Here's another double update - don't get your hopes up because I can't see too much free time coming my way (I did say that last time and look how far that comment took me...) I'm hoping the ending isn't too cliché, but if you happen to think it is, I don't apologise.
Enjoy!
"So are you just not going to say anything?" Alex asks as she sits behind the steering wheel, eyes on the road, yet feeling awkward due to her girlfriend's silence.
"I don't really have anything interesting to say," Piper replies, leaning her head on her hand as she rests her elbow by the window of the passenger seat.
"It doesn't have to be interesting. It could be something along the lines of 'I'm sorry Alex for running away from you last night after you left work early to make me dinner to celebrate my job promotion', or you know, asking how my morning's been, but that's down to you," the brunette says sarcastically, knowing her comment is going to annoy her girlfriend.
"Well maybe I have a few things on my plate at the minute, Alex. I'm sorry I don't seem enthused by how your morning's going," the blonde replies, sighing as she sees the car turning into Polly's road, knowing she'll have to try and not breakdown and make a scene at Polly's baby shower centred around herself.
"Pipes," Alex calls out almost apologetically as the blonde opens and steps out of her car door before she can reply. "You know you can talk to me about your worries," she continues as she exits the car and joins her girlfriend, connecting their hands – the lack of rejection surprising her – and walking towards the front door.
"I know," Piper says, turning to face her girlfriend, making eye contact for the first time that day. "Later, okay."
"Sure," the brunette replies smiling, pecking her girlfriend on the cheek, yet still curious by the blonde's mood.
The tension between the pair has been palpable throughout the course of the baby shower, and as they stand at opposite ends of Polly and Pete's garden, it's the blonde's best friend that finally decides to point out the situation at hand.
"Why are you avoiding Alex?"
"I'm not avoiding Alex. Why would you-"
"Cut the shit, Piper. Every time she looks over and smiles you turn away and avoid eye contact. What did you do this time?" Polly goes on to ask while sipping on her glass of orange juice.
"What makes you assume it's my fault?" the blonde retorts, but at seeing the smaller brunette's serious glare, she gives in, deciding to explain why she's annoyed at her girlfriend. "She's going to Germany in 3 weeks."
"And you're mad about that because…?"
"Because she's not going to be here for our 1st anniversary, Polly. It's like she doesn't even realise she's in the wrong here."
"Have you tried talking to her about it?"
"She told me last night and…"
"What aren't you telling me, Piper?"
"I left straight after we finished dinner to stay at my own home," the blonde replies, looking down at her feet, feeling like a child under her best friend's scrutinising gaze. "She also made some comments about having kids."
"You spoke to Alex about having kids? Isn't that a bit soon, Pipes?"
"That's not why we were talking about it, Pol. It's just that her comments annoyed me, and then she was just so unfazed about telling me she's going away, and she's just acting like nothing happened, and she's just standing over there looking at me like she normally does, and I want to be mad at her, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out."
Seeing her best friend let out a sigh having finished her rant, the brunette chuckles, grabbing Piper's hand and dragging her over to the bar. "You need to be drinking something much stronger, Pipes."
"So you're telling me you did it at work out in the open?" Pete asks, sloshing some of his beer over the edge of his drink as he moves his arms animatedly in response to Alex's revelation.
"Mmhmm, well I wouldn't call it 'out in the open', but we did do it at my work."
"Hmm, that now makes it," Pete pauses as he pulls out his phone, going to his notes page, "31-16 to you, Vause. How do you even manage that?" he adds, laughing at how badly he's losing.
"Well for starters, my girlfriend isn't a grouchy pregnant lady, and secondly, maybe you just don't know what you're doing, considering you're only on 16 and your girlfriend is the pregnant, hormonal lady," Alex concludes, laughing at her final comment.
"Fuck you, Alex. Polly's just being… well, Polly."
"It's been, what: 5 months since we started this game? You're the one that made the stupid score chart - you should have put more than 2 points per every time you have sex in your own bed, Pete, considering that's where all your points are coming from."
"How about we call this a draw and go for the best of 3?"
"Nice try, buddy," the brunette says, taking a sip of her own drink. "Maybe now's your chance to get more than 2 points, seeing as your girl's coming over."
"We're not finished here, Vause," Pete says as he walks backwards to reach Polly while winking at Alex.
Now standing by herself, the brunette scans the area for her girlfriend, and soon enough, she spots the blonde sitting alone at a circular table looking straight at her, before she quickly looks away – a clear blush adorning her cheeks at being caught staring.
"Hey, babe," Alex says, having walked over and taken a seat next to the blonde, smiling at her counterpart.
