Spike set his eyes forward onto the expanse of road before him, ignoring
the slight tingling sensation in the palm of his hands. His camels were
teasing him endlessly from the inside of his cup holder, all of the cancer-
causing tar just waiting to be sucked in and smoothly breathed out.
Contrary to popular belief, however, Spike was not an idiot.
The first thing Buffy had done when she entered his car was sniff the air and scowl at the residue smoke. She had even cranked the window a bit, so she wouldn't have to deal with second-hand smoke penetrating her precious, still-pink lungs.
Considering * that * reaction, Spike didn't even want to know what she'd do if he actually lit one up while she was in the car.
he thought with a wry smirk. He glanced over to the blonde, who stared out the window, a pensive look upon her face. Spike wondered for a moment what thoughts were dancing around inside her pretty head.
"There sure are a lot of people in this city." Buffy murmured, as another flash of a car whizzed by. Spike smirked.
"Well, I should hope so. It is one of the two largest metropolitan areas in your country, luv."
Buffy twisted her body around to look at Spike with a mirrored smirk. " * My * country, huh?"
"Well, yeah," Spike replied. Buffy contemplated Spike for a minute, then leaned back, keeping only her neck turned toward him. "You're still hailin' the Queen Mum, aren't ya?"
Spike snorted. "Naturally."
"Are you a citizen?" Buffy asked. "Of America, I mean."
"Green card." Spike said simply as he merged onto one of the many LA highways. Buffy nodded slowly and leaned back all the way. Silence spanned over the car. Buffy stared down at her finger-nails, mindlessly picking at her polish. Buffy sang softly...
"Gimme the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock 'n roll and drift away..." Buffy grinned sheepishly in response to Spike's amused smirk. "I have it stuck in my head," She explained.
"Ah, shit!" Spike suddenly exclaimed as he drove his car straight into a traffic jam, "This is just what I bloody need."
Buffy grimaced as she stuck her head out of the window to evaluate the situation.
"Looks pretty jacked. We might be here for awhile." She said, watching as Spike began pounding on the horn. She covered her ears. "Spike! That's-" He kept honking the horn, "SPIKE! SPIKE!!! THAT'S NOT GONNA HELP!!"
When he still didn't listen, Buffy slammed her hands down onto his. The sounds of the other cars yelling various insults were finally heard by the blonde duo. Buffy glared at him at he purposefully avoided her eyes.
"Hey, Passive-Aggressive-Guy, you wanna take it down a few notches? It really isn't that big of a deal," she said. He glanced up at her.
"I am not in the mood for bleedin' 'club traffic' or whatever."
Buffy drew in her eyebrows incredulously. "You think anyone here is? We'll just have to wait it out like everyone else."
Spike scowled at that, but finally consented, leaning back with a slight pout. Buffy concealed a giggle with a cough, thoroughly amused by her boss's antics. She took her neck inside her left hand and rotated it, trying to get a few little kinks out of the crook of her neck.
It was going to be a long night.
~~~~~~
"HAHA!!! Oh my GOD! You're kidding me!" Buffy exclaimed, as she doubled over with laughter. Spike coughed out a few laughs of his own and wiped away the tear from his eye.
"I kid you not, pet. She measured the distance between his index finger and thumb, saw it was only about 3 or 4 inches, and said: "There's no way in hell that I would ever date your short ass...or should I say dick??" Spike explained, putting on his best Midwestern accent.
"She's horrible! And you saw the whole thing?" Buffy asked.
"The whole bloody office did! Course, the man was so traumatized he ended up quitting and working for a competitor, but still. Anya always makes for interesting stories."
"I see that," Buffy said, the laughter finally dying down in her voice. She smoothly wiped under her eyes, trying to clean up some of the mascara she was sure was running. Spike motioned toward a little speck on her cheek.
"You got somethin' right there."
Buffy tried to flick it away, but to no avail. "Here?"
Spike leaned over and gently brushed his finger against it, making her face completely pure again. Spike stared into her eyes for a moment too long and his heart rate suddenly increased. He backed away and stared at his cigarettes. He thought to himself, glancing back and forth between the fags and Buffy, who stared obliviously out the window again Get to me every time.
~~~~~~
"Right here's good."
