0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Chapter 5: PromisesMark was the first one to wake in the morning. He looked down at the sleeping, beautiful Piper in his arms. He tried to recalled what he said last night before he fell asleep, and he almost gasped with surprise. Had he really spilled out his heart to her last night? He looked down at her peaceful face, and a smile broke out on his. As a response, the sleeping Piper smiled and began to move around and stretch. She soon cracked one eye open and looked at him.
"Good morning," she said to him with a yawn.
"Good morning to you, sleepy head."
She shifted to face him and inched up until she could reach his lips. After giving him a kiss, she laid back down on his chest and began playing with the necklace around his neck. It was a gold, flat, coin-looking thing with a red figure on the front that looked somewhere between a lion and a dragon.
"What is this?" she asked, twirling the necklace between her fingers.
"It's a Chinese symbol believed to ward away evil spirits and ghosts. My mother gave it to me shortly after my father died."
"Oh," was all she said, and she flipped it over to see his initials engraved in the back. Piper once again began flipping the necklace back and forth once again, avoiding the subject that was really on her mind.
Mark, seeming to sense her unease, grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth. He gently kissed it, sending chills up her spine.
Piper, finding confidence in his sure movements, took a deep breath and asked, "Mark, about what you said last night… did you mean it?"
He was silent for a few seconds as he kept kissing her hand. Piper began to think it was a fluke, something said after a frightening ordeal. But when Mark answered, her spirits lifted.
"Yes, I meant it. I just didn't expect to say it so soon."
Piper smiled and began kissing him. In between one of their many kisses, Piper managed to let out a breathless, "I love you too."
Before she knew what was happening, his hands were roaming all over her body, as were hers on his.
Mark broke them apart, giving Piper a questioning look that asked, Are you ready?
In response, Piper kissed Mark more passionately and helped him tug off her shirt.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Work had defiantly been out of the question yesterday. But today was not yesterday. Piper stood among the hustle and bustle of quake, glad to see some things never change. Her sisters, Mark, and Sarah had been on her case about going back to work, especially to a job she didn't particularly like. Even Mark was beginning to pester her about finding a new job.
Mark. A smile broke out on her face whenever she thought about him. Last night had been wonderful, apart from being attacked. Mark had to be the most wonderful man on earth. No one could touch like that…
If he hadn't had to go into work today, Piper sure as hell wouldn't be standing in the middle of the crowed restaurant. They would be back in a nice warm bed…
No use dreaming about that, she told her self. There's work to be done. The first step was to find Sky and talk to her. Piper knew the police talked to her shortly after Piper had been attacked, but Piper wanted to hear what Sky had to say firsthand.
She soon found the waitress, handing out drinks to an elderly couple in the back of the restaurant. Piper waited until they had their drinks in had and quietly pull Sky to the side. "Can I speak to you?" she asked.
Sky nodded her head and handed the couples' order to the chef before following Piper to a small office in the back of the restaurant. Piper barely had a chance to close the door before Sky launched into a full blown apology. "I'm so sorry about what Toby did to you. See, I broke up with him the night before and he didn't take it well. Please don't be mad at me. I never, ever thought he would do something like this…"
Piper had to put a finger up to get Sky to quiet down for a second. "It's okay, I don't blame you. I just wanted to know what was going on. Just tell me from the beginning."
Sky launched into the long version of her and Toby's relationship, but Piper was mentally making a cliff notes version: guy meets girl, girl breaks up with guy, guy goes psycho and tries to kill her boss. Nothing unusual, right?
Piper wouldn't have thought too much about what Sky told her if it hadn't been for what happened as Sky stood up to leave. Sky stood up and extended her arm to turn the doorknob. As she did so, Sky's long sleeve of her blouse rose up about four inches, and Piper could see vivid purple marks on her arm.
