Piper couldn't lie to herself. The brunette woman's hand that was softly caressing her thigh that was bare, thanks to her wearing the skirt, felt good and she was really missing physical human contact after being away from her fiancé for a week. Piper wasn't someone who could cheat and she had never been that way. She had been hurt by the same thing so many times in the past that it was the last thing she could imagine herself doing to anyone. Right now her fiancé just wasn't the first thing that came to her mind - actually not at all. Lately she had been bored with her life back home and especially with her fiancé. Everything was about him, everything revolved around him and Piper was tired of being just an object to him that he could show off to his friends. Even though it was that way Piper didn't have the balls to let go. It was like she was waiting for him to do something that could give her a good reason to get rid of him. Her family loved him and so did she, but the flame just had gone out and she didn't seem to find anything that would make it possibly light up again no matter how hard she tried. Larry didn't even cross her mind while the totally unknown woman next to her was holding her hand on her thigh and taking her thoughts to somewhere completely else. Piper hoped in the back of her mind that she didn't meant anything with it but at the same time she couldn't take her eyes off from her picturesque face that the sun coming from the plane's window hit perfectly and made her look even more beautiful than she already was.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Piper asked with a shy voice that you could hear the slight tremble in too. The woman next to her was kinda shocked by the tone of her voice. She didn't think Piper would get shy like this because the image she got of her by the way she carried herself was that she was a strong independent woman who knew her worth in every possible situation. She seemed fearless and so self-conscious. But in fact the brunette loved to see how Piper became so easily and abruptly shy in front of her and didn't know how to keep that strong role on anymore. The silence was a bit longer than usually and it felt weird to Piper because she had expected for her to answer right away. It became too awkward for Piper and she could feel a slight blush pushing through her tan skin. She felt too awkward and shy to look her in the eyes so she had to turn away for a second before turning back. "Who are you?" Piper asked when she couldn't take the silence anymore. She was eager to know who the mysterious person sitting next to her was because she was attracting her attention so much even though she had made her so furious just moments before. The woman finally took her headphones off and while she spoke she put them in her bag.
"My name's Alex", she answered to the blonde woman who was bold enough to look her in the eyes again. Alex was glad about it, she really liked Piper's eyes and thought they were beautiful. She wanted to get lost in their beauty. Piper slowly raised her shoulder that was the closest one to Alex so that she was kind of hiding behind it. Alex had a curious smile on her face when Piper's gaze wondered from her eyes to her lips and then back to her eyes. This was the first time she really had the chance to see what Alex looked like because the anger inside her had vanished and she took all the time she wanted to look at her and learn her features. She noticed that Alex's face was really gorgeous. She had high cheekbones, a defined jawline and her lips were glistening out of pure delicacy. Piper found her eyes glued to the beauty in front of her until she noticed the tiny laughter she let out while shrugging her shoulders. She realized she was just staring at Alex and didn't hear what she had just said.
"Excuse me?" she asked and felt embarrassed for being caught staring at her like that.
"I just asked what's your name?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Piper", she answered to Alex's question and at the exact same moment the seatbelt lights of the plane went on, signing that they were about to leave. Finally. Piper sighed and Alex put her seatbelt on because she didn't have it on yet. Piper turned away and looked straight forward, trying her best to focus on everything else but the plane and the fact that they would be up in the air in just minutes. She tried to think about the fact that she'd be home in a while but somehow she couldn't think about anything else than the fact that Alex was sitting next to her. It made her feel safe. Piper was slightly shocked about how her mind was acting but she didn't want to deny it. Alex could sense how nervous Piper was about the take off and yes, she was indeed. No matter how many flights she had been on she was always as nervous as the first time. She didn't quite enjoy flying and when she was young it pretty much terrified her. "It's nice to meet you, Alex", she managed to mumble unclearly before fully concentrating on her breathing since she noticed the plane was moving. Alex smiled to herself.
