*Hey everyone. I'm starting this new story, because frankly it has been on my mind for a while now. And also, I wanted to write a story that was happy (for the most part) and one where Piper and Leo are together for most of this story (unlike my other stories...). And I should be working on those stories, and I will one day. Anyways, I don't own any of the characters (well maybe a couple of OCs randomly thrown in there). Please review and enjoy.
Piper Halliwell stood behind the bar of Quake, a restaurant where she worked at, going over the stock orders for the last month. Something wasn't adding up and it was now her job to figure out what went wrong. She had recently been promoted to manager, a job that she reluctantly accepted due to the pay increase. She, her eldest sister Prue, and Prue's boyfriend were sharing an apartment not too far from Quake, and money was steep. Piper's dream job was to have and cook in her own restaurant, but with her current financial situation, it was looking more and more like a pipe dream, instead of a reality.
Piper sighed and threw the document down on the bar top. She put her hands around her head and closed her eyes. Someone, most likely the assistant manager out to make Piper's life a living hell, had over-ordered on whiskey and also under-ordered the chicken. This was most likely going to take all night to fix, however she really didn't have the time to do so. The dinner rush was just about to come in, and tonight's special included chicken. The chef had already yelled at her earlier for the shortage, and he wasn't sure if they would get through the night.
To make matters worse, she saw that her ex-fiance Jeremy had a reservation tonight, probably to flaunt it in her face how much better his life was turning out then hers. The two met about a year ago, at the hospital where her grandmother had been admitted. Her grams, Penny Halliwell, had had a heart attack before passing away shortly after being admitted. She met him in the cafeteria and she cried, which he consoled her. He then wrote his name and number on a napkin, and Piper being the romantic that she is, saw the gesture as fate and called him back. The two began dating and were quickly engaged, much to the dismay of her sisters - all three of them - mostly because they considered him vile and deemed him a 'warlock,' whatever that meant.
The two were engaged for a few months before Piper discovered that Jeremy had only been dating her to get ahead in his career. The lying scum that is her ex, a journalist, was writing a story about health professionals and their poor treatment of the elderly. There had been a lot of reports done by the elderly regarding this concern at the hospital, most of which had come from her own grandmother. With her grandmother's passing, Jeremy spun the story to make it seem like neglect caused her grandmother's death, instead of the heart problem that she had been hiding from her family.
He also made it seem like the doctors wouldn't treat her because they thought she was a 'witch.' The only reason he even got that idea was because he had taken a quote that Piper that had said out of context. Sadly, Piper didn't even remember what the quote was, but it sold the whole article.
The day that the article came out, Piper was mortified and she called Jeremy to find out why he did what he did. He confessed that he didn't love her and wasn't even sure why he proposed to her; he was only with her to get famous and become rich off of "a poor woman's misfortune" (his words, not hers). And he did get rich and famous (at least locally) off of the family and now the family was in the process of trying to sue the horrible man.
The two had been broken up for three months, but Piper was still devastated by the breakup. She sincerely had feelings for the man that she now despised with her whole being and if she saw him with someone else, her heart would break all over again. It was because of him that she was stuck living in an over-priced apartment with her sister and her boyfriend, Andy.
Andy was a good guy, practically an older brother for Piper. He was their next door neighbor growing up and him and Prue started dating in high school. Only apart for the year Andy spent in Portland, the two had been together ever since. Piper didn't mind him, but being stuck in an apartment with the two lovebirds reminded Piper how utterly alone she was. She just wanted to find what Prue had.
Her sisters Paige and Phoebe being the annoying little sisters that they are, have tried to set up Piper with random people so that she gets over Jeremy faster. Most of them had either been very dull or not the right guy for Piper. Plus, Piper was still mourning her relationship - a fact that she kept from her sisters. There was one guy however, named Mark that Piper met and went out with and really connected with, but unfortunately for Piper, he was murdered a few days after they went out. The killer was discovered to be Tony Wong, some common street thug that killed Mark simply because he had the same body type as Wong and Wong wanted to use Mark's body to fake his own death. Luckily for Mark's family, one of Wong's guys turned him in. Mark had a proper funeral, one which Piper and her sisters attended.
Sometimes Piper really believed that she was destined to die all alone. She thought that Mark was most likely the best chance to find love after all that Jeremy had put her through, but unfortunately that didn't work out the way that Piper had hoped.
Piper had just finished with the paperwork that she was still working on, when she heard the door open. She quickly looked up as the newcomer made his way over to the bar. She noted that he was extremely attractive, but other than that she hadn't seen him before. At lunchtime, there were rarely any others that came except the regulars and yet here was this incredibly attractive man sitting at her bar, only a couple of feet from her. She also noted that the bartender was preoccupied with other customers and so she decided to serve him.
Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to the man. "Hi, I'm Piper and I'll be your waitress today. Here is your menu. Just uhh, flag me down when you're ready to order." Piper nervously rambled out. The man took the menu and smiled up at her. She noted that he had the most dazzling smile that she had ever seen. "Piper, hmm? What a unique name. How about you tell me what's good here. I'm new in town and I thought I would check this place out." The newcomer replied. "Okay, I'll tell the chef to give you our pasta. It's the house specialty." She continued, surprised that she sounded so calm and collected considering that she was freaking out on the inside.
"Sounds good. Thank you Piper." He replied smiling his dazzling smile again. She quickly put his order in and returned her position behind the bar a little away from the newcomer. He smiled to himself before moving over closer towards her. She backed away a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, it's just," he paused before letting out a nervous chuckle, "I hate eating alone and if you're not busy than maybe you wouldn't mind if you kept me company. I mean you could still do your work if you need to, but I just want someone around." "Um sure," she replied hesitantly.
The chef called his order and she went to get it for him. Once she had come back, he smiled at her again and took a bite. "Oh, this is amazing."He whispered loudly for her to hear. "I told you. I know my food." She replied. "Yes you did. What do you mean you know your food?" He asked genuinely curious. "I went to culinary school and I actually want to be a chef one day and own a restaurant." She replied, remembering that it was still a pipe dream. "Hopefully you will." He smiled at her before returning to his meal.
He finished his meal in silence. Piper tried to focus on her work, but somehow kept stealing glances with the man. The two shared a smile every time they were caught looking at each other. He finished his meal semi-quickly, much to her dismay. "That was amazing. I think that I will definitely keep coming back for that one. Thanks for the recommendation Piper." He replied and the way that he said her name sent shivers down her spine. She smiled at him. "If you're going to come back you should tell me your name so I can reserve a spot for you at the bar if you want." She finished, impressed with her forwardness.
"I can do you one better. Here's my card. Call me anytime you have another food recommendation for me. Like I said, I'm new in town and would like to know all of the good places to eat around here." He replied before giving her his business card. She nodded and he paid, said goodbye, and left.
Piper looked down at the card. It read: Dr. Leonardo Wyatt. San Francisco Memorial. And it had his phone number. 'Wow he's a doctor.' Piper thought to herself. She placed the card in her pocket and returned to work.