Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.
Chapter 8: Emily's Search for a Job
P3 Backroom
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 21, 2031
6:00 pm
"Mom, did Emily show up for work, yet," Chris asks Piper as they count the number of boxes of white wine left in the backroom of P3.
"No, not yet, but I was so sure she would return," Piper replies.
"Did you tell her when she could start work?" Chris asks.
"No," Piper says.
Then, Chris picks up the telephone directory from the top of the empty old wooden desk that once housed the papers on which he had written the names of demons that might have turned Wyatt.
"That was another time and another version of me," Chris thinks as he shakes his head to clear the memories of his trip to the past from his head.
Next, he flips through the pages until he finds Emily's phone number and writes the number down on a piece of paper.
"Here you go, Mom," Chris says as he hands the piece of paper and his cellular phone to Piper.
Piper dials the number on the piece of paper. She hears the phone ring, but nobody answers.
Finally, she hears Emily say, "Hi! This is Emily Blake. I am not at home right now. Please leave your name, your phone number and a brief message and I will return your call as soon as possible."
"Well, Emily is not at home," Piper says as she pushes the off switch on the cellular phone.
"Mel said that she met Emily at Old Joe's Coffee-shop. Maybe she is there," Chris suggests.
"Where is Old Joe's Coffee-shop?" Piper asks.
"Old Joe's Coffee-shop is at Chester University," Chris replies.
"What would Emily be doing there?" Piper asks.
"According to Mel, she is enrolled in the law school program at Chester University. Maybe she went there to relax after classes," Chris suggests.
"Then, orb over there and bring her here," Piper commands.
Chris does as Piper asks. He searches for red-haired women with eyes as green as his Uncle Harry's eyes at Old Joe's Coffee-shop, but he is unsuccessful.
"Where could she be?" Chris wonders.
Then, he remembers that Aunt Phoebe had said that Emily and Cole had come to visit her at the Bay Mirror to see if she could get a premonition off the photograph of an athame at the Halliwell Family Dinner Night a little over a week ago.
Cole Turner's Office
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 21, 2031
6:30 pm
"Hi, Uncle Cole and Miss Blake!" Chris says with a smile as he enters Cole's office and nods toward Emily who is sitting in a chair next to the fichus tree in the corner of Cole's office.
"How may I help you, Mr. Halliwell?" Cole asks.
"We are back to formalities?" Chris asks.
"State your case and leave," Cole says.
"May I steal Miss Blake away from you?" Chris asks.
Instead of waiting for a reply, Chris turns to Emily and asks," Where is your car parked?"
Emily remains silent. So, Chris uses the little bit of Legilmency he has mastered from his lessons with Harry and discovers that her sporty, neon-orange Carrington Phoenix car is parked in the parking garage two streets away from the law office building and that her keys are in her purse. So, he riffles through her purse until he finds the silver keys to Emily's car. Next, Chris grabs Emily's hand and drags her through the law office building, across the two streets and through the parking garage until they reach Emily's Carrington Phoenix. Then, Chris pushes Emily into the passenger seat and buckles her seatbelt for her. Finally, he climbs into the car and they drive away.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Emily asks as she studies the man sitting next to her and realizes he is the bartender who was at P3 on her birthday.
"My name is Christopher Halliwell, but most people call me Chris. As for your second question, Mom will explain it to you when we get to P3," Chris replies.
P3 Backroom
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 21, 2031
7:00 pm
"Thanks for bringing Emily here, Peanut. Now, go to work," Piper says as Chris closes the door to the backroom of P3 and goes to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
"What would you like to discuss?" Emily asks Piper when Chris leaves.
"I would like to know when you can start working and what days and hours you can work," Piper says.
"I can start working in two days and I can work all day on weekends," Emily says.
"Report for work at 6:00 am this coming Saturday morning at the Charmed Restaurant and then work here at P3 in the evenings until 2:00 am on Sunday. Your Sundays are yours to enjoy as you wish. I will also pay you $800 every month and any tips you make are yours. Do we have a deal?" Piper asks.
"Deal," Emily says as she and Piper shake hands.
"Chris!" Piper shouts.
Chris walks into the backroom of P3.
"Yes, Mom?" Chris asks.
"Take Miss Blake home or wherever she wants to go," Piper says.
"Come on, Miss Blake," Chris says and Chris exits P3 with Emily.
"So where would you like to go?" Chris asks Emily when they reach her Carrington Phoenix.
"Take me to Mr. Turner's office, please," Emily says as Chris helps her into the passenger seat,
Then, he opens the driver's side door, climbs into the driver's seat and they drive to Mr. Turner's law office building.
P3 Alley
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
6:00 am
In the dim morning light, a white delivery truck that has Davis Farms imprinted on it in green letters parks by the dumpster in the dark alley behind P3. Armed with flashlights, Piper and Chris unload crates of vegetables such as yellow squash, zucchini, Indian corn and fruits such as bananas, pineapples, and mangos from the delivery truck and place them in the side-by-side white refrigerator in the kitchen of the Charmed Restaurant. During one of their many trips, Emily arrives. She is wearing a velvet blouse and black slacks. Her red hair is pulled back in a ponytail, revealing small ruby earrings on her ears.
