Author's Note: For those of you who follow my work, you know I don't post unfinished stories. That is the case again with this one, though I am struggling with the ending. I should have a good two weeks to make the ending stronger, but I apologize for the crappy and slow start to this story. I rewrote the first five pages three times, starting from scratch. I can only ask you to hang in there—it gets better.
Moving in with Larry was a no brainer—they'd been together for almost a year, and Piper's lease was up at the end of the month, forcing her to move somewhere. It made sense for the shiksa and the Jew to cohabitate, and as roommates went, Larry was fine. To be fair, Piper hated that her boyfriend left soiled dishes in the sink overnight and that he sang advertisement jingles around the house, but he was far better than her depressed, online gambler ex-roommate from Jacksonville.
Piper enjoyed just chilling with her boyfriend, as girlfriends often do, but sometimes she viewed Larry as more of a pal than a significant other. The sex was decent and he could occasionally turn her on, but what she loved most about Larry was that he was comfortable. He made Piper laugh and was as easy going as they come. They both got along well with each other's friends, and double dating or group outings were a common occurrence.
Wedding bells weren't ringing in Piper's head, but she felt like being with Larry seemed right at that point in her life.
Larry had never been a good dancer. His "white man's overbite" combined with boxing moves left Piper laughing at him and pulling him off the dance floor on more than one occasion. However, for his birthday, Larry insisted upon showing off his dance moves in a public forum.
Piper had done research on dance clubs in Manhattan and decided to try The Pyramid, which was just three miles from their apartment. She'd been known to cut a rug on occasion, but the kind of dancing she enjoyed involved a partner with rhythm. She didn't have the heart to tell her boyfriend that the two of them simply didn't mesh on the dancefloor—the only attention they drew was the unwanted kind of pointing and laughing onlookers.
Piper had purchased a new dress for the occasion—a tight, short blue number with an open back that left little to the imagination. When her boyfriend saw her in the dress, he could hardly keep his mouth shut.
Two couples joined them for dinner, and two met up with them at The Pyramid at 10 p.m. The place was packed when they entered, and Piper regretted not getting a booth ahead of time. Larry had already consumed three rum and Cokes and seemingly didn't mind the lack of seating in the club—he was ready to dance.
"You know you're not good at this, right?" Piper joked as she snapped her fingers and moved her hips.
"I can hold my own," Larry commented, looking around at the other dancers.
"I'm going to get us another round," the blonde yelled over the music. "You keep dancing. Meet me over there after this song."
As she turned around, she stepped squarely on a foot. "I'm so sorry!"
A tall, dark haired woman with glasses glared at her. "Watch where you're going!"
Piper was taken aback. "I didn't intentionally step on your foot. Sorry."
"Walk away," the woman said, making a shooing motion with her hand. "And take your Yuppie boyfriend with you."
Another dancer hit Piper from behind, pushing her into the brunette. Piper immediately put her hands out to stop herself from barreling into the woman, and they landed on her upper arms. The dark haired woman moved away, causing the blonde to nearly crash to the ground, but not before Piper was close enough to see the woman's blue-green eyes behind the lenses.
"Fuck you!" Piper hissed and immediately felt guilty for her harsh reaction. She had no idea where such venom came from, but those two words left her lips and there was no way of taking them back.
The brunette laughed. "You wish." She turned around and began dancing again.
Piper stood there, transfixed, until Larry approached her. "I thought you were going to get drinks?"
"I was." She stared at the dark haired woman and wanted to throw out a clever comeback, but she couldn't find her voice.
"Come on," Larry said, taking her by the arm. "I'll go with you."
Piper was careful to avoid the area around the tall woman when she found her way back to the dance floor, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the way the woman moved. She towered over the two women she was with, and every once in a while, looked over their heads, scanning the crowd. At one point, Piper saw one of the shorter women reach up and kiss the dark haired woman on the neck. The woman put her arms around the other dancer's waist and grinded against her as the DJ spun another tune.
"Piper!" Larry tapped her shoulder.
The blonde snapped her head around and looked at her boyfriend. "Sorry, what?"
