Title: A Model Romance
Author: Ashley K.
Disclaimer: I own nothing BTVS or A:tS.
Chapter One:
Buffy Summers was not a happy person. It was Friday afternoon. She should be in the middle of a photo shoot. Instead she was at home, pouting.
It wasn't her fault that Parker Abrams turned out to be a first class asshole. How was Buffy supposed to know that the notorious photographer had a wife, two kids, and the token dog tucked away in the country? Especially when Parker told her that he was going to marry her…as soon as he could. Of course, when Buffy found out the interesting tidbit about Parker, she dumped the cheating bastard as soon as she could.
Parker Abrams did not take to being rejected very well. He got his revenge in the form of a horrible publicity stunt. He 'attempted suicide.' In the middle of the afternoon. During a very important fashion show. Needless to say the rat survived…and accused Buffy Summers of leading him on, making him fall in love with her, and then breaking his heart. Apparently his wife understood.
"Stupid doormat," Buffy spat out about Mrs. Abrams.
As a result of all the bad publicity on Buffy, many of her modeling jobs were cancelled. She sold the 'good-girl-next-door' image and being called a home-wrecker…well that just didn't fit with the image. So, not only was Buffy unemployed, but she was essentially under house arrest…unless she was particularly up for the media circus that ambushed her.
Her cell phone ringing was a much-appreciated distraction. "Hey Mom," Buffy greeted. "What's going on?"
"Hi sweetie. I'm fine," Joyce Summers said. Buffy smiled at the warmth of her mother's voice. "What are you doing tonight?"
'Planning on ways for Parker Abrams to actually die,' Buffy fiercely thought. "Probably just staying in…too much hassle to go out," Buffy ruefully answered.
"Well, I was thinking about stopping over. I'll make dinner for us," said Joyce. Buffy laughed at her mother's obviousness. Joyce was constantly fussing over Buffy's weight and always made excuses to feed her only daughter. "Oh, hush. Expect me at 5:30. Love you."
"Love you, too, Mom," Buffy said, before flipping the phone shut. Surveying her apartment, Buffy frowned. She was going to definitely have to straighten up the place before her mother came.
Buffy stared at her well-dressed mother with apprehension in her eyes. There was something her mother was not telling her. "Mom, stop," Buffy interrupted Joyce mid-sentence. "Whatever it is you have to tell me, tell me it already. I can see it's eating you up."
"Well, you know how Rupert was laid up with that heart attack?" Buffy nodded, frowning at the mention of her mother's ex-husband, Rupert Giles. "Well, I figured it was only right for me to go visit him at the hospital."
Closing her eyes, Buffy marveled at her good-natured mother. The man publicly humiliated her mother and, yet, Joyce still found it in her heart to visit the man in the hospital. "Please tell me you only saw Giles once," Buffy pleaded.
When Joyce bit her lip and looked away Buffy fought the urge to swear. "Twice?"
"I was a frequent visitor of Rupert's," Joyce admitted. "Between Angelus and I…"
"Angelus?!" Buffy spat out, her hatred towards her former stepbrother tangible. "And what? The odious creep just let you visit? I'm surprised you still have all your fingers attached!"
"Buffy Anne!" Joyce scolded her daughter. "Angel was nothing but kind and polite to me. In fact, he often took me out to lunch."
"Mother!" Buffy exclaimed, shocked that her mother would fraternize with the enemy so openly.
Angelus William Giles was the biggest thorn in Buffy's side. When their parents married, Buffy had been a young girl, newly turned fourteen, and Angelus was nineteen, used to getting his own way. From the start, Angelus was cold and uncaring towards his new stepmother and the children that she brought with her. Buffy's elder brother, Alexander, and Angelus often got into horrible fights. Buffy was treated like a possession, kept under complete lock and key whenever Angelus was home from the university.
Angelus was born to Giles and his then-wife, Janna Kalderash. Giles was wealthy in his own right, owning a very exclusive publishing company, but Janna was the sole heir to the Kalderash mega-fortune. When the two divorced, Janna received sole custody of young Angelus Kalderash-Giles, however, with Janna's death three years later, Angelus because the most fought-over six year-old in Modern history. Luckily, Giles won the six-month long custody battle against Angelus' grandparents.
Growing up, Angelus lacked for nothing. The best of everything was given to him. Buffy frown as she grudgingly accepted the fact that maybe, just maybe, the only reason why Angelus acted like such a bastard was because he was brought up knowing that he could have anything he wanted.
"Buffy," Joyce said, jerking Buffy out of her thoughts. "Rupert proposed to me last night."
Stunned, Buffy could only gape at her mother. "You didn't…accept, did you?" Buffy asked, once she found her voice again.
"I-I thought it was for the best to first ask you and Xander," Joyce admitted. "I've already spoken with Xander and he thought that the news was great."
