Cherish The Day
Chapter Four
"William!" A shrill voice called. "Where are you going?"
With a sigh, the young man turned and stepped back inside.
"I'm going to work, mother." He called. "I will be back this evening."
"Make sure you come straight home." The voice called back. "And don't talk to any strangers. There are a lot of dangerous people in this city, pickpockets especially."
"I'll be careful."
Closing the door, he made his way across town towards his place of work. The sun was just rising over the rooftops and there was an ever so slight chill in the air. William didn't mind though, he enjoyed his morning walks. The city was so peaceful at this time of day, so quiet, and he was able to retreat entirely into his own thoughts. Most of the ideas for his poems came while he was walking to work.
This morning, however, his focus was on less of the sublime and more on the mundane. Lately it had struck him that his poetry was in fact the one thing, which brought him away from what was a rather dull and meaningless existence. He had graduated from Cambridge three years previously and had soon found a job in a library. It had seemed ideal, working with all those books, but at the end of the day all he was doing was translating. It was very dry and very dull.
His thoughts turned to Cecily, the one blossoming flower of beauty in his life. She was his muse, his inspiration, and he was still trying to work up the courage to tell her how he'd felt. He'd written dozens of poems about her but she didn't seem to realize they were written about her. The time would come soon; he just had to wait for the opportunity.
This, of course, raised a serious issue. If Cecily accepted him, how would his mother react? Ever since his father had died when he was a boy, his mother had raised him alone and during that time had become very protective. Now she always insisted on knowing where he was going and whom he was going to be with. He worried that when the time came for him to marry, it would break her heart to lose him to another woman.
His thoughts were stopped with the realization that he had arrived at his destination. With a sigh he stepped into the library and settled himself down for another day’s work.
---
Buffy awoke to the sound of someone knocking lightly on her door. She opened her eyes and for a second wondered why she wasn't in her bedroom. Then she remembered. Not having had anything else to wear, she had gone to bed in her clothes so she quickly got up and answered the door. It was Elizabeth.
"Good morning, dear." She smiled. "Did you sleep well?"
Buffy nodded. "I guess."
Elizabeth smiled. "Here, I brought you some clothes, I hope they fit. Get dressed and I'll come back in ten minutes and show you around. I'll have the cook make you some breakfast as well."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you."
With that, she closed the door and quickly dressed. She didn't know how they had managed it, but the clothes were a perfect fit. She was now dressed in an ankle length tweed skirt, a white blouse and black boots. Not something she would have chosen herself, but it didn't look overly bad. She walked over to the dresser and picked up the hair clip she had taken off the night before. Piling her hair on top of her head, she clipped it in place, allowing a few loose tendrils to hang down.
Shortly after that, Elizabeth arrived back.
"You look lovely." She smiled.
"Thank you." Buffy replied looking down at the outfit, not very convinced.
"I've had the cook make you some boiled eggs and some bread and butter. Follow me and I'll show you where the kitchen is." Buffy followed Elizabeth closely. The building was huge and she was quite scared of getting lost. The breakfast itself was basic, but Buffy was glad to have some food in her stomach.
Once she had finished and had let the food settle, Elizabeth gave her a tour. Buffy saw everything: the training rooms, the research rooms, and finally the library. As Buffy stepped inside, she was amazed by the sheer size of it. It was at least three times bigger than the College library and the rows of shelves seemed to go on forever.
"Wow." She breathed.
"Yes, it is amazing isn't it?" Elizabeth said. "Why don't you take a look around. Mr. Travers wishes to meet you here. I shall go and fetch him while you wait."
Buffy nodded and Elizabeth walked back through the large oak doors. Buffy began to wander amongst the labyrinth of books and shelves. She imagined it would be very easy to get lost in this place. She continued to walk for a few minutes until she stopped, a small smile spreading across her face.
Tucked in a corner of the library was a small table with several books piled up on top of it. Sitting at the table was a young man, his head resting on the table, sound asleep. There was a book in front of him and a pair of small glasses resting on top of it. Buffy took a moment to study his sleeping features. She couldn't help herself.
He really was quite handsome. He had beautifully sculpted cheekbones and his bottom lip was stuck out in a small pout. Realizing that she probably shouldn't be staring at some guy she didn't even know, she turned to leave only to hear him stir. She turned back to face him and saw his eyes flutter open. He focused on her blearily for a moment before sitting bolt upright.
"I do apologize." He said quickly, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "I must have nodded off."
"That's OK." Buffy smiled. "Books tend to have that effect on me too."
He extended his hand. "My name is William Kingston. I work here."
Buffy looked at the man's hand and then back at his face. There was something oddly familiar about this man. Suddenly it clicked. William...Spike.
"Miss? Are you all right?" William asked with concern. All of the colour had drained from her face and she really looked quite ill. Suddenly her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped to the floor in a dead faint.
William quickly knelt at her side and pulled a bottle of smelling salts out of his pocket. Holding the bottle under her nose, he smiled with relief as she began to come to. Buffy became aware of a face floating blearily above her.
"Are you all right?" A male voice asked.
Her vision cleared and she found herself looking into the most beautiful storm-blue eyes she had ever seen. She smiled.