~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Part 5: One Step Nowhere, Three Steps Back
See Part 1 for disclaimer, rating, summary, etc.
Special thanks to Miss Kitty for being such an AWESOME beta! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed and has been SO nice to my efforts at writing!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy huffed her way into her suite, stormed into her room and threw herself on the bed. She lay there for a few minutes, thinking about what had happened in the car. *He is SUCH an ass! I have to work with him for the next three months and act all lovey-dovey with him some days when I cringe at the thought of his body anywhere NEAR me! * Well, you must not hate it that much considering you wondered what it would be like to kiss him, her mind taunted back at her. *Yeah, but that was before he turned into the supreme ass of Assdonia*. 'Ah, suck it up Barbie,' her mind threw back at her,' you get to work with a hunk of a man and get paid for it. Things could be a hell of a lot worse.'
"I suppose my leading man could be Angel." Buffy muttered as she sat up. She thought back to the comment slinging she and Angel had done at the party and had to smile. He had no idea who she was now, and that pleased her to no end. When he had left her she was a shell of who she was now, a person who had to cling to another to be someone. She *was* someone now, that's for sure and she was cling-free, and she would never go back.
*But that doesn't mean I can't indulge myself in a little snooping to find out who Spike is.* Buffy smiled to herself and went out to the entryway where her bags still sat. She dragged them into her room, one by one and began to unpack them, trying to get most of her things into a place of their own.
She eventually got to her laptop, stashed among the rest of her things, cushioned by clothing to keep it from getting damaged. She abandoned the rest of her efforts to unpack and set up her computer on the dining room table in the main room. Willow had convinced her to get a computer because it saved her a lot of hassles the phone held. For one, Willow was much more easily reached by email as she was *always* on the computer. When her mom went out on business and long distance was a killer, she just had to type away and she could reach her and now that her sister Dawn was in university she didn't have money to waste on frivolous stuff like calling her sister. And now it could be used to find some dirt on her co-star.
"Ok. So if I were an annoying, pain-in-the-ass pig where would I be?" Buffy muttered to herself as she logged on to the Internet. She went to Yahoo! And typed in Spike Giles, not prepared for the flood of information that came at her. "Whoa, guess he *is* popular. Who'd a thought?"
She clicked on a few sites; not really finding anything but female pre-pubescent adoration, which she concluded had to do with these girls being uneducated and not knowing any better. The more serious sites that she found had biographies on them about him, detailing his wild exploits both on and off stage. She found a posting board where people talked about his partying, drugs and alcohol. The board had been shut down a couple of years before hand, but the information was right there, staring her in the face. She found a few other sites, ones that were more current that posted stories about his mood swings, and how volatile he would sometimes be on stage.
All this worried Buffy to no end. She had to work with him, pretend to be intimate with him, knowing that any second he could turn on her and become psychotic. *So maybe him bugging me to death isn't the worst thing that could happen to me. Maybe I shouldn't put too much faith in what these sites say. I mean, they aren't exactly the Washington Post or something. But then again, when one person says something, it's a rumor. When two people say something it's a coincidence. When MANY people say the same thing it's either really creepy or really right.*
Buffy sat back in her chair. "Well, I guess I'll just have to go about my business with as little contact with him as possible. Just because we are staying beside each other doesn't mean we have to be neighbors." With that she shut down her computer and readied a bath.
*I refuse to let ANY man screw up this opportunity for me.*
* * * * *
Spike held the autographed CD in his hands, turning it round and round, wondering what he should do. Tonight had *not* gone the way he had wanted, at all. He truly did want to get to know Buffy, especially after he had met her. She was a spitfire, that's for sure, but she was strung tighter than a tennis racket. They had been having a really great conversation, and he thought that tomorrow they could go over lines together, maybe catch a bite to eat, but then she had to misconstrue something that he said and now she was mad at him-for the three thousandth time that day.
He knew that she was fairly green in the entertainment business. She had done that TV show, which flopped. He didn't think that it was because of her though; she was bloody brilliant in it, the show just sucked. And she had been in a couple of small movies that hadn't gotten her much exposure. This was his first foray into acting but he had been in the public eye for the better half of five years now. He and his band had been together for almost ten, but then when he was twenty an agent had discovered them playing at some public telethon and had told them to get a demo together. In record time they had five songs on a tape to the scout. Granted it wasn't their best work, especially because they were rushing, but it had gotten them to where they were right now.
