Piper didn't know when she should call. She felt like a hormonal giddy teenager again, that was a lie. Piper had no idea how that felt. Piper had always been that straight A student who didn't jump out of the back of buses, always walked on the well lit side of the street and until college was more interest in books than boys (and later girls).
She had almost called that night. She had even dialled the number but swiftly had ended the call before it had even connected. Too keen. How long should she have wait?
Piper didn't have too much time to overthink her current predicament. Her new job had taken over her life. Trying to work as many hours as she possibly could to save as much money as she could for the Christmas holidays. The family had decided that this year the Chapman's would all be spending Christmas in California at her brother Danny's new house. Piper had refused to accept money from her dad for her plane ticket, that way she could decide herself when she would arrive and therefore also depart, tactically wanting to spend as little time as possible listening to her mother swoon over Danny's success. Consultant, homeowner and fiancée, Danny was by far living up to her parent's waspy aspirations. Her youngest brother Cal was currently pretending to be studying History of Art after actually dropping out over a year ago. Cal's life consisted of spending his student allowance off their parents getting high with his 'artistic' friends in hope of inspiration. Piper's life, much to the dismay of her parents, currently comprised of coffee, ten-hour shifts and sleeping.
By the end of the week Piper was thankful for a day off, she had already made up her mind that her day would consist of visiting her favourite bookshop. Cleverly named 'As the plot thickens' the walls lined of books, the smell of fresh coffee and the comfy window seat beckoned Piper. She had spent hours with endless top ups of coffee, her nose deep into a book or engrossed surveying the people who passed the shop window. It was her sanctuary.
Enjoying an extra long soak in the bath, feeling the tension slowly seep from her body after her manic week, the bubbles always had a therapeutic effect on her. Getting dressed, making a little bit more of an effort than usual after a week of buns and aprons, leaving the front door Piper felt so much better in herself.
Walking through the door chimed, announcing her presence to the staff, the strong bitter aroma of ground coffee beans filling Piper's nostrils. The usual gentle murmur of small talk filled the air above the harsh stomach churning sound of the coffee machine as it struggled to produce the hot steaming liquid beloved by the customers. Piper was glad to see her favorite window seat was free, tossing her heavy winter jacket onto the back off her chair she made her way over to the back of the shop where there was a maze of bookshelves she loved getting lost in. Walking past the endless adventures bound on the shelves in front of her, she traced her finger along the spines before stopping at a fresh spine, pulling out the book from the shelf 'The Other Boleyn Girl'.
"Feel like getting lost in Tudor England? You know they didn't have cell phones back then, but they wrote long, intense love letters. Maybe if I had given you my address I may have heard back off you Pipes?"
The truth was that Piper after deliberating so much the day after getting Alex's number as to whether to call or not had gotten lost in the whirlwind of work.
Turning around, that smirk she had somehow gotten to know so well greeted her, eyebrows raised almost in teasing anticipation as to what Pipers response was going to be.
"Shit, I'm so sorry. I got a job, and I've been working such long hours. Yesterday, I even forgot to eat and I.. it's.." Piper was stopped mid sentence
"Jeez kid, I was just fucking with you, don't worry about it"
Piper blushed at her obvious nervous outburst before taking a breath, "How about I buy you a coffee to make it up to you? She smiled her sweetest toothy smile in hope Alex would take her up on her offer.
"Americano – no milk." Alex smiled
Both women made their way over to the counter, Piper handing over her new book whilst ordering both of their beverages.
"Don't forget to order something to eat, like you said.. you didn't yesterday." Alex said almost protectively.
"Oh yeah, go take a seat over there. Just by the window. I'll bring this over." She said pointing to her seat she had reserved with her coat.
Piper watched carefully as Alex turned and made her way over towards the window, she really did have an amazing figure. From behind, her long legs seemed endless in her dark jeans until reaching a perfectly round ass. Alex's current band t-shirt was tight and showed her curved waist and beautifully broad shoulder that met the milky delicious skin of her neck hidden behind the mass of silky ebony hair. She was beautiful. Biting her lip with want, she suddenly felt a gaze upon her and realized she had been caught red-handed admiring the scene in front of her. She blushed, and swore to herself that Alex did the last few steps extra slowly, purposely swaying her hips more and bent down slowly to take a seat.
Piper shook her head to herself. What was this woman doing to her?
Taking the tray from the barista, Piper slowly made her way towards the seats, being extra careful not to trip and fall and embarrass herself anymore.
"Wow, this new job must be really working out for you kid? Not a single spill."
"I made the most tips this week out of all the staff, I must be doing something right."
"I'm pretty sure your not getting tips because of your waitressing skills Piper." Alex laughed at how naïve the blonde in front of her could be, expecting the blonde to shyly blurt out a random unarticulated response.
What she wasn't expecting was the sudden drop of Pipers voice, as she looked straight into Alex's forest green eyes. "Oh, and what else would I be getting tips for Al?" eyebrows rose in question.
Alex shot Piper her signature smile, secretly loving the nickname that rolled of the tongue of the gorgeous specimen in front of her, and for once didn't feel the need to make a witty remark back. Instead, she continued to smile at the blonde's ability to surprise her. Breaking herself out of her deep train of thought Alex cast her eyes out towards the window.
Two people caught her eye through the clear pane. "You know one of my favorite things to do is to people watch, I used to do it all the time as a kid. I used to wait for hours for my mum to finish her shifts and to pass the time I used to look outside the window and make up stories about the people passing by."
"That sounds like a fun game, lets play now. You go first."
"Okay, so see those two people sat on that bench?"
"The guy with the receding hair line, and the woman with the unkempt eyebrows?"
"Yeah," she laughed at Pipers description "Well he's a 52 year old virgin. His mother has set him up on a date with a woman from her church and he has decided to take her out for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before taking her on a day of world wind romance starting with a trip to the Star wars museum in hope of wooing her into bed where he can finally put his light saber to good use."
Piper burst into a fit of giggles, thankful this time she didn't have a mouthful of coffee like their last encounter.
"Okay my turn.."