A/N: This is my first fic so please be kind, next chapter is nearly done, would love to hear what you think in the reviews and yeah, hope you enjoy :)
-G
Two hours. That's how long this 'meeting' has been going on for. Alex is pretty sure she hasn't spoken in the last half hour but none of the guys seem to have noticed so she allows herself to get re-lost in her trance. Her mind is brought back to her New York apartment, picturing a certain cute blonde lounging on her couch in one of her t-shirts or plodding around her kitchen making breakfast. Looking down at her watch she reads 2:37pm, that means its 8:37am in New York, 'yep she'd definitely be up by now' she thinks to herself.
She'd be lying if she said her mind doesn't drift to Piper a lot, especially when she's away on business. But she encourages the distraction, thinking of what she'd be doing if she were there with her, maybe grabbing a shower together, making Piper something to eat before she goes to work, laughing at her as she searches the apartment for her uniform. She reaches to feel the bulge of her phone in her pocket, resisting the urge to text her and see how she's doing. 'God Vause, quit being such a pussy' she thinks to herself. 'When did I get this domestic?' Here she is, sat among a handful of some the most dangerous people she knows, supposedly discussing and arranging drop offs and pickups with Kubra and the other importers he'd dragged to one of his villas in Alicante, and all she can think about is her girlfriend.
"You alright there Vause?" She's brought back to reality by the sound of Fahri's voice attempting to bring her back into the conversation.
"Yeah just tired, you know… jet lag"
"I would hate to think I'm keeping you from something Alex, got a better place to be?" This time it's Kubra, he's chucking so she knows he's not serious, but it's still a question she knows she should answer.
"Like I said, just jet lag" she replies with her best attempt at a tried smile. "Sorry, where were we?"
She pulls her glasses back over her eyes from where they were resting on the top of her head, leaning forward on her chair attempting to fully immerse herself in the conversation.
"Kubra was just telling us about how much he enjoys one of the new mules you brought over, the short brunette, Mira is it?" Fahri asks looking over to Kubra for confirmation.
"I don't fucking know" his husky laugh fills the room and all the men join in with him. "All I know is she may be shit at her job, but she's good at everything else" Alex assumes 'else' meaning that Kubra's already fucked her.
"Mandy" Alex breaks through the laughter around her, "Her name's Mandy".
The laughter dulls to a contempt silence as the men resume their drinking and smoking, Kubra lights a new cigar and brings it to his lips inhaling deeply and puffing the smoke out around him.
"You been there Vause?" He asks, his voice a little horse from the smoke.
"Nope" she replies, shaking her head a little, "I'm trying this new thing where I don't mix work with pleasure" But what she's really saying is 'I'm not gonna fuck the mules anymore, not now that I have Piper'. It's not that she didn't use to enjoy sleeping with the mules, her 'convincing' them that the job is easy, worth it, but really she was just using their insecurities against them, getting them to trust Alex, admire her even. But now she was taking a new approach, not that hers and Pipers relationship was this big inconvenience that meant she couldn't sleep with the mules, but more that she actually really didn't want to. She enjoyed Piper, and just Piper, she didn't need anyone else. And as scary as that might have initially seemed to her, it was true.
"Hmm, smart girl" Kubra replies, lifting his glass of scotch towards Alex as a gesture of approval. Lifting it towards his lips he continues, his voice muffled by the glass "As long as it doesn't affect your recruitment".
It's an innocent enough statement, but there's a threat lying somewhere under there, hidden beneath the simplicity of saying it whilst drinking, him trying to make it subtle.
"Of course not" she replies with a wry smile, Alex knows what he means. Knows that when it comes down to it Kubra really doesn't care how she does her job, just as long as it's done.
It's 10:09 by the time she returns to her hotel, immediately turning on every light in attempt to make it feel a bit more homely. After changing out of her leather pants and black blouse she lifts her suitcase onto the bed and rummages around looking for a particular t-shirt. 'I could have sworn I packed it' she thinks to herself before giving up and chucking on her grey hoodie and pyjama shorts.
The day had been long and unproductive, Alex can't help but think back to what Kubra said at his villa: "got a better place to be?", 'Yes as a matter of fact I do' she says out loud to herself, the room is fit for 4 and feels too spacious, too lonely. Today marked day 8 of her trip, Fahri has still yet to confirm how much longer she'll be needed in Spain before she can return back to the states. Back to Piper. She can't quite place what it is about today in particular but she's feeling especially sentimental, and particularly home sick.
Trips never used to be like this, she would never hope for them to speed up so she could return home, no quite the opposite, she'd relish in the adventure of her job, thinking of ways to extend trips and just live on the adrenaline that little bit longer. But ever since she'd met Piper, even since Piper moved in with her, everything seems to have tilted just that little bit. It's not that Alex doesn't enjoy her job, compare it to a 9 till 5, 5 days a week, minimum wage job and Alex can't think of anything but how lucky she is to have met Fahri. How lucky she is not be in the same position as her mother. Her mother. She should probably call her, tell her she'll visit once she's home. Call. Leaping onto the king size bed Alex pulls out her phone and checks the time. 10:16pm that means its 4:16pm in New York. Piper finishes work at 4.
