Part 14
Inside the Joyce Summer's Gallery it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
Nothing moved for what felt like an eternity.
Eventually, the first sound that broke through the eerie stillness was the rapid beating of a heart. It pounded so hard behind the ribcage of the small woman's chest that there was serious danger of physical pain.
Then, somewhere in the distance, a new sound joined the equation.
The muffled ticking of a small clock was the only sign that time hadn't completely come to a stand still, although for the life of her, Buffy found that fact hard to deal with. From the second William Pennington's tall frame had disappeared through the front door of the gallery, reality had turned into a nightmare.
Although the antique bell over the front door had long stopped ringing, Buffy almost swore the sound still reverberated right into her very soul. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still feel the vibrations echoing through her body. As she wrapped her arms around her chest to stop her trembling, she knew it wasn't only the ringing of the bell that had left an echo. Buffy was now filled with so much confusion she feared her head would explode.
She had thought not remembering her past was hard enough, but learning the things William Pennington had just told her was a million times worse.
**Friends! I think that's got to be the understatement of the year, luv**
Even though she was now totally alone, Buffy still felt William's presence all around the room. His clear-cut voice remained and taunted her from every direction.
** No, I wouldn't really call us friends, pet. I'm not sure what you'd call us these days, but we have been sleeping together for over a year**
"Oh God. What have I done?" Buffy whispered out loud as she felt her knees begin to shake again.
Alone and vulnerable, Buffy was beginning to get really frightened. She was suddenly terrified that the past life she had searched so hard to find wasn't the happy secure place she had believed it to be. In the blink of an eye, her safety blanket of the perfect past had been totally stripped away and the small fragments of her new life were now spinning totally out of control. Not only was she not the person she had believed she was, but Buffy Angelus was now somebody she didn't even know if she even liked.
Once again the frightened young woman was plagued with questions she couldn't begin to answer.
"So, if I wasn't the happy loving wife in the video, who the hell was I?"
This new question haunted her more than any of the others.
**Had she really been the kind of woman that would take a lover so easily and cheat behind her husband's back? ** Buffy shook her head, the idea was just too horrid, but sadly there were worse thoughts to follow.
**If William Pennington was telling the truth, and that was exactly the woman she had been, why had she run off and left her husband *and * her lover behind. Was it possible she had run out on both of them? **
Buffy couldn't think straight as another wave of nausea rose over her and sent her small frame doubling over with the force of its anger. For ten minutes her fragile stomach continued to wrench but after the second time of decorating the gallery floor, there was simply nothing left for the wrenching to bring up.
Finally, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and tucking her loose hair behind her ears, Buffy straightened up. With all the effort she could muster she turned and, walking back into the small office at the rear of the gallery, silently closed the door behind her.
The change of environment brought little comfort.
**I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count. **
At the memory of William's crude words, Buffy shuddered.
**How could she have done something so intimate with a man she had absolutely no memory of. If their bodies had really made love on the office floor more times then he could count; surely there should be something in the back of her mind that would prove he was telling the truth. But there wasn't. There wasn't any memory inside her shattered head of William at all **
Of course, she hadn't remembered marrying Liam at first. Buffy tried to make sense of the situation but her argument was quickly shot to pieces. She might not have remembered Liam Angelus as her mate but she had always known his face and his name. Her subconscious might have misplaced him as being her husband, but her heart and soul hadn't wiped him out. When he touched her skin, her whole body had responded with a will of its own.
William was a completely different story.
It didn't matter how hard she tried; Buffy couldn't find any feelings for William at all. Not in her memories, not in her heart and not in her soul. He said they were lovers and she had no reason to think he would lie, but the plain truth was, William Pennington meant nothing to her at all.
Feeling incredibly light-headed, Buffy threw open the office window and resting her head lightly against the security bars, she filled her lungs with a rush of cool air.
Outside, the world went about its business as normal but on the other side of the window, Buffy Summers Angelus felt as if her life was crashing down all around her. For a woman who, only a few hours earlier, had no past, present or future, she suddenly found herself in a very difficult position.
