Part 16
Willow wasn't brave enough to go into the kitchen. Sitting on the coffee table were books she'd never seen before. The covers were the soft, supple textures of new leather. The pages were shiny, the edges sharp. For a moment, she forgot her misery in the face of new spell books.
One book in particular had the dog-eared look of overuse. It flipped open to a certain page because the binding had been broken. The top of the page read "The Wasting One".
Willow absentmindedly read the spell trying to think of what to do next about Giles and Ethan...
**'The Wasting One must be attended to or the power will run out with the life. The fatigue will turn to sleep and the sleep will turn to death. The spell should be completed by manner of Sorcerers, Warlocks. By the power of two shall The Wasting One be protected.
The Wasting One must be coaxed to life. First by Drunken Abandon. When The Wasting One is fully asleep then the signs must be etched by a tincture of:
Sweet Orange Water
Sage
Willow
Black Ink
Madder root
Black Moss
Mixed by water and heat, the tea should be used to stem the tide of emotions passing out. The Goddess must be Summoned by The Chant Specific. This will bind the Sorcerers to The Wasting One for the next Chapter of the spell.**
The spell was rather interesting, but the words in the margin were the most telling. Inscribed next to the title were the words, **Possible Willow? Check with Ethan, this may be the spell we're looking for to help Willow. Dinner on the 27th, full moon, do it then?**
'Does that mean me?' Willow thought. Suddenly very aware of what this spell meant, she read on...
**'Second, to mend the leak the bound must comply with the most "intimate" of acts to break the bonds. This must be done within 48 hours of the spell or else the bound may suffer the same fate as the Wasting One. As the end of the time nears, The Wasting One shall be immersed in a solution of Sweet Orange and Water, there will be a Declaration, the spell will break, the Goddess will be evoked. Thus spoken, so mote it be.**
To Willow's horror, this weekend suddenly made a horrible kind of sense. She got drunk very quickly on one glass of wine. The next morning she had no clothes on: the spa, the dinner, the love making, and then Ethan in the jacuzzi with the sweet-orange-water. Willow shut her eyes tightly, tears forcing their way out.
She had told them she loved them, but that wasn't because of this spell. This was how she had felt then; it was how she felt now. She still loved them, why else would this hurt so badly? 'Oh Goddess,' she thought, 'They don't love me. Not the way I love them. They just wanted to make sure I didn't die.' More tears began to flow, 'Please Goddess, why me? Why does no one ever love me?'
Willow would have spent the rest of her short life in blissful ignorance if it weren't for the two men inside the kitchen. The frustration she'd been feeling all day, combined with her breaking heart burst to the surface.
She threw the book down on the coffee table, the thoughts of what had
happened to her were more than she could stand. She was the "Wasting One”.
Willow sat up and put her head in her hands. There was nothing she could do. Giles and Ethan used her for a spell, "Why didn't they just let me die?" she moaned, "Why?"
Her love for them was stronger than anything she felt for Oz. She'd known Giles for a long time, and Ethan for just a short while. But, in her head they were as one entity as much as they were separate people. In that short space in time, she felt truly alive. This was part of *her* and not part of the spell. It was as if she'd been toying with love while she was with Oz, and really lived it with Giles and Ethan. Her puppy love grew into an adult love.
However, all of that was false, as if it was etched on the pages of her life, she knew that there was nothing to hold her here. If she were to have any semblance of dignity, Willow knew she would never find it with these two men who only saw her as a chance to spell-cast, or worse a girl to use for their own ends. In her agony, she wasn't thinking that they'd saved her life.
As much as she could believe that Ethan would have used her, what broke her heart was that Giles could use her that way too. Willow knew she couldn't face them again, knowing in her heart that she would never love this way again.
She had to get away. Somewhere in her mind was the thought that she would be running away just as Buffy did and not face the consequences of her actions. However, Buffy's action impacted others in a never-ending circle. Willow felt she wasn't a stone cast into a pond of other people's lives, she was one person whose time here had come and gone with the leaving of Oz and the supposed betrayal of Giles and Ethan.
Willow got up and listened at the kitchen blinds and heard furious
whispering. Giles and Ethan were arguing and she thought they forgot about her. Willow walked to the door and dropped the card she'd bought in the gift shop that morning on Giles' desk along with the spell-book open to the page of her spell. She left the door wide open, and ran out without looking back.
