What's in The Bag?
By Lunara Dragon
Chapter 2: Paige
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the feed back! Obviously this story won't be completed by Christmas as I had planned but it will be done by the New Year and the last chapter will be worth it (Especially if you are a fan of Phoebe and Cole) But this story is for fun I do not own Charmed or any of the character, they are (c) to Constance M. Burge and the WB etc. On to the story
**
December 13this what the date read on the calender as Phoebe marked off the previous day. It was early in the morning and she had planned a shopping day with her younger sister. She then walked quietly over to the full sized bed and reached across a sleeping figure to turn the volume down on her alarm clock.
A taller form that stretched out and consumed the full length of Phoebe's bed turned over under the plush comforter as the young woman laid back down to place a light kiss on the man's forehead. When that got no reaction, she began to run her fingers through his hair slowly.
"I'm not ready to wake up yet," a gruff voice finally mumbled "One of the things I enjoy about a holiday season is the sleeping in factor"
"But you promised Piper you'd help her out at the club today. Remember?" Phoebe answered with a slight hitch in her voice
Cole finally forced himself to sit up in bed and pulled Phoebe in to his arms. He realized the sound he heard when she was speaking to him, was her fighting off the urge to laugh at him. Phoebe wiggled over until she was sitting in his lap and then beamed when she realized he was fully awake and pulled his face to hers for a kiss.
"Remind me... again ...why I promised your sister?" He said between kisses
"Well she had two calls offs and for some reason you felt bad for her," Phoebe replied while wearing a smirk on her face "I think it's sweet that you two are starting to get along"
"I don't know if I'd go that far," Cole muttered before finally following her lead and climbing out of their bed. She was right that he felt bad but he was unsure if it was more for Leo that Piper had been bugging for help or if it had been for Piper herself.
**
"Well that about wraps it up." Piper exclaimed while looking at her watch "Oh yeah, Thanks." She mumbled the last part
Cole rolled his eyes before looking at Leo who smiled in return "I gotta go. Their calling anyhow,"
"Great!" Piper yelled out in frustration but Leo was already orbing out of the club, knowing it was safe since it was just the three of them
The shorter woman then walked behind the bar grabbing to Perrier waters, then slid one down to Cole who now stood at the one corner closest to the dance floor. He gladly opened up the green glass bottle before taking a few sips to parch his thirst. Piper had a big holiday concert planned and needed help rearranging the tables to set up a few small Christmas trees around the dance floor. She then decided that she wanted to change out the strobing lights to a lower, more calm lighting affect to match the strands of holiday lights that her manager was going to hang later in the day.
Cole eventually broke the silence "So, at least they waited until Leo and I were done with the heavy lifting before calling," He began with a weak grin
Piper laughed at that comment "Yea, tell me about it. If I had a dollar for every time the Elders have called for him at the worst possible timing, I'd have enough to open my restaurant by now." When Piper laughed Cole's smile grew more genuine as he lifted the bottle to finish off the water inside. "Thanks. Seriously, you saved me a lot of time today."
"It's the least I can do seeing as I'm living rent free and with a live in chef to boot" Cole teased "But seriously, it's fine."
Piper just rolled her eyes at his comment but was hiding a small laugh by taking a sip of her own beverage then lifting her hand to act like she was clearing her throat. She couldn't have Cole Turner thinking she was starting to like him more. She then took their two bottles and dumped them in to the recycling before checking her phone. It was only 1:30 and they weren't supposed to meet Phoebe and Paige until dinner time in Chinatown.
She had a few more errands to run but not much beyond that planned. The oldest sister had expected it to take longer than it had for Cole and Leo to rearrange the furniture, especially with her obsessive nature, but it didn't. It turned out Cole had a little bit of work horse in him. She mused on the thought before finally smiling up at the taller man.
"Plans for today?" Piper asked
"Well not particularly," Cole began with a guarded tone while eyeballing the tables around the club
"Oh get over it. I'm not going to have you do any more work," Piper shot at him "I was hoping while my sisters are out and about, I'd get some of my own shopping done. Care to join me?"
