~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well it's a bittersweet symphony
This life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to the money then you die
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A month passed by. Paige had succeeded in becoming friends with her older half-sisters, but so far their relationship hadn't progressed much farther than that. Still, although they weren't exactly close, they were getting to know each other more and more, and their extremely fragile relationship was growing stronger.
Prue especially had bonded with Paige. At first she had done it out of a sense of duty to their mother, but the more she got to know Paige, the more she looked forward to spending time with her for her own sake. She'd also noticed this change in Piper and Phoebe, although she wasn't sure if they felt it as much as she did.
Paige hadn't been the only major addition to her life recently, of course. She smiled down at baby Aviva, who was awake in her bassinet. Now that she was nearly two months old, she was finally sleeping in the nursery, but Prue had brought her across the hall first thing in the morning, to be with her for the few hours she had left of her maternity leave. This was the day Prue was going back to work.
Being nearly summer, it was supposed to get warm later, so Prue pulled on a white tank top and a long denim skirt. She ran a brush through her silky black hair one more time for good measure, and then picked up Aviva and went downstairs.
Piper was waiting for her in the kitchen, with a huge breakfast in honor of her first day at work. "Morning, honey," she greeted from her place in front of the stove.
"Hey, you," Prue returned. She set the baby down in her swing next to the table, and went over to give her sister a kiss. "That looks great, sweetie," she said, pointing to the muffins Piper had just taken out of the oven.
"These won't be cool enough to eat for another few minutes, but there's some rolls on the counter, along with French toast and crêpes."
"Thanks, honey," Prue said, hugging her sister before moving over to the refrigerator to prepare a bottle for Aviva. She fed the baby with one hand, and ate her own breakfast with the other, with a little help from Phoebe, who joined her at the table a moment after she sat down.
"So, honey, how's it feel to be back in the realm of the nine-to-five?" the youngest Halliwell asked.
Prue shrugged, picking up Aviva to burp her since she'd had enough of her bottle. "I don't know. It's weird to be going back after being gone so long, and weirder to be leaving Ava. Speaking of which..."
She stood up, trying not to disturb the baby too much as she put her plate in the sink. "Breakfast was great, sis, but now I have to go."
"Already?" Piper asked.
Prue nodded. "I have to drop Ava off at the Morrises', plus beat morning rush-hour traffic, and if I don't go now, I'm going to be late." Janna Morris, a stay-at-home mom herself, had agreed to watch Aviva while Prue was at work, because Piper had to go to the club and Phoebe had a class that day.
Piper and Phoebe each got up to kiss their niece good-bye. "I'll pick her up after class," Phoebe offered, "Or do you guys want to get lunch first?"
Prue nodded. "Lunch would be good. You in, Piper?"
"Sure," Piper replied. She paused. "Hey, if we're going to do the whole family-lunch-out thing, d'you think we should invite Paige?"
Prue and Phoebe looked at each other. Neither of them had even thought of it.
"Um, yeah," Prue agreed. "Pheebs, you want to call her?"
"Okay," Phoebe said, nodding.
"Right, then, I have to go," Prue replied, hurrying out into the front hall. She stooped down to pick up the diaper bag that was lying under a table, and then, her hands full with the bag and the baby, menuevered the door open with her foot. Phoebe came out to help her, then watched her go out to the car and shove the diaper bag into the back seat.
"Good luck at the office, honey," Phoebe called.
Prue waved to her younger sister as she put Aviva in her car seat. She buckled the baby in carefully, then got into the front seat. She paused, taking a deep breath and telling herself not to be nervous. After all, she'd been at Buckland's longer than nearly everyone else there, a few months' absence couldn't mean much of a difference. Repeating this silently to herself, started the car and drove off.
-x-
Prue had barely been back in her office for five minutes when a tall, blonde, goofy-looking man came in.
"Hi," she greeted, straightening up from the file cabinet she'd been going through. "Do I know you?"
He flashed her an adorably boyish smile. "You must be Prue Halliwell. I'm Jack Sheridan, I'll be your partner this evening," he said, imitating something a waiter would usually say.
She looked up sharply. "Excuse me, did you just say 'partner'?"
"Oh, you haven't heard," he replied, sounding somewhat surprised. "The new VP assigned me to work with you. I've been perusing some of your files while you were gone, and I must say you look as brilliant in person as you are on paper."
Prue studied him, unable to believe that this semi-smooth-talking jerk was supposed to be her business partner. Doing her best to ignore his Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops, she grit her teeth and tried to be professional. "Okay, so why wasn't I informed that while I was on maternity leave, someone was assigned to work together with me? Since when does Buckland's staff even have partners?"
