The week after the Lorna incident was spent preparing to be contacted by Helene's boss. Piper was obsessing over being on the ball with figures and timeframes, she was memorising them like lines so she would look like she knew every little detail about her company.
Half way through the week they had decided the office was a complete tip and needed overhauling. They were knee deep in paperwork when Piper decided to grab them coffee and cake. Nicky, of course, wanted her usual chocolate cake. She put on her coat and headed out of the door. The city was really busy and Piper was practically brushing shoulders with people as they bustled around. Finally she got to the café and ordered their usual coffee and cake and then sat down in the window to wait for her order.
Piper loved people watching, she loved to see how every face was so different yet everyone looked so normal. So many different combinations. As Piper was looking through people, she caught a glance of a woman who looked so much like Alex that Piper's hair stood on end, she stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating with the shock. It was just a brief glimpse but Piper was stunned. She felt herself running from the table she had been sitting at and out of the café, across the road to where she had seen the woman but she was no longer there. Piper cursed herself for doing this again. Her mind was playing tricks with her, obviously, this woman had red hair, her hair was shorter than Alex's. Plus, if Alex was in this city, she would know, right? They would have crossed paths by now. She tried to calm her breathing down to a normal level, realising she was almost hyperventilating and calmly crossed the street back to the café. By the time she got her order she realised she was shaking. "Are you ok, miss?" The girl said as she handed Piper her order.
"Yeah, Uh, um, thanks…"
Piper rushed home and burst through the door. As soon as she saw Nicky she burst out crying.
Nicky jumped up from her place on the floor in the office and rushed over to Piper. "Piper? What's wrong?"
When Piper had stopped crying enough to form a sentence she sat down on the floor with the coffee.
"I thought I saw Alex, across the street from the café. I totally freaked out, I ran across the street to where she had been. I honestly thought it was her, Nicky. I must be delusional or something, this woman had red hair and it was shorter than Alex's and I still almost got myself killed running across the road to get to her. I don't know why I'm like this! I'm so stupid! I'm so stupid!"
Piper was hyperventilating again and Nicky moved to put her arm around her. "Hey, hey, it will be ok. It will get better, honestly. It will all work out."
"I mean, she probably didn't even look like Alex but my brain just told me she did and I went crazy. I've got to stop this, Nicky, I can't live like this for the rest of my life!"
"I know. Maybe you should go to therapy.."
Piper looked up from her coffee. "You know, I might try that."
Just as she was about to speak again, the email notification sound rang out from her laptop. They both glanced at each other nervously. Piper walked over to her laptop and opened the email.
"Hi,
My employee, Helene, has been in contact with you about possibly gaining a contract for distribution of your products. Could you give me the numbers of each product you have sold so far, any information you think I would need to know about your company would be great, too. I like to get to know companies well before we take them on. Helene seems very keen so I would like to know more. I usually work from home but we could set up a meeting face to face at some stage if you would like?
Regards,
Elizabeth Suave
Suave Enterprises"
Piper squealed, she felt like they were finally going to go big with their company. Her Mom had loosened up a lot since Piper had gone to prison and their relationship had improved a great deal since she had been released and Piper couldn't help but feel excited that her Mom might actually be proud of something she had done for once.
She instantly composed a reply to Elizabeth and Attached the forms with the requested information.
"Miss Suave,
I have attached the documentation you requested. Should you require anything else, please do not hesitate to contact myself or my business partner. I would love to set up a meeting, let me know when and where and I will be there.
Regards,
Piper Chapman
Picnic Bath and Body."
Nicky laughed and shook her head at how formal Piper had gone with the email. She just really wanted to secure this and wanted to appear as professional as possible.
Almost immediately, another email came through.
"1pm, Friday, 124 Ridges Avenue."
Piper looked at Nicky. Something seemed weird about this whole thing and Piper didn't really know what to think of it all. The return email had come too quick.
Piper and Nicky had continued to tidy the office for the remainder of the afternoon. Nicky was taking Lorna out for dinner and Piper had plans to call for a takeout and watch Netflix.
Her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up to reveal a text from Scarlett. "Hey Piper, are you busy tonight? I was wondering if you wanted to go out for dinner? My treat xx"
Piper sighed, the last thing she wanted was to have Scarlett making heart eyes at her all night when all she wanted to do was have a bubble bath, eat some junk food and have an early night.
"Hey Scar, I'm just planning an early night, I think work is catching up to me." Piper paused before she hit send, she felt guilty for blowing Scarlett off again. She decided she would try to be friends with Scarlett more than anything else but she knew this would be hard given Scarlett's obvious needy personality.
She finished off the message. "But I'm gonna order Chinese takeaway, if you like it, you're more than welcome to come and share some."
Scarlett replied straight away. "Sure, I'll pick some up on my way over, see you soon."
Scarlett arrived an hour later with a bottle of wine and the Chinese food.
"Hey, I hope you're hungry, I think I got a bit much." Piper chuckled, kissing her on the cheek as a friendly greeting, before taking the bags from her. The night wasn't as bad as Piper expected, Scarlett didn't push anything. The conversation came surprisingly easy and as the night drew to an end Scarlett announced she had to work early in the morning. As they were saying their goodbyes, Scarlett turned to Piper. "Thank you for tonight, Pipes. It's been nice, we should do it again." Piper tensed at Scarlett using the nickname Alex always used.
"Uh, Yeah! We should!" Piper gave Scarlett a quick hug before she left.
Piper let out a sigh of relief as the door closed. She kept shaking her head trying to stop the constant torture of wondering about Alex. She could pretend she didn't care but in fact, it was all she did care about. She only cared about Alex. Constantly worrying if she was safe and what she was doing. Missing her touch, her scent, her sarcasm. Everything about her. At least Scarlett hadn't been too pushy tonight. Piper grabbed some products and went to the bathroom to run herself a hot bath, she was excited and nervous about the meeting on Friday and hoped it would all go well.
Hey guys, here's the new chapter! Does anyone have anything they particularly want to see happen in a Vauseman fic? I'm still writing so I can incorporate what you guys want. anyway, Enjoy and as always, Please review.
Lise xx
