A month had passed since Piper had been released. She had decided to throw herself into the re model of the property, which she had decided to call 'The Grind". She had made sure to employ local tradesmen and women for the variety of job roles she needed filling. The internal structures were installed first. Piper spent hours upon hours sketching, collecting samples, and planning the look and feel of the place. The shop was painted a dark navy blue, and light coloured wood flooring has been put down. Large windows framed the shop and wrapped round the front and right hand sides of it. Bar stools were placed in the front window, with various tables and booths along the right hand side. Throughout the centre a large bar and order point had been built. Grey tiles outlined the working area that would later house the back bar and the various coffee machines she was still to order. A kitchen was being installed behind the bar in a separate room, with the added convenience of a large and long open hatchway. Along side that was a staff room that had a door to the back stairwell. Upstairs the walls had been placed for the office and two apartments. She had planned them both to have one double and a twin room, with a shared bathroom and living area. She had also made sure to set them back slightly, to allow for a balcony area that spanned the length of the front of the shop. Both apartments had double doors that opened onto it allowing a shared space. She felt it was important for any future tenants to have access to their own quiet area outside. It was upstairs that was currently giving Piper a headache.

She had written to Alex each week, and had included some sketched plans of the building. She had even gone as far as adding painted areas on the letters so Alex could help choose the decor. Their apartment would span the whole top floor. The stairwell lead to a private landing with a large wooden door. It opened into a hallway which was at the back and right hand side of the building. Piper chose to carry on the theme of glass panels along the majority of the right hand side of the apartment. Looking towards what would be the front of the shop, panels were being put up halfway down. This vast space would house an open planned kitchen, dining and living area. She was struggling with how to dress it. At the end of the building would be their master bedroom, with a large built in bathroom, a moderate size spare room, and a guest bathroom. She was becoming increasingly upset with the process of designing this without Alex.

She had finally bought a car. She had decided on a black BMW X6. She wanted something that would portray her as a professional, as well as something that would give her comfort for her weekly 2 hour round trips to visitation, and at the moment was aiding in moving and collecting supplies for the store.

Today Piper was on a personal mission. She had finely worked up the courage to visit Alex's lock up. She had sent her the address a few days after their first visit, but Piper had been trying to put it off. She had told herself that she was too busy. But in reality she was just scared at how overwhelmed she would become surrounded by all of Alex's belongings.

She parked up and entered the building. She walked over to the reception desk and rang the bell. A young boy who looked as if he was in his teens came out of a door from the office.

"Good Morning Miss."

"Hello. I've come to collect some belongings from storage?" She fumbled in her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. She leaned over the desk and handed it to him.

"Lot 3874. Thats one of our larger storage units. I'll just go and grab the keys from the back and we'll go.

Piper shrugged off her jacket and folded it over her arm. She inhaled slowly. Closing her eyes she breathed out and relaxed her body. Okay. Use this as inspiration. Find bits that look like home, and find Diane's pictures. The sound of a door closing made her jump. Turning, she saw the young guy indicating to go through a set of double doors into a hallway.

After a few minutes of walking through a maze of corridors and passed hundreds of doors they arrived. He unlocked the door, leaned in and switched on the lights.

"See this button? Thats the call bell. People tend to get a bit lost coming out, so when you're ready, push it, and I will come and collect you."

Piper walked in and took notice of a green button placed under the light switch. She turned her head and smiled at him. "Thank you so much for bringing me in, there is no way I'd have found it by myself".

"No worries Miss Vause."

Piper almost corrected him. Well I am a Vause, just not the one he thinks I am.

There were a lot of boxes. Piper didn't even need to open them to guess what was in them. Books. There would be time to collect those later. One feature Piper had made sure to add into the apartment was a huge built in bookcase, floor to ceiling and spanning the whole right side of the apartment. She knew Alex had joked before that she would love her own library, and this would be close to it. She made a mental note to collect all the books once the apartment was finished.

Walking in further she noticed a lot of large packages that were bulky and wrapped. Alex's art. There is no way I am going through all of those without her.

There was a large table situated to the back of the large room with a variety of items on it. She recognised the table from Alex's old penthouse apartment. She had to have it. This will certainly bring back memories. She felt her cheeks flush slightly. She shrugged off her bag and grabbed a small notepad and pen out of it, and wrote it down.

She diverted her attention to what was on the table. There were 3 shoeboxes stacked. Placing her bag and jacket down, she took off one of the lids, it contained photo's. Flicking through, she noticed there were many pictures from Alex's various travels all over the world. She could tell some were from their time together. Food markets in Thailand, coffee shops in Amsterdam, historical landmarks in Paris. She stopped on a photo. Cambodia. I remember this day perfectly. She tentatively stroked the image

They were on a beach. Fahri had rented out the area with a large beach house for the holidays. It was actually him that took this particular image when they weren't looking. It had been a particularly busy day for Alex. Hoards of mules were present at the party, and she spent a large amount of time mingling with them, ever the professional. Her and Piper had gone to the party together, but the novelty of time spent together had worn off for her, and Piper had walked down to the beach with a bottle of wine for some time away from it all. She felt stupid for thinking they would be at the party together, and that she would be the centre of Alex's attention for once.

Piper wasn't naive. She knew what Alex's job entailed. She wined and dined girls, she flirted and recruited. And although she wasn't necessarily jealous of the other women, she was jealous of the attention. Moreover, that lack of attention that she got. She missed her. She missed being around her. So after getting sick of seeing her girlfriend flirt with other women she had gone and sat on the beach with her pinot Grigio waiting for the sun to set.

