Over the next week, Mark found himself at the park again, and everyday he'd see the redhead walk past.

He watched her, but refrained from filming her again. He didn't want to be creepy.

He also never talked to her. He contented himself with just watching. He often wondered where she was going. What she was going in this part of town. Did she live there? He doubted it. Though her clothes were somewhat of a mix between Mimi and Maureen's styles, she didn't have the "alphabet-city-look".

Everything about her was a mystery.


On Friday, Mark parked his bike outside the Life Café and walked in. He smiled when he saw his friends, and went to join them, offering a greeting as he removed his scarf and coat. He looked around the restaurant and stopped when he saw a familiar flash of red.

She was sitting near the wall, by herself, with a laptop and a cup of tea.

"Mark...earth to Mark." he heard Roger say and realized he'd been staring.

"Yeah?" he asked. Mimi laughed.

"Her name is Willow." she said. Mimi had quit the Cat Scratch Club not long after last Christmas and got a job working at the Life, waitressing. "She's been coming here for about a week and a half."

He looked back to her. Eager to see how this new information fit her. Willow. It was perfect. Unique. Beautiful.

"Marky's got a crush?" he heard Maureen ask, playfully. He rolled his eyes at her. So much for kepping his mysterious redhead to himself.

"Go talk to her." Roger urged. Mark shook his head as he sat down.

"I don't thin..." he was cut off by Mimi taking his hand.

"I'll introduce you." she said, dragging him over to Willow. Dragging being the operative word, until he reluctantly stood beside Mimi in front of Willow.

"Hey Willow." Mimi said, causing Willow to look up from her computer, green eyes warming when she saw Mimi.

"Hi Mimi."

"Can I get you another tea?"

"No, I'm okay. Thanks." she smiled, making her face that much more beautiful.

"This is my friend, Mark. Mark, this is Willow." Mimi introduced, then abruptly left, leaving Mark alone with her. He laughed nervously.

"Hi Mark." she said, the smile never leaving her face, though she was obviously confused.

"Mind if I...?" He asked, gesturing to the empty side of the booth.

"No, go ahead." she said, closing her computer. He sat down and wiped his hands on his pants. Mark glanced over to his friends and realized Roger had his camera out and was pointing it at them. Mark made sure he shot a glare directly into the lens. He looked back at Willow and saw that she noticed the camera as well. Mark smiled apologetically. "So, Mark. What do you do?"

"I'm a, uh, filmmaker. A documentarian, really." he answered, glancing back to Roger. "You?"

"I'm a teacher." Mark looked back at her, into her eyes.

"Really? NYU?"

"No, actually. A new school. The Tara McLay WCI School for Girls."

"I heard about that school opening. About three months ago, right?" Willow nodded, her eyes occasionally making their way over to Roger. Mark could tell it was making her uncomfortable. "Wanna go for a walk, maybe a bit more private." he offered. She smiled and glanced at her watch.

"Sure, but I gotta be back by one. I'm meeting a friend."

"Okay, I just gotta grab my coat." Mark walked back over to his friends and glared at all their smiling faces and Roger, who was still filming.

"Close up. Mark Cohen with the first girl since forever."

Mark grabbed his coat and scarf, decidedly ignoring Roger's comment, and walked back over to Willow, giving her a smile. They walked out of the Café together.

"Brr...I'll never get used to this weather." Willow said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"It's not too bad. Wait until December." Mark smiled, shoving his own hands into his pockets, laughing when Willow groaned. "Where are you from?"

"California, really. But I've spent the last year or so in England."

"Ah, no wonder you don't like the cold. You're a 'California girl'" Willow playfully hit him with her shoulder, causing him to stumble a little.

"I don't think I qualify for the term 'California girl' My friend, Buffy, maybe."

"Buffy definitely sounds like a 'California girl' name." Willow laughed.

"Can't let her fool you though. She's a lot smarter than people give her credit for." They walked in a companionable silence for a bit before Willow spoke up again. "So, you're a filmmaker? Done anything I would have seen?"

"Um. My documentary about AIDS, 'Today 4 U' has been shown in a couple places." Mark offered, though doubted she would have seen it.

"Doesn't sound familiar. Maybe you could show it to me sometime."

"Yeah, maybe." Mark, smiled, looking down to hide his blush.

