Spilled Coffee
A/N: Hey everyone, this is something that I've been thinking of writing for a while, I've been writing this for quite some time and I've just kept adding more and more to it until it finally satisfied me and now here we are! I'm just testing the waters with this since this is kind of new ground for me, so it would be great if you would let me know what you think!
Chapter 1
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" the blonde quizzed her friend sat across her, arms folded across her chest as she leaned back into her chair.
"It's nothing Piper, now that I think about it I just overreacted."
"Pol, what is it." Piper encouraged her friend to speak up; she knew something was wrong because Polly only ever dragged her out to their local bistro when another one of her dramas was unfolding. It was late afternoon so Piper didn't particularly mind meeting up with her friend as she had finished most of the tasks and chores she had to do for the day, so it's not like their meeting was interrupting anything. The bistro was a small place in the middle of town that had only been open for a year or so, the staff was friendly and Piper enjoyed going there with Polly. The two women had been sat at their usual table by the door for about twenty minutes sipping at their coffee that Piper had bought when she arrived first, watching passers-by through the window and having a tedious conversation before Piper finally decided to get the point of the whole reason she had met up with Polly in the first place.
Polly sighed as a look of discontent washed over her, "I'm just really stressed out. Pete has hardly been around to help me with the wedding preparation and whenever I do see him he always reeks of beer. Whenever I mention the fact he's been drinking more he just says he's fucking Australian so it's normal. I snapped at him this morning and now I feel like an asshole."
Polly unfolded her arms from across her body and placed her elbows on the small, round table in front of her with a thud and rested her head in her hands.
Piper looked at her friend with a sympathetic expression, tracing her index finger around the almost empty cup of coffee as she tried to string together a helpful sentence to say. The past few months had been taking its toll on the brunette (and Piper too, who was always the one Polly vented her problems to). She was getting married to her high school sweetheart, Pete. They had been dating for as long as anyone could remember so it was about time he popped the question; the blonde was thrilled to hear of the engagement and whenever the two women was together the topic of conversation always seemed to end up being about the upcoming wedding. They could talk for hours on end about wedding dresses, flower arrangements and the perfect venue but now all they ever seemed to discuss was how aggravating Pete was being and how stressed Polly was. Piper had promised she would be there to help her best friend for the big day but recently nothing was getting done due to how stressed out Polly was, the wedding was in just over a month and the couple was going through a rough patch that the blonde never heard enough of.
"Pete is probably just as stressed as you are, you're making a promise to someone for the rest of your life - it can be scary." Pipers tone was soft and comforting; she was trying her best to reassure the brunette. "What did you say to him anyway?"
Polly groaned and raised her head out of her hands to look at her friend, Piper let out a chuckle at the sight of her exhausted expression.
"Something along the lines of calling him a useless, pathetic excuse of a man who drinks too much cheap beer and vanishes when things start getting difficult."
Piper raised her eyebrows; Polly must have been really stressed out if she was being that harsh to her future husband.
"Wow," was the only thing the blonde could utter out, she never had been the best with words.
"I know," Polly shook her head, aware that she took it slightly too far.
Piper furrowed her brows. It's possibly easier said than done but Piper thought that Polly should just lighten up and enjoy her last couple of weeks as a single woman. It would make things far much easier for everyone.
"All that over him smelling of beer?"
"There's other things too, it's all been building up and I just snapped." she paused for a moment almost as if she realised she was talking too much about herself.
Shocker.
Polly placed both of her hands on to the wooden table, palms face down as she studied the girl opposite her with a look of interrogation. "Enough about me anyway, how's things going with you?"
Piper looked at Polly with a confused expression and she hesitated slightly before speaking, "...Good, I guess. It depends what you mean"
Polly smirked and nudged the blonde in the arm that was resting on the table, still tracing around the edge of her cup. "You know what I mean."
The blonde scoffed and now it was her turn to rest her head in her hands, she shook her head gently before once again looking at the face of her inquisitive friend. "How did I know the topic of conversation would end up being about my love life? You sound like my mom"
"Correction, your nonexistent love life. Anyway, you can't blame me for being a little curious! I'm amazed you haven't got cobwebs forming down there."
