Chapter 5

"Hold on, you told her not to fall in love with you and then you kissed her!?" Nicky was yelling in excitement as she looked Alex who had her head in her hands. Alex was looking down at the wooden table praying for the ground to open up and eat her whole as the magnitude of the situation dawned on her.

"Honestly Stretch you are either a genius or an idiot."

"Defiantly an idiot." Alex groaned as she finally raised her head, pushing her thick rimmed glasses into her black hair. Alex did not know where her confidence had gone! This morning she had been so sure of her actions as she arranged lunch with Piper and Larry and when she slipped her number into the book. But now she was critical of all of her own actions, self-doubt was an evil mistress. "I should not have kissed Piper."

Nicky dismissed this statement with a simple wave of her hand.

"No, always kiss her! I just don't get why you said –" Nicky broke off, her eyes grew wide with the realisation as to why her best friend had asked the hot blonde not to fall in love. "Fucking hell Vause, you are not still hung up on what that bitch Sylvia said?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders, she had only had one 'serious' relationship and it had not ended well. It had been a toxic relationship from the start without trust and most importantly without love. Through a difficult time Sylvia had been a steady familiarity that for a time Alex had needed but their break-up had been brutal with Sylvia calling Alex every name under the sun, some Alex brushed off while others lingered, niggling away at her biggest insecurities.

"I am incapable of love." Alex's voice was low as she remembered the words that Sylvia had thrown at her and haunted her ever since.

"Bullshit! You didn't love Sylvia because she was a crazy bitch not because you are incapable of love. Don't let that insane bitch get in there."

Nicky leaned over the table and tapped Alex on the head. Since they had got out of prison Nicky had always been there for Alex through the ups and downs. Alex thoughtfully sipped on her drink as she absorbed Nicky's words of wisdom; she should not let one person's opinion shape her life and future relationships…even if she had her sights set on a straight woman with a fiancée.

"What am I doing Nic?" Alex moaned out loud, her internal monologue becoming too much.

"Geez, this girl has got you frazzled." Nicky leaned back on her chair, seemingly enjoying seeing Alex struggling romantically for once.

"Maybe I should call her." Alex pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Fuck no!" Nicky reached out and grabbed the phone from Alex's hand. "Friends don't let friend's drunk dial!"

Alex reached out to try and grab the phone off Nicky but she had quickly risen from her stool and was walking away from Alex. "You can have this back tomorrow Lurch." With a wink Nicky slipped Alex's phone into the back pocket of her jeans.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Piper woke up in an empty bed, as she turned to her left she could see that Larry had not come to bed after their argument when she got in last night. She already could feel her temper bubbling over (not helped by the slight headache she had) and the fact that she had managed to sleep through her alarm. Quickly Piper jumped out of bed and hurriedly got dressed for work not caring about tidying her hair or making sure that she had wiped all the sleep from her eyes. Swiftly she made her way through their apartment and that was when she spotted Larry lying on the sofa still asleep, or at least that is what she thought. Piper had almost made it out of the door when she heard a croaky voice behind her.

"Piper, we need to talk."

"Larry I don't have time for this, I am already running late for work."

She turned once more to the door and her hand was on the handle when she heard Larry carry on, apparently it was not registering in his self-absorbed world that she was not in the mood for this conversation again.

"I needed you last night Piper; after that bitch wrote that review."

Piper had to hold her tongue at this statement, her initial response had been to defend Alex as after all she was only doing her job and Larry's book was poor to say the least. Clenching her jaw Piper decided to remain silent in fear of the answer that would escape her lips. Larry seemed to notice this pause and he rested his head in his hands while letting out a long breath. Slowly Piper turned away from the front door and walked over towards Larry on the sofa; crouching down in front of him Piper reached out and took hold of his hand before, squeezing them reassuringly.

"You are tired and hungover; we will talk about this tonight when we have the time."

"I want to talk about it now!"

Piper let go of his hand and stood up, dismissing her earlier attempts of an amicable conversation. Over the past few weeks their relationship had altered, Larry had changed, she had put it down to the stress of the book release but he no longer made jokes, he didn't want to do anything fun or even see anyone. Piper felt like their relationship was dying and she did not know how to stop it from happening.

"If you are going to act like a child Larry then I will treat you like one."

As she approached the front door she could hear Larry's protests in the background but nothing would stop her from leaving the apartment this time.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Pushing open the door to the shop the little bell tinkled above the door. The shop itself was empty apart from a stern looking Polly standing behind the till counter. It was not an unusual occurrence for Piper to be late but it didn't mean Polly was ever happy with her time keeping. With a small apologetic smile at her friend Piper slipped into the backroom, throwing her coat and bag onto one of the old kitchen chairs they had between racking full of products.

Approaching the door back into the shop Piper pulled the brown apron off the door and paused for a moment to look at her reflection in the mirror that Polly had put there. She claimed that since they were selling cosmetics they should look the part, the problem was that Piper did not like the person who was looking back at her. The guilt from the night before was starting to creep in, Larry had needed her and instead she had gone out drinking and kissed the woman who had caused her fiancée so much pain.

"Piper what are you doing in there?" Polly's voice floated in from the main shop like a mother calling their child out of their bedroom. Without vocally responding Piper walked into the main shop to see Polly standing in front of her with her arms folded.

"What is going on Piper?"

"What? Nothing?" Piper could not look Polly in the eye so instead wondered over to the nearest display and started to rearrange the products. Clearly Polly was immune to these distraction tactics as she moved to stand next to Piper her voice was laced with concern.

