Chapter 8 – My Happy Ending.

Three months later.

The Hawaiian sun beat down upon Steffi's shoulders, her silky skin turning a gorgeous nut brown colour as she sunbathed on the white sandy beach. Her brown eyes were closed behind fashionably large aviator sunglasses as she dozed, resting her head against the back of a tall, muscular man. Her eyes flickered open and she looked up at the sunlight.

"Baby? Would you put more lotion on my back before I burn?" The guy turned round, and obliged.

"You know Cammy, I really thought Cole would be the end of us," Phil said as he gently massaged the lotion into her back. "But I guess we're stronger than that, hmm?"

"I guess so… I mean, look at us now, almost on our honeymoon! After tomorrow we will be, because I seem to remember there's a clause where you have to be married to have a honeymoon." She looked over the top of the shades and smiled at him. Phil grinned and, catching her round the waist, kissed her teasingly.

"You are so sexy in your little bikini… maybe we should see if you look sexier without it…" Steffi kissed back, and said nothing. When Phil's hand moved down onto her waist she pulled back.

"You do realise there are laws against having sex on beaches, Officer," she said with her eyebrow raised. "I would hate to disgrace you in such a way."

"Yeah, but then people would look at you and think, 'oh, so that's why he did it'. And I'll be like yep, she's my beautiful wife."

"That's a point – I thought the groom wasn't allowed to see the bride before the wedding. It's tradition."

"Sod tradition, you're too pretty." He nuzzled her neck and she looked up into the sun for a moment.

"I'm gonna get a big head if you carry on like that, sweetie. And we'd better make the best of this sun, because we've got a plane to catch in three hours." She cuddled into him, and just for a moment forgot he was Phillip Gregory – he was Cole Turner instead.

The real Cole Turner was working hard in his San Francisco office, sweat dripping from his forehead. His shirt was unbuttoned almost down to the middle of his chest, his tie abandoned in some far away drawer.

"What a day for the air con to break down," he grumbled as he stared at the ceiling for a moment, and he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. Looking back at the documents he had been studying, he tried to make sense of them, but the letters danced around the page so he could not read them. Tiredly, he waved his hand over them and the necessary work was done. Sometimes, he thanked God for magic. As he let his mind wander away from work, it wandered to a topic he would normally have refused to spend any time on – his second break up with Steffi. He wondered what had become of her, that beautiful sensuous girl he had been stupid enough to leave behind not once, but twice. Suddenly, he stood up and told his secretary to tell anyone who asked after him that he was away for an indefinite period of time. Without any further ado, he faded to Tom Carter's office.

"Steffi?" Cole rushed into the office, and then opened Tom Carter's door. The man himself was in there, trying to do up a bow tie and practicing a speech for something or another. "Oh Tom! Do you know where Steffi is? I need to talk to her…"

"Cole! Welcome back to New York! What do you mean, where's Steffi? Didn't she invite you?"

"Invite me where, Tom?"

"Well, her wedding. She's getting married tomorrow."

"You're joking!"

"Afraid not. I'm giving her away," said Tom, beaming. "I even get to do a speech saying how great she is, and how she and Phil make a great couple. There's even going to be celebs, at my personal invitation. It's a real traditional church wedding you know… would you like me to get you an invite?"

"I don't need an invite. Since when have wedding crashers needed invites anyway?" Cole said with a smile.

"Oh, Cole. Is that really such a good idea? If you want her back, try not to run her special day, especially not in front of people like Stella McCartney and J-Lo. It's a Donna Karan wedding dress you know…"

"Tom, I don't care whether it's a bin bag dress from 'Zoolander'. I can't let her marry him, it's not right." Tom clicked his tongue for a minute or two, and then looked at Cole.

"Just don't break her heart again, Cole."

"I don't want to, Tom. I just want her; I need her to be complete."

"Alright then. Here's the plan…"

A/N and Disclaimer: 'Charmed' + Me No Copyright or Ownership Clause, god dang it.

809 words, yay. Well, we all knew I rock, but who knew I rock this much? I even managed to involve one of the world's greatest films: 'Zoolander'. If you haven't seen it, rent it damn you! Else you won't get the whole dress thing. And if you have seen it: kudos! And if you review, please tell me what you thought of that bit with the petrol station – was it wrong that I was in stitches when they burnt up?