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Chapter 14 There’s something in Chicago

William had been in Chicago for last three days, in those times the only thing he did was work, work and more work. He had been able to get everything straighten out, the new branch coordinator seemed to be a nice and respectable man. He decided to stay a day more to supervise and make sure that he knew exactly what is needed to be done, because he did not fancy coming back here.

As the day ended, everything had been settled. He would be leaving for LA tomorrow morning, the tickets were brought and his bags have been packed, he had also called Xander to make sure that his best bud would be there to pick him up. He decided to give himself a little treat, for the past few days he’d been here, he still was not able to see the beauty of the city, aside from the office and his hotel room. So he decided to drive around, as he got his keys and headed out.

Somehow, he ended up at the east part of town. The street was crowded with young teenagers walking up and getting into different bars. He decided to go into one himself as he walked up to the bar that had a large glowing sign ‘Bob’s Beer Bar’ William recited. “Catchy name.” He mumbled under his breath as he made his way inside. He sat himself at on of the barstools and ordered up a drink to the old bartender with grayish hair. “Beer.”

“So… man. What is it, love problems?” The old man asked as he handed William a bottle of booze.

William can’t help but give out a small laugh at the old man’s remark. “Why, mate, can’t a guy just drink…” the blonde asked as he cocked his brow.

“Didn’t say that ‘mate’.” The old man replied mocking the blonde at his use of the word mate. “Bob.” He regarded as he showed his nametag to William and reached out his hand to shake.

“Spike.” The blonde replied as he shook the older man’s hand. What can he say that name sometimes can come in handy when he needs to impress the ladies or make some blokes extremely scared. “So… nice place you got here.”

“Ya… but it’s not mine. So, again I ask why you drinking?”

“There has to be reason…”

“Don’t get me wrong… I have no plan of getting into other’s business but you strike me…”

“Wait!” William cut off the old man. “I saw you already… you were the guy at the highway…”

“No, I’m not!” Bob said defensively. “Must have been somebody that looks like me…”

“Whatever!” William shrugged. “What was it you’re saying?”

“I said, you strike me as a man who has women all over him, why drink?”

William again can’t help to give out a laugh; this old bloke is funny he thought. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, mate. But I just got dumped…” Seeing the man looking at him intently, he decided to tell this Bob guy all about he and Harmony’s breakup. What can it hurt right, he dose not live here, be out of here by tomorrow. “…Then she says ‘It was always her, Will. It had been Buffy all along. And you know it.’ Way the go with the guilt trip right?” William finished as he drank his fifth bottle of beer down.

“So… who’s this Buffy, chick then?” Bob asked as he gave William another bottle of booze.

“Come on, man. You met her… right at that repair shop of yours, you know you burned by pocket there, mate…” a very drunk William answered.

“Told ya… that was not me ‘mate’.

“Fine… she’s…” William then told the old man all about Buffy and how they met up to the time they slept together. He can’t help but wonder why all of a sudden he was able to tell this man all about his life. He was a stranger, a stranger he could have sworn he met millions of times before, but he just blames it on his over excessive drunkenness. “…that’s it… that’s Buffy.”

“Seems to be a very beautiful lady ah?”

“She’s okay… petit! Cute though.”

“Don’t get me wrong… but I have to agree with that Harmony chit.”

“What do you mean?” William asked through narrowed eyes.

“Well… seem to me you’re in love with her…”

“Who? Buffy! Ah, that’s real funny.” The blonde replied as he laughed out loud.

“Hey! The way you described her… gotta tell you, if I did not know any better…”

“Shut it up. It’s never gonna happen.” William cut off the old man. “Plus, she has that bloke for a lover.” as William gave out a sigh.

“So you saying that if she was not with this ‘bloke for a lover’ then there’s a chance?” Bob asked curiously.

“Don’t know, mate… don’t know.” As the blonde ran his hand through his hair and closed his eye momentarily, ‘God, my head hurts’.

“You never know… fate maybe working on your side, William.”

“Bolloks!” the blonde replied as he heard the old man’s reply. He does not believe in all those fate and destiny crap, ‘Wait, I did not tell him my name’s William…’ was his last thought as he dozed off.

