3 Years Ago

Sunnydale, California

Gallery 314

This was the biggest night of the boutique art gallery located in the small town Sunnydale's biggest night.

Co-owners and parent's of two daughters, Rupert Giles and Joyce Summers-Giles took pride in their small little hideaway which was quickly gaining a massive reputation as an art gallery with exquisite, expensive, and exotic taste.

Joyce stood in the background of the showing uprising artists she had stumbled upon during a trip to San Fransisco win over the crowd of groovy art people with very deep pockets.

She felt a soft hand run down her back and wrap around her waist. Joyce smiled softly when a pair of gentle lips touched her cheek.

"We're a smash, love," Giles whispered into her ear and placed a tall glass of champagne in her hand.

Joyce watched all of the eyes marvel over the pieces of art hanging on the walls. "I really think we are. We're doing it." She looked at her husband. "Have you seen our girls?"

"Last I saw, Dawn was speaking to a young woman about the 'crimsons of life' or something to that extent. That girl is going to be a reckoning when she goes to University."

"Much like her father," Joyce whispered to him with a teasing smile. "And our other daughter?"

Giles playfully frowned, "Other daughter?"

Trying to fight the smile forming on her lips, Joyce narrowly glared at him.

"I only tease, love. Buffy is around here somewhere. Last I saw she was with Willow." Giles turned back to the crowd cover the floor and frowned, "She's out there somewhere."

Joyce nodded and released a breath, relieved by the success this night was having. "I have to admit, I was very nervous about all of this. I was doing well with the gallery before, then you and I started running it together and now…"

"The sky is our limit?" Giles finished eyeing her carefully. "I have to say working alongside O'Connor was the best decision we could have made. Look at all of this!" He held out his hand towards the people. "This was mostly his doing."

"I just wish he wasn't so… off-putting."

"Off-putting?" Giles frowned, "Dear, we didn't become business partners based on personalities. O'Connor is extremely good at what he does, despite his inhospitable magnetism."

Joyce understood his point but there was something nagging at her wishing that their business partner/investor, Angelus O'Connor had a more of a welcoming nature. She would never admit this to her husband but she was frightened to be left in a room with him—not because he'd become abusive or something of that nature. No, Joyce feared the cold-hearted cloud which followed Angelus everywhere. He was a man, who seemed unfeeling and unforgivingly ruthless which he was.

Angelus O'Connor did not make it to the top by being polite. He's known as the 'Scourge of International Business' in the business and investing world. The investments he reached for had no boundaries. Angelus quickly gained a reputation for his 'conquer all' and 'slaughter the rest' methodology. There was not a thing in the world Angelus O'Connor could not have.

Weaved in the sea of the crowds of eager buyers, Angelus stood, resting his elbow on top of a tall table. His eyes were focused across the room on a petite, slim figured woman. Her hair was long and a honey shade of blonde which fell over her shoulders and down her back in gentle waves. He continued to follow the imaginary curves of her body, eyeing the short length black cocktail dress coming up to her mid thigh. Angelus wanted her to turn to face him, wanting to catch a glimpse of her face.

She stood with an attractive redheaded woman with short hair with stylish waves. The redhead was laughing about something. Their laughter was muffled by the voice and bopping instrumental jazz music playing over the speakers.

From the other side of the gallery room, Willow smiled and shifted her eyes from the large painting hung in front of her and looked at Buffy.

"It's nice to get a break from grading papers all of the time," Willow said hating to steer the conversation back to work, but she had trouble getting her best friend to talk about the handsome man she's been seeing lately.

"Um, yeah," Buffy said taking a sip from the thin straw of the fruity cocktail drink in her hand. "We've been writing creatively lately and their assignment is a short story of whatever they want. They've done a few the last few weeks but this is like the…" she held out her hand giving the assignment some emphasis, "… the big one."

Willow nodded finishing the last of her drink, "All original?"

"Most of them but if I have to read another story about a vampire and a vampire slayer falling love, I'm going to throw their computers out the window."

"You better not! How else am I going to teach my class?"

They shared a laugh.

Buffy shook her head with a smile, "Every year, there is always at least one kid from each class that writes a story like that. And guess what?" Willow waited, "The Slayer always ends up killing the vampire she loves to save the world, boo-hoo."

"How predictable?" Willow ate the green olive in the martini glass. "So tell me about this new guy you've been sneaking around with lately."

Buffy frowned, "I haven't been sneaking… We've just been… Okay, I sort of been sneaking but I'm not really sure about him. I mean he's nice. And he has really good arms but I don't know…"

Willow frowned waiting for her to finish.

"… There's something off about him."

"Does he not... get the job... done?" Willow whispered for the people surrounding them not to hear.

Buffy's eyes widened at her friend's innuendo and quickly said, "It's nothing about that. He's great but it's just… I feel like when Owen and I are together, we're not really totally together, you know?"

"Wandering eye?" Willow frowned.

"Not necessarily… He's definitely not the husband type—I mean, he is but I think he'd want to marry Emily Dickinson more than me—Not that I'm looking for that right at the moment…"

Willow caught a glimpse of the piercing brown eyes from across the room staring at them with a hawk's focus. "Don't look now, but there is a really, really gorgeous man across the room staring at you."

"You think a man is gorgeous?" Buffy didn't the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

Willow rolled her eyes, "I can think a man is gorgeous!"

With amusement, Buffy shook her head, "But you're gay."

"I wasn't always gay…" Willow comically frowned. "Hello! Dated a guitarist in a band…"

Without thought, Buffy glanced over her shoulder to the piercingly dark eyes of a dark shade of brown latched to her. They were attached to a strikingly handsome face with intense dark features. His mouth was set in a thin permanent frown. Buffy could tell that under his black silk button-up shirt, he was a muscular man with broad shoulders. His entire black ensemble made him appear more intimidating that he already was.

Buffy scoffed with a heavy eye-roll and turned back to Willow, "That's Angelus O'Connor."

Willow frowned unsure if she was supposed to know the name, though it sounded familiar.

"Mom and Giles' investor slash business partner. His money paid for this shindig—Well, most of it. All these people," Buffy twirled her finger around the room to the fancy dressed people around her, "these are his friends or whatever."

"Have you talked to him before?"

Buffy shrugged and silently shook her head, "Once and he's an ass. It was like pulling teeth to get him to say two words and when he finally did, he was rude. Besides, when he's looking at you, he's really looking at the beautiful woman behind you. He's a definite, love them and leave them type. He's like a really big investor—business tycoon or something. Mom and Giles met him a few months ago during an 'art gallery exhibition' in LA."

"Well, whatever he's doing, it's paying off. This is really a big hit."

"It is," Buffy said genuinely happy for her parent's success. It was well earned and way overdue. She broke from her drifting thoughts and glanced back over her shoulder to see a long haired blonde woman, with bright blue eyes, and perfect features approach Angelus. She wore a long white tight dress, hugging all of her curves. She wrapped an arm around Angelus' shoulder's turning his attention. He looked at her as if she were the only woman in the room.

Rolling her eyes at the sensual display, Buffy turned back to Willow and continued, "The minute we talked—if you can call it that… it was the worst minute of my life. All he did was glare at me, muttered something then snobbishly turned away, leaving me mid-sentence."

Willow frowned finding it strange that her friend was getting that sort of reaction from a handsome man. From all of the number of years since sophomore year of high school that she's known Buffy, she never, ever had trouble getting the attention from the opposite sex. Usually, they cornered her and begged for her attention.

With a shrug, Willow frowned picking up her now empty martini glass and nodded towards the open bar and muttered, "Maybe he's Canadian."

Buffy laughed and followed Willow to the bar.