The fame had rushed to their heads, or at least to his. He had girls throwing themselves at him, people shoving cameras in his face, drugs thrust under his nose and alcohol flowed like a river. He had almost toppled them as soon as they arrived on the scene, something that had not been happily received by the other members of his group. An intervention was staged and he was confronted with his public image, something that he had not considered. He had clued into what he was doing and straightened up, quitting the drugs and most of the alcohol. He still kicked back sometimes, and partied, but always with his career and fellow band mates in mind. They had kept him sane.
Them and Dru. Which was funny because she turned out to be more insane then he even dreamed a person could be. The groupies had grown old- fast. So when he found Dru he was excited. He had someone to share his success with, who would be there for him and support him through harder times. That had been right in the beginning, but then she got possessive and weird, talking in rhymes at times. He knew that she had been dubbed "Yoko" by the press and even some of his band had issues with her, but they didn't say anything. As long as he kept his head above water things were cool.
He supposed that Dru got bored. She had been getting distant for a while before the actual break-up had happened. He was devastated at first; pouring everything he had into his music. An album had come out of that, and got 'Band of Buggered' nominated for a Grammy. Dru had actually done something good for him.
His stage act persisted however. The loud, brash rocker who didn't give a damn. It was part of his sex appeal and drew in the female fans. He knew that the bulk of success in entertainment was image, but just once he would love to go to a gig, and just sing. Sing as if it was just he and one other person in the room, quiet and confident of his abilities, knowing that the other person cherished him. But that wouldn't happen while "Big Bad" Spike was in demand. He was trying to turn his image around gradually and he hoped that this role would help with that. He wanted to leave his wild child days behind.
Great place to start that, on the very movie that his ex was in. He knew that she was going to be working on the movie (albeit in a minor role) but when he had seen her today it had punched a small hole in his gut. He didn't love her anymore, but part of him wondered what would have, or could have been if she hadn't left. Now she was with that flying poof Angel O'Connor, who, incidentally, was the ex of his now enemy Buffy Summers. That was an interesting turn of events if he ever saw one. He didn't know what she had seen in the human hair gel master but he knew how the relationship had ended and he felt bad for her. At least Dru had never cheated on him, as far as he knew. Angel wasn't even trying to hide his affairs, either. Now that was a cold-hearted bastard.
He almost felt sorry for her, but then he remembered her Carrie-esque mood swing in the limo when she shoved him out of the vehicle, not caring if he lived. He would try to get to the bottom of her PMS fest, but after that he would pull no punches. If she wanted to act that way he could return the favor.
*I refuse to let any sodding women ruin this chance for me.* Spike thought as he set the CD down on his bedside stand.
* * * * *
Buffy stretched her arms wide, yawning. She had been sitting by the pool for almost three hours now, looking over her script. She had gotten up around ten, had breakfast and then looked over her script, first in her room and then decided to try out the indoor pool area. It was delightfully quiet as there were only a couple other people swimming.
She had been worried that she would run into Spike today at some point but it was almost five in the afternoon and there had been no sign of him. She didn't know how to act around him now that she knew he was such a bad ass. She didn't know if she should treat him normal, or the way that she *had* been treating him because he was such an ass, or if she should just minimize any contact with him, in case he wanted to get wild and freaky with her. She normally didn't care about what other people did with their lives, but if he decided to go on a bender during the movie it could put her role in danger. She preferred to work with clean co-stars anyway.
*It's only three months, and then it's over. He can surely wait till then to kill himself. * Buffy thought. *At least with this new information it makes him less desirable.*
That's what Buffy thought until she saw him come through the double doors to the pool. He was prepared to swim, with a towel thrown over those toned shoulders of his, black swim trunks on that left everything else bare- chest, legs, arms, flip-flops on his feet and he was carrying his script.
Buffy just sat and stared at him, not realizing what she was doing. * Maybe this new info DOESN'T make him any less desirable. * She swallowed hard, watching as he laid his things on a lounger further down on her side of the pool. He hadn't spotted her yet. Buffy tried to think of how to get out of there without him seeing her.