On one hand there was Liam, not only a husband, but also a man she knew she could love very easily. He had pulled her out of the darkness and had held her through the pain and the confusion that had followed. The very last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, especially if he hadn't know about her affair.
**Her affair**
That thought returned Buffy to the other man in the equation.
William. The good-looking blonde lover that had come out of nowhere and genuinely seemed to care about her, even when she had pushed him away. He had promised her that Liam would break her heart again.
**Was it really possible that he had broken her heart once before. Was that why she had left him?** Too many questions and nowhere near enough answers made Buffy's head throb with uncertainty.
**Was Liam still wearing a mask? Or maybe the mask belonged to William. Someone was lying**
As Buffy closed her eyes she could see Liam and William so clearly. Both men were incredibly good looking in totally different ways. Sexy, passionate, charming and kind. She could easily see why she would have been attracted to either of them, but Buffy also knew in her heart that when she had kissed them, only one of the two had made her heart yearn for the kiss to continue. Only one of them had made her blood course through her veins at a thousand miles an hour.
In her right mind she wouldn't have looked at another man so soon after marrying Liam.
**But had she been in her right mind? Or had Liam somehow driven her into the arms of another man? **
Leaning over the small sink in the women's rest room, Buffy splashed her face with cool water and took a deep breath to calm her shaking body. Tilting her head slightly, she hesitantly looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging just above the sink and shuddered. Her eyes, not to mention her nose, were both flushed bright red, while her cheeks were now a ghostly shade of white.
Raising her trembling fingers she slowly traced the contours of the face staring out at her from behind the glass.
"Who the hell are you?" Buffy asked as she tried desperately to see past the reflection and into the person who wore her face.
**What sort of woman had she *really* been? A loving wife as the wedding video portrayed, or a adulterous bitch who had cheated on her husband and then ran out on him without a second thought**
As small droplets of water dripped from the edge of her hair and rolled slowly down her face, Buffy carefully studied the information she had collected over the last few days.
**Had she really been having a torrid affair behind Liam's back?**
Every cell in her body rejected the idea, but in all honesty, Buffy had no idea what kind of relationship her marriage had been. When she had first woken in the hospital, Liam had been cold, almost untouchable. It was only once they had been home for a few days, that he had dropped the mask he wore so carefully over his expressions and a kind, patient and loving man had emerged. Then just as she was beginning to fall back in love with him, William Pennington enters her life and it all gets thrown back into confusion.
"No wonder you ran away" The first bitter sting of tears was already burning behind her eyes as self-pity rose up from its hiding place and threatened to drown her.
But this time Buffy wouldn't allow herself the luxury of crying.
**She needed to pull herself together and sort this mess out once and for all and then she needed...**
So lost in her thoughts, Buffy missed the small bell ringing again over the door, announcing that a new visitor had entered the building.
Splashing her face one last time, she reached out her hand and finding a paper towel in the dispenser, she dried off the remaining moisture. As her thoughts turned to finding her bag and repairing the damage to her makeup, Buffy also missed the creak of the office door slowly being pushed open.
"Hello Buffy"
Startled, Buffy turned.
"Liam told me to meet you here. God, you look dreadful, what on earth happened?"
Buffy didn't need introductions. The face of the woman smiling at her was now imprinted firmly on her brain. Not in the form of a memory. Buffy knew this was the face from her wedding video.
Standing in an immaculate white designer suit, with matching shoes and perfect makeup was her so called *best friend*. A best friend Buffy had a sneaky feeling she'd be a real fool to trust. Especially where her husband was concerned.
As Buffy's eyes caught sight of her own dishevelled reflection in the mirror; she fought off the wave of panic that threatened to strike and instead forced a small smile to her lips.
"Hello, Darla. It's good to see you again" Her voice was remarkably calm.
Buffy walked forward, but as the two women embraced she heard a small warning voice deep inside her head.
