Title – Yield Does Not Mean Stop
Rating – PG
Summary- The aim here is to have a happy, little AU where Willow and Tara meet and fall in love. It takes place about four years in the future and way, far away from Sunnydale and any Hellmouths or demons.
Special Thanks - to Bren, my beta for all your help.
Yield Does Not Mean Stop
Chapter 4
Early the next morning Tara was in the office break room washing out the coffeepot when a voice from behind startled her. The pot clanked hard against the sink but did not shatter. The same could not be said for Tara’s nerves when she recognized the voice.
“Good morning. Is this where a girl comes when she needs her java fix?” Willow’s chipper voice questioned Tara. Tara quickly turned around and saw the redhead peeking playfully around the entrance to the break room. When Willow saw Tara smile at her and no broken glass she stepped fully inside and approached the sink. “Sorry if I startled you,” she apologized. She noticed that Tara’s cheeks had a rosy glow and her fingers fidgeted nervously with the coffeepot. “I would have really messed up if I caused you to break that and no one could get any coffee and all the irritable and, you know, sluggish employees needing their caffeine hunted me down like an animal in the woods and put my head on the wall there, stuffed like a deer…” Willow voice trailed off as she tried to put the brakes on her babbling. “Especially on my first official day, right?” Willow couldn’t help but uncomfortably shift her weight as she waited for Tara to say something. Eeh gads, why can I not, even once, have an intelligible conversation that both parties can participate in?
“Good morning, Willow,” Tara finally addressed the flustered redhead. She has an odd way of expressing herself. Odd, but interesting, Tara thought. Taking a deep breath, Tara placed the coffeepot on the counter and turned fully towards Willow. “Don’t worry. You’re safe. Even if I break this one, there is another in the cabinet.” Tara reassured Willow.
“Thank goodness,” Willow pantomimed wiping sweat from her brow. Her green eyes crinkled as she asked Tara, “You all don’t still hunt things down and stick their stuffed heads on walls, do you?”
“Well, actually yes. People still do that.” Tara answered informatively. She felt a little bit calmer explaining the wacky behavior of midwestern hunters than trying to think of something intriguing to say. “But they only stuff the deer for sentimental reasons, like to remember an excellent shot or if the animal had an impressive rack.”
“An impressive rack?” Willow didn’t understand the hunting terminology.
“Yes, an impressive rack for deer means-”
“Something between Marilyn Monroe and Halle Barry.” Jack cut off Tara mid-sentence. Neither woman had noticed Jack entering the break room, but they chuckled a bit hesitantly at his joke as they straightened away from each other. “I come in here thinking I’d smell fresh coffee brewing and instead I interrupt two lovely women discussing racks. And I thought I always have bad timing,” Jack gently teased Willow and Tara as he made his way to the sink to wash out his stainless steel driving mug.
“Good morning, Jack. You must have gotten a good nights rest to be so amazingly witty so early. Usually all I get out of you is a “umph” and a grimace before 10am.” Tara admonished him back.
“Good morning, Willow,” Jack pointedly ignored Tara as he directed his attention to the consultant. “ How are you this morning?”
“Good morning. I am doing good, thanks.” Willow smiled back at Jack. She couldn’t help looking over his shoulder at Tara as she turned to pick up the coffeepot and began to fill it. Tara had her hair up today, she noticed.
“That’s great,” Jack said as he headed for the door. “I’ll catch you guys at the ten o’clock, right?” Both women nodded in the positive and with a wave he was halfway down the hall. Tara and Willow were left quietly contemplating what next to say to each other.
OK, this is where I should be saying something clever and friendly to Willow, but what? Tara remembered the pot of water in her hand and gestured towards the coffee machine. “If you come back in a couple of minutes it should be ready. The coffee I mean.” Lame. Extremely lame. No wonder you don’t have company on Saturday nights when you’re curled up on the couch watching the Discovery Channel.
“Sure, I got a couple of minutes for something this important, right?” Willow grinned at Tara for a long moment enjoying the assistant’s quiet company. Suddenly her expression changed to one of alarm. “Unless I don’t?” Willow finally glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was nearly 8:30 and time for her meeting with Mary. Her voice gave a little hiccup as she suddenly became nervous and asked Tara, “Should I already be in Mary’s office? Is she one of those types that if you aren’t five minutes early, you’re already late?” Without giving Tara a chance to answer she rushed towards the exit, “Oh no, I better go. Bye.”
Tara stood in place for a couple ticks of the clock as she took in the whirlwind that was Willow’s exit. I don’t know what that was all about, Tara mused to herself as she moved to put the pot on to brew, but I’m awake now and don’t need that coffee after all.
