It had been 3 months since the Party and nothing had come of Piper and Nicky's search for Alex. Piper had thrown herself more into the business and was now looking to upgrade their warehouse and take on a new employee.
They were currently working on a new fragrance, Piper wanted it to be like blueberry cheesecake. As close to the real thing as possible. She was driving Nicky mad with it and was just on her way out to pick up some lunch and coffee for them both.
"So you want a chicken salad baguette and a cappuccino?"
Nicky nodded. "Yep, ooh you could pick me up some of those cheesy fries too, the ones from that cool new place that opened up."
Piper laughed and shook her head. "I will."
Piper stepped out into the crisp air and took a deep breath, as she always did.
She was hungry, she hadn't realised how hungry she was until she stepped into the café and could smell the food. She placed her order and then stepped aside to wait for it to be ready.
"Piper?"
Piper spun around and spotted Scarlett sitting in a booth with another girl. Piper smiled and waved awkwardly, not wanting to intrude if she was on a date. Scarlett waved her over so Piper obliged and walked closer.
"Piper! I knew it was you! How have you been? Sit down!"
Piper sat down at the booth. "This is Helene, one of my best friends. We're just grabbing lunch if you wanted to stop to chat."
"It's nice to meet you, Helene, I'm Piper."
"I know, it's nice to meet you, Piper, I've heard a lot about you." Helene said as she winked at Scarlett who had now blushed a rather amusing shade of red.
"Well, you'll have to stop by the shop sometime and I can set you up with some stuff. We're working on a blueberry cheesecake fragrance at the moment, I think I'm going to put it in a bubble bath so that people can smell like baked goods while they bathe."
Helene burst out laughing and Piper joined her. "Hey, I heard your soap business is doing pretty well actually."
"Yeah, We are looking to expand. We landed the Barney's deal and now we are going to upgrade our warehouse and possibly take on an employee."
"Well, here, take my card. I work for a huge online enterprise. They have been watching your soap company flourish and the big boss said if you guys landed Barney's we would look at taking your products on."
Piper sat there momentarily speechless. She couldn't believe her luck. "Who do you work for?"
"Suave Enterprises, we have only been open for a few years but the boss lady is amazing at importing and exporting goods so the business took off and it's like, a multi-million dollar business now."
"Wow, that sounds crazy! Um, yeah well, we would definitely be interested in making a deal. Here's our card too, just get in touch if you need anything."
The lady came over with Piper's order. Piper looked over at Scarlett, who was gazing at her proudly.
"Well, I guess I'll go take Nicky her lunch or she will be grumpy for the rest of the day. It was nice meeting you Helene and it was really nice seeing you again, Scarlett."
Piper excused herself and walked over to the exit.
"Piper, Wait!"
Piper turned to see Scarlett heading towards her in a hurry.
"Um, I just wanted to see if you wanted to go on that dinner yet, you know, that is if you are ready."
Piper shifted on her feet, a little uncomfortable. "Um, I still haven't had closure from Alex, y'know, but uh, I guess we could see where this goes?"
Piper didn't want to turn her down straight away, especially when she had just gained her a potentially huge deal with her friends work place.
Scarlett smiled and hugged Piper. "I think we would be good together, Piper. There's just something about you." She turned and strode back to her booth that Helene was still sitting at.
Piper walked back thinking about what had just transpired in the café.
"Come on Chapman, Jesus, what took you so long, I'm starving."
Piper giggled as she placed Nicky's chips, sandwich and coffee down in front of her and watched her inhale their scent.
"I wasn't gone that long but while I was out I bumped into Scarlett."
"Oh, so you're finally giving it a chance?"
"Well, she had a friend with her who works for this company called Suave, it's apparently a huge online business! Anyway, she said the boss lady had been watching our company for a while and they might want to take on our products!"
Nicky's mouth was hanging open. "Suave? Jesus Christ, Piper, they're huge! They are worth like, 10 million and they have only been open for a year and a half. Whoever is behind that business knows what they are doing. This could be huge!"
"I know! I told her we were working on the blueberry cheesecake scent, she laughed but they do seem interested! Oh and I'm going out for dinner with Scarlett."
"Oh, you decided to stop looking for Vause?"
"Well, no. I don't know, Nick. It's been so long. If she's alive, she hasn't bothered looking for me. I don't know what to do. I like Scarlett, I just keep comparing her to Alex. I guess I'll just go with it and see if it goes anywhere."
Nicky nodded. "So when's the big date?"
"Friday night at 6pm. We're heading off to the new Thai place."
"And then coming out drinking with me after." Nicky added. Piper smiled.
"Yeah, Ok! Sounds like a plan, I'll ask her to bring her friend and then if the date hasn't gone well, at least I have an escape."
Nicky laughed. "Ok, Piper but if I find a hot chick I'm ditching ya ass and you will have to stay there and make it up."
Piper nodded and carried on eating her own sandwich. "Nicky. what if I never see her again. What if I'm gonna have a life of her haunting my every thought but not being able to see her."
"Look, Piper, you were right earlier. She obviously hasn't looked for you so why should you live in her shadow?" Piper contemplated what Nicky had said.
"You know what, you're right, if she finds me, she finds me but I'm not gonna not live my life because she didn't."
"That's my girl!"
Piper was determined she wouldn't let Alex ruin the next date she went on with Scarlett. She had to start living her life properly, not a life she was going to waste because Alex wasn't in it. The more she thought about Alex getting out of prison and not looking for her, the angrier it made her. She felt hurt that Alex would just not find her. She lived in the same area, after all. It's not like it would be hard to find an ex Litchfield inmate who makes soap for a living.
Hey , here's chapter 3. So, I got the idea for the name from JenSurname's suave series, I've just used it in a different context.
I know some of you will hate me for initially having Scarlett in here but Alex will come in in the later chapters, you will see why when we get there :)
I hope you are all keeping safe from the wild weather in America. The world really is a scary place at the moment.
I'm absolutely loving reading your reviews! Thank you all for posting and thank you all for sticking with this story, I just had this idea after the end of the last series when I was imagining all the different scenarios that could play out after the riot.
Enjoy guys and as always, please review
Lise xx
