5
After the meeting, which Nicky thought had gone extremely well despite the alarm caused by the depreciation of the company shares, Nicky headed back to her office expecting to find Alex. She was, however, surprised when after opening the door she was greeted with an empty office, the lone inhabitant being her set of keys resting on top of the office desk. She'd tipped her head in wonder, grabbed her keys, closed the door, and walked around the office asking if anyone had seen her friend.
She was quite surprised to find out from Bennett (who once again was working the evening shift) that her best friend from her high school days, Alex, had gotten into the car of her best friend from later years, Piper. Frowning, she walked to her car and decided to call it a night but not before questioning Bennett some more.
On her way home she called both Piper and Alex-Piper's phone sent her straight to voicemail signaling her phone was dead; Alex' phone on the other hand rang a couple of times before directing her to the same automated message as Piper's: Thank you for calling…please leave your name and phone number along with a brief message and I will return your call as soon as possible. She sent them both a message then tucked her phone back inside her pocket.
When she was around the corner of the apartment building, she noticed a big yellow sign with black letters that said: Grand Opening! She slowed down and realized it was a small Italian joint. She parked alongside the curb and walked inside. Because the place was fairly new, there was a decent sized line at the counter with excited customers waiting either to be seated or order carry-out. As she waited in line, she texted a quick message to Lorna informing the pregnant woman of her intentions and using Alex's arrival as an excuse to change their menu. She breathed a sigh of relief when Lorna replied with an 'ok'. Half an hour later, she walked out with a plastic bag containing three white food containers.
Despite the enticing aromas coming from the food in the passenger's seat, Nicky was distracted by the thought of Alex and Piper being in the same car again. What had compelled Vause to go with Piper, but most importantly, what had been in Piper's mind? As far as Nicky knew, the blonde hated Alex's guts. Maybe, Nicky dared to hope, they both changed their minds.
She parked her car in the underground garage and took the elevator to the twenty-ninth floor. Using her free hand, she inserted her key into apartment 29D and pushed the door open. She was greeted by an almost dark apartment, the only light coming from the television set that casted Lorna's silhouette against the far wall. Her shadow danced with the changing images on the screen.
Lorna heard the door closing and she reached for the remote control, turning the television off. She then tossed it on the coffee table and used her hands to push herself up from the couch, cursing as she felt Vinny kick. Despite the tiny feet of the baby, she felt a jab-like pain and immediately hunched over, her palms landing flat against the glass of the coffee table.
In record speed, Nicky was beside her, helping her, taking her hand and trying to get her to sit. Lorna shook her head-she was unable to speak the air having been kicked out of her—and started walking as fast as her feet would allow, the smell of the food making her stomach growl. Nicky let out a soft chuckle and walked alongside Lorna not letting go for a second.
When they reached the table, Lorna sat down and watched as Nicky began to open cabinets, placing plates, cups, and silverware to the table. She watched her in silence, noticing the how awfully quiet Nicky was being—something unusual—and pondered whether she should bring it up or let the blonde talk about it on her own.
Nicky, very well aware of Lorna's eyes on her, used a knife to slice into the eggplant dish and served her wife a well-sized portion then for herself, an even bigger one. She left the third plate empty, unsure whether Alex would be joining them anytime soon. The brunette had still yet to reply.
They ate in silence enjoying each other's company and only when Nicky reached for seconds, did Lorna say something.
"So, how was work? I heard there was quite a ruckus at the office?" Lorna said casually, still chewing.
"Work is work. Nothing that a press conference can't fix." Nicky said flatly.
"How bad was it?" Lorna continued. Nicky was looking at what seemed to be the most interesting thing in the room—her fork.
"Bad," Nicky said before shoving another forkful of food into her mouth.
"Oh," Lorna said. She pushed her plate away from her.
Nicky frowned and looked at her from under her eyebrows, "What? You're not hungry?"
"Yes, I am but you know…" She flickered her eyes to her stomach, Nicky understanding; Vinny had just given Lorna her daily dose of nausea. As she continued to chew, Nicky couldn't help but admire the beauty sitting in front of her.
Lorna, who had closed her eyes in an attempt to stabilize her stomach, had her short wavy hair parted to the side. Her face, young and innocent like, was decorated by the simple bright red color of her lipstick. She had a fifties vibe going on, Nicky thought.
"I don't know how much longer I can take," Lorna moaned, her head moving from side to side. "This baby will be the death of me."
