Frothy Goodness [AU] (Complete)

[Laragh]

TITLE: Frothy Goodness

AUTHOR: Laragh

RATING: PG-13 (But I totally get to NC-17, promise)

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of the characters, Joss does. I may totally disagree with what he did with them, but alas, he still owns them.

SUMMARY: They meet. They fall in love...I’m really bad at summaries. Happy, light reading.

SPOILERS: None. No demons, no hellmouth.

FEEDBACK: Go for it.

ANGST: None.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is gonna be pure really cheesy ‘bunnies and kittens’ fluff. Angst makes my stomach all acidy, so there most likely won’t be any. Suspense and drama will probably be lacking as well, so it’s not gonna be ‘ohmigod, what happens next!?’, ‘full of twists and turns’ kind of reading, but I just re-watched Season 6 and I needed to see happy stuff. It’s also my first fic, and I sincerely doubt it’ll be well written, but I thought I’d give it a shot. Thanks for reading, if you do!

AUTHOR’S NOTE 2: This is mainly all W/T. There should be some appearances by some of the other characters at some stage though. And I have some time to write at the moment, so I’ll try and update once a day. Thoughts are in italics.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 3: Big thanks to jasmydae for her proofread.

Part 1

********


Grande Triple Latte with an extra pump of foam. Every morning, the exact same drink at the exact same time. 8.35am. Although today she was ten minutes late. Willow Rosenberg’s first thought was of concern for the tall blonde woman who’s coffee order she had memorised, but then she realised how ridiculous it was to be concerned over the whereabouts of a complete stranger.


It had been two months since Willow first noticed the blonde-haired bombshell and one month since she had begun purposefully going to “Emma’s Coffee” fifteen minutes earlier every morning just so she could make sure to catch sight of her. By Willows logic, it would be approximately 14 weeks and 3 days before she would actually gather the courage to speak to her, but that didn’t take into account possible variables such as a phone call from her parents, which was sure to knock her self-esteem down a few points.


So, it’s perfectly okay and not at all creepy if I just keep sitting here and sneak a glance or two.


It took a loud bang coming from her left, which a quick look determined to be a container of sugar sachets being knocked to the floor, to snap Willow out of her blonde-haired-goddess-induced daydream.


“Shit!” she exclaimed after looking at her watch and seeing the time, she realised that if she didn’t move fast she was going to be late for work, and she had a performance review sometime in the next month so that really wouldn’t look good.


She smiled sheepishly at the other customers, got up from her corner table and ran out the door and towards her office building.


Okay, pull yourself together, Rosenberg. You’ve got computers to fix.


***********


Tara Maclay hated mornings.


No, that’s a lie. I just hate THIS morning.


She woke up late, then barely had enough time to shower before grabbing a cup of coffee in her favourite coffee shop and racing to the office. Being a department head in one of the largest multi-national corporations in America, Evanston Dynamics, had its perks, but she was already facing resentment from some of the others in her department from being promoted ahead of some who had been there longer. Arriving dishevelled and late wouldn’t help her any.


“Hey, Steve,” she greeted the security guard at the front reception


“Morning, Ms. Maclay,” the stocky guard responded, “you’re looking well today.”


He gave her a genuine smile and Tara couldn’t help but smile back.


“You’re a terrible liar, Steve,” she said as she swiped her access key, “but I’m glad you try.”


She got in the elevator and took a swig from her coffee, the extra double shot of espresso pepping her up a bit. As the liquid went down her throat, she considered the fact that she hadn’t had a chance to spot that cute redhead she’d been noticing in Emma’s for the last little while. She realised this made her decidedly unhappy, then shook her head to get rid of that thought. She didn’t even know the girl.


But maybe that could change…don’t be silly. She probably already has a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. You don’t know anything about her. Except that’s not true. I know she’s special.


She pondered this as she felt around her bag for her Blackberry.


God, could you get anymore deluded? You’re obsessing over a girl you haven’t said two…


Her thought process was cut short as she realised her little electronic friend wasn’t in her handbag. Or any of her pockets.


“Crap,” she cried, glad there was no one else in the elevator.


Okay, calm down and think. I had it this morning in the kitchen, and then again in the coffee shop when my ‘you should already be at work’ alarm went off. I put it down to take my coffee and…never picked it back up


“Great,” she muttered, pressing the ground floor button.


Steve was surprised to see the young department head getting back out of the elevator and shot her a curious glance.


“Left my Blackberry. Won’t be more than 15 minutes,” she told him, running out the door.


Stupid, stupid, could this day get any worse!?


So lost in her own thought, she didn’t notice the figure rushing in front of her, and it took another moment to realise that she and her handbag were both on the floor and her coffee was currently leaving a puddle on the concrete. And there was another woman scrambling to gather everything up beside her. Only when she heard the woman begin to apologise did she snap to attention and reach for her bag.


“…so, so sorry, I totally wasn’t looking where I was going. And I mean, I don’t normally just go ploughing straight into people, I look at where I’m going, I swear, but I’m all distract-o girl today and oh my god are you hurt, you’re hurt aren’t…”


Willow trailed off as she realised that she’d crashed into, and oh god, possibly hurt none other than her blonde-haired beauty. And she was speaking.


“No worries, really I’m fine. Are you okay?”


“I, uh, I…”


It was then that Tara finally looked up and was equally shocked to see the cute redhead from the coffee shop. Without even thinking, she started speaking.


