Here's a new story I'm excited about!

I probably won't be adding to this until I'm finished with my other story, but I wanted to get the first chapter out (an indication to myself more so that I won't forget this exists).

Enjoy!


"Miss Chapman," Alex addresses the woman sitting down, smiling as she walks into her office, looking down at the papers in her hand, "How was your summer?"

"Please stop calling me that," the blonde laughs, turning her head to follow the taller woman as she walks around to the other side of her desk, putting down the papers. "And it was okay, thanks. Yours?"

"Going on holiday and not having to think about work was nice," the brunette admits, taking a seat opposite the blonde.

"I can imagine," Piper replies, smiling at the older woman.

"So, do you have any new ideas for the book?" Alex asks, returning the blonde's smile before grabbing her notebook and pen, opening a blank page.

"I do, yeah. I needed your opinion on something though," the blonde probes.

"Of course - go ahead."

"What do you think about me writing a romantic novel?" Piper asks, hoping she gets the older woman's approval.

Fiddling with her glasses, Alex smirks, tilting her head to the right.

"I think that would be a great idea, Piper. What made you want to go down that path?" she goes on to ask, curious.

"Let's just say I felt some inspiration over summer," Piper admits, blushing slightly.

"Say no more," Alex smiles, picking her pen back up and jotting down some notes.

Piper, sitting at the desk, observes the older woman, in awe of her presence.

It was her third year working professionally with the older woman; at the age of 28, Piper finds her admiration for the the brunette growing day by day. Being a writer was an initial struggle for the blonde, and in her search for publishing her first crime novel, she met Alex.


Sitting in her local coffee shop, Piper is lost in the world of her reading book, situated in a secluded booth at the back of the small store. Despite the words on the page having her full attention, her focus is impeded by someone taking a seat opposite her in the booth. Looking up from her book, placing it down onto the table, Piper eyes the person, taking in their features.

The woman, she notes, has long, dark hair, inquisitive green eyes and a set of black frames covering her orbs.

"Can I help you?" Piper asks, slightly confused.

"I'm Alex."

"Hi Alex. I'm Piper."

"I would be lying if I said I didn't already know that," the brunette adds, placing her coffee cup down onto the table. "Okay - that sounded better in my head," she chuckles, smirking at herself.

"Sorry - have we met before?" Piper asks, unsure how the woman opposite her already knows her name.

"No, but I've read your work," Alex reveals, folding her arms that rest on the table.

"You have?"

"I have indeed. I think you're a very talented writer, Miss Chapman."

"Oh, I wouldn't go as far as saying that," Piper says in a self-deprecating manner, blushing at the compliment.

"I'm being serious. You're work is some of the best I've read in a long time. I'm here to give you a proposition."

"What would that be?"

"I work as a literary agent and I want to work with you. I think you're on to something really big here."

"Really?"

"Really. My best friend owns a publishing company. I showed her your sample chapters and they're willing to push for this to go through."

"You're fucking with me," Piper says out of disbelief.

"I promise that I am not fucking with you, Piper. I'm very much serious about this. I know it's a lot to take in, but I'll leave you to process on your own. Give me a call when you're ready," Alex says, handing over her business card before draining her coffee and leaving the booth.

'Alex Vause', Piper sees written on the card along with a description, email address and phone number - something she immediately adds into her phone without hesitation.


"Pardon?" Piper says, being drawn out of her daydream by her agent's husky voice.

"I asked if you got here okay?"

"I got here fine, why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" Alex asks, eyebrows wide. "I don't know about you, but doesn't part of being a best selling author mean you have people following you around like all the time."

"Well, yeah, but I'm not that famous."

"Please, Piper - you've been on the New York Times' Best Seller list for the second time in 3 years and everyone wants to get an interview with you."

"What about you? Did you get here okay?" Piper sasses, not liking the daily reminders she receives regarding her sudden rise to fame.

"I get to where I need to be just fine because, unlike you, people don't know who I am."

"They should. Come on, Alex, I owe my success to you."

"I like being out of the limelight. I get on with my business successfully that way," Alex replies, shutting the notepad and moving to put it back into her bag.

Watching the hands of the brunette, Piper's eyes are caught by a shining new item - something that instantly rips her heart out of her chest.

"When were you going to tell me that congratulations are in order?" the blonde asks, looking at the ring resting on Alex's ring finger.

"Yeah, I guess they are," Alex smiles - although it doesn't quite reach her eyes, as she looks down at her hand and then into the blonde's blue eyes.

"When did she propose?" Piper further asks, trying hard to not display how crushed she feels.

"Over summer. We were in Prague," the brunette replies in a hushed tone, her expression unreadable.

"When's the wedding?"

"We haven't planned that far ahead yet."

"I'm happy for you," Piper manages to get out while she pushes her chair back and picks up her bag.