"Hi!" Emily says as she waves to Piper and Chris and notices that Piper is dressed like her except her blouse is white, but Chris is wearing blue jeans and a red t-shirt.
"Hi, Miss Blake," Piper says.
"I am Mrs. Halliwell-Wyatt and this is my son Chris," Piper says as she points to Chris.
"It is nice to meet you. Call me Emily, Mrs. Halliwell-Wyatt and Chris," Emily says as she shakes Piper's hand and then Chris' hand.
"Would you give us a hand with these vegetables?" Piper asks Emily.
Charmed Restaurant Kitchen
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
7:30 am
"Sure," Emily says as she, Piper and Chris unload the vegetables until all that is left of the sunrise is the orange and pink tints that accompany the sun rise.
After unloading the vegetables and fruits from the delivery truck, Chris leads Emily to the kitchen. Emily looks around the kitchen and admires the new, state-of-the-art stainless steel appliances, the hardwood floors and the wooden cabinets. There is an island in the center of the kitchen that has a granite countertop and above that hanging from the ceiling is a rack that holds pots and pans. While Emily is looking around the kitchen, Chris goes to the side-by-side refrigerator and takes out a package of white mushrooms, four green bell peppers and a bunch of dill.
"Would you like to chop these bell peppers?" Chris asks Emily.
"Yes. Is there a particular way you like to chop them? Emily asks.
Chris pulls out a white cutting board from a drawer and quickly moves the knife up and down, while pushing the bell pepper under the knife. He cuts the bell pepper from left to right and top to bottom, forming little cubes.
"Now you try," Chris says as he hands a second green bell pepper to Emily.
Emily slowly cuts the bell pepper length-wise into strips and then width-wise to form cubes.
"That is a good try, but you are moving your hand instead of the knife and you are not twisting your wrist enough," Chris says.
"Try again, but this time pay attention to the way it feels to chop the green bell pepper," Chris says as he stands behind Emily and guides her fingers and wrist.
Emily tries again without Chris' guidance.
"Maybe this technique is too difficult for you. Wet this paper towel and wash the mushrooms," Chris says, while he finishes chopping the green bell pepper and dill.
Emily dutifully follows Chris' instructions. When Emily is done, Chris pulls a frying pan out of the drawer under the oven and places the frying pan on the stove. He drizzles a little bit of vegetable oil into the frying pan and waits for the pan to heat. Then, he adds the green bell peppers and mushrooms to the oil and sautés them. After that he sprinkles dill over the mushrooms and green bell pepper.
"Would you like to crack an egg into the frying pan?" Chris asks Emily.
Emily takes a fork and taps the eggshell until it cracks and the yellow yolk falls into the frying pan. Next, she pours a little milk into the egg and sprinkles salt and pepper from the wooden salt and pepper shakers. She folds the eggs and watches the eggs become fluffy scrambled eggs before her eyes. Then, she places two slices of wheat bread in the toaster and butters one of the sides. When the scrambled eggs are cooked, she pushes them onto the left side of a white plate that has a picture of a pink rose on it and places the two slices of buttered bread next to the scrambled eggs. He adds a bunch of red seedless grapes to the plate and places it on one of the tables in the restaurant. Then, he quickly prepares two sets of scrambled eggs and toast, adds a bunch of red seedless grapes to each plate and places both plates across from the first plate of scrambled eggs, toast and red seedless grapes. After that, Chris pulls out a carton of orange juice and pours it into two tall glasses and places the tall glasses of orange juice on the same table as the plates of scrambled eggs and toast.
"Mom, breakfast is ready," Chris shouts.
Piper enters the dining room of the Charmed Restaurant and joins Chris and Emily for breakfast.
"How is your new student doing in the kitchen, Peanut?" Piper asks as she cuts a piece of the omelet with a knife.
"Emily can cook, but learning the technique is difficult for her. Maybe she should try being a waitress with Jennifer," Chris says.
Charmed Restaurant
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
8:00 am
After Emily, Chris and Piper enjoy their breakfast, the employees trickle into the restaurant. One by one, the employees punch in their timecards and begin chopping vegetables for omelets and mixing dough for pancakes and waffles. When Jennifer arrives, Chris introduces Emily to her and tells her to teach Emily how to be a waitress. Jennifer agrees and walks over to the door of the restaurant with Emily and waits for some customers to enter the restaurant. An old man with wrinkles on his round face and sparking blue eyes supports his white-haired, black-eyed wife who is limping even with the use of a cane as they enter the restaurant.
"Watch and see how it is done," Jennifer whispers to Emily.
Aloud she says, "Good morning! Welcome to the Charmed Restaurant!"
Then, with a smile that reaches her eyes, she leads the elderly couple to a table and hands the old woman and old man a menu.
"Now you try, Emily," Jennifer says as she leads Emily back to the front of the restaurant and returns to the elderly couple's table to see if they are ready to order.
