Do not own Orange Is The New Black or any of the characters.
I hope you like really long chapters because this one is!
Enjoy.
"Oh powerful sex genie, please grant me this wish of role-playing…"
Piper's second wish was role-playing. It was again something she had been curious always to try but had never done. She'd tried it once with Larry, but he was a terrible actor and hadn't turned out quite like she wanted it too. She had a good feeling about Alex though at how serious she was taking this whole sex genie thing.
"Role-playing? What kind of role-playing?" asked Alex as she kneeled in front of Piper on the bed.
"Student and teacher," replied Piper, a girlish smile playing across her face. She knew it was a little cliche to be playing out the student and teacher thing. But it had always been a fantasy of hers to have someone spack her ass with a ruler.
"Can I be a librarian instead?" asked Alex. "I already have the glasses…"
Piper smiled and nodded her head at this. A librarian would work too, she thought.
"Are you doin' this with props or is it more of an improve thing?" asked Alex, who was looking forward to this whole role-playing scenario.
"Oh definitely with props!" Piper then excitably got off of the bed and went to the closet. She knew exactly what props they were going to use. Alex just sat on the bed, watching Piper with amusement. She'd clearly been thinking about this for a while.
Piper opened the right-hand side of the closet which was hers and pulled something out of the back of it. She pulled the hanger out and showed Alex the outfit.
"You just have a fucking schoolgirl outfit in your closet?" asked Alex as Piper held it up to her body and smiled cat-like at her. "Is this something you wear often?"
Piper laughed at this. "No! It's from Halloween a couple of years ago. I went as Britney Spears from the Hit me Baby One More Time video."
"Aw," murmured Alex. Her eyes gleamed as she thought about that famous music video from the '90s.
Piper placed the outfit onto the bed beside Alex, before she went back to the closet. She now needed to find something for Alex to wear. She didn't know if she had anything in her closet to fit Alex, not that she would be wearing it for too long. The thought of giving Alex a shirt of Larry's briefly flashed across her mind but quickly dismissed that idea. That would be too weird having Alex wearing something of Larry's.
A few moments passed before Piper came across a costume for Alex to wear. It was just a long button-down varsity cardigan but it would make for a very short dress for Alex to wear.
"Here," stated Piper happily as she handed the cardigan over to Alex.
"That's it!?" Alex asked as she took the cardigan from Piper's outstretched hand. "I just get a fucking cardigan?"
"It's a dress…" explained Piper. "Plus you have your glasses!"
The couple didn't exchange another word as they changed into their outfits. Alex in her very short "dress" and Piper in a blue plaid skirt and white button-up top which she only did up two of the buttons and tied the rest, revealing most of her midriff. Alex wore her glasses low on the tip of her nose and tied up her hair into a topknot.
Alex smiled seductively at Piper as they finished the last touches on their costumes.
"How do you want to do this?" asked the brunette towards Piper, who had just finished tying her hair into pigtails.
"You need a ruler!" cried Piper suddenly, realizing she was missing the most important thing of her fantasy.
"A ruler?" echoed Alex in confusion. What was she going to need that for? She thought. Librarians didn't use rulers.
Before Piper could explain, she disappeared out of the room and somewhere into the house.
Alex just stood in the middle of the room, awkwardly waiting for the blonde to return. She pulled at the cardigan trying to make it cover her ass. She felt stupid only wearing a cardigan that barely covered her lower region. However, she knew once that this role-playing starting, she wouldn't care about the length of the cardigan.
Piper returned a few moments later with not only a ruler in hand but a hardcover book as well.
Alex couldn't help but look at the blonde skeptically over the rims of her glasses. Piper was turning out to be kinkier than she thought she was.
"Here," spoke Piper thrusting the ruler and book into Alex's hands.
"What are these fucking for?"
"Props," replied Piper gleefully. Her eyes quickly darken with lust as she took in Alex's appearance. This was the first time that she recalled seeing Alex with her hair up. The brunette always had it down in her presence. With her hair swept back like that, it highlighted her cheekbones and long neck. She desperately wanted to kiss that neck, she thought.
The two women just stood there, looking at each other for a moment longer. Alex was immediately turn-on by Piper's school girl outfit. She found the school girl thing to be overdone, but on her, it worked. It was fuckin' alluring, she thought as she continued to drink in the short skirt which hit mid-thigh. She looked way better than Britney did she thought.
"Well…" whispered Alex as she wagged her eyebrows seductively at Piper, a small grin appearing on her face.
Piper suddenly felt very shy underneath Alex's gaze. Maybe it was the schoolgirl outfit or how good Alex looked at the moment, but she couldn't help but keep her cheeks from turning pink.