* * * * *
Spike had woken up fairly refreshed, ate some breakfast on his balcony and then tackled his script. He had a general idea of the lines from the previous script that he had, but now it was crunch time. He had to start learning these things so he wouldn't be a complete loser on set.
Finally around five he had decided to take a short break and head downstairs to the pool. He had not seen Buffy all day and was not sure if he was ready to, so he figured the pool would be a good bet to not be seen.
He was totally focused on that gorgeous blue water when he got to the indoor pool and made a beeline for it when he put his stuff down. He loved to swim when he had the chance and this hotel had a heated indoor pool, he had scored with that one.
He had done a couple of laps across the width of the pool, just trying to limber up a little before he rested on the side and looked around. He was surprised to see her, a short blonde thing with a classic California tan (quite the contrast to his pale, almost ghost white skin), sunk low in her chaise lounge and trying to hide in her script. He grinned to himself and thanked the fates, as this had to be a chance. He hoisted himself out of the water and grabbed his towel before making his way to her.
"Allo, luv. Nice day, isn't it?" He sat down in the chair across from her as she lowered her script with a resigned sigh.
"Hi." Was all she said back.
"You wouldn't happen to be avoiding me, would you luv?"
"What? Just because I'm not falling at your feet like a groupie you think something is wrong?" She shot back. Spike almost scratched his head in confusion. *Why in the hell is she so hostile?*
"No, but you seem to be hiding over here like a lost kitten. Just wondering when this cone of silence deal will be over. And if you want to be my groupie I wouldn't mind." He smirked, hoping to get a rise out of her.
"I'd prefer not to get tied up in your lifestyle, Mr. Giles. Thank you." Was her short reply.
"My lifestyle? What does that mean? I did yoga for awhile, but that can't be it." "I mean the wild man lifestyle? The drugs and the booze and girls. I just *love* working with a guy who comes to work high all the time." Buffy's voice oozed sarcasm.
"What the fuck are you on about, you silly little bint?" Spike's voice rose in anger.
"You and your rock star image. Isn't that what rock stars do? Party all the time. I know that's what you do."
"Did. That is what I *did.* I thought you said you didn't know who I was?"
"Yeah well I did some research."
"Where, the *Star?* Some other cheesy tabloid? You don't know what you are talking about!" Spike was angry, but also frustrated and sad at the same time. Would his rep as a drug addled bad-boy *ever* go away?
"I have more than one account saying that you like to live it up. Do you deny it?" "I deny it *now!* A few years ago I probably would be high and drunk right now. But I'm clean. Ask anyone."
"Anyone who doesn't say you're lying." Buffy got up to leave but she was hauled back down by Spike, who looked positively murderous.
"I think you must have put your tampon in the wrong hole today, luv, cause we have some major PMS- attitude, wrong-side-of-the-bed shit going on."
"I think you had better let me go." Buffy said calmly, waiting for his hand to move.
"I think we need to talk." He didn't let go.
"I think you need to *let* go of my arm." Buffy repeated, her voice rising a little.
"I don't know where you do your research, but you need to be set straight. You are going to listen to me."
"*Let go of my arm!*" Buffy half shrieked, panicked. Spike complied this time, a little shocked at that, and worried that she might bolt. She didn't, just glared at him. "Enlighten me then."
"I'm clean. Have been for a few years now. No drugs, anyway. But I'm not an alcoholic either. I'm not stupid." He ignored Buffy's snort. "Why did you believe those things you heard?"
"If the shoe fits." Buffy replied, staring him straight in the eye. She was very surprised and a little guilty to see the hurt in his eyes, clear as day. He turned his head away so she couldn't see but when he turned back his face was neutral, bordering on psychotic.
"You know, when I got this part I thought it would be really fun. I thought I would get to see a new part of show business, meet some nice people, whatever. I dismissed all preconceptions I had or that I had heard about you, that you were a typical blonde, that you were a bad actress, your basic blonde bubblehead. I wanted to get past that and see who you really were because I thought you were a great actress, and you're beautiful and full of energy. I had hoped that the same courtesy would be afforded to me, especially after you said you didn't have time to find out who you were working with on this movie. I wasn't. But I did find out that you aren't a blonde bubblehead. You're just a bitch." He said all this quietly, hushed. With that Spike stood up, walked to his lounge to pick up his stuff and left the pool area.