As displeasing it was to hear, Polly was right. It had been a while. Piper's love life, as Polly said, was nonexistent after her split from her ex-boyfriend Larry. He wasn't tall, dark and handsome with abs like steel but Piper was happy enough with him for the majority of the relationship. He was an aspiring writer but none of his articles were getting any recognition, the blonde had read through some of them when he left his laptop on and she was pretty certain he wouldn't be getting any of them published soon.
She once read a dreadful article about something called 'edging'; she vowed not to read any others after that.
He wasn't anything special, he was nice enough and he really did love her, but after just over a year of dating him Piper had realised the feeling wasn't at all mutual. It was like she had an epiphany; it was as if she had a sudden jolt of electricity in her mind that snapped her back to her senses. It finally clicked that she had spent a year of her life in a loveless (on Pipers part anyway) and trite relationship. Despite coming to terms with her feelings for Larry, she still stayed with him for a lot longer than she should have. She did it Mainly out of sympathy.
After a while though, Piper realised she was only staying with him because she was just terrified of being alone. She didn't want to do the inevitable task of splitting from Larry because she didn't know how she would cope with being by herself.
However, the day the blonde finally decided that enough was enough was on an average Sunday afternoon when she was putting away Larry's laundry. Piper came across a small box wrapped in suede tucked away in his underwear drawer (he could have thought of a better hiding place). Piper knew exactly what it was. However she still felt the need to see it with her own eyes rather than just assuming the worst.
She was right. When she opened the tiny box her eyes met a silver ring sitting comfortably in the box, it was encrusted with three diamonds, one large diamond taking pride of place in the centre of the ring and the two others either side of it. It was a Bloom family heirloom, Piper knew the engagement ring didn't come from immediate family but it still would have held some significance and she didn't want Larry going through all the effort of planning a proposal and producing her this ring while down on one knee only to be rejected. Piper had to put a stop to the relationship and so that night when Larry came home from his monotonous job, she ended it.
Larry tried to put on a brave face as best he could but the blonde knew she had just ripped out his heart there and then.
The pair hasn't spoken since. As bad as it sounds, Piper is glad she hasn't had any contact with Larry. She wouldn't know how to go about having conversation with him knowing full well that she ended their relationship while he was planning to propose to her, it would be far too awkward for Pipers liking.
Larry offered a life of stability, a life that offered no trouble however Piper wasn't happy. It wasn't the life she wanted. The blonde didn't want to be the common housewife she knew she was morphing in to the longer she stayed with him. She dreaded the thought of being someone who wasted away their life sitting at home all day and made sure a hot plate food was on the table for when their husband came home. Someone she promised she would never turn in to - A promise more to herself than anyone else.
Piper wanted something to look forward to waking up to; a life that people envied because her life made theirs look so mundane and prosaic which her relationship with Larry undeniably was.
It lacked that excitement she so desperately craved.
"I don't know Pol; I guess I haven't found the right person yet." The blonde shrugged her shoulders, the white material of her blouse creasing at the action.
"Well who is the right person? I never know with you Piper."
"I don't know myself to be honest," she slouched back into her seat before continuing, "I want warm, but I also want hot. I want fireworks. I want somebody I can have adventures with." Her azure eyes flashed with life at the prospect of being with someone that could make her feel such a way. She hoped, in fact she dreamed of the day that person would walk into her life.
Polly paused, processing what her friend had just said. "Those people are hard to come by."
Piper sighed and the corners of her lips twitched into a disgruntled smile, "I've figured."
The brunette chuckled as she sat up straight in her seat, "This conversation got way too deep all of a sudden, I need another coffee."
The deafening sound of the default iPhone ringtone sounded loudly throughout the moderately sized apartment, the sudden sound of it breaking the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the room and making its owner jump with surprise. A pale hand moved forward towards the device and picked it up from the pale oak coffee table, swiping across the screen and bringing it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Vause!"