She had purposely let slip the fact that she was a new mother to make Jack stop oggling her, but he seemed unfazed. "Oh, it started a few weeks ago, when the new Vice President was appointed. He gave this big, long, dull speech about making major changes that are for the good of the company. Be grateful you missed it, I was bored out of my mind."
Prue rolled her eyes and said nothing, wondering how a guy like this got hired at Buckland's, which at one time had been one of the most prestigious auction houses in the city. She knew the company was on a slow downhill slope, but this blaring example had caught her off-guard.
Jack didn't seem to notice her cold silence. He strolled over to her desk, and picked up a picture of the baby that she'd put there only minutes ago. "I take it this is the kid? She's cute. What's her name?"
"Aviva," Prue replied, watching him carefully.
He replaced the photo, and turned to face her. "I should probably let you start getting things together. We're scheduled to make an appraisal in less than an hour."
"Fine," she responded. "You'll meet me back here before then?"
He nodded, still smiling. "Sure. I look forward to sharing the stage with the great Prue Halliwell."
She allowed him to shake her hand briefly, and then mercifully he left. A few minutes later, her assistant came in.
"Hey, Tanya," Prue greeted.
"Hey yourself," Tanya replied. "You look great. Now where are those baby pictures you promised me?"
Prue grinned. A year ago, when Tanya had had her son, she'd teasingly made Prue promise to bring pictures of her first child before she'd let her see any photos of her baby Thomas. Now, Prue reached into her purse and produced a stack of various-sized images of Aviva. "I took these myself," she said, handing them over.
Tanya spent a few minutes fawning over the photographs. "She's beautiful, Prue. And she looks just like you."
Prue smiled. "Thanks." She waited a bit longer. "Um, Tan, what's the deal with that guy who was just in here? Jack Sheridan?"
"Oh, Mr. Cauldwell hired him a few weeks ago," Tanya replied. "Ever since he became VP, he's really been changing things around a lot."
Prue frowned. She knew changes could potentially turn the company around, and that was a good thing, but somehow Tanya's words failed to reassure her.
Tanya read her expression easily. "Oh, honey, don't worry. He's really not that bad. He seems good enough at what he does, and the clients seem to like him. He's not hard on the eye, either."
Prue nodded. "Okay. I guess I don't really have a choice anyway, so I'll try and give him a chance."
Tanya smiled. "Admit it, you liked watching him walk out of the room."
Prue shook her head, biting back a smile. "I'll never tell."
****************
~from the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve~
Well it's a bittersweet symphony
This life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to the money then you die
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A month passed by. Paige had succeeded in becoming friends with her older half-sisters, but so far their relationship hadn't progressed much farther than that. Still, although they weren't exactly close, they were getting to know each other more and more, and their extremely fragile relationship was growing stronger.
Prue especially had bonded with Paige. At first she had done it out of a sense of duty to their mother, but the more she got to know Paige, the more she looked forward to spending time with her for her own sake. She'd also noticed this change in Piper and Phoebe, although she wasn't sure if they felt it as much as she did.
Paige hadn't been the only major addition to her life recently, of course. She smiled down at baby Aviva, who was awake in her bassinet. Now that she was nearly two months old, she was finally sleeping in the nursery, but Prue had brought her across the hall first thing in the morning, to be with her for the few hours she had left of her maternity leave. This was the day Prue was going back to work.
Being nearly summer, it was supposed to get warm later, so Prue pulled on a white tank top and a long denim skirt. She ran a brush through her silky black hair one more time for good measure, and then picked up Aviva and went downstairs.
Piper was waiting for her in the kitchen, with a huge breakfast in honor of her first day at work. "Morning, honey," she greeted from her place in front of the stove.
"Hey, you," Prue returned. She set the baby down in her swing next to the table, and went over to give her sister a kiss. "That looks great, sweetie," she said, pointing to the muffins Piper had just taken out of the oven.
"These won't be cool enough to eat for another few minutes, but there's some rolls on the counter, along with French toast and crêpes."
"Thanks, honey," Prue said, hugging her sister before moving over to the refrigerator to prepare a bottle for Aviva. She fed the baby with one hand, and ate her own breakfast with the other, with a little help from Phoebe, who joined her at the table a moment after she sat down.
"So, honey, how's it feel to be back in the realm of the nine-to-five?" the youngest Halliwell asked.
Prue shrugged, picking up Aviva to burp her since she'd had enough of her bottle. "I don't know. It's weird to be going back after being gone so long, and weirder to be leaving Ava. Speaking of which..."
She stood up, trying not to disturb the baby too much as she put her plate in the sink. "Breakfast was great, sis, but now I have to go."
"Already?" Piper asked.
Prue nodded. "I have to drop Ava off at the Morrises', plus beat morning rush-hour traffic, and if I don't go now, I'm going to be late." Janna Morris, a stay-at-home mom herself, had agreed to watch Aviva while Prue was at work, because Piper had to go to the club and Phoebe had a class that day.
