone startled her, making her forget her newly formed list.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Buffy Summers?” said the woman on the other end of the line.
“That would be me.”
“Oh, good. Buffy, this is Willow Rosenberg. I work at Cobate with Dr. Giles. He gave me a call last night to let me know that you’ve joined our project. He also let me know that you had no knowledge of being transferred. Can I just tell you how crappy that is? Anyway, he asked if I would come to Sunnydale to give you a hand. I would be more than happy to. Actually, what he doesn’t know is my parent live in Sunnydale. How lucky is that? I figure I can come and stay with them and give you a hand all at the same time.” Willow said excitedly.
Buffy was slightly taken aback. Sure, Giles had been nice and encouraging, but Willow was just downright perky. She hadn’t been around somebody this lively since high school. “Willow, um,” she hesitated, “I really don’t know what to say. I can’t begin to explain how happy I am that you’re willing to come help me.”
“Oh, please, it’s nothing, couldn’t have worked out better for me. I’m sorry if I seem overly excited, it’s just our project rarely gets new people to join and when we do, it’s usually a man. How much information do you have about us?” Willow rambled. She had the ability to make you feel either anxious or relaxed. Buffy, having been surrounded by people who thought that grin was spelled with an M, was relaxed. Finally, she was talking to someone who seemed to match her personality perfectly and who could understand her.
“To be honest, the information they gave me is pretty minimal. I swear I think I could’ve found more info if I’d googled it. I’m out of their hair and that’s all they care about.”
“Yeah, well, Walsh isn’t exactly known for her dedication to her projects, just the money they seem to bring in. Anyway, enough about her, she’s out of your life now. Yay! New project on a beautiful tropical island. Again yay!”
Buffy sighed at that. She had to start looking for a real estate agent to sale her house. Willow heard the sigh. “Buffy, it’s really not that bad. We have a really great team.”
“It’s not that. It’s just, I have to start plans to sell my house. I really hate the thought.”
“Why don’t you just rent it out? You could still own the house and choose who you rented it out to. I’m sure you could find someone in town to help you out with that.”
“Oh my… I didn’t even think of that. You are a genius.”
“That’s what MENSA tells me.” Willow laughed. “Look, you make some calls and get started on that. I’ll be driving into town tomorrow. We could meet then around noon. How about that coffee shop on Main?”
“That would be perfect. I’m so glad you called. You’ve really given me the pep talk that I needed. Tomorrow coffee will be on me. What do you look like? I want to make sure I don’t start talking to some random person and turn into the town idiot.”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, that would be helpful I guess. Um, let’s see, I’ve got bright red hair and I’ll wear my t-shirt that says ‘Hokey Pokey Anonymous’. That should help us find each other.”
“It’s a date. I think I should go now. I’ve got calls to make. Thank you so much for your advice. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow.” The girls gave quick goodbyes before hanging up.
Buffy couldn’t wait to meet her new colleague, and hopefully make a new friend. She had been so wrapped up in her work lately, that the few friends she did have slowly lost contact. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a friend. Soon she’d find out if Willow Rosenberg really was best friend material.
But now, it was time to get on the Google.
**************************************************
Buffy sat at the first table she could find. It was at the front of the coffee shop, so she had a view of the door and could see anyone who entered the shop. Her leg shook nervously under the table and her fingernails beat out a steady rhythm on the top. I really should’ve brought a book or something, maybe a magazine, haven’t had the chance to read Cosmo in years.
Buffy heard the bell on the handle of the door give a gentle jingle as it was pushed open. She shot out of her seat, immediately recognizing the quirky t-shirt and bright red hair.
“Willow? Willow Rosenberg?” Buffy asked tentatively.
“Yeah! Buffy?” At Buffy’s nod, Willow shook her hand vigorously. “It’s great to meet you. Come on let’s grab some coffee and then we can chat.”
Both ladies ordered their sugary, caffeine loaded drinks and found a table in the corner of the shop.
“I really am glad that Mr. Giles sent someone to help me. I never got this kind of help from Walsh, even if I begged for it.”
“Okay, first of all, let me tell you something about our team. We aren’t really a team, more of a family. We help each other even if you don’t ask for it. Sometimes it gets annoying, but we really are there for each other.” Willow took a sip of her coffee, making a face at the strong flavor. “And as for Walsh, well, some of us have had run-ins with her before. We are completely aware of her attitude towards her less favored employees. As soon as you start working with us, you’ll see that she actually did you a favor.”
“I hope so. It’s just a little overwhelming, you know. So, what exactly do you do? I mean, what will I be working on?”
“Our main project is to work on finding an immunization for schistomiasis, a parasitic disease that is prominent in Asian and African countries. We have a really good location to study the parasite itself in its environment. It really is an important project, something we all take pride in. Fred will fill you in on all of the details about the parasite itself. You’ll be working side by side with her to begin with, I think. I’m really more of the IT girl.”
Buffy nodded, then frowned as she processed what Willow had said. “Fred? A girl named Fred?”
“Yeah, we’re not really a group of people with average names. See, you’re a perfect addition to our group. Wesley and Tara are really the only normal-named ones in the group. Well, there’s William and Alexander, but since we don’t call them that so they don’t count.” Willow seemed to be talking to herself for a second before continuing their conversation.
“We run, well, I… what you’d call a skeleton crew. I guess it’s why we’re all so close. There are nine of us, you’ll make ten. We all do our jobs well, but on an obscure project like this, we don’t really get much help from the company. They keep giving us money and we keep plugging away.“ Willow looked thoughtful. “I just seem to keep going off the subject. Um, what else would you like to know?”
“I think I’d really just like to process everything you’ve told me. Why don’t you tell me a little about you. How did you end up doing this project?”
Willow began to tell her story and Buffy listened intently. The two women chatted away for hours, like long lost best friends. Another two coffees and two brownies later, they had agreed to meet the next day to shop for Buffy some desert appropriate clothing.
Buffy walked down Main St. trying to memorize every detail she could. Soon she would be gone, not knowing when she would be back. So much could change while she was away, the only town she’d ever known could be gone when she got back. For the next week, I’m going to take in everything that I’ve overlooked for years. By the time I leave, I’ll be able to draw a picture of every street in town. She would make sure that Sunnydale was never a distant memory.
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I know it seems that it's taking a long time to get to the Spuffy but trust me, I'll get there eventually. Please review. I love them. They make me happy. Even bad ones. Thanx.