"Thank you," Alex responds, giving a close-lipped smile. "Where're you going?" she goes on to ask, seeing the blonde moving to leave the room.

"Oh, I forgot I um… I have an appointment," she stutters out, hoping that her on the spot excuse seemed somewhat believable. "I'll call you soon," the blonde concludes, opening and then closing the office door behind her.

Rushing along the corridors and down the elevator, Piper finally reaches the car park, whereby she unlocks and gets into her black Audi.

Resting her hands against the steering wheel, she lets out a huff, telling herself now isn't the right time or place; throughout the short journey home, she repeats that motion to herself over and over, telling herself to not show how she's feeling, and it isn't until she reaches her apartment, entering her bedroom, that she finally allows herself to flop onto her bed and let out her pent-up emotions.

Over the years, the blonde had had a very minor string of relationships - some good, some bad, but none of them breaking off even remotely compared to the painful array of emotions she's currently experiencing. It was no secret to those close to her of how highly she thought of her agent, and yet, it seems as though, even after 3 years of knowing each other, the blonde was still unable to tell the older woman how she really felt about her.

Despite desperately wanting to tell the brunette - sometimes even finding herself of the verge of doing so, Piper would always relent due to not wanting to tarnish Alex's relationship with her girlfriend of 2 years and therefore her own subsequent relationship with the older woman.

She'd met Alex's girlfriend - it's fiancée now, dickhead, the blonde mentally corrects - on only three different occasions: one evening when they had first gotten together, one time when she ran into them when out shopping, and the last being when she walked in on them during a more… intimate session when she stayed over at the brunette's old apartment one evening last winter.

Seeing Alex being intimate with another person was a bad addition for the blonde - it was an image that not only scarred her for life, but one that didn't help her case; it only added an element of realism to the imagery she had thoroughly envisioned as to what the brunette looks like under her clothes, which leaves her thighs clenching together on occasion.

She'd promised herself she would do it by the end of the year, and in hearing of her agent's new - still taken - romantic status, Piper wasn't sure what to do with not only herself, but with whether she should keep working with the brunette knowing she won't be able to keep her feelings to herself for much longer.


Another week passes by before Piper finds the courage to finally contact the brunette. She'd spent her time alone pent up in her apartment in which she lives by herself putting pen to paper. The decision to write a romantic novel had been planned as a form of motivation to finally open herself up to Alex, yet in her current defeated state, the topic at hand had been doing nothing but push the already present dagger further into her fragile heart.

It wasn't until the 3rd day of writing that she began to realise the benefits of choosing such a genre. Despite changing the names of the characters, despite changing the location of the characters, despite changing the dynamic between the characters, Piper was writing from her experiences; from the heart - her broken, tender heart. She had to keep reminding herself to not get too carried away - the older woman would be reading this after all, and by the time she reached day 7, the blonde felt somewhat relieved. Relieved that she was finally able to express her feelings, regardless of the medium of doing so.

As she struts into Alex's office, Piper makes sure to put on a show. Dressed in a tight, white blouse, a short, black skirt, and a matching set of stiletto heels, she feels powerful. Sensing eyes glance her way as she walks through the office building, the blonde knows she'd picked the right outfit. She wasn't trying to win the brunette over per se, but to show Alex what she is missing out on was something Piper would do everything in her power to fulfill.

Without knocking - something she normally politely does before stepping into her agent's office, Piper opens the door, giving off a smirk as she crosses the room's doorway threshold.

"Sorry I'm late," she says, causing green eyes to snap upwards.

Smirking to herself, Piper is pleased that she'd obviously managed to render the brunette speechless as Alex - despite trying to be subtle - very clearly scans over her form, eyes trained on the blonde's long, tanned legs.

"Don't worry about it," Alex finally replies after clearing her throat, turning back her swinging office chair, causing the blonde's smirk to grow wider at the fact that the older woman couldn't even look her in the eye.

"There's quite a bit for you to look through," Piper announces when she approaches the office chair on the other side of Alex as she finally turns back around, placing her bag down and purposely stepping in front of the seat, bending over to give the brunette a full view of the other side of her body as she grabs her work.

"Yeah," is all Alex replies, sounding as though she's practically drooling at the sight in front of her.

"Mm-hmm. I have an interview after this, so I can't stay for long," Piper admits.

"You can't?"

"I'm afraid not. I know you like to be informed about that kind of thing, but it was a bit of a last minute arrangement."

"That's fine, Pipes," Alex smiles, flicking through the stapled booklet the blonde handed her. "Do you have an electronic copy you could send me?"

"Already ahead of you there," Piper replies while rummaging through her bag for her lip gloss. "I sent it over a few hours ago," she adds, applying the gel to her lips.

The blonde observes the older woman's eyes momentarily flicker down to her lips before turning to the computer screen, shoulders rising as she appreciates the innate sense of organisation Piper obtains.

