Author: Spellbound
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

As soon as Tara stepped out of the lift, David grabbed her arm. "My office please Miss Maclay." He said sternly. 'Oh shit, he knows' Tara thought as she followed him to the small, stuffy room.

Willow emerged with Greg from the corridor, spotting Tara immediately she flashed a winning smile her way. Tara beamed back as she disappeared into David's office.

"Tara, it has come to my recent attention." He began, dropping heavily into his seat as Tara sighed deeply, expecting the worst. "That you haven't received a pay rise since you started here." Tara breathed a sigh of relief, her heart pounded in her chest as she realised her close call. "H-haven't I?" she asked with a grin. With all the commotion of the morning, Tara suddenly wondered how it was that David had worked this out. "No, so we will be giving you a pay rise, effective as of next month." He told her, his stern tone softening as a smile crept over his face. "Thank you." Tara grinned, seems like her day was going to go from strength to strength. The young woman stood and turned to leave, "Oh Tara?" David continued, calling her back to the threadbare seat she had previously been sat on. "I also want to thank you for your incredible hard work last night." She turned and smiled as the memories flooded her consciousness once again. "Ms. Rosenberg expressed her immense approval and praise of you when I spoke to her this afternoon." At the mention of Willow name, Tara grinned as her cheeks flushed. "She was most impressed with your dedication and service." He finished.

Tara tried to stifle a giggle, she felt light headed and practically giddy with the praise being bestowed on her. "Thank you, but I was only doing my job." She said, trying to sound modest. "I-I should go and help Vince set up the bar." She said, excusing herself and rushing out the door.

Vince looked up suddenly as Tara burst into the large room, "Not again?!" he said exasperated when he saw the flush in his friends cheeks and the twinkle and grin in her eyes. She shook her head. "Is that all you think about?" she giggled as she lifted the hatch and joined him behind the bar. He shrugged and laughed, "I'm a guy, it's not my fault." He said as he loaded the small fridge with mixers. Tara ruffled his hair affectionately. "What's left to do?" she asked, looking around some unfinished job. "Alcopops!" Vince said, pointing towards the opposite end of the bar, "I already bought them up, they're by the door." He told her.

Tara skipped down the bar and dragged a crate to the fridge under the till. As she shuffled the bottles around and restocked the fridge she found her mind wandering back to Willow.

Willow was sat in the main computer room of the hotel, listening to Greg. He was telling her how well everything had gone and that they should have the entire hotel up and running within a couple of hours. "Just have to reset and boot the main computers and it should be running, unless we have a worm." He told her proudly. The other technicians in the room nodded, each one wearing a similar smile and proud look. "I'll do the reboot, you guys should take off." Willow told them, "Cut out early." Since the take over, everyone had worked long, unsociable hours to get the company back on its feet. Many had given up weekends and sacrificed their holiday time, so the offer to knock off early was eagerly taken up. "We start at the Plaza in the morning!" she told them receiving mock groans of displeasure. "Get out of here!" she told them with a laugh.

Willow followed the group into the main foyer and waved them a cheerful farewell.

She walked up to the main desk and smiled at the clerk. "Is Mr. Moore around?" she asked. The woman looked around her, Willows tone making her a little nervous. "Is there a problem, ma'am?" the young woman asked her. Willow shook her head, "No, no problem, I'm from the computer company and I have to reboot the system." She explained, trying to put the woman at ease. The poor girl had evidently suffered a lot of angry people that morning and must have thought that Willow was another one. She receptionist smile, "Oh right, cool!" she said, the relief of not being yelled at clearly written on her face. "He's in the office, you wanna go through?" she said, indicating the small office behind her. Willow smiled and nodded her thanks.

She stuck her head around the door and saw David sitting at his desk, writing something in a large file. "I'm going to do a system reboot, providing no problems emerge after that, you should be back online." She said cheerfully. The man gave the biggest sigh of relief Willow had ever seen and grinned. "Thank you so much for your quick response." He said, "I never realised how much we rely on computers until they're not there anymore."

"I just need the main access computers?" Willow said, feeling a little embarrassed that she didn't know which ones had been used to set up the various programmes. "The one behind the desk does most of it." He told her, "Oh and the one in the main bar does the catering side." Willow smiled, and thanked him before closing the door solidly behind her.

The young receptionist was flapping frantically, the system restore had reactivated the phones automatically and the large grey switchboard was flashing like a Christmas tree. "Let me help you." Willow said as she slid into the chair behind the computer. Her fingers glided gracefully over the keys and with a few strokes, the phone next to her died. The receptionist grinned at her, "Thanks!" she said as Willow continued manipulating the system and rebooting and reactivating various programmes. Within ten minutes she had the hotel back on track, turning to the young woman beside her she asked; "You ready?"

Taking a deep breath, the woman nodded and Willow reactivated the phone which immediately burst into life.

"Main bar?" Willow asked as she stood, pointing to the room where she had spent the previous evening. The clerk nodded and reached for the receiver, pressing one of the buttons, the light extinguished and she greeted the caller cheerfully.

Willow walked into the large room and saw Vince polishing the bar. "I need your computer." She told him her cheeks burning a little as she unashamedly looked around for Tara. "Is that what you're calling her?!" he said cheekily as Willow spotted the computerised till and lifted the hatch to get behind the bar.

She raised one eyebrow as she saw Tara, on her knees at its feet, "Hmmm." The red head whispered as she crossed to stand behind the blonde, her hands coming to rest on the shoulders of the woman before her. Vince had joined the women behind the bar and Willow could see him grinning maniacally at the pair. "One of the perks of the job!" she told him as Tara looked up into her eyes.