Then And Again
"Hi, this is Cole Turner-"
"Hi, Cole... This is Phoebe Ha-"
"I'm not home right now, but if you leave you're name and number, Gary will erase my messages and I'll never get back to you. But if you call back later, you'll be fine."
An annoying beep rang in Phoebe's ear. His answering machine. That was ok- this was better.
"Hi, Cole. This is Phoebe Halliwell.", she started again. "I was wondering if perhaps we could get together later- I have something to tell you. If you could call me back, my number's 555-1098. That would be great. Thanks." Another beep.
"God, I am so lame.", she said to herself. Well, at least it's over...
She calmly went back to folding some laundry, satisfied with herself for the time being. But just wait until he calls back..
Phoebe and Piper were at Jazzums later that night, Piper behind the bar once again. Phoebe had on a jacket- feeling unusually cool that night. A drink in hand, she waited for Piper to finish stacking glasses. Every now and then they each shared a few words with the other, but things were quiet. Things had been like that ever since the oldest had run away from the picnic, a week ago. The three girls had been waiting on what would happen with the Phoebe/Cole story. Everyone thought that this was their own Soap Opera. Just with a supernatural twist.
"So.. Did you call him?", Piper asked, joining her cousin again. She leaned on the bar and acted as though she was having an animated conversation.
"Yeah.. I got his answering machine. I left a message and our number.." She sipped her water. "You think he'll call back?"
A worried expression passed over Piper's face. "I dunno, sweetie.. He's very busy and might not want to hear what you have to say.."
Phoebe sighed.
"You might just want to wait until the next time you see each other.."
"It's just that.. I don't know.. I feel bad about what I did, but I don't really want to see him again."
This confused the younger woman. "No, now wait a minute... I thought that you had been dreaming about this guy.. that you wanted to meet him."
"Of course I wanted to meet him.. I just didn't... want to meet him.. I dunno.. It's all too confusing, and all I want to do is apologize and then never see him again."
"You have to see him again- he's my friend."
Now Phoebe was confused. "So? It's not like you see my friends that often."
"Well, that's 'cause you have friends that I don't like."
"And I don't like Cole."
"You're afriad."
"He hasn't returned my call."
"And you're afraid."
"I have no interest in getting to know him. At all."
"And you're afraid.", Piper said knowingly.
"Yeah.. Ok, I admit it. I'm afraid.. But that's ok! Because it's human nature.."
"What's human nature?", a voice interupted.
Piper recognized the voice; she didn't need to look to see who it was. Phoebe, on the other hand...
There was something familiar about it. Something so calm and exciting all at the same time. She slowly turned her head to the person who spoke- and froze. Her mind went blank, no doubt same with her face. She was horrified and over run with the joy and looking for a way to get out of the place while planning her life with this person. It was too much to take, too much to comprehend. Running seemed like the easiest thing to do, but that had been what she had done the last time.
"Cole.", Phoebe said, her voice conveying more then her emotions. "You're ugh.. There."
He laughed slightly at what she had said. "Yeah, it's this amazing thing. You see.. I was over there-" He pointed to the door. "-and now I'm over here. I find that I like the view much better."
Piper laughed at what her friend said. She looked over to her cousin, wondering how she was reacting to this, especially with his obvious flirting. If she was feeling anything at all, she didn't show it. And Piper wasn't even sure if she knew that Cole was flirting.
"Yes, well.. The glasses are really clean from this angle.", Phoebe answered. This caused Piper to burst with laughter, and she had to excuse herself. Piper glared as her cousin left the two. "Fear.", she finally said.
"Emotions you're feeling for two hundred?", Cole asked.
"No, that's what's human nature.. I'm afraid, and Piper was teasing me..", Phoebe explained. As she talked to this man, she found it easier and easier with each word. She knew that she could tell him anything and everything without ever getting to know him. It made this seem all the more thrilling to Phoebe. "So how was your day?"
"What are you afraid of?", Cole asked. As confused as Phoebe was, he was just as bad. He felt like he needed to protect this woman, hold her all night long. He felt like he had known her forever. Wanted her, needed her. Sure, she was attractive. Probably the more beautiful person he had ever seen. But there was just.. something.. Something that he could almost see, but every time he got a hold of a thought, it disappeared.
"It's not really important..", Phoebe told him.
Clearly, he was the only one feeling that way.
"Oh, ok then.." He searched the room, almost like he could find the words to say on the walls. "So I got your message."
"Oh, did you?"
"Yeah.. You said you needed to tell me something."
"Oh yeah.. I just wanted to say sorry for the way I acted. It wasn't really.."
"My fault?", Cole supplied.
"Yeah.. It was just me being afraid."
"Afraid of meeting new people?"
"Araid that you would be as great as you seemed, I guess..", Phoebe confessed.
"As confused as I may be, I'm not going to say anything.. Yet.."
Phoebe shook her head like her older sister used to do. "What do you mean yet? You can't just.. make me tell you what I'm thinking. We're not dating, we're not friends. We're not anything. You don't know me or anything about me. I have no obligations to tell you what I'm thinking."
Cole smiled at her. "So let's get to know each other."
She froze. "What?"
To her, it almost seemed like he was asking her out. That would be bad.
"Yeah. Let's leave and get to know each other. Maybe then you'll think about telling me what makes it so bad that I might be a great person."
