As June drew close William grew more indulgent. His need for her became more intense and he did things he shouldn’t, foolish things. Called her out of class to see him, visited her in her room, allowed her to stay in his quarters almost until dawn. It was madness, but everything about their relationship was madness. The barriers he’d tried to erect during the year now seemed pointless and cruel. Despite the hopeful things he’d said to her, their time together was coming to a close.
Because no matter what he tried, no matter what he did, he was no closer to finding a solution.
~*~*~*~
She couldn’t believe he hadn’t been able to come up with something. It just wasn’t possible.
She racked her brain to come up with a solution, but planning had never been her strong suit; she was more of an action kind of girl. After all, her big idea was that he should quit and they could move in together and … live on nothing, apparently. Yeah, that would work out great.
It would be exciting, Buffy told herself, when he visited her in Philadelphia. She’d sneak out, maybe in disguise, and they’d meet somewhere, anywhere, and they’d be dying for each other. Maybe they wouldn’t even bother with hotels—they could just use alleys or doorways or broom closets.
Well, that didn’t sound completely terrible. Maybe one of her old friends could see them—they’d be so jealous over what a hot guy she had they’d probably hate her. But she probably wouldn’t even notice them, because she’d be so into him and what he was doing to her…even if they were just having coffee or something, just him being there and smelling like him and having that voice…she knew she’d be so eager for him she’d want to burrow under his skin and live there.
But he’d be so far away. And there’d be more girls where he was. And more women. Women who knew more than she did, and had more in common with him, and who were right there, near him.
Unlike her.
~*~*~*~
The note arrived when Buffy was in English. It was right to the point: she was to report to the main office immediately.
Buffy bit back a smile as she left the classroom; such summons had come several times over the past couple of months. Not often enough for her to expect them, or even to hope for them, really, if she didn’t want to be frustrated all the time, but often enough that they were always at the back of her mind.
She started moving faster, almost running, as she left the building. If she got there faster … what? They’d suddenly think of a solution? He’d inherit a big pile of money and wouldn’t have to look for another job? No, if she got there sooner the only thing that would happen was that maybe there’d be time for both the desk and the wall.
But that was good, too. And right now it was the only thing she had.
The school secretary was at her desk when Buffy entered the administration building, which made Buffy slow down. Had William not realized she was out there? Usually he sent the woman out on some errand or something before he sent for Buffy. Although once or twice she’d been there and he’d just told Buffy to be quiet … and once he’d used his tie to make sure she didn’t cry out….
She was just turning toward his office when a woman sitting in the waiting room to the side, unnoticed by Buffy, spoke. “Buffy?”
Buffy turned and almost jumped out of her skin “…Mom?”
“Why were you going into the headmaster’s office?”
“I—I—”
“Have you been getting in trouble again?”
Buffy flinched. “No!” she denied, hurt. Although she had been spanked the other day. “What are you doing here?”
“We just wanted to check in. Say hello,” said her stepfather with a somewhat guarded smile as he moved to stand beside Joyce.
“And you couldn’t check in over the phone?”
“Buffy!” Joyce reproved sharply.
Giles sighed and rubbed his forehead. Buffy had noticed he did that a lot, at least around her. She really didn’t know what her mother saw in him, except for the accent. An English accent made any guy hotter.
Admittedly, she didn’t remember thinking that before meeting William.
“Sorry,” Buffy mumbled, still trying to register the extremely bizarre fact that they were here. Where she was. Where they’d dropped her off despite her protests, and which she now couldn’t stand the thought of leaving. “I’m just surprised, okay? I haven’t seen you since Christmas.”
“We missed you?” offered Joyce. Buffy was unconvinced. “Well, it was the first semester in … ever that we haven’t been contacted about your grades, so we thought maybe we should just….”
“See for ourselves,” finished Giles.
Buffy forced herself to smile. “Yay?”
~*~*~*~
It was a beautiful day. Radiant sunlight, not too warm. The light haloed around Jenny’s glossy dark hair, making her look almost beatific. William thought she’d never looked so lovely.
William waved off the waiter when he came to take their order. This was far too important to be interrupted.
“Are you sure about this?” Jenny asked, touching his hand.
“Absolutely.”
“It’s a big step….”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I’m ready—more than ready.”
He leaned towards her intently—so intent, in fact, that he didn’t notice the car passing by, or the blonde girl inside staring at him as the car drove out of sight.
~*~*~*~
She didn’t even recognize him at first. Why would she? It wasn’t like she was used to seeing William anywhere but at school, and certainly not with some other woman. She had to look twice before she recognized him, and he never even looked up. He had his head together with some woman and didn’t see Buffy at all. Like she didn’t even exist.
She was pretty, whoever she was. Okay, not pretty: beautiful. Sleek black hair, perfect skin, great clothes. William’s age. Someone he could be seen in public with.
Someone who wasn’t her.
Buffy pressed her face against the window, straining to catch something she wasn’t seeing. To realize that it wasn’t William, that the woman had to be his sister, that other people were joining them. Anything but what it was.
She looked as long as she could, as hard as she could, until the car turned the corner and the café disappeared.
But the scene never changed.
~*~*~*~
William was preoccupied when he got back to campus. He stuck his head in the administration building and let his secretary know he wouldn’t be back in the office for the rest of the day; there was no way he could work. Things like this didn’t happen every day. He was tense; he seldom questioned his actions so much. He almost felt queasy.
Yet he was also excited.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice that the door to his quarters were unlocked.
He headed straight to the kitchen. Usually he stuck to the finer liquors, but right now he needed a beer like he needed oxygen.
He grabbed a Newcastle out of the refrigerator and took a long pull. As he lowered the bottle Buffy came into view at the kitchen entrance.
He repressed a start. “Buffy, now isn’t a good time,” he warned her. He was usually more solicitous, but he needed some time to get his thoughts in order. They could talk tomorrow.
Buffy’s voice was sullen. “Why? Are you expecting your girlfriend?”
William slowly lowered the bottle. “What did you say?”
“You know, brunette. Pretty. Your age.”
Anger began to unfurl in his stomach. “What is this? Were you spying on me?”
“I wasn’t spy—”
“The hell you weren’t! With everything I’m giving up for you—you’ve got some damned cheek!”
“It didn’t look like you were giving up anything!” Buffy spat furiously.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her closer. “You want to know why we were meeting? It’s very simple. As a favor to me she’d sent out feelers to some of her friends. One of them finally bit, wants me to come to New York to meet him.”
Buffy shrunk back, feeling guilty and stupid, but his grasp on her wrist was unforgiving.
“Doesn’t seem quite right, does it? Me turning my life upside down for you, and you following me around like a little sneak.”
He pulled her across the room and shoved her up against the kitchen wall. Confused excitement spiked through her, dulling her instincts enough that she didn’t realize he was deadly serious.
He pushed his hand in her front pocket of her jeans, and she gasped in anticipation. A moment later he pulled out the key he’d given her and shoved it into his own pocket.
The air left her body, and for a moment she couldn’t hear anything except the unreasonably loud sound of her heart beating. She stared at him, her eyes huge and shocked.
“Get out,” he hissed, jerking the door open and shoving her outside without even looking around to make sure no one was in sight. He slammed the door after her, and slid the lock into place.
