Title: Count to Ten
Author: angieb86 a.k.a. Angela
Feedback: Would be extra extra appreciated.
I've had this story in my mind for a while now, and I've put everything else on hold until I can finish this one. So if it sucks, please let me know so that I won't embarrass myself.
Spoilers: None.
Setting: AU. There are no real demons, just the ones everyone has to battle at one point in life. This story takes place in Rhode Island; Willow and Tara are in their 30's.
Rating: Overall R, may get spicy later.
Disclaimer: Please don't sue me Mutant Enemy. Or anyone else. I'm only writing this story for the pure enjoyment of it. So don't sue.
Summary: Willow and Tara are at the height of their careers, powerful women in powerful positions. Neither wants a relationship, but what can you say when your heart tells you otherwise? Will they listen to their hearts, or will they put their feelings on the backburner to further their careers?
Note: I just want to point out that Tremwell Academy is a school that I made up. Brown University, however, is REAL. I've never been there, any reference made to the university in this story is made purely on my crappy internet research. If you know I made a mistake in referencing something, just let me know and I will change it.
Here's the first chapter! And look for weekly updates on Mondays.
This is my baby, so let me know how I'm doing.
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“Ma’am, line one.”
The woman swiveled her chair around to the intercom on her desk.
“Who is it, Kate?”
“The mayor, ma’am,” was the reply.
The woman sighed loudly and picked up the receiver. She answered the phone in her best professional voice. “Mayor, how are you?”
The jovial sound of the mayor’s voice rang through the phone. “I’m just fine, my dear. I won’t keep you long, I just wanted to ask a big favor of you.”
“What can I do for you, sir?” she asked politely.
Please no public speaking, please no public speaking. . .
“I just want you to go up to the local private school and speak to their students for a couple of hours tomorrow before the children go on Christmas break. You know how well-known you’ve become since your tenure at our lovely university, and what you’ve done for your department is nothing short of a miracle.”
“Thank you, Mayor. And I would be delighted to speak at Tremwell. I actually have a younger family member who matriculates there.”
“Ahh, excellent! I do appreciate you doing this for me, and your department will be rewarded handsomely for letting me borrow their precious Dean Maclay.”
She let a smile escape. Maybe a little embarrassment would be worth that handsome reward after all. “Thank you, sir. Will I see you tomorrow?”
“No, my dear. But the principal will meet you in her office at 10 o’ clock tomorrow morning. And thanks again.”
“No problem, Mayor. Good day.”
Tara hung up the phone with a sigh. She always ended up speaking in public whenever the mayor decided to give her a call. She was grateful that the man thought so highly of her, but speaking to a whole bunch of hormonal and stir crazy teenagers the day before Christmas break was NOT how she wanted to show her gratitude. She sighed again and hit the intercom button.
“Yes, ma’am?” Kate’s voice boomed through the speaker.
“Can you get Professor Lehane on line 3, please?” Tara asked as she woke up her computer.
“Right away, ma’am.” About a minute later, Tara looked down to see the light flashing on the phone. Tara picked up the receiver. “Faith, hey.”
“Hey, T. What’s up?”
“You busy tonight? I was thinking maybe we could have the gang over for dinner and wine. Not too late though. I have to speak at Tremwell in the morning.”
Faith put the cigarette out on the bricks outside of her office window. “T, why don’t you just walk across the hall and come to my office?”
Tara laughed. “Are you kidding?! They just got me a secretary. This is awesome!”
Faith chuckled and closed her office window. “Yeah, I forgot about that. She’s pretty cute, too.” Faith picked up a stack of papers and her laptop and threw them into her carrying case. “I’m heading out now to pick up Garrison from school. I think he’s sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight, so dinner with the gang sounds great to me.”
“Great, Faith. I’ll see you at home. Any preferences for dinner?”
“T, you’re the cook. Surprise us. I’ll give the gang a call on my way to pick up the boy.”
“Okay, Faith. Thanks. See you later.”
“Later, Dean Maclay,” Faith said with a laugh.
