While the blonde found herself in a state of panic over the situation, the brunette had no idea as to what was going on being that social media wasn't something she frequently obsessed over.
"Alex!" Piper says down the phone, picking up on the first ring, having been waiting by the device impatiently since arriving back at her apartment 10 minutes before.
"What's the matter?" the brunette immediately asks, having sensed something was up from the blonde's text message.
"You know how you took that picture of me and some fans on the street this morning?"
"Yeah," Alex answers, sounding confused.
"Well they posted it online and it's going viral."
"And that's a problem because…" the brunette probes, oblivious as to why Piper is acting like this.
"Because you can see two hickeys on my neck," the blonde answers, sounding as though she's panting due to pacing around in her kitchen. "Hickeys that you gave me, Alex."
"No one's gonna know that, Pipes."
"Well considering all of the comments are talking about how a tall, hot, lady with glasses called Al was with me at the time, everyone seems to know!" Piper adds, speaking rapidly.
"How did they-"
"The person who posted the picture wrote it."
"That doesn't mean they have to know was me. There's no proof," Alex says, trying to calm the blonde down.
"I know, I just don't want to make this any more messed up than it already is."
"I get that," Alex pauses. "Come over to mine; I have something to tell you."
"Al - I don't really think that's a good idea. They'll be able to find out who you are that way."
"Piper - all it takes is an extensive Google search to find out I'm your agent. For all people know, you had a wild evening and met with me the next morning to talk about your new book… and please. This is important."
Sighing to herself, knowing that what Alex is proposing is a smart idea, Piper relents, curious as to why she's being summoned to the older woman's home.
"I'll be over in 20."
"Hey," Alex says, smiling at the blonde as she opens the door to her apartment, letting her inside.
"Are we alone?" is all Piper asks, not wanting an audience for what she imagines is about to go down.
"Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk to you about," the brunette admits, causing the blonde's jaw to clench, not liking the sound of Alex's admission.
"What is it?"
"I don't know where Sylvie is. She's just taken off somewhere and I have no idea how to get ahold of her."
"Why're you telling me this?" Piper asks, an obvious hint of jealousy evident in her tone of voice.
"Because how am I supposed to put an end to this when she's nowhere to be found?"
"This?"
"No - that," Alex answers, moving her arms frantically while trying to clarify what she means. "I mean the engagement, Piper. I meant what I said before about going back to her. It's just kind of hard though when you share the same living space and she happens to be missing from it," the brunette looks around, alluding to the several items blatantly belonging to Sylvie that are placed around the room.
"What're you gonna do?"
"I have no idea. I mean - I get that she's pissed with me… I did smash her laptop."
"You smashed her laptop?" Piper asks, laughing as her eyebrows rise in surprise.
"She was saying shit I didn't like and I snapped," Alex tries to defend her actions.
"Like what?"
"She read you couldn't come to the wedding and started to bad-mouth you."
"Saying what about me?" Piper asks, starting to get angry.
"It doesn't matter."
"Alex-"
"She started saying you would have been a shitty bridesmaid anyway, and then accused me of wanting to be with you yet entering a relationship with her because I missed my chance."
"That bitch," the blonde voices, unable to hide her agitation.
"I mean she wasn't wrong about the last bit," the brunette admits, "but it still made me mad and so I smashed her laptop."
"Does she still think you're getting married?"
"If she has any brains, no, but this is Sylvie we're talking about here," Alex pauses, running a hand through her hair.
"She'll have to come back eventually, Al. It doesn't seem like she took many belongings with her."
"I guess… I just hope she doesn't act out about this all."
"You are about to end your engagement and you smashed her laptop - I think I'd be pretty pissed too."
"That doesn't help," Alex voices.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"This isn't your fault, Piper. I can deal with this; I just don't want you to think I've changed my mind."
"I trust that," the blonde smiles, taking a seat on the brunette's sofa. "How about we watch a movie or something?"
"Well we can't or something, so movie it is," Alex jokes, plonking herself down next to the blonde on the sofa, trying to forget about the current day's events.
