HOT SHIVER

Second Chapter.

Dawn yawned, quite rudely.
Aqua gym wasn’t for her. Beside the swimming pool Buffy was working in the Latin dance class, while Spike, sitting by the bar, wrote furiously on his pad.
Next to her was a beautiful English girl, all tall, soft, and with golden curls. She was a natural blonde. Dawn feigned indifference, putting up her brown hair with a pin and talking with Maggie as if they were friends.
“Have you seen that hottie? Do you know him?”
Dawn looked down the lane from under her sunglasses, while the aqua gym teacher shouted uselessly.
“Who? Connor?”
“I thought his name was Steven. His mother and mine are friends. They met in Martha’s Vineyard”
Dawn rolled her eyes.
“I call him Connor” she smiled, as the boy came over to them and threw his arms around her, in a touchy - feely gesture.
“Let’s go to the disco Saturday” he whispered in her ear, making her laugh. His lips were cool and tickled the sensitive skin of her neck.
“Hallo” Maggie intruded, smiling broadly.
Dawn ignored her. “What else is there to do if we’re stuck here….”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Maggie insisted, showing off her surgically – enhanced breasts. At her age!
“Steven O’Connor” He introduced himself, savouring the show. “Connor, to my friends”
Dawn pouted a bit, but then she recalled he wasn’t her boyfriend, only a friend, and Maggie had got some rock-solid topics for discussion. She had to admit it. She broke away and smiled at him.
Maggie used that lapse of time to get out of the water like a Venus, scuttling away in a ridiculous black thong. Connor’s glance followed her, then he fixed his stare on Dawn.
“Well?”
“I don’t know, I’m a bit bored with the disco, the usual stupid stuff…”
“I meant in Funchal. There’s a good place, people flock there from all across Europe. Ok, it’s not Ibiza, but it’s the best you’ll find in such a forgotten place”
Dawn got excited. ”Funchal? How can we get there?”
“Easy. There’s a bus going straight there. We can take one back at 1 a.m. and come home”
“Mmm…are you sure? To be at the bus stop at that hour we’d have to leave quite early. I’d rather stay at the disco till dawn”
“I’ve never been in a disco till dawn”
“Neither have I, that was the point”
“Fuck the point. Let’s go there and have fun, what do you think?”
She stared at him, raising her sunglasses and watching him with her bluest eyes, made clearer by the sunlight on that wonderful day. She was tanning quite quickly and her skin had honeyed in a very hot way. Connor smiled at her, and she wondered when he would kiss her.
They had become friends very soon. Good friends. They were a spending an awful lot of time together and had found their place in the group of teens at the village, people who spent their holidays there year after year, French people, Americans, Spanish people, and all of them believed them to be an item.
But they weren’t. Dawn had concluded Connor didn’t like her in that way, but when he was looking at her with that glance…
“I’ll go and tell Spike”
“Don’t you need to ask your sister?”
“Nah….let her finish her dance lesson”
Connor followed her to the bar.
“Spike…me and Connor would like to go dancing in Funchal, on Saturday night. We’re planning on taking the bus. What do you think?”
“All right” the man answered, raising his eyes from the pad. “What time will you be home?”
“The last bus leaves at 1 a.m., but the island is a quiet place”
“Let me talk to Buffy. There shouldn’t be any problems” Spike smiled, going back to his notes.
“He reminds me of my father” Connor replied, when they had left. “Sometimes I guess he just lives in another world. I’m asking myself what he does all day long, apart from working… these days he usually has his drawing pad in his hand and…”
“Does he sketch?” Dawn asked, curiously, while she passed a towel over her body
“You got it”
“He draws…what?”
“I don’t know” Connor replied. “Usually, my mother…me…other people. Nowadays? I don’t know”
None of them dedicated another thought to that question. Beach volleyball was waiting.