“Hey, I know you. You go to Emma’s coffee shop, right? I’ve, ah, s-s-seen you around.”


She added the last bit shyly, for the first time realising that she was actually talking, and cursed the accompanying stutter. She stood up straight and looked at the redhead’s soft features.


She’s really beautiful.


Willow was too busy watching the blonde’s lips to realise that there was sound coming out of them. She snapped out of her trance long enough to catch the last bit. She felt a pang of hope as she stood up to meet the blonde’s gaze.


“Yea! I mean, yes, yes, I’ve seen you too. I, ah, actually was building up the courage to maybe, you know, ask you out for coffee? But then I, um, realised how stupid that would sound, you know, in an actual coffeeshop…” She trailed off, thinking she must sound like the world’s biggest loser.


Can’t even string a sentence together, moron.


“Really?” Tara was surprised that the redhead had not only noticed her but was also too shy to say something.


At the small nod from the smaller girl, and filled with a newfound confidence that this amazing goddess had wanted to ask her out, she did what she considered to be one of the bravest thing she had done in her 25 years.


“How about I make it easier for you then?” She smiled at her lack of stutter, “Would you maybe, have dinner with me tomorrow night?”


Willow’s head shot up in a second.


“Really? Yes, yes, I’d love to!”


“I’m Tara, by the way.”


“Rosenberg! I mean, Willow, Willow is my name, Willow Rosenberg is my full name and I’m just gonna shut up now.”


Well done, spaz. Get a date with your dream girl and then ruin it before it even starts. And wow, what a name. Tara. T-A-R-A. It’s beautiful. Like her.


Oh my god, she’s adorable. And I’ve got a date with her!


Her Blackberry completely forgotten, Tara shot her a beaming smile and felt a sense of giddiness and joy she hadn’t felt…well, ever, she realised.


“Well, Rosenberg-comma-Willow, how does eight o’clock sound? I could, ah, m-make reservations at Luigi’s?”


She still wants to go out! Oh god, she could take me dumpster diving and I’d say yes. But Italian does sound nice. Hmm, Luigi’s does that incredible fettuccine…oh god, she’s staring at you, quickly, respond.


“That sounds great. Really great.”


“So, I’ll meet you there? 8pm?” Tara asked, her earlier confidence slipping a little.


“8 o’ clock. Luigi’s. I’ll be there”.


Willow was beaming and still a little in shock that this was actually happening. She was actually going out with Tara. Her smile got even bigger just thinking her name.


“Terrific. Oh, and it’s Maclay, by the way. Tara Maclay.”


“Well, Miss Maclay, I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Willow said as she began to walk away, towards work.


“Yes you will,” Tara said as she watched the retreating form.


Nice ass, too


Willow chose this moment to turn back and smile. Giving a little wave, Tara turned around, red-faced at being caught staring, and kept on her way to Emma’s.


Arriving there, still smiling, she was able to retrieve her Blackberry from the helpful barista behind the counter. Figuring she was already going to be a little late, she may as well get another cup of coffee, since her last had ended up on the sidewalk.


Walking back to the office, she noticed her spilled coffee and got that sense of giddiness all over again.


With an extra jump in her step she waltzed through reception, gave Steve a huge smile and got ready to start her day.


Steve, perplexed at seeing a second woman walking in so happy and seemingly floating in the space of fifteen minutes, just sat there with a bemused smile before getting back to work.

[WillowRulez]

Second woman? So I assume Willow works there as well?
Very good start! Hope you'll write more soon!

[Nue]

more! more! really interesting start ^^
thanks a lot!

[taralicious]

This is what our Independence Day should always be.
Celebrating the freedom to read frothy Willow and Tara yumminess and to swoon over the tingly 'how long will they wait until skin on skin contact' moment when another variation of the eternal dance between them is played out.

[Zooeys_Bridge]

Oh, cute. Light and fluffly indeed, but the banter was smart and not too formulaic.

So, it’s perfectly okay and not at all creepy if I just keep sitting here and sneak a glance or two.

Ha, so very Willow. There is a little of her in all of us, yes?

Since this fic is made of sugar and sparkles, I'm glad you didn't drag out the 'meet-greet-ask-on-date'. Since we know what will happen, there's no actual cliffhanger, so yay! On with the fun.

[Owl]

Cute! That was some very nice Willow-babble too. Can't wait to read more.

[arsyadriani]

could you do me a favor?
continue this fic please
it was a good start and..they fell, indeed

RC

[JustSkipIt]

You have a very good and cute start here. I hope we'll see some genuine character and relationship development too. Of course, I like the smoochies as well.

[gabbles]

Very cute start. I love some fluff every now and again and I look forward to reading updates

[Laragh]

*****************

TITLE: Frothy Goodness

AUTHOR: Laragh

RATING: PG-13 (But I totally get to NC-17, promise)

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of the characters, Joss does. I may totally disagree with what he did with them, but alas, he still owns them.

SUMMARY: They meet. They fall in love...I’m really bad at summaries. Happy, light reading.

SPOILERS: None. No demons, no hellmouth.

FEEDBACK: Go for it.

ANGST: None.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Okay so Part 2 ended up being really small, then I kept writing and Part 3 was small as well so I'm gonna post them both. I tried just combining them, but they didn't seem to flow together as one part. There's a lot of background in these next parts, so I apologise for the lack of 'togetherness', but the date scene should be my next update.

Part 2

**********


Willow smiled as she turned back around.


She was checking me out!


