 |
 Title of Chapter: Endeavor Author: Alicia08 Author’s note: Um, ya know what? I’m suddenly not feeling the
idea of a Cordy/Angel pairing in this fic. It just doesn’t provoke any
emotion in thy. Soooo, I’m gonna kick it to the side, and bring in
Cordy/Spike? What do you think? Working for you? Not
working? I’m ridiculously flexible so, let me know, cause, as always, I’m
here to please you people. Or maybe I can just leave out Cordelia all
together? Author’s note 2: Ok, right off the bat… I want to apologize for this
chapter. I was going through writers block, and words were lacking.
I have most of chapter 3 and 4 completed, but chapter 2 was giving me serious
problems. It might have to do with my love for the Buffy/Riley pairing.
It’s hard to write for a couple you adore, in a non-flattering way. I
also apologize for the shortness of said chapter. Words were lacking ok…
lay off!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter 2 In early March, Buffy received a phone call from Sam Harris. He was
one of the many editors at Harliquin Magazine, though one of the nicer ones,
and also a very close friend of Buffy’s. He wanted to know if she was
interested in being part of a particular project he had on the side. “Well it all depends on what that is” Buffy responded smugly “One of our stories unfortunately didn’t pan out how we’d planned.
Something having to do with a death in the family of one of the main writers or
some nonsense of that sort” “Gee, Sam. Very caring” Buffy rolled her eyes “Yeah, well, you know me. I’m full of love,” Sam said in the half
sarcastic, half genuine tone of his. “That’s just the kinda guy I
am. Listen I was wondering if you’d be willing to take on this project?” “Details Sam” “It’s an in-depth piece on small rural towns. Nothing out of the
ordinary. The original idea was to follow two students around for a
week. One from the big city and the other from a small town, and extract
the most interesting moments, and put it in writing. Since that fell through,
we thought we’d spice it up a bit.” He paused for dramatic effect before
continuing. “The single scene” “And?” “And come on Buffy. Help me out here. You’ve done stories like
this before. Improvise” “That was back when I was in College Sam. And I thought you said this
was a project you had on the side. From you’re lack of specifics, it
seems as if you’re trying to discard this little menace of a story onto
moi” Buffy responded buoyantly, twirling the telephone cord within her
grasp. “You know me too well” Sam responded upfront. Ok, Terri, needed a
story to fill the quota for next month’s release. And like I said, the
story they were working on didn’t fall through, so they assigned me with the
task of filling it. Now look Buffy. We’re friends right?” Without
waiting for a response he continued. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this for
me if it wasn’t important. My brother is getting married next week and he
would never forgive me if I missed his wedding” Sam pleaded into the phone, his
tone desperate. Buffy didn’t have a doubt in the world about that. Xander, Sam’s
brother was an acquaintance of hers, and Xander was definitely not the
forgiving type. Buffy pondered for a good minute, before finally putting
Sam out of his misery and agreeing to take on the project. Any other
time, she would of no doubt turn him down and said no, but it had occurred to
her, that this was to be her alibi. In the weeks that followed the conversation Willow and she had, they’d been
racking their brains trying to figure out a legitimate reason, or better yet,
an alternate reason, to go to Frenton. When one hits her over the head
repeatedly, she was sure not to ignore it. “Please. Just this one favor. Come on. I haven’t asked you
for a favor before. Ok, yeah. There was that one time with the
tutoring thing, but you told me you actually enjoyed that, so in a way, I did
you a favor. And, ok you bailed me out on the Marie Claire fiasco, and
I’m so very grateful for that….” “Sam” “But if you’re a friend, you would come through on this for me Buffmister” “Sam!!” “Huh?” “First off, if you value your life, don’t ever call me that again, and
secondly, I’ll take on the project” “Thank you, thank you, and thank you. You have done a great service
this day” Sam thanked Buffy over the phone. “Can I come in” came a voice from the doorway to Buffy’s office She looked up, to see Riley, his head peeping through the half opened
door. She motioned him in, and with a gesture of her hand, offered him a
seat. “Sam, I’m gonna have to call you back later so we can go over the
details. Oooh, and give my best to Anya and Xander would you.
Thanks. Bye” Buffy hung up the phone, fell back into her chair, and
smiled at her boyfriend. “This is a surprise” “Well, good. My planned worked” Riley said, with a smile “And what plan would that be?” Buffy queried enthused. “The plan to surprise my very beautiful girlfriend at work and take her out
to lunch” “So, I’m beautiful huh. Well, now that I think about it, that’s pretty
much accurate” Buffy grinned, rising from her chair, to give Riley a kiss on
the cheek. “So, where would you like to go?” “hmmm” Buffy pondered. “How about Chinese. I’m feeling Chineesy
today” Buffy acknowledge, pulling on her jacket, and walking towards the door “Chineesy?” Riley arched an eyebrow. “You and Willow have created your
own language it seems” he mocked her, shutting the door as the two exited the
office. “Well, ya know. We wanted to get in on the trekkie action”. She
looked up at Riley and noticed his utter confusion. Laughing, she changed
the subject. “Guess what?” “What?” Riley responded eagerly as the elevator doors opened just as they
arrived in the hallway lobby. He made his way into the steal box, leading
Buffy in, his hand to her back. “It looks like I will be taking a little trip next week” she told him,
pressing the button that would lead them down to the lobby area of the
building. He gave her a confused look. One she found so very endearing.