Spike pulled the car to a halt in front of a small apartment complex. Buffy unbuckled her seat belt and looked over at her driver.
"Thanks for the ride...it was actually sorta fun."
Spike gave her a light smile. "See you on Monday, pet."
Buffy returned the grin and gave a tiny wave as she stepped out of the car. Yawning, Buffy moved to her door, ready to collapse the moment she reached her bed.
"BUFFY!"
Buffy let out a tiny whimper, but turned back around to face Spike. "What?" She asked wearily.
Spike took in a breath
"You're new to the office and though I'm sure you've heard rumors about, er, certain people, I have to warn you. Some of the rumors you hear are just that... rumors. But others-"
Buffy cut Spike off by putting her hand to his lips, thinking she understood where Spike's speech was going. "Spike." Buffy pulled her hand away and Spike felt a tiny pang from the loss of contact, "I don't care about the past. I know you better now and though I still might have some doubts in certain areas, I'm going to trust only what I can see and my instincts. And right now, I'm seeing, and feeling, that you're a good person."
Spike practically melted when he heard that. He looked down and chuckled, a blush creeping over his cheeks. His throat was dry and he forgot for a moment why he even stopped her.
A flash of Angel's half-assed grin appeared on his retina.
"That's sweet, luv, but what I meant was-"
Buffy yawned again. "Ya know what, Spike, I'm really, really tired, can we finish this later?"
Spike pursed his lips for a moment, but caved in. He nodded.
"Thanks. You're the best. I'll see you on Monday."
"G'bye, Buffy." Spike replied. Buffy sent him a wave as she slowly entered her apartment door. When she was out of sight, Spike sighed and walked over to his car.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Just relax." Angel cooed into Buffy's ear as she reclined on a red velvet couch, inside his studio. Buffy felt his breath tickle on her neck, and found that her heart rate had escalated to a sickening pace and she was positive her face was the color of beets.
"I'm all with the relaxing," she replied with a nervous laugh. He gave her a little smile in return, and when he turned his back, Buffy slapped her forehead.
"You ready?" Angel asked as he finished setting up the angle of the camera.
Buffy nodded affirmatively.
"Now just lean back..." which she did, and stare straight into the camera with a little smile."
Buffy awkwardly grinned. Angel pursed his lips and walked over to her adjusted her hands, draping one of her arms above her head.
"I feel like Kate Winslet," she said. "Except for the whole being naked part."
Angel looked up excitedly, but before Buffy could retort, he shook it away and laughed.
"I'm just joking. Now give me a tiny smile, not huge." Buffy closed her eyes for a minute, and pictured Spike's smirk. Unwittingly, Buffy smiled on her own, just thinking about it.
"Perfect!" Angel exclaimed, "Now open your eyes."
Buffy did, and Angel starting snapping away, moving from all different level planes...high, low, diagonal, right over here, looking up at her...
It was actually a lot of fun.
~~~~
"Summers!" Buffy shot her head up at the sound of her voice. Spike smiled at her from across the room and motioned for her to enter his office.
"What's up?" She asked as she entered his roomy office. He thrust a pile of papers at her.
"Congratulations, pet. You get to do an independent project!" Spike replied with a cheeky grin. He moved fluidly back to his desk and propped his feet up, still grinning.
"You seem excited," Buffy observed as she rearranged the papers in her arms so that they weren't quite cumbersome.
"I think this one's gonna be a hit, is all."
"What is it?"
"A one-shot advice piece with no barriers, so to speak."
Buffy knitted her eyebrows together, but decided she'd figure out what he meant later.
"It should be brilliant." Spike's grin suddenly disappeared. "So long as you take it seriously. It was cute to start your first column with a joke, but too much of it will just piss off the readers."
Buffy nodded.
"Of course." She replied. Spike smiled at her again and stared down at his personal planner.
"I've got a meeting now, so beat it, alright?" He said jokingly.
Buffy rolled her eyes at him and left.
"Bye, luv." He called out in a sing-song voice. Buffy ducked her head back into the office.
"Bye, Spike." She replied with the same voice. Buffy chuckled as Spike sent her away with a hand wave and moved back to her desk.
It was time to start delving into the mountain of paperwork.
