Thanks for the kind reviews. Also, thank you to the guest who pointed out that Pete is Australian, not British. My bad.
Piper knocked on the door, and they were quickly greeted by their hosts. The four exchanged greetings, and Polly actually shook Alex's hand. The couples made their way into the kitchen and Pete offered to make pre-dinner cocktails. Both Piper and Alex opted for margaritas, and Polly requested the same.
"A pitcher of margaritas, then," Pete said with a clap of his hands.
"Although the dinner is homemade, the guacamole is definitely not." Polly set out one bowl of salsa and one of guacamole. "I hope you both like enchiladas."
"There are very few things I don't eat," Alex commented, standing behind to Piper, who had taken a seat at the island.
"Can we help with anything?" The blonde offered, popping a tortilla chip into her mouth.
Polly smiled at her friend. "I think we've got it under control."
The couples made small talk over the pitcher of margaritas, and Pete made another batch with Alex's assistance.
"How do you think it's going so far?" The man whispered.
"You don't have to whisper," Alex chuckled. "I don't think they can hear us."
The women were in the living room, discussing the merits of airline credit cards and mileage benefits as Dave Brubeck played lightly in the background.
"If all we do is talk about credit cards, food and the weather all evening, it'll be fine," she offered. "But the second someone talks about work, it'll go downhill fast."
"Let's make this interesting." Pete poured half a bottle of Jose Cuervo into the pitcher. "If work comes up before dinner, I'll give you 10 bucks. If it comes up during dinner, you owe me $10."
Alex held a laugh in her throat. "What if it doesn't come up until after dinner?"
He gave her a look, suggesting that would be impossible.
She raised a hand. "Ok, deal."
Alex squeezed an orange into the pitcher as Pete filled it the rest of the way with pre-made margarita mix. She appreciated the man's sense of humor and was surprised that she actually enjoyed his company. It had been years since Alex appreciated anything about men, Kenyon notwithstanding.
The surface-level conversation continued for another 20 minutes, but Alex noted that Polly didn't ask her questions or really even include her in the discussion. She wondered if Piper picked up on that, but she could sense that her lover was getting a bit drunker by the minute.
"Have you told Alex about our charity project?" Polly chomped a piece of ice.
Piper's eyes looked like saucers. "We don't talk about work very much. You know that."
Alex, who was seated next to the blonde, put her hand on Piper's leg. "What charity project?" She could feel her lover's glare.
"For the month of September, we're donating 10% of sales to the Women's Prison Association," Polly replied.
"I think that's great." She chanced a look at Pete, who raised his glass to her. It was the fastest $10 she'd ever made.
"What's the soap going to smell like—urine and rotten bananas?" Pete asked around a laugh.
Alex couldn't help her own mirth. Piper smiled and grabbed Alex's hand off her leg, entwining their fingers.
Polly glared at her boyfriend. "What the fuck, Pete?"
"Oh, I'm making a joke, honey!" He drained his glass. "They think it's funny."
"It is funny," Alex responded, and her smile slowly faded as she directed her attention to Polly. "Especially since you know that work is a precarious topic."
"I was just making conversation." Polly shrugged.
"No, you weren't." Alex squeezed her lover's hand before letting go and leaning back casually. "You're either trying to make me feel uncomfortable, which would be a shame since you invited me to your home, or you're probing me for information about my company. Either way, your comment was intentional."
Piper glanced at her lover. "She was just trying to tell you about our charity work, that's all."
Polly looked down, and then directly at Alex. "Work is about the only thing that we have in common, so if my comment made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry."
"It's not, actually." She nudged her glasses up. "We have Piper in common, so if you want to discuss the merits of Piper Chapman, by all means, let's discuss."
"I think it's time for dinner." Pete stood. "Polly, why don't you make the salad while I grab the enchiladas out of the oven."
His girlfriend followed him into the kitchen, and as soon as they disappeared, Piper turned on Alex. "What the hell?"
