A/N: Still don't own them or anything worth of value for that matter…*sob* Ok, I'm gonna go get a tissue, you read and enjoy.  If you could review, that would be wonderful and give me gooshy feelings inside.  Yeah, gooshy is good. 

p.s-this timeline on this story is a fast one, in chap 2 it was Fri, and now, it is the next Fri. Same goes for chap 3. I like Fridays, they signify the end of the week and freedom from sadistic professors…..anyway, just trying to prevent confusion

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Chapter 4: Everyday battles

Buffy was pissed.  No two ways about it, she was flaming pissed.  Her mom had gotten sick at work and when she asked to leave, her boss "advised" her of the fact that if she missed anymore work, she was going to be fired.  So there it was, work while vomiting, or leave and be fired.  Joyce chose to stay at work and continued to empty her stomach contents throughout the course of the day.  Buffy and her brother A.J were playing their customary Friday afternoon video game when Joyce walked into the apartment and collapsed.  Buffy called 911 and the paramedics came and took her mom to the hospital.  A.J went to the next-door neighbors for the night, and after filling out paperwork for her mom, Buffy left to have a showdown at the gallery.

Dan Calder, her mom's employer resembled a large rat.  Receding hairline, beady little eyes and a jaw that protruded from a weak chin, all that was missing were whiskers.  Buffy expected him to start squeaking any minute.  Snickering at the thought, she turned her attention to Dan. "Mr. Calder, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked. 

Dan eyed the diminutive girl in before him.  She looked vaguely familiar, but the information about her floated past the scope of his brain and settled into oblivion. She's probably just another flake that thinks a gallery job will give her a facade of sophistication, he mentally sighed.  Outwardly, he plastered a smile on his face and answered Buffy with a cheerful "What can I do for you?"

"First of all, you can wipe that smug, shit-eating grin off your face you little rat turd," Buffy replied calmly, then continued while Dan choked, "second of all, you can sit you inordinately large ass down in that chair and listen to me without interruption."

Dan sputtered at her tirade and tried to speak, but Buffy cut him off, "My mother is Joyce Summers, sound familiar?  Well it should, she is the best damn manager you have for this piece of shit gallery.  Today, she came home today so exhausted that she collapsed in our living room. In front of me as well as my little brother. Something here seems a bit off, can you maybe tell me what that is?" Buffy asked, and then cut Dan off again when he tried to answer.  "It seems to me that working at a gallery is not so hard as to drive a grown woman to exhaustion, so my little brain tells me there is something else going on here.  Wonder what that could be?"

"Well…." Dan started then stopped as the little blonde girl stepped toward him.  "I really don't have the faintest idea what that could be."

"Really?  Are you sure?  Think reaaaaaal hard before you answer," Buffy said.

"Yes, I'm sure," Dan replied, gaining a bit of his confidence back. How dare she speak to him this way!

"Well then, guess I'm going to have to call the workers' union that mom is a member of," Buffy said and Dan's blood left his head at an alarmingly fast rate.  "Maybe I'll tell them that my mom didn't feel well and, like a good employee, requested time off for her illness.  Only her poor excuse of an asshole boss didn't give her the requested time, even threatened to fire her if she left.  What do you think the union will say to that?  My guess, your ass is gonna get used and abused and then fired for a number of things, including being an all-around dickhead, do you really want that?"

Dan shook his head.

"Exactly what I thought," Buffy said, then continued, "So what you're gonna do is give my mom time off while she is in the hospital.  Then, when she comes back to work, you are going to be the nicest, most considerate boss in the entire freaking world.  You will kiss the ground she walks on.  You will admit you unworthiness to even be in her presence.  And you will do all this with a smile.  Got me?  'Cause if not, I will call her union rep as well as several of the local newspapers.  You will be wading through shit for weeks and then when you think you're in the clear…BAM! I'm gonna call the gallery's biggest benefactors and tell them exactly what kind of person you are. Not only will you get fired, you'll be blacklisted from here to Washington!" 

