A/N : Sorry I scared some of you guys with the cliffhanger-ish ending! Don't panic just yet, it might not be as bad as you think.
(For disclaimer, etc.- see chapter 1)
Chapter 23
"Buffy!" Cordy called for the fourth time, finally getting her friends attention. The blonde had been standing behind the bar, staring up at the stage where The Chosen were performing, gaze locked with Spike's own as he sang for her alone, despite being surrounded by a hundred adoring fans, all vying for his attention.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked as she swung around to face Cordelia, who was grinning.
"You are so head over heels" she laughed, "It's adorable"
"Shut up, Cordy" Buffy blushed, ducking her head, "It's not like you and Doyle aren't just as close" she pointed out, "Remind me exactly why the both of you were ten minutes late to work tonight?"
"Hey, I'm not saying it's a bad thing" her old friend said, hands held up in mock surrender as she desperately tried not to blush, "It's great to see you so happy, both of you, it's just, there's kinda no point you being behind this bar tonight when you're so distracted"
"I'm fine, I can focus" Buffy said firmly, turning back to take one last look at Spike before forcing herself to take notice of the various Bronze patrons that waited at the bar for hers and Cordelia's attention, "Okay, here goes" she told herself.
Over on the stage, Spike was less pleased to lose his girl's attention but he knew she had work to do and he himself had a set to finish. In all honesty, for the first time ever he had been almost completely unaware of his surroundings as he sang and played guitar as well as he always did. Usually it was the audience that spurred him on in his performance, and the music he and the band made took him away from the rest of the world. Tonight he was bewitched by his love, Buffy Summers, and even his passion for his music paled in comparison to that which he felt for her.
As the song The Chosen were playing came crashing to an end, Spike grabbed the mic and informed the audience they were taking a break. Just a few more songs tonight, then he'd hop behind the bar til closing, help Buffy clean up after that, then hopefully get a chance to take her home and show her just what she meant to him, like last night. It was a simple plan, but it suited Spike.
"You stare any harder at her, man, you'll burn holes in her back" Faith joked as she followed him off the stage and over towards the bar.
"Jealous, Lehane?" he smirked, knowing that wasn't it at all, but loving to annoy her.
"Yeah, right" she scoffed, "You wish, Blackstone, you just wish, baby" she shook her head, popping him in the shoulder as she slipped off in the opposite direction, having decided she was more hungry than thirsty when a guy across the way caught her eye.
Spike leant on the bar, waiting for Buffy to be done with her customers so he could grab her attention, when Xander, who had headed off in a different direction, came running at him, almost crashing into his friend as he skidded to a halt at the bar.
"Merciful Zeus!" he gasped, gulping in oxygen, "Spike, oh my God, you will not believe who I just saw!"
"To get you this excited?" the bleached blond smirked, "'S gotta be that Chinese bird you always fantasise about at the water slide park, or Princess Leia in her gold bikini"
"My God, that'd be so cool" Xander stopped hopping from foot to foot for a moment as his single guy and geek portions of his brain took over. Within seconds he was over it and back to jumping around like Zebedee on speed.
"Focus, Spike! I'm talking about our careers here!" he yelled with urgency, causing his friend to frown slightly.
"Careers?" he echoed, "What are you...?" his question was left half unsaid as a murmur ran through the crowds of people in the club, several of them obviously recognising the man who'd just come through the front door, others just curious as to who the snappily dressed stranger, surrounded by security guards and assistants might be.
"Bloody hell!" Spike's eyes went comically wide as he stared at the same guy who's caught the attention of most of the Bronze, "Is that...?"
"Yeah, it's him" Xander nodded, answering the question before it had even been fully posed.
"Yo, guys" Faith emerged from behind them, "What's the sitch?" she asked them, following her cousin's arm as he pointed across the floor.
"Damn!" the brunette girl exclaimed, "Is that Lorne?" she checked.
"Who whatting how with the huh?" Buffy asked as she came over to her boyfriend and his band-mates, "Why is everybody suddenly awe-struck by that guy?"
"Because that guy happens to be the latest greatest record producer this side of the Atlantic, luv" Spike told her with a smirk, unsure how such a fact had passed her by at first, and then remembering just as suddenly that she wasn't part of that world. Though she knew some rich businessmen and women, record producers were a whole different kettle of fish, way above and beyond the Summers family or similar.
"Yeah, sure, we'll do lunch" Lorne said into his cellphone, gesturing to something on a clipboard that was waved in front of his face as he finished his call, "See you soon, crumb-cake" he said, shutting off his phone and tossing it to yet another to his numerous lackeys.
"Honestly, kids, the decor is not so far from chic and if I don't get a seabreeze soon, I swear I'll go crazy" he told two large men who were babbling at him about something that most of the crowd couldn't hear.
A burly security guard type pushed his way up to the bar and demanded the attention of the manager.
"Oh God, that's me" Buffy said suddenly, hurrying over, "Er, can I help you?" she said, feeling a little stunned. She'd never seen Spike or his friends quite so dumb-struck by anybody, and suddenly here she was faced by an apparent celebrity as he came sidling up to his security man with a grin on his face.
"Greetings, kitten" Lorne said with a smile, "Take no notice of the heavies here, their bark is worse than their bite, I swear"
"Okay" Buffy said uncertainly, not sure where to go from there. Thankfully Lorne dived straight back in with a flurry of words.
"We had a small hiccup with the transportation to LA" he told her, "Had to make an unscheduled stop somewhere and I insisted it be a fine watering hole of some kind, because honey, I need a seabreeze like you wouldn't believe"
"Uh-huh" Buffy nodded, "A seabreeze, right" she said, looking around her with slight panic in her eyes. It was Doyle that came to her rescue.