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Part 17
Giles was on Ethan's last nerve. After all this time wandering, nothing suited him better than to settle for one wonderful girl and the man that haunted him for decades. If this love for Willow was not to be, than it would be Giles, not Ethan that would break Willow's heart.
"So go, tell her," Ethan waved his hand, "You know her better than I do. However," Ethan reached out and gripped Giles' arm, "You'll regret this. You'll see the hurt in her eyes, and regret that you were ever born," his voice was harsh.
Giles opened the kitchen blinds, "Willo...." he began, but the room was empty.
Ethan walked out and noticed the door was wide open. " Bloody hell, she heard us," he said grimly.
"She must have gone home," Giles looked out the open door, "It certainly gives us some time to confront her."
Ethan shook his head, and wondered who replaced Giles' heart with a stone, "Did you hear what I said? She left because she was unhappy, mate. Care to comment on that?" Ethan's voice was full of sarcasm.
"She was tired and went home, that's all," Giles was in full denial mode. "We'll see her later I'm sure, then this will all be much easier to handle." Giles stood at the open doorway looking out. The street was empty.
"This could be the reason," Ethan held up the spellbook with the "Wasting One" spell plainly visible. "Looks like we've seen the last of her," he threw the book at Giles and stalked off to the bathroom.
Giles half caught the book and realized the Willow had read the spell and knew what they'd planned. Slapping it back on his desk, he wondered how to make it up to her, when he noticed a card with their names on it. He looked furtively at the bathroom door, before making up his mind to read it first...
**Dear Giles and Ethan,
This is very weird, what happened last night. I'm not a slut or anything, but after last night you could say that I am. I hope you guys don't think so because I slept with both of you. I wanted to tell you why I did it.
When Oz left, I wanted to die. It seemed no one would love me anymore. I was wasting away and couldn't stop it. I wondered why no one wanted to be with me. It was hard to think that Oz left because he needed to, and not because of what happened between us. I slept a lot and spent a lot of time alone. Buffy needed Riley, Xander needed Anya, no one needed me.
Then just when I thought that going on was impossible, you Giles, noticed me. All this time I have had the biggest crush on you and you never noticed, until now, then Ethan came along, and it was love at first, (or second sight). Ethan, you are so different from what I've seen before, but now I've seen inside you and I like what I see. (love)
To put this simply, I love you, both of you. I know Giles you're going to say that it's not right, or that it's against propriety, or that I am too young and ruining my future by loving the both of you. But you are my future. You make me feel whole and loved. If I had never met either of you until now, I would feel the same as I do now. Not being with you would ruin my future, not having the two of you in my life would be the end of me.
I know this is sudden, but love doesn't recognize time. It happens when it happens. If you two can see past all of the difficulties, and love me as much as I love the both of you, then we can have our future.
Love, Willow**
Giles slowly lowered his arm, letting the letter fall out of his hands and flutter to the carpet, then he crumpled up like a paper doll, dropping to the floor. What a mistake he'd made. She wasn't a young girl, she was a grown woman and understood what was happening. Giles put his hands to his face, "What have I done?" he lamented.
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Ethan was still incredibly angry when he stepped out of the bathroom. If only they'd been honest with her from the beginning. Yes, he knew this was not like him to suggest honesty, but then he'd never met anyone like Willow before.
"Rupert, I think…" Ethan began as he stepped into the living room intending on giving Giles a piece of his mind. As soon as he saw Giles leaning against the doorjamb all the anger drained out of his body.
"I've really fucked up this time." Giles' voice sounded incredibly full of self-recrimination, "How was I to know?"
Ethan let him stew in his guilt, "You didn't listen to me," he said coldly, "What happened?"
Giles indicated the letter lying on the rug, "She loves us."
"I could have told you that," Ethan said picking up the letter. As he read he sank into the chair by the desk. In her own words, she said things that made Ethan's world crumble as much as Giles. He was half-expecting the letter to say that she loved Giles and a great-big-thank-you-to-the-warlock-that-brought-them-together. However, Willow included him in her life, for that he was exceedingly glad, now to get to work. Ethan wasn't going to let Giles ruin his chances any longer. This was a chance for both of them to have the life of their dreams.
"I don't deserve her now," Giles said looking out into the empty street, "I should have…"
"Bloody hell!" Ethan mumbled. Getting over Giles' guilt was going to be more difficult than getting Willow to love him. "Stop it."
"Excuse me?"
