Piper hears Polly's voice the moment she opens the door. She was hoping to ease into her roommates over the top excitement. Piper sighs then takes a moment to prepare herself before stepping fully into the room.
"How 'bout take it down a notch Pol! At least let me put my things away and take care of a couple of things real quick. I'll be back in a few minutes. Get me a drink and maybe some snacks in the meantime, please Pol!"
Piper's halfway down the hall before she can respond. Deciding updating the spreadsheet can wait. She gets her laptop, the videos, and her notepad pulled out. After refreshing in the bathroom, she grabs her things as heads back to Polly as promised.
"Wow Pol! You went all fancy on the spread. Wine, and a cheese and meat plate, where's this all from?"
"Oh Pete had a party and refused to let me leave his place the next day without taking at least some of the food. It was such a great weekend. I really really like this one P. I'm even finding myself barely scoping out cute guys."
"That's huge for you. As long as he treats you right Pol, then I'm incredibly happy for you." Piper and Polly are both sporting huge smiles.
"So P, I believe you owe me videos once again. Tell me all about the last few days."
Piper gives her an overview then starts the video, explaining the course they will be watching first and her role in the exercises. Piper tunes out everything out while carefully watching. She recalls her emotions, but watching her reactions and expressions is almost surreal. She's fiercely taking notes on the viewing, which she knows she'll later combine with her notes from earlier.
The trainee that she most wants to see takes her turn. 'Damn I thought being there was an emotion overload. But watching us adds layers and layers of intensity.'
"P are you even listening to me?"
"What Pol" shaking off the jarring feeling of being pulled of of her own little world. "Sorry, I guess I was too consumed by watching the video. I knew how I felt at the time, but seeing it is like taking it to an entirely new level."
"It did look pretty intense. I found myself liking or disliking them by the way they interacted with you. Though I might need a cheat guide to link names to faces," Polly laughs.
"I think I might I might be able to get that for you. Let me email Jason".
Hey Jason. Think it would be possible to get a page with each trainee on my list's picture, name, and current overall score emailed to me?
"He usually responds before day's end. Shall we watch the course again and you can tell me who you have strong opinions on?"
"Most definitely P. The girl's approach was definitely strange, made me uncomfortable."
"Have you not let that name sink into your brain yet? I'm always telling you how impressed I am with Alex. She's one of my front runners."
"How did she not freak you out in that exercise?"
"I mean I was a little shocked for a moment or two. But I didn't feel uncomfortable. And as I caught onto exactly what she was doing, I had to admit that it was not only effective, but almost brilliant. She completely diffused the situation without even needing to raise her voice or lay hands on the other trainee."
"When you put it that way I can kinda see it. But I still wouldn't want her to treat me that way."
"Well she doesn't bother me. In fact she's one of the two that I feel most comfortable with."
"Really?," Polly nearly screams. Piper can't stop herself from laughing at the overblown reaction.
"Pol, do you have a problem with her being a woman?"
"Shut up P. Start the video again will ya."
Piper plays not only the first course but the second and third as well. She tried not to zone out and instead pay attention to all of Polly's thoughts and comments. Piper also took note of which of the group were truly performing best, especially at the exercises that showed the unspoken communication between asset and trainee. She updated her spreadsheet and decided to wait at least an entire day before making any kind of decisions.
Piper awakes with an amazing sense of calm and images from a dream slowly drifting from her brain. 'Wow. Why was that stunning goddess of a woman, in my dreams. And why am I feeling the way I feel when she's near. Calm, understood, safe, and warm all over. How can a woman I only first spoke to a couple of days ago be invading all my thoughts and feelings."
A knocking on her bedroom door startles her. "P, please you better be getting up. We have plans today, you better not have forgotten," yells Polly.
"How much time do I have till we leave Pol?"
"An hour."
"Okay I'm getting in the shower just as soon as pick out some clothes."
"No P. I'll pick you outta something. You shower NOW! You'll barely have time to get ready as it is." Piper would usually stand her ground but isn't feeling like battling her roommate so she gives in.
Shower onward Piper feels like she's in a whirlwind with Polly dragging her all over town. By late afternoon she's tired, hungry, her feet ache, and she desperately craves silence for at least a few minutes. But as usual Polly is oblivious to her. She desperately tries to hold it together a little longer but her smiles have become faker and faker as the day drags on. 'If she was actually in tune with me, she'd be able to look at me and know I'm suffering through this. Funny how many of the trainees have a better read on me than my so-called best friend. Hell even my current security detail keeps looking at me with, what is that, pity maybe? Like they are desperately waiting for me to say take me home.'
