I'm BAAAACK! Super sorry about the two month plus wait that I made you guys do, but I've been so swamped with every aspect of my life it's ridiculous. This chapter isn't beta'd in my haste to get it out so all mistakes are mine. So without further time wasted…
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"Fine." I said abruptly "I'll do it."
"Do what sweet-cheeks?" the green skinned demon called Lorne had asked after he had finished doing a mic check and got off of the stage before the bar opened for the public.
I sighed, "You asked me two weeks ago if I wanted a job… I have no other source of income and sleeping in your spare bedroom anyways so I thought: what the hell."
"Good, because I need all of the help I can get. How do you feel about waitress? Or possibly bus girl?" he asked walking over to the bar, looking over all of alcohols and beverages.
"Do I still get to sing?" I questioned following him over. "How much would I make? And my hours?" I had started to clean off some of the glasses that were still dirty from the past night.
Lorne turned to face me and took the glass that I was currently cleaning out of my hand and put it on the counter. "Listen closely kitten because I'm going to say this once and only once. Yes you can still sing, but only when you are on break or not catering to people. You're making minimum wage, and still get to live here, and being that the only other two people working here are myself and Mal you should probably be working the full dusk to dawn that were open. Anything else?"
"Umm is there a uniform that I have to wear?" I finally asked after thinking for a minute.
"Nope, just something dark, black preferred." He answered. I nodded and was starting to walk to the back of the building when Lorne called me back. "You know that you can't serve any drinks with alcohol right? I may run a demon bar but the popo's can come swoop in at any time."
"I know Lorne don't worry, I know what my limits are." I replied. After we had gone over all of the details of my new job, I had gone back to my room within an hour of the opening to change.
OXOXOXOXOXOX
After redressing and putting my recently magically changed blond locks into a ponytail I had set of for my first really job in the big city. About an hour after we had opened I was beginning to feel semi-confident about having a job other than just singing. It was actually kinda fun. Except for the fact that I could still read the people that sang and some of the imagery had been a little much. Carrying my tray full of dirty glasses that were from a table that had just left I walked over to the bar and placed them in the stainless steel sink.
"Taylor, can you watch over the bar for a couple of minutes? I have to go to the back and restock some things." Mal said.
"What's in it for me?" I asked.
"Free water at the end of the night?" he laughed.
"Well in that case…!" I replied with mock excitement. He kissed me on the forehead as I started washing the glasses.
"You're the best!" he shouted while running back. I laughed. The seats at the bar weren't too busy, and all of the other customers were listening to Lorne sing.
"Hey sweet stuff, toss another drink this way." a drunken purple skinned demon with seven eyes slurred slash called to me. The only other three people at the bar were to vampires groping each other and an unfamiliar man in his twenties changing his focus ever so often from a packet of papers to a notebook.
I tried to smile as nicely as possible, "I'm sorry, I can't do that. See when Lorne hired me it said nothing in the job description for bartender. That's Mal. And if you just give him two minutes he can serve you then." I didn't let on that I was only fourteen looking. It's my main goal not to let that slip.
"Listen to me little girl, I want my damn drink." He stood up and his three of his eyes had come out if their sockets and grown a set of teeth as he leaned forwards. "And when I want something-"
I had crossed my hand in front of my face as protection "subsisto" I incanted as a shining force field came to me and around him. "First, yes this is causing you pain, second I already said this I don't work as the bartender. Now we have some options, I kick you out now or we keep this civilized and you go back to drinking once Mal gets back." I said my voice full of power. I was wiped out from the magic drain after I had let him go and he staggered out of here with as much speed as a dentibus tertius oculus demon could muster.
The man engrossed in his papers laughed. "That was pretty impressive. That much magic from a girl that's only, what? Twelve?" he asked with a slight southern accent.
"Fourteen actually. Damn." There goes my goal ruined within two hours. "Can I get you anything?" I asked, with a waitress like attitude.
"Didn't you just beat the shit out of that guy for trying to get another drink?" he thought out loud.