"You're angry at me?" She jutted her thumb towards her chest. "She fucking started it!"
"Don't let her get to you, Alex!" Piper whisper-yelled. "I will have words with her tomorrow, but for tonight, please just try to play nice."
The brunette kissed her forehead, and then rubbed her lipstick mark with the pad of her thumb. "Ok."
The couples sat at the table, and Pete offered a toast to new and old friends. Alex clinked her glass against Polly's, but the other woman didn't make eye contact. The conversation returned to plans for the end of summer, and Alex was pleased that work didn't surface again.
"The enchiladas were delicious," Alex offered, pushing her now empty plate away.
"Did you know that enchiladas were mentioned in the first Mexican cookbook in 1831?" Piper asked around her last bite.
Alex threw her arm over the back of her lover's chair, delighted at her obscure knowledge. "No, I did not know that."
"The cookbook is called El Cocinera Mexicano," she said in a Spanish accent. "Which translates to the Mexican chef."
"How do you come up with this shit?" Alex smirked.
"I read a lot." She shrugged, placing her hand on Alex's thigh under the table. "You know that."
Alex leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I hope that wasn't too much PDA for you."
"It wasn't enough, actually," Pete said.
Polly frowned at him, while Alex chuckled.
All four of them helped with dishes, and Piper announced that she was too full and too sleepy to stay for dessert. Alex concurred and thanked their hosts for dinner. Pete hugged both women goodbye, but Polly simply waved. The brunette was fine with her gesture and didn't feel any more of a kinship with the other woman than she had prior to this event.
She put her hand at the small of Piper's back as they made their way down the stairs and nearly ran into a man coming out of his apartment.
The blonde looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Larry?"
"Piper? What are you…" He clenched his jaw when he spotted the dark haired woman. "You must be the infamous Alex."
"Infamous?" Alex chuckled. "That's a new one, though I'd prefer scandalous. I'm assuming you heard about me from Polly. Don't worry, we're best friends now, and I'm sure the next time she sees you, she'll sing my praises," she said sarcastically.
Piper squeezed the brunette's thigh, seemingly trying to get her to shut up.
"How do you sleep at night, knowing you wrecked a friendship?" Larry crossed his arms.
She gave him her best smug look. "I sleep very well with your ex-girlfriend next to me."
"Enough!" Piper shot daggers at both of them. "Larry, my business is no longer yours. Alex, let's go."
"Pathetic," Larry whispered under his breath with the shake of his head.
Alex couldn't take it anymore. She spun around and pinned him against the wall. "You know what's pathetic, you little shrew? That you and your biggest fan upstairs don't have enough respect for Piper to allow her to be happy!" She crushed his neck with her forearm. "You're a selfish fucking prick!" She released her grip on him and backed away. "Go to hell, midget."
"Alex!" The blonde gasped, tugging her away.
She was so fucking pissed that she yanked her arm out of Piper's grasp and headed down the steps, taking two at a time. The blonde was 20 seconds behind her and found her pacing on the sidewalk.
"What has gotten into you?" Piper asked with worry etched on her face.
Alex ran a hand through her hair. "They don't deserve you in their lives!"
"You don't get to determine who I have in my life," she spat back.
"Don't you get it?" The brunette stopped pacing and faced her lover. "Polly's using you for the sake of your company! She doesn't approve of your relationship with me, and she never will!"
Her arms opened to the heavens. "We have been friends for 20 years, Alex! She's my oldest friend!"
"Sometimes friendships end because people grow in different directions." The brunette shrugged. She put her thumb and index finger under her glasses to rub her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to dictate who you should be friends with, but I'm telling you that Polly is jealous of your relationship with me. She wants you to be with Larry so that the four of you could be merry fucking couples and spend holidays together and raise your children together." She clenched her jaw. "She probably told Larry that you were leaving her apartment just so he'd run into us."
"That's absurd!"
"Is it? Really, is it that absurd?"
