A/N : I guess some of you don't like reading the fighting and bitching between Buffy and Spike as much as I like writing it. What can I say? Oops? Some people are still reading and reveiwing though so I take that as a good thing. Hope you'll all stick with this a while longer, but if you don't like it, don't read it. I wouldn't want to waste anybody's valuble time or anything...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

"Yo Spike!" Xander called as he re-entered the club. It was pretty late on Friday and still the Club wasn't ready for the re-opening the following night. Everyone was doing what they could to help though it didn't stop Buffy looking panicked.

"So, you talk to the boss-lady about the gig?" Xander asked as he came over to his friend.

"Er, haven't really had the chance, mate" Spike half-lied, "She's been runnin' round in circles all day as if her ass was on fire" he gestured to Miss Summers who was moving across the floor at a rate of knots, yelling at somebody else for not doing precisely what she'd said.

"Clock ticking, Spike, my man!" his friend gestured wildly at the watch on his wrist, "We don't prove to her now that we're the band she needs for her club, we're screwed"

Spike knew he was right, and he really didn't want to lose this place as the band's regular haunt. They had a good fan-base at the Bronze, but there was nothing to say they'd follow if they had to find another place for their act. Besides, the club was his second home, he loved the place too much to want to leave for any reason, least of all Buffy bleedin' Summers and her attitude problem.

"Seemed to like you better than me before anyway" he told Xander as he lugged crates across the room, "Why don't you ask the bint if you're so bothered?"

"Fine" the brunette nodded, "If you're gonna take that attitude, I will do it myself. Leave it to the Xan-man"

Spike rolled his eyes as his mate attempted some kind of sexy walk over to where an exasperated Buffy was looking around for her next victim, or so it seemed.

"Hey, excuse me" Xander said politely, tapping her on the shoulder, "Miss Summers?"

"Do I know you?" she frowned as she turned to him, "Oh right, guy with the band, yes?"

"Yeah, that would be me" he agreed, "I'm band-guy" he grinned, "Although I usually go by my actual name which is Xander, Alexander Harris, but Xander" he said nervously, holding out a hand for her to shake.

"Okay then, Xander" she nodded, a little amused by his apparent excitability, "What can I do for you?"

"It's actually kinda what I can do for you" he told her, following the blonde across the room and sitting down when she did, "Y'know we're pretty popular around here, we meaning the band" he explained, "People hear The Bronze, they think The Chosen and vice versa"

"Is this going somewhere?" she asked with a look, "I mean, there's a point to the rambliness, right?"

"Oh yeah, totally" Xander assured her, "Point is, just cos management here has changed, we were kinda thinking, well hoping, kinda suggesting that maybe you'd want us to still play here, for all your big events? For example, your grand re-opening?" he said hopefully.

A frown creased Buffy's brow and Xander felt sick. She was going to say no to his proposition, not that he wasn't used to good-looking women turning him down in many different ways but this mattered so much, and to more people than just himself.

"I don't understand" she said as he held his breath, "I thought you guys had a contract to play here?"

"Contract?" Xander squeaked, coughing and repeating it in a more manly tone, "What contract was that?"

"The way Ripper told it you pretty much came as part of the deal" she explained, "Of course I didn't know what kind of music you played then" she said with a look of some distaste, and a weird emphasis on the word 'music' as if she barely classed the sound they made as that, "Still, you had a deal with Ripper and that contract, paper or not, still stands, for now at least" she told a highly relieved Xander, "I figured you knew that"

"Not so much" he admitted, "but thanks for clearing that up"

"No problem" she smiled at him as she got up, "Now I really have to go, I'm surrounded by imbeciles" she sighed, chasing after a delivery guy that had dumped some unidentifiable box in the doorway and was trying to disappear.

"So?" Spike asked, appearing behind his friend with such stealth he made the boy scream with surprise, "What'd the bitch say?"

"We're on" Xander grinned, looking over at Spike, "'The bitch' is really not so much when you talk to her like a human being" he commented and the bleached blond rolled his eyes.

"I'll leave the over-polite little lost puppy routine to you, Xand" he told him, slapping him on the back, "I got my own style"

"Don't we know it" Xander said to himself as his friend walked away.

He was fairly certain it was more than a clash of styles that led to the bitchiness from Buffy and long flow of curse-words and insults from Spike. Those two liked each other, they maybe didn't want to but they did, and it was going to be real interesting watching the whole thing from the sidelines.

"Go home little girl, we don't want you here" Spike sang to himself, playing the chords on his guitar as he sat with his feet up in the office. Technically it was the manager's office but the last few months Ripper had spent less and less time at the club and Doyle and Spike had made it their own. It hadn't really occurred to Spike, when inspiration struck, that he probably shouldn't be sitting in what was now Buffy's office writing a song when she was paying him to work. On the other hand perhaps it had occurred to him, then that was half the fun, he smirked to himself as he scribbled down what he'd just played and started over.