Alex could recognize that voice from a mile away. She didn't even have to check the caller ID to know it was Nicky; it was like her special skill. Well, if you class knowing who is trying to call you before you look at their ID a 'special skill'.
"Are you still up for tonight?"
Before she could even construct a reply the wild haired woman continued speaking.
"Actually forget I asked that because even if you said no I'd still come to your apartment and personally drag you out of it."
Alex chuckled lightly. The pair had been practically joined at the hip since middle school and even back then Nicky was still one of the most determined people Alex knew. She was especially persistent when alcohol was involved in the equation.
Alex was exhausted and didn't feel at all like traipsing around town until the early hours of the morning with a drunken Nicky by her side, not that she would be in any better condition. She could however handle the liquor far better than her best friend so she was always the more sober one. The raven haired girl sighed and took the black frames of her glasses between her thumb and forefinger and pushed them past her emerald green eyes so they mounted the top over her head.
"I don't think I can really say no." She laughed drowsily into her phone and waited for a sarcastic reply from Nicky.
"No, you can't." Alex could picture Nicky's smug smile on the other end of the line. It wasn't worth putting up a fight. She knew she would regret staying at home; it was a Friday night after all and both women needed to end the week on a high note. Their nights out were always ones to remember, they usually followed the same pattern – They would find a bar that sold cheap drinks and still manage to spend a small fortune, possibly dance on the odd few table tops and get completely and utterly paralytic drunk while the night ended with one of them calling for a taxi before things got too out of hand. Alex had got herself into a couple of bar fights and often reigned victorious. They usually started out with someone, whether it be man or woman, looking or saying something to the more than likely drunk raven haired girl that wasn't particularly to her liking and things usually spiral out of control from there. Alex has quite a notorious reputation in some of New York's bars and clubs, something that she is fairly proud of.
"Fine. Be at my place at seven." Alex removed the phone from the side of her face and ended the call, she checked the time quickly before locking the device and throwing it down onto the plush cushions of the couch she was sat comfortably on. It was almost 5pm so Alex didn't give herself much time. She wasn't of those people that took hours to get ready but she needed to wake herself up before she did anything else.
She needed a coffee.
Alex picked herself up from her nest of blankets on the couch and strode forward into the kitchen, her long strides landing her in the centre of the desired room in next to no time. Dishes were piled up in the sink to her left and a handful of cups were scattered across the black marble worktop. Alex hadn't had much time to clean them up and when she did have some free time to herself, washing the dishes wasn't exactly the top of her to-do list. She shuffled over to the cupboards mounted on the wall where she usually kept her coffee and swung the small doors open, only to be met with a bare shelf. She let out a disapproving groan and rolled her eyes at the deficient sight before her. Alex didn't have enough time to take a nap and she needed to wake herself up if she was going to enjoy herself when Nicky turned up at her door.
The only option left was that she had to go to the small bistro a couple of blocks away from her apartment. She didn't particularly feel like walking but it wouldn't take long and Alex was really craving a hot cup of coffee at the moment now that she had got herself in the mood for one.
The raven haired girl left the kitchen and made her way down the small corridor towards the entrance to her apartment where her leather jacket was hung up next to the door and her favourite pair of combat boots lay sprawled across the floor after she kicked them off and left them there the last time she came home from a previous venture outside.
Alex Vause wasn't the tidiest of people.
She fastened the boots up tightly and slipped on the jacket so it fit smugly over her plain white cotton t-shirt that hung loosely over her torso. She made sure her phone was in the pocket of her jet-black jeans just in case Nicky tried to call her again. Once she was certain she had everything she needed, Alex unlocked the white wooden door and was out into the corridor of her building in a flash.
Piper settled her cream leather purse onto the counter-top and retrieved a ten dollar bill from one of its many zip compartments to pay for the two Cappuccinos she ordered a couple minutes prior. Her mother had bought it for her birthday earlier in the year because she thought Pipers old purse looked 'too cheap'. The blonde thought it was a perfectly fine purse and as long as it did its job that's all that really mattered, right?