William was awoken by numerous shakes, as he opened his eyes all he saw was a dark room, there seemed to be a lot of things walking around him, but it was all too blurry for him to notice. “Hey, you okay?” he heard a woman say, as she continued shaking him to rise. “Yeah.” He finally answered as he got his vision clear. “Where am I? What am I doing here?”

“Well… seems to me you dozed off…” the bartender lady answered. “Who gave you all these beers?” she asked as she saw all the bottles in front of the blonde. “No wonder you dozed off.”

“Bob…” William was able to reply.

“Bob? There’s no one named Bob here, man.” The lady wondered what the hell this guy was talking about, there was nobody named ‘Bob’ that worked here. He might just be more drunk that she thought, if that’s was ever possible. Hearing the blonde give out a complain, “Let me just get you a cab… okay? Wait here…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

William woke up from his hotel room with a throbbing pain in his head; the rays of the bright sun outside made it worst as he tried to remember last night’s events. He had gone out for a drink and ended up talking with the old bartender, Bob. Then everything was pretty much a blur; he said something like ‘You never know… faith maybe working on your side, ‘William’.’ Then he dozed off and that lady got him a cab and then he is here now. Looking at the clock in the bedside table, it read, 8:30 “Bloody Hell.” The blonde said as he remembered his flight, he better get a moving if he wanted to catch it on time.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles. Buffy woke up from bed restless; it had been four days now, since her and Riley’s date. He said he would call her and until now, she had yet to hear his voice. She decided that he was probably busy from all his work at the district office to call. ‘I’ll give him a surprise visit.’ Buffy thought as she got up and went inside the shower. ‘He’ll surely love that.’

After about a hundred clothes, Buffy finally was satisfied with her outfit and was now in Riley’s front door. She was wearing one of those, country girl outfits. She had a spaghetti strap white top covered over by a red cardigan paired off with red a polka dot skirt and matching red sandals. She brought with her a picnic basket full of Riley’s favorite goodies, Nothings good enough for her, man she thought as she placed a small knock at the door. Hearing no reply and concluding that Riley was still asleep she looked under the mat for his hidden key and she found it, she guessed she just had to surprise him even more.

As she opened the door, she saw Riley’s coat thrown at the floor. She thought that Riley probably had a rough night, as she picked it up and placed it by the couch. “Riley… Honey…” Buffy called to the empty room. She then decided to take a look at his bedroom, after placing a small knock at the door she was surprised at the image before her. Riley was half-naked wrap all over some brunette under the covers. Seeing this, Buffy had no idea how to react, he could feel her heart beating faster and faster, she was running out of breath as droplet of tears started to flow from her eyes. They were not tears of sorrow but tears of hatred and anger.

As the young man, she once called her boyfriend stirred in bed and started to come to, she tried to move her feet but they wouldn’t. Riley woke up to see Buffy by his bedroom door a picnic basket in hand. Realizing what he was doing and where they were, he called out to her only to see her run out. “Buffy, wait!” he called as he scrambled to find his jeans.

Buffy heard Riley call out to her, but she could care less as she ran out of his apartment, until he caught up to her in the hallway.

“Buffy…” he said as he caressed the young blonde’s face. “Let me explain…”

Buffy felt the strong hands of the man at her cheeks as she flinched; “There’s nothing to explain!” She shouted as more tears flowed, “You cheated on me, what else is there to explain…”

“Buffy…”

“Save it! I don’t need your petty excuses. I should have known… but no, I had to be the all understanding girlfriend.”

“Understanding? You got one hell of a nerve to call yourself an ‘understanding’ girlfriend.”

“I have been nothing but into this relationship… I have done everything I could, only to find out, this!” Buffy hit back between sobs.

“Ha! Been into the relationship! Buffy, you were never into the relationship… You were the first one that backed off. This between the two of us…” Riley stated as he pointed back and froth from him and the blonde. “It was never you and me, I was just by myself… because you were too caught up with that ‘William’ of yours to take notice of anything else!

