A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first serious attempt at writing a Vauseman fic. This is a collab effort between me and my bff so we hope you enjoy the first installment of this fic :) (Ofc we don't own any of the characters)
I was sat in my large leather revolving chair, a content expression on my face. Time really does fly by, I thought to myself as a shifted my weight to turn the chair and face my computer. The time now was 14:31pm which meant that the monthly figures should have been emailed to me. Typing in my email address and password, I felt clenching and twisting in my stomach as the cursor hovered over the first item in my inbox. I could feel my palm sweating over the mouse, making my hand uncomfortable and hot. Unable to bear the suspense any longer, I pushed down on the left button and revealed the sprawling text that contained the information that would decide our actions over the next month. My expression hardened as I made my way down the email, but began to soften as the news I had been longing for reached my eyes.
We were doing well. Our clients were extremely happy with what we had been supplying them and profits had inflated. There was very little required in terms of improvement to our tactics. I let out a sigh of relief and let my weight lean back into the chair, my hands resting on the arms either side of me. This was everything I could have possibly have wanted from this company. It had brought me riches, success and nothing but respect from my fellow associates. I had never felt as content and pleased about a job as much as I did now.
After allowing my heart rate to return to a normal and steady beat, I stood up from my chair and straightened my business jacket. I turned my back to my computer and made my way over to the large wall of glass at the rear of my office. The room was large with various paintings on the walls, mahogany cabinets full of expensive ornaments and large, vivid green plants. I had always felt extremely serene in this room, despite it being my place of work. However magnificent and well decorated the office was, it had nothing on the breath-taking view that was visible from the window at the back. You could see the majority of the city from it and it never failed to amaze and astound me.
As I gazed out at the skyline, my thoughts drifted to how others had reacted to my somewhat unexpected success. My mother had always considered me average and often put down my ambitions as a child. I had always been told that no one in our family had been particularly successful so there was very little chance of me ever doing anything particularly special or worth mentioning to anyone at all. Establishing my own business had been a hard and painful process but nevertheless, I had managed to make Chapman Inc. a fruitful and extremely profitable business. The look on my mother's face when I had first explained my intentions and then when I told her about the success and money that I had gained had been absolutely priceless. That expression was imprinted in my brain.
Then there was my best friend, Polly Harper. Unlike my mother, she had been supportive of me since I had revealed my crazy and farfetched plan to her. Polly herself ran a small, independent artisan soap shop which I had done my best to promote to some of my colleagues. There was very little that Polly and I didn't share with each other and I couldn't wait to tell her the good news I'd received today.
I brought myself back from the daze I'd gone into while staring at the grey clouds that loomed into the horizon and sat back down in my desk chair. Feeling content and positive about the other emails that awaited me in my inbox, I began to skim over them. Nothing caught my interest in particular, just updates on finances in different departments and updates on employees. I was almost finished, before my eye was drawn to one email. At first I thought I'd read it wrong, but after doing a double take I realised that this was not the case.
One of my most trusted assistants, Lorna Morello, had sent me a lengthy message about a company similar to ours that was apparently not too happy with us making our way into the art business.
This worried me slightly, as other companies could do various things to slow down or even completely prevent us from staying in a particular business. I need a meeting with Morello right fucking now, I thought. Situations like this could get serious. I needed to stay calm and collected about this as if I showed any panic or worry about this, it could cause chaos in the company. The response I typed out to Lorna was clear and short, just as I liked to keep my answers to people. The day was coming to an end, so I decided to organise the meeting for tomorrow.
After clicking the send button, I thought about seeing Polly and checking that she had actually remembered to feed my beloved chocolate Labrador, Julio. I picked the phone up off my desk and dialled her number, tapping my fingers on the edge of my desk as I waited for her voice to greet me.
"Hello, you've reached Polly Harper. How can I help?" Her voice was authoritative and formal and I was always surprised to hear her speak in that kind of tone.
