Piper's P.O.V
I'd never have thought that sitting in a prison would make me feel so nervous. It's a completely different feeling sitting on the other side of the proverbial table, although in Ohio it seems to be a partial wall. I guess that it's better than a thick pane of plexi-glass that they used in Litchfield Max, at least this way I'll be able to touch her hand, it will need to be subtle which has never been my strong suit but I'm hoping today I have gained the 'balls' to be brave. Although being here is already half the battle, but I must admit sitting here now I'm shocked again, she actually let me onto her visitation list and that means that she wants to see me too, or maybe she wants to see me in person and send me her 'Vause gaze' to make me go home to New York. Little does she know I'm here to stay, well I guess I'm here to stay as long as she wants me here.
A door buzzes somewhere in the room and I glance up from my phone, I've been nervously fidgeting for the last five minutes, I know that I was early and that I was one of the first ones into the visitation room but I also don't want to waste any time with Alex. Locating the source of the buzzing door my senses are soon over take by Alex. Her eyes drink me in and as she moves towards me as if in a floating dream, I suddenly find myself standing up too. She looks at me, her gaze longing to hold me and as she sits down I find myself following in her lead. She makes the first move and places her hand on the partition and I immediately reach out and grab it. Nothing means more to me than Alex and her touch. I love the way out hands automatically know how to hold, she squeezes my hand as her nails trace the print of my right index finger, the movement relaxes me and I slide forward in my seat expecting her to speak softly but when she does say something it is far from quiet. "So Piper Elizabeth Chapman, what brings you to Ohio?" She questions in her low husky voice, I shiver in my seat. Alex's voice has only been in my fantasies since the last time we spoke in Litchfield. "Well Alex Pearl Vause, my name is actually Piper Elizabeth Chapman soon to be Vause…" I state not actually looking at her, because I don't think that my heart could take her rejection. I hear her laugh; just a small one and I completely become engaged in how filthy my nails are. "Are you actually going to look at me, or just examine your filthy fingers?" Alex questions which makes me immediately look at her. "Oh I'm gonna look at you Vause," she laughs and says, "Good Vause, I can't wait to drink your beautiful face in." My face flushes red in embarrassment but she quickly makes me feel at ease. "So did you know that you're very forward Piper? I mean you should know better than to meet an engaged woman in a prison. Did I ever tell you about my old prison mate Morello?" My lips turn up without me wanting them too, "Vause? Kind of forward of you Alex, do you want me to circle yes or no on a piece of paper?" She shakes her head and grins,
"Absolutely, then I can frame it, my walls are a bit bare but I do have these awesome little quotes/things I like that my fiancée made me." My ears perk up straight away,
"You kept them?" I watch her look at me in shock as if she's questioning what she should've done with them. "Of course you idiot, not every day your fiancée tells you what she loves about you, even down to your flossing habits, which I admit I love, a lot."
We spend the next ten minutes flirting back and forward, I relax more into the visitation when I realise that what I told Larry in New York was true. Alex is like my extra limb, now that I'm with her and we are talking I can't help but feel like a whole person again. Alex tells me about the new prison and how similar it feels to minimum security just sleeping in cells instead of a dormitory. She keeps asking me about my job but I fob her off, wanting to know all about her. Finally she gets mad at me and her glasses go up on her head, something she only does when she is tired, stressed or getting annoyed. "Tell me about you now Piper, or I walk…" I smirk and say,
"Well, where do I start?"
Alex's P.O.V
"Well, where do I start?" Piper questions with her cute face, I bite the urge to tell her to just start, I know that she is teasing me and teasing the fuck out of me. I wish she was still with me and we were still in minimum so I could drag her to an unused utility closet or the chapel and fuck the shit out of her for teasing me like this. "Well the start would be good. So lets start with New York, what made you go and see Larry of all people?" She smiles at me,
"I was lost in New York thinking about you, you had just set me 'free' and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with that information. We essentially argued about cheating on each other then you, you know made your decision…" I nod and bite my tongue wanting to forget that she had been pleasured at the hands of another woman, although she probably wishes that McCullough hadn't happened either. "Fair enough, so a lost Piper in New York, I get that…I've seen college Piper do the same thing. But why Larry? Or did you go for Polly?" I watch her jump back as though offended that I would even suggest that she would be there for Polly. "Urgh no way, I just started walking and soon enough I just ended up in the old neighbourhood and I really needed to pee, so I walked to the door and knocked. I wasn't expecting him to let me in, he made it clear that Polly wasn't home. But as he handed me a boogie wiper it hit me that the life he was in could've been mine, not that I wanted it with him but that's where I was headed…diapers, kids, boogie wipers. Then he told me this big theory he has about me and you and how you essentially saved me, that I would never have been happy settling for life with him because I never wanted that life, well not with him." I'm shocked at how open she is being but also that Larry actually helped her. I motion for her to continue.