A few minutes later Tara entered Mary’s office carrying two mugs of coffee and her notepad under her arm. Mary was at her desk and Willow occupied the chair to her right.
“Good morning Tara,” Mary addressed her assistant as she gratefully accepted the hot cup. “Thanks, we were just going to start. Great timing.”
“OK, do you still want me to take notes?” Tara asked as she bent towards Willow and handed her the other cup. As Mary confirmed she was needed, she sat down in the empty chair and glanced at the woman next to her.
Willow looked bashful and gave a small shrug of her shoulders as she set the mug next to her open notebook on the desk. She just realized how silly rushing into Mary’s office was. Tara had to arrive for the meeting to begin anyway; she didn’t need to tear out of there like there was a barn on fire. Willow distractedly picked the mug back up and after blowing gently, took a drink. Yum, just how I like it. Now if I don’t spill it…yay me.
Tara looked back at Mary, relieved that Willow liked her coffee, a cream and a sugar, I thought so, then settled back in the comfortable leather chair and flipped to a fresh page on her pad. She began to make notes as the two women discussed training strategies and installation timetables.
*******************************************
Willow stood at the end of the long conference room and tried to wrap up the overview presentation to the managers and supervisors, and a certain Executive Assistant, who I’m not paying any extra attention to. Nope, none at all. Notice my professional behavior. No one could even tell if I was watching her tap her pencil ten times on her notepad, then on her chin three times, then five more times on her pad. And how come she didn’t write notes on my amazing ‘training language for ISS systems” section? Maybe I will need to go over that with her later… Willow stopped to take a drink of water from her glass on the table and forced her mind back on topic. Now all focusy again, she confidently summed up her last point, “at that point you will be able to operate independently with the new system and still be assured that if you need it, back up is only a phone call away.”
“I don’t know about everyone else, Willow, but I feel better knowing your are going to give each and every one of us your personal cell number as back up, right?” Dylan the distribution manager piped up.
“Of course, Dylan. My number is 1-800-fuhgedaboutit. Call anytime,” Willow paused as the group laughed. “Of course, if you call our help line and talk to one of the techs you will get much better assistance. Each person there has at least two years experience with these programs so they would probably be the one you want to talk to,” Willow smiled at Dylan and then glanced around the room. Everyone had been attentive and interested throughout the meeting, well except for that tangent describing the joys of programming default commands I wandered onto. But other than that, not too bad Miss Rosenberg. Plus they get out of here just in time for lunch, so all happy campers.
Tara couldn’t help glancing at her watch. Wow, it is already 12:30? This morning just flew by. Tara noticed folks starting to gather their papers together and she looked down dismayed at her notepad. Hmmm, these notes are going to be a little difficult to make sense of. “Four sections of training for each department in green eyes,” what was she talking about when I came up with that?!? Good thing Willow has such a detailed, color-coded outline. I guess I could always ask her to fill in any blanks when I write up the meeting summary. Tara looked up to see Mary watching her and immediately blushed. Mary knows I wasn’t paying attention. Uh oh. Tara hurriedly covered her notepad even though she knew Mary couldn’t read it from where she sat. Great, now I have to hope she is too busy to ask me about it. I don’t even have a good explanation for her. I was watching Willow the whole time. But somehow that didn’t translate into active listening, did it Tara? Tara gave herself a mental slap and directed her attention back to what Willow was saying.
“Unless someone has any other questions for me right now…” no one spoke up, “which doesn’t appear to be the case. I just want to reiterate that I’m here to help your company be more efficient. The more I know about what you do, the better to accomplish that. So I want you to feel free to talk to me about anything you can think of along those lines. Or show me if you’d rather, since I am here in the ‘Show-Me’ state, right?” The group gave a playful groan at her attempt at local humor. “Well, thank you everyone. I am looking forward to working with you all in the coming weeks. So…dismissed. For now, anyway,” Willow joked as she gave a little mock salute.
Yes Maam, Tara thought. She picked her things off the table and stood up to leave.
“Hey Tara,” Bobbie popped up suddenly beside her, startling her. “Geez, kind of jumpy today or what?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Tara answered. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. What’s up?”
“Well, our standing Wednesday lunch at Frank’s is off. I’m going with Mary and Willow for ‘business’ lunch,” Bobbie replied with a roll of her eyes.
“Ok, but don’t act like you are upset. You love lunch when the boss picks up the tab and you don’t have to go Dutch with me,” Tara countered.