"I called your name like three times," he complained. "Dave and Emily are leaving. Do you want to split a cab?"
The blonde nodded, taking one last look at the bespectacled woman on the dance floor. One woman was behind her, gyrating against her back, and the other woman, the one Piper had seen kiss the dark haired woman, was in front of her, rubbing her bare arms and looking up at her like a love-sick puppy. The brunette, though, didn't seem to be focused on either woman; though judging by her current predicament and her cocky smirk, she seemed to be enjoying herself just fine.
Every Thursday evening, Piper walked a few blocks to the local pub for happy hour. This particular Thursday, she arrived earlier than Larry, and ordered a margarita while she waited for her boyfriend to join her.
The pub was packed, which was one of the reasons why she liked to arrive right at 4. It was one of the few places that offered two for one longnecks during happy hour, so the number of people who frequented the pub that night of the week was double the other evenings.
When she returned from the restroom, someone was sitting on her barstool.
"Sorry, I was sitting there," she announced, slinging her purse over her shoulder.
The woman occupying the seat turned around. "I wasn't aware that these stools were reservable."
"They're not," Piper began, pointing at the bar top. "but you can clearly see my margarita right there."
The dark haired woman lifted the empty glass and swiveled it from side to side. "Other than the melting ice cubes and a lime, this no longer has the properties of a margarita."
"I finished my drink before going to the restroom." The blonde tilted her head and creased her brow, becoming more agitated with every passing second. "And now I'm returning to order another."
The other woman dug into her oversized bag and pulled out a cigarette, placing it between her lips. "Well, you'll have to find another seat. This one's taken."
"You can't smoke in here," Piper admonished the other woman with a look of disdain.
She removed the cigarette from her lips and smirked. "It's not lit."
The blonde couldn't quite place her face, but she'd swear she'd seen this woman before. "Do I know you?"
"I'd remember you," she replied with the shake of her head. "And your dimples."
Piper's hands flew up to cover her cheeks.
"Pipes, there you are," Larry called as he breezed into the pub. "Who's your friend?"
"She's not my friend," the blonde quickly responded. "Let's go." She grabbed Larry's arm and pulled him to the other side of the U-shaped bar where there was a small opening for the standing-room-only crowd to order drinks.
The blonde racked her brain, trying to place where she'd seen the dark haired woman before, and just as Lenny Kravitz's voice rang through the speaker, she figured it out: The Pyramid. Piper gasped when she realized that the mysterious woman was the one on the dance floor with whom she almost got into an altercation. She squinted to take a good look at her. The brunette caught her eye and lifted her glass in Piper's direction as if to 'cheers' her across the vast space.
"We'll have a margarita on the rocks, no salt, and two Budweisers," Larry ordered the bartender. He turned to his girlfriend. "How was your day?"
Piper was still consumed by the dark haired woman and had to be tapped to focus on the fact that Larry was asking her a question. "Oh, it was fine."
The bartender placed the three drinks in front of them.
"How much do I owe?" Larry asked, pulling out his wallet.
"Nothing," he said. "Compliments of the lady in the leather jacket across the bar."
Piper didn't know whether to consider the action an apology for taking her seat earlier or a smug, in-your-face gesture, because she'd won the seat earlier.
"Do you know her?" Larry asked as he took his Budweisers.
"No," the blonde replied.
"We should go thank her." He pulled Piper around to the other side of the pub.
"I don't think that's..." before she could finish her sentence, they were standing in front of the other woman who had her back turned to them as she punched something into her iPhone. Her unlit cigarette was perched across the top of a glass of whiskey.
"Sorry to interrupt," Larry started. "We just wanted to thank you for the drinks. Do we know each other?"
The dark haired woman turned her head and regarded Larry. When she noticed Piper, the rest of her body followed as she swiveled around on the stool. "I met your girlfriend earlier."
Larry looked confusingly at the blonde, who tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't actually know her…she stole my bar stool when I was in the restroom."
"Oh, well, that's not very ladylike." Larry glanced between the two women who appeared to be caught in a staring contest.
"Consider the drinks my apology." The brunette looked away when her phone chimed. "Excuse me." She read the message on her phone and feverishly typed a reply.
