Chapter 19
Her fingers worked quickly to untie the apron.
“Whistler.” Buffy called and within seconds the door that lead to the back opened and the short man was standing behind the counter, in front of her.
“You’re off, kid?” He asked.
“Yeah. If it’s alright with you.” She answered, placing the apron on the counter.
“Sure.” He nodded as he picked up a towel and started drying a beer mug.
“See you.” Buffy smiled and was halfway across the coffee shop before she turned around and leaned over the counter. “Are you sure you’ll be ok without me for the Halloween weekend? Cause I can stay, you know? I know it’s a very busy time here and-“
“Hey, kid.” Whistler interrupted her. “Relax. I think I can handle one Friday without your prized waitressing skills.”
“Are you sure?” Buffy insisted, feeling a little bit guilty about leaving him alone for the busy weekend ahead. “I mean it’s Halloween and-“
“I’m sure. Now, will you go already?” He asked, lifting one eyebrow and curling his mouth to the side.
A huge grin spread over her lips.
“Thanks, Whistler.” She said, leaning over the counter and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m perfect.” He sighed in false modesty.
“Bye.” Buffy waved back as she walked away.
“Say hi to your mom for me.” He shouted at her retreating form.
“I will.” She yelled back.
She really didn’t understand why he always said that every time she went home for the weekend. He didn’t even know her mom. But she had stopped caring and simply conditioned her automatic reply.
~+~
She rushed into the apartment, throwing the keys on the counter and heading straight to her room. After a few minutes she had her bag packed and was about to leave her bedroom when her phone rang. With a sigh she picked it up.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Buffy. It’s me.”
“Hey, Wills.” She replied cheerfully.
“You’re in a good mood.” Willow noted.
“I’m going home for the weekend.” Buffy explained.
“But it’s Thursday.”
“I know. But I only have one class tomorrow, which is not too important so I decided to ditch it for some quality mom and daughter time.”
“What about the Expresso Pump?”
“I asked Whistler if I could take Friday off and he said it was ok. To compensate for the extra hours I’ve been working the last couple of weeks.” Buffy explained gleefully.
“So you’re spending Halloween at home? You’re not gonna go out and party?” Willow wondered.
“No. I’m not really in a partying mood, you know?”
“Harmony making your life miserable again?”
“Actually, no. If you can believe it. Ever since Sunday everything’s been calm around here. I hardly see her. She’s either out or locked up in her room.”
“No more boinkboy?”
“Nope. I think boinkboy is out of the picture for good. Thank God!” Buffy sighed in relief.
“And you still don’t know what happened?”
“I have no idea. She won’t talk to me. God, I can’t even imagine what that idiot did to upset her like that!”
“Maybe they just broke it off.” Willow offered.
“Yeah. He probably got tired of her and dumped her. That arrogant little twit.” Buffy growled.
“At least you’ll be able to have a semi-normal life now. Well, as normal as it gets being Harmony’s roommate.”
“Yeah, I guess I will.”
“So you’re really spending Halloween at you’re mom’s? What about Parker? Hasn’t he called?”
“Not once.” Buffy mumbled, twirling the phone cord between her fingers. “I tried calling him a couple of times on the cell phone but he didn’t answer. I think he’s avoiding me.” She pouted.
“Do you think it’s because he saw-“
“Willow, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t mention that freak accident ever again.”
“Sorry.” Willow apologised meekly. “Maybe he’s just busy and that’s why he hasn’t called back.” She tried.
“Yeah. Maybe.” Buffy replied unconvinced.
There was a moment of silence between them.
“Well, I was just calling to know if you wanted to go to this Halloween party on Saturday.”
“Thanks, Wills. But I think I’ll stick with the mom daughter bonding scenario.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Ok, then. I guess I’ll see you next week then.”
“See you next week, Wills.” And with that she set the phone down, picked up her bag and headed for the door.
~+~
“Hello, mom?” Buffy called out when she entered the darkened house.
She flipped the light switch on and the hall was flooded with the artificial light coming from the ceiling.
She glanced into the empty living room before heading the opposite direction into the kitchen. She squinted as the florescent lights came on.