Buffy stared after him and had the strongest urge to start crying.
ewHe
See Part 1 for disclaimer, rating, summary, etc.
Special thanks to Miss Kitty for being such an AWESOME beta! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed and has been SO nice to my efforts at writing!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy huffed her way into her suite, stormed into her room and threw herself on the bed. She lay there for a few minutes, thinking about what had happened in the car. *He is SUCH an ass! I have to work with him for the next three months and act all lovey-dovey with him some days when I cringe at the thought of his body anywhere NEAR me! * Well, you must not hate it that much considering you wondered what it would be like to kiss him, her mind taunted back at her. *Yeah, but that was before he turned into the supreme ass of Assdonia*. 'Ah, suck it up Barbie,' her mind threw back at her,' you get to work with a hunk of a man and get paid for it. Things could be a hell of a lot worse.'
"I suppose my leading man could be Angel." Buffy muttered as she sat up. She thought back to the comment slinging she and Angel had done at the party and had to smile. He had no idea who she was now, and that pleased her to no end. When he had left her she was a shell of who she was now, a person who had to cling to another to be someone. She *was* someone now, that's for sure and she was cling-free, and she would never go back.
*But that doesn't mean I can't indulge myself in a little snooping to find out who Spike is.* Buffy smiled to herself and went out to the entryway where her bags still sat. She dragged them into her room, one by one and began to unpack them, trying to get most of her things into a place of their own.
She eventually got to her laptop, stashed among the rest of her things, cushioned by clothing to keep it from getting damaged. She abandoned the rest of her efforts to unpack and set up her computer on the dining room table in the main room. Willow had convinced her to get a computer because it saved her a lot of hassles the phone held. For one, Willow was much more easily reached by email as she was *always* on the computer. When her mom went out on business and long distance was a killer, she just had to type away and she could reach her and now that her sister Dawn was in university she didn't have money to waste on frivolous stuff like calling her sister. And now it could be used to find some dirt on her co-star.
"Ok. So if I were an annoying, pain-in-the-ass pig where would I be?" Buffy muttered to herself as she logged on to the Internet. She went to Yahoo! And typed in Spike Giles, not prepared for the flood of information that came at her. "Whoa, guess he *is* popular. Who'd a thought?"
She clicked on a few sites; not really finding anything but female pre-pubescent adoration, which she concluded had to do with these girls being uneducated and not knowing any better. The more serious sites that she found had biographies on them about him, detailing his wild exploits both on and off stage. She found a posting board where people talked about his partying, drugs and alcohol. The board had been shut down a couple of years before hand, but the information was right there, staring her in the face. She found a few other sites, ones that were more current that posted stories about his mood swings, and how volatile he would sometimes be on stage.
All this worried Buffy to no end. She had to work with him, pretend to be intimate with him, knowing that any second he could turn on her and become psychotic. *So maybe him bugging me to death isn't the worst thing that could happen to me. Maybe I shouldn't put too much faith in what these sites say. I mean, they aren't exactly the Washington Post or something. But then again, when one person says something, it's a rumor. When two people say something it's a coincidence. When MANY people say the same thing it's either really creepy or really right.*
Buffy sat back in her chair. "Well, I guess I'll just have to go about my business with as little contact with him as possible. Just because we are staying beside each other doesn't mean we have to be neighbors." With that she shut down her computer and readied a bath.
*I refuse to let ANY man screw up this opportunity for me.*
* * * * *
Spike held the autographed CD in his hands, turning it round and round, wondering what he should do. Tonight had *not* gone the way he had wanted, at all. He truly did want to get to know Buffy, especially after he had met her. She was a spitfire, that's for sure, but she was strung tighter than a tennis racket. They had been having a really great conversation, and he thought that tomorrow they could go over lines together, maybe catch a bite to eat, but then she had to misconstrue something that he said and now she was mad at him-for the three thousandth time that day.
He knew that she was fairly green in the entertainment business. She had done that TV show, which flopped. He didn't think that it was because of her though; she was bloody brilliant in it, the show just sucked. And she had been in a couple of small movies that hadn't gotten her much exposure. This was his first foray into acting but he had been in the public eye for the better half of five years now. He and his band had been together for almost ten, but then when he was twenty an agent had discovered them playing at some public telethon and had told them to get a demo together. In record time they had five songs on a tape to the scout. Granted it wasn't their best work, especially because they were rushing, but it had gotten them to where they were right now.