At this Buffy was more astonished than she had ever been, how dare he use William as an excused, she now realized how wrong she really was at dating this guy, he made it more easier for him to break up with him. But she had nothing else to hit back at him so she did the only thing she could do, she ran out of the building.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hey, man, so… how was the trip?” the brunette asked his best friend as they met up at the airport and proceeded to his car at the parking lot.

“It was okay… But God, those bloody workers did not know a thing. Had to teach them this and that…” William had woken up in bed with a sharp pain in his head, he tried the best he could to get himself together to catch his flight home. Good thing that he got a decent hour of sleep in the plane.

“Yeah, have to agree with you at that, those construction workers at the site does not know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver.” Xander sarcastically replied, he once was one of those good for nothing newbies, but now he was a successful foreman building one of the biggest mall in Los Angeles. “So… did you already meet Cordelia?”

“Yeah, the brunette at the Bronze the other night… right?” the blonde replied, knowing that he was probably falling for one of Xander’s trap. Whenever his best bud has a new girlfriend, he would go on none stop about them like they were the only thing that mattered. As he listened to Xander blabber on about Cordelia’s faults that he ever love so much, he suddenly could not help himself from asking, “How’s Buffy?”

Xander was caught off guard by the blonde’s question, maybe mainly because William had interrupted him from his long rant about Cordy. But nonetheless he answered him with a cocked brow; “I guess she’s okay… Haven’t seen her…” as he continued to give his friend glances full of unanswered questions.

“What?” William replied, but as the brunette continued glaring at him. “I can’t ask now…”

“Hey…” Xander said as he held his hand up, as a sign of surrender. After a couple of speechless moments accompanied by constant glares. “So… want me to drop you off at Harmony’s.”

‘Bloody Hell’ William thought, he haven’t mentioned to his best friend that he and the blonde had broken up. Actually he had told no one, he had no idea why. “Were through…” Hearing Xander give out a ‘What!’ “It did not work out… okay… its not like you liked her or anything.”

“Right… I never did like that girl, but she’s hot though…” Xander replied. “But not now, man. I was thinking that since me and Cordy are finally all okay, maybe we could on a double date or something…”

“ Ha, even if I was still with her, hell! I would never go on a double date with you.”

“And why the ‘hell’ not?” the brunette questioned, mocking William’s use of the expression hell.

William just gave out a laugh, “Just drop me off my soddi’n apartment.

“Fine! Laugh at me then.” As Xander mumbles under his breath, ‘Let’s see who fetches you from the airport next time.”

As William reached his apartment, he thought of maybe getting some rest, but decided not too, he did not feel tired and decided to go for a stroll.

William was walking down Madison Avenue, in search for something to free his mind of all the paperwork in store for him when he gets back to the office. Rupert would probably want him to do a whole report about his visit to Chicago and the progress of there inter-branch there. As he walked out of the Expreso Pump with a cup of coffee in hand, he noticed that the agency Buffy owned was still closed, and it was already after noon. He knew Willow probably had classes, but why would Buffy not be here to open up the shop. As millions of thoughts flowed through at the blonde’s head about the other blonde’s whereabouts he suddenly got worried, what could have possibly happened to Buffy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After staring mindlessly at the building in front of him, William finally decided to check out Buffy’s house, she was probably just ill or something, why did he have to worry himself so much. As he reached the blonde’s door, he silently knocked, making it open by itself. Realizing that the door was not only unlocked but it was not shut properly, again million of thing flowed through his mind, he got worried as he stepped into the apartment making sure to make the least noise as possible. As he began to walk in deeper into the house, he did not notice anything stolen, so the ‘Buffy got robbed’ theory was out. As he ventured into the hallway, he could hear soft sounds coming from one of the rooms. As neared the door, he heard soft cries, ‘Buffy’s crying?’. He then decided to open the door to find a petit blonde rolled up to a ball by the foot of the bed. He moved in closer and saw that the blonde did not even looked up, as if she did not know his presence. “Buffy?” William softly breathed, afraid to scare the blonde in front of him. He can see she was shivering, as she continued to give out soft cries of sorrow. Hearing no answer he moved in closer to her and knelt down in front of her. “Buffy…” Finally she looked up at him, he could see her eyes were all puffy and red, he guessed that she must have been crying all day. “It’s okay, luv. I’m here.” He comfortably told her as he cradled her in his arms and continued to rock her slowly.

