Chipping the Paint

Piper was pacing back and forth in her kitchen, eye twitching like crazy. She couldn't tell if it was because she was anxious, angry or just scared. Maybe a mix of the three. During her two years in office, she had never come close to this amount of restlessness. Her stomach was twisting uncomfortably and she had to grab onto the counter to focus on something else. It did little to nothing and soon she found herself bent over the expensive marble, elbows placed firmly on the hard surface while her face was buried in her hands. She could feel how moist her forehead was and how much her hands shook. It wasn't the time to be unstable. Focus. She had to focus.

One. Two. Three. Four. The air felt thick, inadequate, and wouldn't give her enough oxygen.

Five. Six. Seven. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on breathing.

Eight. Nine. Just breathe.

Ten.

There was a buzzing sound from the intercom, signaling that someone was at the gate. Shit.

The blonde woman took one last deep breath, the sound from the electric device making its way into her bones, vibrating, buzzing like a mosquito flying around her head. It couldn't be waved away. The pulsing sound waves kept hitting her and there was nothing she could do about it. Except answering the call. She had two options; ignoring it and wait for her guards to get rid of the person responsible for the buzzing, or letting said person inside. What she was about to do, or not do, was highly irresponsible and could have dire consequences. Assuming that she would get caught. She swallowed thickly and walked towards the source of the loud sound, clicking the button to answer the call. The screen lit up, giving off a blue hue, and the person standing outside her gate wore a black leather jacket, black hair making its way past the shoulders. Judging from the person's silhouette, it was a woman, but she was facing away from the camera. Clever.

"Yes?" she asked calmly, thanking whatever Gods there may be that she'd had media training. Despite her rapidly beating heart, she held her usual tone of voice and did nothing to give away her nerves. One perk with her job, she sure as hell knew how to act. There was a tense silence, as if the unknown person was taunting her, dragging the whole thing out to make her suffer. Maybe she deserved it.

"Your, uhm... Coffee, ma'am." The voice coming from the intercom was definitely female. It was deep and kind of raspy, a slight drawl to it. Piper swallowed again, pushing the button to open the gate. If she changed her mind later, she could just get rid of it. It couldn't be that hard. When she saw that the woman no longer stood in front of the camera, she closed the gate again. It took just short of two minutes up to the house, the blonde knew that, had counted the seconds many times, but it seemed like time had slowed down substantially. What usually felt like like a three second breather, suddenly turned into an eternity. She felt her hands clam up, much like her forehead had just minutes ago. How was she supposed to look composed in front of the other woman? What would the other woman think of her? Was she reliable? Piper could see the headlines before her; "Mayor Chapman in drug scandal?!" It did nothing to calm her down.

A sudden harkle disrupted her thoughts.

"Ms. Chapman. There's a woman outside saying she brought the coffee," John, bless his soul, said with slight confusion in his voice. Despite announcing a dubious delivery, he didn't comment on it. Even after two years, it still felt weird to have bodyguards around her at all hours of the day. She had insisted that it was an unnecessary cost, but the NYC police department had practically forced her to accept their offer. Piper straightened her posture and stroke the front of her dress to straighten out the fabric.

"Show her in," she said, still sounding calm. With a curt nod, the tall man left the room. The blonde repeated her previous movement, a nervous habit of hers. It was the only outlet she could have when faced with difficult situations. She was supposed to be calm, collected, not show her true emotions. It was no wonder the pressure was getting to her. Even as a kid, she was supposed to smile prettily for the camera and just fake. Fake her smile, fake her happiness, fake her life. Everything had to look good, no one could know that the pristine exterior was a stark contrast to the crumbling interior. Little did people know, that the generous family oriented father was a cheating bastard who preferred to stay inside different women instead of his own home. His gorgeous wife could do nothing more than to get revenge by maxing her loving husband's credit cards. But the kids were alright. Right? Wrong. The oldest son wanted nothing to do with his family and moved abroad as soon as he came of age. The youngest of them, also a son, lived off of the parents' money and smoked weed every day. The daughter, well, let's just say that success isn't everything.

Piper turned to the doorway as she heard approaching footsteps.

A raven haired woman stood before her, green eyes, lined with charcoal eyeliner and framed by a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses, two fine lines above the edges, plucked to perfection. The woman was stunning. She wasn't wearing anything spectacular, just a pair of black skinny jeans, aforementioned black leather jacket, and a white top underneath it. Either she was dressed for the occasion, easily forgettable in a black attire, or she just really disliked any type of color. The blonde wouldn't know, of course, but if she could guess, she would say the latter. She just seemed like a woman who wouldn't care for cheerful colors. Piper's eyes moved down to the woman's mouth, she was talking with her lips quirked upwards.

"Your coffee?"It sounded like mockery, but the other woman's face had an underlying understanding. She must have known that this wasn't something Piper normally did. It was that obvious. The blonde nodded, just a small movement that would have been unnoticed hadn't the other woman looked at her so intently. Even though she was grinning, her eyes were unmistakeably sharp, like she was as on edge as the blonde. Maybe she thought that it was a trap and was secretly planning an escape route.