~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy read down the list of "questions" in horror.
"No fucking way." She whispered.
"I had sex with a sheep once, how can I tell my significant other that?"
"How can I make her have sex with my best friend so I can watch?"
"I want to-"
"Ohmigod!" Buffy flipped over the paper as she read the last one.
Taking every strand of anger along with her, Buffy stormed across the room and started pounding on Spike's door.
"Hold on a bloody second!" Spike swung the door open and came face to face with a very, very pissed off Buffy. "Um, is everything alright, luv?"
Buffy glared at him and pushed her way into the office. "There is no way in * hell * I'm doing that so-called advice piece. It's nothing but a mockery to my profession."
Spike shut his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Look, you really don't have a choice in the matter. It's my magazine and I choose who does what around here."
Buffy reread the questions again. "Are these even real?" she asked in disgust. "I think Anya made them up."
Buffy laughed humorlessly. "Great! So it's not even an honest slutbag piece. It's completely made up."
"Our readers don't actually give a damn whether it's real or not. They just wanna read the thing!" Spike explained angrily.
Buffy slammed the paper down on his desk. "I'm not doing it," she said stubbornly, folding her arms.
"I'm sorry, who runs the magazine again? I'm telling you that you're gonna do it and that means you're gonna bloody well do it!!" Spike roared.
"Then I quit," Buffy replied, reaching for the doorknob.
That brought Spike to a screeching halt.
He jumped in front of her, blocking the only exit.
"Let's not be hasty here, luv. You don't actually wanna quit..." he reasoned.
"If I have to do that 'story,' I do."
Spike ran his tongue over his lips as he contemplated what to do. "Fine," he finally said. "You win. I'll get a freelancer to do it. Now will you stay? He looked to her with puppy dog eyes.
Buffy closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah."
Spike sighed in relief. "Thank god! Anya would've killed me!"
Buffy forced a smile. "I have to get back to work."
"Right, yeah. Sure. Go ahead. I'll talk to you later."
"Sure," Buffy replied. She left Spike's office and sat down at her desk. She plucked the phone up and dialed Willow's number.
"Hi, Will? Hey. I'm at work. Uh-huh. Well, let's just say I got my first real taste of what this magazine is all about..."
~
tbc...
Contrary to popular belief, however, Spike was not an idiot.
The first thing Buffy had done when she entered his car was sniff the air and scowl at the residue smoke. She had even cranked the window a bit, so she wouldn't have to deal with second-hand smoke penetrating her precious, still-pink lungs.
Considering * that * reaction, Spike didn't even want to know what she'd do if he actually lit one up while she was in the car.
he thought with a wry smirk. He glanced over to the blonde, who stared out the window, a pensive look upon her face. Spike wondered for a moment what thoughts were dancing around inside her pretty head.
"There sure are a lot of people in this city." Buffy murmured, as another flash of a car whizzed by. Spike smirked.
"Well, I should hope so. It is one of the two largest metropolitan areas in your country, luv."
Buffy twisted her body around to look at Spike with a mirrored smirk. " * My * country, huh?"
"Well, yeah," Spike replied. Buffy contemplated Spike for a minute, then leaned back, keeping only her neck turned toward him. "You're still hailin' the Queen Mum, aren't ya?"
Spike snorted. "Naturally."
"Are you a citizen?" Buffy asked. "Of America, I mean."
"Green card." Spike said simply as he merged onto one of the many LA highways. Buffy nodded slowly and leaned back all the way. Silence spanned over the car. Buffy stared down at her finger-nails, mindlessly picking at her polish. Buffy sang softly...
"Gimme the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock 'n roll and drift away..." Buffy grinned sheepishly in response to Spike's amused smirk. "I have it stuck in my head," She explained.
"Ah, shit!" Spike suddenly exclaimed as he drove his car straight into a traffic jam, "This is just what I bloody need."
Buffy grimaced as she stuck her head out of the window to evaluate the situation.
"Looks pretty jacked. We might be here for awhile." She said, watching as Spike began pounding on the horn. She covered her ears. "Spike! That's-" He kept honking the horn, "SPIKE! SPIKE!!! THAT'S NOT GONNA HELP!!"