"Is this about women?" Alex asked, surprised by the brief synopsis of the new chapters she had read on the front page.

"That it is," Piper confirms interested to see the brunette's reaction to some of the more explicit elements of the pages she had written.

After 20 minutes of Piper sitting and listening to the brunette comment on particular sections she liked, she checks the time and sees that she has half an hour before her interview. Shifting in her seat, the blonde starts to collect her belongings.

"I need to go, Al," Piper voices, and when the older woman doesn't reply, the blonde stands in the middle of the room, holding the strap of her bag as she watches the brunette, who is obviously intensely reading through her drafted chapters thoroughly - more than normal, she notes.

"Alex?" the younger woman adds.

"Hmm?" she mumbles, head snapping away from her computer screen in panic, cheeks turning a light shade of rose.

"I said I need to go," Piper repeats, pleased that her work was obviously having the intended effect on her agent.

"Sure. I'll um… I'll call you later so we can talk about this."

"Talk to you then," Piper smiles, before turning and leaving the office to head for her car.

The meeting couldn't have gone any better. She's managed to render the older woman speechless more than once, and, given the amount of time she's spent on her current pages, she knew her work was good. More so, she knew the content in which had Alex flustered, and was pleased that her mood - as well as her feelings towards what she was doing with her life - was able to somewhat be lifted.


She's always found solace when writing something she was passionate about, and since her last meeting with Alex, Piper had done everything in her power to avoid her. She knew they would have to face each other at one point, and had a feeling the older woman would have a comment or two regarding the content of her recent interview that had been released the day before. They had agreed that the brunette were to come around for dinner to review the current chapters of her book, and while moving melodically around her kitchen as she cooks their meal, the blonde was somewhat nervous as to what feedback she would be receiving.

She waits another 10 minutes before the buzzer goes, indicating that the brunette was here, and after letting her up, Piper scans the room, making sure everything is in place before heading to open the front door.

"Long time no see, Chapman," Alex says as the wooden barricade opens.

"Hello to you too, Vause," the younger woman replies, leaning in to give the older woman a hug, closing over her eyes and clenching her jaw at both the smell and feel of the brunette.

"You cooked?" Alex asks as the brief hug breaks apart, walking further into the apartment while removing her shoes.

"Surprised?" the blonde offers in response, taking the brunette's coat and placing it on the bannister. "I even bought that wine I know you like."

"You didn't have to, Pipes," Alex comments, following the blonde into the kitchen.

"Think of it as an engagement present," Piper replies, turning her head back to look at the older woman while smiling - trying hard to hide her spitefulness.

She notes no response came from the older woman, yet in not wanting to break her heart even further by talking about Alex's up and coming wedding, Piper is grateful for the lack of response.

Their main course of dinner runs smoothly, and it isn't until they're conversing over dessert that the content of Piper's chapters is brought up.

"It was very… detailed," Alex points out, obviously thinking hard about what words would be appropriate to use in this situation, "but not in a bad way."

"You didn't think it was too much?"

"No. I thought it was just enough, but still pushed some boundaries," the brunette reveals, looking up from where she had been playing with the food on her plate with her spoon. "Why're you really doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"You're one of my best friends, Piper. I know you. You like to write with a motive; inspiration."

"What're you trying to say?"

"What made you write this? First a romantic novel and then it being a lesbian love story. I mean, don't get me wrong, I support your choice, but I'd just like to know what's going on in that head of yours these days."

"I guess travelling on my own was relieving. It allowed me to see what I was craving. I crave to not have to come home to an empty house every evening, not have to commit to sleeping on one side of the bed because the other is too cold, not have to watch scary movies in the day because no one's there to watch them with me at night. I don't want to be so… I don't know lonely anymore."

"You're not lonely - you have me, Polly, everyone at work, your college friends."

"I know," Piper shuts her eyes, trying her best to not let her real emotions get the better of her. "I just wanted to change it up, okay?" she adds, letting the older woman know it's a topic she doesn't want to delve into as of yet.

"Okay," Alex smiles, indeed sensing her friend's reluctance to address the matter at this moment in time. "I guess now's the perfect time to ask about what I read last night?"

"Sure," Piper affirms, putting down her spoon and leaning back in her chair.

"I didn't know that's how you felt."

"Well now you do."

"Piper-" the brunette tries to reason, not wanting the blonde to be angry that she's bringing it up.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just. I just didn't know when to tell you. You're always so busy with work and then you were away on business and then you went away with Sylvie and then I can only imagine you're busy planning your-"

"Piper," Alex interrupts, reaching over to cover the blonde's hand. "Breathe. I'm not looking for an explanation, I was just going to say that I'm proud of you."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I am. It's not easy talking about yourself like that, and I'm glad you're comfortable with who you are."