"Miss," began Alex take a small step towards Piper. "What are you doing here?" Green eyes gleamed over the rims of her glasses, piercing into Piper.
"What do you mean?" asked Piper slowly playing along. "I'm in the library...studying, Ms."
She reached out and twirled the end of one of her pigtails around her finger. She wet her lips and batted her eyelashes innocently up at Alex.
"But it's after hours," continued on Alex.
"Oh…I didn't realize." Piper said in a breathless whisper.
"The library is closed."
"It is?" asked Piper, stupidly. She continued to twirl her pigtail around her finger, her eyes wide with innocence.
"Yes. Ms. Chapman it is."
"I didn't know…" The blonde pouted out her lower lip. "Well, I should be going then."
"Aren't you going to check out your books first?" asked Alex in a firm, yet seductive tone.
"I thought you said the library was closed?"
"It is. But I'll make an exception for you…" Alex stood mere inches away from Piper now. She had her eyebrows raised in a suggestive manner. Her eyes pierced into Piper over the rims of her glasses.
"You will?"
"Yes."
"How will I repay you?" asked Piper in a husky breath. She batted her eyelashes again in mock innocence. Her heart was racing in anticipation of what Alex would make her do or what Alex would do with her. She was up for both scenarios.
"How you will repay me...is...by...picking up this book…"Alex spoke slowly as she tried to come up with a punishment for Piper. She then suddenly threw the book that Piper had handed her early to the floor.
"You want me to pick up a book? That's my punishment?" Piper bit on her lower lip and tilted her head to the side and again sent her eyelashes aflutter.
"Yes!" hissed Alex in a stern voice. "Pick up the book, Miss. Chapman " She tapped the ruler against the flatness of her palm with each word.
Piper dropped her eyes onto the ruler in Alex's hand. She wondered in arousal what Alex would do to her with it. She felt herself getting wet, but she ignored the impulse to do something about it. They were still role-playing.
"Like this?" asked Piper playfully as suddenly bent at the waist, making sure to flash up her skirt at Alex- giving her a nice full view of her bare ass. She let the skirt drop and looked innocently over her shoulder at Alex.
"Aw, you're a naughty one," whispered Alex in a hoarse voice. That had been erotic, she thought. This role-playing thing was getting harder to maintain. She was tempted to push Piper down on the bed and eat her out from back to front. However, she held back for a little while longer.
"I don't know what you mean, Ms. Vause," said Piper coyly. She flipped up her skirt again, flashing Alex again before picking up the book and straightening her back. She gave Alex a girlish smile. "I did what you told me to."
"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Ms. Chapman. I know...you're not stupid. I see you here all the time...studying."
"You do?" asked Piper, her eyes widening in mock innocence. She clenched the book to her chest as she curled her finger around a pigtail.
"I do... " Alex's voice dripped with seduction as she tapped the ruler against her palm again. She enclosed the space between her and Piper now. The two women held each other's gaze for a second longer as if challenging who would break out of character first. "Don't think I don't take notice of you...with your books...any tiny uniform…"
Piper looked down at the book in her hand. "Do you think I can check-out my book now?" She looked up at Alex in mock hopefulness.
Alex pursed her lips as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. "Do you have a library card?"
"Um...I don't. Do I need one?" asked Piper, again playing the dumb blonde card.
"Well, if you want to check out that book, you do!"
"Oh. Can I do something in exchange?" asked Piper as she put the book on the bed, and began to undo the two buttons of her shirt. She left the bottom of it tied up in the knot. Her eyes gleamed, challenging the brunette. She rolled her shoulder's back, putting her hands on her hips and thrusting out her chest towards Alex.
Alex looked down at Piper's ample chest which was barely covered now by the shirt. Images of her undoing the knot with her teeth flashed through her mind as she continued to stand there. Her eyes moved back up to the blonde's face where she was biting her lip coyly at her. The brunette couldn't help but inwardly groan in frustration. She was growing tired of this little game of theirs. She just wanted to fuck Piper senselessly now. She was paying more attention to Piper's bare skin then where this scenario was going.
"Do you like Ms. Vause?" asked Piper still in character. She could sense that Alex was growing tired. And so was she, to be honest. Nevertheless, she was determined to keep it up for a few moments longer. She still desperately wanted Alex to smack her with that ruler and she didn't know how to ask without being this school girl character.
"I like very much," whispered Alex both in character and as herself. Her eyes were filled with hunger as she continued to drink in Piper's body. She then took the edge of the ruler and ran it down the centre of Piper's chest.
A trail of goosebumps ran down Piper's spin as the ruler touched her skin. She licked her lips as she stared down at where Alex rested it before drifting her eyes back up to her face.