Frowning, Buffy mentally cursed her older brother. "Of course Xander would like the news," Buffy dryly said. "Me, on the other hand…Mom, you guys already tried the whole marriage thing. And it did not go well. I am not a fan of this…but…if you feel that Giles can handle being married again. Well, you are a grown woman and I can't very well stop you."
"Alexander LaVelle Summers!" Buffy loudly announced her presence in her brother's home. "I cannot believe you! You hate the Giles family just as much as I do! Why would you encourage Mom like that?!"
"Nice to see you too, Buff," Xander greeted his baby sister ruefully. "Anya, you remember Buffy?"
Anya Jenkins, Xander's most recent girlfriend, smiled and nodded. "Yes, I do. Except last time I met her she was less…loud."
"Yeah, well shock and betrayal will do that for you," Buffy sniped back. Sighing, Buffy flopped down on the nearest surface. Aimlessly, she picked up the nearest magazine. Only to see her dreaded ex-stepbrother's famous half smiling face staring back up at her. "Oh, great. Who's the Scourge fucking now?"
Flipping through the glossy magazine, Buffy barely realized that her own smiling face was in many of the advertisements. "'Angelus Giles, seen here with actress Rebecca Lowell at the Academy Awards…'" Buffy trailed off, mouth moving as she finished reading the article.
"You know, Buff, for hating the guy so much, you are definitely obsessive about his life," Xander commented.
"Only because I have a blinding hatred for him," Buffy carelessly tossed out.
Looking skeptically at his younger sister, Xander smirked. "You two were okay with each other…until your seventeenth birthday. What happened there?"
"Leave it, Xander," Buffy harshly bit out.
On her seventeenth birthday, Buffy and some of her girl friends snuck into a strip club, where they fed Buffy one alcoholic drink after another. By Buffy's curfew she was most definitely intoxicated. She had carefully snuck into her house, avoiding the creaky floorboards and thanking God that her mother decided to go to bed early than normal.
Buffy had gone into the kitchen to grab a bottle, or three, of water, since she could already feel her hang-over fast approaching, when, suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed her and whirled her around. Already slightly queasy, the motion did not help matters. Angelus was standing there, eyes dark and glaring at her.
"Angelus?" she had asked. "Why do you hate me?"
Buffy was shocked at the effect her words had on him. Angelus immediately released her and the expression in his eyes changed from rage to sadness. "I don't hate you, Buffy," he whispered. Buffy looked at him, confused. Angelus never called her 'Buffy,' it was always the shortened 'Buff' that she absolutely hated.
"But, why…?" her question was cut off as Angelus suddenly pressed his lips onto her's. At first, Buffy had fought him, but Angelus refused to let go and, as the kiss progressed, Buffy found herself struggling, not to free herself, but to get closer to him. One kiss led to another and another, until Buffy found herself naked on the couch in the living room, with no recollection of how that had happened, and with Angelus, equally naked, posed over her. "I-I haven't done it before."
Moments passed between the two of them before Angelus harshly cursed and pushed himself away from Buffy, throwing a blanket towards her. "Get dressed," he said, pulling on his own clothes.
Hurt, and a bit confused, Buffy did as she was told. "Angel?" she asked, softly. She was amazed at how fast Angelus could move. The second the name left her mouth; he was there, shaking her slightly.
"Don't! This was a mistake! Understand?!" Angelus had severely whispered, shaking her with each word, as if to emphasize what he was saying. Between her confusion, her intoxicated state, and Angelus' shaking, Buffy frantically freed herself and rushed to the nearest sink, where she lost everything she had consumed that night.
When she had recovered, Angelus was nowhere to be seen. The next morning, Buffy, complete with a monster hangover, searched for Angelus, only to be told, by Giles, that he had left for his own mansion and, most likely, would not be returning. Buffy's bitterness towards her stepbrother started to grow and by the time of her mother's divorce, a year later, she hated him more than anyone in the world.
Carelessly throwing the keys to her apartment on the counter, Buffy headed towards the bathroom, set on having a nice, relaxing soak in the tub before she called her agent. "Probably going to be released anyway," Buffy muttered. Her contract was up for renewal and, considering the fact that all her clients had dropped her, she was mostly likely not going to be renewed.
"You have but yourself for that, lass."
Whirling around, Buffy came face-to-face with Angelus. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?!" she demanded.
"My father called me today," Angelus lazily answered, as if they were discussing the weather, "He was very upset. It would appear that Joyce was having second thoughts about their upcoming nuptials. Second thoughts that had only come into play when she visited with you. As for how I got in…well, I told your landlord that you were having personal issues and I was concerned for your well being. Since he has read the papers, your landlord was quite understanding and immediately let me in."