"Hey," Piper replies, this time looking up at her girlfriend. "Sorry I've been with Polly and some of our college friends the whole time."
"That's fine. I'm good talking to Pete and his work friends about whatever it is that they do," the brunette replies, innocently placing her hand on the top of the blonde's thigh. "Are you sure you're okay? I feel like you're avoiding me, Pipes."
The blonde, knowing that her girlfriend can read her like the back of her hand, decides that she should be open and honest with the woman next to her – something that Polly recommended would make their situation a whole lot better than it currently is.
"I just wasn't prepared for what you told me last night. I… I had something planned for three weeks' time for the two of us, like, you know, a-" the blonde stutters, feeling nervous all of a sudden at her girlfriend's loving gaze, but is interrupted by a group of people passing by them, indicating that Polly and Pete are opening presents.
"Rain check?" Alex asks, holding out her hand.
"Rain check," the blonde confirms, clasping the brunette's hand and following her to where everyone's gathered.
After a tiring afternoon, Piper feels increasingly content that even though her plans for their anniversary have been compromised by Alex's work trip, she had received a message from the company she had booked the brunette's present through, indicating that the dates of her booking can be changed. She would have preferred it if they were together for the occasion, but knowing that they're lucky enough to have made it this far is something the blonde has to keep reminding herself.
"Sorry for being an ass last night," Piper says, using her left hand to link with Alex's free one that isn't holding the steering wheel.
"It's okay. You know I love your ass."
The pair sit in silence until Alex's phone, linked to the car's Bluetooth, rings, to which the brunette answers the call using a button on her steering wheel.
"Hello."
"Hey, four eyes, how was your baby busting event?"
"Jesus, Nic, how many times have I told you to stop calling me that?!"
"I'm not here to chat about nicknames, Vause. I rang about Operation 1208."
"What?" Alex asks, confused at her best friend's antics.
"Germany, Vause. Did you not read any of my emails? That's the code for the products we're buying."
"Well, I'm in the car with Piper right now, so I haven't really had the time."
"Oh, hi blondie, I'd love to talk, but I just need Vause to answer her goddamn emails. Vause – make sure you're free because we might need you for slightly more than a week."
"What?!" Piper says into the car's phone system, removing her hand from Alex's and leaning forwards.
"Just read your fucking emails, Vause," the wild-haired woman shouts before she hangs up the phone.
"Alex – what was she talking about?"
"I don't know, Piper, because I'm fucking driving right now. I know, let me just whip out my phone and check right now."
"Al-"
"Or even better, I'll pull over and we can check."
"Alex, you don't have to do that. I was just asking."
Sighing loudly, the brunette turns up the radio then puts both of her hands onto the steering wheel, heading straight for her apartment.
Now lying in bed under the covers, Piper decides to break the silence, hoping some comic relief will help the situation.
"You got quite riled up in the car earlier, Al," she turns onto her side, putting her left hand under her pillow while smirking. "You on your period too?"
"I'm not, but can we just pretend that I am?"
"Sure. Are we having a non-verbal argument that we both don't quite know the contents of?"
"I'm not sure," the brunette says, mirroring Piper's positioning.
"About what Nicky said," the blonde starts to probe, wanting to know more about what Alex's best friend was referring to on the phone. "Did you check your emails?"
"That I did. I'm screwed. Someone fucked up and they ordered the wrong stuff for us to view, which is why Nicky has named the trip 'Operation 1208' in reference to the stuff we're actually meant to be viewing, and then went on to use it for the subject title of every email I had in my inbox."
"So how long are you gone for?"
"I'm not too sure. I'm trying to get that information as soon as I can to let my clients know that I'll have to cancel their appointments."
"You'll let me know when you do know though, won't you?" Piper asks, knowing she'll need to know what Alex's business plans are so that her own plans for the two of them aren't ruined.
"Of course I will," Alex replies, shuffling closer to put her head on the pillow her girlfriend's head is currently resting on. "We good now?"
"More than good."
"Okay, great because you're scary when you're angry," Alex says while rolling onto her back, looking at the room's white ceiling.
"I wasn't angry," Piper tries to appeal, but at seeing her girlfriend smiling to herself, she raises her leg to rest across her hip, pulling her body upwards. "I was annoyed by the lack of notice you gave me, but I'm over it now."
"I knew you were mad!" Alex exclaims almost as though she had just won a quiz, while resting her hands on the blonde's hips, yet dodges her head to the side as her girlfriend lowers her own to connect their lips. "Oh no, we can't start any of that; you're on your period," the brunette adds, trying to act serious.