"Do you want to fuck me?" asked Piper her voice dripping with desire. She already knew what the answer would be. But she remembered her character still needed to do something in exchange for checking out the library book.
Alex threw all caution to the wind at this point. She couldn't keep in character any longer. It had played out long enough she thought as she lifted her glasses off of her face. She locked eyes with Piper for a second before crashing her mouth hungrily to hers.
Alex usually woke up at first light or around then.
As a kid, she'd loved sleeping in. This love flowed into adolescence and well into her twenties. She would sleep well into the afternoon, especially if she'd gone out the previous night, not getting home until first light. But somewhere between turning thirty, her mindset and body rhythm had changed. Yes, she still liked to go out and have a late-night occasionally. She wasn't a complete wallflower. Nevertheless, early mornings became a comfort to her. Especially when she was in the city. She loves the stillness of the village before the hustle and bustle boomed during mid-morning.
After a pleasure-filled night with Piper, Alex didn't remember falling asleep. She was afraid that she'd dreamt it all up... sex genies and school girls, as she opened one eye in the sun-soaked bedroom.
The sun was already high and bright in the sky.
It took her a second to remember where she was. This wasn't her usually sweltering childhood room with the faded posters on the walls of her youth. No, this room was cold from the central air pumping throughout the house like blood to the heart. This room was large with cream white walls and crisp sheets. A smile crept slowly across her face as she lay in the bed. It had not been some crazy dream she had constructed in her mind. It had been real. All of it from the hot sex, to the confession of feelings to the role-playing as a sex genie thing. However, the smile faded and turned to a slight frown as she realized she was alone. There was no sign of the blonde. The other end of the bed was empty.
She pushed herself into a seating position, blinking out the sunlight. She squinted looking for her glasses. Spotting them on the nightstand, she was once again reminded of their activities last night. Her glasses lay beside the bowl of now slightly mushy and bleeding berries, along with the canister of whipped cream and glass of what used to be ice. Shoving her glasses onto the bridge of her nose, Alex who was completely naked got out of the bed. There was no sign of a clock in the room, so she wasn't aware of what time it was. She did find her phone which was on the end table as well. Turning on her phone, it alerted her that it was just passed ten in the morning and that she had two miss calls and four texts from Wren. Before coming over last night, Alex had put her phone on silent. She hadn't wanted any distractions or interruptions.
As she stood up and walked around the room, in search of her clothes, a piece of paper caught her eye on top of the chest of drawers. It was a folded piece of paper that had her name written across the front of it. Leaving her clothes abandoned on the floor, she walked towards the drawers and took the paper into her hand. She unfolded the note and read it.
Gone for a little run.
Make yourself at home.
There is a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen
- Piper xo
She couldn't help but smile at the xo at the end of Piper's name. It was a small thing that most people wouldn't have made much of. However, to Alex, it sent a warm feeling over her. God, when had she become such a gushy lovesick person, she thought to herself.
Abandoning the note back onto the chest of drawers, she once again returned to her clothes. She didn't bother getting fully dressed as she slipped the deep-v-neck t-shirt over her head and put her underwear back on. The t-shirt barely covered her ass, but she didn't take notice as she made her way into the bathroom.
It wasn't until after relieving the pressure on her bladder, that she finally allowed herself to look around. She hadn't noticed anything about the bathroom last night. But now that she was seeing it in the bright morning light and not underneath the darkness of night everything stood out to her. The bathroom wasn't large but it wasn't small either. It was a decent size with a Jack & Jill sink and enclosed bath shower unit. It was all white except for hints of gold throughout from the faucet fixtures to the cabinet handles of the vanity. It was all bright, clean, and simple. Alex couldn't help but compare it to her own bathroom. Not the old grimy one back at her mother's house, but the one in her loft. Alex was starting to learn that Piper likes things to be minimalistic. She liked everything to have a purpose.
Alex herself like stuff. She liked clutter and mess. Not that she was a hoarder. Far from it. She was more of a collector of things. Everything in her home had been brought home for a reason: the weird abstract painting of boobs that a friend had painted, the collection of mismatched ceramic plates and mugs from numerous trips to the flea market, her on-growing library.
Retreating out of the bathroom, Alex looked around the bedroom. Again, she hadn't taken much notice of it the night prior. But now, without a beautiful blonde to distract her, it was her's to explore. Alex wasn't a nosey person. She didn't like to get into other people's businesses if she didn't have too and she didn't like people getting into hers either. However, curiosity was getting the better of her at the moment. Here she was in the home of her lover. What was she supposed to do?
