Epilogue

(5 years from Now)

"Welcome back to Story of Performer Xander Harris. I am your host Michael Hoffman with me is Grammy award winning, gold album artist Xander Harris. Xander thank you for joining us."

"Be kind of hard to have a story about Xander Harris if there was no Xander Harris."

"You make an excellent point. I want to dive right in to it. Last month made it 5 years since the release of your first single. Lets talk about the difference between then and now." Xander laughed and rubbed his face as he was trying to think. He had a bit of stubble from a few days with no shaving.

"Oh God where do I start. I have a whole lot less time I can tell you that. I know it sounds so cliché to say but in a lot of ways it seems like just yesterday but at the same time it seems like a life time ago. It's really strange spending a segment of your life in the public eye. Everyone sees everything and remembers everything you say. The good and the bad."

"If it's okay with you I'd like to play a little game. I'm going to hold up a picture and you tell me what it makes you think of."

"I'll do my best." He reached behind him and pulled out a picture from a few months back. It had Xander on stage holding up a Grammy Award scared as a ghost. Xander looked at it and couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh God I remember that night. You go to these award shows and you see these amazing acts performing. I totally went as a fan. There was point I'm getting a drink at the little staging area they have, I'm drinking chocolate milk and next to me is Sting. I'm like God this guy was a hero of mine growing up and I'm standing next to him. Through out the night I'm bumping in to all these major names Pink and James Taylor and Steven Tyler and to be honest it's unreal. During the show I' watching them perform and I'm totally a fan."

"Then the category came up that I was nominated in. To me it was such an absolute joke that I'm even mentioned in the same breath with the people that are nominated with me. They are huge legends and I'm just this Silly guy from Sunnydale.I honestly didn't even bother with a speech cause I didn't think there was a snowballs chance that I'd win. Then when I heard my name announced all I could think was there had to be some kind of mistake."

"I go up and I accept the award and I actually see these people that I admire so much, that I have this huge amount of respect for and they are applauding me. Awards are nice and don't' get me wrong I'm not giving up my Grammy anytime soon but to have the respect of the people that mean so much to you. That's what means a lot to me."

Michael smiled at him. "Very well said. Now for the next one we go to." The next picture he picked up was Xander hugging his friend the Playtone Executive. Eric Davis.

"That's Eric. He is the one who got me started on this crazy ride. The odds of getting discovered the way I did are like astronomical. A million things had to line up in order for me to get that contract. Eric saw something in me. Now you have to understand I was never the guy who had a lot of self-esteem. So for Eric to have the Faith in me for him to believe in me, it means so much. Eric was the guy who gave me the keys to the Kingdom and said here kid show me what you can do with them.

"A lot of people inside the industry didn't understand when you didn't even bother to shop around when your original contract was up. You just told them that you were going to resign. Some would say that was a little foolish."

"I respect and I trust Eric. Along time ago I told him I trusted him and that I would always be fair with him as long as he was fair with me. It's hard to find people in this business that you can say I trust you and I'm putting that trust in your hands. Eric has that with me and I with him." Michael smiled at him and put the picture down.

"I have to say I find that kind of relationship very refreshing. You don't see that often in the music industry." He picked up the next picture it was one of Oz. "Tell us about this guy."

"Oz. is an amazing artist and one of my musical role models. Any talent I have playing is because he took the time to sit down with me and teach me how to play. The Dingoes are a hell of a Band and I'm just psyched that they finally got their chance. The really cool thing is they are amazing. They got all of it done on their own. Playtone decided years ago that they didn't have the sound they were looking for and I get that. Now after I was signed I went to Oz and asked him if he wanted me to see if I could pull some strings at Playtone. He told me though that he wanted to do it on his own. 2 years later he playing at a club in LA and an exec from Tuesday Records heard them and signs them on the spot."

"And I understand you want to make an announcement." He laughed and nodded.

"As of 9 am this morning the deal is done. They are touring with me this summer."

"Any collaborations in the work." Xander smiled big wanting to tell but he couldn't.

"I can not confirm nor deny anything yet. That is all I am at liberty to say." Michael laughed and put the picture down.