"You're kidding me.. It's freezing outside-" She paused when Cole took his jacket off. "-And I'm already cold..", she finished, staring at Cole with a confused expression. "How'd you know that I was going to say that?"
He shrugged in response. "Lucky guess, I guess.." Then he smiled at her. And she couldn't help but agree.
She sighed, blowing her hair out of her face. "Fine.. Let me just go tell Piper."
Phoebe stood, looking for her cousin. Finally spotting her, waiting on some customers who were very obviously drunk, Phoebe decided it was better to tell another employee to pass on the message that she was leaving to Piper. Carolyn, who was actually very understanding about confusing messages, quickly assured the woman that everything would be ok and that she understood exactly what the message was. Once Phoebe was convinced that everything was ok and that it was fine to leave, she picked up her purse and slid on Cole's jacket. They were out the door in less than a minute.
As the cool night air hit the two, Phoebe dared not call them a couple, she couldn't help but wonder if things were really left ok. Cole seemed to read her mind, because he immediatly commented on her thoughts.
"You know, you worry too much..", he told her. "Things are fine, Piper's fine, you're fine.. You don't need to worry about anything."
She sighed in response. "I can't help it.. Ever since.. Prue died.. I've felt like I have to take care of everything. It's hard. I don't know how she did it..", she answered, her voice softening..
Cole looked the woman over. They were standing just outside the club still, people and activity going on all around them. Not a thing about the moment was silent, and yet everything about her face, her expression, her visible emotions made it seem so forbiddin to talk, to have a voice. He looked her over. She had never seemed to vulnerable, so damned innocent. His own face was quite the opposite. As he stared at her, his smile and eyes turned to lust. He had never seen such a desirable woman before.
Another one of her sighs broke the silence. "So... Where do you want to do this?"
"You make it sound like we're gonna sleep together.."
"Aha. Cute."
"I get cuter."
"Deja vu."
He smiled.
"My apartment's fine. We can stop and get chinease on the way."
He started walking away. Phoebe knew that she was suppose to follow, but she couldn't help but walk the other way. When Cole realized what she was doing, he called out.
"Hey!"
"There's better chinease this way!", she called out. He started laughing uncontrollably- she was just so damn adorable!
"Alright, but if I catch a cold, you'll be getting more than a night of questions."
She snorted at him.
Yeah. Right. Like that'll ever happen..
About a half hour later, Cole and Phoebe were walking into Cole's apartment. He looked around for signs of his roommate, finding none.
"Gary's not here.."
"Roommate?", Phoebe questioned, even though she already knew from his machine message.
He nodded in response.
"That surprises me, quite honestly. You seem like the type who would live alone..."
"I wish I had the money. I just got down school.. I'm having a little trouble with debts."
She nodded in response.
"So ugh.. What do you you do, Phoebe?"
"I'm going back to school. Just quit my job so that I could."
"What do you mean, you didn't go when you finished High School?"
She nodded.
"Su ugh.. You wanna eat first and then talk or talk and then forget the food or eat while we talk."
"I suppose we have to talk, and the sooner the better.. So let's talk and eat. That way I can go home and never see you again and proove you and Piper right."
"Yes, but then you'll be so happy that you'll have to rub my face in it, and that's always so much better in person so ultimately we will see each other again."
"Then I'll right it in a note, leave it at your door, and kill myself."
"Funny."
"I thought so."
He was silent for a minute, handing a plate to the woman. They started dishing some food onto their plates, Phoebe hungry as hell. "So ugh.. What do you want to do?"
"What?", Phoebe asked, not really confused by his question. She just didn't want to be there. At all. "I thought I said I wanted to eat and talk at the same time.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Well, you said that you were going back to college. You quit your job to go back. What do you want to do?"
She shrugged in response. "Be a clown?"
"You're not taking this seriously.."
"Fine? You want to know about me- the real me?"
"Yes, I do. I want to know everything about you- Your favorite memory, your worst. You secrets. Your dreams, your nightmares. I want to know everything that I could possibly know, expierence every bit of you. I want to know what makes you treat me the way you do, why you hate me so much. I want to know what makes me want to love you when all you do is infuriate me. I want.. I want to know everything."
Phoebe paused. This had taken her by surprise. If she was honest with herself, she wanted to tell all those things to him. She wanted him to hold her all night long, cradle her softly while being angry as hell at the world for being so cruel to her. She wanted to cave in, she wanted to fall into his arms, onto his chest. But if she did.. If she did..
"Alright.. I'll tell you everything about myself.."
TBC...
While I may be cruel, I am going to leave you with a spoiler. Which I suppose is just even more cruel.. Lol..
[Scene: Cole's apartment. Phoebe and Cole are eating Chinease. Phoebe's talking.]
"I know things that other people don't.. I see things that other people can't.. I sense things, I touch things.. I do things.", she paused, searching for the right words. "I'm not like other people, Cole. I'm different. I'm special. And so is my cousin and Paige.. and so was my sister.."
[Scene: Jazzum's- Phoebe, Piper, and Paige are talking.]
"Phoebe what did you tell him?", Piper demanded, becoming frantic.
"I told him the truth.", she replied simply. She acted as though she hadn't a care in the world.
"About what?", Paige asked. She was just as frantic as Piper, but she was very angry.
"About myself."
"Did you tell him about us?"
[Scene: Phoebe's room. Leo is questioning Phoebe.]
"Phoebe, do you realize what you did...?"
Until next time..