The bedroom like the bathroom was minimalist. Everything had an order and a place here. The brunette's eyes swept over the bones of the room; the bed, the chest of drawers, his and her closet, the end tables. It was the personal things that Alex was looking for. The ones that Piper had put away earlier. There was no sign of the husband, except for a men's watch which rested on top of the chest besides two bottles of cologne. The bedroom looked like any generic bedroom you would see displayed in a catalog for Pottery Barn. The bed was low and had one of those upholstered headboards in a peddle grey colour. A white ruched cotton duvet sat bunched up at the end. There were display pillows scattered on the floor. Alex hadn't noticed the numerous pillows last night. She'd noticed much but Piper. The walls were painted white as well. The end tables and chest of drawers looked to be a matching set. There was a generic piece of artwork above the bed. It was one of those mass-produced art posters that one gets from Ikea or TJ Max.
Moving into the hallway, there were two other bedrooms, a bathroom, and a linen closet. Alex ignored the bathroom and linen closet which were both squeezed into the middle of the bedrooms. Bedrooms weren't really bedrooms though: one was more of a storage room with a daybed running along one wall, the other was an office. She stepped briefly into the office space. She assumed that this was the husband's office. It was cluttered with a large desk and desktop computer. There was also a bookshelf tucked into a corner of the room. It was stuffed with books and other nick-nacks. There were a few degrees hanging on the walls. Alex's eyes briefly skimmed over these. She could care less about the husband's past achievements. Instead, her eyes fell onto a large photo frame on the wall. It was one of those frames that looked like a window and could hold six pictures in it. She studied the photos; Piper and Larry on the beach, Piper laughing, Larry and her kissing, Piper sitting on Larry's lap, a funny face one and lastly Piper again by herself, smiling.
A funny feeling came over Alex as her eyes continued to study the photos. She pursed her lips as she turned suddenly away and left the room. She squashed down any feelings of jealousy she was harboring and tried to remain neutral. She had to tell herself she had no right to be feeling jealous. She quickly descended the stairs, where she was assaulted again by pictures of Piper and her husband. There was a gallery wall of pictures and artwork along the front hallway which led to the kitchen. She didn't bother to look at any of them though as she stepped into the living room. The room was about the same size has the one of her mom's house. There was a large window taking up one wall which looked out onto the front yard.
Stepping into the room, she first noticed the two large bookcases that framed the tv unit which sat in the middle between them. It was the books that interest her the most. Both bookcases were filled with books. She knew that Piper liked to read, but Alex was still taken back by the number of books that she owned. The shelves were filled with all different genres and types of books from fiction to non-fiction. It looked like Piper had read everything. This was a major turn-on for Alex. She was a book nerd herself. She had spent half her childhood with her nose between the pages of a good book. She had loved to escape into the pages of a novel, dreaming of a different life.
She reached out and ran her fingers along the spines of the books as if she was touching apart of Piper. She continued to marvel at the bookcases for a few moments longer before going into the kitchen. It looked like Piper had briefly clean up the mess from last night. And by cleaning up, she meant that Piper had moved all the plates they had abandoned on the table to the sink; which was brimming with dirty plates and such. Alex however ignored all this and went straight to the coffee machine.
The rich scent of coffee wafting into her nose as she poured herself a cup. She stood there for a second leaning up against the counter before heading outside. The back door was one of those sliding screened ones. She slid it open with one hand as her other held the Smith mug of coffee. She didn't both to close the door as she took a step into the warm summer air. She stood there for a moment, basking in the sun and enjoying the richness of the coffee on her tongue before the sound of humming filled her ears. She panicked for a second at hearing the sudden noise. She thought for a moment it was Piper back from her run. She looked briefly over her shoulder as if half expecting to see the blonde appear in the kitchen. However, there was no one there. Turning her head back, she took another sip from the coffee. It was only then when she heard the humming again that her eyes flew to the direction it had come from. She looked to her left where the fence that divided Piper's yard from Healy's.
Alex stood there frozen as the top of Sam Healy's head appeared. He was still humming as Alex bolted back inside and quietly slid the door closed behind her. She didn't know if Healy had seen her and she didn't dare to double-check as she slowly back out of the kitchen, her eyes never leaving the door as she did so. A part of her feared that Healy would suddenly manifest in the door like a serial killer or something. Her heart was beating like a jackhammer as she continued to walk backward. It wasn't until she got into the hallway, that she leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. She knew it was stupid to fear Healy. What she and Piper were doing was none of his fucking business. Nevertheless, she still couldn't shake off the feeling of doom that suddenly coursed through her veins. Pushing her glasses onto her head, she rubbed her face with her free hand and let out a deep breath. She was being stupid, she thought.
Healy, she was sure hadn't seen her. She had barely seen him, herself. Only the top of his grey hair. She was sure that she was safe.
