alright, alright. i'm sorry for how long this took. i hope you're still here.

———

Scared by the sight in front of her, Piper screams and covers her bare chest with both arms and shuts her legs, trapping Alex's head between her thighs, who has no idea what's going on.

Using both hands to try and open the girl's legs and set herself free, she looks up and realizes Piper is covering herself, so she lifts herself up trying to act as a shield to cover Piper's body.

The blonde points at the door while still trying to cover both breasts with one arm, and Alex turns around to see the top of someone's head peeking out the tiny glass window they'd forgotten about.

She rolls her eyes at the intrusion and tries to reach for something to cover the blonde up with, but it's useless since her clothes are scattered around the floor. She puts an arm behind her, reaching for Piper's back and motioning for her to walk away from the table right behind Alex so her exposed skin won't be showing. They move to a corner where there's a blind spot and Alex lifts her pants up from her ankles without closing the button.

They scan the room for Piper's clothes and she eventually puts them on after messing up the holes in her t-shirt. When the girl is halfway dressed, Alex walks over to the door and opens it enough to only put her face out "What the fuck, Nick"

"Well that was interesting to watch. You are two lying motherfuckers, aren't you? I knew you were fucking"

"Nicole"

"Relax, relax. I came to check on your hand but it seems to be working fine" she smirks, looking at the still coated fingers holding the door slightly open "Also, next time you two wanna fuck in the office, try to keep it down a notch. I was knocking and interrupting so a certain Italian creep wouldn't come here himself, so you two owe me one"

"We owe you for watching us?!" Piper storms closer to the door, upset at the short girl, looking ready to jump into her and ready to attack, grabbing the door to open it so she can impose herself over the short girl

"Hey, hey. I didn't mean to watch. Super hot, though, I gotta give it to you. Nice job, blondie"

"Fuck you, Nicky"

Alex rolls her eyes and firms her grip on the door, placing herself between Piper and Nicky to avoid any actual confrontation

"Looks like stretch here was already doing that to you" she shrugs and starts to walk away "You should be happy it was me and not Marco. You'd be all over the internet by now"

"What does she mean?"

Alex shrugs, closing the door and locking it again, but Piper places her hand on the door lock "Seriously, Alex. What did she mean by that?"

"He has a history of exposing nude pictures of girls to the kitchen guys" she licks her lips that still had Piper's taste in them. It brings her back to the reality of what they'd just done and she realizes how much she enjoyed it. She tries to kiss her, but the girl backs away

"Alex!" Piper takes a step back "Our coworker just saw us having sex!"

"I think I liked it better when you moaned out my name, that tone you just used... not so nice"

Piper tries to hold back a smile in hopes of keeping a straight face on "Alex..."

"That's better. Not as good though" she moves closer to Piper, placing one hand on her cheek and wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer into a kiss that causes the girl to eventually relax again. As Piper loosens up and kisses her back, she bites the girl's bottom lip. "We'll get there"

The blonde pulls away, still trying to hide her smile as she unlocks the door to get back to work, leaving a smirking Alex behind.

————-

Since starting the new job, every now and then, small conquests seem to remind Piper that she's still alive; That things can get better.

She's aware that it sounds dramatic but she'd been so miserable since the pregnancy that getting back on the happiness train meant taking many long stops along the way. Some had a nice view, others not so much.

Tonight, though, she was reminded of a sensation she hasn't felt in a long while:

pleasure.

And as she sat on the couch in her cramped living room, scrolling through tv channels mindlessly, her mind is filled with memories from what she'd done in the office earlier that night. What they'd done.

How she got the courage to go to Alex and fuck the shit out of her. How her raspy voice sounded as she moaned out Piper's name; how her body had curved into hers, how it made her shake, but especially how she tasted. The memories were sending shivers down her spine and getting her hot again, trying hard not to forget a simple second of it because it'd been so fucking insane she was afraid they would fade away.

And then, as if it wasn't enough for her to handle, she remembered how Alex turned things around and fucked her.

How Alex desired her.

If the memories were to eventually be gone, she was going to take advantage of them while they were still fresh.