Piper heads straight to her room for a power nap. Once again waking to a calmness and fleeting images of Alex in her brain. She prints out the cheat sheet Jason had sent her. Hopefully it would get Polly to stop using strange descriptions of the trainees and use their names instead. Piper has just about shortened her list, but reminds herself of the promise to wait at least a day. Instead she shifted gears and worked on her media shaping project. 'Registration is in just over a week. With classes starting a week or two later. Certainly won't have time to further refine this once the semester begins.'
After a few hours of intense work, Piper calls it quits, heats up something for dinner, and watches a couple of things in her netflix queue until she can no longer keep eyes open. She gets ready for bed and crashes hard.
The next morning she's once again jarred from her sleep by Polly. She's going on and about plans for the day. For the life of her Piper can't remember ever agreeing to anything. Anger is bubbling up in her for not only be woken up but also feeling like she's being manipulated.
"What the hell are you talking about Pol. I can't remember agreeing to any plans for the day," frustration evident in her voice.
"P we're going to Grace's party"
"Who the fuck is Grace? How do I know her? Why would I want to go to her damn party? And when did I supposedly agree to this?" Piper's voice keeps rising with every question. Polly may be her best friend put she really should be running for her life by now. 'I'm pretty sure I could cause her great physical harm right now.'
Polly apparently clueless to the severity of Piper's mood, "Why are you yelling at me?!"
"I don't know maybe because you wake me up from a dead sleep to tell me about someone I don't even remember, much less want to spend time with, and plans I sure as hell have no desire to follow through on!"
Piper never got an answer to any of her questions. She heard Polly loudly storm away with low whiny mumbling being all she could make out. She felt a lot better after going off on Polly. Proud of not giving into her for a change. She did text Donovan to double check that she hadn't told the detail of any plans. She had not. 'Polly's really becoming a pain I the ass lately. I sometimes wonder if she sees me or the press created 'royalty' version or if its my family's wealth and power. Maybe I should talk to Dad and see if there's any possibility of getting a place of my own.'
She mostly stayed in her room the rest of the day. She sure as hell wasn't going to speak to her roommate until she apologized. She also followed through and asked about the possibility of another living situation. Bill said he'd see to finding her another place. And that she should give some thought to if she wanted even one of the upcoming security detail there with her.
Piper ventured out of her room the next day. Taking all her selection process stuff with her and settled in to the living room. Having given herself an adequate amount of time not really thinking about selections, she was ready to dive back in. She studying her overflowing spreadsheet with fresh eyes. Her first question to herself was who she feels truly comfortable with. 'Definitely Alex. Coming in a distant second would be Bradley.' Her second question was who is best at determining a threat. 'The numbers show Alex coming up high marks. Chase and Colton are also very strong.' Next question, who is best at situation disarmament. ' Yet again Alex. Colton and Keith also do a great job.' Next question, who excels at hand to hand combat. ' Chase, Rick, and Alex is pretty strong here too.'
Next question, who has the best marksmanship. 'Colton, Alex, and Bradley have the top scores." And final question, which trainees do you want to see more courses from. "Alex, Colton, Bradley, Chase, Rick and Keith.'
"Wow, that went a lot quicker than I expected"
"What are you rambling about P?"
"The trainee selection, I'm cutting the list"
"Can I help?"
"Yeah I guess." 'Dammit I wasn't going to talk to her until she apologized. Totally screwed that up didn't I. I'll just deal with the trainee stuff and push everything else aside for now.'
"So I still need a to re-watch videos to remember their names ."
"No you don't Pol." Piper hands her the sheet from Jason. "I have a pretty good idea on the six. Narrowing from there to team roles or spots on my detail will be much harder."
"I'm gonna put a mark beside the ones I like best. You'll do the same. And we can debate about the ones that don't match."
Piper rolls her eyes at Polly thinking it's her decision. "Fine Pol." As expected Polly's selections are all attractive guys.
"Now yours P."
"Alex, Colton, Bradley, Chase, Rick, and Keith" 'Let the arguments begin.'
After about an hour of calmly trying to convince Polly of how poorly some of her 'cuties' measured up, and far too many negative opinions voiced about her top pick. Piper's had more than enough of Polly. She puts X's through all trainees that would not be making the cut. Piper gathers her materials and leaves the room. Hoping delivery and some netflix will relieve the building tension left by too many hours with her roommate. Thoughts of Alex cross her mind as she's struggling to stay awake. Finally a sense of calm washes over her. She puts her laptop up and falls asleep before she can even get changed for bed.