"You don't have to worry. No one knows about you. It's not a set up," Piper assured. The other woman cocked a delicate eyebrow, grin in place, but eyes even sharper than before. Maybe she hadn't thought about that at all and maybe she just now started to distrust the blonde. She didn't seem like a person that would just throw herself into a potentially dangerous situation without having considered every possible outcome. It was hard to tell, though, as she didn't even know the raven haired woman before her.

"No one knows about me? What about the two hulks outside?" The other woman sounded skeptical, a humorless half-chuckle as she spoke. Despite the playful comment, she sounded anything but. There was something harsh in her voice, like she wanted Piper to know that this wasn't a game. Of course it wasn't, she was aware. Her whole career was at stake if someone were to know that Ms. Chapman, mayor of New York City, was about to make an arrangement with a drug dealer.

"They don't know anything. I haven't told anyone." The blonde wasn't sure if she was convincing. It wasn't a lie, though, but the other woman couldn't really know that, could she? Piper swallowed again, closing her eyes for a brief second and took another deep breath. It came out shaky. When she opened her eyes again, the raven haired woman looked at her with pity. Her whole body tensed up. She wasn't looking for pity. Pity was something only weak people craved and she wasn't weak. If she was, she wouldn't have come so far. Or maybe she was. She had a drug dealer in her kitchen, ready to give her what she craved so bad. If that wasn't weakness, nothing was. The other woman took a small plastic bag out from an inside breast pocket and put it down on the counter, hand still over it as if to shield its content.

"This is an opiate, like you asked for. It will make you drowsy and calm. Don't combine it with alcohol, it can be lethal." She spoke calmly, not as guarded as before.

"Do you warn all your costumers?" Piper asked with a nervous laugh. The raven haired woman shook her head, looking her dead in the eyes.

"No," she said curtly. The blonde clenched her jaws, suddenly feeling more nervous than before. There was something in the other's intense gaze, something that made the blonde's knees weak. It was too much. Piper averted her eyes, focusing on a little speck on the marble counter, just beside the other's hand.

"Look, I can tell that this isn't something you're used to. You can still change your-"

"No," the blonde interrupted sharply, eyes shooting right back up again, staring into deep green. "No, I need this. You don't have to play the bigger man here, just do what you came here to do." The raven haired woman adjusted her glasses, stepping closer, making Piper's heart speed up for no apparent reason. On one hand, the woman was a drug dealer and could easily kill her if she chose to. On the other hand, she had given her advice and didn't seem like she wanted her to get hurt. The other woman stood but a foot from her, staring at her, seemingly looking for something, like Piper held all the answers to her unasked questions in her eyes. The blonde's mouth opened on it's own accord, making breathing a slightly easier task. She took a shaky breath, unable to do anything else.

"100 bucks." It sounded like a whisper, but Piper wasn't sure. She felt almost dizzy, like she was already intoxicated. The other woman could have shouted the words for all she knew, she was just... lost, completely engrossed by the other's eyes. It was like being in a forest, disoriented by the radiant green from both trees and moss. But she didn't want to be found, didn't want to go back to reality. She wanted to be led astray and just... disappear. Something woke her from her trance, making her blink a few times while backing up a step or two, adjusting her suit jacket as if it had ruffled up from just standing close to another person.

"Of course," she said, clearing her throat. This woman was a distraction she wanted, but not at all what she should want. What she should want was not at home at the moment. She clenched her fists, reminding herself that she was not supposed to pursue the things she wanted, but to achieve what was expected of her. Without delaying the matter further, she took her wallet out from her pocket and opened it. She had prepared some large bills in case it would be expensive. 100 dollars didn't seem nearly as expensive as she had thought it would cost, though. People always talked about drugs being one of the most expensive things you could buy and the blonde had prepared for a much higher sum. Although, not everyone was as wealthy as her, either. 100 dollars did seem like a small cost to her, but to some people it was a fortune. She took the money out of her wallet and handed it to the woman before her who still stared at her intensely. It felt like she was being inspected, like every move she made got judged. The other woman took the money after a few seconds of silence and pocketed it, not once looking at the bill. Piper smoothed out the front of her dress again, purposely avoiding the other's gaze. She could see the raven haired woman turning on her heels and without another word, she left the kitchen, leaving the blonde to her own devices. As soon as the door was completely closed, she gasped loudly, feeling her eyes tear up. She breathed heavily, heaving like she had just ran a mile. Before anyone could enter the room again and see what she had bought, she put the little bag in her pocket along with her wallet. She placed both hands on the expensive marble and leaned her head down between her shoulders, still trying to get a hold of herself. The tears were running freely and she couldn't stop them, couldn't control her breathing. It was a long time since she had cried and now that she was, it came out hysterically with snorts and rapid, almost panicked gasps. She needed to stop. No one could see her like this, see her when she was weak. She was supposed to be strong. Fuck.

"Okay, Piper. Breathe."

Onetwothreefour. She felt dizzy, like she was about to faint.

Five, six, seven. Her eyes couldn't focus, sight tainted with blurry blotches.

Eight. Nine. Time stood still and she wasn't breathing anymore.

Ten.

There was a buzzing sound in her head, a continuous white noise that filled her eardrums until she couldn't hear anything anymore. Everything turned black.

AN: Hello again, readers! So this is a fic I've been working on for a while now and I'm just gonna say that it will get kind of dark. I hope you'll enjoy it.

All the love. xx