She rounded the corner and looked at the California offices of Evanston Dynamics, her place of work for the past 3 years, having been recruited straight out of college.


She went through the large glass doors and shot a friendly smile at Steve, the guard on duty. She didn’t know too much about him, with only their mutual greetings in the mornings to go by, but he seemed like a friendly guy and always had a smile on his face. By the time she was leaving for the day, the night guard was usually on duty.


I totally have a life. What’s more, I have a date. First date in 2 years…


Willow wasn’t opposed to dates, or relationships, or anything of the romantic nature. She just wasn’t good at them. And she didn’t like things she wasn’t good at. She only went on the handful of dates that she did because Buffy made her in college. She had said “there’s no point in being gay if you’re not gonna be gay with someone!”, a claim Willow vigorously denied.


Buffy Summers had been her best friend since freshman year of high school when they were assigned the same homeroom and sat next to each other. They stayed close friends throughout high school and into college where they were roommates. When she had come out their junior year at Sunnydale High, Buffy had pulled her into a big hug and defended her when the rest of school found out and didn’t take it well. She had been there when her mother had dismissed it as “a phase” and Willow had cried on her shoulder, and Willow had been there for her when her first boyfriend had broken up with her and she thought her heart was going to break in two.


When Buffy had first told her she was moving to LA two years ago, to open a hotel with her fiancé Liam, but who everyone called Angel because of a tattoo of angel wings he’d gotten on his shoulder blade, in a rebellious streak as a teenager, Willow could be nothing but ecstatic for her best friend. She knew she’d miss her, but really LA was only a short car journey away and they could talk whenever they wanted.


So Willow got lost in work. And she liked it. She wondered if she should call Buffy and tell her about her date, but decided to keep it to herself for now. Keep it just hers.


“Morning, Willow. You’re all smiley today.”


“Hey Alan,” Willow greeted the short, brown-haired man who inhabited the cubicle next to Willow’s and with whom she often liased with on company projects, “Just looking forward to the weekend.”


“Did you finish the update on the Naylor account?” Alan asked, straight to business.


“Weeks ago, I have the revised edition on a flash drive here,” Willow responded promptly.


“Excellent. You know, Rosenberg, the quality of your work here; I’m surprised you still work on the floor. You should be getting promoted through the roof!”


“I like this kind of work. It would be a lot harder to come into work every day if stuffy management and board meetings were all I had to look forward to,” Willow replied.


And she firmly believed it. From the beginning, her job had been about enjoyment and the fact that she was good enough at her hobby to make a career out of it was just a massive bonus. Getting lost in lines of programming and being able to solve software problems better than anyone else she knew would win out over promotion prospects any day for her.


“Well okay then. So you’ve got that file?” he asked, slightly surprised at the normally quiet redheads impassioned answer.


“Here you go,” she said, handing it over and sitting down in front of her laptop, eager to get on with her work for the day.


**************


Tara walked through the elevators of the 22nd floor and into the Human Resources department. Walking through the floor towards her office at the back, she got a mixture of non-committal glances and genuine smiles from the other workers in her department. The ones who resented her quick ascent through the ranks of the division, whether through bitterness from not getting the Department Head job themselves or just general animosity from the rapidity of it, would never openly show their disdain in front of her. No, they’d never risk that. So they resigned themselves to water-cooler bitching and communal emails.


Tara knew having such acrimony within any department was not good, but within the very one that had to work together to, among other things, try and solve employee disputes, could negatively reflect on her own ability at the job, a job she knew she did well. A job her superiors knew she did well, and more importantly, a job her employees knew she did well, whether or nor they’d admit it.


And she had plenty of members in her workforce that recognised her capability and genuinely liked her as a boss and a person. She decided, soon after she was promoted just less than a year ago, that she wouldn’t let the few outweigh the many, a motto she reminded herself of when she noticed the dirty looks she was given when someone didn’t think she was looking. And walking through the department that morning, not even rancour she could feel emanating from certain people could wipe the ear-to-ear smile she had on her face, her mind still lost in the events of the still-early morning.


She stopped briefly to collect her messages from her assistant, Miranda, the most highly organised woman Tara had ever met, and a godsend on most days, especially the rare ones like toady when she was running behind herself.


“Mr. Arnolds called,” Miranda said, handing over a collection of note cards with carefully written messages on them, “He says he needs to go over the new internal recruitment policy before you present to the board on Tuesday.”


“Can you call him back, organise a meeting? Today or Monday, you know my schedule better than I do. Did we hear back about the revised employee handbooks yet?”


“They are in full print and will be ready for distribution first thing Monday morning.”


“I really don’t know what I’d do without you, Miranda.”


“Drown in a mountain of paperwork?”


Tara chuckled appreciatively and moved towards the front door of her office.


“I pretty much have that covered as it is. Can you have lunch organised for in here today?”


“That I can do. Sandwich bar?”


”Perfect. And can you hold my calls while I’m in appraisals?”


”Of course. Is there anything else, boss-lady?” Miranda asked, happy she was able to have a good rapport with her boss.


“That’s all for now,” Tara responded, smiling, then quickly added, “Thanks,” before slipping into her own office.


She sat at her desk and prepared herself for the start of the month-long performance appraisals she, and her staff, were conducting, not the most difficult task in her job description, but somewhat tedious after the first 50 or so.


She turned on the computer that lay on her desk and waited as the screen filled with the company logo and a range of appointment reminders popped up.