As Alex continued to stand in the hallway, convincing herself that Healy hadn't seen a thing, the sound of a key in the door made her jump. She brought her glasses back down onto her nose and looked towards the front door as it slowly opened. She half expected Healy to appear. But however, that was just her mind playing games with her.
"Good Morning," greeted Piper as she stepped through the doorway and immediately noticed Alex. She wore a bright smile on her face.
"Good morning," greeted back Alex. All thoughts of Healy leaving her mind as she drank Piper in from head to toe. Piper's blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, half of it coming undone during her run. Tendrils of hair framed her flushed rosy face. On her body, she wore only a mint green sport's bra which the points of her nipples were visible through and those little white running shorts that Alex adored so much. A look of longing spread across Alex's face as she continued to stand there gawking at the blonde and how little clothing she had on.
"What?" asked Piper, self-consciously.
Alex didn't say anything as she took a long drink from the coffee, her eyes never leaving Piper's.
Piper's cheeks flushed deeper as Alex continued to look at her like that. She held her gaze for a moment longer before turning her attention to her running shoes.
"I'm surprised your husband allows you to leave the house half-dressed like that," spoke Alex as she slowly then began to walk towards Piper, who was untying the laces of her right shoe.
Piper looked up again at Alex at this. "Uhuh?
"You heard me. I'm surprised your husband allows you to dress like that..."Alex continued to drink her in.
Piper didn't know how to respond to this. She looked at Alex with a perplexed look. She didn't know if Alex was screwing with her or was she being serious?
"Why?" mumbled Piper, trying to find her words. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?!" She looked down at herself before looking back at Alex, who now stood a foot away. Larry might have made a comment once or twice about what she chooses to workout in. But it was more in a joking way and not in a serious controlling way. They made fun of guys like that.
Alex didn't say anything in reply as she placed the now empty mug onto the table beside the door and pushed her glasses on top of her head. Her eyes never left Piper's as she enclosed the space between them. Piper who now only had her left shoe on stood up as Alex approached her. She still looked at her with puzzlement.
"Because, if I was your husband...I wouldn't let you leave the house...like that…" Alex's voice was low now and dripping of seduction as she gestured to Piper's body.
"And how would you want me to leave the house?" asked Piper, her tone matching Alex's.
"I wouldn't let you leave the house at all," explained Alex as she placed a hand onto Piper's hip. She stared at her darkly with lust, before bringing her other hand up to the side of her face and pulling her lips to her. The kiss was passionate and filled with hunger.
Piper's hand hung in mid-air for a second before they were wrapping around the edge of Alex's t-shirt. Alex pushed her up against the wall as she tore her mouth away and began to attack the side of her neck. Piper closed her eyes and titled her head to the side to give Alex better excess. As Alex continued to kiss her neck, Piper slipped her hands up Alex's shirt and began to explore her chest.
They stayed like this for a moment or two getting lost in each other, before Piper was pushing Alex away. As much as she wanted for this to continue to something more. She wanted to take a shower first. She was very self-aware of how she must smell at the moment.
Alex took a small step back and appeared at Piper in confusion.
"I need to shower," stated Piper, stupidly.
A smirk appeared on Alex's face at this. She loved how cute Piper was when she was self-conscious.
"I don't care," whispered Alex who tried to lean in for a kiss again. However, the blonde stopped her. She moved her face so that Alex caught her chin and not her mouth.
"Pipes," growled Alex softly with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"I smell."
"I. Don't. Care." Alex tightened her grip on Piper's waist as she tried to get away from her.
"I do," explained Piper as she tried again to pry away from Alex again. An idea then flashed across her mind that she hadn't thought of before.
"Come with me," she said brightly. "Let's take a shower together."
Alex looked at Piper skeptically. "I dunno."
"What?" pressed Piper.
"I don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Shower sex."
"Why not?" asked Piper. Who didn't do shower sex? She thought.
"I don't fuckin' know. I just don't," said Alex with a shrug. The brunette had now taken a step away from Piper and had her arms crossed over her chest. There were many things that Alex was open to doing involving sex. Shower sex just wasn't one of them. She'd done it once or twice before, it just wasn't as enjoyable as the movies and porn made it seem to be.
Piper just stared at Alex in disbelief. She couldn't believe that this was the same woman who had offered to grant her her wildest sex fantasies last night. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around that Alex didn't enjoy shower sex? Who didn't? The blonde found it to be incredibly hot, doing it in the shower.
"Shower sex is for teenagers and 80s movie vixens. No one actually enjoys it!"
Piper couldn't help but be offended by this statement. "I enjoy it!"
"All I'm saying is that water isn't a natural lubricant."
"Come on, please. It can be my third wish," spoke Piper playfully.
"You're not wasting your third wish on shower sex."