Wrong. It was always about image with Pipers mom, even if it was just a purse. She irritated the living hell out of Piper.
The line at the counter was getting fairly long, it was going on for 5:15pm so Friday night rush hour was starting, and numerous people dressed head to toe in formal attire that had obviously just left a tiring day at the office were now occupying some of the tables in the bistro. Piper was relieved she wasn't one of those people; she couldn't cope with the humdrum routine of working 9am to 5pm shifts for five days a week, that didn't appeal to Piper in the slightest.
She wouldn't class herself as unemployed, though. The small bath product business/hobby that she and Polly had going earned her enough money to keep her happy and it was a really enjoyable pastime. The pair earned an average sum of money when they sold their products at farmers markets and not too long ago they discovered they were going to be having their products sold at Barneys, so their income would only ever increase. The business was really beginning to take off considering it started out as a product of boredom.
The young man behind the counter dressed in a black uniform who took Pipers order placed two cups down carefully in front of her. The blonde handed over her money and tapped her foot quietly on the floor as she waited patiently to receive her change. Once the member of staff handed Piper a small handful of coins and she had placed them into her godforsaken purse, she attentively picked up the two pristine white cups and started advancing towards her table where Polly was waiting. Piper was being extremely careful not to bump into anyone as she shuffled closer to her table just beside the door.
Piper looked down at the cups for a brief second to make sure the liquid wasn't close to spilling out of the cups as her body swayed from side to side as her feet hit the floor.
Once the blonde's eyes had returned to looking ahead, she saw a body advancing forward through the doorway, their eyes focusing on the black iPhone resting firmly in their hand and coming towards Piper far too quick for the blonde to react. Before Piper could fully register what was about to happen, it was too late.
Piper forcibly collided with the other woman and to her dismay the steaming hot coffee had been spilled all over her pristine white shirt, a large stain appeared from bellow her collar bones all the way down the hem of the shirt that was now clinging against its owners skin.
"What the fuck?" was the only words the raven haired girl could deliver as she pulled harshly at the material of her shirt so the hot liquid that was dripping down her front didn't scald her, pulling on a nearby chair abruptly so it let out a piercing screech on the floor and slumped down into its cushioned seat . Her long, elegant fingers quickly grabbed a handful of napkins from a metallic dispenser that rested on the table and begun the arduous task of trying to soak up as much of the beverage as she possibly could.
"I am so sorry!" Piper quickly placed down the now mostly empty cups and perched on the seat opposite the clearly furious stranger and sat there hesitantly, not knowing whether to speak in case she only made the situation worse.
Alex tried to dry out her shirt as best as she could but was getting no success, she would most definitely have to throw that shirt out when she returned back to her apartment because there would be one hell of a stain once it had dried. The taller girl wiped the minuscule amount of coffee that had landed on her phone so it was now free of any droplets and placed it down on the flat surface next to her. Alex looked down to inspect the damage and immediately realised her shirt was now partially see-through and that her back lace bra was visible.
"I'm so sorry," Piper repeated, sounding truly remorseful. "Are you alright?"
Alex looked up at the girl in front of her for the first time and was taken aback by her appearance. The raven haired girl scanned the woman's seated body from head to toe, not even attempting to make her actions discrete. Piper's was sat up straight in the chair as if she was about to be interviewed for a job with her knees pressed together in a very elegant manner and white stiletto heels were surrounded by a small puddle of coffee on the floor that the blonde was completely unaware of. A loose blouse adorned her slender, toned figure; Piper was nervously playing with the hem of the shirt as she waited for a reply from Alex, who was far too busy digesting the sight in front of her. Piper's hair was loose around her shoulders and small portion of hair had been tucked behind her ear after the collision so her face was free of any loose strands. Alex's temper immediately perished at the sight of the girl and her expression relaxed, which made Piper feel a hell of a lot better.
