The day was ridiculously stressful for both Piper and Alex. Piper's meetings didn't seem to want to go the way she wanted them to go as there was someone in it who just wouldn't accept what she was saying, claiming that she didn't know much about the business still. It was in the third and final meeting when she finally cracked.
"I've been running this company for over six months now, Jeremy. I think you'll find that I know what I am talking about!" Piper cried. She was in a meeting with the accountants of the firm. There were three of them who looked at different things individually. Tony and Guy seemed pretty decent with her and helped her figure out how things were run from the beginning. Jeremy used to be okay with her but then one week, he just turned ridiculously cold towards her. She didn't really care though as she didn't particularly like him anyway.
"Piper, I'm just saying-"
"No, you're just trying to get me to go your way when Tony and Guy are clearly backing me up on this!" Piper said cutting Jeremy off before he could talk. "We're going with that whether you like it or not!"
"You know it's for the best, Jeremy," Tony added in an attempt to intervene before Jeremy said something he would later regret and could cost him his job. Tony was the oldest member of the team of accountants, Piper didn't know how old he was exactly but she would guess that he was around the age of 50. With that, people usually just accepted what he said.
"Fine!" Jeremy huffed.
"So with that, the meeting is at an end," Piper said. She then started to collect all of her papers together and started to stand so she could leave.
Jeremy was the first one to run out of the room, muttering things Piper did not want to know about as he left. Guy was the second one to leave the room as he had another meeting to get to with another of his clients.
"Well done for sticking up against Jeremy," Tony said quietly. "He needs putting in his place sometimes."
"I just don't get why he hates me so much," Piper revealed with a small sigh. She really wasn't that bothered that he didn't like her truthfully. It just bothered her that she hadn't done anything when he just turned so cold against her
"It's because you're such good friends with Zoe and there have been some rumours flying around about the two of you," Tony replied and then it was as if everything clicked into place.
When Piper had first met Zoe, Zoe had told her that she used to be engaged to someone called Jeremy before she got together with Grace. He must have found out that Piper and Zoe had slept together meaning that he still couldn't have Zoe. Piper hadn't registered that it was the same Jeremy as Zoe had never mentioned that he worked for her, probably because she didn't want Piper to know that.
"It all makes sense now," Piper said with a sigh. "He really needs to get over her then. It's been what, almost four years?"
"Yeah, something like that, but you know how it is, it's not easy for a man if their woman leaves him for someone else, especially when it's for another woman," He added. "It happened to me twenty years ago. It sucked but I got over it. I met someone else and now George and I are really happy together." Piper then looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow. Tony blushed before continuing. "Jennifer leaving me made me realised that not everything is how it seems. I decided to see life differently and then I went out with work one night and started talk to this man and we've been together for fifteen years. I'm not gay, I just fell in love with another man."
"I know the exact same feeling," Piper replied and actually smiled for the first time since her first meeting that morning. "I feel bad for leaving Larry but I fell in love with another woman and I couldn't be happier."
"Love is strange," Tony commented and then looked down at his watch. "Talking about George, I need to go pick up him from his sister's house as his car's broken. If you'll excuse me."
"See you, Tony."
"Bye, Piper."
Piper then walked out of the meeting room and headed back to the elevators so she could return to her office. As she exited the elevator, she saw Zoe walking past carrying two coffees.
"Hey Zoe, come into my office for a moment when you're free!" Piper requested.
"Just give me twenty minutes, I'm just in a meeting," Zoe replied.
Nodding, Piper turned and entered her office. Once inside, she took her phone out of her pocket and turned it off silent mode that she'd had it on during the meetings to see a number of messages from Alex along with pictures if she mentioned a piece of furniture.
From Alex to Piper: bank meeting wasn't quite as successful as I wanted it to be but I think I got there in the end!
From Alex to Piper: in the first shop now, looking for bedroom furniture for guest rooms!
From Alex to Piper: found the perfect colour for our bedroom!
From Alex to Piper: found the perfect desk for my office!