“Excuse me!” Buffy put on her jewelled sandals and ran after the beautiful woman with the big straw hat that shadowed her perfect, white skin, notwithstanding the long hours spent next to the pool. “You forgot this!”
Buffy handed her a magazine.
Darla stared at her.
The girl was cute. She had big, green, luminous eyes and a warm charm.
“Thanks, dear” she answered, turning away. Furious, Buffy didn’t add anything. She didn’t want to talk, uh? All her fault for being kind…
Darla thought again. And she suddenly stopped in her tracks, staring at her.
“Why don’t you have a drink with me?” she asked. Buffy smiled, happy, and followed her towards the bar.
They sat at the same table and Darla ordered a cappuccino. Buffy asked herself how she could drink something so hot and creamy on that hot summer day, but she ordered the same. A long drink like a coke seemed somehow out of place, a childish choice. Happy hour was far away.
“My name is Darla O’Connor” she introduced herself, extending her hand. Buffy took it.
“Buffy Summers”
“We’re neighbours” Darla kept on. “My son and your…sister have become friends”
“It’s easy, at their age” Buffy admitted, drinking her cappuccino. “When I arrived in New Jersey from California, I got to know my best friend ever in just two days. And we still keep in touch, too”
“Your husband doesn’t sound American”
“He’s not. I mean…he’s English - and he is not my husband” Buffy replied, with a smile, omitting to remind the woman that she had already told her he was her boyfriend at their first meeting.
“Not yet?”
“I don’t know” she admitted, nibbling on her sunglasses. “We haven’t discussed that recently”
“He’s quite…striking. That hair…”
“You should have known him a few years ago. He had long hair. It was beautiful. But he kept on bleaching it. He acts like a rock star, what a guy, eh? At most, he sings in some club with his even weirder friends…”
“What type of music does he play?”
“Rock, punk…I don’t know” Buffy kept going. “I like pop”
“I prefer classical music”
Buffy smiled. She had sensed it.
“Your sister is really beautiful for her age. You don’t look very alike, though”
“I’m the shortest in the family. All the others were tall”
“Were they?”
“My mother died, and I…well, my father disappeared from the scene. A long time ago.”
“I’m sorry”
“These things happen, don’t they? Your son is quite well-built, too, for a seventeen year old boy. It seems to me he takes after your side of the family, rather than his father’s.”
“True” Darla seemed satisfied. “Steven looks a lot like me”
“You must be proud”
“I am”
Silence fell. After the first chat, they didn’t have much more in common.
Darla studied her nails. And then she stared at Buffy.
“Why don’t you come back with me to my home? I’ll show you the apartment, and you can tell me if it’s like yours”
Buffy stared back, wondering about her intentions. And then she smiled.
“Thank you, I’d love to”

Liam sat down next to Spike. The hot sun bothered him, so he stayed under the umbrella and ordered an iced frappuccino. Without even speaking, he slid his drawing pad towards the other man.
Spike didn’t say anything in reply, just flicked over the pages.
And then he smiled.
Liam was an artist.
“Do you like them?” He asked, with a small, crooked smile.
“They are amazing” Spike replied, tracing the lines with his fingertip. “I’ve never seen myself…like this”
“I know”
Spike kept on staring at the pictures. They were perfect. They showed a young, strong, slender man, his body and face sketched with angular planes in contrast one to the other. Pictures of him.
“I’ve got an idea for tonight” Liam said.
“Good. Just wait for me to put my girls to bed”
“I know. I told Connor not to be late”
“Dawn asked for my permission to go with him to Funchal next Saturday night. They’d like to take the bus. But I’ve got a better idea. What about renting a car and taking them there? What do you think, Liam?”
“We’d have to miss out on one of our nights on the terrace”
Now that was fun. It had become a habit, the sweetest one in those holidays. When their families went to bed, the two men met on the terrace…and talked. To exhaustion. They talked, played, drew portraits. About movies, books, art, travels. Almost never about their real lives. Never. Neither of them knew details of the job or the life the other had. Here, in Madeira, where the powerful oceanic winds blew, what did all that matter?
“Yeah, but…instead, we could visit that beautiful cape at the far end of the Island. We could go to Funchal. We would have fun”
“Without our women?”
Spike stared at him, taking off his sunglasses. Liam was again amazed by the purest blue of those eyes. And how expressive they were.
“Well…the idea was a night out with a friend, wasn’t it?”
“Darla wouldn’t want to come, that’s for sure. But…what about your girlfriend?”
Buffy, right. Spike chewed his lip. She wouldn’t accept spending a night alone while he was having fun with Liam O’Connor on the Island.
“Forget it” he ended, asking himself how he could have forgotten Buffy.
“Let’s take them along” Liam suggested.
“It wouldn’t be the same”
“I know, but…”
“I’ll talk to Buffy” nervously, Spike closed his pad. Liam accepted his rapid change of pace: he was a very changeable kind of guy.
Like the different shades of his eyes. And he couldn’t hide any of his emotions.
He lifted the cup to his lip, and then paused.
“I’ve got a better idea. We’ll stay here with our women, and let the kids go down on the bus. And then we’ll pick them up later. I’ll rent the car immediately. What do you think?”
Spike smiled at him. He would think about it. He couldn’t stop Buffy from coming along…but it was sweet of Liam to think of it. The idea of spending a night with him was really…intriguing.
There was no need to say that out loud. He understood from Liam’s smile that it was the same for him.


