The alarm waking Piper Monday morning seemed to come round all too soon. She stretched out, opening her eyes and seeing the sun already up. Smiling, she lay for several minutes reflecting on her weekend. It had been amazing! Friday seemed like such a long time ago, the meeting with Boo, the talk of going to Europe, Piper was excited to go talk about it with Polly, but for these few minutes all she wanted to think about was Alex. She had stayed until mid afternoon yesterday. Many texts had been exchanged throughout the evening after Piper had returned home, and Piper sent another now, wishing Alex 'good morning'. She had had such fun. Having eventually missed most of the movie they had finally settled on Saturday night, because they spent the whole film kissing and making out like teenagers, before returning to Alex's huge bed where the making out turned hot and heavy. Piper grinned. Her bed felt small now compared to Alex's, but it was Alex's presence next to her she had missed last night. In just two nights together Piper realised she loved waking up and seeing Alex curled in a ball asleep, she loved kissing her awake and she really loved how Alex had managed to make her body feel so alive. The taste and touch of Alex was like nothing Piper had felt before. She felt like a giddy kid with a first crush. Knowing she could not stay in bed all day daydreaming though, Piper finally got out of bed.

Showering, using the strawberry scent which she knew would now forever remind her of Alex, then getting dressed, she was glad it would be a normal day in the unit. No meetings, no pressure just her and Polly being able to sit down and plan the weeks and months of what was turning into an exciting future.

Pipers optimism and good mood evaporated as she turned into the parking lot of PoPi's however. Instead of seeing Polly's car in its usual spot she saw the distinctive slate grey lexus of her mother.

"Oh shit!" Piper muttered, suddenly very grateful she had stopped for coffee this morning. Grabbing her take-out cup Piper climbed reluctantly out of her car and walked towards the blacked out windows of her mothers vehicle. As it rolled down she was greeted by the site of her perfectly coiffured mother eyeing her up and down in disdain.

"Do you always start work this late, and dressed like that too?"

"Hey mom," Piper ignored the obvious opening jibe, "this is an unexpected surprise. You coming in?"

"I am not dressed for a factory Piper."

"Its not a factory mom its a working unit, and don't worry your channel suit will be perfectly safe."

Waiting for her mother to climb out Piper opened the side entrance to the unit so she could go straight into the kitchen and make more coffee. She had a feeling she would need plenty of it.

Carol looked around as Piper busied herself making coffee. "It is bigger than I expected." she finally remarked. Surprising Piper with the lack of negativity.

"Yes well it suits us for now." Piper nodded, "this unit means we can produce the product and store it before delivery, which we couldn't do when we were making the stuff in our kitchens."

"And Barneys are happy?"

Piper grinned "More than happy. We have placed a second range with them, so our range has been doubled. And we are expanding to a small hotel chain."

"Where is Polly?"

"Oh she will be here later." Piper said casually, deciding to withhold the reason that Polly was probably battling morning sickness, as she really did not need that particular lecture from her mother this morning.

"Well as long as she is pulling her weight." Carol sniffed.

Piper looked at her mom, why was she here? did she dare ask. "Is everything OK at home mom?"

"Yes." Carol nodded.

"Good." Piper frowned, sensing Carole was not going to be forthcoming so she would need to ask. "What made you decide to come here today mom?"

Carol shrugged. "You seemed upset at out lack of knowledge or interest in your little business."

Piper grimaced at the 'little' comment but let it go.

"Also," Carole continued "Amy Bloom brought us a little thank you gift Sunday for inviting them to dinner, some of your product were in the basket. They were nice."

Piper was not sure what shocked her more about this statement, the fact Larry's parents had been at the function her mother had tried to bully her into attending, or the fact Carol had admitted she liked their stuff.

"Anyway now I have seen what you are doing you should be happy. So can we expect you for dinner this Sunday?"

She should have seen it coming, her acceptance by phone obviously not enough for her mother, she was surprised she didn't whip out a contract for her to sign right then and there.

"And are the Blooms invited again?" Piper challenged.

"Well," Carole hesitated.

"Its over mom. Larry and I are over. You need to accept it. Look I said I would come Sunday so I will, but if I walk in and see some attempt of matching making I guarantee I will walk straight back out again." Piper hoped this compromise would satisfy her mother but she saw the determined look in her eye.