"Crap." I picked up my tray and walked through all of the tables again picking up spare glasses. When I had gotten back Mal had returned and was currently mixing drinks. "So, what are you new to?" I asked after a minute of silence.
He had stared at me for a while before responding, "Excuse me?"
"Well, I haven't seen you around the bar before so you're either new to Caritas, demons, LA, or karaoke slash singing. But I am going to exclude the last one being that you have a Gibson by your feet." I pointed to the guitar next to the bar stool.
"Good guess." He remarked. "And yes to the first three actually. I went to law school up north in San Francisco, just moved down here about a week ago."
"I prefer an Alvarez myself, better sound quality. And it's made to produce the notes louder." I said.
"So you play?" when I had given him a typical duh look he had stammered and continued, "I mean what can't you do? You're a waitress, witch, guitarist, I assume you sing too because well you work here, how could you not sing?" he asked.
"Well, you are correct. I do sing. I don't like to sing karaoke much. I do a lot of my own stuff. Or at least try to."
"Are you good? At writing songs?" He asked.
"Hey Mal, let Lorne know I'm taking my break now," I said leaning on the counter as I got into one of the bar stools.
"I'd like to think so. In fact people are always telling me to write songs not sing them. That's a lie. Not many people actually talk to me. I mean they do. Talk to me but not about music and I'm kinda rambling right now and don't think that I can stop. Please shut me up." I begged. He laughed and pushed his notebook over to me. I picked up the notebook and started to examine it. "I don't get it. Who's Lindsey and why do I care about her?" I said after looking over the otherwise blank paper.
He laughed nervously "Well, I'm Lindsey; it's a guy's name too." I turned a bright pink, he laughed and continued "And I need your help, writing a song I mean. If you're as good as you say would you mind helping?"
"Sure, I'll see what I can do." I agreed as Lorne walked over to us and announced "Hey kid your on after the vampire," he pointed up to the stage where a male vampire was singing. "You still never told me what song you were singing. Care to clarify?" he asked Lindsey.
"Actually if you don't mind I was interested in playing my own song." Lindsey asked.
"Well, it's a karaoke bar, I don't really think we sh-" I started but Lorne had cut me off.
"Sure!" he exclaimed happily "We could always use some interesting change." I sighed and muttered to myself about 'unfairness and whatnot'. Lorne had gone over to the vampire and talked to him about his future while Lindsey had gotten his guitar out of the case, and started to hum notes to himself, tuning the guitar. I had suddenly gotten a burst of his future.
"I just wanted to say thanks, again. I've been trying to write a song for a while and even if we haven't started yet it means a lot to me that you would give me a hand." He said sweetly. I couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words. Someday he would need an extra hand.
"Hey, there's a bus load of glasses back here that need to be cleaned, breaks over." Mal said from behind the counter.
I jumped off of the stool. "Sorry Linds, I have to go. Just come here if you want to find me, I work every night."
"Great. Cool. Um, wait before you go. What's your name?"
"Buffy." I panicked before contemplating telling him my name or not.
He smiled, almost laughing at the name, "Well it was nice meeting you, Buffy."
"You're not staying?" I asked, curious about why he wanted to be read.
"No, I still have to finish moving into my apartment, but it was really great meeting you." While I had gone back to patrol the tables for thirsty customers, he went up to the stage, adjusted the microphones and began to sing.
Well throw me under a train
tie me down to the tracks
let them big ole' wheels roll right over my back
I'll have a smile on my face
All the way to the promise land
Well toss me out of the plane
Watch me fall to the ground
No I don't care
If my body ever gets found
The way you're lovin' me
I can die a happy man
Now that I've tasted all of your squeezing' and a touchin'
I can't imagine nothing like this
There ain't no reason now for me to go on living
only heaven can be better than this
So stuff me in a barrel
Lock some chains on my hands
Take me down to the river
And send me over the dam
the way you're lovin' me baby
I can die a happy man
yes I can
Now that I've had a shot of your affection
can't imagine nothing like this
There ain't no reason now for me to go on living
only heaven can be better than this
Well throw me under the train
tie me down to the tracks
let the big ole' wheels run right over my back
the way you're lovin' me baby
I can die a happy man
Oh yeah
the way your lovin' me baby
I can die a happy man
He smiled and nodded his head as he got off stage and Lorne had walked over to him. I again had seen something, different this time, but I still couldn't help going over and cut Lorne from his path to Lindsey to share my piece of info. "You're going to shot him?!" I exclaimed at him, angrily from what I had seen with both of their body language and soul reading, they had friend potential.