The first two hours of the flight were really quiet ones for those two women. They didn't say a thing to each other. Every once in a while Piper could feel Alex's eyes staring at her but she didn't turn around because she knew what a tease Alex was. Alex was listening to music and Piper tried her to best to just think about her fiancé back home and how amazing it would be to be in his arms soon. It just didn't give her the thrills it did before. Yes, she was excited about going home and seeing him again but it didn't make her stomach turn like it had done before. Something about running into this absolutely beautiful stranger with silky black hair and secretary glasses made Piper's mind do backflips and forget Larry's existence completely. But Piper didn't even know Alex. Piper was about to start using her phone again, opening the lock of it when suddenly Alex took her headphones off again and then looked at Piper. She woke her up from the depth of her thoughts when she heard the familiar deep voice start talking again.
"You know, Piper… It's kinda rude not to talk to the person you've introduced yourself to a while ago and know you're sitting next to for the next seven hours", Alex said and put her headphones to her bag. She corrected her position in her seat so that she was facing Piper's direction more. She leaned her face against her hand and looked at Piper. Piper felt anxious of her being so close again. She needed her own little space.
"Oh, that's rude? What's rude is invading someone's personal bubble", Piper spat out without even looking at Alex's direction. Alex was surprised by Piper's reaction and not in a good way. It was Piper's way of trying to make her brain to stop thinking about Alex. Alex had obviously meant the thing she said as a joke and couldn't believe that Piper didn't take it as a one. Alex moved a little further from Piper while thinking about what made the blonde woman's mind change so quickly.
"What's with this sudden change of mind?" Alex asked and even though she wasn't that close to Piper anymore, she still didn't take her eyes off from her. She just looked at her, waiting for her to turn and look at her but she didn't. "I just want to get to know you." That changed everything for Piper. And after Alex said that, Piper turned around, looked her in the eyes and smiled that little shy smile of hers again.
"You do?"
"Duh, why would I even bother talking to such a self-conscious businesswoman who made me sweat like a little kid after stealing from the store when I accidentally spilled my coffee all over her if there wasn't something about her that woke up my curiosity instantly?" Alex described to Piper and they shared smiles. Piper felt weirdly flattered after what Alex said but she was also worried that Alex got that image of her. She didn't think that she was self-conscious at all. And a businesswoman? Oh, absolutely not.
"I'm just a writer", Piper mumbled, kind of neglecting her talent in writing. She had never been too confident about her skills in it. Out of all the things she knew how to do writing was the one that fascinated her the most and that's why she had chosen to pursue it as a career and thanks to her hard work it had paid off.
"No you're not just a writer", Alex answered and stressed the word just. "I'm kind of jealous. I've always wanted to write too but I just don't seem to have it in me." Alex looked emotional for a moment when she looked down at her fingers and then back at Piper. It made Piper realize that maybe she wasn't here just to tease her. The fact that she actually told something like that about herself to Piper made Piper look at her in a whole different light. Maybe they weren't that different after all.
"I'm sure you're a good writer", Piper said and smiled at Alex. She flashed a little smile back. "So, what do you do then, Alex?" This was the second time Piper said Alex's name out loud and God, Alex loved hearing her say it. It sounded different than anyone else saying it before and only made Alex want to get to know Piper better and better.
"I work in a little book store", Alex answered to Piper's question even though she didn't really like to tell people about her job. Alex liked to work there but saying it out loud made her feel bad about it every time. She had always wanted something bigger. She wanted to make a difference and she knew well that working in a book store wasn't going to make her someone that changed the world. If she worked from nine to five in that tiny book store every day she would go crazy but gladly she had some things in her life that made her feel more free. "But I travel a lot. I love to see the world and new people. New things in general excite me, they make me feel like I'm alive."
"That's cute! I should come and visit sometime. You know, just to check if your store is one of the good ones and has my book in there." Piper said happily and was surprised by the fact that Alex was someone who would work in a place like that. Judging by her looks Piper would've said that Alex worked in somewhere completely else. To her eyes she didn't look like a person who read a lot and loved books in general even though she had those sexy glasses on. About the fact that Alex travelled a lot Piper wasn't too surprised about. After all, Alex seemed like a person who needed excitement and new things in her life every once in a while. "I travel a lot too, because of my job."