"Is that a yes then? I'll make the water really sudsy. You'll see"
Alex couldn't help but laugh at this. "Fine," she huffed, giving in.
Piper kissed her sweetly on the lips before slipping off her left shoe. Taking Alex by the hand she then led her upstairs.
Piper stretched like a cat beside Alex.
She smiled lazily as she turned onto her side and looked towards the brunette. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"
Piper's hair was unkempt from their most recent activities in the bedroom. She didn't know how many times they had done in since Alex had come over, but she assumed it was a lot. Sex with Alex was mindblowing. She couldn't seem to get enough of it.
"I dunno," replied Alex, her eyes dancing over Piper's disheveled appearance. She thought the blonde looked utterly adorable at the moment. "I should go home at some point though."
"Why?" asked Piper her brows fussing together in sudden confusion. She didn't want Alex to leave. She knew she would have to leave at some point, but not this early. Larry was still away for two more days.
Alex couldn't help but smirk at Piper's sudden disappointment. She looked like a lost puppy, she thought. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to Piper's in a soft quick kiss. "Because...I need to change my clothes...and brush my teeth...and...I have things to do…"She allowed for her words to trail off as she brushed a hair off of Piper's face before capturing her lips into a kiss again.
"What things?" asked Piper as they broke apart. She didn't mean to pry into Alex's business. She knew the brunette had a life outside of this affair they were having. And Alex was entitled to her privacy. She was asking more out of curiosity than anything, really.
"I just have to clean up some things," replied Alex as she continued to caress the side of Piper's face. As in cleaning up, she meant that she needed to finish the project she had started months ago of clearing out her mother's house. In the last couple of weeks, she hadn't gotten much progress done. If she wanted to meet her deadline of having the house clear-out and up for sale by the end of the month, she needed to get her ass in gear. That was only two weeks away now.
"Do you want help?"
Alex's initial response to this question was no. She didn't want any help. However, she knew that she needed to let her pride go for once and except help. "You don't have anything else you need to do today besides helping me clean up an old house?" Her green eyes searched her face in earnest.
Piper had planned on attempting to make some new products today. She was supposed to go back into the City next week and have meetings with some potential new clients. She didn't really need to make any new products though. She had plenty of old and new products to show off. However, Piper liked to be prepared. She wanted to impress people with the Popi line. Sales were okay at the moment and they were making okay money. But Piper wanted more. She thought if they got into a few new stores than they could maybe hire someone to help out, especially with Polly having a baby soon and maybe even rent a space so they could stop using their own kitchens as a work area.
But spending the day with Alex whatever it was they were going to be doing trumped making soap, by far.
"I don't have anything else to do," replied Piper softly.
"Ok." Alex grinned at Piper before kissing her again. She was now looking forward to clearing out the house. Something she thought she would never be.
The air was thick with humidity in the afternoon sun.
Alex had her hair tied up into a messy bun and had changed out of her black skinny jeans and t-shirt from last night to a more comfortable pair of cut-off jean shorts and a loose black tank top. She felt the sweat run down her back but she ignored it as she proceeded up the basement stairs with the last of the boxes. She dropped it onto the kitchen floor and proceeded to push it the rest away into the living room. She found that it was easier to go through the boxes up here in the sunlight than in the dark light of the basement.
"This is the last box," huffed Alex as she pushed it into the living room and stood up.
"Ok," nodded Piper in understanding. The blonde stood in the middle of the living room, surrounded by a mountain of boxes. She chewed on her bottom lip as she took a mental inventory of all the boxes that had come from the basement. There were about 12 in total. This was not what she had in mind when Alex had said she needed help cleaning. But being Piper, she had quickly jumped into task mode and was determined to put her Marie Kondo skills to good use.
"Where should we start?" asked Alex. She looked towards Piper for guidance. She seemed to have a better handle on cleaning than she did. The brunette was feeling a little overwhelmed as she took in all the stuff her mother had hidden away in the basement. There was not only all the stuff from the basement but all the stuff she had saved to go through later that needed to be handled. The stuff that had been too personal to go through at the time. But now with Piper here, maybe it would be easier to make a decision on what she wanted to keep and what could go.
"Anywhere," suggested Piper. "Start with that box!" She pointed a finger at the box that Alex had just brought up. She could sense that Alex was feeling lost with the amount of stuff she needed to sort through. She remembered when her grandmother, Celeste had died last year how hard it had been to clean up her house. Of course, her whole family had come out to help, so it had taken a little over a day or so. And at points old stories and memories of their grandmother had been brought up, making it more happy than sad.
Alex didn't say anything as she looked down at the box at her feet. The box was unmarked like most of the boxes that her mother had stuff stored away in, making every box like an unknown treasure chest. She never knew what she would come across. She was pretty sure though that most of these things were Christmas decorations and stuff that belong to her grandmother once.