“Great, I come home for a surprise visit and there is no one here.” Buffy mumbled, dropping her bag and heading for the isle in the middle of the room. On the smooth surface she found a note. It had something scribbled on it and she immediately recognised her younger sister’s handwriting:
‘Mom, thanks for letting me sleep over and Janice’s. You’re the best.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Love, Dawn’
“That’s a surprise.” Buffy muttered, letting the piece of paper drop onto the isle again as she headed for the fridge. She was starving. “Let’s see what we’ve got-“
She stopped in mid sentence when she heard the front door open. With a bottle of water in her hand she walked into the hall.
She frowned when she saw her mother standing at the door, waving at someone. She squinted and tried to identify the object of her mother’s attention but all she saw were the taillights of a car as it drove away.
“Hey, mom.” She greeted, the frown still marring her eyebrows.
“Buffy?” Mrs. Summers exclaimed, turning around with a surprised look on her face. “What are you doing here? It’s Thursday. Don’t you have classes tomorrow?” Buffy recognised the change in her mother’s expression as the worst explanations came to mind. “Oh my God! Did something happen? Is everything alright? Is-“
“Mom, relax. Everything’s fine. I just decided to come home early for Halloween.” Buffy calmed her down.
“Oh. So everything’s ok?”
“Everything’s fine.” Buffy assured her.
A smile finally spread over Joyce’s lips as she crossed the hall to embrace her daughter.
“It’s great to have you home, honey. How was your week?” She asked letting go and entering the kitchen as she took off her coat.
“It was ok.” Buffy shrugged taking a seat around the isle.
“Have you had dinner yet?” Joyce asked.
“No. I’m starved.” Buffy said taking a sip from her water.
“I’ll cook you up something in a jiffy.” Mrs. Summers said opening the fridge and inspecting its contents.
“You’ve had dinner?” Buffy wondered.
“Yeah. I had to work late tonight and since I knew Dawn was going to Janice’s slumber party I ended up eating something at the diner near the gallery.” Joyce explained nonchalantly as she went about preparing dinner.
Buffy’s eyebrows furrowed once more as she tried to read her mother’s expression. After a few minutes of silence she spoke:
“Who drove you home?”
“Huh. What, sweetie?” Joyce asked.
Buffy’s frowned deepened. Was her mother hiding something from her?
“I asked who drove you home. I saw you waving at someone outside.”
“Oh. That! That was just a friend.” Joyce replied continuing with her cooking.
“What friend?” Buffy insisted.
“You don’t know him.”
“So it’s a him.” Buffy said semi-triumphantly.
“Yes, it’s a *he*.” Her mother confirmed and corrected at the same time.
“And who is *he*?”
“Just someone I met while I was at the hospital.” Joyce explained as she chopped some onions.
“Oh.” Buffy muttered when she realised she was going to have to be more blunt about the issue. She took a few second and eventually blurted: “Are you two dating?”
Mrs. Summers choked at the question.
“W- *cough* What?”
“Are you two dating?” Buffy repeated, raising both her eyebrow.
“Of course not!” She denied vehemently. “What made you think that?”
“He’s driving you home, isn’t he? What was he doing at the gallery?”
“He wasn’t at the gallery. I bumped into him while I was at the diner. He offered to take me home. That’s all.” Joyce laughed off her daughter’s suspiciousness.
“So you had dinner with him?” Buffy continued with her inquiry.
“Buffy, what is this?” Joyce stopped cutting the salad and looked up at her daughter. “Why all these questions? I’ve told you, we are just friends.”
Buffy bowed her head. She really didn’t know how to react to this new development. Her mother was dating someone. It was just too… She swallowed hard and continued in a weaker voice:
“It’s just that you’re having dinner with someone.” She paused. “Someone that drives you home and-and you’ve never told me about this guy. You say you met him at the hospital? What, is he a doctor or something?”
“Well, if you wanna know so much you better ask him tomorrow. He’s coming over for dinner.” Joyce said matter-of-factly as she continued to prepare dinner.
Buffy simply sat at the isle, staring open-mouthed at her mother.