Pulling her hand between her pajama shorts and her underwear, Piper starts touching herself to the memories. She was still lightly swollen from their encounter, but far from satisfied. If she couldn't have Alex again right this moment, she could at least fuck herself as she remembered every detail of what she had done to her.

———-

As a new day starts, the first thing Alex does after opening her eyes is check her phone.

Piper had left the restaurant without saying goodbye after their heated session in the office, but despite being somewhat bothered by it, Alex wasn't surprised; she was quickly learning that Piper is completely unpredictable.

Still, she's not so happy as she scrolls through the notifications on the screen and doesn't see the one name she'd hoped for.

——

When she returns to the restaurant a couple days later(after making herself incredibly late by losing track of time due to Noemi being surprisingly quiet for a long enough period of time that allowed her to take a really long shower, for the first time in weeks), she notices the Christmas decorations are up and the place looks somewhat decent, compared to the questionable signs that decorated the walls and hadn't been taken off.

They'd done a good job.

Her and Alex, that is. Who cares who actually put the decorations up; they'd been a good shopping team.

She does, however, feel somewhat guilty for not sticking around to put them up, but what would that mean? Would it even mean anything? Would it be too much time spent with Alex in a day?

"You're late"

The raspy voice that comes from behind her startles Piper back to reality from being lost in her thoughts as she stares at the mistletoe that hung by the entrance to the bar(one that they hadn't purchased, by the way).

"Jesus, Alex" she presses her hand on her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat "You scared the shit out of me"

Alex chuckles at the cursing and walks away, before turning her face around "Seriously though, your tables are already sat. Alessa is bitching to the kitchen staff that she's in the weeds. It's too early for me to deal with this so go clock in"

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

Alex rolls her eyes at her questioning and the fact she completely ignored her pleas for her to start the shift "Wouldn't you like to know?" she says as she walks out, smirking because she knows the blonde is now tremendously curious.

———

Once the lunch shift starts to die down, it's about halfway through the afternoon, so it's no coincidence that the last costumers are in need of a caffeine quick so they can continue with their daily activities.

Piper struggles with trying to measure the right amount of milk needed for this order, already suspicious that it won't be correct.

Making coffees is her new definition of punishment for not pursuing an actual career - no matter how many times she's tried, getting the right foam from the milk or even pouring it nicely on top of the cup usually end in failure and a mess all over the machine.

She's learned the hard way - if you don't use enough milk, the pressure from the hot air blow will spill both water and milk all over your hands.

The order for a macchiato, according to the "cheat sheet" on how to make each coffee that hung on the wall behind the machine, says you need no more than a teaspoon of foamed milk on top of the espresso shot. But warming up such an small amount of the white liquid meant more of a bubbly mess than anything.

Her frustration grows bigger as she notices Alex watching her. The brunette was in a conversation with one of the chefs but watching Piper from the corner of her eye and holding back a smile.

Piper hates not doing things right.

Especially when it makes her look like a fool in front of someone that intimidates her.

"Here. Let me teach you how to make a proper macchiato"

Piper sighs and rolls her eyes, admitting defeat.

"First of all, you use this cup, not the espresso one" Alex grabs a small transparent cup, and drinks Piper's previous attempt like a shot "You make the espresso" she says as she changes the capsule and presses the button for it to start. She looks at the already frothed milk "This is not too bad, just froth it a bit more, careful not to burn the milk"

She takes the small cup out from the machine stand and places it on the counter, twisting it and motioning for Piper to take over "Spin it around so the layers will separate"

"It's working!"

Alex chuckles and grabs a spoon to use for the milk "Give it a couple more spins and we'll pour the milk. You're going to want some liquid and some froth, so don't pour it too fast" she proceeds to move the liquid with the spoon, making sure it was the right consistency and hands it to the blonde "That's right, a little more. Now spin it around again to separate the milk. Don't drop it!" she lets out a laugh when Piper almost makes the drink tumble over "So clumsy"

Piper playfully elbows her, smiling at the beautiful creation "Is this right?"

"Yeah" she says, looking at the girl and not the drink "It's definitely right"