He stood up and took a step back while looking around the club causing Piper to become confused by his reaction.
"Oh sorry. I was just checking to see if anyone else was around or if Leo had returned. Clearly, you can't be asking me to go with you."
"Forget it."
Cole let out a full bellied laugh at Piper's flustered response "Actually, I wouldn't mind at all if you let me come with you. I need help with Paige..."
"Your guess is as good as mine." Piper shot back at him, still irritated by his sarcastic ploy a few seconds earlier.
**
So the two unlikely shopping companions loaded up in to Piper's jeep and drove through downtown San Francisco to a small set of shops not far from Golden Gate park. They had agreed with each other that the place to shop would not be any place mainstream. In the 7 months since Paige came in to their lives the family had learned she was much more in to the strange and surreal then the rest of the members of their clan. She had taken them to an Antique store once but not for the same reasons Prue used to drag them along.
Paige Matthews never sought out classic antiques or old paintings. But she did enjoy a strange old movie poster from the early days of cinema, and the classic music vinyl records that could be found in those kinds of stores. She also had preached about how shopping at a family owned establishment was better for the community then going to a commercial store, unless it involved clothes of course.
Cole pointed to a sign that read Static Vintage and a few doors down was another store called Shattered which appeared to sale hand made ceramic pieces from dishes to decorative and anything in-between. Piper pulled the Jeep in to a parking spot on the street by the Vintage thrift shop before the two climbed out of the car.
Once inside Cole quickly began making faces at some of the clothes in the shop but turned red when Piper pulled a top hat off of a set of shelves.
"Did you ever wear one of these when it was the mainstream style? Are you having flashbacks being here?"
Cole let out a low, deep sigh before turning away from Piper and shaking his head "I was. But I was mostly underground being raised by a demon mother at that point."
Piper immediately put the hat back on the shelf and cleared her throat. "In my defense I had no idea when top hats were popular. Sorry."
The two separated after that when Piper headed towards the racks of clothing and shoes that were for women. Cole started to peruse the vinyl records smiling at some of the names he read and remembering how much he enjoyed these records when they had first been released.
'This was a bad idea.' The former demon thought to himself when he realized how old the store made him feel. He motioned to Piper he was heading to the other store then exited so fast it was as if The Source were on his heels.
After taking in a few deep breaths of the crisp air he felt himself relax. Cole then pulled the double oak doors open to walk in to the small corner store Shattered. Once inside the man checked the clock and noticed it was already three in the afternoon. Cole stopped to think where he wanted to start then shrugged.
"Coffee I suppose. The woman loves her coffee and tea." He muttered then followed the narrow aisles until he found the ceramic mugs. They were various sizes, colors, and many designs. Cole first looked at one that had an interesting triangular pattern with the colors of purple and light blue but nixed that idea when he saw them.
At the very end of the row was brightly colored mugs with floral and paisley patterns painted on them. They had a sign that read Oversized mugs, two cups of coffee fit in one mug. Then on one side of some of the cups were sayings or quotes written in calligraphy style. His deep blue eyes danced over the saying before a small laugh bubbled up in his throat. There it was the perfect gift for the much younger woman.
It was crimson and pale pink with a swirling pattern. The trim was a medium navy color and wrapped around the handle and the top of the mug. The sculptor had crafted the handle so it wrapped back out and around the full length of the ceramic cup. Then in perfect cursive read the words "It physically hurts for me to hold my sarcastic comments in!"
"Paige to a T. Add a saying about stubbornness and I'd think the artist knew her personally," Piper's voice pulled Cole out of his thought as he turned to nod his agreement fervently
"Although in your sister's defense, being stubborn she inherited from the Halliwell line. You've all got it," Cole replied. He then picked up the mug and a gift pack of different types of herbal tea. Piper followed him to the check out after picking up a plain teal and lavender coffee mug for Phoebe.
"Well this was oddly fun," Cole said down to the shorter woman after picking up Piper's bags to carry them back to the jeep.
"Thank you...I think" Piper responded with confusion
To Be Continued