**So this woman is your best friend?**
** Not in a million years**
TBC
Inside the Joyce Summer's Gallery it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
Nothing moved for what felt like an eternity.
Eventually, the first sound that broke through the eerie stillness was the rapid beating of a heart. It pounded so hard behind the ribcage of the small woman's chest that there was serious danger of physical pain.
Then, somewhere in the distance, a new sound joined the equation.
The muffled ticking of a small clock was the only sign that time hadn't completely come to a stand still, although for the life of her, Buffy found that fact hard to deal with. From the second William Pennington's tall frame had disappeared through the front door of the gallery, reality had turned into a nightmare.
Although the antique bell over the front door had long stopped ringing, Buffy almost swore the sound still reverberated right into her very soul. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still feel the vibrations echoing through her body. As she wrapped her arms around her chest to stop her trembling, she knew it wasn't only the ringing of the bell that had left an echo. Buffy was now filled with so much confusion she feared her head would explode.
She had thought not remembering her past was hard enough, but learning the things William Pennington had just told her was a million times worse.
**Friends! I think that's got to be the understatement of the year, luv**
Even though she was now totally alone, Buffy still felt William's presence all around the room. His clear-cut voice remained and taunted her from every direction.
** No, I wouldn't really call us friends, pet. I'm not sure what you'd call us these days, but we have been sleeping together for over a year**
"Oh God. What have I done?" Buffy whispered out loud as she felt her knees begin to shake again.
Alone and vulnerable, Buffy was beginning to get really frightened. She was suddenly terrified that the past life she had searched so hard to find wasn't the happy secure place she had believed it to be. In the blink of an eye, her safety blanket of the perfect past had been totally stripped away and the small fragments of her new life were now spinning totally out of control. Not only was she not the person she had believed she was, but Buffy Angelus was now somebody she didn't even know if she even liked.
Once again the frightened young woman was plagued with questions she couldn't begin to answer.
"So, if I wasn't the happy loving wife in the video, who the hell was I?"
This new question haunted her more than any of the others.
**Had she really been the kind of woman that would take a lover so easily and cheat behind her husband's back? ** Buffy shook her head, the idea was just too horrid, but sadly there were worse thoughts to follow.
**If William Pennington was telling the truth, and that was exactly the woman she had been, why had she run off and left her husband *and * her lover behind. Was it possible she had run out on both of them? **
Buffy couldn't think straight as another wave of nausea rose over her and sent her small frame doubling over with the force of its anger. For ten minutes her fragile stomach continued to wrench but after the second time of decorating the gallery floor, there was simply nothing left for the wrenching to bring up.
Finally, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and tucking her loose hair behind her ears, Buffy straightened up. With all the effort she could muster she turned and, walking back into the small office at the rear of the gallery, silently closed the door behind her.
The change of environment brought little comfort.
**I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count. **
At the memory of William's crude words, Buffy shuddered.
**How could she have done something so intimate with a man she had absolutely no memory of. If their bodies had really made love on the office floor more times then he could count; surely there should be something in the back of her mind that would prove he was telling the truth. But there wasn't. There wasn't any memory inside her shattered head of William at all **
Of course, she hadn't remembered marrying Liam at first. Buffy tried to make sense of the situation but her argument was quickly shot to pieces. She might not have remembered Liam Angelus as her mate but she had always known his face and his name. Her subconscious might have misplaced him as being her husband, but her heart and soul hadn't wiped him out. When he touched her skin, her whole body had responded with a will of its own.
William was a completely different story.
It didn't matter how hard she tried; Buffy couldn't find any feelings for William at all. Not in her memories, not in her heart and not in her soul. He said they were lovers and she had no reason to think he would lie, but the plain truth was, William Pennington meant nothing to her at all.
Feeling incredibly light-headed, Buffy threw open the office window and resting her head lightly against the security bars, she filled her lungs with a rush of cool air.
Outside, the world went about its business as normal but on the other side of the window, Buffy Summers Angelus felt as if her life was crashing down all around her. For a woman who, only a few hours earlier, had no past, present or future, she suddenly found herself in a very difficult position.