"Yeah, I'm fine it's only a little coffee." Alex's tone was gentle and reassuring, she smirked and Piper could feel a smile of her own etching its way onto her face. Her voice was husky and mellow, it sounded like velvet and not to mention probably the sexiest thing Piper had ever heard. It was a large contrast to the anger laced tone she used when she first spoke.
Piper couldn't take her eyes off the raven haired girl. Her skin was a flawless porcelain colour that seemed to radiate health and was make up free apart from a small amount of meticulously winged black eyeliner. Her jade green eyes were complimented with black rimmed glasses resting on her nose. She was beautiful; Piper could feel a breath hitch in her throat as she continued to stare at the woman opposite her. The blonde didn't know if she was intimidated by Alex or enthralled by her. Maybe even both.
"I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm sorry…" Piper trailed off and smiled nervously as she ran her hand through her golden locks.
Alex let out a laugh that turned out much more loudly than she anticipated and the blonde's expression immediately became one of confusion.
"Stop saying sorry, it's fine. Trust me."
Piper felt a sudden rush of heat in her cheeks as she blushed profusely; she hoped to God it wasn't too noticeable. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it once she had processed what she was going to say.
She was going to apologise for apologising too much.
Instead, she remembered her friend who was probably sat oblivious to what had just occurred and still waiting for Piper to return with their hot drinks which was instead discarded all over Alex's shirt. Polly could wait just a little longer; she seemed to be doing ok.
Alex relaxed her posture in the seat, placing her left elbow on the edge of the table and leaning into it. "If I ring out my shirt you might get at least one cup of coffee back." A teasing smile embellished Alex's face and Piper felt a bubble of laughter escape her throat. The blonde was at ease knowing that the raven haired girl was totally fine with the mishap that occurred, however she was surprised at how quickly her demeanour changed from evidently furious to so relaxed within the blink of an eye.
The blonde nonchalantly crossed one leg over the other, making herself more comfortable so she didn't appear as formal, "Good idea, maybe it will still be warm."
Alex grabbed a hold of lapels of her jacket and started shaking them back and forth as if she was attempting to cool down, a smile begun creeping onto Pipers face for the umpteenth time since she sat down.
"Who needs a jacket when you have a coffee soaked t-shirt?" Alex quipped, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. There was something enticing about the unfamiliar blonde woman sat adjacent to her, she radiated innocence naivety, but Alex felt something that she couldn't explain when she looked at her. Piper's eyes fell to the image that was Alex's lace bra which was now more distinctly showing. The blonde's eyes ceased to move for much longer than they should have and Piper only returned to look at possibly the most alluring person she has ever seen when she saw her body shift ever so slightly, snapping her out of her trance like state.
Once they made eye contact, Piper is sure the raven haired girl winked at her.
"How come you were in such a hurry?" Piper inquired, attempting to cover up her tracks of being potentially caught out staring inappropriately at a woman she has just met.
Alex moved her arm from the table she was leaning on swiftly and took her fingers to her face, gracefully taking her glasses between two fingers and pushing them up her face so they now rested on her forehead, her jet black hair pushed off her features as the arms of her glasses tilted back.
"My friend Nicky is coming over to my place soon and I don't have enough time to have a nap so I thought coffee could be the answer to my problems." Alex was now in fact wide because of the slightly bizarre situation she was currently in.
"Oh, I shouldn't keep you then." Piper spoke sounding slightly disappointed. The blonde didn't want their somewhat trivial conversation to end; the reason for this though was unbeknownst to her.
"No it's fine; I'm only expecting her in the next couple of hours."
"I should probably get going though too, Polly is probably waiting for me," the blonde's lips twitched at the corner as pointed to the direction of her table where her friend who she had momentarily forgotten about was slouched in her seat typing incredibly fast on her phone. Alex's head turned to look at who the blonde was pointing at and laughed as she turned her face back so she was facing Piper.
"Yeah, you should go before Holly falls off that fucking chair."
Piper didn't bother correcting Alex's mistake with her friend's identity, whether she did it on purpose or not Piper didn't particularly care. Polly did look slightly stupid slouched so far down into the chair.