The fame had rushed to their heads, or at least to his. He had girls throwing themselves at him, people shoving cameras in his face, drugs thrust under his nose and alcohol flowed like a river. He had almost toppled them as soon as they arrived on the scene, something that had not been happily received by the other members of his group. An intervention was staged and he was confronted with his public image, something that he had not considered. He had clued into what he was doing and straightened up, quitting the drugs and most of the alcohol. He still kicked back sometimes, and partied, but always with his career and fellow band mates in mind. They had kept him sane.
Them and Dru. Which was funny because she turned out to be more insane then he even dreamed a person could be. The groupies had grown old- fast. So when he found Dru he was excited. He had someone to share his success with, who would be there for him and support him through harder times. That had been right in the beginning, but then she got possessive and weird, talking in rhymes at times. He knew that she had been dubbed "Yoko" by the press and even some of his band had issues with her, but they didn't say anything. As long as he kept his head above water things were cool.
He supposed that Dru got bored. She had been getting distant for a while before the actual break-up had happened. He was devastated at first; pouring everything he had into his music. An album had come out of that, and got 'Band of Buggered' nominated for a Grammy. Dru had actually done something good for him.
His stage act persisted however. The loud, brash rocker who didn't give a damn. It was part of his sex appeal and drew in the female fans. He knew that the bulk of success in entertainment was image, but just once he would love to go to a gig, and just sing. Sing as if it was just he and one other person in the room, quiet and confident of his abilities, knowing that the other person cherished him. But that wouldn't happen while "Big Bad" Spike was in demand. He was trying to turn his image around gradually and he hoped that this role would help with that. He wanted to leave his wild child days behind.
Great place to start that, on the very movie that his ex was in. He knew that she was going to be working on the movie (albeit in a minor role) but when he had seen her today it had punched a small hole in his gut. He didn't love her anymore, but part of him wondered what would have, or could have been if she hadn't left. Now she was with that flying poof Angel O'Connor, who, incidentally, was the ex of his now enemy Buffy Summers. That was an interesting turn of events if he ever saw one. He didn't know what she had seen in the human hair gel master but he knew how the relationship had ended and he felt bad for her. At least Dru had never cheated on him, as far as he knew. Angel wasn't even trying to hide his affairs, either. Now that was a cold-hearted bastard.
He almost felt sorry for her, but then he remembered her Carrie-esque mood swing in the limo when she shoved him out of the vehicle, not caring if he lived. He would try to get to the bottom of her PMS fest, but after that he would pull no punches. If she wanted to act that way he could return the favor.
*I refuse to let any sodding women ruin this chance for me.* Spike thought as he set the CD down on his bedside stand.
* * * * *
Buffy stretched her arms wide, yawning. She had been sitting by the pool for almost three hours now, looking over her script. She had gotten up around ten, had breakfast and then looked over her script, first in her room and then decided to try out the indoor pool area. It was delightfully quiet as there were only a couple other people swimming.
She had been worried that she would run into Spike today at some point but it was almost five in the afternoon and there had been no sign of him. She didn't know how to act around him now that she knew he was such a bad ass. She didn't know if she should treat him normal, or the way that she *had* been treating him because he was such an ass, or if she should just minimize any contact with him, in case he wanted to get wild and freaky with her. She normally didn't care about what other people did with their lives, but if he decided to go on a bender during the movie it could put her role in danger. She preferred to work with clean co-stars anyway.
*It's only three months, and then it's over. He can surely wait till then to kill himself. * Buffy thought. *At least with this new information it makes him less desirable.*
That's what Buffy thought until she saw him come through the double doors to the pool. He was prepared to swim, with a towel thrown over those toned shoulders of his, black swim trunks on that left everything else bare- chest, legs, arms, flip-flops on his feet and he was carrying his script.
Buffy just sat and stared at him, not realizing what she was doing. * Maybe this new info DOESN'T make him any less desirable. * She swallowed hard, watching as he laid his things on a lounger further down on her side of the pool. He hadn't spotted her yet. Buffy tried to think of how to get out of there without him seeing her.
* * * * *
Spike had woken up fairly refreshed, ate some breakfast on his balcony and then tackled his script. He had a general idea of the lines from the previous script that he had, but now it was crunch time. He had to start learning these things so he wouldn't be a complete loser on set.
