It must have been about 2 a.m. in the morning, when Lisa was startled from her sleep by the sound of keys turning in the lock. She looked around in disorientation. Where the hell was she? Her neck felt stiff and she was sleeping on a couch. Not L.A. Oh, right! Rome!
The sound of two female voices came closer, both seemed to be engrossed in a vivid conversation.
"No, Dawnie, I think you should keep away from this Antonio guy. He comes across kind of greasy. There's something about him I don't like…"
"But he's so cute. Why do you always hate the cute ones?" the other voice whined.
Lisa could virtually hear the other woman smile, "Because I'm your older sister and I…," she stopped talking, when she saw Lisa sitting on the couch.
"I'm sorry. Andrew let me in," Lisa hurried to explain she didn't fancy getting her ass kicked by a pissed of slayer.
The older of the two sister, presumably Buffy eyed her over suspiciously. She had long blond hair, her skin was slightly tanned and set off nicely against her classy, yet figure-hugging white dress. Damn her! Bully for Buffy for still looking good after a night of clubbing - not a hair out of place.
"Who are you?" the blonde vampire slayer asked, while her younger sister looked at Lisa interestedly, standing a little behind her sister. She radiated a strange mixture of self-assuredness and goofiness that was so typically of teenagers.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Lisa Gray," she got to her feet, "I work for Angel." She extended her hand to Buffy as a greeting.
"Which actually means your working for Wolfram & Hart," Buffy's eyes narrowed. She ignored Lisa's out-stretched hand. Not a good start.
"Yes, but it's not like you think. I'm not part of the whole evil, demonic machinery. I was hired by Angel and apart from that I wouldn't do anything that goes against my ethics."
"You're still taking their money," Buffy retorted.
"We all have to make ends meet."
After an awkward pause Buffy finally asked, "Why are you here?" her voice sounded slightly hostile.
"I'm here…," Lisa hesitated. Could she really do what she came here for? Did it matter? She didn't even know these people and would probably never see them again in all her life if things went well…
"I'm here, because I wanted to talk to you. Spike ran off, so you're the next person in line," Lisa looked at her vis-à-vis expectantly.
"Does this mean that..?"
"I'm his girlfriend? Yes, I'm afraid so." Lisa tried to read the look on Buffy's face. Was she shocked?
"Oh, dear," apparently Buffy suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to sit down. "Dawn, would you please go and check if we still have a bottle of that Chianti? I think I might need a sip of wine while we talk."
"So I wasn't just hallucinating when I thought I saw Angel and Spike tonight. Alessandro told me they were here. So those two started the fight inside the club..," the blond vampire slayer muttered to herself. "They are such jerks!" she added a little louder, indignantly shaking her head.
"The reason the doofus duo is here is that they have to recover a head for the resurrection of a demon client, did you know that?" the vampire slayer added finally.
"No," Lisa replied amazedly. So they were actually here out of business reasons. Who would have guessed?
Dawn finally arrived with a tray on top of which she balanced three glass of red wine. She carefully placed them on the table and then sat down next to her sister, "Have you already say something important?"
"Nope, I've only realized once more that all men are idiots," Buffy informed her.
"Oh," Dawn smiled, "Well, duh!"
"You don't seem surprised Spike has turned from completely dead to undead," Lisa noticed sipping from her wine.
"We have our sources," Buffy answered calmly.
Was that all she was going to say about this matter? Wasn't she the least bit bugged Spike hadn't called or dropped by to tell her about his miraculous resurrection?
"Seems like you don't give a damn," Lisa observed putting the glass back on the table.
"Oh, believe me I 'did give a damn' just not so much anymore when he didn't feel the need to let me know," Buffy replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "I mean it would have just been decent, after all we've been through."
"Yeah, the decent thing to do…I see," Lisa pressed her lips together tightly. So the blond vampire slayer wasn't actually as unfazed by Spike sudden appearance in Rome as she had initially appeared to be. There were still some feelings…at least it seemed like it.
"After all we've been through as friends," the blonde vampire slayer hurried to add. Buffy pronounced the last word very empathetically.
"Look, I'm tired, I've just crossed a couple of time zones so I'll get right to the core of this," Lisa massaged her temples exhaustedly, "I'm not stupid. I don't think it is a very good sign, when your boyfriend leaves without so much as a word, to go see his ex. It just gets a girl thinking…does he still love her? Does she want him back?...You know all sorts of crazy things," the young woman smiled, but her eyes were absolutely humourless as she fixed her opposite taxingly.
"I do not want him back," Buffy protested vigorously – perhaps a little bit too much.
"But the thing between you two isn't through yet," Lisa observed. For a fraction of a second she actually hesitated, then she got up and straightened her crumbled clothes.
"What are you doing?" Dawn asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm leaving…shouldn't have come here in the first place."
"So you're going to your hotel?" Buffy's sister wanted to know
"Sort of," Lisa answered already walking towards the door.
"Well, it's been…," Lisa hesitated. Saying that this visit had been even remotely pleasurable would been like actually calling a trip to the dentist fun. She settled for something less grotesque. "It's been interesting."
"Look," Buffy sighed and got to her feet, "I'm not posing a threat to you. I don't want to steel your boyfriend if that is what you think. It's just well…Spike and I…we've been through a lot together. These are things you don't brush off so easily."
Lisa's features softened a little. Buffy's words had actually sounded sincere "I'm sorry, but maybe I just need some time to cool down. My day hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. Call me if you have any news on the fanged duo," she handed the vampire slayer her business card with had her cellphone number on it.
She was just about to leave, when the shrill ringing of the telephone broke the tense silence of the awkward situation she was just about to walk away from. Lisa heard Buffy pick up.
"Pronto (Hello) Oh, it's you," her voice suddenly seemed softer, but its tone changed to concerned only seconds later. "Hold on, what did you just say?...Zombies...I'll be with you in a minute… No, like I gonna let you have all this fun on your own! It's a good thing you called me."
"What is it?" Lisa turned and looked at the slayer questioningly.
"Alessandro just called. He knows where the demon head is," Buffy informed her briefly, grapping a black training bag that until now had sat beside the door unnoticed.
Without hesitation the words, "I'll come with you," slipped from Lisa's mouth.
"No, you won't. No offence, but I don't see how you could be much of a help," the slayer's voice sounded very much down to business.
"Well, just a little hint – I'm a necromancer and you apparently have got a zombie problem on your hands," Lisa smiled at her cockily, feeling happy to be able to burst her bubble.