Talking with Alex had made Piper's worry and anxiety about flying completely disappear. She totally forgot it while they talked. She was so interested in learning about Alex and vice versa. The more they talked the more Piper realized that Alex was just a nice, friendly human being trying to make her time in the plane go quicker. Piper felt bad about what she had thought about Alex before. She didn't know what it was that made her so angry in the first place and why she changed her mind back and forth so many times. They had been getting to know each other for a good while and time had gone super quick. After the plane had landed and they were supposed to part their ways, Alex had asked Piper where she lived and it turned out that they lived pretty close to each other so they had decided to share a taxi together.
"…and yeah, now I've been bonding with Cal a lot more thanks to my niece. I love her, she's the sweetest little girl", Piper explained to Alex who had been nodding the whole time Piper had been telling her about her family and relatives on the backseat of the taxi. Then Piper's face dropped. She didn't know if this next thing was something she wanted to say out loud because as just a thought inside her head it wasn't too dangerous but saying it out loud would make it so much more real to her. She thought about it for a while but when she looked Alex in the eyes she knew she could tell her. "Ever since she was born my fiancé has been asking me about babies. He wants one. That's probably the first thing he's going to ask about again when I go home." Fiancé, shit, Alex thought and looked away. It took her a while to turn back to face Piper again but when she did, Piper didn't look as happy as she did before. Alex knew something was wrong but she didn't know if she should say it loud. But she did.
"But you don't?" Alex asked after she sensed that from the way Piper was acting. Shyly but surely Piper nodded quickly and bit her bottom lip.
"I mean I want a family, maybe, but lately I've been so bored. I don't care about him the way I've done before. I find myself pushing him away even though I don't mean to do it. I just want the same excitement back that we had back then when we first started dating but he's so boring. Alex, he's so fucking boring. And I can't stand it", Piper complained to Alex while getting a little teary-eyed. She truly cared about Larry and she had shared so much of life with him but she just wasn't too sure about the future anymore. She wanted something else, something that made her feel more alive. "I want excitement in my life, I'm too stuck on these old habits and routines." Piper truly meant every word she said. Alex noticed they were close to the neighborhood Piper had told her she lived in with her boring fiancé and quickly realized she had to do something about this because she didn't want this to be the last time they saw each other.
"I've got an offer to you to help you with that", Alex said to her and got closer to Piper. She put her hand on Piper's thigh again and at the same time noticed that a heavy tear was about to run down Piper's cheek so before it fall she wiped it away. She left her hand on Piper's cheek, gently caressing it and feeling her soft skin with her fingers. Piper was staring deep into Alex's eyes in the darkness and suddenly her mind changed again. She put her hand on Alex's hand on her thigh and moved it away. She moved a bit further from Alex and when the car stopped, she took her stuff and started to get out of the car. Alex was left on the backseat alone, wondering how Piper was able to change her mind that quickly again. She felt like after talking about basically everything with her it would be sure that Piper didn't change her mind like that and wouldn't be so impulsive anymore but apparently not. Alex was truly disappointed because she found Piper so interesting.
"Forget everything I said. I didn't mean it, I don't know what that was. I'm just so tired, I guess", Piper said to Alex when she got out of the car and the taxi driver came out to help her and give her luggage to her from the trunk. Alex nodded. It was exactly as she thought, she was one of those people who thought she was more important than anyone else and complained about everything in their lives even though everything was more than okay. She didn't even say goodbye. Alex sighed and looked away, not following Piper's actions with her eyes anymore. She couldn't care less. Or that's what she tried to tell herself.
Piper opened the door in front of her with the silver key in between her fingers and stepped in the apartment she shared with Larry. Larry came running from the living room when he noticed Piper finally coming home. He ran to her and before Larry could even say hi she pressed her lips against his. It wasn't the most passionate kiss but she needed it right now before anything else to remind herself of how lucky she was about having Larry in her life. Or well, to try to remind herself. Obviously Larry didn't know about what she had been telling about him to Alex during the flight and after it but now Piper just needed to shake that memory off and she didn't need anything else than Larry to make her forget. Larry was surprised by the way Piper was acting but didn't think much of it. Piper was trying her best to feel something while they were kissing but she didn't feel anything. No sparks, no butterflies. Nothing. She acted like she didn't know what was bothering her. She just tried her best to forgive herself, but when Larry's hand touched her thigh it made her pull away quickly.
