Then And Again
Phoebe lay awake in her bed. The sunlight filtered into her room through her horizontal blinds. The rays barely peaked through them, because they were closed as tightly as they could. Her smile reflected her attitude: She was happy. It was early in the morning to be up, but she was. And she was happy. Because the dream had come back.
The guy had been kissing her at first. She could remember that, and what they did afterwords. It had felt so real that she had though that it was. And it felt good. It was differnet every time she had the dream, and she had been having it for a week now. The same guy every single time. The same routine every single time, only the way it was done was altered. She never remembered his name, but she was starting to recognize his features. This guy, who ever he was, was amazing.
Ugh, she silently cursed herself. I need to stop thinking about him. I'm going to make myself depressed and very, very unhappy!!
She pushed the covers off of herself and got out of bed. She would ask Piper if she need any help prepping for that night at the club later.
"I'm telling you.. He's your soulmate!", Piper said as she stacked glasses later on that night. Phoebe sat behind the bar, an untouched drink in her hand. "I mean.. Why else would he be in your dreams every night?"
"Maybe I'm trying to be warned.. Maybe someone is sending me these dreams to tell me about him, and that's why I can't remember what he looks like. Because he's danger, and I shouldn't meet him.", Phoebe debated.
"So you're told about great... sex that you had?", Piper quieted down when she mentioned 'sex'. She was a very shy person and hadn't yet grown out of the blushing stage. "Besides.. Wouldn't you need to remember him so that you know *what* to avoid."
Phoebe glared at her cousin. Laying a couple dollars on the counter as a tip for the person who had served her the drink. Looking back up, she knew that her cousin already knew what she was doing.
I'll leave the apartment unlocked for you. I'm assuming you'll be home soon."
She nodded in response.
Picking up her jacket, Phoebe waved goodbye. "I'll see ya in the morning."
"That seems to be how it always is, isn't it?"
Phoebe nodded, her eyes wide with sarcasim, as she left. She pushed her way through the crowd of people, finally making it to the door. Once outside, the cool night air of New York City finally hit her almost-bare skin, since she was wearing a velvet-black spaghettii strappedtank-top with regular old blue jeans. She put on her leather jacket, something that use to belong to Prue. finally ready to leave, she turned to her right only to turn directly into someone.
"Oh my god.. I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention and all that..", she said as the person turned to her.
He looked almost familiar to her, like she had seem him before. However, she couldn't put her finger on it fast enough, and if she did know him, he would bring it up.
"It's quite alright.. I was just walking towards Jazzums... Someone there that's kind of a friend that I need to see."
"Better make it quick.. It's busy tonight."
"Hence the reason you left?", the man asked.
Phoebe shook her head. "Just tired.."
The mad nodded in understanding. "Well, I really gotta get to my friend, so excuse me."
Phoebe nodded as he left. She stared at him until he disappeared into the club. Then she, herself, left.
"Piper!", someone called as they came forward to the bar.
"Oh hey.. Cole, right?", she asked, vaguely remembering that night last week. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, um.. I came because Gary said that he never paid.. Well, he said that couldn't remember paying, but same difference."
Piper nodded. It was true. His friend had never stopped by, and she planned on calling the number that he left for her later that night, possibly even the next morning. "Yeah.. I remember that much!", she jokingly said.
Cole smiled. A sweet, adorable, half-smile, that showed he clearly thought what she said was funny but not funny enough to laugh at. It looked like something that only this mysterious stranger could pull off. Piper knew that Leo could never do that smile the way he did.
He held out an envelope, handing it over to her. "It's the money for all the drinks I had. and some extra for your tip."
She smiled, thinking 'how sweet'.
"Thank you, Cole.." She paused for a second, the two of them sharing something of a moment. "Hey, can I get ya anything?"
He looked around, as if he needed to find permission else where. Piper knew that he was just seeing how busy it was.
"Sure.. why not..", he said as he slid onto a stool. "How about just a small glass of scotch. I walked here.."
Piper started fixing his drink, ignoring the work that she was suppose to be doing. "So how are you? Feeling any better??"
Cole knew she was reffering to the dreams, because that was what had been making him so miserable. In this perfect little world, he had met this beautiful woman. He made love to her like she had been with him his entire life, kissing her as though he had never kissed her before. She was more then seemingly perfect, he could tell that she was perfect.
However, he did not tell Piper that that was the reason he was miserable.
"Ugh.. no.. Not really much. But I'm getting there."
She nodded like she understood.
Cole decided that he liked Piper. She was someone who genuinly cared about people, whether she had just met them or not. She had this shy quality to her, clearly making it hard for her to tell strangers about herself. Yet, she had with him. They had spent an entire night talking the last time he was here. She seemed to understand everything that he said, even when he was being so.. vauge. And even if she didn't, she didn't think he was crazy.