"Sick of hearing your name y'know
How you charm them all I'll never know
You drive me crazy, and that ain't good
Not listenin' to me? Well I think you should..."

Buffy stood outside her office door listening to the noise emanating from within. Okay so maybe it wasn't so much of a noise when it was just Spike playing unplugged. He had a nice voice, she had to admit that. If she hadn't have heard him curse when he hit the wrong note she might not have guessed it was the annoying Englishman at all. Still, the words she was hearing now didn't impress her at all and only served to remind her what a complete jerk Spike really was, and now he had the nerve to take over her office!

"Go home little girl, we don't want you here
Don't want your smiles, no crocodile tears
You're a devil woman and you don't belong..."

"And bloody hell I got no more words for this song" Spike gave up singing when he ran out of lyrics and none sprang to mind. Good thing too, since he'd got himself an impromptu audience of one.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Buffy snapped from the doorway, arms crossed over her chest and an angry look on her face.

"I'm dancing the Viennese Waltz" he replied with a smirk, "What do you think I'm doing, you silly bint?" he rolled his eyes heavenward, putting the guitar down on the desk and lighting a cigarette.

"I think that you're one step away from joining the line to the nearest employment agency" she said, walking to the other side of the desk and leaning over it at him, "I also think you're a rude, arrogant jerk that really ought to learn some manners before I lose my temper"

Spike blew out smoke from his cigarette before putting his hands on the desk and leaning over it just like she was.

"You wanna know what I think?" he asked, their faces incredibly close and neither willing to back down, "I think you're bloody sexy when you're pissed off" he smirked, completely confusing her. She fought the blush that wanted to rise in her cheeks at his sudden compliment, she was almost certain he was lying anyway.

"I don't care what you think" she said eventually and he stood back to look at her, finishing off his fag and putting it out in the ashtray on the desk.

"Suit yourself, luv" he shrugged, picking up his guitar and pieces of paper he'd been scribbling on before.

"I don't want you in this office again without my permission" Buffy called behind him as he reached the door, "Are we clear?"

"Oh, we're clear, pet" he assured her, smirking still, "Crystal clear"

As he left, closing the door behind him, Buffy swore she heard him laugh at her. God, nobody could bug her quite like this Spike guy could, and she hated that he had such an affect on her. She was under enough pressure as it was, without him being a constant source of aggravation. Still, putting up with him until he got over himself was easier than firing him. Ripper had made it very clear that Spike and Doyle were two men that were pretty much indispensable to The Bronze, and she dare not risk letting either of them go.

A knock on the door was met by an angry 'Go away' which was swiftly ignored by the woman on the other side.

"Well, somebody sounds a little cranky"

Buffy whirled around at the sound of her best friends voice with a grin on her face.

"Willow" she said, hugging the red-head, "Oh my God, when did you get back?"

"Yesterday morning" the other woman admitted, "but what with the jet-lag and all I slept a pretty long time. Then I heard that our Miss Summers had got herself a night-club and I came a-rushin' on over" she grinned.

"It's so great to have you back, Will" Buffy sighed, "I've been going crazy with no-one to talk to"

"You had Angel" her friend reminded her before frowning, "You did still have Angel, right?"

"Oh yeah, Angel and me, of course" Buffy nodded, "but y'know sometimes you need another girl to talk to and...Will, you've been my best friend since we were kids, you're practically like a sister to me. To go three months without being able to talk to you at all, it was just awful"

"I'm sorry, sweetie" the red-head sighed, touched by her friends kind words, "Still, I had a great time in Europe, did some healing"

"I'm sorry, Will, really I was being all selfish-girl" Buffy reprimanded herself, "You needed time away to get over everything and I understand that"

Willow had never had a very good relationship with her parents, since they were barely interested in her and felt that money and gifts were perfect substitutes for time and affection. Still when a car crash had claimed both their lives it had hit the kindly red-head too hard and she'd decided to leave Sunnydale for a while, travel some and get her head together.

"Well, now I'm back and very glad to have made it in time for your grand opening tomorrow" she grinned, sitting down on the edge of the desk, "You looking forward to it?"

"I dunno" Buffy shrugged, "I think so, it's just, it turns out this working hard is hard work"

"But there are up-sides to your own club, right?" her friend checked, "I mean, if nothing else, that was some hottie I just passed on my way in here" she said with a look and Buffy's eyes went wide.

"Willow Rosenburg, tell me you weren't checking out my staff on the way in here?" she gasped in mock-horror.

"Oh come on, the bleached blond guy with the guitar?" Willow giggled, "Who doesn't like a little monster in their man now and then?"

"Spike?" Buffy almost laughed at the implication that that particular guy was anything like a hottie. Still, maybe if he lost the attitude and treated people with some respect he'd be okay. He was good-looking she had to admit, and when he'd been up close to her before she'd noticed his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. She shook her head and tuned back into what Willow was saying to her. So Spike was kind of hot, it didn't matter to her. She had more important things to worry about, not least of all the grand re-opening of the Bronze which was now less than twenty-four hours away.

To Be Continued...