On one hand there was Liam, not only a husband, but also a man she knew she could love very easily. He had pulled her out of the darkness and had held her through the pain and the confusion that had followed. The very last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, especially if he hadn't know about her affair.
**Her affair**
That thought returned Buffy to the other man in the equation.
William. The good-looking blonde lover that had come out of nowhere and genuinely seemed to care about her, even when she had pushed him away. He had promised her that Liam would break her heart again.
**Was it really possible that he had broken her heart once before. Was that why she had left him?** Too many questions and nowhere near enough answers made Buffy's head throb with uncertainty.
**Was Liam still wearing a mask? Or maybe the mask belonged to William. Someone was lying**
As Buffy closed her eyes she could see Liam and William so clearly. Both men were incredibly good looking in totally different ways. Sexy, passionate, charming and kind. She could easily see why she would have been attracted to either of them, but Buffy also knew in her heart that when she had kissed them, only one of the two had made her heart yearn for the kiss to continue. Only one of them had made her blood course through her veins at a thousand miles an hour.
In her right mind she wouldn't have looked at another man so soon after marrying Liam.
**But had she been in her right mind? Or had Liam somehow driven her into the arms of another man? **
Leaning over the small sink in the women's rest room, Buffy splashed her face with cool water and took a deep breath to calm her shaking body. Tilting her head slightly, she hesitantly looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging just above the sink and shuddered. Her eyes, not to mention her nose, were both flushed bright red, while her cheeks were now a ghostly shade of white.
Raising her trembling fingers she slowly traced the contours of the face staring out at her from behind the glass.
"Who the hell are you?" Buffy asked as she tried desperately to see past the reflection and into the person who wore her face.
**What sort of woman had she *really* been? A loving wife as the wedding video portrayed, or a adulterous bitch who had cheated on her husband and then ran out on him without a second thought**
As small droplets of water dripped from the edge of her hair and rolled slowly down her face, Buffy carefully studied the information she had collected over the last few days.
**Had she really been having a torrid affair behind Liam's back?**
Every cell in her body rejected the idea, but in all honesty, Buffy had no idea what kind of relationship her marriage had been. When she had first woken in the hospital, Liam had been cold, almost untouchable. It was only once they had been home for a few days, that he had dropped the mask he wore so carefully over his expressions and a kind, patient and loving man had emerged. Then just as she was beginning to fall back in love with him, William Pennington enters her life and it all gets thrown back into confusion.
"No wonder you ran away" The first bitter sting of tears was already burning behind her eyes as self-pity rose up from its hiding place and threatened to drown her.
But this time Buffy wouldn't allow herself the luxury of crying.
**She needed to pull herself together and sort this mess out once and for all and then she needed...**
So lost in her thoughts, Buffy missed the small bell ringing again over the door, announcing that a new visitor had entered the building.
Splashing her face one last time, she reached out her hand and finding a paper towel in the dispenser, she dried off the remaining moisture. As her thoughts turned to finding her bag and repairing the damage to her makeup, Buffy also missed the creak of the office door slowly being pushed open.
"Hello Buffy"
Startled, Buffy turned.
"Liam told me to meet you here. God, you look dreadful, what on earth happened?"
Buffy didn't need introductions. The face of the woman smiling at her was now imprinted firmly on her brain. Not in the form of a memory. Buffy knew this was the face from her wedding video.
Standing in an immaculate white designer suit, with matching shoes and perfect makeup was her so called *best friend*. A best friend Buffy had a sneaky feeling she'd be a real fool to trust. Especially where her husband was concerned.
As Buffy's eyes caught sight of her own dishevelled reflection in the mirror; she fought off the wave of panic that threatened to strike and instead forced a small smile to her lips.
"Hello, Darla. It's good to see you again" Her voice was remarkably calm.
Buffy walked forward, but as the two women embraced she heard a small warning voice deep inside her head.
**So this woman is your best friend?**
** Not in a million years**
TBC