Ethan got up and helped Giles to his feet. "Listen Ripper, we have to fight for her. Yes she's gone, we go get her."
"No."
Ethan drew back his hand and slapped Giles hard, "What the hell did you do that for?" he said angrily.
That was better. Giles never concentrated on himself when he was angry, Ethan just hoped he could survive the angry Giles long enough to roust him out of this cycle of guilt.
While Giles was holding his hand to his face, Ethan slapped him again this time he used all the force he could muster. Giles' eyes spun a bit for a moment, then his face contorted with anger he grabbed Ethan by his shirt and prepared to knock him over.
"Ripper! Wait, " Ethan put up his hands, "See how angry and miserable you are right now? Take that emotion and put it towards Willow. You are willing to fight me for hitting you, why aren't you willing to fight for Willow for loving you?"
Giles let go of Ethan's shirt and sat down, "I've been a fool?€?"
"And a great big bloody bastard to boot."
"You aren't going to let me forget this are you," Giles stood up and put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.
Ethan's eyes sparkled, "I can think of a few things I'm not going to let you forget, but I'm willing to let you apologize."
"In the car? On the way to Willow's?" Giles asked walking through the front door.
"Perhaps, we'll see how Willow wants to handle it," Ethan answered, shutting the door firmly behind him.
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Part 18
Willow ran back to the dorm, hardly aware of her feet hitting the ground. She couldn't remain in a town that would remind her of the men who had used her up and spit her out. She wasn't thinking clearly. Giles and Ethan had saved her life. All Willow could think of was the pain that another lost love would bring.
Buffy was sitting on her bed combing her hair when the door flew open blowing the papers off her desk. Willow stood in the open doorway, glassy eyed and sweating.
"Will?" Buffy automatically knew something was seriously wrong. Willow was pale white. "You okay? You've been gone the whole weekend."
Willow didn't have time to explain she had to get out and fast. "I have to go," she mumbled.
"Go? You just got here."
Willow threw her things on the bed as quickly as she could, emptying out one drawer after the other. One moment more in Sunnydale was one more moment in hell.
"Will, talk to me. You disappear for a three days and now you say you have to go? You're scaring me!" Buffy tried to grab the arm of her friend as Willow rushed by gathering her things.
Willow turned to face Buffy, "See, resolve face. Okay? I have to go."
"If this is about Oz again…"
Willow wrenched her duffel bag out of her closet and began to pack, "It's not. It won't ever be about Oz, or you, or Giles, or anyone else again. This is about Willow and what she wants."
"What happened?" Buffy stood in front of her friend her hand on Willow's shoulder. Why was Willow acting like this? "Where are you going?"
"I'm going where no one can put their dirty hands on me again." Willow's misery was like a geyser, jetting out of her in every word she said. "I'll write, I promise."
Buffy grabbed her, "What's going on? It is Giles?" Buffy was determined to get to the root of the problem. Willow wasn't even crying, "We could call him…"
Willow couldn't tell her the whole story without being hysterical. The short version would have to do. "Yes, it's Giles," her voice shook a bit. Her whole being threatened to collapse into a crying, slobbering beast.
"Will, you can tell me. Something's wrong here. You don't just up and
leave," Buffy smiled and added, "That's my thing. Whatever it is we can work it. Right?"
Stopping, Willow sat dejectedly on the bed, hoping that she wouldn't lapse into hysteria, "He…" she choked, "He doesn't…want me."
"That's silly Will, we all want you."
"No, he doesn't want me. He doesn't love me. And we…" Willow suddenly
became agitated, her thoughts and feelings trying to come out all at once and was jammed up in her mind. "We…were with Ethan, and dinner and they…they… Why doesn't anybody want to love me?"
"Giles and Ethan? Did you do something with Giles?" Buffy asked, knowing her Watcher had secretly admired Willow from a far, for years, "Stay here, I'm going to see what's going on. Promise me you won't leave."
Willow backed away from her in horror, "I can't go there not ever. I've got to go," she raised her hands palms up and faced Buffy. Using all the power she could gather Willow spelled Buffy in place. Buffy froze with her hand halfway to the door.
"I'm sorry Buffy," Willow said tearfully, "They don't love me, no one loves me."
Putting her things in the duffel bag she continued, "Is it a bad thing to be wanted just once? I wanted them to love me so much."