"Thank you, Alex. That means a lot," Piper smiles, looking into the older woman's green emeralds.

Before their staring becomes too much, Piper breaks away, pulling her hand from under the brunette's to grab their plates and walk towards the sink.

"So I guess now my book will be a booming success."

"Yeah, I guess it will," Alex replies stoically, and as Piper turns from her position to look over at the older woman, she finds Alex's expression unreadable. Her eyes are glossed over as she's stuck in a daydream; her hair is framing the sides of her face, and her arms are crossed at the elbow. It's in moments like these that Piper finds the brunette stunningly beautiful, and as a number of hours pass by - Alex returning home within that time, the blonde sits in bed with her laptop on her lap, still trying hard to get that very image out of her head.

She's watching through her 7 minute video interview that had been released the day prior - one of which had given her not only a sense of anxiety, but an additional boost in the eyes of the media. She examines how good she looks - perhaps Alex thought this was the reason for the way she had been dressed that morning she walked into her office, and as she reaches 5 minutes 15 seconds, the segment that follows is one of which touches upon something she had been dying to let out for years.

"So I understand you're working on your third book," the interviewer says from where they're seated opposite Piper.

"That's correct," the blonde smiles, nodding her head.

"Is there anything you could tell us about it?" they probe, lifting one eyebrow in a persuasive manner.

"Oh man," Piper laughs, smiling as she tilts her head back slightly, thinking through how she should address the question. "I guess I can reveal that it's a romantic novel - something I've never written before."

"Can you give us a clue as to what we should expect?" the interviewer asks, knowing they may be pushing their luck.

Hesitating before she gives her answer, Piper debates whether now is the right time to speak up; pondering whether she should wait until she releases her book, and in briefly contemplating the recent - most painful - setback in her private life, she decides she deserves this: a chance at trying to establish her own source of happiness, starting with being honest about her authentic self.

"Well, it's a love story - one of which I think people need to hear… breakaway from the modern mainstream of romantic literature. It's something I've definitely missed out on when growing up - even up until now, and I believe that writing about an emotion rather than a person's gender will be a revolutionary change as to what kind of work we'll see being published in the future."

Smiling, the interviewer adds: "This seems to be a project you're very passionate about."

"It is, yeah," the blonde confirms, deciding to throw caution to the wind with her inhibitions. "Writing a love story between two women is something I'd thought about doing for a while now, and it wasn't until some things changed in my life for me to realise that I was doing this for me as well as fulfilling my curiosity regarding how people are going to react to my writing. It's opening a door to all kinds of avenues, and for me, it's a chance for me to really accept who I am - there's nothing wrong with me being attracted to women as well as men."

Watching the remaining few seconds of the video, Piper sits in silence, grinning as she realises what she had achieved. She'd been a curious person all her life, yet it had taken her this long to finally accept herself. She'd had her fair share of crushes throughout the years, but had never fallen for someone. She often found it really could take a lot for her to connect with a person - to resonate with a person, and in experiencing every possible emotion - whether that being more familiar or less comfortable ones - with Alex, she began to explore how she wanted to be identified.

The blonde's fleeting thoughts are soon a memory as she snaps back into the present, returning her eyes back to her laptop screen and moving the mouse to ignite the device's full brightness.

Scrolling down the page, she scans the comments underneath the video, smiling at the kind incentives from some, laughing at some of the more thirsty comments from others, and taking no real notice of ones trying to promote backward-thinking ideals regarding gender and sexuality.

Opening a new tab, Piper opens up her Twitter page, deciding now is finally the time to assess how her honesty is being portrayed throughout the media. Having 2.1 million followers was something that always amazed the blonde - 2.1 million people were interested in her life and her work. However, at this moment in time, the figure was a daunting one - one of which was linked to the reason her notifications were flooding in by the minute, and one of the reasons she was trending on the popular social media platform.

Reluctantly scanning through the trending section, she is relieved to see the large majority of comments are positive: displaying genuine happiness at the fact that she would soon be releasing new material; offering forms of congratulations in having publicly addressed her sexuality; receiving propositions and marriage proposals from all sorts of people - most of which leave her chuckling to herself.

Feeling relieved by how her admission had been taken, Piper decides to compose a message of her own in response. Wanting to keep it simple yet effective, she takes a few moments to think, before typing out what she wanted to share with her - now 2.2 million - followers: a simple 'Thank you', followed by the emoticon of two women holding hands and an attached picture she had taken the day before. She's holding up a handwritten piece of scribbled paper - nothing important being revealed, looking somewhat happy to the eye as she smiles in the makeup-less image with round, light brown reading glasses covering her blue orbs.

She posts the same picture and caption onto her Instagram before putting away her laptop, smiling as she thinks ahead to what she has scheduled throughout the coming weeks.