Author: BmblBee
Rating: Adult overall
Paring: William/Xander
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story
Summary: Xander has a crush. William has a secret
Xander couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous.
He twitched in the unaccustomed feel of the suit and tugged at the strangling hold the tight white collar had on his throat.
Slapping his hand away William straightened Xander's tie and smoothed
his lapels.
"Stop fidgeting! You look amazing. Do you have everything you need?
What time is your appointment?"
"Clinic is at 9 a.m. and my appointment with the project owner is at 10."
Xander opened the briefcase one more time to recheck all the paperwork
he had looked over at least 100 times already.
"You are going to do wonderfully. I have every faith in you. Besides,
Larry got more evidence than we could have hoped for and Miss Willow
did a brilliant job of putting it all together. All you have to do is present it in a way this Mr. Giles can understand."
"Yea," Xander laughed weakly "Piece of cake"
Calmly William reclosed the case and handed it to Xander. "Xander,
whether we take over this project or wait till the next one, the business
will still be a huge success. You are very knowledgeable and intellegent.
I am proud of you and I love you. You are a good man, Xander.
Now get your ass out that door and call me when you know something."
William opened the door and pushed Xander out.
Turning back before he left, Xander kissed Will passionately.
"I love you Will."
With that, he was gone.
It seemed like the longest morning of William's life.
He paced the length of the apartment so often he worried he might
wear a path in the carpet. Watching the clock he mentally
mapped Xander's trail.
8:45. Probably arrived at the clinic.
9:00 Gave blood for the test.
9:15 Back in the car and headed for Dover, the next town over, and the offices of Giles & Patrick.
William knew Xander's appointment was with Mr.Giles himself.
He was the majority owner in the medical complex that the McDonald construction company was working on.
9:30 The mailman came and dropped off the usual stack of junk and bills. One letter,however caught his eye. It was addressed to William, but at Xander's address.
Inside was a short, formally written note on business stationary.
Dearest William,
Please forgive me for violating your orders. I did
some checking on your Mr. Harris and find your assessment
of his character to be most accurate.
You have chosen well.
Much affection,
Ethan Rayne.
Confidence and pride bolstered William's anticipation.
At 9:50 he knew Xander must have arrived and was probably in the outer office waiting.
Interlocking his fingers tightly together William tucked them under his chin and prayed.
"If you're listening, Grandda, please watch over Xander."
Xander pulled into the parking lot and glanced down at his watch. 9:50. Funny, he had been so nervous his stomach had been in knots.
Now, suddenly he felt a calm come over him.
A confidence.
He knew he could do this.
He was ready.
Marching into the waiting room, Xander approached the blond at the front desk and smiled.
"Good morning. Alexander Harris to see Mr. Rupert Giles. I'm with
the Wilxan construction company and I have a 10:00 appointment."
The blond smiled back.
"Good morning Mr. Harris. Mr. Giles is expecting you.
Please go right in."
The receptionist, Harmony, according to the name plate on her
desk, pointed in the direction of the office to the side of the room.
Knocking briefly, Xander opened the door and stepped in.
"Mr. Giles? I'm Alexander Harris. I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice."
"Good morning, Mr. Harris. I must say I was intrigued when you
called last week.
You say this involves problems on the construction site?"
With that, Xander opened his case and spread the papers out in
front of them.
Giles scanned them quickly then called Harmony and instructed her to
hold all his calls.
Xander was relieved to find that although Giles was not entirely knowledgeable on construction matters, he was extremely bright and
able to quickly grasp what was being shone and explained to him.
The invoices and cost discrepancies told a story of theft and greed. Fortunately Lindsey was not as skilled as he prided himself to be at covering his tracks.
What wasn't as clear was what involvement his uncle had in the scam.
He was either another victim of Lindsey, or much more skilled in
hiding his guilt.
That was something to be sorted out by the authorities.
The meeting lasted through the morning and long into the afternoon.
Mr. Giles questioned Xander in depth as to what damage had already
been done, and what would be required cost and time wise to
correct it.
He was amazed and impressed at the knowledge and professionalism
of the young man in his office.
He was also enormously grateful.
If this had not been brought to him, well he shuddered to think
what might have happened.
Finally Xander advised him that the Attorney General had been
informed of the situation.
Mr. Giles flinched.
Yes of course that had to be done in order to bring appropriate charges against the McDonalds.
"It does mean that the site will be shut down until a contingency
plan is written and approved by the state authorities."
Giles tried to mentally calculate how much time that would consume.
With that, Xander brought out all the facts, figures and the plans
he had prepared.
Giles called Harmony to order in lunch and they sat down together.
William could not stand the wait any longer. Dialing the number by heart, Will continued to pace.
"Xander? Will? Hello?"
"It's me, Miss Willow. He has been gone for hours. What do you think is happening?
Why is it taking so long? It must be bad news. He would call if it was good news.
What do you think?"
"I think you need to calm down, Sweety. Have you eaten today?"
"No. I'm much to nervous. So you think it will be all right?"
"I think it will be fine. How about if I come over and fix you something ."
The last thing Will wanted was food, but having Willow come over and wait with him sounded wonderful. "Yes, please. I would like that."
Xander had started to collect together his paperwork and stack it back in his briefcase.
Most of it had been copied and was being used to develop a file for Mr. Giles office.
They had come to a preliminary agreement.
In two days time the site will be shut down and the office padlocked.
Mr. Giles would work with his own investigators as well as the
authorities to confiscate all the contents as evidence.
If what Xander said was true, the corruption was going to spread
far beyond the work site and involve both OSHA and local inspectors.
The weeks it is shut down will be used by Xander's company to prepare
the finalized bid figures and ready the equipment and workers.
The job was theirs.
Walking him to the door, Mr Giles shook Xander's hand.
"I can't thank you enough Mr.Harris. You have saved me more than you
can imagine. If this project had continued, I would have been
ruined. I won't forget this."
"I promise you we will do our best, Mr. Giles. And please, call me Xander. After all,we are going to be working together for some time."
Giles smiled warmly and patted Xander on the back as he left.
As soon as he got in the car, Xander grabbed his cell and
speed dialed Will.