When he still didn't listen, Buffy slammed her hands down onto his. The sounds of the other cars yelling various insults were finally heard by the blonde duo. Buffy glared at him at he purposefully avoided her eyes.
"Hey, Passive-Aggressive-Guy, you wanna take it down a few notches? It really isn't that big of a deal," she said. He glanced up at her.
"I am not in the mood for bleedin' 'club traffic' or whatever."
Buffy drew in her eyebrows incredulously. "You think anyone here is? We'll just have to wait it out like everyone else."
Spike scowled at that, but finally consented, leaning back with a slight pout. Buffy concealed a giggle with a cough, thoroughly amused by her boss's antics. She took her neck inside her left hand and rotated it, trying to get a few little kinks out of the crook of her neck.
It was going to be a long night.
~~~~~~
"HAHA!!! Oh my GOD! You're kidding me!" Buffy exclaimed, as she doubled over with laughter. Spike coughed out a few laughs of his own and wiped away the tear from his eye.
"I kid you not, pet. She measured the distance between his index finger and thumb, saw it was only about 3 or 4 inches, and said: "There's no way in hell that I would ever date your short ass...or should I say dick??" Spike explained, putting on his best Midwestern accent.
"She's horrible! And you saw the whole thing?" Buffy asked.
"The whole bloody office did! Course, the man was so traumatized he ended up quitting and working for a competitor, but still. Anya always makes for interesting stories."
"I see that," Buffy said, the laughter finally dying down in her voice. She smoothly wiped under her eyes, trying to clean up some of the mascara she was sure was running. Spike motioned toward a little speck on her cheek.
"You got somethin' right there."
Buffy tried to flick it away, but to no avail. "Here?"
Spike leaned over and gently brushed his finger against it, making her face completely pure again. Spike stared into her eyes for a moment too long and his heart rate suddenly increased. He backed away and stared at his cigarettes. He thought to himself, glancing back and forth between the fags and Buffy, who stared obliviously out the window again Get to me every time.
~~~~~~
"Right here's good."
Spike pulled the car to a halt in front of a small apartment complex. Buffy unbuckled her seat belt and looked over at her driver.
"Thanks for the ride...it was actually sorta fun."
Spike gave her a light smile. "See you on Monday, pet."
Buffy returned the grin and gave a tiny wave as she stepped out of the car. Yawning, Buffy moved to her door, ready to collapse the moment she reached her bed.
"BUFFY!"
Buffy let out a tiny whimper, but turned back around to face Spike. "What?" She asked wearily.
Spike took in a breath
"You're new to the office and though I'm sure you've heard rumors about, er, certain people, I have to warn you. Some of the rumors you hear are just that... rumors. But others-"
Buffy cut Spike off by putting her hand to his lips, thinking she understood where Spike's speech was going. "Spike." Buffy pulled her hand away and Spike felt a tiny pang from the loss of contact, "I don't care about the past. I know you better now and though I still might have some doubts in certain areas, I'm going to trust only what I can see and my instincts. And right now, I'm seeing, and feeling, that you're a good person."
Spike practically melted when he heard that. He looked down and chuckled, a blush creeping over his cheeks. His throat was dry and he forgot for a moment why he even stopped her.
A flash of Angel's half-assed grin appeared on his retina.
"That's sweet, luv, but what I meant was-"
Buffy yawned again. "Ya know what, Spike, I'm really, really tired, can we finish this later?"
Spike pursed his lips for a moment, but caved in. He nodded.
"Thanks. You're the best. I'll see you on Monday."
"G'bye, Buffy." Spike replied. Buffy sent him a wave as she slowly entered her apartment door. When she was out of sight, Spike sighed and walked over to his car.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Just relax." Angel cooed into Buffy's ear as she reclined on a red velvet couch, inside his studio. Buffy felt his breath tickle on her neck, and found that her heart rate had escalated to a sickening pace and she was positive her face was the color of beets.
"I'm all with the relaxing," she replied with a nervous laugh. He gave her a little smile in return, and when he turned his back, Buffy slapped her forehead.
"You ready?" Angel asked as he finished setting up the angle of the camera.
Buffy nodded affirmatively.
"Now just lean back..." which she did, and stare straight into the camera with a little smile."