The house was cool and silent.
And absolutely identical to hers, just reversed: the two main bedrooms were at opposite sides of the building. That was good, Buffy thought, thinking about the noises she and Spike made. They were not comme il faut.
Darla preceded her towards the main bedroom and Buffy followed, murmuring something nice about the ethnic furniture (identical to hers).
Words died on her lips.
Darla took off her pareo and she was at her most beautiful…naked.
Her pert breasts were soft and perfect, and the rosy nipples ready…to suck, to lick, to caress.
Buffy gaped.
Darla smiled, stretching out a hand.


Spike turned in bed, staring at the luminous clock.
Twenty past midnight.
Buffy slept at his side, but she didn’t seem quiet. She was restless, and she hadn’t turned to him that night. Spike had felt a guilty relief. He didn’t say anything, and he had kissed her brow and hair. She had fallen asleep, sighing.
Spike threw his legs out of bed, put on some jeans and a t – shirt, and left the apartment. Liam was already on the terrace, smoking. Without words he passed a cigarette to Spike, who took it.
“I’m waiting for my surprise” he said, smiling.
“Take off your t – shirt” Liam ordered kindly. “I want to do what you asked”
“Really?” Spike’s eyes widened. “You’re sure, then!”
“Just one thing…can I keep it?”
“Of course. You’re the artist”
“Well, then…”
Spike smiled. “I’m happy for you to have it”
“Right. Take off your trousers, too”
Spike obeyed, slowly. Shamelessly, without useless pruderies, he took off his clothes and, naked and perfect, he lay on the recliner. Liam gave him some practical instructions and Spike raised an arm, putting it behind his head, raised a leg too and bent it on the chair. Liam studied him with a professional eye, admiring the neat lines of his body. It was evident he was weight training, he was taking care of his body. The six pack abs were perfect.
“You know” he started drawing, while Spike relaxed in the cool night air, which caressed his body. “Today you said something …that took root inside of me”
“Tell me”
“Keep still, please. Like that, turn your chin towards me…a little more…You told me you wanted to spend a night with me. As friends”
“That’s what we are becoming, right?” Spike exclaimed, quietly. “Believe me, I haven’t had any male friends for years. I always used to be with women, maybe because my father died when I was a kid and my mother raised me alone. I understand women well…my best friend is a girl, Tara, she’s an artist too, and there’s Dawn too, my sister in law. And Willow, Buffy’s friend. On the other hand, Xander – Willow’s husband – is not my cup of tea”
“It wasn’t easy for me, either” Liam admitted. “I was a bit of a thug, at school. I had minions more than friends, to be honest. And then I got married…I worked a lot…No, I don’t have friends. Not male or female friends”
“You don’t live far from me. We could meet up, sometimes, have a beer, go to a match…”
”Who knows” Liam murmured, sadly. “I don’t go out often”
“I’m sorry”
“I wasn’t refusing your friendship…I assure you we’ll find a way”
“Very well” Spike relaxed. “How far along are you?”
“I’m still at the beginning. Put yourself at ease and relax”
“Right” Spike smiled, closing his eyes.
Liam stared at him while his elegant, assured hands flew over the paper. He now knew the man’s body perfectly, since he had been drawing him a lot, in recent days. But he hadn’t dared to ask him to pose nude, it was Spike who had proposed it to him the night before.
He asked himself what this portrait would mean to him, once secure in the safe in his study.
Yes, he had to have it.
Light – heartedly, he kept on drawing while a comfortable silence settled between them.