Piper shook her head and walked in the opposite direction. When she didn't turn around, Alex called for her. The brunette jogged to catch up. "Piper, wait!"
When the blonde turned around, tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"Babe," Alex said in a verbal caress. "Don't cry."
"How am I not supposed to cry when you say things like that?" She swiped her tears away.
Alex tilted her head and ran her thumb over the blonde's red cheek.
"I know what you said is true, and that fucking hurts." Piper crumbled in half, putting her hands on her knees and sobbing.
"I know it does, Pipes." The brunette bent over and rubbed her back. "Let's go home. I'll make you a bubble bath, and we'll talk if you want, and if not, that's ok, too."
The blonde nodded and slowly stood. "My apartment is two blocks away. Let's just go there."
"Ok." She kissed her temple and wrapped an arm tightly around Piper's waist.
Alex had only been to her apartment once, and it was a brief stop to allow Piper to change clothes after their sweaty walk in the North part of Central Park at the beginning of summer. The blonde used to enjoy spending time at her apartment, but Alex's home had begun to feel more like her own home than the place where she still paid rent.
The brunette did as she promised and drew a bath for her lover, and Piper squeezed a bottle of Mr. Bubble into the tub.
"That's what you use?" Alex grinned up at her.
She shrugged, feeling all the weight of the evening in her bones. "I like the smell, and the bubbles last a long time."
The brunette, who was sitting on the ledge, leaned over and kissed her jean-clad thigh, hooking an arm around it. "I've been racking my brain, trying to place your smell, and this is it."
"When I'm here, it is." She removed her shirt, and then her bra. "But when I'm at your place, I don't take baths."
"Why not?" She unhooked her arm.
"I don't know." The blonde shrugged again. "I've always loved baths."
"Maybe you should change that." She put her hand under the running water to gauge the temperature.
Piper could see the wheels turning in Alex's head.
She twisted the faucet off and turned to face her lover. "Move in with me."
The blonde's eyes widened. "What?"
"Move in with me." Alex scooted her butt on the ledge of the tub until she was able to pull Piper between her legs. She placed her hands on the backs of the blonde's knees. "There's no sense in paying rent here when you spend almost every night with me."
"Is this something you're suggesting from a practical standpoint?"
"That's one side of it." She craned her neck. "The other side is that I love waking up with you, and the mornings when you're not next to me, I reach for you and my heart sinks when you're not there."
A tiny smile tugged at Piper's lips. It was rare to see Alex's vulnerable side, so when she witnessed it, Piper took it very seriously and tried to catalogue it. She reached down to place a hand on her lover's head. "Really?"
She nodded.
"I'd like that." The blonde crouched down until their foreheads rested against each other's. "I'd like that a lot."
"Good." Alex threw her arms around her lover and kissed the crook of her neck. "Get in the tub before the water gets cold."
She pulled back at a still smiling Piper. "Ok."
The blonde stepped out of her jeans and into the warm water, feeling the tension release from her body the minute she was fully immersed in the bubbles. It was as easy as that, she thought. She reflected on the time when Larry had asked her to move in with him and smiled at the difference in her discernment process.
Their jobs notwithstanding, everything was easy with Alex—from falling in love with her to talking about commonplace events to agreeing to move in together.
"How does the bath feel?" The brunette asked.
She shut her eyes. "Absolutely amazing."
"I'm going to leave you alone for a bit." She leaned over, kissing Piper on the lips. "Enjoy."
Piper opened her mouth to protest and ask Alex to join her, but then she accepted her lover's offer to spend what could possibly be her last bubble bath in her home. She sighed, thinking of the memories she had of her first apartment on her own without a roommate, and then a smile surfaced at where she was headed. She felt a giggle in her throat as she melted into the soothing water.
Two weeks passed and Alex hadn't heard a peep about Polly (or Larry for that matter) from Piper. It wasn't that she didn't ask; rather, the blonde didn't want to discuss her relationship with Polly at home. Alex asked if they were doing ok at work, and all she got was, "We're managing."
