Chapter 4
The butterflies started flitting in my stomach around 4 o'clock as I began picturing Polly meeting Alex for the first time. I'd seen Alex with her friends a couple of times, and she was great, but when they brought newbies around, she became awkward and unwelcoming.
The first guests arrived at 7 p.m., and a stream of people poured in after that. When Polly arrived, I gave her a tour of the apartment, and I could tell she was confused about how Alex had acquired so many nice things at such a young age. I didn't want to share what Alex did for a living; that would come later…maybe.
As I feared, Alex was a smart ass to Polly, calling her Holly when she knew perfectly well what her name was. I talked about Polly often, so I didn't understand Alex's desire to distort her name. I introduced Polly to some of Alex's more mainstream friends, but I could tell that she was uncomfortable. She left the party after about an hour, promising to call me in the morning.
"Did your friend leave?" Alex asked, popping open another bottle of bubbly.
I gave her a cross look. "Why did you fuck up her name?"
"I was just giving her a little shit." She refilled my champagne flute. "Lighten up, Piper. Come eat oysters with me."
I followed her into the kitchen where a raw bar was set up and a burly man in a black rubber apron was shucking oysters and laying them on beds of crushed ice.
"You know oysters are an aphrodisiac?" I sucked one down.
"So I've heard." She ran her hand down my back and kept it on my ass as she shot an oyster. "But I don't need anything to make me want you more, baby. By the way, you look gorgeous tonight." She leaned in closer. "I can't wait to fuck you later."
I was usually not a fan of public displays of affection, but hearing and seeing and smelling Alex made me throw that rule out the window. She ignited my senses and could turn me on in seconds. I kissed her deeply and trailed my tongue along her lower lip until we were interrupted by Fahri, who Alex introduced me to very briefly.
The rest of the evening was fun, but Alex was called into her office several times for private meetings. I wondered for a moment if they were doing cocaine or something, but Alex appeared perfectly sober until she drank two bottles of champagne. We all smoked a few joints and I was definitely drunk and high by midnight.
The next morning, I woke up smelling like an ashtray and booze. In fact, the whole room smelled like a bar.
"Are you awake?" I rolled over and nudged Alex on her naked shoulder.
She moaned. "Not really."
"Alex, it stinks in here. I mean really stinks."
She sniffed. "Gross. It does."
I got out of the bed and opened the window. A small dusting of snow sat on the window ledge. I put on my robe and slippers and opened the door that led into the living room. What laid before me looked like a scene in a movie: beer and champagne bottles everywhere, oyster shells on the floor, a pink scarf that appeared to have vomit on it, dirty napkins, a broken vase, empty champagne flutes, and a bong.
"What the fuck?" I turned to Alex who hadn't budged. "Your apartment is a wreck."
"That's the sign of a good party," she mumbled. "Come back to bed."
It was difficult for me to join her in bed, knowing that mess that was out there. I was just glad that none of it spilled into the bedroom. Alex had mentioned to me that no one was allowed into the bedroom, and for that, I was grateful.
I backed up against her, letting her spoon me. "Alex, why don't you have a Christmas tree?"
"That's a good question, kid." She squeezed me. "I don't think I've had one since I was a child."
"Do you like them?" I entwined our fingers.
"Yeah, sure, I guess. Do you?"
"I love the holidays." I smiled. "And I love the smell of a fresh Christmas tree."
"Then let's get one," she groggily whispered in my ear. "But more sleep for now."
I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'd love that."
Alex arranged for a cleaning service to arrive at her apartment at 11 a.m., and I plotted our trip to a "cut your own" Christmas tree farm in Larchmont. How we were going to transport a tree on the subway was another question, but I ignored that potential issue at the time.
On our way to the farm, I reflected on the guests at the party the night before. "Were any of those women your drug mules?"
"At the party?" She glanced at me. "Two of them. Did you meet Kristen and Farina?"
"I don't know. What did they look like?" I asked.
"Kristen was the blonde with the fake tits and the Santa hat. Farina was the chubby one in the Louboutins." She stood when the subway chime signaled our stop.
"Farina is a drug mule?" I asked incredulously.
Alex laughed. "The unassuming ones are the best."
We walked onto the busy street and began our journey to the Christmas tree farm in the bright winter sun. It was rare that I thought Alex looked adorable (usually she was just smoking hot), but with her ivory beret and glasses, she was cute. Of course, the black leather jacket, tight jeans and pointy boots brought me back to the hotness. Part of it was also the way she carried herself.
"How do you meet them?" I tied my scarf tightly around my neck.
"Clubs, bars, restaurants, parties, on the subway, in Zabars. There's not one place that's better than another." She zipped her leather jacket. "I'm pretty good at spotting future associates."
"Do you have to do that regularly? Find them, I mean."
"I'm always on the lookout," she replied, holding my hand. "Sometimes it requires flirting or wining and dining them."
I couldn't help the twinge of jealousy that I felt. "You have to flirt?"
"I don't make out with them, if that's what you're worried about." She smiled.
"Did you make out with them before you met me?"
We turned the corner and saw the vast selection of trees.
"Sometimes, yeah. I'm not going to pretend that I was or even am innocent." She kept walking. "I like women, and I like having sex with them."
"Alex, are we monogamous?" I didn't expect to ask that question, but it came flooding out of my mouth before I could reel it in.
She stopped behind the second row of Christmas trees and looked at me. "Do you want to be?"
"I haven't dated anyone else," I admitted. "And I don't think I want to."
"You don't think you want to?" Alex squeezed my hand.
"That's right," I answered.
"I know I don't want to." She grinned, removed her glasses with her free hand and tilted her head as she looked me directly in the eyes. "Move in with me."
My eyebrows shot up. "Move in? As in live with you?"
"Yes. I want you in my bed every night and every morning. I want you to put your cold feet against my calves and take over half my closet. I want to have sex with you whenever the fuck we want and not have to worry about you going back to your apartment an hour later." Alex stepped closer, and our lips were close enough to touch. "Move in with me, Piper."
I returned her gaze and bit my lower lip, then lightened the seriousness of the moment. "You want to make me your bitch? I see."
She laughed a hearty laugh. "You're not already?"
"Maybe I am." I playfully wiggled my eyebrows at her, but then whispered in her ear, "I'll be whatever you want me to be."
"I want you to be my girlfriend. My partner. My lover." She punctuated each statement with a kiss.
We made out like two teenagers in the middle of the Christmas tree farm, and I didn't give a rat's ass who could see us. I was moving in with Alex Vause, and everything was right with the world.
Note: In "Moscow Mule," there was a scene when Alex asked Piper if she remembered trying to fix "our" toaster. It gave me the impression that they lived together at some point during their relationship…Bonus points for those of you who picked up on my nod to Polly in the wedding dress flashback from episode 1.10, "Bora Bora Bora. There will be another nod to the same scene in the final chapter.
