TITLE: Racing The Rain
AUTHOR: Finey_McFine
RATING: PG13
DISCLAIMER: Willow, Tara and any other BtVS characters, as well as some random dialog, belong to Mutant Enemy.
SUMMARY: Totally AU, Willow and Tara Meet with not so surprising results! Set in LA with lots of W/T fluff and a little teeny tiny bit of angst, but no Hellmouthyness. Just good old regular day-to-day drama.
FEEDBACK: OK
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hi everyone! It’s pretty cool seeing so many page views on my first fic! I hope you enjoy chapter 2, we get to learn a little more about Tara.
Chapter 2: Initial Contact
Morning came sooner than expected for Willow; she’d had a rough night. Ralphie had woken up several times scratching at the offending oversized plastic collar and growling. Now the gray pup was standing at her bedroom door and barking.
“Ok, Ok Ralphie…I hear you. Just give me a few minutes, ugh. Alright, let me go to the bathroom and get some clothes on.” <
Geez, this is almost as bad as having a newborn baby>The little dog was sitting diligently by the door, balancing on his three uninjured legs holding up the bandaged paw.
Willow threw on some pants, grabbed Ralphie and headed outside. Ralphie sniffed around and took care of business…several times, in several different places, kicking up the grass behind him each time.
Willow chuckled and shook her head, “Well, I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go.”
When Ralphie was finally done, he immediately turned his attention back to the lampshade collar and began to furiously shake his head.
“And on that note…it’s back inside we go! I need coffee Ralphie and you need to settle down before you injure yourself any worse.” Willow said as they entered the apartment.
No more had the words left Willow’s mouth, than Ralphie took off across the small living room jerking the leash right out of her hand. He began barking and carrying on, clearly after something that was under the couch. The sleepy redhead herd hissing and knew exactly who the culprit was.
“Ralphie! Leave Miss Kitty alone!” In her exhaustion, Willow had completely forgotten about her cat, Miss Kitty Fantastico. Miss Kitty was about 4 years old, black and white with white rear feet, a white stripe from her chin to her chest and a small spot of white fur around her nose. The precocious kitten had wandered up on the Rosenberg ranch during Willow’s senior year of high school. They took to each other right away and have been inseparable ever since.
Once Ralphie barked himself out and calmed down, Miss Kitty ventured out and the two started to get acquainted. <
Thank goodness, I really don’t want to get evicted. I so need to call and get this little pooch back home where he belongs>She looked at the clock and realized that it was well before 8:00am. Deciding against the coffee, she lay down on the couch, pulled the afghan over herself and went back to sleep.
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Tara lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She glanced over at the clock. It was 7:30am, normally the time Ralphie would wake Tara to go out. She sighed, depressing thoughts threatened to take over so she pushed them from her mind and began thinking about the up coming week. She had to be on the set first thing Monday morning and was not looking forward to the prospect of a 15-hour day so early in the week.
Tara Maclay was the star of the current top rated TV sitcom and with that came long hours. Her thoughts began to drift and she soon started to reflect on her career and what had brought her to where she was today.
Tara was born and raised in the suburbs of LA, she was a California girl through and through. With honey blonde hair and deep blue eyes, she was the poster child for a typical “California Girl.” In fact, she had been an actual poster child as a toddler, taking on the role as The Coppertone Baby.
Tara was an only child, raised primarily by her mother after her father abandoned them when she was an infant. Her mother, Elizabeth, was a nurse, but the long inconsistent hours kept her away from Tara and the pay was barely enough to survive.
One day, when Tara was about 14 months old, Elizabeth had taken her to a nearby park to play. She sat on a bench while Tara played in the sand, and struck up a conversation with the woman who sat next to her. They made small talk and Elizabeth had mentioned some of the pitfalls of juggling an irregular work schedule and motherhood. It was then that the woman suggested that she audition Tara for commercials. Elizabeth initially blanched at the idea of using her only child as, what she considered to be a “meal ticket,” but if it meant spending more time with her angel and cutting back some hours, maybe she would consider it.
After researching the industry and much contemplation, Elizabeth finally got up the nerve and took Tara for an audition. The studio was packed with parents and crying babies. The director called for five babies to come back at a time. He instructed the parents to place them all on the floor and step back out of view. The crew began moving numerous cameras around them and making noise. Most of the toddlers began to cry or ran to their parent, but Tara just sat there perfectly content. She smiled, laughed and played with her feet. None of the commotion seemed to bother her at all and she was hired the same day. One gig turned into another and another and so on until she started Kindergarten. Elizabeth had managed to save enough money for her to take a lower paying job with less hours and still have money to care for Tara properly. So, with the start of school, the commercials stopped and Elizabeth took a job as a school nurse, working school hours to coincide with Tara’s schedule.
Tara was an easy going child, a bit shy with a slight stutter when she became nervous, but one thing was for certain…she loved being in front of the camera or on the stage.
Life plugged on, fairly uneventful until Tara was ten, when she received a call from a casting director that had previously cast her in a commercial five years earlier. He was in the process of casting a family sitcom and asked if Tara could audition. Elizabeth was against it, citing school as more important, but Tara eventually wore her down, auditioned and won the role. She spent two years on the show and when it was canceled, went on to work on a one-hour family drama. With the success of that show and her growing popularity, at fifteen she landed a role in a low budget movie with several former stars trying to make a comeback. The movie was an overnight sensation and Tara was propelled into teen idol status. The family drama finally came to an end after six seasons on the air, but not before the blonde beauty had won an Emmy and two Golden Globes for her work as an angst ridden teenager. She had also made a sequel to her first movie during that time, which went on to become an international box office success.