Willow went over to the closet taking a final look, there wasn't much time left, Willow had to go before Giles and Ethan found out where she was going. "I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling out the vacuum cleaner. "I'm sorry I ever met Giles, I'm sorry that I met you, Xander, Oz…"
The vacuum cleaner roared to life. Willow had to clean the room of every scrap of evidence to note that she ever lived there, hair, bits of lint, toenail clippings, anything that might be used against her to divine the direction she was going in. The room was spotless not a few minutes later as Willow emptied the contents of the vacuum cleaner into the wastebasket and set them on fire.
She watched the flames burst to life and die. Realizing the metaphor for her short relationship with Giles and Ethan, Willow laughed sadly.
She walked over to Buffy, her hair fell across her face and Willow brushed it away, "The spell won't last long. Don't tell anyone where I've gone okay? I don't know where I'm going anyway."
Willow thought for a moment, "I don't care what you say, tell them I've died or something." Hoisting the duffel up to her back, she stumbled a bit almost falling over, "I l-love you, b-bye."
The door slammed behind her leaving Buffy to unthaw.
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Part 19
Buffy was straining to free herself from Willow's spell. No matter what she did, the only things she could do was breathe and move her eyes. This was ridiculous. Willow wouldn't do such a thing as up and leave unless there was something seriously wrong. Giles and Ethan were involved and Buffy vowed as soon as she was freed she would go straight to them and find out what happened as only a slayer could. As she tried to move her hand forward again, the spell suddenly broke and she burst forth knocking the door open.
Giles was just about to open the door on the other side and received a chest full of Slayer heading out the other way. They collided with the far wall of the hallway with a solid thud.
Ethan ran through the open door and popped out again, "Where is she?"
Buffy untangled herself from Giles and had Ethan in a headlock before Giles could stop her, "I don't know, maybe you'll tell me before I twist your head off."
"Buffy it's all right. He's with me," Giles put his hand on her arm.
"Great Ripper, guaranteed to get me decapitated." Ethan's neck was twisted painfully by Buffy and he gave a small squeak of discomfort.
Buffy backed Ethan back into the room, shutting the door with her foot. Throwing him on Willow's bed, she tied him up with an extension cord, "This is unnecessary. Ripper tell her."
"B-Buffy," Giles stammered, but he didn't get very far, Buffy had him on her bed sitting on his chest.
"What did you do him?" she asked Ethan, "What kind of spell is he under?"
Giles gripped Buffy's shoulders, "I'm not under a spell. Let me up and I'll explain."
"It'd better be good, or I'll kill you and ask Ethan all the questions," Buffy warned.
She got off Giles and he sat up rubbing his chest, "I'm not sure I approve of this aggressive tendency of yours."
"Excuse me?" Ethan struggled on the bed, "Did you forget something?"
Buffy went over and gave him a shove, "You're just lucky I let you live."
"I'm shaking in my shoes," Ethan said, sarcastically.
Buffy smiled sweetly and pulled on the covers dumping him over on the other side of the bed, "Get out of that, Houdini. Now, Giles explanation?"
"You didn't have to do that. He's harmless."
Buffy pulled a chair over to face Giles, "Right like a sharp stick in the eyes is harmless. I'm not convinced you're not under a spell. So spill."
Giles bowed his head, "I'm in love with Willow."
"We're in love with Willow," came a muffled shout from Ethan.
"What?" Buffy knew that Giles had romantic intentions, but to hear him say it… "What does this have to do with Willow going out of here like she was on fire?" Giles looked embarrassed. Buffy put her hands on her hip, "Okay, give me the Tolstoy version." Buffy demanded.
"I came to Ethan weeks ago," Giles began, sadly. "Willow's magic was leaking out and she was dying."
"How come I didn't know this?" Buffy said, angrily.
Giles stopped her, "Did I know about Angel's return?" Buffy's mouth hung open. "Exactly my point… Anyway, she let herself waste away after Oz left. You and I and the others were completely unaware, or we just didn't want to know," he stopped, this was painful for him to admit.
"Its okay, I know. I've been Dating Girl; Xander's got Anya. I guess we just didn't notice Willow anymore. She didn't seem complete without Oz."
Giles stared at Buffy with such guilt in his eyes that Buffy looked away, "She should have been complete. We were supposed to be her friends. Supported her when she needed us," he said. "She was lonely, we weren't there."
There was an awkward silence in the room then. Giles was unsure of how to go on. There was much more to tell. Buffy spoke up almost reading his thoughts, "So I know there's a lot more, and every minute brings us farther away from Will."
