Chapter 4: One Time
A wave of relief swept over Piper as the realisation set in that she was doing the right thing. The look of determination was clear on her face as she powered through the gears as she entered yet another freeway northbound.
Over the babble of the radio she could hear her phone buzzing on the passenger seat where she had recklessly threw it earlier. Quickly snatching it up she glanced down to answer and put it on speaker.
"An inmate from Litchfield Federal Prison is attempting to contact you. To accept the call, please press one."
Quickly Piper brought up the keypad and hit one.
"Hello!" She shouted over the noise of the road and the radio.
"Jesus Pipes, no need to yell."
The voice she was greeted with was playful; Piper could visualize the dark haired woman's perfect lips forming into an irresistible smile. The blonde knew why the voice at the other end of the phone line was so happy, but she was going to play along for a bit.
"Guess what?" Alex questioned.
"Last night was finally taco night?" They both laughed at the in joke of Nicky's, as weird as it sounded Piper did miss the old crowd.
"I wish! Honestly Pipes the first thing I am going to eat when I get out of this place is a huge steak with a mountain of fries."
"Oh, I kind of hoped you would want to eat something else first." Piper put a tint of fake disappointment on her statement.
At first there was no response; Piper could almost see Alex looking around at the other inmates who were on the phones next to her, checking for any sign of a reaction in case they had overheard the comment.
"Piper Elizabeth Chapman." Alex's voice was a low, seductive whisper. "I thought we were just friends."
"We were never friends Alex."
There was yet another pause on the end of the phone, had Piper been in a quieter environment she would have been able to hear every breath of Alex's. Piper had purposely chosen her words to match that of Alex's from four years ago knowing that the memories of the Laundry Room incident would be flooding over the both of them. It brought a smile to her face knowing that even over the phone she could render Alex speechless, after all their relationship was all about control.
'Thirty Seconds remaining.' The pre-recorded voice broke the silence.
"Shit"
"You could not have put more credit on?"
"I didn't see the point." Alex moaned, the frustration levels clear in her voice. "Piper, promise me you will be here."
"I promise Al."
"Thanks Pipes, I l-"
The phone line went dead. Piper swore at the top of her lungs, cursing the rubbish prison phones and their credit eating tendencies. Why could it have not let Alex finish her sentence? Piper knew what she hoped the last words were, but she had learnt to never assume anything when it came to Alex.
It had been a month since the incident in the greenhouse and Stella being sent to Max and although the day to day prison life had not changed the way people interacted with Piper had. By attempting to become the king pin by her brutal actions Piper had done the one thing she feared the most, she had alienated herself. Nobody trusted her anymore, the numbers of women in the Pantie business had nosedived, a bit of money was not worth a re-homing into Max. So she sat alone in the cafeteria at breakfast, eating a watery mess that should have been porridge, scrutinizing the back of Alex Vause's head. They had not spoken more than three words together since Alex had returned from the medical unit. That is not to say that Piper had not tried, but wherever Alex went somebody else was always with her.
Today her bodyguard was Big Boo who was one of the few girls left in the Pantie business; this gave Piper a bit of leverage.
As Boo and Alex stood up after finishing their breakfast Piper quickly followed them out of cafeteria, staying a couple of paces behind at all times. She weaved in and out of the crowds and followed them into 'The Suburbs' Bathroom, thanking the gods that Boo was alone leaning against the sinks, her arms folded and her head down.
"Boo, can I have a word." Piper kept her voice quiet to make sure Alex could not hear them in the toilet cubical in front of them.
"I dropt my last pair off this morning Chapman" Boo looked at Piper defensively.
"I don't care about that; I need to speak to Alex-" Piper met Boo's gaze "-alone."
"It will cost ya." A smile played across Big Boo's face as she knew she would be able to get something out of this. With tongue in cheek Boo laid her cards on the table. "Give me $15 per pair."
"What!" Piper's voice rose a little too loud and she glanced nervously at the toilet cubical that housed Alex. "How about $10 per pair?"
"No deal then Chapman." Big Boo turned away and leaned back against the sink once more. The sound of the toilet flushing signalled that their negotiations were drawing to a close.
"Fine, $13 per pair and that is my final offer." Piper's eyes pleaded with Boo as the sound of the door unlocking seemed to echo around the almost deserted bathroom.
"You've got yourself a deal blondie." Boo quickly dived into a toilet cubical, as she turned to shut the door she held up her hand to indicate Piper had 5 minutes.
The surprise on Alex's face was obvious as she left the toilet, where she had been expecting to see Big Boo she now saw Piper. Her brow pinched into a frown as she approached the sinks, giving a quick sideways glance at the woman next to her.
"Alex…"
"Piper if you are coming here looking for forgiveness you might as well save your breath."
Alex's tone was abrasive; she didn't have any time for Pipers bullshit today. Piper watched as Alex aggressively washed her hands as she tried to figure out how to put her mess of thoughts and emotions into words. Back in the cafeteria she had so much she wanted to say but now in person all the words seemed stuck in her throat.
"No…I-I want to know how you are?"
"Why the fuck should you care?"