Things at Belle were kicking into high gear with the launch of Beau for Brooks Brothers, and Gloria had to hire a team of temporary workers to assist Margeaux and help with the packaging and distribution. Initially, they decided to go with two fragrances in soap and lotion format. The first was called, Barber Shop and smelled a like shaving cream and fresh towels. The second didn't have a specific name, but the scents listed on the gray label were Bourbon, leather & tobacco. At first, Alex complained that buyers would steer clear because they'd think it smelled like a bar, but it tested even higher than Barber Shop (and was Kenyon's favorite.)
Although Beau was the company's top priority, they still had to fulfill commitments for their Belle products. Gloria wasn't ready to give up on Belle, especially if the men's line of products didn't take off the way they'd hoped, so Alex still had to work diligently at placing the Belle products in stores.
Just before lunch that day, the brunette received a text that piqued her interest. She dialed Piper's number and hoped that her lover would pick up in the middle of the day.
"Hi," the blonde answered.
"Hey. How's it going?" She could hear city noises in the background.
"Fine. I just ran out to pick up something for lunch." She was breathing a little heavy, and Alex guessed she was in a rush.
"I'm about to eat mine."
"You don't usually call in the middle of the day. Is everything alright?" Piper asked.
"You'll never guess who just texted me." She stabbed a piece of Romaine with her fork. "Pete."
"Pete? As in Polly's Pete?" Her voice sounded closer.
"I'm assuming. He's the only Pete I know." She chomped on her salad.
"What does he want from you?"
She swallowed the lettuce. "He asked me to meet him after work to shoot some pool."
"Huh." The blonde left it at that.
"Any guesses why he'd reach out to me?" She took a sip of water.
"I know he likes you," Piper stated. "Maybe he's just trying to get to know you better. At least he understands that you're in my life permanently."
"Permanently?" Alex grinned.
"I'm not giving you up any time soon, so don't even think about ditching me," the blonde replied.
"You're turning me on, babe," she lowered her voice. "Maybe we can watch our video again tonight?"
"Alex!" She shouted. "People can hear you! Besides, if that video was on a VHS tape, it would be worn out by now."
"Lucky for us it's not," she said with a smirk.
"I'm about to order my lunch, so I have to go. You should play pool tonight with Pete; figure out what he's up to."
"I will. Have a good rest of your day." She popped a cucumber into her mouth.
"You, too. Bye."
Alex got up and closed her office door, making sure it was locked. She sat back down, turned on her phone and found their one and only sex video. If Piper wouldn't bite, she'd have to take matters into her own hands.
The brunette showed up at Amsterdam Billiards at 6:45 and searched the crowd for Pete. There were no more than 10 women in the bar—most of the occupants were blue collared men.
"Alex, hi!" Pete approached her with a pitcher of beer. "Hope you like Guinness. I'm not Irish, but it's a damn fine stout."
She took the two frosted mugs from his other hand. "I pegged you as more of a Boddington's guy."
"Boddington's tastes like pussy juice!" He put one arm around her in a half-hug.
"Must be why I like it so much," she joked.
He laughed and began pouring the beer. "I'm glad you were free this evening."
She stuck one hand in her jeans pocket. "What's the occasion?"
"I just thought you'd be fun to hang out." He shrugged. "I got us a table over there if you're up for a round of billiards."
"Why not?" She followed him and took a sip of the dark liquid.
They made small talk while playing pool, and neither opponent was very skilled at sinking anything other than the cue ball. Alex had won the first game, which meant the first pitcher was on Pete.
"I don't believe it," came a voice from behind a wooden column.
Alex spun around, dabbing blue chalk onto the tip of her pool stick. She narrowed her eyes at Pete. "Is this a fucking set up?"
"Relax, ladies." He put his hands out.
"Did you know about this?" She asked Polly.
The other brunette shook her head. "No."