Carole did not comment, at least not with words, instead moving to survey the shelves of ready to be packaged products, sniffing occasionally but straightening and moving as if things needed tidying. Piper watched without comment, knowing this was her mothers way of trying to gain the upper hand. Having made a circuit of the unit and finding herself back at the door Carole barked,

"Be at ours for 1pm. And Piper, make sure you are dressed appropriately!" Then not even kissing her daughter goodbye Carole Chapman walked away.

Piper sank down in to the sofa holding her head in her hands. It was like this Polly found her 15 minutes later.

"Piper? Is everything OK? Has something happened?"

"Yes, my mother happened!" Piper groaned. Shaking her head she looked at her friend. "How are you? Morning sickness?"

Polly grimaced "Yeah. It sucks. Mind you it suddenly seems better than being here with your mom!"

"Its fine," Piper smiled. "I should have expected it as I didn't go to lunch yesterday. Look, I know we haven't done any work today but I need to get out of here, shall we go for an early lunch?"

"Yes!" Polly grinned, "we can chalk it up to a business lunch and pretend to be going to discuss Fridays meeting but what I really want to know is all the details from your date Friday!"

Piper laughed, agreeing to take both cars as Piper wanted to get more supplies so would need hers later, they arranged to go to the bar. Once inside Piper grabbed them some menus and a table. When Polly joined her, Piper asked "hey I didn't ask how your mom took the news about the baby?"

"Oh she was thrilled, scared the crap out of me going into gory details about giving birth, and it is pretty safe to say Pete has no intention of being there when it happens having heard those stories, but she was happy."

"I'm glad!" Piper grinned. "Did Pete rescue you Friday?"

"Puh!" Polly scoffed. "He arrived on time but Nicky took one look, ordered him beer and I couldn't get him away! We were here til closing. In fact," Polly grinned "you missed the fun of Nicky trying to set Boo up."

"Oh god. Was it someone they knew?"

"Yeah, a new girl. Only started in sales last week. Boo was last seen trying to walk her home. The fact she could barely stand herself made for quite a sight."

Piper sniggered.

"Soooo," Polly grinned, "how was the big date?"

"Good." Piper smiled.

"Come on Piper. You know I am not going to be happy with good! Did you go to the movies? Back to hers? Stay over?" Polly was grinning excitedly.

"Yes, yes and yes." Piper nodded seeing no point denying anything. "And it was great, really great."

"Wow!" Polly sat back surveying the happy smile on her friends face. "So is boss lady Vause as scary in the bedroom as the board room?"

Piper laughed, "No! Alex isn't scary! She is lovely." Piper knew her cheeks were red as she confessed, "I hadn't expected her to be so patient, so tender. It was lovely."

"Really? Wow, yeah OK I'm kinda surprised too. Nicky was laughing when you left, said you would need the week off to recover. Hinted Alex was kinda wild in the sack."

Piper shrugged. She did not want to admit to Nicky, or Polly, she had expected wilder sex. Not that she would have changed a single second of the weekend it was just she too had imagined Alex to have a wilder side. "Just goes to show you should neither listen to Nicky nor judge others!" Piper grinned.

"Well I should warn you Nicky was threatening to hunt you down if Alex did not give her answers, so be prepared cos I don't think she will actually believe that sweet, patient, tender crap!"

Piper laughed. Pulling out her phone she sent Alex a quick text warning her.

o0o

"So there was no bondage? No tied to your infamous bed or wild shower scenes?" Nicky looked like she was about to cry. "What's happening to you Vause? Girls leave your pad not talking about the fancy décor but about how they have had the wildest night of their lives. I bet if I called blondie now the words 'nice' would leave her lips!"

Alex sighed. "Yeah so maybe it wasn't your average wild weekend. But Piper isn't the type I would normally pick up in a club is she!"

"You telling me that at no point you wanted to go crazy with her?" Nicky asked stunned.

"No I am not saying that." Alex sighed. She opened her desk draw and pulled out her emergency scotch, "lock the door." She said simply and Nicky sensing Alex was about to unload jumped up, checking the outer office was free then locked the door. Accepting the glass Alex offered she said

"OK now I am worried. Drinking during the day, its not like you Vause. Was she bad?"

"No she was not fucking bad!" Alex hissed before taking a gulp of the amber liquid she had been swirling in the glass trying to calm down. "She was perfect Nick. But yes I wanted to tie her to the bed. Tie her up, blindfold her and go at it until she couldn't walk or talk. But she was so sweet, innocent even. Yes I know she is not a virgin." Alex muttered as she saw Nicky go to speak. "But it was different."