Piper, who now realises that her girlfriend knew she was lying about her cycle of menstruation the previous night, gently hits the woman below her on the arm, while telling her to shut up, before creating a lip-lock – something they both moan into having been deprived of one another's intimacy throughout the day.
Three weeks pass by, and while Alex has been working endlessly to ensure she doesn't have a lot of work to catch up on when she returns, Piper has been working her ass off to pull off her anniversary present for Alex.
Using her negotiating skills, along with some contacts belonging to her father, the blonde successfully managed to plan a present that both satisfied her, and made her eager for Alex's reaction. The pair had stumbled across a great viewing spot by the Hudson River when on a date early on in their relationship, and knowing Alex appreciates viewing nature and the scenic views of the world, the blonde decided to use that as her advantage when deciding to rent a remote cabin in Estes Park, Colorado, for a small, romantic getaway.
It's now 2am on a Tuesday morning, and Piper wakes up to the sound of her girlfriend's alarm. On any other morning, she probably would have sworn at her counterpart, telling her to turn the alarm off and roll over to continue sleeping, but this morning, she has other plans.
It's the morning that Alex leaves for – as finally decided – a week, and, more importantly, it's the day of their anniversary: August 12th.
Excitedly getting up from the bed, Piper goes to the living room of Alex's apartment to rummage through her handbag, where an envelope that she's kept under her guard for the past week is stored. Upon returning to Alex's bedroom, she sees her girlfriend rummaging through a draw, fiddling with her glasses as she turns around having heard footsteps enter the room, is she nervous?, the blonde thinks to herself, recognising the change in Alex's regular body language.
"Morning," Alex says, smiling at the blonde before her.
"Morning," the blonde repeats back, moving closer to her girlfriend; not really knowing how to verbally approach the subject at hand, so she gives over the red envelope she was holding. "I don't know if you knew or anything, but today is… today is our anniversary, and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because you're not going to be here, but I got you something, but it's okay, we can wait until you get back to-"
"Piper," Alex interrupts her girlfriend while chuckling, creating a pause in her nervous rant, "breathe for me, okay? There's something I want you to do for me before I open this," she continues, guiding the blonde to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. "I know this has been playing on your mind for a while, but I can assure you that I do in fact know what today is, and of course I didn't forget," Alex says, holding out an envelope of her own to give to the blonde.
Piper, confused by where Alex is going with her statement, sees the brunette's nod towards the envelope in her hands as a prompt to open it. Inside is a card with a simple 'Happy Anniversary' written on the front in red cursive, and after opening the card, Piper sees a neatly written message on the inside, which she starts to read in her head:
Dear Piper,
While this has been difficult to hide from you, I would take all the non-verbal arguments in the world if it meant I got to see your reaction over and over again. You could say I've done some soul searching over the last year, and in doing so, I think I've found a destination where I'd like to keep myself grounded.
So while I am heading out of the country to embark on 'Operation 1208', I think it's only fair that you know that 1208 isn't a product code, but a cover-up for today's date (stupid, I know – thank Nicky). So, again, while I am heading out of the country, I'm afraid that my business partner had to drop out and I need someone to help – it's a two-woman kind of job.
I'm running out of writing space here, but let's just say that although my work trip has been one giant sham, this sure as hell isn't, because Piper Chapman, the weeks of stress I've put you through was just a cover-up for this moment, and I hope that you love me enough to not bury me in the garden and blame my neighbour for my disappearance.
Happy Anniversary.
Love,
Alex x
Looking up at her girlfriend, her vision moving in and out of focus due to the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, the blonde is speechless.
"Do you not like it?" Alex asks, not being able to judge the expression on Piper's face.
"No. I mean, yes! I love it, Al," the blonde replies while letting out a sniffle. "How did you even manage this?"
"Ah, when you have contacts like I do, anything can happen," the brunette remarks, lifting a hand to push a strand of her girlfriend's hair behind her ear.
"You remembered… from our date you remembered," Piper says, holding up the card.
"I sure did, kid."
"Alex, I don't know what to say -" she pauses, putting the card down onto the bed and looking up at the woman next to her, moving to straddle her hips as she keeps the contact with her emerald eyes. "I don't know what I did to deserve you. Thank you, Al."
"Anytime," Alex says while shrugging her shoulders. "Well, within reason."
The blonde presses her lips to those of her girlfriend, passionately displaying thanks for her present, thinking: she can open mine later, to herself as she's dragged down onto the bed, causing the open card next to them to fall on the floor.
PS: It's not quite Germany, but I've heard Paris is a close second?
PPS: We leave this afternoon.