~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was exactly 12:55 as Angel threw himself down on the couch and grabbed the remote to his television set. <<No way am I going to miss today's episode.>> Suddenly the doorbell rang and he muttered to himself as he jumped up to answer it, wondering who it could possibly be.
Not knowing who would ring his doorbell around 1 in the afternoon, Angel called out, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Willow," came the reply.
Thinking something might be wrong, Angel quickly unlocked the door and called out, "It's open." As the door slowly swung open, Angel stepped back so as not to be hit by any rays of sunlight.
"Willow?" he asked as she entered into the room, "is everything alright?"
"Yeah, it's fine," she replied, wondering why he seemed so concerned, "why?"
"Well, it's just that…shouldn't you be in school?"
Willow noticed as the vampire furtively checked his watch and silently wondered when he'd gotten a watch.
<<Damn! It's almost one.>>
"Well, actually," Willow began, "school let out early today, you know, early dismissal, so I'd thought I'd just stop by to return the book I borrowed."
"Oh, thanks," Angel said as he reached for the book.
As she held out the book on Wiccan arts, she watched as Angel once again checked his watch. Feeling suddenly unsure of herself, she asked, "Angel, do you not want me here?"
"Huh?" Angel replied, startled. He hadn't realized she'd noticed anything.
"You keep checking your watch…"
"Oh! No, it's not that…it's just that its, well, one o'clock."
"So?"
"So, I kind of have a thing to do…oh, hell. Come on," Angel said as he led her to the couch. Willow looked on in amusement as Angel sat down in front of the television and turned up the volume.
"You watch a soap opera?" Willow practically burst out laughing.
"It's not just any soap opera," Angel argued, "it's…well…OK, it's a soap opera."
Willow sat down next to Angel but couldn't keep the smile from her face, "I didn't even know you had a TV."
"Yeah, well, you'd be surprised at how much about the modern world I know. Besides, a vampire's gotta have something to do during the day."
"Well, I guess I just always assumed you slept," Willow's laughter began dying down.
"Not all the time," Angel pointed out, "it tends to get dull."
"So how long exactly have you been watching this show?"
"Um, since it started."
"And that would be when?"
"40 something years ago."
"What?!"
"Yep, been running for quite a while."
"And you've been watching all that time?"
"Bet you'd never have guessed that a 250 year old vampire has spend 40 of those years glued to a TV set everyday."
"Not in a million years," Willow wondered, amazed at how little she and everyone else knew about Angel. <<So he wasn't a constant brooder. Should I tell him?>>
"It's starting," Angel's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Ssshhh."
"Sheesh, OK," Willow put her hands up in mock surrender, "Let's watch."
As the show began, Willow spent the first few minutes studying Angel's face and how concentrated he was on the events happening on the television screen. Technology; who'd have thought it would have such far-reaching effects?
When Willow heard the familiar voices, she turned her head to the screen and gasped as she recognized the faces, "As the World Turns!" she exclaimed.
Angel's head snapped around at her words as he asked, "You've heard of this?"
He watched in interest as Willow turned an odd shade of red. Recognizing that as embarrassment on his friend's face, the vampire quickly put two and two together, "You watch this, don't you?" he asked.
Willow's face turned even redder as she confessed, "It's taping at home."
Angel couldn't keep the laugh from escaping, "Now it's my turn to be shocked. Willow Rosenberg, watching a soap opera? What is the world coming to?"
"An end if David Stenbeck gets his way and breaks up Jack and Julia," Willow responded to the astonished vampire, "now shut up and let's watch. I wanna see what's gonna happen."
The amused vampire obeyed as the two friends settled into the couch
to watch their newfound common interest. <<This could prove to be
very interesting.>>
The End