Forever

“I have a job?” Will asked as looked around Wes’ office.

“Of course you do, William.” Wes smiled as he placed his hands
behind his head and leaned back in his seat. “You can start tomorrow,
and just get to know everyone. Become acquainted with those around you.”

Will put a book back on the book shelf. “Can the pretty brunette be my
assistant?” Will asked as he picked up another book.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Cordelia,” Wes said, leaning on his
elbows. “She is quite a catch, but she isn’t an assistant. She’s
also a private investigator.”

“Cordelia? Oh, no I meant Buffy. That is her name right?” Will
placed the book back in its place and sat back down.

“I don’t see why not, but don’t go putting your charms on
her. She’s taken.” Wes continued on, “Granted, I know that
doesn’t stop you, but she is not one to fool with.”

Will leaned the chair back, making it stand on two legs and grinned, “Never
said I wanted her, just asked if she could be my assistant.”

“I know you.”

“Fine, fine, she’s taken. I didn’t see a ring on her finger
though.”

Wes sighed and silently cursed Buffy, “She’s married to your employer.”

“Oh Wes, you didn’t tell me. When did you get married? And by the
way, you caught quite a bird. Good for you.”

“Not mine you nit, Angel. You know, Angel Investigations?” Wes
took a sip of his tea.

“Ah, good ‘ole Angel. Yea, how’s that marriage working out?”
Will asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“I’d say perfectly well considering she loves him deeply and visits
him any chance she gets, so keep your ninny hands to yourself.” Wes warned
him.

“All I said was that I wanted her to be my assistant.” Will was
now even more curious about Buffy. Wes was right; a married woman had never
stopped him before. He took what he wanted and never thought of the consequences.
He usually wasn’t with a woman long enough to even think about the future.

“That’s all she will be, now I have a prior appointment. You can
either stay here with Cordelia and Buffy, or go back to your hotel. Charles
should be coming back today, but that isn’t guaranteed. Have you started
looking for a place to live yet?” Wes asked.

“Haven’t had the chance,” Will stood up. “I plan on
doing so this weekend.”

Wes told him about a few neighborhoods that he might find interest in, and
walked him out of his office.

Wes grabbed his bag that he kept his work in, “Buffy, if anyone calls
take a message, but if it’s important page me.”

Buffy nodded, “Are you gone for the rest of the day?”

“Looks like. Unfortunately we don’t get paid for sitting on our
arses.” Wes picked up his messenger bag, putting the strap over his shoulder.

“Some people do,” Will muttered then got a glare from Buffy.

“What was that Will?” Wes asked. When Will replied a ‘nothing’
he turned to go. “Oh, if Charles does come back, please tell him to page
me.”

“Will do,” Buffy smiled and wrote it down on a post it ‘Gunn
page Wes’ in bright red colors, and taped it on her desk. “Have
fun!”

“Thank you, Buffy. Good day Will.”

Buffy watched Wesley leave then went back to her game. Will stood not sure
of what to do. Wes did say he could leave, but he thought bugging Buffy would
be more productive. Not to mention, he really didn’t have anything else
to do. He got himself a cup of tea that Buffy seemed to make throughout the
day and sat down in front of her desk.

“Still playing your game I suppose?” Will asked then sipped his
tea.

“No, I’m working.” Buffy kept her eyes on the screen.

“Must be nice to get paid for doing nothing, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?” Buffy took her eyes from the game and looked at him.

“You heard me.” Will had a slight grin on his face, “Don’t
look at me like that, I’m just teasing you is all.”

“You’re rude.” And hot, so very, very hot. Buffy added silently
to herself.

Will glanced at her then let his eyes wander down to her hands. He was curious
as to why she didn’t wear her wedding ring. Maybe something happened that
Wesley didn’t know about.

“I’m sorry for your husband. Must be tough on you.” Will
brought his eyes back up to her face and saw her look away quickly, so he continued,
“How long is he in for?”

“What do you care?” She said that a bit too fast, “I’m
sorry, I …” Buffy began twirling her hair with her fingers then
placed the piece of hair behind her ear. “He has another two years, unless
they let him out on good behavior.” She told him quietly.