Finally around five he had decided to take a short break and head downstairs to the pool. He had not seen Buffy all day and was not sure if he was ready to, so he figured the pool would be a good bet to not be seen.
He was totally focused on that gorgeous blue water when he got to the indoor pool and made a beeline for it when he put his stuff down. He loved to swim when he had the chance and this hotel had a heated indoor pool, he had scored with that one.
He had done a couple of laps across the width of the pool, just trying to limber up a little before he rested on the side and looked around. He was surprised to see her, a short blonde thing with a classic California tan (quite the contrast to his pale, almost ghost white skin), sunk low in her chaise lounge and trying to hide in her script. He grinned to himself and thanked the fates, as this had to be a chance. He hoisted himself out of the water and grabbed his towel before making his way to her.
"Allo, luv. Nice day, isn't it?" He sat down in the chair across from her as she lowered her script with a resigned sigh.
"Hi." Was all she said back.
"You wouldn't happen to be avoiding me, would you luv?"
"What? Just because I'm not falling at your feet like a groupie you think something is wrong?" She shot back. Spike almost scratched his head in confusion. *Why in the hell is she so hostile?*
"No, but you seem to be hiding over here like a lost kitten. Just wondering when this cone of silence deal will be over. And if you want to be my groupie I wouldn't mind." He smirked, hoping to get a rise out of her.
"I'd prefer not to get tied up in your lifestyle, Mr. Giles. Thank you." Was her short reply.
"My lifestyle? What does that mean? I did yoga for awhile, but that can't be it." "I mean the wild man lifestyle? The drugs and the booze and girls. I just *love* working with a guy who comes to work high all the time." Buffy's voice oozed sarcasm.
"What the fuck are you on about, you silly little bint?" Spike's voice rose in anger.
"You and your rock star image. Isn't that what rock stars do? Party all the time. I know that's what you do."
"Did. That is what I *did.* I thought you said you didn't know who I was?"
"Yeah well I did some research."
"Where, the *Star?* Some other cheesy tabloid? You don't know what you are talking about!" Spike was angry, but also frustrated and sad at the same time. Would his rep as a drug addled bad-boy *ever* go away?
"I have more than one account saying that you like to live it up. Do you deny it?" "I deny it *now!* A few years ago I probably would be high and drunk right now. But I'm clean. Ask anyone."
"Anyone who doesn't say you're lying." Buffy got up to leave but she was hauled back down by Spike, who looked positively murderous.
"I think you must have put your tampon in the wrong hole today, luv, cause we have some major PMS- attitude, wrong-side-of-the-bed shit going on."
"I think you had better let me go." Buffy said calmly, waiting for his hand to move.
"I think we need to talk." He didn't let go.
"I think you need to *let* go of my arm." Buffy repeated, her voice rising a little.
"I don't know where you do your research, but you need to be set straight. You are going to listen to me."
"*Let go of my arm!*" Buffy half shrieked, panicked. Spike complied this time, a little shocked at that, and worried that she might bolt. She didn't, just glared at him. "Enlighten me then."
"I'm clean. Have been for a few years now. No drugs, anyway. But I'm not an alcoholic either. I'm not stupid." He ignored Buffy's snort. "Why did you believe those things you heard?"
"If the shoe fits." Buffy replied, staring him straight in the eye. She was very surprised and a little guilty to see the hurt in his eyes, clear as day. He turned his head away so she couldn't see but when he turned back his face was neutral, bordering on psychotic.
"You know, when I got this part I thought it would be really fun. I thought I would get to see a new part of show business, meet some nice people, whatever. I dismissed all preconceptions I had or that I had heard about you, that you were a typical blonde, that you were a bad actress, your basic blonde bubblehead. I wanted to get past that and see who you really were because I thought you were a great actress, and you're beautiful and full of energy. I had hoped that the same courtesy would be afforded to me, especially after you said you didn't have time to find out who you were working with on this movie. I wasn't. But I did find out that you aren't a blonde bubblehead. You're just a bitch." He said all this quietly, hushed. With that Spike stood up, walked to his lounge to pick up his stuff and left the pool area.
Buffy stared after him and had the strongest urge to start crying.
ewHe