Bending over, Alex slowly undid the flaps of the cardboard box and looked into the depths of it. It was what she thought it would be, Christmas shit. She chewed on her bottom lip as she lowered herself to the floor and began to pull objects out. Piper had cleared the couch for stuff that she wanted to keep and had garbage bags ready for stuff she wanted to get rid of or donate to the local Value Village. All the decorations in the box where cheaply made things her mother had bought over the years. They were all junk, Alex thought. Nothing worth keeping.
"This can all be donated," the brunette said dismissively as she stood up and kicked the box to the side, moving onto another.
"Ok," replied Piper. She stared at Alex who wasn't looking at her for a moment. She had made her decision quicker than she thought she would. She stepped over the boxes and went over to the one that Alex had just gone through. With a marker in hand, she quickly wrote across it in big fat letters - DONATE! She moved the box to the hallway, to clear up some space in the room.
Coming back into the room, Alex looked up towards Piper. "These are to donate too," she stated gesturing to two other boxes.
Piper was taken back by Alex's quick decision making again. "Are you sure?" she couldn't help but ask. She knew it wasn't her place to step but she couldn't help but feel like Alex wasn't really considering her decision here.
"Yes," hissed Alex as she looked darkly over at Piper in annoyance. She fidgeted with her glasses for a second as she continued to hold the other woman's gaze. "It's all just fucking cheap crap."
Piper sensed that she had hit a nerve with the brunette. She didn't say anything else as she slowly walked towards the boxes and marked them before moving them to the hallway with the other one.
With the help of Piper, it took Alex only an hour to go through all the boxes that she'd brought up from the basement. She only allowed herself to keep a handful of things; a few of the more expansive Christmas decorations, a couple of framed black and white photographs of her grandmother, an old journal of her grandmothers, and a crotchet blanket in jewel tones. Most of the stuff she had put for donating, but one box that had been filled with old broken toys and applicants went straight to trash.
After Piper had finished marking the last box, she came back into the living room where Alex was putting on a record. The only sound in the room for a moment came from the swoosh-swoosh of the floor fan before the needle dropped and a swoon of noise came rushing through like a wave. The familiar bars of Dolly Parton's Jolene filled the room. Piper watched as Alex swayed her hips to the beat of the song for a moment before she turned and grinned at her.
"Dance with me," she cried as she stood in the middle of the room and beckoned for Piper to come join her.
Dolly Parton started to sing as Piper came towards Alex. The two women shared a smile before Alex reached out and took Piper's hands into her own. They then began to dance in a circle together, singing along with Dolly about a girl named Jolene. Piper laughed as Alex attempted to twirl her. It took them two tries before they did it successfully.
The couple shared a look as the song ended a slower one came on. Piper immediately wrapped her arms around Alex's neck as Alex's hands went to her hips, sliding slowly around to the small of her back. They pressed their foreheads together as they swayed slowly to the song. The last time Piper had slowed dance like this had been on her wedding day. Although it had been only a couple of months since that day, it felt like another lifetime ago as she looked deep into Alex's eyes. Her husband was the last thing she was thinking about as she pressed herself up to this woman before her and listened as Dolly sang her heart out about always loving someone.
The two were lost in their own world as they danced around the living room. It was just them in this very moment, together. Nothing else mattered.
Alex smiled softly at Piper before leaning forward and brushing her lips against hers in a subtle kiss. Piper kissed her urgently back.
However, before the kiss could develop any further, the loud intrusion of the doorbell ringing pulled them apart. Alex frowned as she looked past Piper to the hallway.
"I'll be right back," she whispered as she pressed a quick kiss to the blonde's cheek before stepping past her and to the door.
"For fuck's sake," mumbled Alex as she appeared through the peephole of the door and onto the person on the other side. She did not like what she saw. She debated about pretending not to be home. However, she knew it would be easier to confront Healy now and get it out of the way, whatever he wanted.
Sighing, she opened the door just a crack and appeared stone-faced at the older man. "Hello?" she huffed.
"Hello, Alex," greeted Sam Healy, ignoring Alex's cold tone to him.
"What do you want?" Alex didn't bother to make small talk and cut straight to the point. She knew that Healy was here for a reason. He was always here for some sort of reason. Healy was not only in charge of the town's neighbourhood watch. He was also head of the community's residential enforcement authority. All that basically meant that he told people off when their lawn became too unruly for the perfect suburban image they wanted the neighbours to maintain. Like anyone exactly gave a crap about that shit. People needed to mind their own business thought Alex to herself.
"Now, Alex, please don't give me that tone. We both know why I am here," explained Healy.