"Hey Polly, it's Piper. Please tell me you remembered to feed Julio this afternoon." I chuckled slightly, knowing that it always irritated her when I asked her. She had only forgotten once in the last 5 years that I had employed her to do it but I never let her forget it.
She let out a sigh that had an obvious hint of humour with it. "No babe, I left your dog to starve in your house. Of course I did."
I laughed and used my other hand to log out of my email account and shut down my computer. "I'm getting out of here in about 10 minutes. Coffee?"
"Sounds good. I've got a great story for you – you'd be surprised at how eventful running an independent store can be you know."
I put the phone down after we decided where to meet and began to gather my things together. Swinging my brown leather satchel over my shoulder, I made my way out of the door to my office and locked it behind me. There were still people typing away on computers, occasionally perking their head up to say, "Have a nice even, ma'am." I nodded and smiled at them in response as I passed by, heading towards the elevator at the end of the room.
The entirety of the Chapman Inc. building was modern and sleek. Everyone who worked here was dressed formally and their manners were impeccable. I'd always been sure to only hire the best of the best.
I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to take me to the ground floor. My office was all the way up on the 21st so I had a few minutes to stare into space while I waited for the elevator to reach the bottom. The doors opened and I stepped out, nodding politely towards the receptionist at the main desk in front of the entrance doors, made entirely of glass.
I was met by a crisp, winter breeze as I got out into the car park. It was November and the chill that blew through my shoulder length blonde hair warned me of the snow and ice that would grip New York when it made its way here. The trees that surrounded the building were bare and looked sinister in the grey shadow caused by the overcast sky. Everything seemed still and fragile, as if the slightest upset could shatter the world.
My sleek white BMW was waiting for me in the CEO parking spot, right next to the door to the building. I placed my bag onto the seat next to me and pulled out my mirror. My blue eyes looked darker in the dim light of the car. After applying some more lipstick, I pulled out of the car park and made my way over to the coffee shop where Polly was already waiting for me. Luckily, my working hours meant that I avoided rush hour.
"Piper, babe, you look like crap." Polly joked, pulling me into an affectionate embrace.
"You don't look too good yourself." I chuckled, taking a seat opposite her, "So, what's this story you have for me?"
I listened to Polly explain about some kind of weird customer who had bought a crap load of soap. I tried to pay as much attention as I could, but I couldn't help but let my mind wander towards the meeting I would be having with Lorna tomorrow. Nerves filled my stomach and made my heart flutter.
"So that's me done. What about you? How's the company?" she asked, taking a sip of her earl grey tea.
I straightened up in my seat, a smile spreading across my face. "Well, actually things are going extremely well. Profits are soaring and clients are satisfied." My expression hardened, "Although, apparently another company isn't pleased about us deciding to make our way into the art business. I have a meeting with my assistant tomorrow about it."
"That sounds irritating. Any idea who it is?" Polly inquired.
"Not yet," I replied, running my hand through my hair, "but Lorna should know by tomorrow."
"Well, I know you well enough to know you'll have this covered before it becomes serious."
Polly and I went way back to university, where we were both on the same business course. She had shown me her passion for soap making whereas I had been unsure of what to do with my degree. The last thing I had expected was an import/export establishment.
We finished our drinks and parted ways. I was longing to get back to my sizeable detached house and unwind with some mindless TV with my dog. The relief I felt as I pulled into my driveway was exasperating.
Entering the front door to my house brought me intense feelings of relaxation and, almost immediately, exhaustion. A short hallway was in front of me, leading to my modern open-plan kitchen and living room. On the left of the hallway was a staircase that led up to the second floor of my house where multiple bedrooms and ensuites were located.
I hung my jacket and satchel on the coat hangers to my right and collapsed on my pale grey sofa. In front of me was a large flatscreen TV on the wall and an electric fireplace beneath it. It had been a long day with both good and bad news. I knew that tomorrow would exhaust me even more and that thought made my heart sink. It's all worth it Piper, I thought to myself. Without all my effort, this would all be for nothing. I needed to stay motivated and focused to make this work.
