Phoebe no longer recognized the area she was travelling through. Everything had turned into a big blur for her… nothing seemed to make sense to her. It seemed as if they had been going all over the place, not just San Francisco, but she didn't remember crossing a bridge over into Berkeley or Marin. She tried to remember more details about the premonition she'd had earlier. What did it mean? Just then another person climbed onto the bus, this was a child.
She looked around and took the seat next to Phoebe, she dawned a purple dress and a small purple helmet. The little girl looked up at her with large questioning eyes. Phoebe noticed a crack in the helmet and wondered where the girls parents were. The little girl reached out and held Phoebes hand for safety.
"Where are we going?" her voice shook as her eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know sweetie, where are your mommy and daddy?" Taking the girls hand gently into her own Phoebe got a second premonition. "Oh my G-d!"
Phoebe shrieked when she saw the little girl crash through the window of a mechanic shop. She directed her attention to the little girl, and wondered how she could have crashed through that window… and survived. Her brow furrowed and again she asked the driver to stop the bus. She checked her watch to try and find out how long she had been travelling. The face of the watch was cracked and the watch had stopped. "Dammit!" she shouted. It had been a birthday present from Prue, to try and help her stay on schedule. She tried to remember how it had become cracked, but shook of the thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand.
Piper groaned as she looked at the clock. The incessant ticking had seemingly gotten louder and louder until she thought she could no longer stand it. That was a half hour ago, she had been through 7 more dissapointing interviews and it was just enough to put her over the top.
"That's it!" shouting to the empty club she pushed herself up off the chair. "That is it! Ugh! Phoebe where are you?!"
She looked up at the clock and was becoming more frustrated with every tick tock. She checked her watch, and went over to try calling the transit company again. Seeing the phone had been off the hook she frustratedly put her hand to her head and leaned on the bar, moaning, "Ooh, this is not my day"
Piper dialed the transit and found that it was still busy. She dialed home next, hoping Phoebe had just forgotten that she was heading to P3 and gone home. "Pick up… pick up… Phoebe? Phoebe its Piper… where are you? Okay well as soon as you get this message call me!"
She looked up to see another applicant enter through the door and prayed that this one would be it. Looking over to the tall stack of applications she scowled. Knowing that this would definitely not be the last applicant she would have to deal with. She walked over to the table she had set up and shook the mans hand.
"Please, have a seat." Sizing him up Piper found that he didn't look too shabby. "Ah, it says here you were previously a bodyguard. Can you tell me a little more about that?"
"Sure… I worked for Escorts to the Stars for 5 years and have just recently moved out to California from New York. I also worked as a bouncer in a private club in New York City." He smiled largely, seeing he had impressed her.
Smiling she shook his hand, just as another man walked in. The second man looked big and tough as did the first, but there was something familiar about him. Squinting her eyes at him she found that she recognized him all too well. Putting her hands up she froze the room. Cocking back her head, she looked to the sky, "Why… what have I done to deserve this?" She let out a frustrated scream and went back into position. Trying to smile as time resumed Piper thanked the man for his application and assured him that they would be in touch.
Prue was still working at her desk when she was interrupted by a frantic assistant. "Ms. Halliwell, you have a phone call. It is an emergency. Very urgent. You will take it?"
Prue looked up at the woman and sighed. "No, I will not take it… I don't have time for this! Can't you just take a message? Do you not see this pile of papers on my desk? I have to get through these! How can that possibly be so incredibly difficult to understand!" Having risen from her desk to a standing and very declarative position Prue flopped back into her chair and grabbed the nearest folder. She didn't look up again until the assistant had left the room, grumbling.
Leafing through the papers in the file, Prue kept looking to the door. Expecting the assistant to come back with another urgent message. She could no longer concentrate on her work and was extremely frustrated with everything. Picking up the phone she called Piper at P3. She hoped that Piper could calm her fears about the emergency so that she could get back to her job… while she still had one.
Comforting the little girl was little help in comforting herself. Phoebe was afraid now and didn't know what she could do to calm herself or the little girl. Standing once again she went to speak with the bus driver. Once again he told her that it was not yet her time to get off this line. Going back to her seat she saw the little girl staring at her in disgust. Sitting down she reached out to take her hand again but the child pulled away.
"Whets wrong sweetie?" Phoebe tried to see what was wrong as she looked at the girl. "Are you hurt?"
Tears filled the young girls eyes as she backed away and pointed at Phoebe, stuttering she tried to speak through her fear. "Y-y-you b-b-b-b-bbback. I-it-it-its…" The girl could no longer continue speaking as she burst out into open sobs. The old man sitting near them had turned around to look at the young girl. Phoebe tried her best to quiet the girl but all of her efforts seemed to be of no use. Phoebe looked to the old man for help. Hoping he would know what she was talking about.
"Excuse me sir? But do you think you can help me out here?" Phoebes eyes pleaded with the mans old and warn eyes.
"Well young lady… it appears she is upset over your being here with her. I remember when I first boarded this bus so long ago…" Phoebe wiped her brow and stretched her arms and legs. Trying this time to pay more attention to the mans story.