"What happened to the Alex Vause 'never fuck a straight girl' motto?" Nicky was staring at Alex as if she had never seen her before, sure it was the fact Piper was in fact straight that had caused this, hopefully temporary, change in her friends ways.

Alex shrugged. "Nick when you are with Lorna is it the same as with everyone else? I mean when you are alone?"

"Jeez boss," Nicky squirmed. "No, OK I guess not. But the sex is still crazy." she winked.

Alex sighed. "It wasn't bad Nick, in fact it was amazing. And considering it was her first time…." Alex drifted of remembering.

"Er, earth to Vause!" Nicky laughed, amused at how quickly just the thought of Piper had Alex day dreaming. "So I am guessing what you did do was not your normal moves."

"No." Alex shook her head. "She gave me a massage, we took a bath, it was, well, romantic."

Nicky rolled her eyes. "Hang on. You don't have a bath, just that big ass shower."

"Yeah I do." Alex shrugged. "You've just not seen it."

"Has anyone?" Nicky asked suspiciously, how on earth had she been to Alex's house so many times and missed a bathroom!.

"No, well only Piper." Alex grinned.

"OK, I need another drink." Nicky said now totally freaked out by the look on Alex's face. "So what's the problem, cos I am guessing there is a problem or we wouldn't be sat here having this conversation."

"Its not a problem." Alex shrugged.

"But you want it to be different?" Nicky probed.

Alex sighed, "Yes, no, oh I don't know Nick. It was so different, I've not felt like that before. Protective, wanting to care for her not just get what I wanted out of it. Damn it Nick."

Hearing the frustration in the voice of the normally confident woman Nicky smiled. "I am guessing you haven't talked to Piper about any of this."

"No of course not." Alex snorted. "She would think I was either regretting what happened or that she didn't measure up. The thing is though its me who is not going to measure up."

Nicky looked confused now. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well when I woke up this morning my first thought was I missed her." Alex scowled as she saw Nicky smirk, "When I saw her 'good morning' text I felt better, then I began to think about the weekend and comparing it to well, other weekends, you know?"

"Yeah sure." Nicky nodded grinning. "Rate them out of ten right?" she winked.

"No I did not rate Piper!" Alex growled. "But I did realise this thing with Piper is different. I just need to figure out a way to know what she wants too?"

"You know what Alex," Nicky was very serious now, "for someone as clever as you are you are being incredibly fucking stupid. Figure out how she feels? Just ask her!"

Alex winced. "I am not one for long meaningful conversations OK. Its not my style."

"No, nor are massages, long baths and gooey eyes, but like you say this ones different."

O0o

It was after Nicky had left the office Alex saw Pipers warning message. Picking up the phone she decided to call instead of messaging.

"Hey!" She smiled at the sound of Pipers voice. "Thanks for the warning Pipes, unfortunately the ambush was already in progress." Alex listened as Piper explained Polly had pretty much given her the same treatment. "Where are you now, it sounds busy not like the unit?"

"No we are in the bar." Piper sighed. "I know, I sound a lush, but before Polly got to me I arrived to find my mom lying in wait. Its been a long morning! I am just leaving actually to go to the suppliers, so you just caught me."

"Wow and I thought my morning was bad. You need to do what I do, have emergency liquor in your desk draw." Alex laughed sympathetically.

"You have been drinking too?" Piper was shocked.

"Yeah well Nicky's ambush was a bit full on, a real heart to heart. She said I was an idiot."

"Why?" Piper was frowning now, she felt like she had missed a step in this conversation, like Alex was telling her something without saying the words but she was not sure what.

"Hey you know Nicky, an opinion on everything." Alex laughed dismissively. Cursing herself for not taking the opportunity to at least mention a talk. "Look Pipes, I need to go as I have a meeting in five, but thanks for trying to warn me."

"OK." Piper reluctantly said goodbye and looked over at Polly who had moved to pay the bill giving Piper some privacy for her call.

"All OK?" Polly asked seeing the concerned look on Pipers face.

"Yeah fine. Seems Nicky got in before my warning." she shrugged. "OK, I will go pick up the rest of the lye, oils and fragrance, can you get onto Daya about the new packaging, that way we can lock down for the next week and get the order complete."