"Alright I think the non answer might be answer in itself but I won't press." He picked up the next picture. It was Willow. Xander smiled taking the picture from him and smiled.

"That is my best friend and number one fan Willow." He smiled and handed the photo back. "A friend of mine a guy by the name of Giles once told me if you want to be successful then surround yourself with successful people. Willow is one of the smartest people I know. Early on she did a lot of things for my career helping to organize the tour and manage my financial matters. The most important thing for me she does is keeping me in the real world. I have a lot of people telling me every day how amazing I am and how talented and blowing all kinds of smoke up my ass. You listen to enough of that you believe. Willow helps me to walk that line she lets me know I'm good but she also makes sure I don't forget where I came from." With that Michael picked up the next photo. It was the standard yearbook photo of Cordeila Chase.

"Tell us about her. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't she the original inspiration for the first song you ever wrote?"

"I owe a certain degree of thanks to Cordy. It takes a special kind of woman to inspire the way she did."

"But she did break your heart?"

"Being dumped on Valentines Day is never fun. It could have gone a lot worse though."

"Worse how?" Xander laughed shrugging.

"I don't know. I probably looked to the dark arts and maybe done a love spell." Xander laughed and Michael laughed a little with.

"Xander Harris has a dark side."

"Seriously though Cordy is a special girl and that was a long time ago. Holding on to the past too much never benefits anyone."

"Do you keep in touch with her?"

"To be honest our lives went in different directions. I haven't really talked with her since high school. I'm not sure on this but I think she is a single mom."

"Well God Bless the single moms of the world."

"Amen to that." With that he dropped Cordy's picture and picked up Buffy's.

"Now this blonde lady who would she be?" Xander smiled and laughed.

"Well she is my agent. She's pretty cut throat."

"When she started representing you she was just a high school student."

"She was as much an agent as you or I."

"Has she gotten better?' Xander nodded and smiled.

"Eric had a friend in LA. Ari Gold who is this super agent. He owed Eric a favor and Buffy did two weeks mentoring under him. I thought she was scary before but wow."

"She isn't just your agent though is she?" Xander smirked his trademark grin and held up his hand showing a gold band on his finger.

"You know there are some things that have such an impact on your life that you'll remember them forever. I think the biggest moment for me was the first time I saw Buffy Summers. I was riding my skateboard and I saw her. I didn't see anything else. Not even the rail right in front of me." Michael laughed at him.

"Come on really?"

"Swear to God knocked of my ass by love. My first sentence to her ever was Can I have you?" Michael laughed and slapped his knee.

"Casanova right from the start."

"Hardly. It didn't happen for us right away. There was this other guy and she thought maybe he was the one. I hung in there though. I told myself being her friend was good enough for now. Then when the chance came up I jumped on it like a hungry dog on a steak."

"Now you are married to her."

"Just goes to show what a little perseverance can get you."

"So what advice do you have for other couples out there?" Xander laughed and shook his head

"Oh I would never claim to be an authority on marriage. I have been married 6 months. Now they have been 6 happy months but I'm not big on giving advice. I know what works for my wife and me but I can't say they would work for everyone"

"But you would say that married life is a better life."

"Oh with out a doubt. Marriage is making that promise that says good or bad I a in for the long haul I am going to make this work and I am going to love you for better or worse. That's something I can really really get behind." Xander then picked up the picture of Buffy and put it next to his face for comparison. "And if we can do a quick side by side here I think you'll clearly see that I got the better side of this deal." He laughed.

"I think you are right." Xander grabbed the water and took a sip while Eric changed the subject. "So you have quite the resume. You have hosted Saturday Night Live, a soul out world tour 3 hit albums numerous awards. I could literally go on for hours. That being said what would you say is the high light of your career"

"High light is to say this is the best thing I'll ever do. I hope I haven't done that yet cause then it's all down hill. I want to keep setting the bar a little higher."

"I think you are right. We have to take a break but when we come back we'll ask Xander what it meant for him to play for the Queen of England. Also we'll ask him what he planned for the future Stay with us."