Piper Halliwell ran the brush through her long hair and studied her reflection carefully in the mirror. Not bad, she decided. Her subtle make up brought out the beauty of her large dark eyes and the deep brown dress she was wearing looked amazing on her.
She stood up from the stool she'd been sitting on in front of her dressing table and picked up a small glass bottle. Leo's favourite perfume on her. Hers too actually. She spritzed a generous amount on to her neck and chest before rubbing a small amount onto her wrists. Perfect. She was ready.
There was a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge and a nice meal cooking in the oven. By the smell of it, it was almost done.
Right on cue, blue orbs appeared behind her and she turned with a smile to greet her husband. He looked taken aback at how she was dressed and could only stand and admire her with a smile. She pulled him into a long kiss which he returned somewhat hesitantly. She broke away and eyed him suspiciously, "What is it?"
He at least had decency to look guilty as he replied, "I'm sorry, Piper. The Elders have drummed up one of their last minute 'it can't wait' assignments."
Piper flung her arms out impatiently, "You've gotta be kidding me! I'm being stood up?"
"I'm sorry…"
Piper groaned, "How urgent is it?"
"Pretty urgent." He pulled her into his arms, "I'm sorry, honey. I know how perfect you wanted this evening to be."
"I guess it can't be helped," She said grudgingly.
Leo smiled at her, "For what it's worth, you look beautiful." He kissed her again and orbed out.
Piper sighed heavily. "Happy Valentines Day," She mumbled to herself before leaving the room and heading downstairs to tend to the dinner.
She was surprised to see Paige walk through the front door as she was descending the last couple of steps. Her sister was dressed in a dark red halter neck dress. She looked pretty fed up too.
She spotted Piper and held up her hands in surrender, "Don't worry, I'm keeping out of your way. I'm not gonna ruin the romantic meal you've done for Leo. I'll just go up to my room and I'll be out of your hair."
"Don't bother," responded Piper with a wry smile, "He's been called away on Whitelighter business."
"On Valentines Day?" Paige said in disbelief, "Well that sucks. And I thought being stood up by a guy I've only been dating a few weeks was bad."
"Gee, thanks…"
"You know what I mean. Are you okay?"
Piper nodded, "Yeah, I guess it can't be helped. His work is important. It would just be nice to spend an evening with him without any interruptions."
Paige patted her arm sympathetically, "You'll get it soon, don't worry." She yawned, "I think I'm just gonna have a soak in the bath and then an early night." She smiled at Piper and began to climb the stairs.
Piper frowned as a thought struck her, "Hey, Paige!"
Paige stopped and turned back to look at her, "Yeah?"
"Seeing as how we've both kind of been stood up how about er… We could… Well… It'd be a shame to let good food go to waste." Paige looked blank and Piper blushed, "I was just wondering if you'd want to be my 'date' for the night."
Paige looked unsure, "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. I just wouldn't have thought you'd want to spend the evening with me."
"Don't be ridiculous! Come one!"
Paige grinned, "Okay. You get the food, I'll set the table."
*****
Ten minutes later, the two sisters were sat at the dining table with a plate of eggplant and parmesan lasagne in front of them and a glass of sparkling wine each. Piper had managed to convince Paige that a small glass was okay seeing as it was a special occasion after all.
"This food is great! Leo's missing out,"
"I'm glad you like it," Piper said with a smile.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, both just enjoying the food and each others company.
Paige took a small sip of wine, "So, where's Phoebe this evening?"
"Her and Cole have gone out for a romantic meal together."
"It's a shame. She could have been here instead, enjoying this great food!"
"I'm glad she's not though," Piper said, "We don't spend enough time together on our own."
"We should start making the effort to in future."
Piper nodded, "Agreed. So who was the guy? I didn't realise you were dating."
"It wasn't serious or anything. His name's James, we were just going to go down P3 for the evening but he never showed. I'm glad in a way now though."
Piper smiled and raised her glass, "Happy Valentines Day."
"Happy Valentines Day," Paige replied with a grin before clinking her glass against her sisters.
*****
A/N: For those of you waiting on the next update for 'Of All The Luck', I should be getting the next one uploaded in a few days. I've had a little trouble with writers block but it's gone now so I'll start working on the next chapter tomorrow. Hope you liked this Oneshot. Have a great Valentines Day everyone and remember, even if you're on your own for it (like I will be) it doesn't mean you can't have fun!