“True. But don’t worry hot stuff. We’ll be back on, next week.” Bobbie smiled at Tara. “We better go over there. Those two are talking about us, I can just tell,” Bobbie nodded towards the other end of the conference room were Mary and Willow were chatting.
As the pair approached, Willow heard Mary talking to her but it was all background noise. It was like her senses tuned out because they were too busy paying attention to the shrinking distance between her and Tara. Closer, closing. She is almost within range. Willow remembered yesterday when Tara grabbed hold of her when she lost her footing in the break room. Her body gave an involuntary shiver as it recalled the assistant’s firm touch. What are the odds of her almost falling into me right now? Mentally she calculated, carpeted floor times rubber soled shoes divided by Tara not being a spaz equals…a one in 400 chance. Dammit, those odds suck.
“Tara, can you check messages and email in the office?” Mary asked as they approached. “We’re going to grab a bite to eat.”
“Of course,” Tara quickly replied. With a nod and bob of her head, Tara left to go back to her desk. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Mary, Willow and Bobbie were going without her. Not usually my idea of fun, having lunch discussing computer upgrades. But...with Willow I bet it would be nice. But this is better, I can concentrate on my work and stop thinking about her so much. Umm, yeah right.
********************************
It was going on five o’clock and Tara was at her desk finishing up a few things before she left for the night. Mary had come back from lunch at 1:30 and had about ten things they had to take care of right away. After completing those things and clearing up her overloaded in-box, Tara was almost caught up. She was working on the computer overview meeting notes from the morning, which she had saved as her last task of the day. Tara found she didn’t have much to report about the meeting. Let’s see. Started at 10:00, ended at 12:25. Comprehensively covered attached outline provided by Ms. Rosenberg. The engaging Ms. Rosenberg. The attractively fetching and fascinating redhead Ms. Rosenberg. The Ms. Rosenberg with the captivating expressions, lightning quick mind and attractive dress sense. Ok Tara, I think that is enough about Willow. Back on subject. The meeting, the meeting, hmm…what else about the meeting?
Tara struggled to come up with something. She knew Mary would rapidly review the notes and was not expecting a dissertation on what happened or anything. Her boss would, however, look for more of a recap than starting and ending times. What Tara really needed was the input the managers offered to Willow’s schedule and any important questions raised. Unfortunately, Tara had concentrated on Willow and not so much on the content of the discussion. Should she go to Bobbie and ask her? That may entail some extra questions from the IT manager that Tara would rather not bring up. Maybe she should go ask Willow. Check to make sure she was settling in the temporary office all right, and if she needed anything. Tara barely finished that thought before she found herself getting up and heading down the hall.
The door to Willow’s office was half-open and Tara rapped gently on it before opening it a little more to peer inside. Willow was engrossed typing on her laptop and stopped as she looked up at Tara.
“Hey Tara,” Willow addressed her smiling.
“Hello Willow. Do you have a minute?” Tara queried.
“Sure. I’m surely, sure I have the time. Not that my name is Shirley…but you know what I mean,” Willow groaned inwardly at her babbling. “Come on in.” she warmly invited Tara in with a wave of her hand.
Tara slowly entered the crowded office and gave a look around. Willow had been a busy girl in here already, she thought. There were several boxes of equipment stacked by the desk, two tables covered with neatly stacked piles of papers, several flipcharts at the ready on easels, and a corner that looked like the audio visual department at an office supply store. “Well I was getting ready to pack up for the night and wanted to make sure things were OK in here for you. Do you have everything you need?” Tara politely asked.
“I think so. Just getting things set up so pardon all the stuff everywhere.” Willow motioned for Tara to have a seat. Tara moved to sit down but luckily noticed the carryout container left on it before she did.
“Uhh, here. I hope this is yours and not left in here from before God knows when,” Tara handed the box over the desk to Willow.
“Oh thanks. Just some leftovers from lunch that are going to be dinner any time now,” Willow looked up at the clock on the wall. “Sorry, I forgot I left that there,” She apologized. Great Rosenberg, pay attention here. Do not let the nice lady sit in your food.
Tara shook her head, “No problem. Growing up with an older brother will train you to look where you sit, believe me,” Tara blithely explained.
Willow chuckled at Tara’s comment. “Do you have a big family?” Willow asked, very interested in learning more about the assistant. Good question Willow. She’ll start talking and telling “and one time we…” stories and open up so you can get to know her.
Tara’s face clouded over and she simply answered, “No, just me and my brother.”
Well, that didn’t work so well, did it? “Are your parents still together?” Willow tried to get Tara to expand on her abrupt answer.