From Alex to Piper: finally decided the colour scheme for my office too, gonna go with red like I first thought.
From Alex to Piper: just bought the towels for the bathrooms
From Alex to Piper: got the utensils for the kitchen
From Alex to Piper: I can't wait to fuck you when I get in. I'm gonna go so slow and so gently that you'll beg for it!
Piper almost screamed seeing the last message and seeing that it only came through a few minutes ago, she immediately called her girlfriend. It was answered by Alex laughing.
"Al, you can't send me messages like that when I'm working! What if I was in a room with someone?" Piper asked.
"You wouldn't be on your phone in front of clients, Pipes, you're too professional," Alex reminded her, still laughing slightly. "Besides, you weren't answering my messages so I had to get creative!"
"I was in meetings! I found out the most amazing thing in my last meeting though." Just then, there was a knock on Piper's door, presuming it was Zoe, she covered the bottom of the phone and called for her to enter. When the door opened, she saw that it was Zoe who walked in with a smile. "Just take a seat, Zoe, I'll be two minutes."
"Zoe?" Alex asked. "Why is she in your office?"
"Al," Piper said and Alex heard the warning in her voice.
"Okay, okay, I'll leave you to have your meeting. I'll see you at home later," Alex replied.
"Okay and I love everything you've got so far too! Bye!" Piper then hung up her phone, put it back on silent and put it on her desk before looking up at Zoe who was sat at the other side of Piper's desk.
"What's up?" Zoe asked. She didn't actually know why Piper wanted to see her in her office. They tended not to have meetings that were just the two of them anymore. It just got a little awkward for them, however, that should change now that Zoe was back with Grace and Piper had Alex.
"You'll never guess what Tony just told me!"
Piper then told Zoe what Tony had said about Jeremy. Zoe cringed slightly at that and muttered a quiet sorry before letting Piper continue about what Tony had said to her.
"You didn't know that he was with another man?" Zoe asked and Piper shook her head. "Of course you wouldn't. George is a fair bit older than Tony so he's retired now. The reason I know him so well is that I replaced him as the head of the editing department a couple of years ago. He taught me everything I know. He was a great father figure to me."
"That's so sweet," Piper replied. "Anyway, tell me more about what happened between you and Grace!"
Zoe rolled her eyes but complied. She told Piper how she rang her up and told her that Piper had spoken to her about what she'd said. They suggested going out to dinner so they could talk about it. Everything seemed to just click back into place and Grace apologised multiple times and asked Zoe if she would give her another chance because she truly did love her. Zoe agreed and they decided to go back to Zoe's for some drinks. They had barely had a glass of wine before Grace leant over and kissed Zoe. They were soon in bed together and everything was perfect. Grace was still living with Lindsay for the time being but they went out together regularly and Grace spent more time at Zoe's than at Lindsay's but they didn't want to rush anything yet at it was too fragile to ruin just at that moment.
"I'm so happy for you both," Piper said. "Grace is great and I'm glad she's happy, especially because it's you who's making her happy. You're really good for each other."
"Are you and Alex okay?" Zoe asked, she could hear that Alex didn't sound too happy that she and Piper were in the same room.
"Yeah," Piper replied, "we bought an apartment this weekend! She's gone out today to shop for it. We'll be moving in throughout this week. Hopefully it'll be done before my brother's wedding this coming weekend. When we're fully settled, we'll be throwing a housewarming party, no doubt." Piper paused for a few moments as it clicked as to why Zoe had truly asked. "She trusts me but she's just a little possessive at times. She knows about us so she doesn't really like the idea that we still see each other and regard each other as friends. When she gets to know you, she'll realise that there's no need to worry and everything will be okay. Give her time."
Zoe nodded but she doubted that Alex would ever give her chance to show her true self. But she wanted to be friends with Piper so she knew she'd at least try with Alex. "I need to get back to work or the boss will think I'm slacking," Zoe said with a laugh.
"I can assure you that the boss won't," Piper replied with a smile.