The couple walked away and chatted about their eventful day, but the blonde had a difficult time not looking up to see what the dark haired woman was doing. As Piper finished her margarita, she noticed the brunette stand up and hug a woman with short, blonde hair.
"Do you want another one?" Larry asked, tilting Piper's glass to see that it was empty.
She shook her head. "No. I'm actually ready to go."
"But we just got here," he complained.
"I was here 30 minutes before you," Piper reasoned. "Why don't you stay? I have a headache. I'll meet you back at home." She kissed him on top of the head and walked out of the pub with one final glance at the dark haired woman. There was something about her posture that screamed confidence. Part of her wanted to stay just to observe the other woman, but the thought of an Advil and a hot bath won that battle.
If her headache wasn't bad enough, Piper awoke to a hammering sound on the bedroom wall. She turned over and saw that Larry was still asleep next to her, which meant that it was coming from the neighbors.
"What the fuck?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Larry do you hear that?"
He humphed and rolled over.
"How can you sleep through the pounding?" She pulled the covers off and padded down the hallway in her pink and white polka dot pajamas.
Piper put on the shoes she found on the doormat and draped a sweater over her shoulders as she stepped outside. She saw a moving truck and two guys hauling a mattress into the brownstone next door. "Are you two moving in?"
"We're the movers, lady," one of the men announced. "The woman who hired us is inside."
"Hello?" The blonde knocked on the open door as she stepped into the entryway. "Hello?"
An Otis Redding album was playing on an old turntable in the corner of the living room. In fact, other than a rolled up Oriental rug and a stack of boxes, the turntable was the only thing that appeared to be in functioning order in the house.
"Hello?" she repeated for the third time. "I'm your neighbor. Can you please stop with the banging? It's 6 in the morning and I have a raging headache."
"Sorry!" A woman with a blue plaid, long sleeved shirt peeked over the banister. "I didn't think anyone was home next door."
Piper's eyes widened. "It's you."
"Oh, shit," came out of the dark haired woman's mouth at the same time.
"You're the woman who stole my bar stool." She put her hands on her hips.
"Please tell me you don't live next door." the brunette lowered her head.
Piper nodded. "Yes, my boyfriend and I do."
"Fuck me," she said under her breath. "I guess now is a good a time as any to introduce ourselves." She walked downstairs and extended her hand. "I'm Alex."
The blonde shook her hand hesitantly and maintained eye contact. "Piper."
"I'm going out of town this afternoon and wanted to get this place in some semblance of order before I left, so I was hanging a mirror upstairs." Alex shoved her hands into her back pockets. "Sorry about the noise."
"It's just…" Piper ran a hand through her hair. "I have a headache and it's a big day for me. Please try to be a little quieter."
"Yeah, sure." The brunette looked her up and down. "Nice outfit, by the way."
The blonde looked at what she was wearing—pajamas, an oversized sweater and Crocs. She imagined that she also had a serious case of bedhead. "I was sleeping."
"I can see that." She adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and was seemingly trying to hide a smirk. "Where's your boyfriend?"
She sniffed. "He's still in bed."
"Ah," Alex said with a quick nod. "Well, I hope we get off to a better start than this or the time before."
"Yeah," Piper agreed, though she didn't have high hopes for a good start considering the two times she'd met Alex in the past month were disastrous. "Me, too."
Piper went back to her apartment and shook Larry until he opened his eyes. "Larry, you'll never guess who moved into the Miller's old apartment."
"It's too early to care," he said, rubbing his eyes.
"That bitch from the pub!" She brushed the hair out of her face. "You know the one who took my stool and bought us drinks last night?"
"Really?" He propped himself up on his elbows. "Now that's a coincidence."
"I don't like her." The blonde began to pace. "She's an asshole with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face. I honestly don't think she gives a rat's ass about waking us."
"Relax, Pipes," he said as he got out of bed and kissed her on the nose. "We'll invite her to dinner and get to know her. I'm sure it'll all be fine."
The blonde wasn't so sure about that. She padded into the bathroom, turned on the shower and got ready for the day as she tried to banish the image of her neighbor's figure from her mind.