“No,” Tara said thoughtfully, looking downward before she continued, “my Mom passed away about seven years ago.”
Willow’s heart squeezed painfully in sympathy for Tara. It was obvious a difficult thing for her to talk about. “Oh, I am really sorry. That must have been so hard…” Willow began.
Tara looked up and their eyes met. Tara’s wet azure eyes connected powerfully with Willow’s strong emerald gaze. Willow stopped talking, knowing her condolences would not touch the surface of what Tara had been through. She wanted to get up and embrace Tara, to try to comfort her. She didn’t though. The desk was the physical barrier, but mentally her fear that she would do the wrong thing is what really stopped her. Instead she unblinkingly held their link, trying to offer whatever support Tara would accept.
“Th-thanks, but I’m OK,” Tara answered weakly. She finally looked away and took a deep breath to compose herself. Time to change the subject to something safer. “Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something from the overview meeting this morning. If you have time, that is.”
“I’d be happy to help. And that’s what I was trying to say earlier, albeit in long form, that I definitely have time for you,” Willow felt her face grow warmer as she heard her overly emphatic response.
Tara’s heart picked up a beat or two as she absorbed the warm sincerity that Willow offered. "I may have missed a few of the points that were brought up, so I was wondering if you had made note of any questions from some of the departments?” Tara asked all in one breath.
I knew it! She was totally not paying attention. Willow applauded her own keen powers of observation. But if she wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying, what was she thinking about? Willow filed that away to examine later so she could answer Tara. “If you want to come over here, you are welcome to see the amended outline I have on my laptop that addresses and resolves the things each department had issues with. I’d print it out for you, but there is a printer cord MIA somewhere in all this chaos.”
“Th-that would be great,” Tara gratefully replied. She got up and circled around the desk as Willow opened that file on her screen. Willow scooted over to give Tara room to bring her chair around to have room to write. Tara hurriedly made the pertinent notes she needed, all the time sharply aware of Willow’s proximity. When she’d copied what she needed, she awkwardly rose and thanked Willow for her help.
“No problem at all, Tara. And I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable before,” she paused to gauge Tara’s reaction. Tara was looking back at her calmly, but Willow noticed her playing with the eraser on the end of her pencil. “Maybe some other night when I don’t have so much going on, you can save me from leftovers and we could get some dinner after work.” Willow’s eyebrows arched as she waited to see what Tara would say. When she didn’t immediately respond, Willow couldn’t help but anxiously rush on, “Cause you know I don’t know anyone around here and we will be working together so it would be great if we could be friends and you can tell me about your Mom, if you want to, that is…”
Tara was taken aback by Willow’s spontaneous invitation. As Willow kept going, it gave Tara time a moment for it to register and she couldn’t help the happy, giddy feeling it gave her. “That would be nice,” she finally said, a slow smile spreading across her lips.
Oohh, one of those smiles again, Willow recognized. They are simply breathtaking. “Well great. That would be great. Just let me know when you think you want to.”
“Ok, I’ll keep an eye on the schedule around here and we can see how things go,” Tara moved towards the door, making a conscious effort not trip or bump into anything. Try to look cool, girl. Don’t let her know that she just made your whole week. “Thanks again for your help, Willow. Let me know if next time I can help you. That is what I am supposed to be here for.”
“I will, I promise. Have a good night Tara. See you tomorrow,” Willow couldn’t wipe the wide grin off her face as the assistant left and she continued to work.
But asking if Tara wanted to go to dinner sometime to get to know each other and become friends, now thats interest if ya ask me! 
They both just need a little push, then maybe we'll see fireworks! But time to get to know each other first - hopefully you'll have some more goodness for us soon. Looking forward to it! 
Our office isn´t so funny and there are not such sweeties
, if I may paraphrase from your own title...? I did Yield to your story and allowed myself to get caught up in it...so please don't Stop your updates! I really want to know if and when Tara will be able to actually let Willow know when they could go out, since Willow rather "put the ball in her court". Okay, I admit that I am an impatient reader, esp. when I'm "hooked", so please reel me in soon ! 
. Couldn't make me happier. Except if someone else I know decides to post some writings...somewhere. I still think you should give it a try. 
I DID MY TIME I WAITED A WEEK IF I HAVE TO WAIT ANY LONGER I"LL DIE PLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH
THIS IS SUCH A GREAT FIC PLEASE UPDATE SOON
Can't wait to see some 
and 
coupleness. 
more.
And Tara's unintentional revenge - all protective and unpretentiously alluring.
!
effrena 
THANKS! 
YAY 
I hope Willow gets a massage from Tara or something like that 