A Life Not So Charmed

A Leap Of Faith.

It's been days since Elise's funeral, days since i kicked Coop out. I had reconvened with Piper and Paige, there was an attempt from a demon to try and take one of Paige and Henry's children, we found the demon and vanquished him. The pair tried to gang up on me, but like times of old i told them to mind their own business.

I went home and called upon Prue, this time she didn't come. I had a box in my wardrobe, it contained my wedding ring and Cole's. I looked at the picture, it was one of the first Cole and i took as a serious couple, I'm wearing a blue top, a warm hat and I'm looking up into his eyes, eyes I'd stared into many times before. I picked it up and suddenly i had a premonition, he was alive, he wasn't a ghost, he wasn't a demon either. Cole was living in New York, he was head of a law firm. In my vision i seen the name of the firm, i memorised it.

I went on the internet and looked up the firm, i read about all the great things he had achieved, he was still single, he was bogged down with work. I didn't know what to do at this point, should i pick up the phone? I was arguing with myself.

Later that afternoon, I debated with myself over and over, then i spurred myself, "come on Phoebe show some spine."

I picked up the phone, i nervously spoke to the woman on the phone, "can, can i speak with Mr Cole Turner please?"

The woman replied, "Mr Turner is in court at the moment, shall i have him return your call?"

I told the woman, "tell Mr Turner Miss Phoebe Halliwell called."

The woman told me she would pass the message onto his assistant. I poured a glass of wine and crawled into bed, i had a column to write that was due for publishing tomorrow. I wrote the column and sent it to the editor. Coop continued to call, but i again ignored him.

I was about to fall asleep, when i received a call, it was a New York area code, again fighting with myself, "come on Phoebe answer the God damn phone."

I picked up the phone, the voice on the other side was one i knew so well. Cole exclaimed, "hello stranger, what has you looking for me? You can't vanquish me again, I'm human now. The Elders rewarded me for saving Piper, i moved out of California when i heard you married that Cupid Coop, i couldn't bare it."

It was strange hearing his voice, it stirred up so many memories for me, i finally mustered a sentence, "it's good you're doing so well, i had a dream about us. I'm also not with Coop at the moment, although i don't want to talk about that."

Cole replied, "you sought me out for something, was it the dream? I hate to tell you this Phoebe, but i too had the same dream."

"What?" I mumbled. Is the universe trying to scream something at me?

Cole and i spoke for hours, he told me how the Elders came to him, as he was straddling two worlds and gave him the opportunity to be fully human. It felt like we hadn't been apart. Then he said something that shocked me, it seems the Elders sent Coop to Cole to try and help him find love, Cole wasn't interested as he still loved me and he told Coop to never darken his door again.

I couldn't believe Coop kept this from me, why would he keep this from me? Coop always told me about every person he tried to match up. Cole asked me if we should meet up? I told him that i would think about it? We decided for right now that we should just talk on the phone.

It was that night for the first in a long time that i slept well. I woke up the next morning with a lot of love bombing from Coop and flowers. Coop can be truly loving but he can be too much at times, the difference between him and Cole, was Cole knew when to give me space and allow me to make my own decisions. I knew Cole would be up, i called him and told him that when he finished his latest case to fly out to California to see me.

I waited a few days and the person he was defending won his case, Cole was now free for a day or so to travel. I drove to the airport, i waited outside and out he walked with a bag i bought him when we first got together as a proper couple. He still looked dashing, a little grey but still handsome nonetheless. I got out of the car and greeted him, it was like that first moment i ever laid eyes on him.

The moment i seen him was pretending to be an ADA. Cole had booked a restaurant, one we ate in before, it had changed somewhat inside, we sat down and we ordered our food, for the first time at lunch i never ordered a wine, i ordered sparkling water, it was extremely weird to have him sat across from me. We began talking about the dream, he said it seemed very real like. It was real like, it was beautiful. I told him how proud i was that he had turned his life around and how respected he is in New York society, something that's extremely hard unless you're a corrupt politician or a criminal.

Cole explained that he rarely dated after he became fully human. I could tell he still loved me, it stirred up old feelings for me too. I didn't think of Coop once during our meal. I questioned myself over and over was this the right thing i should be doing and you know something, it felt right.

I had to make a decision, the Elders wouldn't be happy, but there was a conundrum right here, Cole is human, they can't deny us a second chance if that's what i decided? I think we have to take a leap of faith here. That leap of faith was either to destroy what i had with Coop and break his heart, or try again with a man i loved more than anything in the world.

I had to test the theory out, Cole was to depart to his hotel that afternoon, i hugged him and i had another premonition, this one showed Cole and i together. We decided to meet up before he returned to New York and i would have a decision to make. I called Coop, i told him that i had been with Cole and that would be meeting him again.

I asked him, "how come you never told me that the Elders sent you to Cole, that he was alive?" Coop a man of many words, was unusually stagnantly silent.

I called Paige and Piper and told them about Cole, they were shocked. Especially Piper, she said, "he's dead Phoebe, how are you having dinner dates with him?"

I replied, "well Piper, after he urged you to get back into your body as you lay dying on the couch in the manor, the Elders rewarded him. He's a very respected human man living in New York. I will be meeting him again, i could care less what you think of him, but i will be living my life on my own terms from now on."

Piper begrudgingly mentioned, "well if he's human, he's now an innocent, so i won't have a problem, but remember you're married Phoebe."

Paige was the worst when it came to insulting him, but as soon as i told her that he was now a full human, at the behest of the Elders, she changed her tune, she had to give her pennies worth, "just be careful."