“Again I say, that must be really rough. For you.” Will leaned
forward placing his tea on her desk, then sat back with his arms crossed, looking
at her.

Buffy didn’t say anything just watched him wondering what he was getting
at. Was he hinting around to what she thought he was hinting around at?

“What do you mean …” Buffy started to say, but the phone
rang and she picked it up. “Angel Investigations,” she said cheerily
then picked up her pen.

Will let his gaze fall on her again and noticed she had the brightest green
eyes, he’d ever seen. She didn’t have any make up on except for
lip gloss, but he figured she didn’t need any anyway. She was beautiful
just how she was. How could Angel be a git and leave her like that. He didn’t
know the details, but now he wanted to find out.

Buffy hung up the phone and wrote down the message for Wes. She could feel
his eyes on her, but didn’t bother looking at him. She knew Angel said
it was okay for her to see other guys while he was away, but now she was feeling
guilty because she was thinking of Will in that way. She should feel guilty.
Angel is her husband. She placed her fingertips on her wedding ring to remind
her of Angel, only it wasn’t there. She took her hand away quickly and
turned back to her game. A game she was currently losing.

Will noticed her going for her ring only to be disappointed to find that it
wasn’t there. He tilted his head still looking at her, realizing right
then and there that he wanted her. He didn’t care about the warning that
Wes gave him and that she was married. She didn’t bother wearing her ring
so he figured that maybe she is trying to move on.

“What happened?” Will suddenly asked.

“What happened with what?” Buffy still didn’t look at him.

“Your husband?”

“Oh, Angel, well, he’s away.” She said.

“Where is he?” He pressed on.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” Cordelia asked as she came from her office.
She went over to the table to pour herself another cup of coffee.

“Nothing.” Buffy replied, then excused herself and walked to the
restroom.

Will watched her as she walked away, and then turned to Cordelia, “What
happened to Angel? Where is he?”

“Oh, that’s the nothing she doesn’t want to talk about, and
hello what makes you think I’m going to tell you.” Cordelia rolled
her eyes, “It’s so not your business.” She walked closer to
him, “He’s in jail.”

Heh. Maybe I’ll find out more if … “Would you like to go
to dinner with me?”

“Okay.”

“Good, I guess we could meet here, or at a restaurant, you pick.”
Will wanted to find out what the big fuss was. “I really don’t know
my way around here, seeing as I just moved here.”

“Oh, you’ll love Los Angeles. Restaurants here are nice and trendy.”
Cordelia flashed a perfect smile at him then it soon faded. “I can’t
tonight, shoot. Going out with Buffy, you know girl time bla blab la. You know
how it is. Lonely girl, wants to have friends, me of course being a good friend
that I am takes pity on her and takes her out for a night on the town.”

She went on and on. Doesn’t this chit ever shut up? Will thought.

“Nice to know you’re only taking pity on me,” Buffy said
as she sat down at her desk.

“Oh Buffy, well Will invited me to dinner tonight, but I told him I had
other plans instead, and I’m not one to break plans.” Cordelia came
up to the desk and sat down next to Will. She patted his leg, “That’s
me being a good friend,” then she winked and took a sip of her coffee.

Will cleared his throat, “Uh, how about I just go out with you two tonight,
I’m new around here, and really don’t know my way around,”
he looked at Buffy.

Buffy didn’t even look from her computer, yet again, “No, that’s
okay. You two have a good time.”

Not the answer he was hoping for, he pressed on, “Well, then maybe we
can go out another time, I’m sorry for wrecking plans.”

Cordy spoke up, “Oh, no trouble at all, Buffy doesn’t mind.”
There she was with that smile again.

Will nodded, “All right then.”

Finally the work day was over and Buffy found herself on her couch eating a
TV dinner, watching a re-run of ‘Friends.’ She couldn’t help
but think oat Cat Cordy and Will were doing at that moment. Then she’d
scold herself because she shouldn’t care. She was married to a great husband.
A husband that she was filing for divorce papers from not even a week ago. A
husband who has been in jail for the last two years. A husband that told her
it was okay to see other guys as long as she didn’t divorce him. She glanced
at her watch and figured she still had enough time. She stood up and took her
dinner to the kitchen, put on her sandals and left to go see Angel.