"Y-yes…well, Ethan helped me stop her from wasting away. We…ah…we…"
"We slept with her," Ethan volunteered his voice still muffled by the
bedclothes.
"You had sex with her?" Buffy was on her feet and in Giles' face. "Who the hell gave you the right to do that? Oh yeah, guys." Her voice was bitter, “Get her into bed while she's vulnerable."
Grabbing her hands, Giles looked calmly into his Slayer's eyes, "We made love with her. It was part of the spell, and had to be done. But after, I…we came to love her."
Buffy was angry with him. Willow was hurting and granted Buffy should have been with her, but Giles was her friend too and had no right to compromise Willow like that, "Then what? You had your smoochies and told her to get along little girl? You should have seen her when she came in."
Giles was more than surprised, she was parroting what he'd said to Ethan after they'd slept with Willow, "No one is more aware of what I did to Willow than I am."
Buffy had no words. She'd also suffered at the hands of "good intentions". Suddenly it made perfect sense why Willow would run, Buffy would run too if her pain was evident everywhere she turned, as it had been that summer she ran away. There would be no comfort for Giles from her, and even less consideration for Ethan. They were adults, and they knew what they'd done
Buffy got up abruptly, and walked over to Willow's bed, "Next?"
"She saw the spellbook and the notes I'd made, put it together and ran," Giles said, softly. This was not going well. Buffy was angry, more angry than he'd seen in a long time.
Buffy calmly pulled the covers off Ethan and untied him. "Ripper did a good job of chasing her away," Ethan comented, rubbing his wrists.
"Where were you when Willow's heart was getting stomped on?" Buffy said, pushing him back down on the bed.
"Well... I was... was..."
"I understand. You guys did the hero thing, saved Willow, had sex with her, fell in love with her and then threw her out. Am I right?" Buffy was way past angry, "And all of this without a thought for poor little Willow," she opened the door to the dorm room, "Get out."
"Buffy, we love her," Giles said, "Can't you see that?"
"You know what I see? I see a couple of bastards. Get out."
Ethan didn't need to be told again. He bowed to Buffy, "Again it's been a pleasure to be beaten up by you. Lets do lunch sometime. Perhaps you can break my arm or gouge my eyes out?"
Giles got up, "I have to make you understand," he pleaded. If he didn't have the support of Buffy he had nothing.
"No, you have to understand. Go, I don't want to see you anymore. You hurt Willow and took her away. I never-want-to-see-you-again," she pushed Giles out into the hallway and slammed the door.
Ethan was leaning against the far wall, his head down, "What do we do now?"
Giles just looked at the closed door. It felt like his world would now be a series of closed doors without anyone friendly on the other side, "Lets go home," he sighed.
"Home?"
"You're welcome to stay with me."
Ethan put his arm around Giles' shoulders, "It seems you're all I've got. We'll find her, I promise," he was trying to sound hopeful.
As they walked away, why did Giles feel that was an empty promise?"
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Part 20
"Willow you did it!" Sophie jumped into Willow's cubicle.
"Did what?" Willow's asked, wearily not looking away from the monitor.
Sophie spun Willow's chair around, "Another promotion, girly-girl."
"Oh god, not another one. Do I have to move again?"
Sophie laughed, "Nah, Bennet said you could stay. He says we're quite a team. I got promoted too," she grimaced, "To your assistant."
Willow shook her head smiling, then gripped the desk. That small motion caused her to become a bit dizzy. Every move of her body these days seemed an effort. Sophie was always looking at her anxiously, and then bringing her something to eat. Several times Sophie would say Willow looked like she was wasting away. How ironic...
It'd been four months since she left Sunnydale for the wilds of San
Francisco. She took one of the offers she'd been headhunted for, before she became a freshman. It seemed only a few seconds ago that she'd left all she'd known.
Her cube mate, Sophie, had become a good friend from the word "hello", and she'd written Buffy almost every day as she promised. Buffy's letters were few and far between, with no mention of Giles or Ethan. A day didn't go by without Willow thinking of them. Her love went on, even though she wished it didn't. She knew she was wasting away, and wished it would go faster. This lingering way of dying was like having an itch she couldn't scratch, always poking at her psyche.
Not wanting to go through another tortuous time feeling like she been turned inside out, Willow threw herself into work, leaving magic and love behind, hoping that it would be enough. It worked, She'd been promoted several times.