“Thank God it’s Friday,” she muttered as she opened the file on her first appointment and started her last day before the weekend.


And the last day before my date with Willow!

[Laragh]

TITLE: Frothy Goodness

AUTHOR: Laragh

RATING: PG-13 (But I totally get to NC-17, promise)

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of the characters, Joss does. I may totally disagree with what he did with them, but alas, he still owns them.

SUMMARY: They meet. They fall in love...I’m really bad at summaries. Happy, light reading.

SPOILERS: None. No demons, no hellmouth.

FEEDBACK: Go for it.

ANGST: None.

Part 3


*************


Willow looked in the mirror for the 27th time that afternoon. Her green low-cut halter neck top, which she was told brought out her eyes, flowed nicely down her ‘boyish’ figure and onto a pair of boot-cut denim jeans and black high leg boots that she’d bought on a whim 6 months ago but had never had a reason to actually wear.


Deciding that she needed some accessories to finish her outfit off, she fished around on her dresser and put on a simple silver necklace with an emerald stone that showed just above the neckline of her top. The necklace was her favourite, it was her grandmothers when she was alive, given to her by her husband, Willow’s grandfather, when they got engaged.


When she had died she had left this and a sum of money enough for Willow to put a down payment on a small house close to town, so that she was able to walk to work or into the town easily. She did still own a car however, a blue Mercedes C180, that she’d gotten as a present from her parents when they’d failed to show up to her college graduation.


Her Bubbe had always been special to her, especially with her own mother constantly out of town on business. Growing up, it had been Tovah Rosenberg who’d travelled from Santa Barbara to look after her during her parents many business trips, who’d explained what was happening when she got her first period at 11, and despite the book shoved at her by her mother to ‘explain things’ and Willow’s usual ability at reading and retaining knowledge, she needed the calming influence of her grandmother to convince her she wasn’t dying.


Most importantly for Willow, her Bubbe was the first person in her family whom she’d told she was gay. Tovah had smiled at her and said she knew she’d make a girl very happy some day.


Willow smiled as she fastened her necklace, remembering her grandmother and looked in the mirror for the 28th time.


Looking good, Rosenberg. And I really need to stop referring to myself by my surname. Why do I even need to refer to myself anyway? I know it’s me I’m speaking to; I don’t need to reaffirm it. Whatever you do, don’t call yourself Rosenberg in front of Tara tonight. Again. Okay, head babble, stop now.


Readjusting her top a final time she made her way downstairs and looked at the grandfather clock in her hallway. 4.37 pm. Three and a half hours of nervous pacing ahead of her, she entered her kitchen, opting out of making a coffee, figuring she was hyper enough as it is for this evening; she sat and went over her pre-prepared list of possible conversation
topics for the date.


Exactly three and a half hours later, she grabbed her purse and left her house, locking the door behind her, and began walking the familiar path that would lead her past Emma’s and down the block to her favourite Italian restaurant.


************


Tara sat on her balcony with a cup of camomile tea, scanning the park that her apartment building overlooked. She loved the idea of having a house, but not having a car meant she needed to be close to work and local amenities and with her student loan still looming over her head and the rental market for houses low in the area, this apartment was the only place in her price range and in the right area.


To look at, she seemed like the epitome of calmness, but the internal thought process currently invading her mind betrayed this.


Right, no need to panic. Just a date with a pretty girl. A very pretty girl. Date. I’m going on a date. 25 years old and I’m going on my first date. Oh god, I’m going to mess it up! Maybe I should cancel. No, can’t cancel. No date is so much worse than bad date. Is this how teenagers feel before they go out with someone? No wonder they’re moody all the time.


Tara knew it was odd that she’d never been with anyone, in any sense of the word. No dates, no relationships, hell, she’d never even kissed anyone. She reasoned that her teenage years were less than steady and when she’d moved out here she was too busy with school and work to see anyone.


And then when she got a job in the HR department in the recruiting area, and swiftly progressed to Team Leader and Recruitment Manager after that, she became engrossed in her work, and after just a year in the company she was offered the interim HR Manager position when the previous manager, Mrs. Helen Levenson, left for maternity leave, a position made stable when the woman decided to stay at home with her baby permanently.


The offer had been a bigger shock to Tara herself than anyone else, and had questioned her bosses at the time to make sure they had the right person. She was told they wanted to fill the job internally and that it was unusual to have someone with not a huge amount of experience to work through that quickly, but that they’d never seen someone with such enthusiasm and initiative and that, on the heels of a personal recommendation from Mrs. Levenson, secured her the position. A position she took, with great pride and generally with good will from her colleagues. Generally.


Not the time to be thinking about that. I have a date to get ready for. Is it normal to feel like I’m gonna throw up? Screw butterflies, I’ve got bats going around my stomach.


Going back through the balcony door and into her bathroom, she quickly showered and arrived back in her bedroom pondering her outfit choice.


She decided on a red off-the-shoulder peasant blouse with a just-below-the-knee black pencil skirt. Upon entering the bathroom again, she applied her make-up and brushed through her hair one more time, letting the natural wave sit comfortably just past her shoulders and went back to her room to slip on her strappy black sandals. Stealing a last glance in her hallway mirror, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.


Stopping just for a moment to get the last of the nerves out of her system, she headed into the lobby and out the front door. Walking through the park, she let the excitement run through her and forced herself to slow down when she realised she’d picked up the pace quite a bit.


