Hey guys, I hope you are still enjoying the story. Thank you for you're support!
rishtaker; You just made a good point, I totally forgot that Nicky had sex with Alex. Anyway, since it was fully clothed and behind a giant board can we just assume she didn't get a good look? *Shifts eyes* hahaha, ok, so just pretend I didn't mess up!
Also, I made a little reference to Laura Prepon's latest insta post. She looks super, super tired. I've been there. I hope she's ok.
Anyway, here you go! As always, please review.
Lise xx
It was 11pm and Piper hadn't bothered to go home, she had messaged Nicky to let her know she wouldn't be home and was fully prepared for the barrage of questions when she returned home, right now she laying in the dark, on her side. Alex was lying beside her asleep and the moonlight flowing in through the window was illuminating her face and making her look paler than normal. Piper couldn't take her eyes off her.
"You do know its not polite to stare, right?"
Piper jumped slightly and then smiled. "I know but I just can't help it, you're so beautiful and I don't want to let you out of my sight."
Alex pulled Piper closer and kissed her head. "I don't ever wanna be without you again, Pipes. From here on out its just us. We just have to figure out how to put it all together without jeopardising my new identity. I want to be with you, I want to be married to you, I want babies with you. We just have to take it slow for the moment so that we get it right."
Piper smiled. "Babies?"
"Yeah, I can see myself cooking broth with no makeup on while I'm looking after our little girl."
"Woah, you have thought about that, huh?"
"I have. I love you, Piper. I just want things to be normal. I want things to be smooth for us for once. Our whole relationship was hectic, with the cartel and then Litchfield. We deserve to just be normal. I'm tired of drama. I've made a fortune, literally, from the business. I have legal money that we can do anything we want with. We don't have to watch our backs constantly or worry about drug lords trying to kill us. We can just lead normal lives. I mean once I told you that you couldn't nest with me, that you could choose between that or being on a beach in Cambodia with strangers in drag. That's not what I want anymore. I just want to settle. Diane would have wanted me to settle."
Piper brushed Alex's cheek with her thumb. "I'm so proud of you, Al. You have come so far."
"What are we gonna do about Nicky? She saw you, yknow?"
"What? She saw me? Where?" Alex questioned, her eyes wide.
"You were crossing the road outside of Schnitzel Palace, I don't think she would have noticed you had I not seen you before we met."
"You saw me too?"
"Yeah, I was grabbing lunch and I saw you for about two seconds in the street. I went home to Nicky and cried."
"I guess my red hair doesn't do the trick then, huh."
"Well Nicky was asking if you dye your hair black, I wouldn't tell her."
"Yeah well it feels good to be back to my natural colour. I got sick of dying it. I thought it suited."
"Why did you choose the name Elizabeth?"
"Well they gave me a list of names to choose. Elizabeth being your middle name, it made me closer to you and I thought if I ever found you, you could still call me Al. People would just think you were calling me El. And the last name, I put to them. I didn't wanna stray too far away from Vause. I mean, that's Diane's name and all I had left of her. They took some convincing but eventually they let me. So that's my new name. Purely formality, I'm still Al."
"I love your new style. It really suits you and the name choice was so thoughtful."
"I think, I'm probably gonna have to tell Nicky and Lorna about everything…"
"I mean, I think they would probably find out at some point anyway, I think hiding your identity from Scarlett and Helene is going to be the hard part."
"I don't want Helene to find out who I am, I need to stay a silent boss. You're gonna have to cut all contact with Scarlett and we have to swear Nicky and Lorna to secrecy."
XXXXXX
Piper and Alex had planned to tell Nicky and Lorna by inviting them to a business meeting. Piper had promised to break contact with Scarlett and had invited her to lunch at a cafe in town. She had arrived ten minutes early and was sitting sipping hot chocolate, waiting for Scarlett to arrive. She had planned she was going to tell Scarlett she really needed to focus on the business.
Scarlett approached the table and sat down in front of Piper who looked up sheepishly, trying to judge Scarlett's mood. She was smiling brightly at her.
"Piper, It's been too long! Where have you been?" She reached over to take Pipers hand.
"Yeah, things have been really hectic with Nicky and everything. Actually that's part of the reason I've asked you here.."
Scarlett was looking expectantly at Piper to continue, Piper removed her hand from Scarlett's and picked up her mug.
