FOUR

Leo orbed into the manor. He found Phoebe lying on the sofa watching a movie and eating popcorn.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Leo asked.

"I called in," said Phoebe. "I just didn't feel like going in today."

"What about your column?" Leo asked.

"It's not due for two days," said Phoebe. "I'll have it done in plenty of time."

Just then Paige came down the stairs.

"Hey, Leo," Paige said. "You were gone a long time."

"Yeah," said Leo. "They're assigning some new White Lighters to their first charges. That always takes a while. You didn't go to work either?"

"Naw," said Paige. "It's just too nice a day to be cooped up in an office somewhere. So Phoebe and I decided to veg out for the day and watch a couple of movies."

"Are you two okay?" Leo asked. "This isn't like either of you."

"Relax, brother-in-law," said Phoebe. "We're just playing hooky for one day. It's no major crisis."

"Yeah, Leo," said Paige. "We save the world from demons every week. We should be allowed to goof off once in a while."

"Okay," said Leo. "Piper all ready leave for the show?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago," Phoebe said. "By the way, we saved you some breakfast. It's in the oven. And some of it's pretty good."

"Thanks," said Leo.

"Stay away from the ham," said Paige.

"It's not that bad," said Phoebe.

"I am kind of hungry," said Leo, heading for the kitchen.

"Maybe we should go down to the studio today," Phoebe suggested. "We could cheer Piper on."

"Naw, we can't do that," said Paige. "They only allow the contestants on the set."

"We could get into the audience," said Phoebe. "You said the audience gets to vote on the chefs. We could go make sure Piper gets some high votes."

"I don't think they'll let us," said Paige. "It would be too much like bringing in ringers. They probably won't allow it."

"Allow what?" Leo asked, walking into the room with a plate of food.

"Allow us to vote for Piper at the competition," said Phoebe.

"Paige is probably right," said Leo. "It would be considered a conflict of interest. By the way, some of this is pretty good."

"Well just make sure you tell Piper that hers is the best," said Phoebe. "You know how she gets."

"Yeah, I do," laughed Leo.

Leo coughed a couple of times and then cleared his throat.

"You okay?" Paige asked. "I've never heard you cough before. Maybe you're coming down with something."

"I can't come down with something," said Leo. "I'm a White Lighter. We're immune to human diseases. But something can go down the wrong way just as it does with humans. I just need to be more careful. I guess I just need to slow down on what I'm eating. Some of this is really good."

"And Piper said she'd bring some more home tonight," said Phoebe. "In fact, she said she's probably be able to bring some home every night. We're going to have to be careful. Eating like that too much can really pack on the pounds."

"Maybe for you," said Leo, coughing again. "Paige and I can always orb the pounds off. I've told you before that orbing really burns the…."

Leo suddenly dropped the plate he was holding as he started coughing uncontrollably. He dropped to his knees holding his throat as he struggled to breathe. Suddenly he fell to the floor gasping uncontrollably for air. Phoebe and Paige immediately rushed to help him.

Gui Smiley was sitting at his desk when the door to the room suddenly opened and a man entered. The man was just over six feet tall with red hair. He was wearing a dark suit and tie. As he walked straight to the desk the expression on his face indicated he was upset.

"What you did yesterday was very stupid," said the man in the suit.

"Good morning to you too, Charles," said Smiley.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," snapped Charles. "What do you thin you were doing yesterday?'

"Making sure we got off to a good start," said Smiley. "There was plenty of food left over after the competition. I just figured it might help facilitate things a little better, that's all."

"That was dangerous," said Charles. "What if someone discovered what we're doing? You need to stick to the plan. We have a lot riding on this. We can't afford to have you screwing things up."

"Relax," said Smiley. "It was one minor deviation. No one is going to catch on. How could they? There's no reason for anyone to suspect anything. Trust me. It's not going to be a problem."

"It better not be," said Charles. "You know what's at stake here."

"Of course I do," said Smiley. "It's my plan, after all. But everything is progressing nicely. Don't concern yourself. I may throw a small monkey wrench into the works from time to time but nothing major, I assure you. Just enough to keep things interesting."

"Just stick to the plan," said Charles. "We've spent a long time setting this up."

"Everything will be fine," said Smiley. "Just trust me."

Charles stormed out of the office as Smiley simply lit up a cigar and puffed on it as if he hadn't a care in the world.