A week later, both women seem to find themselves in a better off position; the media attention regarding Piper's relationship status eventually somewhat tamed down, and, after 3 days, Alex eventually heard from Sylvie, who, despite Alex's attempts at persuading her to come back home and talk, claimed she would be staying with friends out of state for another week.
Sitting at her desk in what is a rare free morning, Alex is scrolling through her computer checking both her emails and the most recent set of news. Her workload had seemed to die down given that Piper's book was complete and currently with Nicky's publishing firm, so most mornings she found herself unbothered - something she greatly appreciates.
She scrolls through the Daily Mail online - knowing that despite its unreliability as a publication, it provides relevant celebrity gossip - and sees a headline that she wouldn't have envisioned in a million years.
'Piper Chapman bares all in exclusive lingerie shoot with Vogue.'
Instantly clicking on the article, the brunette's body melts, as the image of Piper in a black laced set of lingerie appears at the top of the screen. She scans through the article, yet instead of reading the edited content from an unreliable source, she opens a new tab, searching for the official article on Vogue's website.
'Talking travel, writing and sexuality, Piper Chapman reveals all as she enters the latest chapter in her page-turner of a life.'
Thank God, Alex thinks in seeing the sophisticated nature of the article's headline.
It's an enjoyable read - one of which is not only written extremely well, but captures the essence of Piper's personality; intelligent, yet extremely down to earth. The work touches upon elements of the blonde's life and upbringing - all of which the brunette already knew in greater depths of detail, yet in its uncovering of her summer travels and the aid it brought towards her search for her identity, Alex surprisingly learnt more about the younger blonde.
"It was an emancipation," the makeup-free blonde admits when asked about self discovery. "An emancipation of expectations as well as the kind of person I had always envisioned myself to be. I spend a lot of my time on my own, and in doing so in varied locations helped to make me realise what it is I'm missing in my life; the type of relationship I'm craving."
The blonde, Alex notes, is extremely well spoken when it comes to talking about such sensitive topics, and can only help but feel an element of guilt at what she's reading.
'Piper - with her hair tied up in a messy bun - crosses over her legs and smiles, giving off an array of confidence - and perhaps even sentimentality - upon addressing her quest for privacy.
"People like myself that are always in the lens of the media find it hard to establish that balance between obtaining privacy while putting themselves out there in a working environment. It can be hard to find someone when all people know about you is that you can string a sentence or two together and have made a successful living out of it. I'm scared a lot of the time; you want to surround yourself by people you care about, but sometimes that just isn't enough, and until you come to terms with that, you can't grow for the better as a person."'
As hard as she tries, the guilt doesn't go away. The brunette senses that the blonde wasn't talking about any old relationship when the interview had taken place, and finds herself feeling sorry for the blonde - despite thinking the younger woman was coping with her new-found status, she otherwise found herself isolated even when in crowded rooms.
The article eventually takes a lighter note - the blonde discussing why she loves writing and answering some questions about her love for exercise. By the time she reaches the end of the piece, Alex - for the first time in several minutes - lets herself smile. Doing a lingerie shoot was always something Piper had always refused - often finding it cringey and unnecessary, yet upon alluding to the blonde's discovery of growing as a person, the brunette realises how Piper had herself stepped out of her comfort zone to aid another purpose: making herself happy.
Images were scattered throughout the lengthy article, however Alex keeps the mouse at the bottom, clicking through a slideshow of all the images.
The poses are risqué - ranging from posing on a chair, wearing nothing but an unbuttoned shirt, and standing in very revealing garments. This is the kind of content the brunette had always wished for - and despite having only ever imagined seeing the blonde's body like this in the contents of her own bedroom without any other prying eyes, she'll take what she's given.
Knowing that she doesn't have any work deadlines or meetings throughout the day - as well as the fact that the inside of her office can't be seen from the outside, she scrolls to the image of the blonde in the most revealing set of white laced lingerie that accentuates her toned abdomen. Pushing her chair away from the desk slightly and leaning backwards, Alex lowers her hand to the waistband of her work trousers - undoing its button before pulling the zipper the whole way down.