"So, how do you know Mimi?" she asked.

"She lives in the apartment below mine and is dating my roommate slash best friend, Roger...the one with the camera." He told her. She nodded in understanding.

"How long have you lived in New York?"

"Couple of years. Moved here with my camera to live la vie bohème" Mark said, with a hint of melodrama, causing Willow to giggle.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to living in such a big city."

"It can be a bit scary." Mark said, understanding.

"Oh, it's not scary. After Sunnydale, scary is pretty much a nonissue. It's just that it's so big. Kind of overwhelming."

Sunnydale, Sunnydale, where had Mark heard that before.

"Sunnydale? Isn't that the town that sank into a huge crater about a year back?"

"Yep."

"Shit, you lived there?"

"Born and raised. My friends and I were some of the last to get out of there."

"Wow." they continued in silence again before Mark glanced down at his watch. 1:15. "Didn't you say you needed to be back by one?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked, looking down at her own watch, she gave a little laugh. "Ah well, Faith can wait, but we should start heading back." she didn't seem in too big of a hurry and Mark took that as a good sign.

They got back to the Life about ten minutes later.

"Um, before we go in and chaos ensues, do you want to get together sometime?" Mark asked, before he even thought about it. But before he could regret it Willow answered.

"I'll be here tomorrow again, around seven. Maybe you could show up." she smiled.

"Maybe I will." he smiled and opened the door for her. They walked in and practically everyone in the building cheered. Mark rolled his eyes and smiled apologetically to Willow as they walked over to Mark's table.

He noticed a girl with long dark wavy hair that he didn't recognize sitting next to Collins.

"Hey Red. 'Bout time you showed up." she said.

"Hey Faith." Willow offered in return.

"Who's the hottie?" Faith asked, looking at Mark.

"That's Mark." Roger told her. Faith looked at Roger, then back at Mark with new eyes.

"He's your type. Brainy and the like, but I gotta say, Red, surprised me a bit when they said you walked off with some guy." the way she said 'guy' made Mark think twice. Was Willow gay? He cussed at himself. Only he would be so attracted to a lesbian. "Not that Red's ever been exclusive to girls, just lately." Willow looked at her friend, slightly horrified. So, bi? Maybe Mark didn't make a complete ass of himself.

"Faith, you could stop talking anytime now." Willow said. Mark noticed her cheeks looked a little flush, and it wasn't because of the cold.

"Whatever, yo." Faith smiled, a smile, that to Mark, looked very predatory. He shivered a little. "You ready to go?" Willow turned to Mark.

"I'll see you here tomorrow, right?" she asked, hopefully. Mark nodded.

"I'll be here." she smiled a little.

"K, let's go Faith."

"Nice meeting everyone. Collins, I'll talk to you about that thing later." nd with that and another small smile from Willow, they left.

Mark turned towards his friends and groaned, knowing the questions that they'd ask. He hadn't really dated anyone since Maureen, what, three years ago. 'Three years? Already? Shit...' Mark thought to himself. He knew his friends would jump on this like a dog with a bone.

And he wasn't disappointed.

"So, Marky, what's she like?" Maureen asked. He just took his seat next to Roger and didn't say anthing.

"Come on, Mark, you gotta give us something." Joanne urged.

"So, you're seeing her tomorrow. Too bad I have off." Mimi said.

Mark knew if he gave them anything that they'd run with it, never stop asking questions. Call it his last ditch effort to keep Willow to himself, he simply groaned and let his head fall to the table.

"Look, guys, can we not talk about this. It's probably nothing."

"You haven't shown interest in any girls since Maureen. Now that you have, we're curious." Roger stated.

"You heard her friend. She's interested in girls."

"Ah, but she also said she wasn't exclusive." Mimi attempted.

"Because we all know how well that went last time I dated someone not exclusive." Mark stated, pointedly towards Maureen.

"Oh, Mark, you're not still on that are you? That was three years ago. Get over it. Please tell me I haven't ruined some lucky girls chance at catching you." Maureen said, exasperated. Mark rolled his eyes and stood up, grabbing his bag.

"I'm going home." he said. He didn't feel like dealing with his friends and their questions at the moment. He had to think. Through all the protests, he said goodbye and left the Café.


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