More Than She Bargained For

Chapter Ten: The Morning Afternoon

I woke up the next morning with a smile on my face, as cliché, cheesy, and utterly ridiculous as that might sound. Cole wasn't in the bedroom, so I got up, pulled on his dark blue dress shirt, and shuffled through the living room into the kitchen. "Good morning."

Cole shut the refrigerator. "Hi."

"Maybe I misread the one-night stand handbook, but isn't the man supposed to stare adoringly at his lover until she awakes?" I asked, opening a cupboard. "Ritz crackers? Why in the world do you have Ritz crackers?"

"I tried that, and it ended up getting me vanquished," answered Cole, ignoring my comment about his food supply. "And what makes you think that this is going to be only a one-night stand?"

"Just guessed."

"Coffee?"

"Please." I accepted the cup Cole handed to me. "I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Something important?"

"Kind of. Like…oh no," I moaned. "Yes, something important! Three very important things that are at this moment in my apartment, wondering why I haven't made an appearance yet!"

"Would their names be Fred, Wanda, and Viv?" Cole asked.

"Bingo."

"I'll fade you down there. Take my hand."

I obeyed and found myself (with Cole) in my bedroom.

"Thank you." I kissed him. "Thank you. Thank you."

"I heard it. See you later."

"'Bye."

He faded out and I flopped down on my bed.

There was a knock at the door. "Edwina?"

"Mom?" I frantically crawled under the covers.

The door opened. "Edwina, it's almost ten-thirty. How long was your meeting last night?" Mom asked.

"Long," I said.

"I thought so. You weren't here when we got back from the restaurant."

"When was that?"

"Eleven o'clock."

"It's more like the morning afternoon," I said under my breath.

Mom had a look of concern across her face. "Are they good employers?"

"Of course they are."

Mom sighed. "Should I start breakfast?"

"Good idea. I'll be right out.

The door closed.

"I slept with my demonic boss," I said to the ceiling. "That sounds so screwed up." Groaning, because of my horrible choice of men, I added, "But I think I'm falling in love."

XXX

The rest of the weekend passed smoothly. No one mentioned Friday night's dinner, but Cole was certainly talked about, especially by Mom.

"He's very handsome, Edwina."

"An attorney makes good money, you know."

"He's so gallant."

But what surprised me the most was what was said on Sunday breakfast by my father.

"That young man has eyes for you, you know."

I dropped the society column from The Bay Mirror. "It's that obvious?"

"He stared at you for the entire evening," said Dad. "You've got an admirer."

"Cole's a little more than that," I said, marveling that my father had dragged his mind away from his work long enough to notice my…well, whatever he was.

"I knew he was your boyfriend."

"That's not really the word for it."

"Then what is the word?" Viv put in smugly. "Friend with benefits?"

"That happens to be three words," I said.

"Whatever."

Dad stood up. "Whoever this Cole is, he's into you."

I felt a ghost of a smile flicker on my face, caused in part my dad trying to use a popular phrase in normal conversation. "I hope so."

XXX

After my parents had left, I sat down at my kitchen table with a pad and pen. I was going to make a list of the qualifications I wanted in a man so I would know enough not to get involved with someone still in love with his ex-wife.

The Man That I Marry Must Be…

"No." I scribbled out the first line. "'The Man That I Get Involved With Must Be.' No sense putting pressure on myself."

The Man That I Get Involved With Must Be…

Stable

"So he's not likely to kill me with an energy ball anytime soon," I murmured.

Witty

Intelligent

Unique

"Although being a demon certainly qualifies as 'unique.'"

In love with ME

"…not Phoebe Halliwelll."

Able to tolerate my oddities

I scanned the list, satisfied, and remembered my ninth grade guidance class assignment. We were all supposed to create a list of qualities we wanted "in a mate" (as Mrs. Hakarpa put it). Mine had consisted of:

Not likely to flip out on me

Funny

Smart

Different

Crazy about YOURS TRULY!!!!!!!!!

Likes my weirdness

So in other words, my qualifications for a man hadn't changed that much…just my wording of them.

I stood up, stretched, and padded into my bedroom. It looked like a hotel room. Come to think of it, Cole's bedroom did too, although I supposed that he didn't spend much time hanging around there.

Cole…what was I supposed to do about him? Aiming for a relationship would be suicide. He loved Phoebe. I was sure of that.

I flipped on the television. Questions like that would have to be resolved after CSI.

A/N: There you have it: the morning after in Eddi's point of view. The last section is completely new, but I figured to include a little bit of our leading lady contemplating the way she wanted her love life to go.