William sat there with Buffy for what seemed like hours, Buffy cried her heart out, the longer he held her the louder her cries got, but he did not mind. She needed to relieve herself of whatever it was that was making her act the way she is. He had no idea what it was, and he didn’t want to ask. She would tell him when she’s ready to. After a lot of convincing, he finally had gotten her to agree, that it was better for them to sit in the bed rather than on the floor. As William helped her up, she held on to him tighter as if he would just disappear into thin air if she ever let go.

The two blondes sat on the bed, as Buffy tried to calm herself down. When she got home from Riley’s, the emotional pain of what happened came rushing back to her. She could not believe how cruel Riley was, he did not even try to apologize for what he had done, not that it would have changed anything. She thought that if he did not like her anymore then he could have just broken up with her and that would have caused her less pain than her seeing him with another woman in bed. He knew about Buffy and Liam’s relationship and still it did not stop him from cheating on her. She was scared of how she always seems to pick the wrong guy or maybe there was something wrong with her. After Buffy had calmed down, she realized that William had been here with her all this time. She was wrap around the blonde’s arm, giving her a sense of security. She looked up at him; she wanted to say she was sorry for crying all over him like she did.

And as if he read her thoughts he answered, “It’s okay, luv.” As he hugged her closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Buffy sniffled as she pulled away from William’s embrace; she looked him in the eye, eyes full of question. Question that he did not understand, “You forgot to close the door…” this made the blonde give out a small laugh. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly, afraid that if he pushed too much she would pull away from him.

Buffy shook her head; she did not want to talk about anything, even if she knew she had to. Seeing the blonde across from her nod in understanding, “Me and Riley broke up…” she stated, she knew she said she did not want to talk. But seeing William’s blue eyes full of understanding and compassion, she felt like she needed to tell him, to help him comfort her.

Hearing the information, a sudden thought rushed through him ‘You never know… fate maybe working on your side, William’. As the blonde tried to shake the thought out of his mind. He can’t help but wonder why a break up would make Buffy wallow in sorrow so much. He knew she seemed happy with him, but that’s not enough reason, her sorrow was much deeper. It was like all these emotions she kept inside of her came back haunting her. He looked at her with questioning eyes wanting her to elaborate more on what had happen.

No matter how much her brain told her she shouldn’t, her heart was telling her to tell William everything. Everything that had happen, everything that have caused her to break down, everything that she felt, because at the back of her mind she knew he would understand. “He cheated on me… I…I saw him with… another woman… in bed.” Buffy explained as tears begin to fill her eyes.

‘I’ll kill that bloody bastard!’ William could not imagine why a guy would ever do something like that. How could they hurt her that way? As he continued to sooth her. “He was sleeping with her...” Buffy took a deep breath, “He did not even apologize… he did not care that I saw everything… he did not want me anymore…” as Buffy leaned into William’s chest and started to sob. “My father… Liam… Why do they always do this to me!” Buffy yelled as she punched the blonde’s chest, “Am I not good enough for them! Is there something wrong with me?” she said between cries as she finally let go and slump herself down on the bed.

William closed his eyes, he did not know she was going through this much pain. He knew she never talked about her father that much, and now he knew why. Her father probably abandoned her; the hate she was feeling was not only for Riley or for her ex boy friend Liam it was also for her father. He lied on his side, staring in Buffy’s eyes as he brush out a strand of hair “ Shh… It’s gonna be okay… There is nothing wrong with you… Don’t let those soddin’ poofs tell you other wise. They were wrong to do those things to you; you are too good for them. I know you are strong, you can get through this, Buffy. Remember, luv, when others turn their back on you and you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, I’ll always be here…I’ll never leave you…”

At hearing Williams’s words, Buffy sat back up, “Why? Why are you not like them?”

William mimicked Buffy’s previous action, held her hand and blue eyes met green ones as he said “Because I care for you, you mean a lot to me, pet and I think I am falling in love with you.”

to be continued...





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