Sophie broke into her thoughts, "He wants to see you. He likes you... I think."
“Bennet likes me?"
Willow started packing up her briefcase and smoothed down her skirt and sweater. Business casual suited her. Along with a great job, they gave her a nice salary for lots of new clothes, and an apartment in town. All the comforts of home. Willow went there every night, ate and cried hysterically before heading to bed, 'Yeah, some home.'
"Why?" Willow asked,
"Cause you're nice, pretty... smart... You know the drill," Sophie gestured for Willow to proceed her, "I'll go with you to protect you fair maiden."
Willow rolled her eyes, "Oh stop. He's like Business-Guy, Mr. Suit."
They walked to the intersection of the cubicles and the offices. "Yeah and he's got a cute booty too."
"Sophie!" Willow admonished, and then smiled despite herself. Being with Sophie was like being with Buffy and Xander all rolled into one person.
While they stopped, a girl with too many books and an agenda poked Sophie in the ribs. "Hey did ya tell her?" she asked.
"Oh Jen, no... I forgot." Sophie looked sheepishly at Willow.
"Well here's the deal," Jen began excitedly, "A bunch of us are getting together to do some spelling and we thought you'd like to come?"
Willow's heart suddenly hurt. Spelling? No, no... not here! Not her new friends! She backed away, "Willow you okay?" Jen asked.
"Oh... um... ohh!" Willow turned and ran leaving Sophie and Jen to stare at her. There wasn't any way she could get away from it, the magic that was haunting her daily.
Seeking solace in a empty stairwell, Willow stopped her headlong descent into fear and started crying clutching the wall. The terrible loneliness engulfed her, and she couldn't stop it.
A hand grabbed her shoulder Willow twisted around somehow expecting Giles or Ethan to be there. All she met was the concerned eyes of Sophie, "Boy you sure run fast."
"Go away." Willow couldn't explain to her why she couldn't do any magic, it was too terrible to think of.
"Okay," Sophie sat down next to her, "I might be a bit intuitive here, but something's wrong isn't it?" She reached out and gathered Willow into her arms. Willow gave up the fight and let go crying against her, "Shh, it's okay... it's not the end of the world. I didn't know you felt this way about spelling."
"I do." Willow said between choking hiccups. "I can't ever use magic again."
"Who said anything about magic?" Sophie asked and then laughed, "Magic? No one does that here."
"B…but you said spelling."
"I mean spel-ling. Like ABC spelling?" Sophie's laugh rang out, echoing in the metal hallway, "You thought we meant magic? Hey I invited you because you spell 'that' with an extra t."
"It's not magic?" Willow sniffed.
"Come on I edit your copy. You're the worst speller on the planet!"
Willow felt foolish. Here she was expecting trouble and it never came, "What about Jen?"
"I told her you had PMS, a thyroid problem and low blood sugar," Sophie produced a tissue out of nowhere and floated it over to Willow, "Your secret's safe with me."
No wonder Willow felt comfortable around her, "You're a witch?"
Sophie smiled, "Goddess! I can't remember when I wasn't! Been a witch since I've been a...a... a sperm!"
Willow laughed too. Sophie could always make her laugh. However, Sophie knew something was seriously wrong with Willow. Knew it right away that first morning when Willow walked into her cubicle by mistake. Sophie thought Willow was someone who should be shining from within. For some reason she wasn't. Willow was dull, lifeless. Sophie vowed to know why, "I know something bad happened. No one turns away from the craft without a good reason. Care to talk about it?"
Willow considered it, but it was hard to talk about it even though it'd been months, "I'll be okay."
"All right by me. Lets say we get out of this stairwell and blow this joint. Bennet can see you tomorrow." Sophie got up and offered Willow her hand, "You look like you could use some shopping. I know some wicked bakeries." She suddenly smacked her head, "Oh man... I forgot to tell you. We have a wedding to go this weekend."
Willow groaned, "Not another one."
"No peace for the wicked. Well no peace for wicked caterers. You'll come and help me?" Sophie always asked Willow to help her with her father's catering business. Mostly they served, and made drinks.
"Do we have to wear those doofy French maid outfits?" Willow asked.
"You do not vant to be zee French maid no?"
"No."
"Okay, I'll try to get Dad to stop the costumes."
Willow opened the door to the stairwell, "That would be a good thing."
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