Don’t wanna seem too eager. I might scare her off or something.


Arriving outside the restaurant, she glanced at her watch. 7.55pm. Perfect timing, she figured. Looking through the restaurant window, she saw the place was full except for one booth in the corner with a reserved card sitting in the middle of the table.


Good thing I booked!


With one last deep breath, she spun around and quickly lost her footing as she crashed into another figure coming in from behind her.


“I’m so s-s-sorry, I didn’t even check to see if someone was behind m-me, are you okay?”


When she got no response, she looked up and found herself staring at a beaming smile and into eyes a colour that was rapidly becoming her favourite.

[willowandtaraforever]

Gotta say that I'm really liking this story. Can't wait till the date part of the evening. can u please add some soon.

[taralicious]

That is becoming an endearing pattern, that of each time they literally run into each other. Like one of those trust-building exercises corporatins are big on where they one person falls backwards and the second person catches them.
Willow and Tara will both instinctively know the other will always be there to catch and support the other in any context.

[xxKhirKhirxx]

Yay! I'm so loving this fic These first chapters rock
I can't wait to see what happens next!!

[arsyadriani]

yay!! 2 updates
keep on posting
RC

[onyxsundrops]

I read the first chapter a few days ago and didn't know you had updated... twice. I'm really enjoying the story and looking forward to the next chapter.

Evy

[Laragh]

************

TITLE: Frothy Goodness

AUTHOR: Laragh

RATING: PG-13 (But I totally get to NC-17, promise)

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of the characters, Joss does. I may totally disagree with what he did with them, but alas, he still owns them.

SUMMARY: They meet. They fall in love...I’m really bad at summaries. Happy, light reading.

SPOILERS: None. No demons, no hellmouth.

FEEDBACK: Go for it.

ANGST: None.

AUTHORS NOTE: Here's the first part of the date. Sorry if I overdo the babble/ Anyway, thanks again for reading!

Part 4


*******************


“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Willow beamed as she stood and held out her hand to help Tara up.


“Willow! Hi! Wow, again, so s-sorry,” Tara stood as she inwardly cursed her stutter yet again.


Great. The date hasn’t even officially started and I’m already messing up. I wouldn’t blame her if she ran now.


“Hey, no worries. It’s not everyday a beautiful woman sweeps me off my feet. Or at least it wasn’t before yesterday,” Willow quipped and looked down shyly as she realised what she’d said.


Tara smiled, equally as shy, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.


“You’re okay, right? Nothing hurt?” Willow asked, concern etching over her features.


“Just my pride,” Tara answered, looking down again.


“Hey,” Willow said, quickly lifting her chin and staring into her eyes, “you should never hide that beautiful face”


“That’s twice you’ve called me beautiful. You either need glasses or you’re trying to woo me,” Tara said, smiling at Willow’s compliment.


“Oh, definitely wooing. I’m all with the wooage here. They should call me Willow Woo Rosenberg, although it’d be better if my last name began with W, you know, for alliterations sake. Oh! Not that I go around wooing a lot of girls or anything, I mean I wouldn’t even know how to handle more than one girl, and the juggling and lying, I’m not too good at the whole lying thing, not that I’d ever even want to anyway, and you really need to stop me when I get like this, I tell my brain to stop my mouth but it just won’t lis-“


Willow was shocked into silence as she felt the lightest of pressure against her lips, gone as quickly as they came.


“I, ah, think that the babble is cute. But I didn’t want you to blow an artery or something. So, you ready to go inside?” Tara asked, shocked herself at her daring move but her lips still felt like they were on fire from the brief contact. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to really kiss her. When the redhead didn’t respond, Tara touched her upper arm, hoping she hadn’t pushed the boundaries too far. The other girl seemed to be in a complete daze.


Uh oh, I think I broke her. Stupid Tara. You don’t go around kissing people before your date even starts. Even if she did say she wanted to woo you. Speaking of woo, how good does she look. That top brings out her eyes. And that necklace really makes her shine. And the way it just slips down there in her cleavage. I really want to be that emerald.


Tara smiled as she remembered the redhead’s ardent babble, thinking it was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. Or heard, she supposed. She then blushed at the stray lusty thought that had let itself in there


“Uh, Willow?” Tara asked, as the other girl continued to look as if in a trance


“Hmm? Yes?” Willow asked, still not completely with it. All coherent thought flew out the window as soon as Tara’s lips had touched hers.


Mmmmmhhhh. Tara-lips. On mine. No! Gone? Why are they..? Speaking! She’s speaking! Oh god, stop fantasying about those glorious lips and…Mmmmmhhhh. Tara-lips.


She was snapped out of her daydream by a hand on her arm.


“Willow? You okay sweetie?” Tara asked, starting to get worried about the smaller woman.


Sweetie! She called me sweetie! Oh god, would it be completely inappropriate to just shove her against the window and start making out with her? Kissing her and wow, look at those. No, Rosenberg, do not get distracted again, you’ll be lucky if she even stays for dinner at this stage, you’ve made a big enough ass of yourself already. And Self, we discussed this referring-to-yourself-by-your-surname thing. Quit it!


“Hey! Yep, I’m fine. Finey McFine Fine. Better than fine. Great. Um, food. We should eat. Do you wanna…?” she gestured towards the doorway.


“Yea. Yes. That’d be great,” Tara answered, still slightly worried about the other girl.