Piper and Phoebe each got up to kiss their niece good-bye. "I'll pick her up after class," Phoebe offered, "Or do you guys want to get lunch first?"
Prue nodded. "Lunch would be good. You in, Piper?"
"Sure," Piper replied. She paused. "Hey, if we're going to do the whole family-lunch-out thing, d'you think we should invite Paige?"
Prue and Phoebe looked at each other. Neither of them had even thought of it.
"Um, yeah," Prue agreed. "Pheebs, you want to call her?"
"Okay," Phoebe said, nodding.
"Right, then, I have to go," Prue replied, hurrying out into the front hall. She stooped down to pick up the diaper bag that was lying under a table, and then, her hands full with the bag and the baby, menuevered the door open with her foot. Phoebe came out to help her, then watched her go out to the car and shove the diaper bag into the back seat.
"Good luck at the office, honey," Phoebe called.
Prue waved to her younger sister as she put Aviva in her car seat. She buckled the baby in carefully, then got into the front seat. She paused, taking a deep breath and telling herself not to be nervous. After all, she'd been at Buckland's longer than nearly everyone else there, a few months' absence couldn't mean much of a difference. Repeating this silently to herself, started the car and drove off.
-x-
Prue had barely been back in her office for five minutes when a tall, blonde, goofy-looking man came in.
"Hi," she greeted, straightening up from the file cabinet she'd been going through. "Do I know you?"
He flashed her an adorably boyish smile. "You must be Prue Halliwell. I'm Jack Sheridan, I'll be your partner this evening," he said, imitating something a waiter would usually say.
She looked up sharply. "Excuse me, did you just say 'partner'?"
"Oh, you haven't heard," he replied, sounding somewhat surprised. "The new VP assigned me to work with you. I've been perusing some of your files while you were gone, and I must say you look as brilliant in person as you are on paper."
Prue studied him, unable to believe that this semi-smooth-talking jerk was supposed to be her business partner. Doing her best to ignore his Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops, she grit her teeth and tried to be professional. "Okay, so why wasn't I informed that while I was on maternity leave, someone was assigned to work together with me? Since when does Buckland's staff even have partners?"
She had purposely let slip the fact that she was a new mother to make Jack stop oggling her, but he seemed unfazed. "Oh, it started a few weeks ago, when the new Vice President was appointed. He gave this big, long, dull speech about making major changes that are for the good of the company. Be grateful you missed it, I was bored out of my mind."
Prue rolled her eyes and said nothing, wondering how a guy like this got hired at Buckland's, which at one time had been one of the most prestigious auction houses in the city. She knew the company was on a slow downhill slope, but this blaring example had caught her off-guard.
Jack didn't seem to notice her cold silence. He strolled over to her desk, and picked up a picture of the baby that she'd put there only minutes ago. "I take it this is the kid? She's cute. What's her name?"
"Aviva," Prue replied, watching him carefully.
He replaced the photo, and turned to face her. "I should probably let you start getting things together. We're scheduled to make an appraisal in less than an hour."
"Fine," she responded. "You'll meet me back here before then?"
He nodded, still smiling. "Sure. I look forward to sharing the stage with the great Prue Halliwell."
She allowed him to shake her hand briefly, and then mercifully he left. A few minutes later, her assistant came in.
"Hey, Tanya," Prue greeted.
"Hey yourself," Tanya replied. "You look great. Now where are those baby pictures you promised me?"
Prue grinned. A year ago, when Tanya had had her son, she'd teasingly made Prue promise to bring pictures of her first child before she'd let her see any photos of her baby Thomas. Now, Prue reached into her purse and produced a stack of various-sized images of Aviva. "I took these myself," she said, handing them over.
Tanya spent a few minutes fawning over the photographs. "She's beautiful, Prue. And she looks just like you."
Prue smiled. "Thanks." She waited a bit longer. "Um, Tan, what's the deal with that guy who was just in here? Jack Sheridan?"
"Oh, Mr. Cauldwell hired him a few weeks ago," Tanya replied. "Ever since he became VP, he's really been changing things around a lot."
Prue frowned. She knew changes could potentially turn the company around, and that was a good thing, but somehow Tanya's words failed to reassure her.
Tanya read her expression easily. "Oh, honey, don't worry. He's really not that bad. He seems good enough at what he does, and the clients seem to like him. He's not hard on the eye, either."
Prue nodded. "Okay. I guess I don't really have a choice anyway, so I'll try and give him a chance."
Tanya smiled. "Admit it, you liked watching him walk out of the room."
Prue shook her head, biting back a smile. "I'll never tell."
****************
~from the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve~