Working in the garage, Perry looked up when she heard Vic barking. Piper and Phoebe were at Quake, and Prue had a job interview at an auction house. Looking at the street, she saw that a very expensive-looking car stopped right in front of the manor.
A tall woman in her late thirties with dark blonde hair came out from the back seat, and Perry immediately recognised her as the client she met with the previous evening. She was wearing a dress that probably cost more than all the clothes Perry owned together, and her sunglasses and high-heels shoes looked just as expensive.
Meanwhile I smell of wood paint, Perry thought, looking down at her dirty work clothes and cursing her luck, just great. Shushing Vic, she came to meet the woman. "Miss Blunt, I didn't realise you'll be coming by," she said unsurely, half apologising for her messy appearance and half wondering why the woman was there.
"You weren't supposed to, Miss Halliwell," she answered, a small smile on her lips as she looked at Perry's toned arms, making the black haired woman very aware that she was wearing a loose fitting tank top, "Seeing you in your natural environment was the whole point."
Perry tried not to blush, and remind herself that Vanessa Blunt was a client really worth keeping. But it was difficult to ignore the fact that the older woman was extremely gorgeous and equally flirty. But that's all this is, Perry – she's just flirting. Be professional.
"Umm, I haven't started working on your order," she said hesitantly.
"Of course not," Vanessa said, "I didn't expect to be your only client. There's no rush."
Perry managed not to sigh with relief, and added, "It will be ready for you in time, though, of course."
"I never doubted that. I wouldn't hire you if I didn't trust you're capable," Vanessa said confidently. Looking at the manor, she asked, "You live here?"
Perry nodded, "My workshop's in the garage, but this house has been in my family for generations."
"So you live with your parents?" Vanessa asked, as Perry and her walked to the garage, "I'm not judging. You're still young."
"With my sisters, actually," Perry said.
"No parents, then?" she asked, looking around the garage, and the younger woman shook her, "My condolences."
"Thank you," Perry said. Eager to change the subject she asked, "Can I offer you something to drink?"
"No, I think I've interrupted your work enough for now. I'll see you again when my sword is ready."
Perry walked Vanessa back to her car, but before she got in it, the blonde stopped to take another long look at Perry. Smiling, she said, "I hope this goes well, Miss Halliwell. I'll be happy to leave more work like this in your... very capable arms in the future."
Prue picked Perry up from the manor that evening, and they went to Quake together. It made more sense to meet Piper and Phoebe there than wait for their sisters to come back from work anyway.
They ran into Piper as they walked into the restaurant, and Prue asked, "You didn't give Andy my cellphone number by any chance, did you?" On the drive over, she's already asked Perry the same question – several times.
"No. Why?" Piper answered, although she was clearly very busy with the restaurant, "Remind me – I wanted to do this for a living, right?"
"At least the two of you are doing something for a living," Prue told her, "I think I blew my interview."
"I can't imagine you were less than stellar."
Following Piper through the restaurant, they suddenly noticed Phoebe sitting with a man they didn't recognise. At least it's not Alec again,Perry thought. The weird thing, though, was the dress her twin wore – it looked like something Vanessa would wear, not one of her sisters.
"Isn't Phoebe supposed to be waitressing?" she asked Piper.
"Well, she's flirting instead."
"Yeah, and she's wearing Armani," Prue said, "Where did she get that?"
"Not from my closet," Piper told them, "Gotta go." As she went to deal with one of the million things that seemed to require her attention, Prue and Perry walked over to their other sister.
"Hi," Phoebe said with a bright smile when she saw them, telling her date, "These are my other sisters. Prue, Perry, this is Stefan – the photographer."
"Pleasure," he said, shaking their hands, and Prue answered, "Likewise."
"Nice dress," the oldest Halliwell sister added after a second, looking at Phoebe with suspicion.
"Don't worry, it's not yours," she said.
"I know. I could never afford it."
"Will you excuse me for one minute?" she told Stefan, getting up, "I'll be right back."
The three sisters walked into the kitchen, where Prue asked her angrily, "Phoebe, how're you gonna pay for that? You're broke."
"Not for long."
"What does that mean?" she asked. Shaking her head, she added wearily, "You didn't use your powers again?"
"Maybe. Are you telling me you haven't?"
"No, I'm not telling you that. But we're not talking about me, are we?"
"What are you doing here?" Piper walked up to them and asked nervously.
"Same thing we do at home," Phoebe answered, looking at Prue angrily.
"What, did you go to the track? Play the market? What?" Prue demanded to know.
"The lottery."
"Phoebe!" Piper said, angry at Phoebe's recklessness and that once again she was stuck in the middle.
"When I said you should use your powers I meant for protection, not money," Perry told Phoebe.
"What did you want me to do?" Phoebe asked them defensively, "Ignore the premonition? Not help a needy family? That's what we're supposed to do, right?"
"No, we are not supposed to use our powers for our own personal gain. That is what it says in the Book of Shadows," Prue scolded her.
"Not so loud," Piper begged.
"You said we needed money, right?" Phoebe angrily told Prue, "Well, I'm getting some."
"Come on, you guys."
"So get a job, like everybody else," Prue argued.
"I'm using my mind instead!" Phoebe answered.
Just then Andy walked into the kitchen looking for Prue, and bumped into a guy holding a pile of plates. "Watch it!" Piper yelled, and unintentionally froze the entire room.
"Oh no," she said, "No, no, no, no, no, not again!"
"Now look at what you've done!" Prue told Phoebe.
"This is my fault?!"
"That's not fair, Prue," Perry defended her.
"You guys aren't frozen?" Piper pointed out, surprised.
"I guess it doesn't work on witches," Phoebe said.
"So I am a witch?" Perry asked, confused.
Phoebe shrugged, "I guess so."