Agreeing to meet up back at the unit later that afternoon Piper set off.

o0o

"Polly, hi!" Daya grinned standing up to grab a mug and fetch Polly some coffee. "Here grab a seat, tell me the news."

"Oh no real news, well not since Friday anyway." Polly grinned. "Other than morning sickness that is."

"Yeah it sucks, I remember." Daya winced. "It gets better though and its worth it in the end."

"Yeah well I am recovering from my mothers child birth anecdotes at the minute, so reserving judgement on that. I actually called in to see if we had the packaging back for the hotel order. I know its only just happened but we are trying to get ahead of the game."

"Let me go check." Daya smiled and leaving Polly with a stack of magazines she disappeared. The silence of the room was shattered several minutes later by Nicky bursting in.

"OK spill. Tell me how the other half of PoPi is today? Tell me she is happy and is not running scared from my boss."

"Of course she is happy. Silly grins, constant looking at her phone, you know the drill."

"So why did I hear you were drinking?"

"Because she had a visit from her mother and believe me if you'd met Carole Chapman you'd be drinking too."

Nicky visibly relaxed. "OK, good."

"Why the sudden concern? From what I can gather the weekend was a success." She looked closely at Nicky. "Oh my god, Alex didn't have fun did she! Crap Pipers going to be devastated."

"No." Nicky sighed. "Look, she thinks I'm in the bathroom, I need to get back but I heard Daya mention you were here, can we meet up later perhaps?"

"Yeah sure," Polly nodded, "you've got my number text when and where later."

By the time Polly got back to the unit she was curious as to Nicky's concern but excited at the packaging Daya had given her. Pleased to see Piper was back also, she entered the unit and grinned at the sight of Piper singing and dancing round as she poured the moulds.

"Hey! You seem happy, I am guessing your mom's visit is forgotten and more texts from a certain dark haired lesbian have been received."

Piper nodded. "She said she is sorry she missed you. Invited us to the bar Friday. You wanna go?" Piper looked expectantly.

"Yeah sure, but maybe not for long, sitting in a bar watching everyone else drinking is not so much fun."

Piper nodded. Soon the pair were busy filling the order. Polly cataloguing the packaging and product already made, Piper filling moulds and stacking shelves. By the time Polly's phone beeped with a message from Nicky both women were ready to call it a day. Piper waved goodbye and headed for the market. Not having been home all weekend she need to restock her fridge and get some basic housework done. Polly waved goodbye and headed back to the bar.

"You came on your own?" Nicky looked past Polly for Piper.

"Yeah, sorry to disappoint you!" Polly laughed. "I had the feeling you wanted to talk about Piper not too her."

Nicky shrugged, "Yeah maybe. Maybe I am wrong. You say she had fun, is happy. Alex said she was, to quote Alex, 'perfect!' Not something you hear the boss say often."

Polly let out the breath she had been holding. "Well that's good right? They are both happy. So what's the problem?"

Nicky shrugged. "Its not like Alex is all. She doesn't do romance and bubble bath and massages."

"They had bubble baths and massages?" Polly's eyes widened. "OK Piper didn't go into detail she just said it was romantic."

"And what was your reaction?"

"Surprise I guess. You hinted Alex was wild I wasn't expecting romance. If I'm being totally honest I thought the attraction for Piper was the very fact Alex was a bit wild. I mean Larry could have done the romance bit, yet she called him boring. I thought she was looking for wild nights not cosy DVDs."

"Exactly!" Nicky crowed. "That's it exactly. Alex is wild nights. Ask anyone. Sure they leave wanting more but she never goes back twice. Yet she seems different."

"I guess its not a bad thing." Polly shrugged.

"No, maybe. I hope you are right."

O0o

Alone in her bed that night Piper sighed. She had spoken to Alex again earlier but now in her own apartment she suddenly felt alone. She hadn't even felt like this when she had left Larry. Two nights in Alex's bed and she was craving contact. She picked up her phone tempted to let Alex know how she was feeling, but after several dismal attempts to send a message which didn't sound needy and desperate she put the phone down. She would see her Friday. She needed to show some restraint.

O0o

A/N: This update comes with thanks for all the reviews, apologies I have not been able to reply personally this week, and an admittance that next update may be a little longer coming as I am being forced to have a social life this weekend! The horror! ;-) this chapter was intended as a time of brief reflection for Piper and Alex before they move forward. hope it makes sense.

Ali x