Ordinarily, Buffy wouldn't do such a thing, and the thought of blackmail made her stomach do the "I'm gonna be sick" flip-flops.  However, she was at the end of her rope.  She wasn't making enough to pay for the medical bills as well as the routine household bills.  Her mother had been diagnosed with cancer a year ago and had chemo'ed it into remission.  That was a joyous occasion, but it was still gonna take years to pay for the hospital bills, even with insurance and the combined effort of the two jobs.  Truth be told, her mom wasn't paid shit at her job.  Buffy made more in one night than her mom did in a week.  True, her mom wasn't the biggest fan of her job, but money is money, and the bills needed to be paid.  They already had to sell their house; Buffy really didn't want to be evicted from their apartment as well. 

"So, Mr. Calder, are we in agreement?" Buffy asked.  Dan gave another head nod and Buffy promptly strode out of the gallery feeling somewhat better.

"Ok, now all I have to do is come up with a couple hundred thousand dollars and we'll be in the clear," she muttered to herself.  With that depressing thought in her mind, she hailed a taxi and checked her watch.  It was 8 pm, she had enough time to swing by the hospital and check on her mom before she had to work. 

"Take me to Caring Hearts Hospital," she said to the driver.  He nodded his head and Buffy sat back and waited.  The drive seemed to take forever and Buffy felt a sense of urgency wash over her.  When the cab finally reached the hospital, Buffy threw some money at the driver and bailed out the back of the cab.  She rushed up the stairs and ran inside.

"Can you tell me what room Joyce Summers is in?" Buffy breathlessly asked the sour-looking receptionist.

"Are you family? Only family is allowed to visit, and even then, visiting hours end in 15 minutes, so it doesn't matter anyway," the receptionist replied nastily, and then turned her attention back to the newspaper.

Buffy felt like screaming, this was just not her day.  "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am family and I would like to see my mom…now," Buffy said, snatching the paper from the receptionist and flinging it across the room.  REALLY gotta work on that temper Buff, she chided herself.

The receptionist drew in air through her nose with an audible wheeze and then said, "Room 305, miss."

"Thank you," Buffy replied in a sweet voice then turned and bounded toward the elevator. 

She found her mom's room with relative ease.  She walked inside and when she was greeted by the beeps and sighs of the elaborate hospital machines, her sense of urgency dissolved.  Buffy just stared at the bed; her mom looked so frail lying against the stark white bed sheet.  It brought back ugly memories of the war Joyce waged against cancer.  Buffy was so deep in thought she didn't hear the orderly. 

"She'll be out for the rest of the night," Buffy jumped into the air about three feet and spun around toward the door.  "Sorry," the female orderly apologized, "didn't mean ta scare ya, just thought I should tell you that she's out like a light, probably your best bet is to come back tomorrow."

"Thanks," Buffy replied.  She moved to her mom and kissed her soft forehead.  "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered and then left.

Once outside, she had to call yet another cab to take her home.  Once there, Buffy gathered her clothes and makeup and other necessary items and drove to the club.  It was going to be a long night. I hope that there are some good tippers in the audience.

The Lounge was hopping when Buffy arrived.  Men milled around the parking lot and wandered inside and then back out again.  Buffy strode toward the back entrance and tried to avoid any encounters with the 'patrons' as her boss Jack liked to call them.

"Hey Robbie!" she called out a greeting to the large bouncer who guarded the door leading to the girls rooms.

"Hey Buffy, what's a cracking?" Robbie asked as he opened the door.

"Not a whole lot, how's the action tonight?" Buffy asked back, stopping at the entrance.

"Had to call in Joey and Bill from days off, what do ya think?" Robbie said with a grin.  His front two teeth were silver and he had no neck to speak of, but Robbie was one of the sweetest men Buffy knew.

"How's your wife and pretty baby?" Buffy asked.

"Both of them gorgeous to end all, I got pics, I'll corner you later and shove them in your face," Robbie replied, pleased.  Buffy always asked him about his family, and was always willing to look at the multitudes of pictures he constantly had

Buffy laughed. "I'm shaking with anticipation," she said then walked inside.