The blonde uncrossed her legs and placed her hands on the arms of the chair, preparing to raise herself up.
"Again, I'm sorry about the whole coffee thing." Alex simply waved her hand and grinned, as if to say don't worry about it. Piper took that as her cue to leave and so she pushed herself up to her full height and smoothed out her shirt so it was free of any creases. Alex's eyes scanned over Pipers long legs now that they were fully extended, she could think of several places that those legs would look better.
Around her waist, for example.
Before Piper could get any further away from the girl, she heard Alex call out in her husky tones that Piper could listen to all day if she had the chance.
"Wait."
The blonde halted and spun around on her heel so she was once again looking into the hypnotizing eyes of the raven haired girl who had also stood up surprisingly quickly from her seat. Despite the fact Piper was wearing heels; Alex was still taller than her in her well-worn combat boots.
"I don't think I asked your name?"
Piper thought it was quite funny, to be honest. How Alex had gone from swearing at the blonde when the pair had crashed together to now politely asking her name.
Piper hesitated, slightly flustered. "Piper, Piper Chapman."
Was the surname really necessary? Piper asked herself, slightly embarrassed.
Another one of Alex's trademark smirks etched its way on to her face which made Piper feel weak at the knees.
"I'm Alex"
Alex. It was simple but it suited her, if a name can suit someone that is. Before Piper could offer a reply, the raven haired girl had already beaten her to it.
"Well then, Piper Chapman…"
Alex spoke her name as if she was testing out how it sounded in her voice, Piper wouldn't mind hearing her name spoke in the somewhat raspy voice of the girl opposite to her which made her stomach do somersaults. Alex could say possibly the most disgusting and offensive sentence known to man and still make it sound ridiculously sexy. Alex inhaled slowly before continuing, altering her posture so she was stood up straight.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around, then."
Alex raised her eyebrows slightly at the blonde stood in the middle of the busy room and slowly passed by Piper as she walked towards the door. The aroma of Alex's perfume made its way to the blondes nose, she smelled of vanilla and of leather from her jacket. Not to mention coffee was mixed in with the other scents too.
She smelled fucking amazing.
"Are you not getting anything?" Piper asked, slightly dazed over the situation.
Alex carried on strolling leisurely towards to doorway with her back to Piper; she tilted her head slightly and spoke louder than usual over her leather-clad shoulder, her voice taking on a more joking like tone.
"I'm not thirsty anymore."
And with that, she was out of the door and had left Piper stood rather awkwardly next to a puddle of what was supposed to be her and Polly's drinks. Because of how busy the bistro had gotten, much to Pipers surprise no one seemed to notice what happened between the two women despite how loud the collision between them was. The blonde quickly made sure nobody was watching her and once the coast was clear she stealthily moved a nearby chair that she had been seated on over the puddle so it was mostly covered and was no longer a slipping hazard.
It was someone else's problem now.
The blonde strode towards her table were Polly was sat still ridiculously low in her seat and focusing on the phone grasped firmly in her palm. She collapsed down into her chair and made her friend jump at the sudden return. She failed to notice Polly's startled expression as her mind was elsewhere - A particular brunette plaguing her mind.
What did she mean by 'I guess I'll be seeing you around'?
Was she just being sarcastic? Despite the obvious tone of banter and a slight essence of flirtation in her tone, Alex sounded like she was actually going to see Piper again.
New York was a big city; it was highly unlikely the two women would ever run into each other again, but the blonde was hoping that she would somehow cross paths with Alex for a second time. It was almost as if the raven haired girl retained an aura of mystery, even though their meeting had only been very brief, Piper wanted to know more. It was slightly disheartening to know that she might not get the chance to get to know the woman.
Piper finally snapped out of her trance when Polly shifted in her seat and accidentally kicked the blonde in the shin. Well, Piper thinks it was an accident.
"Piper?"
"What?" Piper looked at her still evidently confused friend with a lethargic expression before she put two and two together and realised the cause of Polly's disarray.
"Where's the coffee?"