"Bills, motorbike magazine, coupons, " Giles muttered, flipping through the mail. "Nothing interesting " he said to himself, closing the door. Throwing the mail on the desk, an official looking document caught his eye.

Picking it up, he cursed under his breath. It was that damn ticket, the cop had issued him a week ago. He'd been daydreaming while driving and accidently swerved onto the next lane. Before he knew what was happening, he was being pulled over for reckless driving.

The cop was a young, plucky thing and he assumed he just gotten out of the academy. And, he suspected, filling his quota of traffic tickets and Giles had just fulfilled it. Anyway, five minutes and two hundred + dollars later, he was free to go, free to resume what he'd been doing during the drive home.

Daydreaming.

About Cordelia.

About Cordelia and him dancing to 'Maria, Maria', in some unknown square in the heat of summer.

Closing his eyes, Giles recalled some of the daydream and smiled. "Well, that dream was certainly worth the ticket" he uttered aloud.

Walking to his couch, he sat down and contemplated what this all meant. He'd had seen Cordelia the week before and had a surprisingly wonderful time in her company. She had sparked feelings inside of him that he hadn't experienced in quite awhile.

Naturally, the pleasant time he had, had worked itself in an equally pleasant and slightly erotic daydream. One of his favorite bands, Santana, had come on the radio, with a new song, 'Maria, Maria' and singing along with it, his mind had slipped in daydream mode.

He could remember Cordelia in a red sarong, himself in a white linen suit and they were dancing the mambo in some isolated town square. Hot and steamy, the dream was so sexual that he thought he'd have to take a shower afterwards, it was that good.

After being pulled over, he spent the rest of the trip home wondering what it meant. Wondering if the daydream meant anything. Or if it was his overactive imagination trying to create something that wasn't there.

Now, he hadn't thought about the day at all since until seeing the ticket to remind him of Cordelia. 'I wonder what Cordelia would say if she knew a traffic ticket reminded me of her' he thought to himself. 'She'd probably say it was appropriate, since she always knew she stopped traffic.' he chuckled.

Getting up to pour himself some juice, he thought about the whole thing. Seeing Cordelia again had been a lovely surprise. She'd had grown up considerably since graduation yet she was still able to retain some of that spark that made her uniquely Cordelia. Witty and charming, but more of a witty banter than an insulting one that she used to sometimes display in high school.

He knew that living in a large city like Los Angeles had forced her to become stronger mentally and emotionally than she had ever been. And he slightly suspected more than even she thought she was capable of.

He had known Cordelia since his first year at Sunnydale High. His first ever encounter with her, personally was when that invisible girl had been after her. He recalled asking her if she'd ever been in the library before and her answer that, no she had a life. At that time, he'd found her offensive and slightly perturbed at her remark. But, looking back he realized it was pretty nervy of her to express her opinion like that.

Nervy.

That was always the word he associated with her. Nervy. She had nerve that he wasn't sure even he had. She wasn't afraid to say what she felt and didn't particularly care if anyone liked it or not. At times this was irritating but sometimes he was grateful for it.

Like with the Buffy intervention scene. She'd had said some things that he had wanted to say, like the part that Angelus was more concerned with torturing those closest to Buffy rather than Buffy herself. He had wanted to say that but felt it was inappropriate to say. But not Cordelia. She said it without any qualms and truthfully, he silently agreed with her.

And even after that horrible accident, she still had some nerve, some gall. But, he noticed she was different. She became more quiet, less indulging when it came to them and reverted back to some of her, as Buffy called it, 'pre-Xander bitchiness'.

But, he honestly couldn't blame her.

He truly believed that she had genuine feelings for Xander and when she caught him cheating on her...well, that devastated her. Not only physically, but emotionally.

He suspected that any walls that Xander had managed to tear down had surreptiously been brought back up after the accident. She had changed a bit since that day and at the time, wondered if it would make her bitter for it in the long run.

But, to his amazement and surprised joy, she had grown up into a beautiful, confident woman that he had always known she was. Living in Los Angeles had toughened her, made her wiser beyond her years. He knew that what living in a new city was like and on top of that,living with practically nothing.

He hadn't known that Cordelia had lost everything and he suspected that no one had known, not even Xander. She kept it hidden and he wanted to ask her more about it, but from the brief joking she did that day, he assumed it was still a sore subject with her. Along with Xander.

Laughing aloud, he remembered her telling him that she rode the bus. He smiled as an image filled his mind. 'I wonder if she argues with the driver if she doesn't have the exact change', he thought.

Anyway, what really surprised him that day was the intuitiveness and raw emotion she'd expressed. Intuitiveness at the fact that she knew he hated Angel, a fact he never shared with anyone and honestly thought he'd hidden well. But, he wasn't surprised that Cordelia had known. She always had a knack for picking up things that either people didn't see or wanted to see. He sometimes wished Buffy had Cordelia's intuitiveness, then he wouldn't be as worried that she might miss something that was unusual.

And the raw emotion, she had displayed in front of him when he told her about Harmony made his heart go out to her. He'd never intended for her to find out about Harmony being a vampire. But, she had heard about Spike bragging about a new girlfriend and she essential forced him to tell her. He hadn't expected her reaction at all. If he had remembered correctly, Xander had once mentioned that Cordelia didn't 'hang' with Harmony anymore and essentially hated her.

But, her reaction that day took him aback. She was devastated but tried to hide it from him. He gently persuaded her to talk about it and like the Panama Canal, the flood gates opened.

She had opened up about her friendship with Harmony, from their earlier years and told him of her frustration and disapointment as the years grew. But, still considered her a friend, even though they weren't close anymore.

He had tried to comfort her, letting her talk unabashedly and he even opened up himself. To his surprise, he told her about his friendship with Ethan, more than he'd ever told anybody. At the time, he thought he did this to reassure her, comfort her but looking back, now realized that he just plainly wanted to share that with her. For no reason, just to share.

Soon after, he had to go and she'd given him her number, saying to call whenever he got bored in Sunnydale. Which was almost practically everyday since he'd lost his job in the explosion of the school.

Walking to his table with his juice, he picked up the paper and casually flipped through it. He had thought about calling her a couple of times since seeing her, and wondered if it was a good idea.

Glancing through the paper, Cordelia on his mind, he stopped when a picture caught his eye. Reading it closely, he gasped.

'Femme Fatale', the title of the picture said. Above that, was a picture of a beautiful woman standing there all in black with a glow radiating out of her. She was wearing a black bikini that fitted nicely to her body, showing off her best assets. But it was the look on her face that captivated him. The look that said, 'Come here', that bellowed him to her. She looked like a spitfire.

A type of woman that could be both wild and carefree, yet guided and calm when need be. Gazing at the picture, made Giles come to a decision regarding whether or not to call Cordelia.

Going to his desk he found the slip of paper with her number on it. Picking up the receiver, he punched in the numbers and waited.

Hearing someone pick up, he said, "Cordelia? This is Giles."
 
 

The End....for now...