TWO
Prue and Phoebe came into the manor together. Prue had been working late at a shoot she had and Phoebe had been studying late for some upcoming tests in some of her classes. Since Prue's shoot had been only a few blocks from the school she had stopped by to give Phoebe a ride home. As they came into the manor they smelled food cooking in the kitchen.
"Piper must be here," said Prue. "That's funny. I thought she was going to work at the club tonight."
"I was going to," said Piper, coming out of the kitchen. "But when I got to the club Jason had almost everything ready to open. I guess I misjudged him. He seems like something of a klutz when I'm there."
"Maybe he's just nervous around you," suggested Phoebe. "You can be a little overbearing at times."
"I'm not overbearing," defended Piper. "I just want everything to be perfect for my guests."
"Well, not everyone is the perfectionist you are," said Prue. "Maybe Phoebe's right. Maybe Jason is just nervous around you like Phoebe suggested. He's a good bartender. Maybe if you gave him a little more responsibility he might just surprise you."
"Maybe you're right," said Piper. "I think I'll call him tomorrow and tell him I can't make it in. He's been there long enough he knows everything that needs to be done. Maybe I'll just see if he's ready to open by himself."
"Good for you," said Prue. "Only make sure he can get hold of you. Doing something for the first time could also make him nervous. He might need a little help."
"Not a bad idea," said Piper. "Oh, by the way, Phoebe, a friend of yours dropped by this afternoon. Gotta say I wasn't that impressed with him."
"A friend of mine?" questioned Phoebe, picking up the mail sitting on the entryway table. "Who would be stopping by to see me? I don't really know that many guys except for those at school."
"He said his name was Snake," said Piper. "He was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. At least I guess it was a Harley Davidson. He called it a hog."
The mail dropped from Phoebe's hands to the floor. She stared at Piper with a strange look on her face. The blood drained her from her face.
"Snake?" questioned Phoebe. "Are you sure he said his name was Snake?"
"Yeah," said Piper, confused. "About twenty-five, leather jacket, blue jeans, needed a shave and a haircut. He said he was a friend of yours from New York."
"Yeah, yeah," said Phoebe. "What . . . what did you tell him?"
"I told him you'd be home this evening," said Piper.
"Phoebe, are you okay?" Prue asked. "You look strange."
"No, no, I'm okay," said Phoebe. "Piper, if Snake comes back would you do me a favor? Tell him I'm not here. Tell him I moved somewhere else. Tell him anything you want. Just tell him I'm not here and you don't expect me back any time soon."
"Pheebs, what's the matter?" Piper asked. "You're beginning to scare me."
"No, no, everything's okay," said Phoebe. "It's just that I'd rather not see Snake, that's all. You know, I'm not very hungry. Think I'll go upstairs and study for a while."
"Sure, honey," said Piper. "I'll keep dinner warm in case you change your mind later on."
"What's up with that?" Prue asked after Phoebe went upstairs. "She looked like she was afraid of this Snake guy."
"Afraid of an innocent?" Piper questioned. "After all the demons we've fought? After all the warlocks we've vanquished? Why would she be afraid of one motorcycle freak? We just had a wrestling match with demons for crying out loud."
"I guess you're right," said Prue. "But something is definitely going on. Did this Snake say he'd be back?"
Just then there was a pounding at the front door. It was the same pounding Piper had heard when Snake had shown up earlier.
"My guess is that's him now," said Piper.
"Well," said Prue, "Phoebe doesn't want to see him so I say we just send him on his way. That shouldn't be too hard."
"Remember, we can't use our powers on him," said Piper. "He's an innocent. We'll just have to let him know he's not welcome around here."
There was a second pounding at the door this time more forceful than the first. Piper opened the door to find Snake standing on the front porch.
"Hey, what's shaking?" said Snake, scanning Piper again. Then he noticed Prue standing behind Piper. He scanned Prue up and down, too. "Well, one sister's better looking than the next. No wonder Pheebs is such a fox."
"Well, Phoebe's not here," said Piper. "She got a call this afternoon and had to go visit a sick friend. I don't think she's going to be back any time soon."
"Yeah, right," said Snake. "Look, I saw the two of you come in just a few minutes ago. Just tell her I'm here. I'll just wait in the living room for her."
He started to push his way inside the manor. Once again Piper put up her hand to stop him but he simply pushed her hand away. As he started to walk past Piper, Prue moved to bock him.
"Like we said," said Prue, "Phoebe's not here. And since neither Piper nor I know you, you aren't really welcome here. We'd like you to leave now."
"I don't think so," said Snake. "Like I said, I know she's here. Just get her down here and there won't be any trouble."
Piper brought up her hands and Snake froze in place.
"Piper, are you crazy?" said Prue. "You're the one who said we can't use our powers against him."
"I know, I know," said Piper. "I just didn't know what else to do. He's obviously not going to listen to us. We have to do something."
"Maybe we need a male influence here," said Prue. "Leo? Leo can you get down here? We sort of need you."
Leo orbed in immediately. He looked at Piper and Prue and then looked at Snake standing frozen in the doorway.
"Uh, why is there a man frozen in your doorway?" Leo asked.
"We'll explain later," said Prue. "Right now you need to go in the kitchen and come out as soon as Piper unfreezes him. We're hoping your being here will make him think twice."
"Okay," said Leo, not totally sure what was going on.
Leo turned and walked into the kitchen. He stood with the door open slightly watching the front door. As soon as he had gone into the kitchen, Piper unfroze Snake. Leo waited several moments and then pushed the kitchen door open.