This rival company wouldn't be a problem. I had pride in my negotiating skills and knew that they would not fail me in a situation such as this one. I was sure I would be able to make some kind of arrangement that would please both of us and ensure that neither one of us had to lose out, however I would make sure that whatever deal we came to would be much for profitable for me in the end.
Julio was curled up on the rug in front of my electric fireplace. I held out my hand to him which he responded to by standing up, stretching and allowing me to pet his head. I spent my night watching trash TV and eventually passing out in my king sized bed upstairs. The warm, white sheets were deliciously inviting and put me to sleep within a matter of minutes.
The next morning, my unconsciousness was interrupted by my alarm. Groaning and glaring at the time shown on the digital screen, I reached over and turned it off. Today's going to be interesting, I thought to myself, Let's see what this other company has to offer.
I was early to the office. It was 8:30am and Lorna had agreed to be in my office 9am sharp. She wouldn't be late.
After the long ride to the 21st floor and some brief greetings to the employees who had already arrived, I made my way into my office. I pulled files full of statistics and other documents onto the table and sat down in my chair, leaving my bag next to my desk.
Reading my emails was one of my least favourite jobs to do, but it would keep me occupied for the next few minutes while I waited for my assistant.
Eventually, there was a knock on my door. I straightened up in my seat and ensured my hair was evenly placed on my shoulders. "Come in." I called out, maintaining a professional and somewhat emotionless tone.
The door opened and in stepped a short, petite woman. She had wavy hair that she had styled out of her face and wore bright red lipstick that was more or less against company policy, but I let her off. She had been good to me for the past few years she had worked with me.
"Good morning, ma'am." She smiled politely and made her way over to the seat in front of my desk. She had a few papers with her, which could only mean that this other company was getting seriously involved in what we were doing.
"Hello Lorna," I returned her smile and moved my laptop aside, my hands clasped together on my desk, "What do you have for me?"
Her smile faded. "This company really aren't happy with us, Piper." I had given her permission to use my first name, a privilege I only gave to employees I deemed worthy. "They want us out of the art business right now."
I thought about this before responding. "No. We're not missing out on an opportunity as promising as this because of one business saying it's not acceptable to them."
Anxiety flickered in her eyes. "They're called A.V. International, their CEO is called Alex Vause and they've been in this area much longer than we have. They have more contacts, more experience and more money."
"So we'll get more contacts, experience and money. I won't let them hinder us with pathetic threats. What are those papers you have there?"
Lorna glanced down at the wad of sheets she had. "Some of the emails they've sent us. Mostly just telling us to back off." She held them out to me.
I scanned over them, feeling my eyebrows furrow with each word. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. They were all written in a sophisticated and business-like way, but sounded almost sarcastic. Whoever this Alex Vause was, he had it coming to him.
"There's very little we can do at the moment." I said to Lorna, putting the papers on top of my already giant pillar of documents, "We'll deal with them if they become an issue."
"This may seem like a silly question, but do you think they will?" She asked.
I thought about this. If they went to the trouble of sending us these problematic messages, then I was absolutely sure they would become more involved in what we were doing here at Chapman Inc. However, the immaturity of them told me that they were naïve and thought far too highly of themselves, two extremely dangerous mind-sets to have in this area of work.
"Perhaps, only time will tell. Thank you for bringing this to my attention Lorna. Let me know if anything else comes through from them."
She smiled at me once again, stood up from her chair and left the room. Once she was gone, I had another look at the emails we had been sent. I chuckled to myself as I read one that tickled me in particular:
We'd appreciate it if you would stay out of our "territory", if you will. If you continue to persist, there will be consequences that will prove costly for you.
It was quite amusing to think of what this company could possibly do to be so troubling for us, but I could only indulge myself for so long. My thoughts drifted towards their CEO. Alex Vause. He had pretty much signed himself up to be my new rival. His strategies so far had put any worries or apprehensions I had about this situation to ease as I found his attempts at intimidation humourous.