"How did you see that? I didn't see that." Lorne asked confused, Lindsey had walked over to us now and awaited his reading. Lorne turned his attention over to him, "What I did see though was that you should take the offer. Wolfram and heart needs a mind like yours."
"Wait Wolfram and Heart? As in the evil law firm? As in the evil demon catering law firm?" I butted in.
"Hey demon here!" Lorne exclaimed, "And hey, demon catering bar!" he shouted again, motioning his hand out to all of the patrons of the bar.
"This can't be seriously why you came here?" I turned my attention back to Lindsey, cutting Lorne off. He looked down, almost ashamed that it was. "I'm sorry," I started once I calmed down. "It's just, wouldn't peg you for the evil demon lawyer type," I breathed, "Just the regular evil lawyer." I smiled making a joke out of my anger
We both laughed, and he looked at his watch, cursing under his breath, and looked back up, "Sorry Buffy, but I have to go, but I'll try to come in as soon as possible to work on the song." I smiled, and waved before turning around and getting back to work.
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He kept his promise, coming in to Caritas as often as possible, at least once a week. Unfortunately in the next nine weeks we've only just begun to work out the chords to the song, what with my having to work every night, and his having to work also.
I hadn't seen him at all that night, and I was working a double load, Lorne had said something at the staff meeting, which was really only us sitting down before we opened, about a special or something but I was still trying to figure out the lyrics to our song.
Carrying all of the drinks and empty glasses back and forth from the counter was tiring, not to mention trying to keep track of where everything went. I was really starting to get dizzy, when…
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Lindsey's POV
Walking down the stairs to Caritas, I was nervous, I was excited to see Buffy, but there was something about her, like she was keeping something from me, something big. I heard a clatter, then the moving of chairs, I rushed down the stairs to see what was happening.
Making my way through the crowd that had formed around Buffy, I had rushed to her side, next to Lorne who was holding her hand, while her other one was clutching her head, her blonde hair with purple streaks out of its normal ponytail.
All of the sudden, she started muttering, "The sky going to open, people they're praying, screaming, crawling, it's raining fire. We're all going to burn." She prophesied, it seemed. "Again. It's opening again. People are praying an… and singing. So much joy, but I can't feel a thing." She finished, after that she was still on the ground for a few minutes, in an almost unconscious state.
"Lindsey," Lorne turned to me. "Can you take tay- Buffy to her room?" I knew where it was, we had tried to work in their before. Key word being tried, whenever we were on a roll, either Mal or Lorne would interrupt us. I nodded my head before picking her up in my arms and carrying her into her room.
I was pacing for half an hour before I heard any motion, Buffy gasped, and her eyes bolted open revealing a misty blue hue all over her them, but when I practically yelled her name, she didn't respond. I knew she was in trouble.
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Sunnydale, CA
Same time
Buffy's POV
He kissed me, him. Not Angel, it was more that spooky, it wasn't even a vengeful kiss either, like I would think an ex-lover who was a soul less vampire seeking your blood would do.
The fact that it was gentile scared me most of all. I knew when the ghosts left our bodies, and I'm pretty sure he did too, but he still kept kissing me just as sweetly as the teacher would her student.
I'm in for some serious shit.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
I know I know! Super short Sunnydale plot, but I haven't work with Taylor for such a long time, including the times when I was actually writing, and I really wanted to introduce Lindsey in because I'm officially in love with him.
Supper sorry that it took this long, but I will try to update faster! Please review (maybe that's why it took over two months…)