"Is it normal?" Nicky asked, pointing at Lorna's belly with her fork. "I thought the nausea was only present during the first trimester."
"I thought so too," confirmed Lorna.
"Maybe we should pay a visit," Nicky said, "and have him check you out."
"I already went this morning," Lorna said causing Nicky to remember Alex had mentioned it in the morning. "He said in rare occasions does it happen throughout the whole pregnancy…," Lorna trailed off as another wave of nausea hit her.
Nicky set her fork down, stood, and walked to the sink. As she turned the tap on and waited for the water filter to start working, she said, "You know, I think we should get a second opinion. I like Dr. Maverick but it wouldn't hurt to try. For your and the baby's sake." Lorna stayed silent.
Once the glass was full, Nicky walked to Lorna's side and offered her the glass of water. Lorna took it, her hand trembling and Nicky made it a point to help her hold the glass as Lorna took a couple of small sips. After she was done Lorna (with Nicky's help) set the glass down on the table.
Bending down, Nicky kissed the side of Lorna's mouth and was about to return to her seat when she felt a hand gripping the back of her neck. It pushed her back down and she couldn't complain when their lips met in a passionate kiss. After what seemed like a minute or two, Lorna finally let go. Recovering from the kiss and with a look as if she had just been hit in the head, Nicky returned to her chair.
"I'll see what I can book for tomorrow," Lorna said, having the same look as Nicky's.
Before Nicky could answer, there was a soft knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Nicky said and pushed back her chair.
Nicky was expecting to find Alex. However, she was surprised to find Piper standing there, looking awkward and uncomfortable.
"Am I intruding," she asked in a whisper. Lorna saw her and gave Piper a small wave of her hand. Piper returned the gesture.
"Not at all. Come in," Nicky said opening the door wide enough for Piper to step in. Unsure, Piper clung to her purse a little tighter before stepping inside. Nicky closed the door and walked back to the kitchen, Piper at her heels.
"Chapman, so good to see you," Lorna said. She split into a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Piper walked over to her, bent down, and kissed Lorna on the cheek. Then gesturing to the baby bump, "My gosh! Haven't you blown up! It's only been a couple weeks since I last saw you."
Turning a slight shade of pink, Lorna said, "It couldn't have been that much."
"Chapman, care to join us?" Nicky called, the knife in her hand ready to cut Piper a slice of lasagna.
"I'm actually in a hurry, thanks. I was just stopping by…," she said as she craned her neck into the living room as if looking for something or rather someone. After a brief moment she continued, "Is Alex home?"
"Alex?" Nicky raised her eyebrows and placing the knife back down. She took a seat and pointed to the empty chair beside Lorna expecting Piper to seat. Piper, however, remained standing. "You mean to tell me you stopped by to talk to Alex?"
"Well not exactly…," Piper took a moment to search inside her bag. When she was done she had a small MP3 in her hand which Nicky quickly recognized.
"Hey, that's Alex's." She said.
"I wanted to give it back," Piper said placing it on the table. "She left it in my car earlier today."
"Ah, yes," Nicky said, "I tried calling you."
"Sorry, my phone was dead," Piper said apologetically.
"I figured."
"So…is she home?"
"Not yet. I tried calling her as well but each time I got her voicemail."
"Hmm."
"You wouldn't happen to know where she's at, now would you." Nicky asked. She looked intently at Piper noticing the latter's face turning red. She answered, all the while avoiding Nicky's gaze.
"No. Last I saw her was after I…dropped her off at the train yard."
"And that was it? You haven't heard from her since?"
Piper shook her head.
"Oh!" Lorna cried. "You don't think something has happened to her?" She asked worried.
"Who Vause?" Nicky asked. "No, of course not."
Piper was still silent; Nicky noticed and right when she was going to ask Piper about her lack of commentary, Nicky's phone buzzed in the living room.
"Excuse me." She said pushing her chair back and heading into the other room.
Alex: Sorry. I was caught up with something. I should be home shortly.
Nicky: No problem. FYI, Piper's here.
Vause: Make that in a few hours.
Nicky: Did something happened?
Vause: No.
Nicky had a hunch Alex was lying, but an interrogation through text messages was not her expertise. She decided to wait until morning. Before heading back into the kitchen, she took a second to examine Piper; while her face had retained its' normal shade, her ears were still a red shade.
Just to her luck, Piper looked up and met her eyes.
…
She knows, oh my god she knows, Piper panicked. She was sitting opposite Lorna, who was going on a rant about the baby weight she had put on in the last couple of months.