Before she can progress much further, her office door flies open, to which she shoots upwards and pulls the chair back in towards the desk.
"Is this a bad time?" Piper asks as she takes off her coat, putting it down while walking further into the room.
"No - I um… was just," Alex stumbles before clearing her throat. "I wasn't expecting you."
"Surprise!" the blonde jokes, wondering why Alex hadn't gotten up to greet her like she had been doing as of recent. "Get over here," she juts her head, indicating for the brunette to get up.
Knowing that Piper is already suspicious of her behaviour, Alex stands up and moves around the desk, hoping the blonde won't notice her opened trousers.
"Hi," Piper says, pulling the taller woman into a hug.
"What're you doing here?" Alex asks, returning the embrace.
"I wanted to see you. There's something I think you'd like to see, but first," the blonde begins, pulling back from the hug while smirking, "I'd like to know why your trousers are undone."
"They were just a bit tight while sitting down," the brunette tries to lie, not wanting the smaller woman to find out what she was in the process of doing.
"Oh, so it had nothing to do with whatever had you so transfixed on that computer of yours when I walked in?" Piper asks, slipping behind Alex's body so that she's standing in front of the desk, attempting to turn the computer.
"No!" Alex tries to stall, turning around so that her front is now against the blonde's back, using her arms to stop the screen turning yet remaining unsuccessful.
"I see," Piper voices, seeing the image of herself in her recent article - the reason why she had come to talk to the brunette in the first place - filling the screen. "You're already doing your research."
"Pipes-" Alex tries to protest, but is silenced as she feels her hands being grabbed and placed around the blonde's waist to rest along the waistband of her tight, black trousers.
"I wanted to see your reaction, but I guess I'm a little late to the party. Maybe my invite got lost in the mail," the blonde comments, arching her body so that her ass moves further into the older woman's crotch, earning herself a groan.
"You look so hot in the pictures, Pipes," Alex counters, using all the willpower she has to not turn the blonde over and fuck her on the desk.
"You know, I only agreed to do the shoot to try and win you over."
"It worked," Alex growls into the younger woman's neck, having moved her hair to the side to run her nose along the perfumed skin.
"I didn't think I would expect to see you getting yourself off to it in your office though," Piper turns around, biting her lip while lowering her hands to fiddle with the opened edges of the brunette's trousers. "That's what's really hot."
"God, Piper," Alex groans, but is interrupted as the blonde fuses their lips together in a lust-filled kiss.
Eventually needing to break away for air, the pair rest their foreheads against one another, chests heaving up and down rapidly.
"I came her to tell you about the piece and then ask if you'd join me for some lunch," Piper finally voices.
Alex, still lost in a haze, licks her lips, trying her best not to crumble.
"I'd love to join you."
The blonde reaches down to Alex's trousers, fixing them back together.
"I'd always imagined taking these off you, not putting them back on."
"We'll get there," Alex smiles, happy the blonde had stopped by despite the poor timing.
"Oh, can I just pop in and see if they're selling the cover?" Piper asks, pulling Alex's arm as they walk by a small corner store.
"Sure."
The pair walk through the shop until they reach the paper and magazine section, and while Piper reaches down and grabs two copies of Vogue - smiling while doing so, Alex's face falls as she is occupied by something she thought had ended sooner than it had began.
Covering the front of several gossip magazines and tabloids are pictures of herself and Piper taken on the same morning as their encounter with the author's fans. One cover is of the pair walking along the street laughing, another of them sitting opposite each other in a coffee shop, and, worst of all, one of them leaving the blonde's house together accompanied by a zoomed in picture of the blonde's marked neck along with a string of accusations about the blonde's sex life.
"Piper," Alex says stoically.
"Hmm," the blonde mumbles back, immersed in reading the article she's featured in.
"We're screwed."
"Why?"
"Because we're everywhere."
"What do you mean we're every-" Piper begins, but having finally looked up and seen what the brunette was referring to, she suddenly mirrors the sudden panic, forgetting the contents of what she was reading in her hand and letting out a whispered: "Fuck."