"Welcome home babe", Larry whispered and Piper felt how excited he was about her coming back. She smiled. Larry didn't notice the fact that Piper's mind was somewhere completely else but she knew it very well. She was so aware of it that she couldn't concentrate on Larry at all. After she felt Larry's touch on her thigh all she could think about was Alex and how much more exciting and thrilling her touch felt on her skin. Even thinking about it made Piper shiver. "What happened to your shirt?" Piper looked down at her shirt after Larry asked about it. She had forgotten what happened to it. She had totally forgotten the whole coffee accident.
"Oh, a stranger just spilled their coffee on me", Piper said and it made Larry laugh.
"I made some dinner for you, you must be hungry", he said to Piper and turned around to walk to the kitchen. Piper just stand still. A stranger, she thought to herself and smiled. She couldn't believe she couldn't stop thinking about Alex right now after she was seeing Larry after a week that felt like years.
"Good morning sunshine", Piper heard Larry's voice speaking as the first thing after she woke up. She felt Larry's hands wrapped around her body, hugging her tight. Quicker than usually she started to get up from the bed, forcing Larry to take his hands off from around her. He sat up, looking at Piper who was trying her best to raise herself up to a sitting position too.
"Good morning", she said and smiled to him. Normally her smile in his presence was automatic but lately and especially now she felt like she had to actually think about it and build the smile on her face.
"I'm so happy you're home", Larry whispered and caressed her cheek with his hand. Piper tried her best not to let her thoughts wonder but she couldn't resist it. Once again she couldn't think of anything else than Alex's hand on her cheek last night. The way Larry's touch reminded her of Alex started to bother her too much and she gently moved Larry's hand away from her cheek. "I'm gonna go and make some breakfast", Larry said while being all smiley and got up from the bed. Piper smiled back to him until he was out of the door and then she couldn't resist the urge anymore. When he disappeared from her sight she took her phone from the bedside table and opened Google. She thought about how she could find the name of the book store Alex worked in but she realized that she didn't hear Alex's last name the day before. She wrote something about Alex and a book store in the search bar and something came up. She opened the website that the search engine recommended to her on the top of the results and to her big surprise she found an address to a book store where Alex worked in. She took a screenshot of the address and then pressed the link that was marked blue over Alex's name. It took her to her facebook page. The first thing that caught her attention was Alex's profile photo. She opened it. She zoomed in a bit and thought to herself that she looked hot. Her makeup was strong and she was wearing a black tight dress. It was a photo taken by someone else so Piper could see her whole body in it and she was surprised. She hadn't realized Alex was that fit when she sat next to her all day yesterday, maybe because Alex was wearing the proper attire for the long flight - something that Piper didn't do. Alex looked absolutely gorgeous in the photo and Piper couldn't stop looking at it. She saved it and after that tried to find every possible piece of information of Alex she could find but her Facebook page was more or less private. When Larry came back to the bedroom she put her phone away quickly and smiled to him like nothing had happened.
"What's the plan for today?" Piper asked Larry when he jumped back to the bed and hugged Piper again. It was clear that he was excited about her being back home and was fully enjoying it.
"The eggs are cooking but I had to came here in between to see your beautiful face", Larry said and laughed like a little boy. He kissed Piper's cheek. "I have work, a bit longer than usually. I'm sorry, I tried to switch shifts with Pete but he didn't agree", he explained to Piper and she put a sad face on just for the act. Larry noticed it and tried to come up with something to make up for it quickly. He didn't want her to feel bad. "We can do whatever you'd like after I come home. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine", she answered quietly, trying to sound a bit sad.
"I'll be back at like 7pm at the latest", Larry said and got up from the bed to prepare the rest of the breakfast. Perfect, Piper thought.