When more customers arrive, Emily follows everything that Jennifer did. She even writes down the order, but she somehow confuses which table gets what meal and which customer gets which meal. For instance, one customer ordered tilapia, while another customer wanted salmon, but she gave the salmon to the man who wanted tilapia and the man who wanted tilapia got a plate of chicken parmesan that a lady at another table ordered. If that was not bad enough, Emily was so clumsy that she dropped the platter of sizzling fajita strips that one of the customers ordered. She didn't make these mistakes one time, but repeatedly all day. The first time, people were nice about it, but when it happened at every table all day, one customer asked to see a manager.
Piper who is circulating around the tables and asking people how they like the food and service hears a customer shout that he wants to see a manager. Piper walks over to the man.
"What is the problem?" Piper asks.
"I did not get the meal I ordered and the waitress spilled red wine on my white shirt," a man wearing a black suit with a white shirt and thick-rimmed black glasses over brown eyes in an oval face says.
"Which waitress are you talking about?" Piper asks.
"Her," the customer says as he points to Emily.
"I will take care of it. You can have a free meal on the house and nobody else will get this offer because they did not complain," Piper says loud enough so that everyone in the dining area of the restaurant can hear.
"Now follow me, Miss Blake," Piper says as she leads Emily to a storage closet and pulls on a chain to turn on the light.
"Please do not fire me," Emily tearfully says.
"I will let you keep the $800 I gave you earlier. Think of it as your birthday gift," Piper replies.
"However, I think you should do something else. What are you talented at doing?" Piper asks.
"Dancing," Emily replies.
"My future daughter in-law is teaching at Stacy's Dance School. Maybe you can teach dance at the same school with her recommendation. She is working at P3 tonight. You can speak with her when you report for work tonight. I still need some help with the inventory at P3," Piper says with a smile.
P3
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
6:00 pm
Emily and Piper are counting each crate of red wine and each bottle of red wine to make sure that each green crate contains 20 bottles of red liquid.
While they are counting, Aisling enters the room and asks, "May I help?"
"Emily and I are almost done, but you can do a favor for me," Piper says.
"What is it?" Aisling asks.
"Would you please introduce Emily to Stacy and get her a job at the dance school?" Piper asks Aisling.
Stacy's House
5639 Waverley Lane
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
6:15 pm
After a hard day of pirouettes and foot-crunching from ballroom dance students with two left feet, Stacy enters a brick building with a row of bougainvillea bushes in front of it. Next, she opens the door and takes off her socks and shoes. She throws them in the closet and pads on cool white marble tile over to the family room. Then, she plops down onto the sofa, feels for the remote that is on the sofa arm and turns the television on to a news channel.
Ring! Ring!
"Hello! This is Stacy," Stacy, an African-American with wavy black hair and black eyes in a round face, says.
"Hi, Stace! This is Aisling. I need a favor from you," Aisling says with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Ask away," Stacy replies.
"Emily Blake has moved to San Francisco from Maine and she needs a job. She wants to teach students how to dance," Aisling says.
"Bring her tomorrow and we will see how she dances," Stacy says.
"Thanks, Stace!" Aisling says.
"You are welcome, Aisling," Stacy says.
"See you later, Stace," Aisling says.
"See you later as well, Aisling," Stacy says as she hangs up the phone.
P3
San Francisco, CA, USA
September 23, 2031
6:45 pm
"What is Stacy's answer?" Piper asks.
"She wants to see Emily dance, but I am 90% sure that Emily will get the job," Aisling says with a smile.
"That's wonderful news," Piper says.
"Where should I meet you tomorrow?" Emily asks Aisling.
"Meet me at the Charmed Restaurant at 5:30 pm and I will drive you to the dance school. Stacy and I teach different classes from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, but we can probably see your audition after 7:00 pm," Aisling says.
Stacy's Dance School
San Francisco, CA. USA
September 24, 2031
7:00 pm
Emily finds herself observing the way she looks when she dances in the full-length mirrors.
"Emily, meet Harry. He will be your partner for any styles of dance that require a partner," Aisling says when Stacy and she enter the room designated for Emily's audition.
"Now begin," Stacy says as she claps her hands.
Emily and Harry waltz. At first Emily whispers one, two, three over and over under her breath, but then she loses herself in the music and just dances. They go through the salsa, the tango and the jitterbug. Emily also performs a ballet involving lots of pirouettes, turns and a lift with Harry's help.
"Congratulations, you have the job!" Stacy says as she shakes hands with Emily.
"Thank you for your help, Uncle Harry," Aisling says.
"He is your uncle?" Emily asks incredulously.
"He is a friend of my fiancé's mother," Aisling explains to Emily.
Stacy looks at her watch and says, "It is 8:00 pm. Want to go out for pepperoni pizza, Aisling?"
"Sure, Stacy!" Aisling says.
"Emily, do you want to come?" Aisling asks.
"Yes," Emily says.
So, Stacy, Emily and Aisling grab their jackets and exit the dance studio. While they are gone, Harry walks around the dance studio and flicks and jabs his wand in a complicated pattern of ancient rune sequences into various corners in an effort to construct a protective ward that will protect the dance school building from attack. When Stacy, Aisling and Emily return, Harry pulls Emily into another room away from Stacy and Aisling and wandlessly performs the same protective spell on Emily that he had placed on Chris 10 years ago.