“So, how come you’re now working for Wesley?” Cordelia asked
over dinner.

“I got laid off at my other job, and I need the money.” Will replied
then took a bite of his chicken.

“Uh huh, and what do you look for in a wife?” She added.

“I’m sorry?” Will almost choked on his food.

Cordy laughed then took a sip of her cocktail, “So?”

“Not looking for a wife, Cordelia. At least not right now.” Will
sighed and put his fork down. He kept on thinking of Buffy and he felt bad for
having ruining her plans for tonight. He felt worse because he had a feeling
that Cordelia thought he was interested in her.

“Oh, well that’s a shame. I’m sure you could have any girl
you want.” And you chose me, y ady added in her head.

“Right, so what happened to Angel?” He asked quickly.

“Oh, Angel.” Cordy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just don’t
let Buffy know that I said anything, she doesn’t like people thinking
of Angel as a murderer. Okay?”

“Of course.”

Buffy lifted her arms as the guards ran a metal detector over her. She watched
as they patted her down, making sure she only had her car keys on her and told
her to wait in a line. Finally the doors opened and she followed the others
in the room and waited for Angel to show up. About five minutes later she saw
him staggering in behind the other convicts. Once he sat, she picked up the
phone and waited for him to do so as well. Angel smiled gratefully that she
had come to see him and picked up the phone.

“Hey baby.” He glanced down at her hand and saw that she was wearing
the wedding band. He silently said a thank you and continued, “I miss
you.”

“I miss you so much Angel,” Buffy had to tell him that, had to
let him know that he was the only one. “Um, Wesley is going to be coming
by this weekend, so make sure you put him on the list, okay? Just in case and
Charles says hi.”

Angel nodded, “I’ll do that, haven’t seen him in a while.
How’s everything going?”

“Everything is fine. Wesley got a new client yesterday and started working n thn that this afternoon. Charles is still following that wife I was telling you
about and Cordy is still Cordy.” She smiled. “In fact she’s
out on a date with Wesley’s cousin. He just started working there today.”

“Oh, well that’s great. I think I’ve heard Wesley talk about
him a few times. They grew up together. Will right?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

Angel watched her and he noticed that her expression changed when she started
talking about Will. “How do you feel about him working there?”

“He’s a rude bastard,” Buffy laughed a little. “Says
I don’t do anything, that I play games all day.”

R“Solitaire?”

“Shut up.” Buffy smiled then leaned in closer to the glass as if
she could touch him. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Forever.” Angel told her. “About what
we talked about last time you came, have you?”

“Have I what?” Buffy knew it was coming.

“Slept … Have you slept with anyone else?” Angel watched
her face as she answered, and smiled himself when she answered no.

“No, I haven’t. I want to stay faithful to you. I don’t want
to hurt you.” Buffy said quietly.

“Buffy, as much as it kills me, I want you to be happy, not miserable.
As long as I know that you’re mine when I get out of here, baby, do what
you need to do. I’m giving you that.” Angel brought his hand up
to the glass.

Buffy nodded and willed herself not to cry, bringing her hand up to cover his
on the other side of the glass, “I know, but it’s so hard. It’s
hard without you too. I just need that comfort. I know I’m being selfish,
I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Don’t think of yourself like that Buffy. Just
remember, it’s just sex. With us, it’s love.” Angel grinned,
“In which you’ll be getting a lot of when I get out of here.”

“You better. I know when that day comes, I’m taking a month off
of work, and you’re mine.” Buffy licked her lips knowing how much
likeliked that then felt bad because she did.

Angel had to look away from her. He knew it was going to happen. He wanted
her so bad and even contemplated in his head how to get that glass down. He
knew he couldn’t do it, but he could dream.

“Time’s up.” The guard yelled out.

“I swear it’s never enough time. I love you and I’ll come
see you again, okay?”

“Okay, I love you too.” Angel said and hung the phone up. Buffy
hung the phone up also, but instead waited even though the other visitors were
already clearing out of the small room. She sat there and watched him until
she couldn’t see him anymore, then headed home to her lonely life.


TBC...