"A seabreeze, huh?" he said, reaching of the vodka, "Won't take but a few seconds, sir" he said politely as he set about mixing the drink.
"It's, uh, pretty much an honour to have you here, sir" Buffy said awkwardly, hoping it was the right thing. This guy had to be pretty damn important given the way he stole the attention of most of the club, Spike, Xander and Faith being the most deeply affected it seemed.
"Oh please, honey, drop the sir" Lorne rolled is eyes, "I swear I get five years older everytime I hear it. You can just call me Lorne, sweet thing"
"Okay, Lorne" Buffy smiled, taking the hand he offered her and shaking politely, "I'm Buffy Summers, I own the Bronze"
"Well, don't you just have a scrumptious little corner of a place here?" he grinned, "Reminds me of a little place I used to run, back before the big time hit me" he winked at her.
Buffy laughed lightly, backing off when Doyle stepped up and placed a pinkish coloured drink on the bar in front of Lorne.
"Oh, bless you, you darling man!" the record producer declared as he took the drink and sipped it, "Excellent, mm-hmm, that is the best seabreeze I've had since, well, I dunno when!" he said with a flourish, "I ought to hire you to be my personal drinks boy" he laughed, and Doyle sort of hoped he was joking.
"Tell me something, kitten" Lorne said, leaning over the bar to talk quietly to Buffy, "Is it always so damn quiet in here, when the place is packed? Or has little old me just caused this anti-stir?"
"Er, we have music" Buffy told him, "The band were just taking a break is all"
"A band, huh?" he said, still smiling on the outside but wincing on the inside at the idea of what the house band at a place like this must be, "Well, isn't it about time they got their booties back on stage and showed us all what they've got?" he asked the crowd of people around him who cheered in agreement.
Across the way, Spike and Xander shared a look as Faith hopped back up into the stage and prepared herself. This was kind of a scary proposition, playing in front of a name as big as Lorne. Tonight they found out just how much they sucked. Though they were good enough to be the best band in Sunnydale, it was only a small town, and none of The Chosen ever expected to make a career out of their music, no matter how much they'd love too. Lorne was such a legend, and though he was famed for being overly nice about everybody, he could be just as overly honest when he needed to be.
Oz was reluctantly pulled away from Willow and brought back to the stage. The pair had been beneath the balcony kissing, they really hadn't noticed anything but each other and Spike quickly whispered to his friend exactly what was going on.
"Huh" was the only response Oz gave. Much like a swan he always looked at peace and calm on the surface, but beneath the surface there was some crazy paddling going on to keep him afloat.
There was no re-introduction to the audience, after all most of them had been informed by Lorne that the band's break ought to be over and so were already paying attention to the stage along with the man himself.
Spike took a deep breath as he adjusted his guitar strap and glanced back at Faith, signalling he was ready for her to count them in. Three strikes of her drumsticks together meant go, and The Chosen began to play what was generally considered to be one of their best songs.
'You said that we were forever
That we'd always be together
Turns out that was for from true
But I'll take what I can from you
Don't wanna know what you did wrong
I've lived in your fake world so long
It won't change the way I feel
I don't care if it's not real
You told me once, you told me twice
I didn't hear a word!
Lie to me, baby, tell me anything untrue
Just can't bear the honesty from you
Lie to me, honey, tell me it's okay
Save the heartbreak for another day'
Buffy glanced between her man up on stage performing and the record producer at her side who looked quite interested in what he was seeing and hearing, at least at first. All too soon one of his many staff came and leaned in close whispering something in his ear. Another showed him something on a clipboard whilst a third showed his watch to the important man. With a sigh Lorne seemed convinced by them that now was the time to leave and Buffy felt awful knowing how much the band would love to be noticed by Lorne. Now it seemed their chance was lost, since after just half a song he was forced to leave.
"Hey, sweetheart" he called to Buffy as he grabbed a napkin from the bar and pulled a fancy pen from his inside pocket. He scribbled down a note and thrust it at the blonde who took it with a shaky hand, "Pass that on to tall, bleached, and handsome for me, k?" he told her with a wink a moment before he was whisked away by his assistants and security guards.
Up on stage, Spike's heart sank as he watched Lorne leave and he glanced around at the band to see their similarly dejected faces. Still, they continued the song and finished just as strong as they'd started, before going on to complete their set for the crowned that remained, cheering and applauding as always.
"Goodnight, Sunnydale!" Faith yelled to the crowd as the band exited the stage and headed towards the bar. Buffy was right there waiting for Spike, bouncing around like an excited child though he had no idea why.
"S'pose it's havin' a big shot record producer here for five seconds that's got you hoppin' about like Tigger on acid then is it?" he checked with a slight smirk.
"Kind of" Buffy said with a grin as she thrust a folded napkin half way up his nose.
"What's this then?" the bleached blond said as he took it from her and opened it up, "'Nice sound, could be interested'" he read aloud as the band gathered around him to see, "'Call this number...'" he read next, eyes darting past the actual figures to the signature at the bottom, "Bleedin' hell!" he exclaimed, "Is this a bloody wind up?" he wanted to know as he showed Oz, Xander, and Faith in turn.
"That Lorne guy gave me that himself, I swear" Buffy told them, "He really liked you guys, I guess"
Spike couldn't take in what he was hearing or reading. He'd thought life was getting to be pretty much perfect, he'd thought he knew how tonight would pan out. Now everything had been turned on it's head, but in the best possible way.
To Be Continued...