After thinking she would be sleek, she had slightly turned her head to steal a glance at Nicky and wasn't expecting the other blonde to have already been looking at Piper. Nicky's phone was in her hand, no doubt she had received a message. Was it from Alex? Had she told Nicky what happened? What would Nicky think of her now? Would they stop being friends? Would she be fired? Nicky did say if it ever came down to choosing between Piper and Alex that the choice was obvious…
She suddenly stood cutting Lorna mid-sentence, "I have to go," she said.
"But darling," Lorna said, "you just got here."
"And she also said she was in a hurry," Nicky had come back. Her phone was in her hand and Piper tried sneaking a glance at the screen hoping to catch a glimpse. "Aren't you, Piper?"
"Yes, I actually am. In fact I think I have overstayed my visit," Piper was saying already halfway to the exit. She opened the door but before she exited she turned to Nicky, "Can you give Alex her MP3?"
Nicky nodded and with that Piper shut the door behind her.
"What was that all about?" Lorna asked.
Nicky shrugged, "I don't know to tell you the truth, but she and Alex have been going at it the last couple of days. I think Piper likes Alex."
"No?" Lorna asked incredulously. "I didn't think Piper belonged to the team."
"She does now."
"But then what seems to be the problem?" Lorna was staring at the spot Piper had been a few moments earlier.
"Beats me."
"Doesn't it remind you when we first met? I thought you were a cocky little shit." Lorna said remembering the early years of their dating life.
"I still am," Nicky said sheepishly.
"Oh no, that could not be farther from the truth." Lorna looked adoringly at Nicky. "You've changed a lot since then. You went from being a careless whore to a married woman who's having a baby."
"I was not a careless whore!" Nicky said, then with a lopsided grin added, "Maybe a whore."
"Shut up." Lorna playfully punched her in the arm. "What are you going to do about those two?"
"I'm not sure. They claim to dislike each other yet you see them riding into the sunset in the same car. Although, it's mostly from Piper's side. Alex doesn't seem to care that much, Then again Alex is Alex. You know what Piper said about Alex? That she was selfish and entitled."
"Our Vause?" Lorna asked, shifting in her chair.
"You okay," Nicky asked and when Lorna nodded she continued. "Yes. Our Vause."
"Coming from someone who's never had to lift a finger to make her way in life." Lorna said. She didn't want to badmouth about Piper, but if anyone was entitled it had to be the other blonde.
From the years she'd been acquainting with Piper (she was more of Nicky's friend than hers) she knew the other woman came from a middle class family. Money had never been scarce and she'd had the opportunity to attend a decent college. Since then, she'd easily found jobs and had never truly struggled.
Unlike Piper, Alex was at the other end of the spectrum. Everything she had, she'd fought for. Lorna still remembered when she'd first encountered Vause back in their high school years. She hadn't made much of an impression with what standing there with tattered clothes and worn down snickers. She'd thought she was one of the school drug dealers tying to disguise herself as one of the less fortunate students.
However, the moment Alex opened her mouth to speak, Lorna had been shocked to know she was quite knowledgeable in almost all areas. Not only was Alex smart, but she was wise, offering Lorna advice in certain aspects of her life. Instantly she'd taken a liking to Vause and had come to see her as a part of her and Nicky's family. Had their baby been a girl, she would have named her Alex. Hmm, she thought, Alex is a gender neutral name…it might not be too late.
"My thoughts precisely babe," Nicky said bringing Lorna back to the present. "But you now her, she would have thrown a fit and most definitely submitted her resignation. And I can't have her quit. Especially not right now with the way things are back at the office."
There it was again, the face Nicky had walked in with. Worried, tired, and ready to crack at the slightest hit.
"I thought you said things were fine?" Lorna asked.
"And they are," Nicky tried to assure Lorna," but right now everyone is a bit uneasy. I know these things happen all the time. Shares fall, people panic, shares rise, voila. But right now I really need Piper's keen observant skills."
"She didn't seem so skilled." Lorna said. "She seemed rather distracted. You think it has to do with Vause?"
"It most definitely has to do with Vause. Bennett saw them leaving together earlier today. It can't be coincidence that Alex didn't pick up all afternoon. Something must have happened."
"Where is Alex?" Lorna asked. She watched as Nicky began to clear the table, taking the dishes to the sink and beginning to rinse them.
"I have no idea," Nicky said over her shoulder. Lorna waited patiently as Nicky washed, dried, and stored the dishes back into the cabinets; then she put away the leftovers and offered her arm to Lorna for support.
