Alex kicked the inside of the box, breaking the tape seal on the other side. She flipped the box over and pulled the tape off the cardboard. Alex folded the box at its creases and stacked it on the top of the rest of the broken down boxes. Dusting off her hands, Alex said, "Well I think that's the last of the boxes Pipes."
"What about your storage unit?" Piper wrapped her arms around her wife. "You had a lot shoved in there when you moved in with me."
"Yup. Those, too. The girls got those on move-in day. Consider us completely moved in!" Alex pulled Piper over to the couch and they both collapsed. "Did I mention how much I hate unpacking?"
Piper chuckled as she leaned over and nuzzled into Alex. "Yes, many times. At least your crew helped some. They actually helped a lot."
She kissed the top of Piper's head as she scoffed. "If you call what they did … help, yeah." Alex hadn't told her wife about Nicky's romp through their panties.
Piper looked around the living room. "You know, for two women who came from one bedroom flats, we did a pretty good job filling up this four-bedroom house." She rubbed her hands together gleefully. "We can't have empty rooms. That just won't do… This calls for some shopping!"
Alex rolled her eyes as she pulled Piper into her even tighter. "Shopping? That's all you Pipes. All you. In fact, why don't you make a day out of it and ask Polly to join you? You two haven't spent a lot of girl time together since this whole Popi business took off."
"Good thinking Alex. She'll be tickled." Piper ticked off the rooms she needed to shop for. "Third bedroom, office, and back yard. What other big ticket items?"
The dark haired woman gave a deep chuckle. "Isn't that enough? Here's my contribution." Alex reached into her back pocket, pulled out her wallet and extracted a credit card. "Consider that card your limit. But remember Pipes, whatever you buy we have to pay it off!"
Polly was in the upstairs office at Popi's working on the accounting for the previous week. Piper had been off work trying to get her house in order so Polly was on her own with the books. Hearing a faint noise, Polly stopped at cocked her head sideways. Soon she heard it again. It sounded like a small cat or kitten. Just a quiet "mew".
Surely a cat couldn't have gotten into our upstairs office. Polly's mind was racing as she looked around for the source of the noise. Not finding anything nor hearing another sound, Polly buried herself in her work again.
Later, she heard it again. Slightly louder this time. Meow. "What the fuck?" Polly thought she was hearing things. "Just what I need today, a damned cat stuck in the vents." She grumbled aloud at the thought of having to rescue an animal.
This went on for quite some time but the cat only called out periodically which was frustrating Polly because she couldn't pinpoint the noise. Exasperated and unable to work, Polly finally broke down and called Piper.
"Piper, yeah. How's the unpacking going? You guys are done? That's great!" She paused as Piper rattled for a bit. "I'd love to go shopping with you tomorrow. Anything to get away from the office for a while. Hey, since you are done unpacking, could I borrow Alex for a bit this afternoon?" Pause. "I think there is a kitten or cat trapped somewhere maybe in the vents or the attic. It's been crying all day. It's driving me insane. I am afraid of heights and can't crawl up there to check." Pause. "Thanks Piper."
When she stopped by Popi's, Alex stopped downstairs to say hi to her mom before heading upstairs. She knocked on the office door. "I am told you have a feline problem?" Alex didn't bother hiding the smirk on her face.
"That's not funny Alex. It can't get out. I don't want the poor thing to die up there."
"Let me see what I can do," Alex chuckled. Waiting a bit, sure enough the tiny sound came again. Meow.
Alex retrieved a ladder from the storeroom and dragged it over to the air conditioning vent shaft access door. Releasing the clips, the door swung open. She peered down the shaft with a flashlight and burst out laughing. She reached down into the vent and brought out a black, rectangular object, closed the vent shaft and climbed down the ladder. "I don't think a cat is stuck."
About that time, a faint "meow" emitted from the walkie talkie radio Alex held in her hand. She handed the receiver to Polly. "Here's your stuck cat." Polly's surprised look soon turned to disgust as she took the radio and cranked the volume knob to off. "I hate to say you've been punked." Alex reached for the radio.
Alex narrowed her eyebrows as Polly held it out of her reach. "That's my walkie. From my bar."
"I want to borrow it just for the day. I want to bust that bushy haired pip squeak." Polly tossed the radio on her desk. "If you go over there, don't you dare warn her."
"How about I just don't go over there? They aren't expecting me anyhow. Hey, did Piper talk to you about shopping for the house yet?"
"Yup, it's tomorrow. Is your credit card ready?"
The brunette headed back downstairs to visit with her mom a bit more. "How's Lee doing?" Alex was genuinely concerned now that she knew how sick he truly was and that he refused her help. "More importantly, how are you?"
As she sat on the stool behind the register, Diane placed her head on her hands. "He says he's fine. But he's really weak. I do have to say that his spirits have been a lot lighter since we returned from the hospital. I can't thank you enough for be willing to put yourself out there for him. So as long as he's surviving, I will be okay."
Alex walked around the store a bit, admiring the displays. "It really looks good in here Mom. How's business been shaping up?" Alex pumped a bit of the vanilla lotion into her palm and rubbed it in well.
