Chapter 2: Getting there

When Piper got home she was still in deep thought about her in the fresh air on the way back and the conversation with Polly before had really helped clearing her mind.

Not wanting to go back to a boring everyday life being dependent on someone else, especially with periodically returning misunderstanding as they always seem to happen between her and her boyfriends, she promised herself to lay off guys for a while. No man in her life for a while. To make that decision final and commit to it she texted Polly her decision. She knew, once her decision was out there Polly would remind her to stick to it and she couldn't just change her mind.

[Piper: Hey Pol, thanks again for the evening. Definite decision: No guys for me for a while. Trying to keep my mind clear for a while.]

[Polly: Stop thanking me. There is nothing to thank me for. I'm there just as you are there for me. That's a sudden decision. You sure?]

[Piper: Yes, completely sure.]

[Polly: Okay. I will make sure you'll stay with it.]

Piper smiled. She was happy she had Polly, being able to always count on her. What would her life be without her best friend?

She packed her last things and went into the bathroom. It was getting really late and she regretted not having done her packing for her trip earlier. She would really need those 3 hours the train ride took to get more sleep before having a full day of business. She reminded herself that she was taking this trip to do this workshop which would help making Popi's bigger and hopefully more successful so both Piper and Polly could word at their start-up full time. Maybe in the afternoon, the workshop would end around 4.30pm she could actually see something of the sights the city had to offer. But that was secondary. After all this was a business trip.

XXXXX

"Son of a bitch. Why did I not go there yesterday already?!" Piper growled. Usually she was a morning person, but anything before 6am was too early, even for her. So, when the alarm went off at 5am she wasn't pleased at all. Especially with the long day ahead. But she knew she didn't have time to hit snooze or else she would miss her train and be late for the workshop.

She took a deep breath when she finally sat down in the train. Just when she thought she could calm down a little and take a nap, she two girls coming down the aisle discussing something loudly. 'Please go on. Don't sit close to me' Piper thought. But of all the seats they could've chosen, they sat down right in the row behind her. Of course, going on with their loud discussion.

"Thank you, dear universe" Piper mumbled to herself.

"I just don't understand how you can play that down like that." the woman complained. She looked young, maybe around 20.

"It's just not a big deal to me. Yes, of course, I could have handled it differently. But I didn't. I can't change that anymore, now can I?" the other girl, probably around the same age, replied.

Piper thought about switching seats and looked around to see if she found a quiet place to sit. But almost all the seats had already been taken. 'How can a train at this time of the day be so full?' Piper wondered.

"No, you can't, but it still doesn't mean I have to be okay with that." The black haired, Asian-looking girl said.

"Look Brook, I don't know why we are even fighting over this. Now seeing that nothing can be changed."

"I get that, but I hope you see what I mean, Poussey." Brook replied.

Piper cursed herself for having forgotten to pack her headphones. She really tried not to listen to their conversation, but those two girls made it really hard not to.

Poussey didn't reply to that, which obviously Brook didn't like, as she then went on how Poussey would be quite distant recently and Piper now figured, that the two girls were a couple. Brook went on and on. Every now and then Poussey would reply and defend herself or try to calm her girlfriend, but Brook just went on.

"Now how can you say that?" Poussey said, obviously a little hurt after Brook accused her of not understanding her and not being the girlfriend Brook apparently wished she had.

"I, uh, sorry P. I didn't mean it like that." Brook said, slightly uncomfortable with the situation she got herself in.

Piper thought that maybe the discussion would end, and she could take the remaining 2 hours for the much needed nap, but Brook was clearly a talker and went on after a while having recovered from her short moment of discomfort.

'Oh, please someone make her stop' Piper wished. She was in a bad mood already.

She tried to compose herself a little and turned around.

"Excuse me, it is very early, people on this train might want to use these early hours to catch up on missed sleep or just having a nice start to their weeks. Would you mind either continuing your discussion later or speaking quieter? That would be very nice, thank you." Piper said, hoping she hadn't sounded too rude.

"Uhm, sorry." Poussey said apologetically.

Turning back Piper saw a few thankful faces around her and was pleased that she made the train ride more pleasant not just for herself but others too.

The two girls went on arguing in a quieter voice but soon went back to their earlier loudness.

Piper gave up and just accepted that she wouldn't get more sleep or a quiet train ride before sitting in the workshop the whole day.

To prepare she printed out all the information about Popi's that she might need and hoped to be able to work on during the next three days. She figured she might take the remaining time on the train for preparation. The better she was prepared and could work with Popi's information in this workshop the less work it would mean afterwards.