PARIS, 2005

Alex couldn't believe what had just happened before her eyes.

She left. She just left. Her girlfriend of two years had just walked out of their hotel room in Paris, never to come back again, on what was already the worst day of her life.

Her mom had just died. Wouldn't you stay for someone you genuinely cared about?

Well, Piper didn't. And fuck her for that.

"Pull yourself together", she told herself, figuring out that it couldn't be done without a drink. She picked up the intercom and ordered a whisky.

As she waited for room service, she prepared a bath. Just as she finished, she heard the door knocks. She opened it up, let service in and tipped the waitress, who was looking at her with a pitty face.

Just as she was leaving the room, she stopped by the door: "I don't mean to be nosy, Mademoiselle Vause, but is everything alright? Do you need a medicine?"

"No, I'm good, thank you. I'll let you know if I need anything else".

When she left, Alex went back to the bathroom, her drink in hand, and looked in the mirror. She couldn't believe how swollen her face was from her crying. It looked like she had been crying non-stop for years. And her skin looked has never looked more pale. She didn't look at all like the porcelain doll Piper used to say she was. She looked much more like fucking Casper the Friendly Ghost. Just not nearly as friendly.

"Fuck you, Piper. Even the hotel waitress cares about my-well being.", she mumbled, staring at the ivory-skinned brunette's face in the mirror.

She was a mess.

Shaking off her thoughts about ghosts, she drank the whisky as fast as she was able to, looking at the hot bath waiting for her. God, if she could just doze out for some time. Forget everything that was happening. It was the heaviest load she ever had to carry, and she was not sure she was able to.

Taken by an impulse, she ran back to the bedroom and opened a drawer of the bedside table.

They had sleeping pills. Piper didn't take them, they were still there.

What if...

Well, it's not like anybody would care anyway. Nobody really does anymore...

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She couldn't stop thinking about what she had just done.

She had just left the love of her life. Whose mother had just died. Which made her a real bitch.

On the other hand, Alex was ruining her life, bit by bit. Their lives. How much longer would she live like a criminal? Piper knew the answer to that. Her (now ex) girlfriend would never leave the drugdealing business – not even for her.

It couldn't be a worse moment for her to remember – her mother's pearl necklace. Shit. She knew it wasn't inside her suitcase. She had forgotten to take it from the safe. It was her only item left there.

"Shit."

Could she ask Alex to bring it with her to NY? She knew the answer to that question before it even finished crossing her mind. Shit.

"Uh... Monsieur Bréssant? Sorry, we have to come back to the hotel. I left something valuable behind."

The cab driver nodded and took the way back.

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15 minutes later, she was back at the hotel elevator.

"Fuck. Come on, I can't miss that flight..." She mumbled.

She stopped by their door, hoping Alex was nowhere to be seen. Maybe at the bar, at a café or taking a shower. She knew it seemed selfish of her, but it would be just too hard to look at her face and leave again.

As she opened the door, there was no sign of the brunette. The bathroom door was closed, but there was no noise. She called for Alex, but there was no answer. So Piper just figured she had gone out and felt grateful for it would make things less difficult.

Which drawer was it again? She wasn't sure. She went to her bedside table, looking for the safe key. She opened up the first one, it wasn't there. She found it on the second drawer and picked it up. She hurried to the safe, opened the door to it with the key and then typed the combination of numbers to open the safe itself.

There it was, right there. Now off to America. She quickly took it, closed the safe again, and ran back to her bedside to place the key back when she took notice of something she hadn't seen when she came in a hurry.

Their bottle of sleeping pills was lying on the floor next to their bedside table, empty.

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Hey, everyone. I'm new to this. I've been reading some fics for a few days now and came out with some ideas and figured out exposing them would be a good way to enhance my vocabulary in English, since I have to go to the dictionary and look for the words I don't know (I'm Brazilian). And it's also fun! Feel free to correct any mistakes in your reviews. Also I'm kind of sleepy now so yeah, I might have missed a few details. I hope you enjoy this first chapter. The next one is ready but I'll wait and see how this one goes.