Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Buffy characters. wish I did but I don't.
That Crazy Thing Called Love
Tara was sitting alone in the university cafetreria, eating a grilled chicken salad, and going over some notes that she had scribbled down at a lecture she had sat through only minutes earlier. She munched on a crunchy lettuce leaf absentmindedly, underlined a paragraph or two with her pen for further reference, then looked up and stared at a woman standing about ten feet away from her.
The woman had taken the buffet line, and she was carefyully scrutinizing the food on display.
Tara watched as she slid her tray to the front of her, skipping all the salads and most of the food, then finally stopping near the deserts and picking up three cheery tartlets.
she's obviously not watching her weight, Tara thought enviously. She stabbed a chicken strip with her fork, raised it to her lips and chewed slowly.
The woman before her seemed to be having a hard time deciding what kind of drink she wanted. She rubbed her chin, then grabbed a coke and walked over to the cashier to pay for the stuff.
Tara had seen her before, walking around the campus. She had noticed the woman's dark, brooding looks and had been vaguely intrigued, because there was a hint of Angelina Jolie in her style, the way her dark hair fell around her face, the sensuous, moody curve of her lips. Not that Tara was really a fan of Angelina Jolie. She wasn't, but the woman seemed to possess the same ambiguous nature, and it showed in the way she dressed: black leather jacket and turtle neck top, black jeans, the bottoms of which fell over thick, fashionable boots.
Her slender frame and inherent femininity allowed her to pull off the whole bicker-chick style without looking too rebellious.
Tara observed her thoughtfully for a moment or two, and then she glanced down at her notes again and before long she had forgotten about the woman, and was deeply engrossed in what she was reading.
She bit her lip, scribbled here and there in her note book. And then suddenly, she become aware of someone standing before her. Tara looked up startled. Miss Jolie wannabe was watching her questioningly, clutching her tray with both hands.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Um..." Tara raised her eyebrows in surprise. "N-no."
The girl nodded, placed the tray on the table, and then sat down. She grabbed her coke, slipped a straw through the opening, and drank thirstily. Afterwards, she attacked the tartlets, breaking one in half before biting into it. While she chewed she looked around at the other students walking about in the cafeteria, and then finally her eyes strayed towards Tara again.
"Looks good," Tara said, nodding towards the tartlets that the girl was munching on. The deserts did look good, but the girl was now staring, and feeling slightly uncomfortable, Tara decided to speak to break the silence.
Miss Jolie wannabe smiled. "I'm not really the salad type," she said, glancing down at Tara's plate. "Tastes like grass to me. Not that I've ever tasted grass."
Tara smiled back, reached across the table and offered her hand. "Tara Maclay."
"Yes," the girl said, as casual as anything, shook Tara's hand and then reached for another cherry tartlet. "I know."
Tara stared at her in confusion. "You know?"
"Yeah. I asked around and so...well, I know."
"Oh," Tara said. She felt herself growing uncomfortable again and she bowed her head.
Miss Jolie wannabe chewed for another moment or two, seemingly amused by Tara's reaction. Then she said,
"Jamie."
"W-what?" Tara looked up.
"That's my name," the girl said, and her chiseled nose crinkled slightly. "It's girly, I know, but most people call me James."
Tara said nothing. She fiddled with the slender gold ring on her left hand, and the girl noticed the movement and eyed the ring curiously.
"Does that signify something?" She wanted to know.
Tara glanced down at her hand and almost immediately she felt a calm, warm feeling flood her body. She remembered when Willow had given her the ring. It had been one of those perfect nights, with dinner and candles, and they had made love, and it was slow and beautiful, a moment Tara would never forget.
Afterwards, Willow had jumped naked from the bed, rummaged mysteriously through the chest of drawers and then moved back towards the bed, clutching something in her hand. She pulled Tara gently, so that she was sitting up, and then she knelt down and revealed the elegant gold ring gleaming in the black jewelry box that she was holding.
"I know that we can't get married yet," she had whispered, "because, well...the world is not quite ready for our love yet, but you mean so much to me that I wanted you to have this. I want you to look at it and know that I'll always love you, no matter what."
She had looked so earnest then and in love, that Tara couldn't help the tears from filling her eyes. Of course she accepted it, with deep hugs and kisses, and then the very next day, she had gone to the jewelry store to buy a matching one for Willow.
Now, sitting in the cafeteria, she said simply,
"My girlfriend gave it to me."
"hmm," was all James said.
"We've been together for two years," Tara continued. "Well, one year, eleven months and three days."
James wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, pushed aside her tray and crossed her arms on the table.
"Tara Maclay," she said. "I should care that you have a girlfriend, but I don't. No offense to her, I'm sure she's sweet. But I like you and I couldn't care less about her right now."
Tara stared at her with distaste, amazed that someone could be so forward.
"You're very arrogant," she said.
Any other person would have been insulted, but the woman merely threw her head back and laughed. Her teeth were small, but very white and even. Tara couldn't help thinking: nice teeth.
"No," James said, shaking her head. "People tell me that, but I disagree. I just go after what I want."
to be continued...
Edited by: maudmac
at: 4/5/04 8:27 pm
Love sammi xx 
the most cute emoticon ever? 
at: 3/8/04 8:12 pm
yeah I agree with my girl Karmah I like so far and well jamie interesting 
heh just kidding 
,
Dude if I were 
i would have slapped James. 
I hope 
comes over and does slap her. 
Can't wait to 
more. Update soon, please? 
Just hope that they will talk a bit about it, so Willow will know that shes definitely the No. 1
... 
. I mean, hitting on people in a relationship ....that's not nice and it's not 
. 
her...I don't know, work some evil mojo on James' ass.