"Larry called me last night, he seemed worried. Where were you?"

Shrugging off Polly's touch Piper walked over to another area still finding it hard to look at her best friend.

"I went for a drink with some friends." Piper gave Polly a quick glance; she could tell that she was not buying it. "You would not know them."

"Oh really? Piper, we have been friends since we were eight. Your friends are my friends."

Piper gave an awkward laugh; she had not expected Polly to be in full sleuth mode so early in the morning. Polly was remaining so clam about all of this; Piper knew they were best friend but if she had any suspicions of her fidelity to Larry Piper was sure Polly would not let her forget about it. With a deep breath Piper finally looked at Polly knowing she could not hide the truth.

"I met up with someone, a woman who –well - "

Piper was trying to spit out her explanation when the bell above the shop door rang out silencing Piper as Polly immediately fell into sales persona. Piper however could feel her eyes stinging with the threat of tears; she listened to Polly's usual spiel of welcoming the new arrival. It was only when Piper heard the low voice of the customer that she turned around and that was when she saw her, head bent over a basket of bath bombs was Alex Vause.

Piper was shocked to see Alex, just the sight of her caused a wave of emotions and feeling to come flooding over her. She could taste Alex; feel the pressure of her body pressed against her own and all the doubts and guilt seemed to vanish as those piercing green eyes landed upon her. Without a second thought Piper moved towards Alex, the sweet smell of her perfume awoke her senses and fuelled her desire.

"Hi" Pipers voice seemed timid, like a teenage girl approaching her crush by the lockers at school.

"Hey, nice place you have here."

"Thanks." Piper could feel her cheeks grow warm as Alex gaze remained fixed upon her. "Seen anything you like?"

Alex made a low noise of agreement as she walked past Piper, purposely leaving as little room as possible so there arms brushed past one another. Piper's whole body felt like it was on fire, but the cold bucket of water that was Polly Harper was close at hand. Piper dared a fleeting glance at her friend and she could see the obvious look of confusion of her face regarding Pipers sudden change in attitude "I am just going into the back Piper."

Piper nodded her head and watched as Polly walked into the store room, immediately it felt like a weight had been lifted and she could act normal around Alex.

"So that's business partner Polly, she seems a riot."

Piper chuckled to herself as she walked over to Alex, casually leaning against a display table as Alex absentmindedly picked up different bottles, studying the labels.

"Al, about last night."

"Don't worry about it Piper, we both had drunk too much tequila."

Alex's attempt to comfort Piper didn't seem to work as the crease in Pipers brow remained.

"No, it's what you said." Alex knew where this was heading and attempted to dismiss it with a shake of the head but Piper continued. "Why did you tell me not to fall in love with you?"

"Because I have been told in on more than one occasion that I am not a nice person"

"But I – "

"You have a Larry I know"

They were now standing so close that their voices were all but a hushed whisper and Piper could feel the warmth from Alex's body takeover her own, despite her protests Piper could not help but deny that there was a part of her that wanted Alex. The restless, spontaneous side of her wanted to explore this avenue, there was always a part of Piper that wanted to live for the moment, to shun all responsibilities, perhaps Alex was her gateway to adventure.

"No I wasn't going to say that." Piper stood on her tiptoes so her mouth was close to Alex's ear. "I want you."

Piper could hear Alex's sharp intake of breath as she slowly stepped away (they were in a public place after all) and her gaze remained fixed on Alex's face watching her reaction. The bite of her lower lip, those seductive eyes peering from behind her glasses, it was clear to Piper that Alex felt the connection too. However her expression quickly changed and she spun around to face the baskets full of bath bombs.

"Piper can you give me a hand with these?"

The voice of Polly sounded out from the backdoor. Reluctantly Piper went to help Polly who was struggling with a collection of boxes containing Thanksgiving decorations.

"Nice Turkey." Alex teased playfully as she walked over to the till, bath bomb in hand. With a smile Piper placed the box she had taken off Polly down on the floor and put Alex's purchase through the till.

"That's $3 please."

As Alex handed over the money their hands grazed one another causing goose pimples to shoot up Pipers arm. Throughout the whole transaction Alex had not stopped looking at Piper but any further chance of flirtatious banter was ruined by the quizzical glances of Polly.

"Thanks, I will let you know how I find it." Alex turned to walk away but only got a few paces before turning around to Piper once more. "I will be at Litchfield again tonight, an open invitation."

"I will bare it in mind."

-.-.-.-.-.-

After Alex's appearance the rest of the working day was pain staking dull. The only way Piper got through it was to daydream of Alex while avoiding any pointy questions from Polly about the mysterious woman. Piper gave away as little as possible and deflected most enquiries by asking Polly about Pete as Polly's marriage was defiantly nothing to write home about!

After shutting the shop for the night Piper had to force herself to go home rather than straight to the bar and the arms of Alex. She was a little concerned that Alex had not responded to any of her text messages throughout of the day but that was the least of her problem right now. Piper stood on the doorstep to her apartment mentally preparing herself for the scene she was about to walk into.

As Piper opened the door she was immediately greeted with a solemn looking Larry who had a packed suitcase by his side.

A/N: Thank you again to everyone for all your amazing reviews and to all of you who have hit the favorite alert buttons. It means the world to me! I have been rather poorly this week so I am on a lot of drugs and been sleeping a lot but I am starting to feel better and I wanted to get this next installment up for you all as a thank you for all your support :)

I hope you enjoy it, I will apologise for any mistakes or poor grammar as my brain is completely frazzled.