A Nexus Connection

Chapter 5: Witch Me

Mini-Phoebe had broken up with Clay when she found her apartment wrecked. She let him stay while his apartment building was being 'fumigated' or so he said and had completely screwed himself over with one of his latest stunts. She told him that she loved him and would help him if he ever got his life straightened out but until then it just wasn't enough anymore. Her life in New York was quickly coming to a close, she just didn't know it yet. Her old boss refused to take her back and so she was stuck living on her own savings as she looked for work only to find out her old boss had basically blacklisted her to anyone and everyone he knew not that she'd ever actually given him her real name since she worked off the books but they had a description of her.

Mini-Phoebe wasn't sure what she would do and so she took crappy jobs just to get by. She refused to let Phoebe know about the hidden business account she had locked down until her 23rd birthday that was rolling in money from book sales and her new lifestyle blog let alone the far smaller one for her personal use. Her other younger half couldn't be trusted with money because despite how much she tried to limit her spending over the years the fact remained that she was a shopaholic.

 At least my part was only limited to cute shoes, one affordable pair a month or in the case that I saved a month or two, designer. God I miss my Louboutin black red-soled pumps! I used to have to look down at my competition in the courtrooms now I have to look up. Can't even reach the top shelf without a step ladder anymore. Oh dear God please, NOT another episode of Clueless!

~~*~~

It was happening. Months had passed since Grams funeral and Mini-Phoebe was finally accepted that she couldn't stay any longer. She was struggling to make ends meet and if not for those extra bills she 'must have lost' or 'forgotten about' she'd be deep in debt instead of broke as hell. There was no longer a choice with her unable to continue payments for the apartment, it was time to go back.

The call to Piper wasn't fun but thankfully she'd managed to be the one to make it instead of Mini-Phoebe though with a few alterations. Piper knew she was coming back but only that she was coming back to finish school at Berkeley after losing her job because of the time she had spent away. There was no mention of her losing her apartment or being in debt this time around. Piper had been furious to learn her boss had fired her for leaving when it was an emergency. She had tried to call Prue and had even left a voicemail telling her she was moving back but had yet to get a response. She was pretty sure Prue had just ignored her number and deleted the message the moment her voice came on so her not knowing would be her fault this time around.

It wasn't difficult getting things together considering the small apartment had been furnished by her agent who would handle the sale of the furniture. All she actually had to do was make sure her things were boxed and ready to go. She had decided to rent a car rather than ride the bus and would leave Sunday so that she could get there by Tuesday or Wednesday night at the latest depending on how many stops she made during the day as she planned to pull over for the night. Fortunately she had a friend that managed to get her a great deal and set aside a Toyota Land Cruiser for her trip so she would only need to take the subway to the airport to pick it up before driving back to load her things, drop off the apartment keys, and take off. She still wonders how Phoebe hasn't noticed how she seems to mysteriously have money whenever she actually needs it.

~~*~~

California State Border, Gas Station

Wednesday October 7, 1998

She pulled into the gas station at about 10 in the morning to fill up her tank when she looked up and her eyes caught a sign for the $14 million Powerball. She wasn't sure what made her do it as she usually wouldn't have even bothered to look and Mini-Phoebe as much as she dreamed of winning it 'knew' she couldn't afford to spend the extra bit of cash she had on hand. So how was it that she found herself walking forward with her cash in hand and filling out a Powerball sheet with her original birthday written out backwards when she had only planned on paying for the fuel? A note was on the dashboard when she climbed back into the driver's seat.