Alex opens up her contacts and presses 'pipes', a picture of herself and the blonde filling up the screen, Piper took it a couple of months ago when they visited a fair ground in the city. The blondes smile takes up most of her face, dimples and pearly white teeth visible. Alex is positioned behind her, arms draped around her girlfriend's waist, lips on the cheek. It's such a happy photo. Pressing 'call' and still smiling about the photo she bring the phone to her ear and waits. It rings 3 times before Piper answers.
"Hello?"
"Hey kid"
"Al!" Alex can practically feel pipers smile.
Alex chuckles before answering "Yeah it's me, how you doing? New York lonely without me?"
"I'm good, tired…work was shit. I just got back to the apartment. Well I dunno about New York but I am." Piper's voice is small with the last statement.
Alex let's out a long sigh before replying "I miss you Pipes."
"I miss you too… any news on when you'll be back?" Alex can hear Piper rummaging around on the other side of the phone, probably changing out of her work clothes, the thought make Alex smile.
"Not yet kid, I'm working on it, I'm hoping it won't be much more than a week at most."
"A week huh? I can deal with that"
"Yeah? You think?"
Chuckling on the other side of the line Piper responds "Yeah I think I can just about handle another week"
"Well let's hope so, we both know how much you struggle with celibacy" Alex's laughter fills the room as she imagines Piper's embarrassed face.
"That's rich coming from Mrs three orgasms a day."
"Hahahah, you got me there kid. Ughhhh, I. Am. Beat." Alex pushes herself up from leaning against the headboard and lays herself down stretching her legs and arms awkwardly as she still tries to keep a hold on her phone.
"Yeah? Busy umm day at work?" Piper asks awkwardly, not quite knowing how to talk about her girlfriend's profession.
Busy. Chuckling at her cute girlfriend Alex says "yeah, work was busy, how about you? Tough day at the restaurant?"
"Mmmmm yeah, just the usual level of shittiness". What're you doing right now?"
"Just lying on the bed in my hotel room, you?"
"Just lying on our bed"
"Eughhhhhhhh" Groaning, Alex takes her glasses off and chucks them further down the bed before laying her left arm over her eyes and trying not to imagine Piper right now. "Stop, this isn't fair, don't say any more."
Piper's adorable giggle doesn't help either.
"Wanna know what I'm wearing?" Piper's voice is mischievous and definitely lowered an octave or two.
"Nope, no definitely not, don't even go there"
"Or what I'm not wearing for that matter?"
"Piper! I mean it! I don't wanna imagine anything that I can't physically act on"
Piper chuckles and lets out a satisfied sigh before replying "Okay I'll stop."
A moment of contempt silence falls between them for a moment, both just listening to the other breathing.
"I can't wait for this trip to be over, it's like they brought me out here just to check on me or something, I totally could have arranged all of this from the states."
Noticing the blondes continued silence Alex asks softly "Pipes? You still there?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah I'm here."
Letting out a deep sigh Alex remembers how touchy the subject of her job is with her girlfriend.
"Sorry, let's talk about something else."
Alex can practically feel the noticeable shift in tension through the phone, desperately thinking of anything she can say to get a response from Piper. Trying to imagine what she's thinking. Just as she begins to open her mouth to say something she hears a soft whisper, barely audible over the rough connection.
"I just miss you…"
Closing her eyes tightly Alex tries to supress the wave of guilt rolling over her. She knows how much Piper hates her being away. They're still in the 'honeymoon' stage of their relationship and want anything but to be away from the other, still relishing in the unfamiliar feel of living with someone new, learning new things about each other, and she's here, half the world away from Piper and she knows that it has to be a regular thing.
"I know babe, believe me, I know. I promise I'll be back before you know it and it'll be like I was never gone." The last bit is spoken with so much certainty that it's almost as if Alex is trying to convince herself as well as her girlfriend.
Piper's chuckle successfully rids Alex of any worries she had about piper being mad at her. "Okay… I can't wait"
A small smile makes its way across Alex's lips, "Me either"
"Okay well I'll let you get some sleep, I refuse to deal with a tired Alex Vause when you get back, you better be ready for another night of lost sleep Al."
Alex laughs fills her hotel room before replying in her best sultry voice "Don't you worry kid, I'll never be that tired."
"Good… I love you"
"I love you too Pipes, I'll call you tomorrow"
She waits for Piper to disconnect the call and stares at the photo of them on her phone until it returns to Pipers contact page. She turns the side light off and lies back down in the king size bed before attempting to get some sleep, the thoughts of seeing her girlfriend again distracting her.