A/N:
Just a little thing that came to me whilst I was eating my granola yesterday. Hope you guys love it. Let me know if you would like me to continue. J
The morning was sunny and bright and Larry was in a good mood, an insufferably good mood, the sort of mood that made Piper suspicious.
"Come on Pipes, the zoo is going to be fun, it was where we had our first official date and they've added a monkey enclosure too"
"Coffee..I need coffee" she mumbled, rubbing her temples with her fingertips.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have chugged down that whole bottle of vintage Veuve Cliquot last night then?" Larry replied, failing to show the blonde any real sympathy.
Piper scowled. "You should have stopped me"
"When you're in that state, there really is no stopping you Pipes, now hurry up and get dressed, we've got us some primates to see!"
Piper groaned and padded to her dresser. She pulled out some Abercrombie jeans and a baby pink Ralph Lauren (vintage) sweater. She teamed it with some simple, but elegant, chestnut brown, leather flats (hand stitched in Cambodia) and a paisley Hermes, silk scarf. She popped in some Tiffany pearl earrings and declared herself good to go. She snatched up her Coach, tan leather, across the body bag and followed her boyfriend out of the front door.
The blonde slept for most of the car journey to the zoo, still feeling worse for wear and Larry simply left her to it, distracted by his own plans for the day. Once he had parked up he gently nudged Piper awake. It took several minutes for the blonde to stir and even then she was reluctant to leave the warm confines of the Mercedes SLK. "Mmmmm...need more sleep ...catch you up..." she muttered.
"Come on Pipes, i've got a special day planned" Larry reasoned, so reluctantly, Piper agreed and exited the vehicle.
Larry was beaming all the way to the entrance gate and once at the ticket office, he revealed the first part of the surprise. "I've arranged for a private tour around the monkey enclosure with one of the zoo keepers, isn't that awesome?"
"Um, I guess?" Piper replied, still failing to share the same enthusiasm as her boyfriend, wistfully thinking about a caffeine hit.
"Well thanks for the enthusiasm for the effort i've made" Larry sulked. "I just thought it would be a special surprise, clearly I was wrong".
The blonde sighed, she knew Larry meant well, but the last few months with him were beginning to feel like more of a chore than anything. What she really needed was some excitement and she doubted a VIP pass to the zoo was going to provide her with that.
They were handed their special access passes and told to wait at the information point for the arrival of their guide. "You want coffee?" Larry offered, trying to appease the blonde woman.
"Ugh, I doubt the stuff here is gonna be fair trade organic"
"I think I saw a Starbucks over by the gift shop?"
"You know I only drink artisan" Piper snapped.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger" Larry replied.
Piper sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to take this out on you, just hungover and feel queasy"
Larry nodded. "Well hopefully the monkey's will cheer you up...oh looks like our guide is here"
Piper looked up, blue pools, locking with vivid green. Their guide was not what she was expecting. She was tall, had luscious dark hair, black secretary glasses and curves that Piper couldn't seem to peel her eyes away from, including a pair of very ample assets. It was few seconds before the blonde realised her mouth was agape and Larry was asking her if she was ok.
"Yea..of course" she mumbled, ignoring the warmth that she could feel down below.
"Hey" the woman said with a smirk, "I'm Alex, your guide for the day...this your sister?" she said to Larry.
"Oh..gosh no...Piper here is my girlfriend"
"Really?!" Alex said, a well sculpted eyebrow quirking up, failing to hid her surprise.
"Yes really" Larry replied, more than a little put out at her assumption.
"Hey sorry, didn't mean to offend you pal" Alex said clapping him on the arm, "it's just that the way she was looking at you was sisterly rather than anything else"
"Pipes?" Larry said, desperate for the blonde girl to confirm the brunette was wrong.
"Um...yea..he's not my sister...I mean..i'm not his sister..." she replied, suddenly aware her cheeks were flushed.
Alex laughed "I dunno kid, you don't seem sure about it..."
"Maybe we should just get on with the tour, that is what I paid for after all" Larry interrupted abruptly.
The Monkey's were amusing, even more so when one of them looked as though he was about to hurl some faeces at Larry, who just about managed to duck in time. Although he clearly didn't appreciate both women giggling at him. But Piper was enjoying Alex's company. She found out she had been working at the Zoo for five years. She had wanted to be a vet, but because she couldn't afford to fund herself through school, she couldn't fulfil her dream and so had to take the job at the zoo. A single, mute tear escaped Piper's eye as Alex told her of the trials and tribulations of growing up in only a one vehicle household. "You know" she said, her voice cracking, "I didn't even get to try fillet steak until recently, I just feel like i've missed out on so much".
Piper squeezed the brunette's arm. "I'm so sorry to hear that Alex, but look at it this way, you've landed yourself a great job now and i'll bet you get to meet some really interesting people?"
"Very interesting" Alex replied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Um, Pipes, can I have a word?" Larry interrupted, much to Piper's chagrin.
"What?" she hissed, not even bothering to look at him and staring across and the pretzel stand over his shoulder. When she looked back towards him, her eyes widened in disbelief as Larry had dropped down to one knee and was proffering a small ring box.
"Piper Chapman, will you marry me?"