"I can't help it if Mom finally remembers what Hell she went through with your father," Buffy sniped back. Damn her nosy landlord! The man was constantly trying to set her up with men. Knowing Mr. Johnson, he didn't believe what Angelus had to say; rather he saw Angelus and figured that this was just another chance to set her up.
"Watch your tongue, Buff," Angelus carelessly said.
Flipping her hair, Buffy turned her back on him and walked towards her room. "I'm taking a bath. I expect you to be gone when I get out," she called over her shoulder.
"And I expect you to get back here," Angelus replied. "Unless you wish to hold this discussion in your bathroom?"
Hesitating, Buffy paused, before haughtily walking into the bathroom. Surely he would not follow through with his little threat. Just to be on the safe side, Buffy locked the door with a smug smile. Turning on the water, Buffy adjusted the temperature and added her bubble bath. Waiting for it to fill up, Buffy slowly started to strip. Once the bathtub was full, she turned off the water and climbed into the tub, sighing with pleasure. Reaching over, she grabbed the remote control to her stereo and soon gentle strands of music floated in the air.
Angelus must have left, she thought, happy that he listened to her.
As soon as she had thought that, the lock on her door clicked, alerting her to its now unlocked condition. With growing apprehension, Buffy cowered deeper into the bubbles. The door burst open and Angelus glared down at her, fire shooting in his eyes. "Now, Buffy I did warn you," he said, crouching next to the tub, brazenly dipping his fingers into the water. "You are going to listen to me," he dangerously said. "You are going to call up your mother and give her your blessing. You are going to stop acting like a spoiled brat and allow your mother happiness. Just because you're an unhappy, man-hating whore, does not mean that your mother has to suffer the same."
At a loss for words, Buffy could only gape at Angelus' ridiculous demands and claims. "Understand?" Angelus asked, standing. She dumbly nodded. "Good," he said, wiping his fingers on her towel. He was halfway out of the room when he stopped, turned around, and gave her his famous half-smile, half-smirk. "Oh, and Buff? I'll be seeing you."
Slightly shaken, Buffy watched as Angelus left. Lifting her hands to her face, she ignored how badly she was shaking. All thoughts about relaxing in the tub gone, Buffy climbed out of the tub and reached for the phone. "Mom?" she said, once her mother answered. "I just had a visitor. Your fiancée's son is quite the asshole, but…Mom, I just want you to be happy. If Giles makes you happy, then…I'm happy, too. Congratulations. Okay, I have to call Rona back. Yes, Mom, I love you, too. Bye."
Sighing, Buffy hung up the phone. Padding into her kitchen, she poured herself a glass of wine to calm her nerves before talking to Rona, her agent. Angelus was, she admitted, basically right. She was being a brat and her mother did deserve to be happy. Just because Giles turned out to be scum last time didn't mean…Buffy snorted, catching where her thoughts were going. Giles had seemed like a nice guy last time around and Buffy loved him like a father, until, one day after school, she went out to eat with her best friend at the time, Cordelia.
Cordelia had giggled when she saw Giles and told Buffy how her parents were talking about him the night before. "Apparently he's had a mistress for years," Cordelia confided. "And, even though he's been married for a couple years, my parents still see him with her. Every other weekend, they're at the club, making out in 'secret' places. Can you imagine how stupid his new wife must be?"
"She's my mother," Buffy had flatly replied.
Shaking away bad memories, Buffy only hoped, for her mother's sake, that Giles had finally ended it with his mistress and was fully prepared to love only her mother. Dialing a set of numbers, Buffy waited to be connected to Rona. There once was a time when she was immediately put through to Rona, but not any longer. "Hello, Rona?"
"Buffy," Rona's tersely greeted. "You have a job offer. Get packed and ready to go by midnight. They're flying you into Italy and the shoot's at some rinky-dink town on the coast."
"Midnight?" Buffy repeated. "That…might be a…"
"I swear to God, Buffy, if you say 'problem,' I will fire you right now. Do you know how little interest there is in you right now? In fact, they're not even paying half of what you were getting, flat out refused to."
"Half?!" Buffy crowed. Rona's silence on the other end erased all complaints she had. "Well, who is it for?"
"Tristan St. Paul," Rona answered. "He owns a couple vineyards and wants to, how did he put it, ah, yes, 'sex up his advertising.' Apparently now your name is synonymous with sex. Good job, Buffy," Rona sarcastically said.
Buffy rolled her eyes and carefully wrote down the flight numbers. Hanging up with Rona, Buffy rushed into her room, haphazardly throwing things into her suitcases. Rona had said that this shoot would probably take about three or four days to complete. Hopefully three, but with her luck as it was, Buffy was going to count on four.
"At least Italy's pretty now," she muttered, before leaving her best friend, Willow, a short message about how she would not be available to help Willow with the small wedding tasks that she had volunteered to do. "Damnit, I better be back by Saturday!"