He's going to be proven very wrong if he thinks a bunch of threatening emails are going to put me off, I thought. I was an extremely practical and down to earth person. I had learnt independence from my distant mother and cheating scum of a father. Boyfriends were out of the question at this point in my life; there was no time or energy spare in my busy schedule for things like that. If the right person came along who was willing to accept the fact that my company was my life, then maybe I would consider them, otherwise it was hopeless.
I felt my stomach perform somersaults as I imagined the future predicaments that I would find myself in thanks to A.V. International and the satisfaction I would experience as and when I overcame them. Alex Vause would regret trying to come between me and what I wanted for my company. He would get a first-hand encounter with what I was willing to do to secure the future of Chapman Inc. I'm looking forward to our time together, Mr Vause.
/
The taxi pulled up right outside mine and Nicky's favourite bar. We often came here together for a drink after work. She was one of my closest friends and I enjoyed her company. I wasn't feeling particularly good and I had tried to cancel on her tonight, but she had insisted that I meet her and explain to her what all the rumours going around the company had actually been about.
"Yo my g." She joked, giving me a one-armed hug as a glass of whisky was already in the other hand. She knew me so well that she could tell exactly how I was feeling by just looking at my facial expression, even if I had put on a fake one to try and mask my feelings. "What's up Al?"
I sat down next to her and asked the bartender for a shot of whatever they recommended. Nicky gave me an extremely concerned look as I threw back two before finally beginning to explain my predicament. The alcohol warmed my throat and took the edge of the apprehension I was feeling.
"Some other company has decided to fucking weasel their way into the art business." I hissed, clenching my jaw afterwards.
"So people aren't kidding around, huh? These people sound like dicks." Nicky scoffed.
"You don't say." I downed another drink and flinched at the burning sensation.
"What are you going to do about it?"
I chuckled and looked at her straight in the eye. "From what I hear, the CEO is some blonde bimbo called Piper Chapman. She's probably some daddy's girl with too much money."
Nicky didn't look convinced. "Alex you need to think of a proper way to deal with this if it becomes a problem. I don't want to have to be that person who tells everyone they're getting a pay cut because of another company."
Her words were like knives. She sounded so self-centred right now, even though I knew deep down that that wasn't her intention. I had worked far too hard to get to this position for it to be taken away by some young girl who thought that being an international trader was easy. She probably grew up with shit loads of money already waiting for her and had no idea what sacrifices others had made to get to the point where they could even think about calling themselves successful.
"This woman is not going to get in my way, not after everything I've been through. I'll make sure."
"Tell me what you want to do. I can talk to my team about it." Nicky's expression had softened. I knew she cared about me and I cared too, but she had no idea what I had been going through these past few months. There was nothing she could do.
"Bring my mom back from the fucking dead." My cheeks were hot and my heart was beating faster as I felt the anger inside me burning.
Nicky sighed and looked at me in the eyes again. "I'm sorry for what happened. I am, but you need to stop using that against me all the damn time."
I could hear what she was saying and it all made perfect sense, but the inferno of rage that was now blazing inside me would not let me hear reason. "You have no fucking idea what I'm going through right now. Your mom was never around. You don't know what it's like."
"No, maybe I don't. That doesn't give you an excuse to use it as a weapon all the time."
I took a breath to say something else, but my words failed me.
"Alex, you need to chill the fuck out. You've always been a control freak but since your mother passed, you've been worse. Take some time off or something, but you need to calm your shit."
I stared at her before leaving some money on the bar, standing up and walking out without another word. I was too pissed off and upset to deal with this right now. Tears welled up and stung my eyes as I stepped out into the blistering cold. I wrapped my jacket tighter around my body and walked down the street. I needed air. I needed space.
I didn't live too far from the bar, but the walk made my legs ache slightly. My two-floor apartment was right at the top of a prestigious complex and it had a killer view. I pulled my keys out of my bag with my icy cold, red hands and fumbled at the lock. Climbing the stairs was painful but I was pretty used to it having lived here for two years.