Buffy awkwardly grinned. Angel pursed his lips and walked over to her adjusted her hands, draping one of her arms above her head.
"I feel like Kate Winslet," she said. "Except for the whole being naked part."
Angel looked up excitedly, but before Buffy could retort, he shook it away and laughed.
"I'm just joking. Now give me a tiny smile, not huge." Buffy closed her eyes for a minute, and pictured Spike's smirk. Unwittingly, Buffy smiled on her own, just thinking about it.
"Perfect!" Angel exclaimed, "Now open your eyes."
Buffy did, and Angel starting snapping away, moving from all different level planes...high, low, diagonal, right over here, looking up at her...
It was actually a lot of fun.
~~~~
"Summers!" Buffy shot her head up at the sound of her voice. Spike smiled at her from across the room and motioned for her to enter his office.
"What's up?" She asked as she entered his roomy office. He thrust a pile of papers at her.
"Congratulations, pet. You get to do an independent project!" Spike replied with a cheeky grin. He moved fluidly back to his desk and propped his feet up, still grinning.
"You seem excited," Buffy observed as she rearranged the papers in her arms so that they weren't quite cumbersome.
"I think this one's gonna be a hit, is all."
"What is it?"
"A one-shot advice piece with no barriers, so to speak."
Buffy knitted her eyebrows together, but decided she'd figure out what he meant later.
"It should be brilliant." Spike's grin suddenly disappeared. "So long as you take it seriously. It was cute to start your first column with a joke, but too much of it will just piss off the readers."
Buffy nodded.
"Of course." She replied. Spike smiled at her again and stared down at his personal planner.
"I've got a meeting now, so beat it, alright?" He said jokingly.
Buffy rolled her eyes at him and left.
"Bye, luv." He called out in a sing-song voice. Buffy ducked her head back into the office.
"Bye, Spike." She replied with the same voice. Buffy chuckled as Spike sent her away with a hand wave and moved back to her desk.
It was time to start delving into the mountain of paperwork.
~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy read down the list of "questions" in horror.
"No fucking way." She whispered.
"I had sex with a sheep once, how can I tell my significant other that?"
"How can I make her have sex with my best friend so I can watch?"
"I want to-"
"Ohmigod!" Buffy flipped over the paper as she read the last one.
Taking every strand of anger along with her, Buffy stormed across the room and started pounding on Spike's door.
"Hold on a bloody second!" Spike swung the door open and came face to face with a very, very pissed off Buffy. "Um, is everything alright, luv?"
Buffy glared at him and pushed her way into the office. "There is no way in * hell * I'm doing that so-called advice piece. It's nothing but a mockery to my profession."
Spike shut his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Look, you really don't have a choice in the matter. It's my magazine and I choose who does what around here."
Buffy reread the questions again. "Are these even real?" she asked in disgust. "I think Anya made them up."
Buffy laughed humorlessly. "Great! So it's not even an honest slutbag piece. It's completely made up."
"Our readers don't actually give a damn whether it's real or not. They just wanna read the thing!" Spike explained angrily.
Buffy slammed the paper down on his desk. "I'm not doing it," she said stubbornly, folding her arms.
"I'm sorry, who runs the magazine again? I'm telling you that you're gonna do it and that means you're gonna bloody well do it!!" Spike roared.
"Then I quit," Buffy replied, reaching for the doorknob.
That brought Spike to a screeching halt.
He jumped in front of her, blocking the only exit.
"Let's not be hasty here, luv. You don't actually wanna quit..." he reasoned.
"If I have to do that 'story,' I do."
Spike ran his tongue over his lips as he contemplated what to do. "Fine," he finally said. "You win. I'll get a freelancer to do it. Now will you stay? He looked to her with puppy dog eyes.
Buffy closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah."
Spike sighed in relief. "Thank god! Anya would've killed me!"
Buffy forced a smile. "I have to get back to work."
"Right, yeah. Sure. Go ahead. I'll talk to you later."
"Sure," Buffy replied. She left Spike's office and sat down at her desk. She plucked the phone up and dialed Willow's number.
"Hi, Will? Hey. I'm at work. Uh-huh. Well, let's just say I got my first real taste of what this magazine is all about..."
~
tbc...