The perfume hit her first every time.  A million different types of perfume wafted around the back room, giving it a distinctive smell, like a cross between a Macy's counter and a harem. 

Molly, a leggy brunette, giggled as she came offstage. "Buffy, I think I just saw my future husband!"

Buffy rolled her eyes, Molly always just saw her future husband.  "Really Molly, who is he tonight?"

"This hottie blonde, I mean waaay blonde, white-blonde," Molly said, "He's got the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, and I mean they are blue, but such a deep shade, they're like almost black…" Molly trailed off as she mentally thought of the Romeo who captured her heart.

Buffy was slightly impressed.  Molly was notoriously fickle; this was the first time Buffy heard her rave about a guy's eye color.  Usually, Molly liked to rave about the other attributes of her men. 

"Wow Molly, sounds like a keeper," Buffy said and stripped down to her underwear.  She applied lotion to her legs and Molly grabbed the bottle and squirted some on Buffy's back.  She began to rub it in and Buffy forced herself to not tense up.  One thing was for sure, these girls were neither modest nor shy.  It had taken Buffy quite some time to undress in front of the other girls; she had yet to adjust to their "assistance" when she got ready for a set.  Not that I don't appreciate it Buffy thought, and then forced herself to listen to Molly.

"…and he's with another guy who has brown hair, he's pretty hot too, got pretty green eyes.  I might give him a go if the blonde doesn't work out," Molly said rather matter-of-factly then tapped Buffy's shoulder to let her know the lotion was rubbed in.

"Thanks Molly and….good luck, you know, with the guys and everything," Buffy said.

"Thanks!" Molly smiled brightly and walked off, oblivious of her nudity.

Buffy shook her head and gave a wry smile.  "Wish I could to that."

"Do what?  Molly?  I didn't think you swung that way, Buff," an Asian dancer named Nicole said.

"I don't, that's not what I meant," Buffy said, "I just wish I had her confidence," she explained.

"You dance naked for men and money and you are worried about confidence?" asked another dancer named Monique.

"It's not the same," Buffy tried to explain, "onstage, I can be anything, sexy, mysterious, sensual, and exciting. Offstage, I am just me….boring old Buffy Summers."

"You're not boring Buffy," Nicole said, "And you're drop-dead too, so quit stressing."  That was Nicole, abrupt and to the point.

"I agree," Monique said and smiled, her white teeth flashing against her dark skin.

"Glad to know everyone thinks so but me," Buffy said and pulled on her costume.  Costumes were such a waste of time, in her opinion.  All you did was take them off.  That made her think of Willow and one of their first conversations.  Buffy had been bitching about the costumes and Willow had replied in true Willow fashion "It's not the costume, but how you take it off that matters."  Hard to believe that was almost six months ago. 

Buffy chose the gypsy costume and began to clip the various gold pieces to her body.  Earrings, bracelets, anklets, rings and toe rings.  Then she tied a purple scarf around her hair and a teal sarong around her waist.  She had a gold thong and matching bra on underneath.  After putting on her costume, Buffy sat on a stool and looked in the full-length mirror.  Her reflection was the same thing she always saw, long blonde hair, greenish eyes, slightly crooked nose where A.J had landed a lucky hit during a softball game when they were kids.  She stood up and examined her body.  Not bad, I guess.  Tanned skin, smooth legs, flat stomach and full breasts.  Shorter than average, but what can ya do?  Her stomach ring winked in the light, her one act of defiance.  Not earth-shattering, but not hideous either, she decided and then walked toward the stage.  True to her gypsy costume, she wore no shoes

She saw the lights dim before her music played.  Willow whispered good luck from somewhere in back and Buffy smiled in appreciation, she had butterflies in her stomach.  She was nervous!  Why was she so nervous? Buffy pondered that for a moment, and couldn't come up with a good reason why.  Then the lights came up and her name was announced.  The first strains of "Feeling Love" by Paula Cole played and she strutted onto the stage.

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A/N: hehehe, I am stopping here.  I wonder what happens next?!? Hmmm, I don't know.  Well, actually I do know, but you don't and won't until tomorrow or the next day.  *evil cackle* until then my pretties.