Alex turned off the tap and as she turned to look at Piper she instantly started to regret the words. Pipers face seemed haunted, she clearly had not been sleeping or eating properly and it hurt Alex to see Piper like this, but the pain Piper had caused was still too raw for Alex to let this one slide so soon.
"Look Piper, when I needed you during all the fucked up shit with Lolly and Kubra you turned your back on me and ran into the arms of the first woman that smiled at you. Once again you are alone and your first instinct is to run back to me and you think because I love you I will take you back. Well you are wrong Piper, I am not an idiot."
Alex knew she could not stay, the longer she stayed the more her resolve would weaken. After everything they had been through it was always Piper that caused the pain, she would leave, pick someone else, well no more. With a steely look of determination Alex walked over to the cubical door where Boo was hiding and rapidly knock on before walking out of the bathroom, leaving Piper staring dumbfounded in her wake.
It was another couple of weeks before Piper tried to talk to Alex again. Her little band of body guards were starting to grow lax as rumours started to spread through the prison that Aydin had been caught. Piper had worked out that the best time to talk to Alex would be in an evening, when she was alone in her bunk reading. The only problem was once again the words seemed to get lost in her throat and she just kept walking past Alex, to the bathroom and then back to her own bunk. After the fourth time Alex had had just about enough, she put her book down and pushed her glasses up on top of her head.
"What's with the weak bladder Chapman?" The use of her last name seemed abnormal, almost as if it had been used to set their boundaries.
"Oh no." Piper laughed nervously, unnaturally. "I – erm- I have books." She pointed in the general direction of her cube without taking her eyes off Alex who seemed unimpressed by the statement and simply put her glasses back on and picked up her book. "That's nice."
Reluctantly Piper walked back to her cube conceding defeat.
They spent another week avoiding each other, timing it so they would never be in the bathroom at the same time or that one of them would be finishing their food just as the other was entering. It was fucked up, but then everything about their relationship had and would always be so.
Then one evening when Piper was sitting on her bunk reading she heard the dull sound of footsteps approaching. Glancing up briefly she half expected to see on of Red's 'daughters' dropping by, but instead it was Alex. Keen to make a good impression Piper swung her legs off the bunk to give Alex somewhere to sit but the tall, dark haired woman didn't seem interested in staying long.
"I heard you have books."
Piper thought she could see a small smile tug at the corner of Alex's mouth as she spoke, but maybe she was imagining things, her mind willing things to be different between the two of them.
"Yeah, once Cal found out about the Library he keeps sending me any book he can find for less than a dollar."
Piper pointed to the stacks of books scattered around her cube, they were all thin paper backs, spines cracked, dog eared and some water damaged with questionable stains but it was better than nothing. Alex's green eyes glided over the stacks of books, her head titling to one side as she tried to make out the titles on the damaged spines.
"Do you have any recommendations?"
With a small smile of satisfaction that Alex was actually talking to her Piper stood up from her bunk and wondered over to a pile of books on top of her locker. Carefully removing the third book from the top she handed Alex a rather battered looking book, on the front cover was a picture of a man and a woman in a swimming pool in a rather intimate embrace.
"Boardroom rivals bedroom fireworks."
Piper could hear the cynicism in Alex's voice as she turned the book over to read the blurb on the back.
"I have been reliably informed that this is a good read, although unfortunately the female lead is straight."
"Oh we both know I have a thing for straight girls."
Alex looked up from the book and locked eyes with Piper. The smile that played across her face was infectious and for the briefest moment Piper forgot about their current rut, she had forgot that they were meant to be avoiding each other and not talking and that she really should not be standing this close to Alex. Breaking contact with those hypnotic emerald eyes Piper stepped backwards into her locker, causing one of the many piles of books to topple over. 'Smooth Chapman.'
With a small laugh Alex had turned and left Pipers cube with the cheap little book still in her possession.
"So this is the kind of book that your Aunty Betty would read as the fire in her marriage to Uncle Bob has died?"
Alex sat down on the grass next to Piper. It was a beautiful autumn day, the sun was warm and the light breeze that rustled through the trees around them helped to almost create an illusion that they were not in prison. Piper put down her own book and looked at Alex who she had pushed her glasses up into her hair and was looking out over the running track where they sat.
"Well, I don't think mature women read those kinds of books for the multi layered characters Al. Besides, I know after thirty years Aunty Betty and Uncle Bob still go at it like rabbits."
"Ew, gross Pipes."
The two looked at each other and shared a small laugh, everything was starting to feel natural again, nothing was forced, nothing was fake it was just the two of them.
The whinny voice of a prepubescent Justin Bieber filled the car as Piper glanced over at a road sign to see she had traveled 15 miles without focusing on what she was doing. Alex was all that filled her mind and every memory brought a wave of uncontrollable emotions that made her feel alive.
It was probably the first (and only) time in her life that Piper Chapman would listen to a Justin Bieber song and feel a connection to the lyrics.
A/N: Thank you again to everyone for your reviews and follows. It has given me the motivation to get this chapter completed and put up for you all. I may have got a bit carried away but I like it, I hope you do too.