Riley, as smart and well read as he may seem, he was very much gullible.
It was one of the traits Joyce loved about Riley. Both her parents loved
Riley dearly, as did his parents in regards to her. All four, envisioned
that the two would eventually marry. Her father and mother goaded her on the
subject enough times already. And more than likely, Riley received the
same goading from his parents, when it came to their relationship. Buffy remembered the time during her childhood, when she had envisioned
herself growing up to marry Riley. The two were inseparable as
kids. Then came her teenage years, and thoughts of marriage, were pushed
to the backseat, and replaced with adoration for ‘New kids on the Block’ and a
yearning desire to become Molly Ringwald in the movie ‘Pretty in Pink’.
Riley bless his heart, had endured all that torture for her sake. Now she was in her early 20’s, and her and Riley, were still best
friends. She loved him with all her heart, but she wondered if that love
was more platonic than romantic. They had decided to start dating because
it was the inevitable next step. Their parents were thrilled, so they had
to of done something right… right? But lately if not at the very beginning, Buffy felt as if something was
missing from their relationship, especially from their sex life. Riley
wasn’t the first guy she had ever been with sexually, hence comparisons were
made. None sadly in the favor of Riley. The excitement was missing. Sex with Riley was ‘fine’, but sex is
never meant to be fine. It’s meant to be something you blushed over, just
thinking about. It’s something you run to your best friend to, and squirm
with delight as you dish all the rousing details in great dept. It’s
something that your body responds to and grows warm remembering. Despite all the negative, Buffy gave her all in this relationship.
Riley was sweet, caring, affectionate, sensitive… just a great person.
Sex wasn’t all that important in a relationship anyway, she had convinced
herself. She had no desire to lose Riley. Besides Willow and her
father, he was an important staple in her life, and she didn’t want to lose
that. Her mother’s death and departure had been excruciatingly agonizing
enough. She never wanted to experience such pain and loss again. “That was Sam on the phone earlier. He wants me to work on a project
he had on the side” Buffy explained, sticking with the false story Sam had
given her initially. “It’s an on field project, so I’m going to have to
be gone for a week or two” “Where?” “Connecticut” Buffy refrained from being too specific, knowing that Riley
and Hank converse over the phone from time to time. The more vague she is, the
better. By the time they reached the Chinese restaurant between 5th and 6th,
Buffy had explained to Riley the details of her rendezvous in the week to come
in as little specifics as possible. “Can I take your order”? Buffy’s eyes flew to the uniformed waiter that had snuck up on her from
behind. “Uh… yes thank you. I’ll have the general Tso chicken” She
looked at Riley and waited for him to place his own order. Buffy watched
as the waiter retreated into a back room, her eyes turning to Riley. He
was looking at her, and she couldn’t help but feel as if she owed it to him to
say what was on her mind. “Do you love me?” she asked suddenly, wanting to take back every word the
minute it left her lips. Buffy saw Riley’s eyes widen at her sudden question. His hand reached
over the table to take hers in his own. “Of course I love you. You
know I do” He looked at her quizzically, thinking something over in his
head. “Do you love me?” He asked, deathly afraid of what her
response would be. “Riley… of course I love you. It’s” she paused to concentrate on how
to word, what she would say next. “It’s… just that we are so used to each
other, that we never even considered the possibility that we may not be right…
romantically for one another.” The hurt in Riley’s eye, at her words made
her heart pain. She had tried desperately to say what she wanted to tell
him, without hurting his feelings. “Buffy. I don’t get you. Where the hell is all this coming from”
he spat, his voice dripping with irritation. Buffy held her glass of soda with both hands, trying to figure out if it was
the questioning of their relationship or the realization Riley had that also
questioned what they shared together that made his voice raise in anger.
“Riley please. You know exactly where it’s coming from. Things
between us have been great, but you know as well as I do, that a very vital
part is missing from our relationship. Do you really want to pretend as
if you’re not aware of it?” “Aware of what Buffy? That our chemistry doesn’t permeate and ricochet
off the walls when we’re in each other’s company” He lowers his voice before
continuing “That the sex, doesn’t make either of us scream with ecstasy?” he
stared at her for a long while, before looking up, to see the waiter approach
with their meals. With a hefty swallow, Riley settled back in his chair as the waiter placed
their order before them. “Does it really matter?” Riley finally said, as the waiter left them. “I’m
aware of it all Buffy, but I love you, and I want us to work. If
anything… I want us to work”. “Even if it means we are both missing out on something… someone
better. Someone we can love and have that passion with. Som….” “Someone that isn’t you” Riley interrupted, his orbs boring a hole through
her soul. On impulse, because it was preying heavily on her mind for so long, she said
“Yes.” “Maybe that’s not what I want” Riley stated firmly, his eyes never leaving
her face. But that’s what I want. “I’m not sure what I want” Buffy communicated to him… the man she loved, but
wasn’t quite sure she was in love with. Riley reached over the table, brushing a strand of loose hair from her face.
“Let’s give it more time. We can learn to create the passion” Those last
words were soiled with desperation. More than anything, Riley wanted what
he and Buffy had to last. He was sure, time was all they needed, to make
things right. |