'Well, uh, you know how we have been expanding the business? Well things are going really well and I think I just want to focus on that for the time being… So I, uh, don't want to start anything romantically, y'know?" Piper slowly looked up to assess the damage, she saw a hint of disappointment flash across Scarlett's eyes before a small smile appeared on her face.
"Piper, I totally understand but I think we have something special. I don't think we should just throw it away just because you're busy. I know you're busy, that's why I've been giving you the space you need."
"No, Scarlett, look, I really appreciate it, I do… but I just don't want a relationship or anything romantic at the moment. I've done a lot of thinking about this."
Suddenly Scarlett's face changed. "Oh my god, did you hear from her? Your ex?"
"What? No! I just don't want to lead you on, Scarlett, you deserve to be with someone who treats you well and loves you. I'm not the one for you. I'm sorry."
Scarlett had her eyebrow raised suspiciously, she put her hands up as if in surrender. "Ok, ok. So be it, I tried. I'm sorry to have forced you into all of this, Piper. If you haven't already, I hope you find your ex, otherwise you're going to live a very lonely and sad life."
Scarlett's eyes were filled with tears and Piper could see she was angry. She stood up and stormed out of the café. She was greeted by a man who put his arm on hers to stop her.
"I saw you having an argument and wondered if I could help…" He flashed her a small bag of cocaine and smiled at her expectantly.
"No thanks. I don't do that kind of stuff." Scarlett said, glancing back into the café where she could see Piper
"Okay, I just thought I'd offer since I saw what happened in the café."
"I actually wanted to have a chat to you about the girl you just left, if you are willing to talk to me, my boss will reward you, big time."
"Your boss? How do you know Piper?"
"Ah so it is Piper. I thought it might have been, my name is Edwardo. My boss is waiting to talk to you in that car over there, his name is Kubra. We just want to talk for five minutes and as I said before, he will give you a huge reward if you can help us."
Scarlett nodded, feeling like she had nothing left to lose anyway she followed Edwardo to the car. Inside, Kubra was sitting in between two bodyguards. He smiled at Scarlett as she sat in the seat opposite him.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk to me, Scarlett." Scarlett's eyes widened as she realised she hadn't told Edwardo her name.
"There's no need to be afraid, I just wanted to talk to you about the girl you just left in the café. Piper, right?"
Scarlett nodded.
"Do you know if she has contact with an Alex Vause?"
"No, she hasn't seen her for years. She's still hung up about her, that's why we just broke up."
Kubra looked at her sympathetically. "Are you sure she hasn't had contact?"
"I am. She hasn't seen her for three years. She just disappeared, apparently."
Kubra sighed. "Here, take this for the information but if I find out you have been lying to me, Scarlett, things won't be pretty."
Kubra raised his eyebrows as he handed Scarlett a brown envelope. She was then escorted out of the car by Edwardo and was left standing in the street with only her bag and the brown paper bag. When she opened it she gasped. Inside was $10,000 in $100 bills.
XXXXXX
"It's done. I told her I didn't want to see her. Al, I'm too scared to leave the café. She got into a car with a man who looked so familiar that I just watched for a while and when he opened the car door I got a glimpse of Kubra. I think the cartel is watching me. I don't know what to do."
Within seconds Piper's phone was ringing. "Pipes? What the fuck? Are you ok? Where are you?" Alex sounded panicked.
"I'm still in the café. Look, I think I better call Nicky and get a cab back with her, maybe we can get dropped off at Lorna's and meet you there? I'll message you the address."
"Ok, um, well I guess we're doing this sooner than I expected. Keep messaging me so I know you're ok. I love you, Pipes."
"I will, Al, I love you too."
XXXXXX
Nicky, Lorna and Piper were all sitting in Lorna's small lounge room. Piper was shifting anxiously.
"So, Piper, are you gonna tell us what's going on or are we just gonna watch you squirm for the rest of the night?" Nicky asked, sitting forward and putting her elbows on her knees.
"Yeah, um, well there's something I've kept from you for the past few weeks but now I have no choice but to tell you because something dangerous is happening."
Lorna gasped. "Dangerous? Piper, what is it?"
Just as Lorna finished speaking there was a knock at the door and Piper glanced at them both before standing and walking across the room.
The door opened and both Nicky and Lorna sat there with their mouths open.
"Vause?"
