Chapter 2
Buffy
I’ve applied at every company that had an opening in the entire city. I started off with high hopes, applying for admin jobs, but after two weeks of nothing, I finally went and applied everywhere else. I’ve had two job offers. One for a full-time position at the DoubleMeat Palace at seven dollars an hour and a part-time position waitressing at the Bronze for four dollars an hour plus tips. After doing the math on my handy dandy calculator, I realize that I’m going to need both jobs for us to scrap by.
How am I going to work two jobs and slay and take care of Dawn? I really need some help.
I called a realtor the other day and found out that the market in Sunnydale is so bad that even if we sell the house, we’re going to owe money on it. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. I cancel the cable, the internet, and the long distance. That oughta save us a little money.
I start both jobs on Monday. It’s Friday and I could use some funness. I call Willow and Xander, but neither seem to be around. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen them since…that night…Actually, I haven’t seen anyone since that night, not even Spike. Where is everyone?
XXX
Spike
My head feels like it’s been run over by a bloody truck. One weekend my arse. I’ve been holed up for a week in this shitty motel waiting for my vision to clear. I knew I should’ve checked the docs credentials.
On a good note, the chip is gone. Course, that ain’t gonna do me much good if I can’t get outta here soon. Bloke was a nutter anyway. Kept talking about my destiny. How removing the chip was gonna impend my way to salvation. ‘M a vamp, I don’t have a salvation. Then he kept goin’ on and on about the road and how it had a fork that divided it into two ways and how I must decide my path and blah blah blah.
What I need to do is get back to Sunnydale and…wait, I don’t really need to go back there now, do I? ‘M a free vamp with the world as my oyster. ‘M chipfree and fanged…and all I can think of is a tiny blonde who can kill me with a flick of her wrist. Yeah, I’m a doomed man.
Better work on getting outta here.
XXX
Dawn
Buffy doesn’t know but I’ve been sneaking to Spike’s crypt. He hasn’t been around, but I met this really neat demon named Clem. He says that he’s Spike’s friend and that he’s crypt-sitting while Spike is away. I can’t believe that after everything that happen, Spike left. Clem says that he was supposed to be back two weeks ago. I hope nothing happened to him.
I managed to get a part-time job at the video store. I didn’t tell Buffy that I applied, but I want to help. I’m trying to be strong, like Buffy is. She’s changed so much in the past month. She actually tells me everything that’s going on. I wonder if this is backlash because Willow and Xander seemed to have disappeared and she has no one else to talk to. I actually stopped by the Magic Shop the other day and while everyone was nice to me, they side-stepped any mention of Buffy, even when I brought her up. I thought they were her friends. She needs them more than ever and they’ve abandoned her. Everyone’s abandoned her it seems, even Spike and Giles.
When I tell her that I got the job to help out, Buffy smiles. She tells me that I can keep any of the money that I make, but that I can’t work after nightfall unless someone picks me up. I tell her it’s covered and she casually asks if Xander or Willow will be the ones picking me up. I lie and say yes because if I tell her it’s Clem, she’ll never let me have the job. Besides, Clem’s only going to walk me home until Spike gets back. I’m sure he won’t mind taking over…Plus, I’m not sure how much help Clem will be if I actually do get into trouble.
XXX
Buffy
The first day at the Doublemeat Palace was even worse than I imagined. First I had to watch this awful video about how the doublemeat burger is made. Yeah, so never eating meat again. I will never be able to scrub the image of the headless chicken running around in a circle from my mind.
After that, I had to watch Grease Guy show me how to use the grill. Ugh, I swear that the man has never showered in his life. He actually smelled like old burgers. Then he proceeded to tell me about the time he had to go to the doctor and have hardened grease pulled out of his ear. Okay, ew! Like I so did not need to know that.
The tour of the refrigerator reminds me that there’s no food in the house. Note to self, stop at grocery store…double note to self, find time to stop at the grocery store. Almost forgot that I get off here at five and I start at the bronze at seven. Maybe I can hit the store in between…
Oh, great. While I was doing the grocery think, I missed out on how to use the register. Manny the manager is smiling at me and I stare at the buttons. Okay, well, they have neat little pictures on them, how hard can this be? I try to smile at the first customer.
“Hi, welcome to Doublemeat Palace. How can I help you?” There, that sounds friendly.
The man and his eight million children, who are all screaming, doesn’t smile back. “I need four kiddie meals, one with a hamburger extra ketchup, no pickles and apple slices instead of fries, one with chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce and fries, one with a cheeseburger plain and fries, and one with two cheeseburgers and two fries. All of those need milk, not pop and if possible can we get the Buttercup toy and not the Bubbles toy? We have those already. Then I need two Doublemeat specials super duper sized with diets…oh and I have a coupon.”
My smile is frozen. “Um, right, uh…” I stare down at the buttons and wonder which picture means what. This is going to be a long day.
XXX
Xander
Man, how the hell did I pull lunch duty? I thought that becoming the boss would mean never having to be the lunch gopher again. Darn it! I knew I shouldn’t have made that stupid bet. There is nothing worse than being in the Doublemeat Palace at lunchtime. The line seems to be taking forever.
“Dude, there should be a law against having trainees work the register at lunch rush,” the guy in front of me mutters.
Great. Just great. That means that by the time I get back to the site, my actual lunch time will be over. Again I say that it’s not fair that the lunch gopher has to use their actual lunch time to go and fetch the food. I’m so bringing this up at the next meeting.
“I think this is the chocolate shake button…Does that look like chocolate to you?” The girl at the register says loudly.
That voice sounds familiar. Is it…it can’t be…What the heckola is she doing here?
“Hi, welcome to the-Xander!”
“Buffy,” I say. Okay, I squeaked is more like it, but when I retell this story later, I am so leaving the squeaking part out. “So, when did you become working girl?” There, that sounds light, right? Light idle chatter with my former best friend who doesn’t know that she’s my former best friend because I haven’t talked to her in two weeks.
“Today’s actually my first day.”
“Oh, really…couldn’t tell…” My throat is so dry that I think there’s actually sand in it.
Buffy’s smiling that bright smile that she always used for Angel or Riley and I wished she would use on me and now she is and I feel like a heel and who knew you could nervously ramble inside your own head?
“So, I haven’t seen you in a while--you or Willow, have you been busy?”
I want to run far, far away. I am a terrible person. “Yeah, busy.”
“Come on! I only got fifteen more minutes on my lunch. You gonna move this line or what, blondie?”
I want to hug the guy who yelled that. Instead, I turn around and tell him to shut up. When I see Buffy’s grateful face, I want to kill myself slowly.
“So,” she says softly. “What can I get you?”
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