Tara was the tender age of nineteen when the second show ended and she found herself unemployed. During that time she received numerous offers for TV and movies. After doing a few guest spots and taking some time off, she decided to accept a role in a TV sitcom about a group of friends and their daily ups and downs living in Chicago. The show took off and quickly became the top rated sitcom on TV for the last three years running.
After almost an hour, Tara was still lying in her bed lost in thought. She wondered how she could have so much professional success and so much personal failure. She was turned on her side staring idly at the empty space next to her. <
There’s got to be more to life than this> She shook herself from her reverie, rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom for a long hot shower.
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Willow awoke feeling pressure and a vibration on her chest. She slowly opened her eyes to see Miss Kitty intensely staring back at her. She reached up and scratched the cat behind her ears.
“Morning Missy. Did you give up on Ralphie? Too bad he doesn’t have opposing thumbs or I could still be sleeping.” Willow giggled to herself. “Cuz you know, if he did then he could scratch behind your ears and...” Willow shook her head, realizing that she was explaining that logically, to a cat!
She sat up and placed Miss Kitty on the floor, then headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. After showering and walking Ralphie, Willow unfolded the print out with the microchip information and prepared to call his owner.
“Ok, Ralphie-Walphie let’s see who your parents are.”
Willow dialed the number and got a voicemail. “Hello, sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but please leave me a message and I’ll call you back.”
“Um, Hi. I’m just calling because I was wondering if you lost a dog? If so, I found him and I got this number from his microchip or this could be a wrong number or something. Anyway, the address was in Culver City and that’s a really long way from where I found him. He’s just a little guy and I can’t believe that he traveled that far. Either way, please call me back when you get this message. My number is 323-555-2244. It’s pretty easy to remember. Oh and my name is Willow.”
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After showering, Tara spent the rest of the morning trying to stay busy. Doing laundry, paying bills…anything to keep her mind from obsessing over the lost dog. When she finally slowed down, she noticed that she had a message on her cell.
She played the message and let out a shriek. “OH MY GOD! HOLY SHIT BUCKETS! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!” Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding.
After a few minutes, she was finally able to compose herself enough to return the phone call.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Is this W-Willow?”
“Yes, is this K.T?”
“K.T?” The blonde was confused for a moment before remembering those were in fact her initials. “Yes, this is K.T, I got your message about the dog. Is he ok?”
“He’s fine, but before I give away any details, can you describe him for me?” Willow had grown fond of the loveable little pooch in the last 24 hours and wasn’t about to give him up to until she could confirm that this K.T. was in fact the real owner.
“Umm, alright. He weighs about 20lbs, g-gray and white, resembles Tramp, from Lady and the Tramp, and a-answers to Ralphie. Oh, please tell me you have him?”
“I do. He’s exactly like you described!” Willow could hear the relief from the woman on the phone and she grinned. Happy that she’d rescued and cared for the dog.
“That’s FANTASTIC! When can I get him? Is now convenient?” Tara was so relieved and happy that she could hardly contain herself.
“Now is fine. Do you want me to bring him to you?”
“NO!” Tara shouted. “Uh, sorry, I’m just s-so happy that you rescued him and he’s ok. I can come p-pick him up or we could m-meet somewhere?” She was stuttering like crazy, nervous and embarrassed after shouting at the poor girl.
“Well, being that you live in Culver City, we could meet half way. I still don’t understand how he managed to make it all the way out here from Culver City. I mean, it’s not
that far, but there’s a freeway in between and lots of traffic. He must have nine lives or something.”
“Oh, I actually live in The Hills. Where is here?”
“Huh?” Willow responded, not understanding what she was asking.
“Where did you find him?”
“Ahh, that makes more sense. Not too much in the way of major roadways between here and there.” The redhead mumbled to herself. “Oh um, I found him in a small park near my apartment and the Runyon Canyon entrance.”
“So, you live in West Hollywood then?” Tara said with a little more of a suspicious tone than she intended.
She mentally kicked herself.
“Ye-ah…yes I do.” Willow picked up the tonal shift in her voice.
“Is it ok if I come pick him up now? Please?”
“Oh yeah, yeah sure. Let me give you my address and directions.” Willow went about giving ‘K.T.’ the information and after they hung up, she began to gather all Ralphie’s meds and some miscellaneous first aid supplies. She typed out some instructions and then placed everything in a plastic zipper bag.
Willow sat down on the floor and Ralphie crawled up and snuggled in her lap. In just a short time, Willow had grown very fond of the sweet little dog and, in truth…was having a hard time letting him go. She undid his plastic collar, giving him a loving kiss on the head.
“Well, you drove me a little crazy, but it was nice having you around little man. I’m gonna miss you, but your Mommy is very, very excited to see you.” Willow said, as she snuggled with Ralphie.
Just then there was a soft knock on the door. Willow re-attached the collar and moved the groggy pup back onto the floor.
It had only taken Tara about ten minutes to reach Willow’s apartment.
Tara heard a click and the door opened.