Virginia and Phoebe headed south on the 6 train. Phoebe needed to pick up a few ingredients for some potions Piper was working on, so decided to do lunch in Chinatown.
As they were sitting on the train, Phoebe asked."You didn't get a chance to tell me about your husband. What's his name, where is he from?"
"His name is Warren. He is from, a small town somewhere in Alaska, but I always forget where." Virginia felt guilty lying to Phoebe, but she kept her husband's true origins a secret. No one would believe her if she said where he really came from. "We met when my father and I ended up on an excursion about three years ago. It was a love at first sight kinda thing. We were married two weeks afterwards. How about you? Anyone special in your life?" asked Virginia, wondering if Phoebe had ever settled down. She always had a "way" with men. When they were roommates, there was often a different man in her bed, every day of the week. They stepped off the train.
"There was," Phoebe said in a rather depressed sounding voice. "We were married about six months ago, but things didn't work out. He had issues with inner demons. We kept trying, but nothing could work. I'm in the process of getting a divorce, he's making it difficult."
"I take it you're here to get away from him? Are you moving back. I know of some shelters that deal with those types of situations, in case he tries coming after you."
"Oh no, its not like that," exclaimed Phoebe, "I'm came here with my sister Paige. She had a business deal to take care of, and I decided I needed a vacation. He still loves me and all, and would never go out of his way to hurt me or anything. Its just that love wasn't enough."
By the way that Phoebe was speaking, she suspected that the situation was more complex than she was letting on. She probably had some residual feelings for her ex. Virginia stated, "In my marriage I've certainly had problems with his inner demons. At first I felt I couldn't overlook them. But then I came to realize how important it is to be loved." Virginia began to realize that she was getting way too preachy and stopped herself as they walked into a take out buffet on the Bowery. A smile came across the face of the Asian man behind the counter, when he saw Virginia enter. Usually Virginia was followed by her husband. Her husband usually consumed most of what was out. Virginia and Phoebe took small plates, and food.
As they were eating their meal, Virginia asked, "I didn't know that you had a sister named Paige. I thought your sisters were Piper and Prue."
"Prue died, in an accident last year," stated Phoebe quietly, "afterwards, we found out that we had another younger sister, Paige. Our mother had her when we were toddlers, but gave her up for adoption. Over the past year Piper and I have become close with her. "
"I see" exclaimed Virginia in an understanding voice, "I certainly know what that's like to lose a loved one⦠my mother died three years ago." Virginia didn't feel going into complex details that surrounded her mother's death. It was too painful to discuss over lunch in public.
"I'm sorry" Phoebe calmly told her as they continued eating. One of the reasons she always felt close to Virginia was because they both experienced parents "walking out." Virginia's mother ran away when Virginia was seven. Phoebe's father had also walked out when she was young. Fortunately he had recently come back into their lives, but Phoebe didn't feel like discussing that with Virginia. They continued eating mostly in silence, not wanting to think anymore about depressing things.
As they finished eating, Virginia got up, and went back to the buffet. Her husband wouldn't be too happy if he found out where she went for lunch, and didn't bring anything back. She took some spare ribs, and other random pork products, into a Styrofoam container. Just as she was closing the container, it happened again. She dropped the container on the floor and froze as she stared into the mirror behind the buffet. She could see her husband working in the kitchen of their restaurant.
For the past week, incidents like that had been happening around mirrors. Whenever she was by one, and thought of someone, she could see them wherever they were. This had been worrying her greatly, she feared that she was becoming like her mother. Her mother had similar problems when she was her age.
"Are you okay." interrupted Phoebe who noticed the way Virginia had froze. "Yeah I'm fine" Virginia responded. She seemed pretty bothered, Phoebe thought, as if she had seen a ghost or had a premonition. She immediately got down on her knees and started cleaning up the spilled Chinese food. They walked out of the store.
After a fun afternoon of shopping, Virginia and Phoebe returned to Grill on the Park. "I have to get back now. If I leave my husband in the kitchen for too long, we won't have anything left to serve. Don't forget about dinner tonight. You sisters and brother-in-law can also come if they want,"
"I'll definitely be there, I promise. They'll probably come too." she said as she hugged Virginia
Just as Virginia left, Phoebe noticed Leo sitting at the bar sipping a mug of beer. This shocked her, usually Leo wasn't one for drinking in the middle of the afternoon.
"Phoebe," he said when he noticed her approaching. "Have you heard from Paige, I haven't been able to contact her all day."
"Nope, I haven't, and what are you doing, drinking that." responded Phoebe.
"Oh, this" he said referring to the mug of amber liquid he was drinking, "it's cider and its really good. You should get a glass."
Not being too thirsty she changed the subject, "We've been invited to dinner tonight."
"Where?"
"At Virginia's place up on 81st street. I promised her I would be there. You and Piper are invited too. I really think you should come. Piper hasn't been out of the house in a week. She needs to do something social, it'll definitely help with her mood."
"Speaking of your friend Virginia, do you know anything about her mother?"
"Not much. She walked out on the family when she was seven and was never heard from again. Virginia never really felt comfortable talking about it. However; at lunch she mentioned that she had died. Any reason why you want to know this?"
Leo responded, "When I shook her hand before, I sensed that she was a witch. But the elders haven't told me of any new witches, or witch lines being created."