Alex didn't reply as she continued to look at the middle-aged man coldly. She did know why he was here. This wasn't the first time Healy had warned her about the unkempt front lawn. She had never quite gotten around to hiring one of the neighbour kids to mow the lawn. Last week she had received a warning letter about the length of her grass, but she had ignored it. It was all bullshit to her. They had never had this community thing when she'd been growing up, not that she could remember.
"Your lawn is way past the acceptable length. You're in violation," continued on Healy. He was trying to remain civil but Alex was making it difficult for him. "You should've received a letter last week from the community board about it."
Alex couldn't help but smirk at how dumb all this was. Healy really thought he was some sort of big shot, just because he was on some neighbourhood board or whatnot. She could care less if she was in some sort of violation.
"What? Do you think this is funny, Vause? Lawn upkeep is a very important matter in this neighbourhood. Just because you hail from the city and think you are above all this, doesn't mean you get a free pass," spoke Healy, firmly.
"I do think this is funny," stated Alex as she opened the door a little further. "I think it's funny how pathetic all this is. Who fucking cares about the length of grass? It's fucking grass. It's my grass. My lawn. My property! I can grow it whatever fucking length I want too." She took a step onto her porch, glaring at Heally with annoyance.
"See...there is where you are wrong," replied Healy, trying to keep a professional manner. "You cannot just let your grass grow to whatever length you see fit. Grass must be no longer than ankle length."
"What the fuck is ankle length?"
"Now, I have given you plenty of warnings about this," stated Healy as he pulled out something from the back of his pocket and handed it over to Alex, it was a pink slip of paper.
"What the fuck is this?" asked Alex as she took the paper and appeared down at it.
"That's a ticket for breaking the community law."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Alex looked up in disbelief at this middle-age man. Was she seriously being fined for not cutting her grass? "I'm not paying this neighbourhood a single cent."
"If you do not pay the fine, then we'll take you to court."
Alex was ragging now at what this jackass was telling her. She couldn't believe how stupid backward this fucking town was.
Just then, Piper appeared behind Alex. She had overheard Healy and Alex's argument.
The smug look on Healy's face quickly faded into a hard line of puzzlement as he looked upon Piper. He was surprised to see her here.
"Piper," he said. "What are you doin' here?"
Piper took a small step forward, looking between Alex and Healy and back. The brunette didn't look at her. She still continued to glare at Healy.
"I'm helping out a friend," spoke Piper vaguely. She still remembered what Healy had said to her all those weeks back about Alex being a danger and his warning to Larry about her.
"Does your husband know that you are here?"
It was now Piper turned to get upset with the older man. "My husband doesn't need to keep track of me," she replied in disbelief at what Healy was suggesting. "I'm not a nymph."
"I think it would be best if you went home, Piper. Remember what I told you about…" Healy let his words trail off, but Piper knew what he was getting at. He wasn't exactly hiding his dislike for Alex who was standing right there. He wagged his thick eyebrows suggestively at Piper.
Sudden anger bubbled up in Piper that she couldn't seem to control. Her eyes turned cold suddenly as she continued to study Healy. Piper was used to dealing with backward thinking people. She came from a whole line of them. However, she'd never met someone quite like Healy, who views on women were something else altogether.
"I can make my own judgments on people," her voice dripped with anger as she took a step closer to Healy.
Healy stared back at her with a mixture of irritation and disbelief on his face. He was slightly taken back by Piper's sudden rage. She was always so nice and pleasant around him. He blamed Alex for the blonde's behaviour.
"What I do with my time is my own business. Who I spent it with is my own business too. You do not get any fucking say in what I do or who I do it with…" And then just to see the smug look on his face go fucking away. Piper turned towards Alex and grabbed the sides of her face. Maybe she had lost her mind, she wasn't sure. She was just full of rage towards her neighbour and how he thought he could overstep somehow into her relationship with Alex and her husband. She knew that kissing Alex would stir up trouble. But she didn't care at the moment about all that. She just wanted to do something to erase that stupid smug look off of his ugly pig face.
Alex looked at Piper in confusion. What the fuck was she doing?
But before she could ask Piper was kissing her on the mouth. The kiss was quick but long enough to make a statement towards Healy.
Their lips made a smacking noise as they pulled apart. Piper grinned as she turned to see the look of utter disgust on Healy's face. "See Healy, no matter how much you think you can control me and my life...It won't fucking work..."
Healy's blue eyes darkened as Piper insults him. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly decided not too. Instead, he smiled stiffly at Piper before turning his attention back onto Alex.
"I hope you do the right thing, and fix that lawn of yours." He then shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and began to hum as he walked away.
Thanks for reading and please review!
Julie