They changed clothes and lied down next to each other, Nicky's head resting by Lorna's belly. She slipped her hand under the fabric of Lorna's shirt and began to rub her hand in the number eight pattern.
"How's my boy doing?" Nicky said as she placed a soft kiss on the side of Lorna's belly. She smiled when she felt Vinny kicking in response to her voice. By now, the unborn child was used to her, as Nicky talked to him every night before bed. After her nightly routine, Nicky slipped back up the bed, spooning Morello.
"We should do something about those two," Lorna said sleepily as she snuggled closer to Nicky.
"You think so?"
"I know so."
…
An hour later, after the apartment was quiet and both Lorna and Nicky had fallen asleep, the front door creaked. Alex, trying her best not to disturb the peace, removed her boots and tiptoed into the kitchen. She turned on the stove light intending to get a glass of water when a note on the table caught her eye.
Alex,
I left some food in the fridge. Help yourself. Also, Piper stopped by to drop of something you left in her car. G'night.
Nicky.
She crumpled the note and tossed it over her shoulder; it landed in the garbage bin where she had intended it to fall. Then she picked up her MP3.
She let out a small sigh of relief. After leaving Piper alone with what clearly was a womanizer, she'd driven around the city in an attempt to clear her mind, but no matter how hard she tried to ignore the stinging sensation in her chest, she just couldn't. Why Piper sending her away affected her so much, she did not know. She wasn't even sure it was Piper's fault as she was still trying to deal with the death of her mother.
Whatever it was, it had caused her to drive aimlessly until she found herself going up a street that deviated from the highway. Up it took her, until the road was no longer paved, the only sign that it was a road were the track marks from previous cars going up.
She'd regretted taking the route the moment her car began to shake violently. The bottom scrapped against rock and she had the urge to go back down except the road was too narrow to make a u-turn. No doubt she would have to reach the top in order to make her way back down.
The road snaked and curved up a small hill, away from the city. The farther away she got from the noise of the cars, the quieter it got. The only sounds coming from the crickets and other animals scurrying around the bushes and trees on either side of the road. After being bitten by a dozen or so mosquitoes, Alex had closed her windows.
She arrived at the top, to a clearing overlooking the city. She'd stepped out and sat on the guardrail, her hands holding tight. She felt the breeze and closed her eyes wondering for a split second what would happen where she to let go. Don't be stupid, she thought. She then opened her eyes and scanned the horizon. It was dark. Everything was dark and unlike the movies, she could not see the city lights from where she sat. She laughed thinking how stupid she must look; like a movie cliché: girl drives up a lonely road and sits looking out at the magical lights. Bullshit.
In an attempt to silence the noises behind her (the crickets were getting louder), she'd reached into the pocket of her blazer only to find the MP3 Diane had given her, missing. To some, it might just be a stupid portable device, but to her it was so much more. Alex had received it as a gift from her mother. As a child, she had always wanted one but they had not been able to afford the commodity. With her first check from their business venture, Diane—not knowing that MP3's were a thing of the past—had bought it for her daughter.
Alex hadn't care if they were out of style, she had been grateful to her mother for having remembered. They'd spent all afternoon downloading both of their favorite songs and laughing, drinking, and celebrating. It, besides the car, was her most valued possession as it held a small part of Diane within the music downloaded.
I'm going to have to thank her, she thought about Piper, for giving me a small part of my soul back.
She pressed the power button as she slipped on her earphones but frowned when nothing happened. Once more, she pushed but nothing happened. The battery was drained and so she frowned—she was pretty sure it had half a battery from the last time she used it. Thinking she could have forgotten to turn it off, she served herself a serving of lasagna and ate in silence, her mind drifting to the inevitable talk she needed to have with Piper Chapman: Alex was done playing games.
…
If you live in the Midwest (USA) then you must know of the humidity levels we have been experiencing. It is getting ridiculous and right now the sky is falling again.
Once again, thank you very much. I appreciate it and I know it's getting some time to get there, but I don't like throwing characters into each other's arm right away, and even if I wanted to, things don't always work out the way you plan them too. When you're writing, you think you're going a certain path, then a thousand words in, you find yourself deviating from your original outline. It's always evolving and what not.
So I apologize if you're growing impatient (so am I!) but you will have to be patient.
Thank you! I love reading your reviews. They make me happy and I often find myself smiling thinking of the kind words you guys give me.
So, quick question: IOS or Android?
Me? Android.