~+~
“So you’re mom’s dating someone?” Willow’s question came from the other side of the line.
“Yes. I mean, no!” Buffy replied a bit confused. “I mean, I don’t know. She says they’re just friends.”
“Maybe that’s just what they are.”
“Yeah. Right. Friends who have dinner and drive each other home.” Buffy grumbled.
She wasn’t ok with this. She had had the entire night and day to think about this only to realise that she definitely wasn’t ok with it. And that really pissed her off. She was supposed to be happy for her mother. It was about time she found someone else. Ever since her father had left them all her mother did was take care of her and Dawn, go to work, come home, clean the house, make dinner, go to bed and then back up to go to work again. It was a terrible routine.
So why was this thing eating at her. God, she hated being like this. Why couldn’t she just be happy for her mother?
“So he’s coming over tonight?” Willow’s question broke through her thoughts.
“Yeah.” Buffy mumbled, lying on her back staring up at the ceiling while her legs dangled off the bed. “We’re having dinner.”
“You’re not too happy with this are you?”
“I don’t know what I am right now. It’s just so all of a sudden, you know? It’s weird.” Buffy replied as she ran her head through her hair. “I guess I’ll just wait and see. Maybe my mom’s right, they’re just friends and I’m just being paranoid-Buffy.”
“Maybe.” Willow agreed.
“So, what are you doing tonight?” Buffy asked trying to change the subject.
“I’m staying home. Reading. Get my energies ready for tomorrow’s party.”
“You got reading assignment, huh?”
“No. It’s just a book Tara lent me.” Willow explained. “It’s sort of a psychological analysis of human behaviour disguised as a supernatural thriller. It’s pretty cool.”
“A psychological analysis of human behaviour disguised as a supernatural thriller?” Buffy repeated.
“Yep. It’s fun. You should read it.”
“I think it’s a little too farfetched for me.”
“Buffy, are you up there?” Her mother’s voice carried through her bedroom door.
“Wait a sec, Will.” She spoke into the receiver. “Yeah, mom?” Buffy shouted back.
Seconds later there was a knock on her door.
“Come in.”
The door opened to reveal her mother.
“You better hurry if you still want to take that shower. Our guest will be here by seven.”
“I’m coming.” Buffy replied as her mom left the room. “Hello, Willow?”
“I’m here.”
“I better get going. I have to shower.”
“Ok. Take care.”
“Bye, Wills.”
She put down the receiver and picked up her towel as she walked out of the room and into the hallway.
~+~
She sat on her bed in front of her dresser, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
“Why are you making this difficult? So what if mom has a date. Maybe he’s cool. Maybe you’ll like him.” She tried to give herself the pep talk.
When she finally admitted to herself that it wasn’t going to work she sighed and stood up. Holding her towel against her wet form she walked over to her closet, opened its door and stared at its contents.
Just then the doorbell rang.
“Great. He’s here.” Buffy grumbled picking up a sweater and unfolding it.
She stared at it for a few seconds then dismissed it, throwing it onto her bed. After a couple of minutes her covers were buried under a pile of clothes.
“Oh, just pick anything.” She chastised herself as she walked around to stand at the foot of the bed and looked at the clothes scattered on it.
The sound of her door opening caught her attention. She inhaled sharply and growled as she turned around:
“Dawn, how many times do I have to-“
She stopped in mid sentence when she failed to find her little sister and the door and instead found a familiar black-clad, bleached man standing in her place. Her eyes widened as she blurted out in unison with Spike:
“What are you doing here?!”
She shook her head, her hand instinctively coming to hold her towel closer to her body. Why was it that every time they met alone she was semi-naked? First meeting in a towel, last meeting in a robe and now it was back to the towel outfit. As she debated the issue her hand tried to stretch the fabric as much as it was possible, one holding it against her breasts while the other pulled it down to cover her legs. And why was he staring at her like that?
‘God, I hate him. Stop staring!’
He seemed to understand her predicament, when he finally snapped out of his daze, shaking his head and asking once again:
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here!” She exclaimed. “What are *you* doing her-” Her face when white as chalk as she realised: “Oh my God! You’re dating my mother?”