CHAPTER 5

It was a Friday and Piper was looking forward to having a drink after closing the store. It had been a very busy and long week for Piper. Piper had been to several business meetings, read through stacks of contracts, and worked on launching more products and scents. PoPi's products were going to be featured in Barneys stores. Piper was ecstatic because PoPi was quickly becoming one of the most successful artisanal soap stores in New York. Piper was also much more financially secure. She needed to finish wedding planning now that she had the financial means to pay for everything.

It was 9pm when Piper closed the store. As she was heading out the door, Larry grabbed her in a crushing hug congratulating her on Barneys. "Hey, let's grab a drink to celebrate your success!"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Let's just grab a drink here." Larry said, pointing at Blue. Piper hesitated for a moment afraid that Alex would mind.

Alex was at the bar and smiled at Piper when she came in but her smile disappeared when she saw Larry come in behind Piper, reaching to put his arms around her waist. Alex felt a surge of jealousy run through her blood. Piper noticed the change in Alex's mood upon seeing Larry.

"Does she still care? Is she jealous? No, after everything that I did she could not possibly ever see me that way again. Plus, we are friends now." Piper's thoughts were interrupted when Larry nudged her and asked her what she wanted to drink as her celebratory drink.

"What are we celebrating tonight?" Alex asked, hoping it wasn't their anniversary or else she would have to put her foot in someone's (Larry's) face. Larry chimed in and told her the news about PoPi.

"Congrats, Piper." Alex sincerely said. "I'm happy for you. You've come a long way. I am glad you found this since you were the worst waitress!"

The two women bursted into laughter because Piper truly was a terrible waitress.

"Wait, you two know each other? You didn't tell me about your waitressing days. How long have you guys known each other for?"

"Alex is someone from my past and we just recently realized that our stores were right next door to one another's," Piper said avoiding eye contact with Alex. Piper never told Larry about Alex or that she had extensively traveled the world with her drug importing lover. Piper left out those years of her life. Only Polly knew about her relationship with Alex.

Alex was taken aback by Piper deeming her as just someone from her past as if she did not mean anything. Swallowing the hurt that she felt, she asked the couple what they wanted to drink.

"I'll have whatever you're having Larry."

"Two apple martinis, please."

Alex laughed at the clearly girly choice of drink and Piper narrowed her eyes at the brunette.

Alex gave them their drinks and walked to another area of her huge bar. She needed to get away. Seeing Piper with that loser made her want to vomit and cry at the same time. Alex heard Nicky's booming voice beckoning her and made her way over to the table full of women.

"Vause! Why the sour face?" Nicky asked when Alex came closer.

Alex motioned over towards where Piper and Larry were and Nicky asked, "that's the girl that broke that ice-cold heart of yours?"

"Shut the hell up, lionhead."

"Here, Vause, Drink this. Forget her and her ugly fiancé. There are plenty of women that would die to roll around in the sack with you. Let the old Vause come out and charm some panties off a lucky girl tonight."

After a few shots, Alex's mood brightened up a bit. "Screw Piper! She has clearly moved on, so it is time I do too!" Alex thought to herself. There was a pretty blonde that had been trying to flirt with Alex all night so Alex finally decided to flirt back. Alex was laughing and having a good time. Sarah, the pretty blonde, she had been flirting with asked her if she wanted to come back to her place. Alex said her goodbyes to the rest of the group and headed for the door with Sarah when she caught Piper's eyes following her. Alex thought she saw anger, hurt, and jealousy flash across those icy blue eyes before turning around and grabbing her fiancé's face for a messy kiss.

Even though Piper was supposed to be celebrating her success with Larry, she could not stop her eyes from scanning the bar for Alex. She saw Alex with a big group of women, laughing away. Piper also saw the blonde that was practically throwing herself at Alex all night. The blonde was pretty and had big breasts. Piper couldn't help but look down at her lack of breasts. She could not help but compare herself to the blonde that was practically sitting on Alex's lap. The more she watched, the angrier she got. She wanted to throw a bottle at the blonde's head. Her malicious thoughts escalated when she saw Alex and the blonde get up and head for the exit. Piper eyes met Alex's as she was walking out and Alex just had that stupid smirk on her lips. Piper was fuming and grabbed Larry to kiss so Alex would see.

Larry was happy that Piper kissed him and thought he was going to get lucky tonight especially since they hadn't been intimate in a long time due to PoPi and Larry trying to write his breakthrough piece. Larry suggested that they go home and Piper agreed. She was emotionally drained after today.

They flagged down a cab and Piper sank into the backseat in exhaustion. She told Larry that she was going to sleep for countless hours when they got home due to her lack of sleep all week. Larry was disappointed that he was not going to be getting any action. Piper knew what Larry wanted and felt bad for leading him on tonight, but she was too preoccupied with her thoughts and stress to be intimate with Larry at the moment. Piper watched the streetlights pass from the car window and her heart leapt in her chest when she saw a tall, curvy brunette with beautiful long hair walking that could only be Alex. She was alone. She did not go home with that blonde slut! Piper could not stop the smile from forming on her face.

AN: Thank you to anyone that has followed/favorited/reviewed! I really appreciate the feedback.