"Quite well here in the store and online business is brisk. We are starting to have problems keeping up with production. I believe Polly and Piper are going to start looking into a commercial facility." Alex nodded her head with an impressed look on her face.
They visited a bit longer. "Oh Alex, before you leave. About Lee. There's one more thing."
Polly turned the radio knob back on and laid it on her desk. Now that the culprit had been identified, the situation was humorous. Cranking it off once more, she slipped the black radio into her jacket pocket and headed across the street.
When she walked through Alley's door, Taystee and Poussey started chuckling. "Hey, want a drink?" Polly raised a finger to her lips, quieting the query for food or drink. Pulling the radio from her pocket, she pointed and mouthed, "where is she?"
Poussey motioned towards Alex's office in the rear of the building. Before she got close to the door, Polly switched the radio on one last time. She quietly walked to the door and peered in to see Nicky with her back to the door, feet propped up on the desk. She giggled as she raised a similar device, keyed the device, and whispered a low meow.
Nicky about fell out of her chair as she heard the cat noise coming from behind her. She quickly put her feet down and spun around in the chair. Seeing Polly standing there had her tongue tied. It was now Polly's turn to chuckle as she tossed the radio on Alex's desk.
"I brought your cat back." With that, she turned on her heel and left.
Nicky ran her fingers through her bushy hair. "Fuck me."
As she pulled up to the address her mother had given her the day before, Alex set in front of the studio for a few minutes. She took a deep breath, steeling herself as she readied herself to face what she was going into. She opened up the trunk of her car, retrieved her guitar case, and walked towards the building.
The crisp, tight sounds of a fast attack on a set of drums escaped the room. Occasionally a lower ring of a warm cymbal brought in a change of pace. With her guitar case leaned up against the door, Alex stood at the door, watching Lee bang the drum set with his eyes closed, deeply entranced in the music. She nodded her head to the beats then picked up her guitar.
As Lee settled into a faint rhythmic pattern, Alex selected a set of chords that coincided well with the drum. She watched her finger placement and strumming motions as she walked towards Lee on the drums. Alex looked up in time to see Lee's eyes pop opened and a broad grin spread across his face as he realized his daughter had joined his impromptu jam session. He sped up his beats and she matched his tempo. They slid into a cycle of allowing each to do a random riff then the other answer in cadence.
After going on quite some time, Lee held up his sticks calling for a pause. He then settled into a grove around 120 – 160 beats per minute. He kept the pocket with tasteful fills and a nice backbeat with the splash of hi-hats. Alex arched her eyebrow as she hitched up her guitar and swung into a melody quite familiar to herself. After a few passes, Lee ended with a quick wash of his cymbals.
Alex settled onto a stool next to the drum set. "How did you know that grove Lee?" Her voice was wary as she narrowed her eyebrows wondering if he'd tell the truth.
"Diane let me listen to some of your old tapes. Your strain against that beat is beautiful. You're pretty talented Alex."
"Hmmm she let you listen to my tapes?" The pause made Lee slightly uncomfortable as if he were a child being caught shaking gifts under the Christmas tree. "Cool.'
Lee's let out a breath of relief as he realized that his daughter was not angry at him… or her mother. "How did you find me here Alex? Not that I'm complaining…"
"Mom told me she had gotten you some time in a small space that some of her friends use for their band to practice in and that the drummer agreed to let you use his set. I thought I might drop in. That okay?"
Lee looked at his daughter. "Why wouldn't that be okay Alex? Regardless of how you feel about me, you are my daughter. I want you in my life."
After pondering this for a big, Alex looked at Lee. "Okay. Thanks for the jam." With that, she put her guitar back in its case and left.
Alex drove up to her and Piper's new house at the same time as her wife and Polly. Retrieving her guitar case from the back, she made it up the steps and unlocked the door while the two shoppers loaded up with bags of smaller accessories they had bought.
Polly unloaded her goodies in the front living room. Piper had gone in search of her wife, so Polly shouted out. "I can get the rest in one last trip Piper!"
Alex pulled out a bottle of wine for the girls and a beer for herself. As she uncorked the wine to allow it to breath, Piper found her in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her spouse's neck and kissed her on the cheek softly. "What's in the case babe?"
Looking down at the case, Alex piped up, "a bazooka. What does it look like ding dong? A guitar."
"Oh, you play?" Alex nodded her head as she drained half her beer. With that, Piper realized that right now probably wasn't the best time to ask questions.
Piper invited Polly to stay for dinner but she decided that she needed to get home to Pete. So to make things simple, Piper ordered a pizza then snuggled up to Alex on the couch. Piper had taken pictures of every single purchase, so regardless of Alex wanting to go shopping or not, she was treated to the experience. At least she was spared the decisions.
A/N: I apologize for the hiatus from this story being so much longer than my normal. I hit a block on this story, but then let's just say life got in the way this past week. I should be back up and running as I think I have a direction for the next few chapters. Thanks for your patience and for reading. You folks are the best.