Alex raised her eyebrows at Pete. "Does Piper know about this?"
"No." He stood between the two women. "Alex, I really like you, and I can see why Piper is attracted to you." He turned to his girlfriend. "Polly, this is the person that you best friend is in love with. Can't you try to like her?"
"I did," she shouted. "Didn't turn out the way I'd hoped!"
"I'm actually glad that Pete brought us together, because there are a few things I want to get straight with you." She set her pool cue against the table. "I realize I blew the interview with you a year ago. I also know what you think of my criminal past, which has been behind me for a long fucking time. But what I don't get is why you keep holding this grudge—is it because I'm a woman?"
"No." Polly crossed her arms.
"Is it because you miss your little foursome with Larry?" She mirrored the other woman's position.
"We did a lot together. I'll admit I miss the bond that the four of us shared." At least Polly wasn't yelling.
"I would understand your feelings if this was two or three months after Piper and Larry broke up, but it has been a year," Alex emphasized. "She doesn't love him, Polly! She loves me, and you need to fucking accept that if you want her in your life as a friend. If all you care about is Poppi's bottom line, then let her know that, because what I see is a selfish, jealous woman who's trying to make Piper miserable."
"I am not trying to make her miserable," Polly squabbled. "I care deeply about her, and…"
"No, you don't!" Alex interrupted with a firm shake of her head. "If you did, you'd accept the fact that we're in this for the long haul."
The other woman looked down, and then back up at her. "If you care so much about Piper, why didn't you quit your fucking job when things got serious and do something in a totally different field?"
"Other than restaurants and bars, there are very few places that will hire someone without a college degree," she snapped back. "I wanted more than that, and Belle happened to take a chance on me."
"Does Gloria know about your involvement in the drug ring?"
"I was involved with the cartel almost ten years ago, and I was never arrested. It's not on my record, and it never will be." Alex clenched her jaw. "Not that she would fire me if she found out, but if she does, I'll know who fucking snitched, and believe me, woman, I would make you pay."
"Is that a threat?"
"Call it whatever you'd like." Alex took a step closer. "While we're on the subject of my job, let me tell you a little secret, since you seem to think that's why I'm with Piper anyway." She stood as tall as she could so that she was looking down at Polly. "I single-handedly turned the focus of Belle to a completely different demographic so that we wouldn't be in direct competition with Poppi. I didn't do that because I'm a savvy business woman, trying to tap into a new market. I did it for Piper—because I don't want to continue to see her stressed out about our competing companies. That is love." She jutted her chin out. "You wouldn't know a thing about the subject."
If she had a microphone in hand, she'd have dropped it. Alex walked over to where Pete was standing with his mouth slightly open and picked up her beer. She took a long, satisfying gulp.
"You did that for Piper?" She asked skeptically.
Alex shrugged.
"So you do love her?"
"Did you think we were lying?" Alex laughed incredulously. "Yes, I fucking love her! Piper's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'll do anything to make her happy."
She lifted her brows. "Even be friends with me?"
"I don't know if you and I will ever really like each other." Alex set her beer back down. "But I'm willing to play nice for Piper's sake."
"Me, too." Polly hung her head. "You are a talented business woman, by the way."
"Damn right, I am." She smirked.
"Are we gonna finish this game, or what?" Pete asked as he threw an arm around both women.
"It'll just be another two shots before I beat you for the second time." Alex picked up her pool cue again and aimed at the yellow ball.
"I'm guessing you're stripes, hon," Polly said to her boyfriend.
He frowned. "Unfortunately, you are correct."
Alex and Polly didn't talk directly to each other without Pete involved in some way for the next 20 minutes, but they were in the same room and didn't kill each other. To Alex, that was a victory in and of itself.
She didn't know how long their truce would last, but Alex planned to keep up her end of the bargain. If she could prevent her lover from being hurt or feeling like she was caught in the middle, she'd do anything in her power to make that happen.
Epilogue coming your way soon.