10
Alex looked down at a sleeping Piper. For a moment she scanned the blonde's face and examined her features—the length of her lashes, the shape of her eyebrows, the finesse of her nose. Alex realized she was particularly fond of Piper's lips, which slightly curved upwards in a sort of mischievous smirk. She smiled in wonder at what the blonde could possibly be dreaming of to cause such a reaction. Then, without notice, the side of Piper's mouth opened slightly releasing a flowing river of drool which puddled against Alex's shirt.
In any other case the brunette would have been disgusted. She would have immediately pushed the person off and told them to get out. Except she found it rather amusing as she didn't take Piper to be one to drool. She watched the growing stain on her shirt but made no effort to move. Not even when the coldness of it touched her skin.
After a minute, she rested her own head against the blonde's and closed her eyes. The warmth of the sun allowing her to easily fall back to sleep.
#
"Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine," Nicky said from across the table. She had a cup of coffee in one hand and her cellphone in the other. After checking her messages and finding nothing from Alex, she set it down and took a sip from her cup.
"We don't know that," Lorna said as she scrolled through her own messages. "Maybe she came home late and leaf early this morning?"
"Don't think so," Nicky shrugged.
"Didn't she want to see that real-state guy about the apartment she's getting?"
"On a Saturday?" Nicky reached to grab a bagel from a plate in the middle of the table. "Doubt it."
"Aren't your worried," Lorna scoffed.
"Nope."
"What if something happened to her?"
"We would know," Nicky said. She reached over and patted Lorna on the hand. "Don't worry kiddo. She's in good hands."
"How do you know?"
"I called Piper."
"And?"
"She didn't answer."
#
Her neck hurt and her body ached. To release the tightness and soreness from her muscles, Piper stretched or at least she tried to. Before her arms could make it far, they were halted by the restrictions of the small space around her. Piper's eyes fluttered opened and it took her a couple of seconds to realize where she was.
She looked up and turned a slight shade of pink when she realized she had been snuggled against Alex's side. Glad that the brunette was still sleeping, she slowly detached herself and looked out the window, towards the city.
The sun was already out and shining bright. Because they were several hundred feet above sea level, the sun appeared to be bigger than usual. The clear skies surrounding it gave Piper the impression that she was staring at a very round and ripe lemon with a sky-blue background.
Next to her, Alex stirred. Her own arms stretched and Piper had to duck to avoid being poked in the eye. Like Piper, it took Alex a second to gather herself and make out her surroundings.
"Hey," Alex yawned.
"Hey," Piper replied. She looked away pretending not to notice Alex's raspy morning voice.
"What time is it?" Alex asked.
"Ten-thirty."
"Holy shit," Alex straightened in her seat, "How much did we drink?"
"Well, my head is killing me, my body hurts, and I have severe heartburn so if my calculations are correct…a shit load," Piper jested.
"No kidding," Alex chuckled. "I'm going to guess breakfast doesn't sound appetizing to you right now?"
"Not in the slightest. I'll take a raincheck though. Right now I just want to go home and take a shower."
Alex nodded and started the car. She turned to Piper intending to say something but when their eyes met, she suddenly found herself unable to speak. Her mouth opened only to close a second later. Finally, she broke eye contact, shifted gears, and began driving down the hill.
"You handle alcohol much better than I do," Piper said once they were on the highway. She leaned her body against the door so that she was looking at Alex.
"That's because I didn't drink as much as you," Alex smiled sympathetically.
"You must think I'm a drunk, but I swear I'm not."
"I never believed for a second that you were," Alex said as she tried to focus on the road and not on Piper's blue eyes staring at her.
"Good." Piper watched the side of Alex's mouth lift.
"Piper?"
"Yeah?"
"You should really put your seatbelt on."
#
Albert watched as a man he'd never seen before walked to the punching station and inserted a time card. The man, who was wearing the attire of a security guard, then walked towards the elevators and waited patiently. Albert followed him.
It wasn't that Albert liked to stick his nose in other people's business, but he didn't have a good hunch on this guy. Especially after finding out that Jerry, the previous guard and his longtime friend, had been in a car accident that left him in a coma. But that wasn't why he had it for the new guy, no; he knew accidents happened all the time. What worried him was the way the guy had been hired.
Andrew, head of security, always took his time when it came to hiring new staff. Mainly because Paladin Towers was home to some of the country's most elite and wealthy entrepreneurs. One of these entrepreneurs, and perhaps the most known resident, was Alex Vause, head of Vause Industries.