She didn't know what had made her turn her head back towards the house, but she noticed Alex walking over to her in the distance. She looked beautiful. She had a black bikini on, with a black sarong. Her hair was blown back in the light breeze. Piper turned away and took another swig from the bottle. Suddenly she felt a weight on her. Alex sat down on her lap, with her legs either side of her and leant forward and captured her lips. She remembered leaning into her and threading her fingers through her hair. She remembered how slow and sensual Alex had kissed her, and how warm she felt against her. They pulled away, looking into each others eyes, and she smiled. Because no matter what troubled Piper, Alex would always know. And she would always come to her.

It was that moment that was captured in the photo. They spent the rest of the evening alone on the beach together, drinking wine and Alex holding her close.

She put it straight in her bag. She spent the next 10 minutes browsing though the boxes until she reached the last one. Diane's box. She picked it up, and placed it near the door. She couldn't open that can of worms, nor was she able to deal with the waves of emotion that she knew would come with it.

An hour later, Piper was back at Cals in her loaded car. The stuff she had written in her notepad was arranged to be delivered later in the week by the delivery service they offered.

She carefully balanced some boxes and took them up to her room and put them away safe in her cupboard. Out of her bag she grabbed the photo, and placed it on her bedside table. She reached back into her back and pulled out a folded hoody. It was black and slightly too big for her. She put it on and slowly did up the zip. It smelled like Alex, and it was absolutely intoxicating.

She became overwhelmed with the lingering smell of her perfume, and climbed onto the bed and cried. She cried for leaving her, she cried for the time lost, she cried for Diane, and she cried because she missed her wife.

2 months later

Piper pulled into the small parking lot behind the shop.

"Okay. Final checks Cal. I need this to be perfect. Check everything."

Cal rolled his eyes. "Pipes, its already incredible. You have literally been here 24/7 for as long as I can remember. If you're not careful Arlo will forget who you are."

Piper swatted his arm and got out the car.

"No, I'm Arlo's favourite auntie. There is no way he will forget me. Who is the one who can get him back to sleep after his midnight snack?" She went over to the back door and unlocked it with her keys. Walking inside she turned off the alarm to stop the beeping.

"You know thats because your the only one who has the energy that late to do the bouncy walk! And anyway, he's got Alex to look forward to. You'll have competition soon I'm sure" He winked at her.

They walked through an internal door and were inside the shop. Piper flicked on the lights. It was complete.

"Have you got the checklist?"

Cal pulled a folded stack of papers out of his jacket.

"Check. How about you take upstairs and I do downstairs. After, we can meet down here for coffee?" He handed a few sheets to her. He didn't wait for a reply and disappeared into the kitchen.

She slowly ascended the stairs, and decided to start in the office. Two desks had been set up, both with an apple iMacs. Filing cabinets had been fitted, and phone lines had been installed. She tested all the switches and made sure the windows were locked. She moved into the apartments. All the furniture had been placed. Bedrooms were fully furnished, bathrooms and kitchens had been stocked with appliances, and flat screens and large couches were in the lounges.

She walked up the last flight of stairs. She had almost finished moving the last of her belongings into the apartment, and was due to move in in the next couple of days. She slowly unlocked the door and went inside. She kicked off her boots and placed them in the build int storage cupboard to the right of the door. As she walked through the archway on her right, the lights came on. She smiled at what she saw. She had finally created hers and Alex's home. Dark wood floors through out. The main room was painted a light grey colour, and various lights and lamps were placed. She walked towards a large built in fire place that Cal had carved and installed. She ran her hand over it, taking the time to look at the beautifully framed images of Diane that were placed on top of it. There were a few of her and Alex when Alex was a kid. She had photocopied all of these photos and had sent them to Alex. Alex rang her a few days after, and Piper felt her heart swell with the joy she had heard in Alex's voice.

All of Pipers books lined the bookshelves. She had felt like a kid at Christmas setting them all out. All of Alex's books were still in boxes in the guest room. She had wanted to leave somethings for her to do when she got out. Walking over to the kitchen area she opened the fridge. Note to self. Go grocery shopping. Closing the door, walked towards a hallway at the end of the room.

The entrance to their bedroom was through a large joint dressing room. This was a luxury she knew Alex would appreciate. At the moment it was sparse, she still hadn't spent a lot of time shopping. But she fully intended on going for a shopping spree soon, and wanted to collect some items for when Alex was released. However long that may be.

She walked into their bedroom. After 2 years in prison, the room at Cals had felt like a mansion. This bedroom felt like a palace. Everything was perfect and in its place. She walked back out, and right out of the apartment. It still felt weird being in there alone.

Coffee. I need coffee. She headed downstairs and behind the bar. She flipped the switch and turned on the Franke. Alex would love this. And she would love that they had their own in their apartment.

Cal walked out the kitchen and sat on the counter.

"All done little sis. The place is great. You just need to get the staff in, and place the food orders. Have you hired everyone you need?"

"I think so. Joel is going to be in the kitchen, he had fantastic references. And Frankie and Lucy will be front of house. They are all coming in on Sunday to go over the rest of their training materials."

"Are you seeing Alex on Saturday?"

"Yes. She wants to see pictures of the shop and our apartment. She said she would give me some tips on ordering, and how to keep track of everything. She's really excited about this as well. She finally started her business degree last week. I am so proud of her Cal."

Cal smiled. He slid off the counter and poured two coffees into their reusable flasks.

"Come on sis, I said I'd pick up some bits from the market for Neri, she's going to try and do a salmon later".

Taking the cup from Cal, she took one last look around and smiled. I'm ready.