The sweet warmth of my apartment burned my cheeks at first but then turned to a caress. I threw my bag at the wall and screamed in frustration. Everything's going fucking wrong, I spat in my mind. Nicky was pissing me off, some other company was a threat to mine and my mom was fucking gone. In a matter of months, things had gone from pretty good to fucking shit.
I stomped into my bathroom and slammed the door, tears streaming from my eyes. I pulled off my glasses and splashed some cold water on my face, trying to restore some composure. My hands shook as a gripped the sink, staring intently at the reflection in the mirror looking back at me. She looked different, not quite right. Her dark hair was unkempt, messy from the bitter wind. Her eyes were bloodshot, contrasting the pale green of her irises. The usually pale skin was pink and flushed, with shiny trails of tears and cold water.
Get your shit together Alex, I told myself authoritatively. Despite my reaction, I knew Nicky was right. This shit that was happening to me couldn't affect my work anymore or I would be in the thick of it. Tomorrow, I would march right over to Chapman Inc. and tell that bitch Piper Chapman exactly what I thought of her and her company. I wouldn't hold anything back; all of the frustrations I had built up over the past months would be used as fuel for my encounter with her tomorrow. She was going to realise exactly who she was dealing with.
This plan was very appealing, and a slight smile spread across my lips. I dried my face and headed back out into my bedroom, changing into some comfier clothes. There was little I felt like doing at the time, so I got straight into bed. My head ached and my throat was sore, but my eyes were far too heavy for me to do anything about it. I let myself fall into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning, I felt immediately that my anger and rage had not subsided. My thoughts drifted to the previous night and I shivered, cringing at what I had said to Nicky. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair and rubbed my face. Turning to the left, I saw that it was a sunny day through my window. This cheered me up a little, although my mind remained in a dark place. I still had a lot of healing to do.
I put on a black pantsuit and applied some subtle makeup that made my eyes look dark. I wanted to look intimidating at least. There were heavy bags under my eyes with I did my best to cover up. Satisfied with how I was dressed, I headed straight out to the car park in front of the complex and unlocked my car.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that I could see my knuckles turning white. The closer I drove to Chapman's building, the bigger the pit in my stomach grew. It threatened to make me vomit, something I figured was caused by both stress and the lack of food in my system at the time.
Things had been hard enough for me without having to deal with shit from work too. I knew that this job would be difficult and trying, but it had gotten too much with the passing of my mother too. A sudden aneurysm had taken her from me. Thinking about it made my eyes sting with the threat of tears once again and I clutched the steering wheel even harder.
I made my way into one of the guest car parking spaces and took a deep breath. As long as I stuck to the rough idea I had of what I would say, I would be fine.
I stepped into the company building, amazed at the style of the place. The receptionist looked up and smiled at me. "Can I help you ma'am?"
"Hello, my name is Alex Vause," I introduced, "and I'm here to see Piper Chapman."
Her expression told me that she knew exactly who I was. Her eyes widened slightly and her body language stiffened. "Of course. I'll let her know you're here. Please take a seat."
I sat down on a red leather sofa, surrounded by clean white walls and security cameras. I was very aware of my body language, being careful not to show any weakness or flaw in my presentation. Within minutes, the receptionist told me to head up to the 21st floor and knock on the door at the end of the room. I thanked her and stepped into the sleek elevator. It took a while to reach the top level of the building, so I used this time to make sure I was completely calm and collected for this meeting.
The doors opened. I walked down the aisle between desks full of people who looked up at me, confused expressions of their faces. Some of them whispered to each other, suspecting who I was. I ensured I didn't look at any of them and kept my gaze fixed on the door ahead of me.
When I reached it, I paused before raising my hand and knocking three times.
Pause.
"Come in." A voice called out.
My hand gripped the handle and turned it, pushing the door open. I closed it behind me and was immediately surprised at the sight in front of me.