Zoe then left the office and Piper went to put her phone back on loud to see that Alex had sent her another text message. Hoping it wasn't another dirty one, Piper opened it and saw the picture that was attached.
From Alex to Piper: I have found the perfect bed!
oOoOo
On the other side of town, Alex's day hadn't started as well as she wanted. The bank refused to let her merge two of her accounts together and the request for another bank account had been denied. There was also another problem with one as she hadn't used it for a while so they decided to freeze it and she couldn't remember the correct passcode to reopen it.
"I've been in prison so obviously I couldn't use my accounts," Alex said with a sigh. "I need to get to my money."
"I'm sorry Miss Vause, but we need to correct passcode in order to get into it," the banker said calmly. "Security reasons."
Alex then tried to think back to when that account had been opened. It took a few moments but she remembered opening it a few weeks after she and Piper had got together, it was just before they took their first trip to Bali together.
"Piper," Alex said confidently. "The passcode is Piper."
The banker then typed it into the computer and the page opened. "Correct!"
Once that happened, it started to get more positive. Alex was a multimillionaire from her previous job. She was fined a million when she was first arrested and then she had to spend a lot on sorting out arrangements for going and hiring a lawyer who did naff all for her. She'd had more taken from her just because the police could do that apparently and then there was the money that was spent on commissary when she was in prison but that wasn't a lot. However, combined with Piper's money, when she went shopping, she knew it wouldn't be necessary to look at the price tag to know whether she could afford it or not.
When she left the bank, she felt more content and even excited to start the immense shopping trip. She had a number of lists on her phone so that she knew what to get. She went from shop to shop and picked out wardrobes, chests of draws and pictures for walls. She headed into the paint shop and spoke with the owner about what she wanted. She was able to look at a number of different samples to see if they worked well with each other as they walked from room to room. Like for example, she'd decided on having a red office meaning that the room next door couldn't be pink as it would be too harsh on the eyes.
She walked round furniture shop after furniture shop looking for inspiration. She found the most perfect desk in the corner of an old antique shop that she frequented when she last lived in New York. It was made from mahogany and it was detailed in design with plenty of draws for her to store all of the different ideas for writing and the utensils she needed. She also selected the curtains and the blinds for the rooms.
She stopped off for lunch at a local café and bought a Greek salad and a bottle of water before returning to shopping. In the afternoon, she decided to look for kitchen supplies and bathroom items. She found matching cutlery that all had pastel coloured handles to match the pale yellow that the walls would be. She also selected an array of different towels that matched with the colour of the bedroom. The en suite for the secondary bedroom was going to be purple like the bedroom so the towels were also going to be purple but in slightly different shades.
Throughout the day, she texted Piper, sending her different pictures of what she had found. She knew that Piper was working and that she had a busy day but she expected a message at least a lunch time but it seemed that the blonde was working through her lunch break. Finally getting annoyed, she sent Piper a dirty message and laughed as the blonde finally rang her back. It was only a short call that ended when Piper said to Zoe to take a seat.
It wasn't that Alex didn't trust Piper, she trusted her immensely, it was Zoe she didn't trust. She knew that she was now back with Grace, whoever she was, but she saw the way that Zoe looked at Piper and it was similar to how she looked at Piper, eyes full of love and adoration. They also had so much in common, much more than she and Piper had. However, Alex shook her head at those thoughts, especially when Piper gave her the warning 'Al'. She decided then to start looking for beds. She knew that Piper wanted to look with her but she wanted to narrow it down so that Piper wouldn't have to spend as long picking.
She found the ones for the guest bedrooms. They had decided to put double beds in all the rooms except the blue room that was going to have a single bed for when Finn stayed with them. Polly had already said to Piper that she would let that happen when he was a little older.
She was just about to leave and head home when she saw the most perfect king sized bed. It was white as they had decided but the headboard was black. She sat on the mattress to test it out and was highly tempted to lean back to just go to sleep as it felt perfect. However, she stood up so that she wouldn't be tempted to do so. In the end, she decided to take a picture and send it to Piper so she could see it.