They made their way inside and Tara gave her name to the maitre d'. They were both seated in the corner booth that Tara had seen before their tumble outside. After being handed their menus, their waiter took their drinks order, a couple of glasses of chardonnay and a pitcher of iced water.


Willow seemed to be intently studying her menu, a slight blush donning her face. Tara, knowing what she was going to order already and only glancing at her menu briefly, watched at first with amusement, then slight fear as the other woman continued to seemingly fall into hers.


Unknown to the women, they both had the exact same thought swimming around their heads.


Oh god, I totally freaked her out back there.


Tara, thinking she should give the other girl an out, and not subject her to a forced dinner if she didn’t want to, spoke up.


“Hey, if you, um w-w-want to leave or whatever, I totally get it. I m-m-mean, you know, I won’t like think anything bad or a-a-anything.”


She knew she was never going to get through that sentence without stuttering, it hurt too much to even say it to her dream girl, but she still kicked herself for not controlling her emotions better.


Willow, shocked into action by hearing the blonde’s words, reached out and grabbed her hand and looked her straight into eyes as she responded


“Tara, no, no, I mean unless you want me to leave?”


She asked the last bit as she fought back tears at the thought of not even having a slight chance with the beautiful blonde.


“No! No, definitely not! I just, you know, outside, acted like such a loser and I didn’t want you to have to stay if you didn’t want,” Tara said, loving the feel of the girl’s hand in hers.


“You!? No, no it was me! I was the one who acted like a total spaz, which I promise, isn’t normal. Well…no, that’s a lie, it kind of is, I told you already I’m not good with the lying thing. And I’m sorry for just standing there and going all non-verbal, it’s just well, corny cliché coming up, but you, you know, take my breath away,” Willow said all this, preparing for the girl to go running and screaming out of the restaurant, and was surprised when she felt her hand being squeezed and saw Tara beaming at her.


“You take my breath away too,” the blonde said breathlessly, just to illustrate her point


“So both of us were sitting here, thinking the other hated us when really there was nothing but good thoughts going on?” Willow asked incredulously, but with a hint of amusement in her voice.


“It seems so. How about for the rest of the evening, no matter how much either of us think we make a fool of ourselves, we don’t go all, ah, non-verbal as you call it?” Tara asked, becoming more and more relaxed by the second and pleased to see her stutter hadn’t made an appearance in a little while.


“Totally agreed.”


The waiter chose that moment to come back to the table. Reluctantly, Willow took her hand back and Tara gestured for her to order first.


“Can I have the Fettuccine Alfredo please, with a garden salad, dressing on the side?”


“Of course, madam, and for you ma’am?” he asked, turning to Tara, who he noticed had a sort-of half smile on her face.


“Same for me, please, but hold the bacon with the Alfredo,” she said, loving the fact that they both ordered the same thing.


“Excellent, I’ll be back soon with your dishes.”


“I hate when people call me ma’am. I’m only 25, you know? Makes me feel like I’m 80,” Tara said, meeting Willow's eye.


“I know, I get some of the junior programmers at work saying to me, and they’re like a year younger than me. Some of them are even older,” Willow responded, enjoying the easy nature of their conversation.


“Programmer? Like computers?”


“Yea, I work at like computer programming and software development. It’s good, ‘cause I work for a big company so there’s this whole like eclectic mix of projects I get to work on. Geek, I know,” Willow answered, smiling sheepishly.


“You’re not a geek. You’re lucky you understand how to use computers. I can mange a powerpoint presentation and the basic stuff, but that's it. And it seems like you really like it, which is great. Doing what you love and being good at it.”


“That’s what I’ve thought from like the beginning, it’s why I got my degree in computer science and went into programming. Some of my colleagues have said that they don’t know how I haven’t been promoted already, and wow that sounded conceited, so please disregard it, but it’s like, I wouldn’t want to be anyway. I’d hate to be on of those stuffy management types you know? I love just working with the computer.”


Their waiter arrived and placed their dishes in front of them before exiting again to another table.


“So what do you do?” Willow asked as she picked up her wine glass.


“Oh, I’m, ah, one of those stuffy management types,” Tara answered, a hint of a smile on her face.

[WillowRulez]

Aww, Buffy is with Angel!
I think it's very interesting that we have Willow as a job-oriented but not promotion-crazed woman for once and Tara as kind of her counterpart. You don't get to see that very often. You just scored major originality points with me!

Three and a half hours of nervous pacing ahead of her...

LOL! I would change my clothes for several times until it was time to leave. Tara's first date at 25? That is kinda weird! (But not in a bad way)
Wilow's babble about wooing was too funny.

“I hate when people call me ma’am. I’m only 25, you know? Makes me feel like I’m 80,”

The opposite keeps happening to me, all the time. People always assume I am younger.
Seems like you update faster than I can read! I like that

[GrimCityGirl]

I love this. really, very refreshing and fun to read. keep up the good work!

[taralicious]

Oh, it's all very Rex Smith of Willow and Tara declaring that the other takes their breath away.
There's a pop music reference that dates me as a child of the 70's.
You do a admirable job in reflecting the foibles and neuroses of both women in an endearing manner.
I think that's why they are both the most easily identifiable characters for fans since each of us can relate to either the shyness, lack of self-confidence, or spazzology.

[xxKhirKhirxx]

Uh oh, I think I broke her.

Heheh, that made me giggle

Very awesome update! It was uber cute and awesome, but I said that already, so I don't know why I'm saying again. Probably because it's true

Anyway, fantastic update and can't wait to read more! :3

[Willowfan]

Sweet, original and funny. I can't wait for more.