Piper quickly snatched up Sky's arm, pushing up her sleeve more. "What is this?" she asked, finally looking at Sky's face. What she saw shocked her. Sky's face was bunched up tight, with her free arm covering her face, as if she were expecting Piper to strike her.
Piper led her to a chair and made her sit down. Piper sat in a chair next to her and only then did Sky visibly relax.
"You thought I was going to hit you."
"No, I didn't," Sky claimed, looking away from Piper.
"He hit you, didn't he? Toby would hit you."
"No! Never! He was very sweet and gentle."
"Oh yeah? Then how did you get those bruises?"
"I, um, fell down my apartment stairs."
"Sky, you live on the first floor," Piper recalled, remembering the time she took Sky home from work.
"Well, I…"
"Sky, those are not accidental bruises. Those are bruises from someone manhandling you. Why else would you react that way when I grabbed your arm?"
Sky now had tears silently running down her face.
"Oh, honey," Piper said, pulling her into a hug. "Why don't we tell the police? My sister's boyfriend is an inspector…"
But Sky was shaking her head fiercely. "Please don't. I'm over him. I want nothing more to do with him. Going to the police is just going to stir up stuff best left settled."
"But what if he comes after you again?"
"He won't."
"You can't be sure."
"Piper, just promise me you will leave the police out of this?"
Seeing the desperate look on her face, Piper decided to promise. If need be, she could always break that promise later. "I promise."
Sky let out a sigh and got up to return to work.
"Sky," Piper called and she turned around. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me. And I mean anything."
She nodded and headed out of the office.
Piper sighed and began to rub her temples. This was the last thing she expected. What a wonderful day back at work. She felt kind of guilty for promising not to tell, but she decided she would tell someone the moment it became dangerous.
Piper headed back out into the restaurant. She looked over the restaurant, looking for any possible disasters or collisions waiting to happen. When her eyes landed on the bar, her face broke out into a huge grin.
Mark was sitting there, and when he saw her looking, he waved. Piper quickly walked over to him, glad he was there.
"You're here!" she exclaimed, planting a kiss on his lips.
"Of course,' he said when they broke apart. "Did you think I was going to let you go home alone after what happened last time?"
"I talked to Sky today," she said, and he looked at her expectantly. She looked around and saw all the people around her. "I'll tell you later when we have some privacy."
"Okay. How about we go to your house after you get off?"
"No. Just in case Prue has Andy over."
Mark raised his eyebrows in mild alarm. "Okay, I don't like the sound of that. How about I take you to my place?"
"Sounds wonderful," she said, planting another kiss on his lips. She went back off to work.
Mark turned around, once again facing the bar. This can't be good, he thought.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Mark unlocked the door to his apartment and stood back, allowing Piper to enter first.
"This is nice," Piper commented, taking in to rich interior and the abundance of live plants.
"Thanks," he said. "I'm going to go change. I'll be back in a minute."
As he went into his room, Piper went to the bookstand and looked at a little bamboo plant in a glazed terra cotta pot. She then moved on to examine the jade plant and the ivy hanging from a hook in the ceiling.
Mark soon came out, changed from his dress pants into a pair of comfortable jeans. They both sat down on the couch, Mark with his arms around Piper and her head lying on his chest. "So tell me what Sky told you. You had me worried in the restaurant."
Piper took a breath and told him all the details of what happened with Sky, including her promise not to go to the police.
"Piper…" Mark said when he heard of her promise.
She sat up and looked him in the face. "Mark, I know it wasn't the smartest thing, but I promise I will tell the police the minute it gets dangerous."
Mark kissed her. "Alright, but I still don't like the thought of that. Just promise me you will be careful and someone the minute it gets dangerous."
"I promise," she said, sealing it with a kiss.
As Piper settled back down into a comfortable position on his chest, she felt a sense of impending doom. The more she thought of the promise she made to Sky, the more she felt as if she were jumping head first in a pit of darkness that would only lead her to pain. She had no idea how right she was.