Tara smiled as she placed the receiver back in its cradle. She had two more meetings before she could leave for the day. She stood up and straightened her suit before walking out of her office. “Hey, Kate. You can head on home if you want to. I have two more meetings today, so you can call it a day if you’d like.”
Kate smiled and grabbed her purse. “Thanks, Dean Maclay.”
“Please, call me Tara. And no more of the ‘ma’am’ either, I’m not that much older than you,” Tara added with a laugh.
Kate’s smile grew wider as she pulled on her black pea coat. “Okay. See you tomorrow.”
Tara nodded as she walked out of the door. “Yes, you will.”
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“I’m home!” Tara yelled as she walked into her home. She heard a little shuffle on the top floor before she saw a mop of dark hair spill over the balcony. “Hey, Aunt Tara. How was work?”
Tara smiled up at the teenager. “It was fine, buddy. Where’s your mom?”
“She went to the store to pick up some wine for you guys tonight.”
“Great.” Tara took off her coat and hung it on the rack just beside the front door. “Whose house are you going to tonight?”
“Rob’s. He’s got the new Call of Duty, and we’re playing it tonight.”
“Say no more,” Tara replied, holding her hands in the air.
Garrison smiled down at Tara. “You jealous, huh?” the boy asked, knowing the answer was yes. His favorite pastime was playing countless hours of video games with Tara during summer break. No matter how many summer sessions she had to teach at the university, both of them always treasured their video game time.
“No comment, young man. And stop teasing me like your mom does; It’s rude.”
He laughed as he ran down the stairs and gave the blonde a hug. They both headed to the kitchen, Tara grabbing some wine glasses from the cabinet and Garrison jumping up on the counter watching Tara flutter around the kitchen.
“So, I heard you’re going to be speaking at my school tomorrow?”
Tara nodded as she rummaged through the refrigerator. “I am. Gotta meet the principal at 10 in the morning,” she replied distractedly, still looking for the Prosciutto she had bought the day before.
“You get to meet Principal McHottie. . .” Garrison said as the front door opened and Faith appeared in the kitchen with a few bags. He jumped down from the counter and grabbed the bags from Faith’s hands.
“Thanks Gar,” Faith said as she ruffled her son’s hair. “And please stop calling your principal McHottie. Even if she is totally hot,” she finished with a laugh.
Mother and son shared a laugh and a high five as Tara laughed at them. Faith turned toward Tara. “Look T, I’ve seen that principal. She’s new this year, and she is
smokin‘.”
Tara smiled and shook her head, reaching up over Faith’s head to grab a pan. “You two are crazy. And I don‘t have time for that dating crap. . .I‘m a busy lady with a secretary now.”
“She’s right up your alley, though, T.” Faith said as she placed the wine bottles on the counter and dug a corkscrew out of one of the drawers. “I’m gonna drop off Garrison over at Rob’s and I’ll be right back.” Faith turned toward her son. “You ready, Gar?”
“Hell yeah--I mean yes ma’am,” he quickly corrected himself with a glare from both Tara and his mother.
He walked over and pulled Tara into a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at school.”
She smiled at the boy. “Okay. And tell me how Black Ops is!” she yelled as they walked out of the door.
Tara sighed and turned back to the heap of ingredients she had placed on the counter.
Italian it is. . ., she said to herself as she began to chop vegetables.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tara had just put the last pot on the stove when Faith walked back into the house.
“You get Garrison dropped off?” she asked as she covered the pot of boiling pasta.
“I did,” Faith replied as she walked more fully into the kitchen. She inhaled deeply and smiled. “It smells great in here, T. I love it when you cook Italian.”
Tara smiled at her best friend. “Are the girls on their way over yet?”
“Yep. Buffy and Dawn said they were on their way now, and I’m guessing Del will be here soon, too.”
Tara nodded and sat down in the closest stool. “Good. Share a glass of wine with me before they get here?”
“Of course, T.” Faith perched herself on the counter in the same manner as Garrison. Tara snorted.
“No wonder I can’t keep Garrison off the counter. He gets it from you.”
Faith smiled. “Yeah. . .That’s my boy. Can you believe he’s going to 16? I can’t believe I have a 16-year-old son.”
“I can’t believe you have a son at all. Growing up together, Faith, I didn’t think we’d make it this far. Do you remember Ms. Rorambauer?” Tara asked with a laugh.
Faith nodded with a smile and took a swig of wine. “That lady couldn’t stand me. Worst foster home ever. ‘You, you little Satan child! You’re never gonna amount to anything with that attitude. And your going to take poor little Tara down with you!’” Faith laughed as she finished her impersonation. “I don’t even remember what I did to that lady.”
“I remember. You tried to proposition her husband, Faith,” Tara replied as she took the wine glass from Faith’s hand.
“I was just a kid, T. But that little incident got us outta that house hella-fast.”
Tara laughed as a knock on the front door resounded throughout the ground level of the house. Faith jumped down from the counter and ran to the door. She opened it to look into deep brown eyes of the woman standing on the other side. Her olive skin framed by long dark hair made her look more exotic than Faith had remembered. A grin appeared on the woman’s face before she pushed her way through the door. She removed her jacket as she breezed by Faith. “How’s my favorite slut doing today?” she asked as she walked toward the kitchen.
Faith laughed as she followed the woman. “Hopefully as well as my favorite ex-girlfriend. How you been, Del?”
The Sicilian woman plopped down in a stool next to Tara and gave the blonde a quick peck on the cheek. “You know me, I can’t complain. . .I’m well, Faith, thanks,” she finished with a smile.
Faith smiled back at the woman, the sadness at losing her washing over her for a brief moment, clouding her eyes in pain. But as soon as it appeared, it faded into the back of her mind. Faith shook her head quickly, dispelling any remnants of sadness. She quickly poured a glass of wine for the woman and handed it to her. She perched back on the kitchen counter. “So how is work going?”
Del took a sip of her wine before placing the glass back onto the counter. “It’s going great.” She turned to Tara. “And thank you so much for introducing me to Dawn. The students really like her, especially because she’s the youngest teacher we have,” she said with a laugh. “And she really enjoys teaching. Her enthusiasm has infected the entire staff. Good infection, though.”
Tara smiled. “That’s great. I know she really likes it. She talks about those kids all the time.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a ring of the doorbell and a loud knock on the door. Tara stood from her stool and stretched. “Must be Buffy and Dawn. Buffy knocks a hole in the door, and Dawn has the decency to ring the doorbell.”
Tara walked to the door and opened it, revealing a smiling Dawn and a grumpy Buffy.
Dawn pulled the blonde into a hug. “Hey, Tare. How are you?”
Tara relaxed into the embrace. “I’m great, Dawnie. Everyone is in the kitchen. Grab a glass of wine and settle in, okay?”
Dawn nodded and walked through the door and disappeared down the hall toward the kitchen. Buffy looked up at the older blonde woman and promptly smiled at her. “A hungry Buffy is a grumpy Buffy. Let’s get to eating, woman! Buffy waits for no one!”
Tara laughed as she shut the front door to the house.
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Tara turned over and shut off her blaring alarm. She stretched languidly in her king-sized bed, relieving the tension in her aching muscles. The blonde sat up slowly, smiling as she looked out of her bedroom window to see the sunrise over the harbour.
Narragansett Bay, with its bright blue waters, flowed proudly in the distance. Tara slid her feet into her slippers and grabbed her robe Faith had gotten her for Christmas the previous year. She opened her balcony door and stepped outside into the fresh early morning air.
She inhaled deeply and smiled once again. She remembered doing the same thing when she was a little girl. . .when she and Faith would take off into the hills of Pascoag on little adventures.
Pascoag was the little town in Rhode Island that Tara had met Faith when they were little girls. They had ended up in the same foster home at the young age of eight, and they had been inseparable ever since. Faith was the youngest, but she was fiercely protective of the painfully shy blonde girl. They grew up together, and they grew stronger together. They tried their hardest to stay together through the system, and they were only separated three times their entire childhood. Tara was right there with Faith when she got pregnant with Garrison, never leaving her side. Faith was forever grateful for the magnificent friendship she had with Tara, and Tara knew that she was endlessly lucky to have found such a wonderful friend in Faith.
The blonde heard the doorknob to her bedroom turn. Tara turned and saw Faith walk into her bedroom, hair bedraggled, tank top on backwards and robe belt dragging on the floor behind her. On her heels was Del, who looked amazing even though Tara knew what they had been doing all night after everyone else went to sleep.
Tara smiled at them both as they pulled their robes tightly around themselves and joined her on the balcony. Faith looked out into the bay and smiled. “Beautiful morning, ain’t it, T?”
Tara nudged her playfully on the shoulder and laughed. “That’s because you woke up with a beautiful woman in your bed.”
“We didn’t make it to the bed,” Del replied, sliding her arms around Faith’s waist. “She couldn’t wait to get her hands on me.”
Both women laughed as they saw the faint blush rise in Faith’s cheeks. Even though she was a little embarrassed, she still smiled, happy to be in the arms of the woman she wanted and her best friend by her side.
“What time is it, T?” Faith asked.
“It’s just after seven,” Tara replied, looking over her shoulder at Faith.
“Well, if I’m gonna be up this early, there should definitely be some coffee involved. Especially since I called in today,” Del said with a smile at Faith.
Faith couldn’t contain the grin on her face as she turned to kiss Del on the cheek. “Does this mean that you’re coming to my lectures today?”
“Yes. . .I’m all yours today. But only today. Tomorrow, I resume my ‘Faith is a dirty slut’ status.”
Faith rolled her eyes at the shorter woman. “Are you ever going to forgive me for making the biggest mistake of my life, Delilah?” she asked, her expression a mixture of sadness and anger. “There’s only so many times that I can apologize to you before you either accept it. . .or let me move the hell on.”
She took one more look at Del before excusing herself from the two women and leaving the room.
Del watched Faith’s hasty retreat, and turned to Tara. “I didn’t know she felt that way.”
“That’s because you never bothered to ask, Del,” Tara responded quietly. “You just called her every whorish name in the book, but you never gave her a chance to explain herself.”
Tara turned to fully face the woman standing next to her. “I understand that she hurt you, Del, and I don’t condone Faith’s behavior in any way. But that was over
two years ago. Faith has changed. And so have you.”
Tara looked at the door that Faith had exited. “She’s right, though. Don’t torture her anymore if you don’t want her back. She loves you still, Del. And for the past two years, all Faith has wanted is your forgiveness. And she’s waited and waited for you to accept her apology. She hasn’t dated anyone and she has flat-out
refused to have sex with anyone but you. This is
Faith Lehane we’re talking about here. . .and you know how many times students approach her for a little ‘extra credit.’”
Del chuckled softly before a small sob escaped her throat. “She did that. . .for me?”
“She’s
been trying to change for you. She
HAS changed for you. Give her a chance. She’s earned it.”
Del nodded her head, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I feel like such an ass, Tara.”
The blonde smiled softly. “I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad. I told you because I know she
won’t. . .So you know.”
“Thanks, Tara. I’m gonna go talk to her.”
Tara smiled and gave Del an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Go ahead. I have to get ready anyway.”
Del nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes before leaving Tara alone on the balcony.
She gave one last look at the blue waters of the bay and turned toward her bathroom to get ready for her day.
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Tara pulled up in front of Tremwell Academy fifteen minutes before her meeting with the principal. She dug around in her purse for lipstick, swishing it across her lips before throwing it back in her bag and giving her hair one more brush-through. She hopped out of her silver Nissan Titan and locked all the doors before making her way to the entrance of the academy. Before she opened the door, she smoothed her hand down the front of her heather gray skirt, straightened the lapels on the matching jacket and made sure that the buttons on her sky blue blouse were showing just enough cleavage to be provocative yet tasteful.
She smiled to herself, remembering her first speech she had to give at the well-known academy. Faith had told her the best way to keep the attention of a room full of teenaged kids was to show a little cleavage. “We got the nicest racks this side of the Narragansett. . .And since we’ve taken that impromptu vow of celibacy, we might as well get some good use out of these jugs.”
The blonde chuckled softly to herself as she opened the door to the academy. She walked into the administration office and waved to the secretary. The woman smiled at Tara. “Hello, Dr. Maclay. It’s great to see you again.”
“It’s always a pleasure to see you, Gretchen,” Tara replied, smiling down at the older woman.
“The principal has a conference that’s running a little over. She should be finished soon, so I’m just going to show you to her office where you can wait for her.”
Tara nodded as she followed the woman through a side door and past several conference rooms. They stopped in front of the last door on the left side of the hall. Gretchen opened the door for Tara. “Here you go, Dr. Maclay. She should be out soon. She said to make yourself some tea if you’d like.”
“Thanks Gretchen. It’s great to see you again.”
The woman smiled at Tara as she backed quietly out of the room, leaving Tara alone inside the vast office. The first thing she noticed was the sleek, modern furniture in the room. The desk, bookcases and even the desktop computer was a shiny sleek black.
One the small table between the bookcases, Tara could see a Keurig coffee maker perched atop the glossy black surface. She picked up a mug from the shelf beside the coffee maker, placed it on the tray in the center of the machine and chose a simple black tea to brew. She turned around to find a place to sit. She spotted a black corner couch covered in red decorative pillows adorning it. She picked up her mug of tea and walked over to the sofa, picking up a magazine and flipping through it.
Tara had finished her tea and had placed the mug on the nearest table. Before she could pick up her magazine again, she heard the office door open. Tara’s eyes lifted to the office door. And she felt her nipples harden beneath the material of her shirt.
Standing in the doorway was the sexiest woman Tara had ever seen. Her long black slacks covered what Tara knew had to be the most exquisite pair of legs she had
never seen. A sleek pair of Manolo black leather pumps poked out from the cuffs of her pants. A form-fitting stark white blouse exposed the woman’s beautiful collarbone, and her elegant neck was stylishly covered in a multi-layered pearl necklace. A trendy pair of slim black suspenders completed the ensemble. Tara let out a shaky breath as she watched the woman turn gracefully to close the office door. Bright red hair danced lightly on the tops of the suspenders, and Tara had never wanted to be a piece of elastic band that much in all her 34 years. Until meeting “Principal McHottie,” she said quietly to herself. Tara was pulled out of her daze by a strong, confident, no-nonsense voice. She cleared her throat and shakily stood up from the black IKEA corner couch.
“I’m so sorry, Dean Maclay, about your having to wait for me this long. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is--”
Principal Willow Rosenberg’s mouth snapped shut as her eyes fell upon the most beautiful sight. The first thing Willow noticed was the woman’s flushed cheeks and startling crystal blue eyes. The Dean had dressed smartly for the occasion, her gray skirt hugging her curves perfectly. Willow gulped loudly as her eyes trailed up toned muscular calves and shapely thighs. The blue blouse the woman was wearing was showing enough cleavage to let you know it was there, but not enough to be distasteful. Willow was a die hard fan of sexy conservative, and the Dean of the English Department at Brown University had the look down to perfection.
Dean McDreamy. . ., Willow thought as she reached her hand out toward the woman in greeting.
The Dean’s long blonde hair cascaded softly past her shoulders and framed her face delightfully. Willow shook her head to dispel any more thoughts of the woman in front of her. She put on her best professional voice and smiled politely at the blonde woman.
“Rosenberg. Willow Rosenberg.”
Tara shook the Principal’s hand. “Dr. Tara Maclay. A pleasure.”
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TBC next Monday...Hope you guys enjoyed it. And let me know how it's going, please.
Thanks for reading!