She listened. She really listened, to every word that escaped his lips. Not only did she listen, but she listened in a way that you could tell. Her eyes did this half-open thing, like she was really into what you were saying. And her hair fell forward as she layed completely on her bent arms, almost laying on the bar. She nodded every few minutes when he said something like, "You know what I mean?" or "It's.. just like that..". Sometimes, she even made this soft little "agreeing" noise. She was just the type of person he could see being friends with.
"So... How's work?", she asked, making conversation.
"Oh it's good.. I'm.. doing really good. I've been distracted all week, but It's been good."
She nodded in understanding. She was listening.
"And you?"
"Umm.. My cousin has been killing me. She's been having a bad week, too. And she's really gone insane... She really needs to go bak to school. She need to do something with her life. Plus, my other cousin is moving in with us now, and they don't really get along."
"Why not?"
"It's kinda hard to explain.. My family is complicated..."
Cole's face conveyed that he was interested in hearing the story, so he didn't even need to ask for Piper to know that he wanted to hear about it.
"You see.. I had another cousin, Prue. She died. She was sisters with my cousin, Phoebe, the one I live with now. And when Prue died, we met Paige, Phoebe and Prue's half-sister. My half-cousin. We didn't know about her, and she didn't know about us. She was given up for adoption when she was born. We, meaning Prue, Phoebe, and I, were all raised by our grandmother. We were all really close."
Their conversation disolved for a few minutes, in respect of the dead cousin. (Jeeze.. That sounds cryptic.)
"So they don't get along, because to Phoebe, it seems like Paige is taking Prue's place?", Cole guessed.
"Pretty much."
"I understand.. So what about you? What do you think about Paige?"
"I think she's nice... We're getting along ok. She and Phoebe.. Well, Phoebe's trying. It's just hard for her.. For both of us, really, to accept all of this."
"Well.. I wish you the best of luck with that..", Cole said as he layed a few dollars on the counter top, including the tip. "I gotta get going.. But if you're not busy this weekend, maybe we could get together and I could meet your cousins.."
Piper's jaw dropped. Was she being asked out? She wasn't sure. "Oh, I have a boyfriend.."
"Oh, I know.. That's not what I meant. You're not my type, anyway. I meant as friends.. You seem like a nice friend."
Piper smiled. "Sure.. I'll call ya later after I've talked to Leo and Phoebe and Paige. Maybe we can all do something together."
Cole nodded as he got up. "Bye, Piper."
"Bye, Cole." She smiled as he left. He was nice.
And perfect for Phoebe.
"Hey, Phoebe?", Piper called out as she entered the apartment later that night. She threw her keys onto the table that sat to left of the door as you came in. She started taking off her jacket and put it on the coat rack that was also right there. Walking towards the living room section of the apartment, she found Paige sitting on the couch. "Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, ugh.. The door was open, and I just thought I'd say hi. But no one was in at the time, so I just made myself at home.. Thought I'd wait for someone to get home."
Piper looked at her watch. She had found someone to cover for her at work, making it possible for her to come home early, but it was still kind late.
"It's almost midnight.", Piper stated.
"Yeah, I fell asleep.", Paige explained. "And you woke me up.."
"How long have you been here?", she asked as she went into the kitchen that was attached to the room. She got two cups of coffee as she continued to talk to her older cousin. "What time did you fall asleep?"
"I got here at about nine, turned on the tv- thinking you'd be home soon, and then fell asleep at about 10:30. Is it ok that I'm here?", she asked, suddenly nervous.
"Oh yeah, perfectly fine.. I just didn't want you here by yourself for so long. I think Phoebe's in her room.. She left the bar at about 10:30." She gave a mug to Paige and sat down next to her, drinking out of hers. "I actually wanted to talk to you."
Paige stared at her, already interested.
"I made a friend at the bar, you see. And we wanna get together this weekend. You know, you, me, Phoebe, him, and Leo."
"Wait a minute, him?"
Piper nodded, knowing what she was thinking. "His name is Cole.. He's met Leo, sort of, and he knows I have a boyfriend. He says that I'm not his type, but I seem like a good friend. So no worries.."
"Is he single?", Paige asked, hopefully.
"You don't need to worry about that, Missy Paige. You have Glen."
She rolled her eyes. "I meant for Phoebe... Duh!" Paige smiled, thinking of Glen. "I love my boy, just as much as you love Leo. Maybe more."
Piper laughed, doubtful. "So anyway.. I thought maybe Sunday we could all go out for a picnic lunch in Central Park. Totally cliche, but it's a nice park."
"Sounds great. I'm in. What time?"
"What are you, speaking only two-word sentances now?", Piper asked sarcastically. "Um.. Around noon, I'd assume."
"Ok.. I'm gonna go home now. Say hi to Phoebe for me. Oh, and thanks for the coffee!", she said as she set down the mug. Standing up, she grabbed her purse and jacket. "Call me later with the details!"
Piper smiled at her cousin. "See ya.."
Now for Phoebe. This wouldn't be easy.