It just didn't add up. Even he, who was but a simple janitor, had to endure countless background checks and interviews before being hired. Jerry had only been missing for a week. It's not like they were short on staff either.
Albert came to a stop next to the man. As they waited for the elevator, he tried to make conversation.
"Good morning," he greeted the man.
The man simply harrumphed.
"I've never seen you around before. First day on the job?" he asked.
The man, whose nametag read Juri, grunted in confirmation.
"You here for the long run?"
"I was hired for an indefinite amount of time," the man said coldly, as it were a burden to speak, "One of the guards, Jerri I believe is his name, has medical issues. I'm his replacement for the time being."
"Ah," Albert nodded. "Good luck."
"Hmm."
The elevator doors opened and Albert made it a point to struggle with his cleaning cart to allow the man to enter first. Only after Juri was inside did Albert push his cart and enter the small room. He did so to give Juri enough time to make his selection on the floor choice as Albert intended to follow the man.
He noticed Juri had pressed the number to the twelfth floor.
"Looks like we're going to the same floor pal," he joked. Juri glanced at Albert from the side before returning his gaze to the front.
When the doors opened Albert stepped out. Juri followed closely. Albert pushed the cart and stopped after passing a couple of doors and stopped in front of apartment number 1252. He dug into his pocket and retrieved a key. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Juri slow down, ultimately coming to a stop. He eyed Albert before heading down the hall and disappearing around the corner where the floor's security office was located.
To drive off any suspicions that he had been following Juri, Albert allowed himself into the apartment and stayed there for a good twenty minutes. While he was there, he sat thinking about what he had witnessed and debated whether he should say something. Not that he had any pull in a place like this.
Maybe, he thought when he was back in the elevator, I should mind my own business before I get in trouble. Once back on the main floor, he silently thanked Alex Vause for giving him a spare key to her apartment on the twelfth floor.
It wasn't custom for the building's janitors to clean the resident's apartments. Typically, the elite hired their own cleaning services but not Alex Vause. She had befriended Albert and hired him to do weekly maintenance on her apartment. Thanks to that, he had been able to follow the new guard whilst under the pretense that he was doing maintenance.
As it got later into the day, one thing continued to bother Albert: Jerri was the main floor's guard.
That meant Juri had no business being up on the twelfth floor.
#
"Well, here you are," Alex said pulling into the front entrance of Piper's apartment.
Piper said nothing as she stared out the window towards the entrance doors. Alex was about to say something else but before she had the chance to, Piper turned around and planted a kiss on her cheek then turned back around, her blonde hair whipping furiously, said a thanks to Alex, and shut the door behind her.
For a moment Alex sat frozen in her seat. Only when Piper had disappeared into the building did she dare to move. Her hand touched to spot where Piper's lips had been. It lingered there for a couple seconds before falling back to her side.
She couldn't explain why that particular spot was burning or why her stomach had suddenly turned and not in a bad way. She started the car but made no attempt to move. Instead she craned her neck to look up at the hundreds of windows and wondering which on belonged to Piper.
Part of her wanted to run out the car, enter the building, and knock on every door until she found Piper. Then she would ask the blonde why she had done what she did.
Maybe she was being friendly, a small voice whispered in the recesses of her mind. You do know that it's perfectly normal for girls who happen to be friends to kiss, right? Her mind furthered pushed. Have we reached friendly terms? She fought back not knowing why she was hoping it meant something more. Well, considering she gets loose on a couple of drinks, I wouldn't think too much on it.
She finally decided it was nothing.
"You're welcome," she finally before driving off to what she surely knew was going to a long interrogation of her whereabouts from Nicky.
A/N: I noticed I am dragging this way too long and let me say this: that is not my intention. I love writing and sometimes get carried away into writing unnecessary fillers. I know you're dying for major things to happen, and I assure you, they will. Soon. Actually, expect for a certain character to make his (or is it her?) appearance and cause major disruptions in the next chapter. Aha!
Aside from that, I am planning on updating more frequently as I really want to improve my writing skills. Not just for personal reasons but academically speaking as well.
Please review. I will not hold my story hostage if I get a small amount of reviews, however when you guys kiss my rear, I tend to be extremely motivated. (;
(Also I did not edit because you know, pfft. Who has time to edit?)