Piper was storming through the streets of New York after getting up from a taxi she had been sitting in for 15 minutes. She had her phone in her right hand to see the instructions on which way to go and turn next so that she wouldn't get lost and in her left hand she had a coffee. She was wearing a black skirt, kinda similar to the one she wore yesterday, a black cropped shirt with a polo neck and a beige trench coat. She had her favorite knee high heels on and her hair was beautifully curled. She had a perfect everyday makeup on and she looked gorgeous. It didn't take her too long to get to the book store she was trying to find. But in fact it wasn't just the book store she was trying to find. She walked in and went straight to the cashier's desk. There was a shorter girl standing behind the desk. Her hair was super curly and blonde with a hint of orange in it. Her eyes were big and she had some visible tattoos that stole Piper's attention. She looked nice and like a person who wouldn't hurt even a fly. Piper read her name tag she had attached to her shirt and learned that her name was Nicky.
"Hi, how can I help you?" she asked and smiled to Piper.
"I'm here to find Alex", Piper said, trying to sound as normal as she just could even though she was so excited that she was about to burst. She just wanted to see Alex again and to apologize for acting so weird yesterday. She wished more than anything that Alex was working right now.
"Oh", Nicky said and sounded surprised, "sure, I'll go and get her", she continued speaking in a happy tone and walked away. Piper leaned against the desk while she was waiting for Alex. It didn't take a long while from Alex to walk to the desk from the room behind it. When she came out of the door next to the desk Piper couldn't take her eyes away from her. Alex was wearing black tight leggings and an oversized knitted dress that was grey. She had her hair up in a lazy bun and her glasses really brought up her eyes that had the same strong smoky makeup look on that she had in the Facebook profile photo. Piper smiled when she saw her and when their eyes met, Alex looked really surprised and smiled too. To be honest she thought she wouldn't see Piper again like this after yesterday and the way she acted. Alex hadn't been able to stop thinking about Piper and wished she would find her but she thought their meeting yesterday meant nothing to her. But right now, the look on Piper's face and the fact that she was here signed something completely else.
"Hi Alex", Piper said softly and stopped leaning against the desk. She rolled the belt of her trench coat nervously between her fingers nervously.
"Hey you", Alex answered to her and saw how nervous Piper was again. Alex loved the effect she had on her and how she was able to make her so seemingly shy in just seconds. "It's so nice to see you again", she continued and noticed how Piper blushed a little.
"It's so nice to see you too", the woman standing on the other side of the desk said. Alex checked her out by looking at her from her head to her toes and after that had a smirk on her face. She looked gorgeous and the skirt she was wearing again… it did wonders to Alex's mind.
"I didn't think you'd come this quickly", Alex said and Piper looked at her in a shock. What was that supposed to mean? She didn't quite register what Alex had just said thanks to her choice of words and she thought she was teasing her again on purpose. But this time Piper was sure that she wasn't going to change her mind about it again. After Piper not being able to stop thinking about Alex and Alex taking over her thoughts like that she just couldn't resist anymore.
"What?" she asked quickly.
"To see if we have your book here", Alex continued and the smirk on her face grew from the size it was just a while before. Piper could feel her heart beating faster when Alex came to the front side of the desk from the behind because she was ready to show Piper where her book was. The first thing she had done today morning after coming to the store was that she had checked if they had Piper's book. They did. She had read the first pages of it and was surprised by her talent she belittled before. There was absolutely no need to. She couldn't believe that even though she had read a massive amount of books that she had never came across Piper's one. She was going to read it next. Alex stepped in closer to Piper and enjoyed seeing Piper in this state, like she was completely mesmerized by her and forgetting everything else that was happening around her.
"Ah, yes… Well actually, I came to ask if your offer is still available?" Piper asked quietly and then looked away because she was too embarrassed to look at Alex. They were so close to each other and the store was so quiet that Alex could hear Piper's breathing. She moved even closer to Piper and whispered into her ear.
"It happens to be, yes", she whispered softly and pressed a heated kiss on Piper's cheek.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows, I'm glad you liked the first chapter and I hope you liked this one too! Sorry about the Larry stuff but you have to read some of it to get some Vauseman I know you like… We're getting there, maybe a bit slowly but definitely surely ;)