~*Chapter Four*~
Leesa awoke the next morning, her head throbbing. She jumped into the shower, letting the hot water erase all of last night’s bad (i.e. alcohol!) memories. As she stood in the shower, her mind ran over the good memories… Howie’s laughter, the dancing, the kissing. She smiled to herself.
But no amount of hot water could erase AJ’s behaviour. As she let the water run through her long brown hair, she thought of what had happened. Suddenly, though, she was startled out of her thoughts by a sharp knock at the door.
She quickly wrapped a robe around her, and as she tied it together, walked to the door.
"Leesa…" AJ started as she opened the door. She jumped, not expecting someone to talk so quickly. He looked at her, puzzled, as she began to laugh.
"I just got the heebie-jeebies," she explained, using their childhood terminology to describe her fright.
He began to laugh as well, and she opened the door wider to let him in.
"Leesa," he began. "Look, about last night …"
He paused.
"Yeah, what happened?" she asked quickly, not wanting him to stop.
"I don’t know. I know that it’s stupid, and everything, but … I guess I got jealous," he finished, looking down at the unmade bed he was sitting on.
"Jealous? Of me and Howie? Are you for real?" she laughed. She stopped laughing as a look of hurt spread across AJ’s face.
"Oh, come on. You know no one could ever replace you," she kidded with him.
"Yeah, but still…"
"Look mister," she told him, not un-nicely. "I don’t think that anything’s really gonna develop from it. I like him, and I think that he likes me … but that’s as far as it goes. I didn’t sleep with him, there was just a few kisses. That’s it. You know me, Xander," she finished off, using his special nickname. Cos you know, he loves Buffy (especially Willow!), and she loved Oz (Man, he’s sexy!).
"Yeah, I guess you’re right," he agreed, feeling relieved. But, no matter how hard he tried, he still felt jealous. He should have been the one kissing her, not Howie.
"Hey, I gotta get ready for rehearsal. Help me pick out something to wear?" she asked him shyly, cos she knew that he loved to pick out what she would wear. I mean, the guy has great fashion sense!
He entered her walk-in dresser, and selected a light blue knit top with spaghetti straps, and blue Adidas sweat pants. She started to undress, and AJ turned his back, like the true gentleman he is. She laughed at him, and he turned back around, some what hurt.
"What’s that for?"
"God, it’s not like you’ve never seen me naked before!"
"Yeah, I know. But that was ages ago!" he protested.
"I know, but still it’s not like much has changed. You know what a naked girl looks like, I know what a naked guy looks like. Plus, I’m surprised you haven’t seen the naked photos of me on the Net yet!" she giggled, pulling on her top.
"Really? Have you seen mine?" he laughed.
"Oh yeah! Look Xander, we’re friends, ok?"
"Yup. Friends."
At Rehearsal
Howie came up to Leesa, and kissed her on the cheek. Every one standing around them looked at Leesa in surprise. She giggled quietly, and then pulled him close for a kiss. Brian walked past them, and as he saw what was going on, he tripped on a stray wire. Leesa broke away from Howie, laughing.
Leesa and Howie were called over to where the rest of the guys and dancers stood. She walked over to AJ, and stood next to him, with Howie in tow.
"Kay, everyone, what we’re gonna do today is run through the whole show, from Leesa’s opening, to the close. We’ll only stop if we absolutely have to. And Leesa, don’t worry if some of the steps are still new. You and I have a date with the studio this afternoon, kay!" Fatima called over the top of the sound check.
Leesa looked up at her and nodded.
"Places, everyone!"
Ishtar, Hecate, Isis, Kali, Persephone, Venus, Aradia
Diana, Astarte, Athene, Demeter, Bast, Medusa, Morgana
Mother, your earth is in my blood, soil and water one,
I am born of the primordial soup cooked in the crater of your great womb.
Energised in the presence of your opposite, you fill his heart of emptiness
And you are within me inside my reality … I bathe in your dream waters.
Cerriwen, Shakti, Shekina, Tara, Tiamat, Arachne, Freya
Gaia, Lilith, Artemis, Ariadne, Aphrodite, Morrigan, Durga
If he bathes in your blood, you will turn him to stone
like his lifeless cities and the memory oh his-story.
The wars fought over that is ‘twixt your legs
yet your blood is shed for life, not death
Virgin, complete unto yourself not celibate
Leesa’s strong voice echoed over the stage as she sung "Hymn to Her", a song written by an Australian band called DEF FX. She thought that Fiona Horne, the lead singer, was the greatest song writer in the world, and over the last three years, the two of them had become close friends.
AJ watched her from the wings. He watched her mouth twitch in a weird way as she sung. Her bottom lip and jaw moved to the left every time she opened her mouth. It seemed like every time she opened her mouth, she had a shy little smile that was just for you. The way she sung just seemed so personal, it was almost like you were invading her privacy when you watched her. Her face seemed so innocent, yet the song she sung was so deep, and intelligent, that it seemed confusing, yet so simple.
AJ was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice Howie walk up beside him, also watching Leesa.
The flickering lights cast deep shadows across Leesa’s face as she sung of the torture cast upon the earth, and as the song finished, Leesa struck a dramatic pose, and the stage lights blew.
Leesa screamed as sparks flew about her, and fell to the floor. AJ rushed onto the stage, Howie followed close behind, and the two of them huddled over Leesa.
She looked up at the both of them, and burst into laughter.
"That was so cool!" she cried, as she accepted AJ’s hand to help her up.
He just looked at her and smiled as she walked off stage to wait for the lights to be fixed.
As Leesa and Fatima rehearsed in the studio to "Larger Than Life", AJ came in quietly through the back door. They were so engrossed in their work that they didn’t hear him until they had finished and hear him applaud.
Fatima jumped, as Leesa whirled around.
"God, you scared me!"
He just laughed as he came up to her.
"You looked great out there. But, I have one comment."
"Yeah, and what would that be?"
"Next time you sing Hymn to Her, can you not make the lights blow?"
Back To Witch
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