"Larry helped me see that before you I wanted to be special, that my life was this perfect WASPY life and it was laid out like a train track, I was getting closer with each station but then I said 'fuck that' and went off with you. He told me that he knew that you made my life because before I saw you at the prison that last time, I went on a double date with Larry and Polly and Zelda came with me, but I couldn't think about anything but you. I was thinking about how you would hate the restaurant and think it was tacky for New Yorkers to be eating sushi and that a big burger would suffice. Once I thought of you it was all over, I couldn't think about anyone or anything besides you, because Alex…" she looks me dead in the eye and says, "…you are my life Alex, I love you and that's why I'm here in Columbus and not in New York without you." I smile, I can feel myself tearing up, this only ever happens when I'm with Piper or when I was with my mom when I was younger. Two women both powerful enough to make me cry. "Oh Alex don't cry, I'm sorry about Zelda just like you're sorry about the guard." I look at her and smile at her, it's a bit forced but that's partly down to the awkwardness I feel about her seeing me cry. "If we want this to work, we need to be honest and we need to do things as a team, even if we're not in the same pod anymore…" Piper states but that makes me grin and reach for her hand. "We are not in the same pod, but Pipes we're in the same garden." I state and she looks confused so I say, "How far away do you live?" She smiles,
"Ten minutes by car, if that…" I grin and lean down to press a kiss to her hand.
"Exactly, same garden Pipes, never forget that."
The rest of her visit she tells me about her tiny apartment that she loves. It's close to her work so she just walks and it's a job that she loves doing. She makes coffee and muffins for a living. Getting the whole she's a Starbucks lady out of her takes some convincing but I make a deal to tell her what my job becomes in prison once I'm assigned one. Then she asks that one question that I can't answer her, 'how long will I be in here for?' I tell her that I honestly don't know but that I have a meeting with someone next week so I'll make sure to ask for her by then. She likes that and smiles wide, it makes me think of her toothless smile from Max in Litchfield. Thank god her tooth is fixed now and she looks as gorgeous as ever. As I receive the signal of five minutes remaining I look at her and she looks as shocked as me, "wow that went so quick…"
"I know, but so worth it. So before I go, do you need anything?" Piper questions looking at me. I look at her and see my future so I say, "Well, I have something that I would like you to do, well a couple of things…" she nods and grabs her handbag searching for a notebook to record what I'd like her to do. "Okay so I need you to call my lawyer in New York and authorise yourself to speak on my behalf, he is expecting your call, I spoke to him yesterday." She nods but looks confused and before she can speak I say, "you need to authorise yourself so he can add you to all of my accounts, I need you to do some business for me." I say in the sexiest voice I can manage, she drops her pen and death glares me. "Oh nothing illegal, I need you to sell my apartment in New York…" her mouth drops open,
"If you have an apartment in New York, why did you live in a dump in Queens when you were out before?" I shrug,
"Thought I deserved a dump, but anyway sell the apartment it's from years ago and the next time you come in please bring your iPad, make sure it has internet, they will search it at the front so take the naked selfies off it." I command making her shiver again and she goes bright red so I know that there are selfies on it. "Okay so get authorised, sell the apartment and bring my iPad next time…sounds easy, but why?" Piper questions as she puts her things away. I take a deep breath and say, "you are authorising yourself as my partner to manage my accounts, so you can sell the apartment that is in both our names and then your iPad is so we can search for a house here in Columbus." When I finish speaking I look up at her and her mouth is wide open, and before I can ask if she's okay she feints. I roll my eyes at her dramatic nature but quickly call for a guard since I can't do anything.