[arsyadriani]

woohoooo..update..update

more..more
RC

[DaddyCatALSO]

Liking it; of course worrying about conflict-of-interest stuff later on . . . .

Tara's dating history reminds me of someone who shall remain pronoun-less :-(.

Strictly speaking, non-supernatural uebers shouldn't *have* Liam or Willaim or Anya or Dawn in them; but then again my own experiemtn with ueber, "Planning the Wedding," has all 4 so hey, sweet is as sweet does, I guess.

Bacon in Alfredo or Ricardo sauce; that's a new one for me.
I submitted some tVS related recipes to a cookbook once; one was Bubbe Rosenberg's Dark-Meat Lover's Chicken Soup :-). So I liked seeing a reference to Willow's grandmother. (I also submitted Willow's Wickedly Weliable Woast Beast and Tara's Brown Rice and Vegetable Stir Fry.)

The speech patterns seem absolutely real; not a "Oh, this person babbles so she must be Willow" etc. type thing which happens too often.

[Yours]

Hey there, loving the fic so far!!!
I'm already geting warm fuzzies in my tummy!
Keep it up, looking forward to reading more!
XX Rachel XX

[Laragh]

**********

TITLE: Frothy Goodness

AUTHOR: Laragh

RATING: PG-13 (But I totally get to NC-17, promise)

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of the characters, Joss does. I may totally disagree with what he did with them, but alas, he still owns them.

SUMMARY: They meet. They fall in love...I’m really bad at summaries. Happy, light reading.

SPOILERS: None. No demons, no hellmouth.

FEEDBACK: Go for it.

ANGST: None.

Part 5

******************

Willow nearly choked on her wine. Avoiding an embarrassing coughing fit, she picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth.


“Tara, I didn’t mean, I mean, I just meant that…”


Tara, seeing the poor girl had suffered enough, decided to intervene.


“Willow, its fine. Really. I totally get it. I even feel that way about a lot of my colleagues. I just fell into management and loved being able to organise everything. Then after I got my business degree, I got into Human Resources and the rest, as they say, is history”


“That’s really cool. And that you’re doing what you love, as well. So, HR huh? Does that mean conducting a lot of interviews and stuff?”


“That’s definitely an aspect, I actually used to be a recruitment manager and I did a lot of that, but I’m the Department Head now, so I deal more with policies and the, um, ‘stuffy’ stuff.”


She grinned as the watched the redhead blush again.


“And I do performance appraisals and work on individual training techniques for personnel, stuff like that.”


“Ah, performance appraisals. I have one of those myself soon,” Willow said as the blush started leaving her face.


“I’m sure you’ll be terrific.”


“I hope so.”


The conversation continued at an easy pace throughout their meal, both girls surprised at how relaxed they felt with the other. The cheque came and Tara took it to put her card in, but was met by protests from Willow.


“Uh uh,” she said, shaking her head, “Dinner’s on me tonight. You know, for acting like a spaz and then basically insulting your entire profession and oh my god, your coffee! I walked into you yesterday and spilt all your coffee everywhere and didn’t even get you a new one. I am so, so sorry.”


Throughout her run-on, babble-induced panic, Willow didn’t notice the waiter coming over and taking the cheque back, nor his return. It was only when she saw the plate with a receipt and two mints on it, did reality dawn on her.


“You…with the…and…that was sneaky, Ms. Maclay! Next time is on me for sure! And I will be replacing that coffee.”


They both stood up and made their way to the exit. Once outside, Tara turned to Willow, shot her a half-smile and simply said,


“I’d really like that.”


“Good. Me too. So maybe, I could get, like your phone number or email address or something?”


“Here, give me your phone and I’ll put it in.”


Smiling, Willow handed over her phone and Tara keyed in a few digits and then her name.


“Cool,” Willow said as she put her phone back in her purse.


There was a slight awkward moment as both girls pondered how to end the evening, not least of all because neither wanted it to end.


“So, I’m heading this way,” Willow said, somewhat lamely she realised, as she gestured in the general direction of her house.


“Me too. I live on Williams.”


“Really? I pass there on the way to my place. Did you drive?” Willow asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.


“Nope. Don’t have a car. It’s why I live so close to town,” Tara said, whispering the last part as if she was sharing a big secret.


Willow giggled at the other girl.


“Well then, would you object to an escort home? I’d be a bad date if I didn’t make sure you got to your place safely. Plus, you know, pretty night, pretty girl, they kind of go hand in hand. So, in a poetic gesture of romance and again, cliché,” she said as she held out her hand, “can I walk you home?”


Tara’s heart melted at the other girl words and actions, and she gladly accepted her hand as they began walking the direction of both their homes.


“You were right,” Tara said, as she looked up to the sky, “it really is a pretty night.”


“Yea, look, the stars are so bright. See right there?” Willow replied, pointing at a particular cluster of stars, “That’s Canis Minor. And right there,” she said moving her fingers, “Is Orion.”


“And right there,” Tara replied, pointing just above and to the left of where Willow was, “ is The Big Pineapple.”


“Um…I think they missed that one in my freshman astronomy class.”


Tara giggled at Willow’s baffled expression.


“The real ones never made sense to me, so I made up my own,” she said, explaining herself. Bringing up their conjoined hands she traced the outline.


“Wow,” Willow said with genuine awe, “You have anymore?”