There stood the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. She was average height, slender and her shoulder length hair was golden blonde. Her expression was serious but her deep blue eyes contained endless emotion. There was nothing hard about her eyes.
"You're a woman." She observed, appearing surprised, "I had assumed you were a man."
I ignored this comment and proceeded with my plan. "Your company has had no business with the import and export of art before. What made you decide to invest in it?" I asked as I approached her.
"It looked profitable." Piper explained, her features looking even more defined and perfect now that I had closed the distance between us. "Surely that's a good enough reason?"
My suspicions had been correct. This woman was extremely naïve and was testing my patience. "You're aware that you could put me out of business, correct? I'm sure my employees have made this more than clear to you."
"Of course. However, I chose to ignore the feeble attempts at intimidation they made. My guess is that's why you decided to come here yourself instead."
My fists clenched. "It's in your best interests," I paused to make eye contact with the remarkable but tedious blonde, "to back off."
She chuckled. "My best interests? I hardly think that's the case here. I'd like to know what exactly you plan to do if I refuse."
I had ideas, but I wasn't going to disclose these to her. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I'd much rather you simply did as I asked."
"Well, then I do refuse your request. I have an opportunity to make my profits soar and I'm not going to abandon this without an extremely good reason."
The smug expression on her face said it all. It was irritating and pissed me off badly, but also made me feel an incomprehensible feeling of attraction to her. What the fuck are you thinking? I thought, she's nothing but scum who's going to ruin your business. Do not even go there.
"Well then, you'll find that things become particularly difficult for you in the coming months." I threatened, "You will regret this. Just you fucking watch."
She looked surprised at my curse. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that language." She replied, her tone perfectly calm.
"I'll use whatever fucking language I want, don't you dare push me."
"Carry on and I'll call security. I think you should leave."
I knew that if I spent any more time here with her, I would end up doing something I would most definitely regret. I turned to leave, still trying to ignore the feelings of lust that were rising in the back of my head.
/
I watched the rather tall, broad woman slam the door to my office behind her before letting out a deep breath of tension. My hand went through my hair and came down to rest on my cheek as I slipped into a trance of confusion, frustration and… no that wasn't right. You're tired, Piper. That's all, I thought. I scoffed at myself and went back to my desk to pick up my phone and dial Lorna's number. An email wouldn't suffice for what happened here, I needed to explain this properly.
"Piper? What's going on?" I could tell by her tone that she was surprised and concerned that I had actually called her.
"Alex Vause just came to my office." I stated in a monotonous tone, "She means business."
"She came here? This makes things interesting. You okay?"
I hesitated. Of course I wasn't okay. A rival CEO had come to my office, threatened me and had managed to intimidate me rather well, but I knew I couldn't say that. I needed to ensure that no one even suspected my worry and anxiety.
"Of course I am," I replied, "but we need to talk about this properly. Organise a board meeting for tomorrow. This is getting out of hand."
I put down the phone and put my face in my hands. This woman was threatening everything I had worked for, everything I stood for. She obviously knew what she was doing which made this situation even more frustrating. She had more experience and was more inclined to reveal her emotions than I was. I was also extremely confused about why Alex had gotten so angry so quickly. It had unnerved me, and I was feeling incredibly disheartened and put off about my new investment.
I couldn't wait to tell Polly about all of this and thought about calling her right away but I decided not to. I needed time to myself to think about what had happened, calm myself down a little and deal with the extremely confusing feelings that were resonating in my stomach.
There was no doubt that Alex Vause was an extremely attractive woman, despite her slightly dishevelled appearance on our first meeting. However, her looks did not at all justify the slowly but surely growing sensation of lust that I just couldn't ignore. I refused to allow myself to feel this way about someone I was clearly supposed to hate. And I did hate her. You hate her, Piper. You hate her.
"I hate her." I said aloud, as if that would make the statement even more truthful. I gathered all of my belongings and left my office, trying to leave behind the conflicting emotions that were battling in my mind.
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