Finally, she decided to head home. She didn't have anything to take with her as she had organised it so that they would all be delivered to the apartment the next day. She just hoped that she could get Piper to get the day off from work and hopefully get some people in to help them sort everything out.
oOoOo
Piper returned home that evening which a huge smile on her face. Her day in the end had been pretty good and as she entered the apartment, she was welcomed with the smell of cooking from the kitchen.
"Al?" She called.
"Kitchen!" Alex replied so that's where Piper headed.
She walked straight in and saw Alex at the stove with a couple of pans on the hob and the oven was on. Piper had no idea what was being cooked but it smelt great. Despite joking that Piper was going to be cooking all the time for Alex, it was actually Alex who was the better cook as she was more daring. Piper usually just made the same few meals over and over again, usually involving pasta. From traveling all over the world, Alex had learnt many different recipes and knew what could change a meal entirely with one simple herb or two.
Walked up to where Alex was stood, Piper snaked her arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Smells good, what are you cooking?" She asked.
"Steak and Ale pie!" Alex replied. "With gravy, mash potatoes and sweetcorn."
"Al, alcohol?"
"It's cooked off and just the taste is left," Alex assured her girlfriend. Turning round, she kissed her quickly before going back to concentrate on the food. "Go freshen yourself up and then we'll eat and discuss our day."
Piper didn't need to be asked twice so she left the kitchen and headed to her room to change into her comfy clothes. As she returned to the kitchen, Alex was just plating everything up.
"Bon appetit!"
Piper smiled happily and quickly dug into her food, almost moaning at the great taste. "This is amazing!" Alex smiled and accepted the compliment. After a few mouthfuls, Piper asked, "So how much did you spend to day and where is everything?"
"I've arranged to have everything delivered to the apartment tomorrow. I was wondering if you could have a day off and help me with it? We could do with some extra hands too," Alex replied, avoiding the first question for now. Piper took note of this but ignored it for the moment.
"I don't have anything to do tomorrow really so I can take it off, I'll get Trevor to cover me if needed," Piper said after another mouthful. "Homemade pastry?" Alex nodded. "As for the extra hands, I'm sure I can call my brothers to help us. Cal can take time off whenever and Danny is here for a while for Cal's wedding so he'll have nothing else to do. Neri is too far along to work but I guess she could come and help boss the boys around. There's no way in hell that Helene is coming." Piper paused for a few moments, "we could ask Polly, Pete and Lorna too."
At the mention of Piper's brothers and best friend, Alex suddenly became nervous. She'd never met her brothers and she and Polly still didn't get along really. There had been that one visit and the odd phone call so that Alex could speak to Piper but nothing more.
"You can ask," Alex said with a shrug. "Can Lorna get a day off so easily?"
"I'm her boss, it'll be fine."
With that said, the two continued to discuss Alex's purchases and how her day had gone in general. Piper apologised again for not replying to her Alex said it was okay. Piper then went on to tell Alex how her different meetings had gone along with the information she had found out at the last meeting.
"That's cute," Alex agreed.
They then cleared the table away and put everything in the dishwasher and set the machine going. They then decided to go into the lounge and watch a film together. Alex then realised that she hadn't thought about TVs and computers and made a note on her phone to get them sorted and ordered.
Alex was sitting on the sofa and Piper was both next to her and on top of her as she had her legs across Alex's and her head was resting on Alex's shoulder. Alex had her arm wrapped around Piper's shoulders.
"Al, how much did you spend today?" Piper asked slowly.
Alex leant back and looked at Piper and slowly revealed the amount. "More or less $20,000."
Hey guys! I've noticed recently that this story hasn't been getting as much love as it used to, which is a little disheartening as a writer. If I don't have the support, there's a part of me that'll just want to give up with writing it. With this said, there have been a couple of people, who know who they are who review constantly which is fantastic. Just a slight comment there and I'll stop whining :). As always, love you, Emss x