Her hands dropped to my shoulders, and she gripped the material of my clothing between her fingers.
My fingers slid over the silky material of her dress, and I could only imagine what her skin would feel like under this material. This was one of the most sensitive patches of skin on the human body, and I knew that Buffy�s would be no exception.
Just then, I heard something snap. It knocked me from my daze with Buffy. I broke away from her just in time to get in the way of the high-heeled shoe headed for Buffy�s head.
She shrieked and stepped back.
The shoe connected with the back of my head, and I swear the spike of the heel almost went right through my skull. I cursed loudly, and looked down to the ground, where the shoe now lay; lifeless.
I held the back of my head with one hand as I bent to pick up the shoe. �What the�� I trailed off as I stood up again.
I looked towards the direction it had come from, but no one was there. I looked back to Buffy, and that�s when I noticed the tears building up in her eyes. �Oh, Buffy,� I said, sympathy quickly dissolving all of the anger from a moment earlier.
I stepped up to where she was, and pulled her into my arms. She crumbled against my chest and started to openly sob.
�That was meant for me!� she sobbed against my chest. �I can�t take this anymore.� Her knees started to give way beneath her. I pulled her close to keep her from collapsing, and tried to soothe her again.
I whispered reassuring words in her head, kissing the top of her hair tenderly. �Shh. It�s okay. It was just an accident. I�m sure it was just an accident. You�re alright. You�re safe now.�
�First my mom,� she sniffed. �Now I�m stuck living with a man I only met for the first time three weeks ago in some place I despise, and now this.� She wailed, �I need to get drunk!�
I almost laughed at her hysteria, and then I checked myself and kissed her forehead. �No, you don�t need that. The bottle is the last thing you need when you�re upset. Trust me on that one. And everything else can�t really be that bad. Your mother loved you, I�m sure of it. And your father has got to be really nervous about having you here. I�m sure he�s as upset as you are about your mother, and he�s trying. He really is.�
She pulled her face back to look up at me. �Well what about now?� she asked through her shuddering gasps for air. �Angel, someone just threw a shoe at me! A shoe!� This started a new level of hysteria�Anger.
�I mean, who honestly throws a shoe?!� she exclaimed. �And not just any shoe, but some stupid, cheesy size ten, Gucci stiletto knock-off from Milan! That�s not even classified as a shoe! That�s just footwear!�
�How do you know it�s a size ten, knock-off from Milan?� I asked, momentarily distracted from my job of calming her down.
She sighed and took the shoe from me. �For one thing, I saw how big it was, and I�ve been around shoes my whole life, so I knew it was a size ten. Secondly, Gucci shoes only go up to a size eight and a half. And the only fake Gucci shoes in a size ten of this design, are from Milan. Okay?�
I took the shoe from her and looked at it. �You can tell all of this by one glance as it flew through the air towards my head?�
She sighed and explained, �Like I said, I grew up around shoes.� She sniffed softly then, reminding me of her despair.
I looked into her eyes, and reached a hand to her cheek. I rubbed my thumb under her eye, wiping the tears away. It was so strange how even when she was crying, and her make-up was messed up, she could still look like the most beautiful woman in the world.
�It�s okay,� I assured her. I leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss, not attempting to take it anywhere this time. �You�re alright. Okay?� I raised my eyebrows at her in question.
She nodded softly and sniffed. �Yeah.�
I smiled softly, �good. Now let�s take you inside to get cleaned up before we return to the party. We can�t have suspicious noses turned anymore than they already are,� I smiled softly, attempting to lighten the mood.
She nodded, and smiled softly, showing she appreciated my attempts. �Okay.�
**
Angel waited patiently for me to come out of the Ladies room, and then we both went back to the ball. Nobody seemed to notice that we had been gone, or that I had been crying. But they still watched me with equal attention, as before.
After dancing a little bit more, Angel told me that if we didn�t start mingling soon, people would start talking even more. However, I wasn�t willing to let go of him in my current state, so he agreed that it was fine if we went together. I held his arm tightly as I was introduced to well over a hundred different people.
It dawned on me that all of these people had two things in common. One: they were filthy rich. Two: they were all snobs.
Of course, this realization didn�t surprise me, but I did find it rather disappointing that pretty much everyone in Devil�s Gorge would rather die than enter a grocery store.
Finally, we came to The Chases. Angelus was given immediate attention from Mrs. Chase, and it was clear as to why by the way she batted her eyelashes at him, and touched his arm as she laughed at a small joke he made. I had to wonder where her pride was. The answer was truly far from the heart.
�Mr. Chase, Mrs. Chase,� Angelus said, �I�d like you to meet Hank Summers� daughter, Buffy. She�s just moved to Devil�s Gorge to live with her father.�
�Well, hello, Buffy,� Mrs. Chase was a great actress. If I couldn�t tell by association that she was a snob, I would have thought she was genuinely pleased to meet me. �What a pleasure it is to meet you. It seems like you�re the talk of the ball this evening.�
I shook her hand politely and smiled. �So it would seem, although I really do have no clue as to why.�
She laughed slightly and said, �oh, my dear, everyone is just so pleased to finally meet that daughter that your father is constantly raving about. Your ears must just burn constantly from all of the times he has spoken of you!�
I smiled, �they certainly do.�
�It�s a pleasure to meet you, Buffy,� Mr. Chase held out his hand. I placed my own in his, and he shook it politely. Seeing as how he wasn�t that close to my father, it wasn�t appropriate for him to kiss my hand, and now I found myself so very glad that though these snakes had no emotions, that they did have class.
�And you,� I said back with a bright smile.
�Angelus, our daughter has been looking all over for you tonight. Have you seen her just yet?� Mrs. Chase asked him, tilting her head to the side inquisitively.
�No, I don�t think so,� Angelus replied with a slight frown. �Strange how she wouldn�t have found me yet. There aren�t over five hundred people at the ball tonight.�
�I thought so too,� Mrs. Chase agreed. She sighed and shrugged then, �oh well then.�
Angelus smiled warmly and said, �well, if you do see her, please tell her that I said hello, and that this is a fine party she�s having.�
�Yes, I certainly will,� Mrs. Chase smiled.
�Now, if you�ll excuse us, I really must be introducing Buffy to more of your guests,� Angelus nodded his head at Mr. and Mrs. Chase politely, and they returned the gesture.
�It was a pleasure meeting the both of you,� I smiled and then turned with Angelus to leave once more.
As we were walking away, I opened my mouth to tell Angelus something, but I was cut off by someone screeching, �Angel!� I turned abruptly, as did Angel, and we looked for the owner of the voice. The crowds parted back, and revealed a brunette woman.
The woman was in a tight, maroon dress that showed any and everything. Her hair was pulled off her head in a tight bun, and her make up was so dramatic that it made me want to gag. This woman had broken the first, cardinal rule of make-up: To make it seem to everyone, as if you�re not wearing any.
She smiled brightly, her perfect teeth sparkling white. �There you are! I have been looking all over for you!� she said with a beaming smile.
�Hello, Cordelia,� Angelus said, a little less enthused than before.