“Really?” Tara asked, surprised Willow didn’t think she was a giant baby.


“Teach me?” she asked with a childlike-innocence that Tara melted at.


“See there? Short Man Looking Uncomfortable.”


Willow giggled and Tara marvelled that she was able to elicit that kind of reaction.


“And this one, my personal favourite, Moose Getting A Spongebath.”


“I bet you’re really good at art,” Willow said, catching Tara by surprise.


“What?”


“Art. Drawing, painting, that kind of thing. You are, right?” Willow said as if they’d been talking about it for hours.


“Well, I mean I enjoy it. I don’t know if I’d say I’m good at it, but-”


Tara was cut off by a playful scoff from Willow.


“Nonsense. I bet you’re amazing. You’re so creative, I mean making up star constellations? That’s…just…amazing. You’re amazing.”


Tara got choked up at the genuine affection in the redhead’s voice.


“Thank you,” she said simply and shot Willow a winning smile.


Just then they rounded the corner onto Williams Drive and Tara stopped them outside the high-rise building that housed her apartment.


“So, this is me,” Tara said, not yet letting go of their joined hands.


“I had a great time tonight,” Willow said, then continued self-depreciatingly, “I really have to quit it with the clichés. I mean, I don’t have an English degree or anything, but I think I’m capable of forming one original sentence. It really isn’t that difficult to string a thread of original words together and say something that doesn’t resemble those kinds of novels that my mother always reads but would never admit to or those movies that always inexplicably star Hugh Grant, and really, why? I mean what is it about him? I never really understood the good-looks thing he apparently has going on, ‘cause hello, lesbian here, but-”


Tara, deciding for a second time that night that she needed to prevent a popped artery in the girl she was falling in love with…


Holy crap, falling in love with?


…despite the adorability of the on-going babble, Tara took Willow’s other hand in hers and leaned forward to capture her lips with her own.


The feeling of lips against hers made Tara’s head swim, and she was happy to have had to wait 25 years if this was the outcome of it. Seconds later, she felt the redhead begin to respond, slowly moving her lips, almost timidly. Tara matched her rhythm and thought she was going to pass out from all the feelings coursing through her body.


Yep, definitely falling in love.


Similar feelings were running through Willow, and she felt her body begin to respond to the simple act of moving lips against lips.


How can lips taste so good? And be so full and delicious and oh, I could just stand her and kiss her forever.


As their lips continued to move sensually against each other, both content with not deepening the kiss just yet, the world around them drowned out until it was only them, only this time, and most importantly they both felt at that moment, only their lips.


Both realising that they would require oxygen soon, especially Willow who went straight from babble to kiss with no time in between, they pulled away and stared into each other’s eyes.


“You should really patent that. You could call it Babble-Be-Gone ™. 100% effectiveness,” Willow said, still grinning ear-to-ear.


Tara chuckled, reeling from her first kiss, and more importantly, she felt, her first kiss with Willow. It was the start of something special, she knew it.


“I’ll look into that,” she responded seriously.


“At the risk of sounding hopelessly desperate and over eager, could I maybe buy you that cup of coffee I owe you tomorrow morning? Or you know, brunch kind of time frame? Or if you totally have plans, that’s cool,” Willow asked with some trepidation in her voice.


“That’d be great,” Tara replied eagerly.


“Yea?” Willow asked again, just to be sure.


“Yea…I could meet you here? Around 11?”


“Sound’s perfect,” Willow said, delighted at the prospect of getting to see the blonde so soon.


“It’s a date,” Tara said.


Pulling the girl into tight embrace, then releasing her with firm, fast kiss, she headed towards her apartment building, turning to wave at the redhead who was still rooted to the spot with an adoring look on her face and two fingers of her left hand absently stroking her kiss-swollen lips. Chuckling quietly, Tara went into the lobby and into the elevator.


It was only when, 10 minutes later, a passing cab went through a puddle and got rainwater over her jeans that Willow snapped out of her trance and kept on her way towards her house, already eager to get to sleep so the morning would come.

[WillowRulez]

“Ah, performance appraisals. I have one of those myself soon,” Willow said as the blush started leaving her face.

Interesting...
Well of course Tara had to pay, she asked Willow out! Another point for originality. Usually Willow trips over herself paying.
I liked how you worked the "stars" dialogue into the story! Was always one of my favs.

It was only when, 10 minutes later, a passing cab went through a puddle and got rainwater over her jeans that Willow snapped out of her trance and kept on her way towards her house, already eager to get to sleep so the morning would come.

Awww... so sweet!

[xxKhirKhirxx]

Awwww, this update made my heart all smiley and happy! So adorable and awesome :3
I love that Tara paid for them, heh! The kiss scene? *faint* It was sooo amazing!
Awesome update! Can't wait to read more! :3

[Zooeys_Bridge]

Cute cute.

"We’ve got to stop meeting like this"

hahaha, very funny! they do need to watch where they're going, but if it leads to some Willow-on-Tara friction, count me in!

Evanston Dynamics

I may have missed the bit where you explained where the story takes place, but just from this, I'm guessing outside of Chicago? I have a good friend who hails from Evanston. She loves it there.

[taralicious]

Tara can be sneaky when she wants to; a classic case of misdirection as she flirts with Willow with the one hand and slips the waiter her card with the other.
Sometimes it seems forced when writers insert dialogue from their favorite episodes but the scene with Tara's self-taught constellations added another layer of intimacy to their walk home.