It was just after 6 when Piper arrived at her Grandmother's house on the outskirts of Boston. It was a place where she had spent a lot of time as a kid, on vacations and long weekends with her two brothers. The house was a big 1930's stone fronted property in the countryside, with a huge garden that they played for hours in no matter what the weather was. Her grandfather passed away some years ago, but her Grandmother was still fiercely independent and was not afraid to voice her opinion on any subject. Which made for some interesting family meals when Celeste went head to head with Piper's mother on a given topic.
Celeste had been surprisingly understanding when Piper had told her she was going to prison for transporting drug money across international borders. Understanding in so far as she was OK that Piper did it for love, but less so when she found out Piper hadn't taken the money for herself and made sound investments with it. 'Such a waste' she had said at the time.
Piper opened the front door and found that the party was already in full swing with people milling around every room. She was taking her coat off as her younger brother Cal came up behind her and squeezed her tightly, frightening her at first. It was exactly the reaction he was looking for and he chuckled heartily. "Hey sis, how are you doing? It's been months since you made the trip to the family nest and I've been under Mom's spotlight for far too long now!"
"I've been busy with the new store actually, so not had the time to come by yet. I should be at work today, but Polly is covering for me so I can escape here. So what have you been up to?"
Before Cal could reply, his name was shouted from the kitchen to help move some boxes to the garage. "I'll catch up with you later Cal, sounds like Mom has found you again." She winked as Cal rolled his eyes and started to walk towards the kitchen.
Piper walked over to the coat stand in the hallway where there were framed photos of family and friends on the wall and she started looking over them and remembering find times at the house. As she was lost in her own memories, she didn't hear someone next to her until he spoke. "Hey, remember that water fight we had right before this one was taken? You watched me fill up a big red bucket with water balloons before I challenged you to a water fight. Then you asked for 5 mins to prepare while you ran inside the garage and switched my full bucket with an empty one and you stole my supply and shouted 'Go!' Knowing I had no ammo at all!" It was Steve, Joe's son who was here for the party.
"Oh, Steve! It's so good to see you! Ha! What I lacked in speed and strength for those water fights, I had to make up in tactics and sneakiness I guess! My God it's been so long since I've seen you now. How are you?" Piper was really happy to see Steve here. He had spent a lot of time playing with her brothers when they stayed for the summer while his Dad worked on the garden, so they grew up together in the summer months over quite a few years. He was a couple of years older than Piper and had the same thick black hair as his Dad when he was younger. It was strange to see him all grown up, but the familiarity was still there as though they were both back for the summer.
"I'm great actually. I just finished my third year as a medical student at the Mass Gen in Boston and I'm hoping they let me stay on as a resident as I really like it there."
"Wow, I didn't know you were going to be a real Doctor when I let you practice on me that summer in the greenhouse." Piper winked and nudged Steve, who blushed dramatically at the mention of them playing Doctors and Nurses all those years ago. Piper laughed again and told him it was really great that he'd found a job that he loved so much, especially as it was so close to where they grew up.
Celeste had recognised Piper's laugh from the room next door and came rushing out to hug her only granddaughter. "Sweetheart, it's so nice to see you! When did you get here? Come in here and let's get you a drink. Are you staying?" Her Grandmother steered her into the kitchen with Steve following behind.
"I only just arrived and yes I was going to stay the night if that's ok? I have a case in the car that I will get later. Do you have any wine? I'd love a glass of red if there's any open."
"Of course, of course dear. Here, this is probably a good one if its out of the cellar. It will be one of your Grandfathers preferred wineries. He always knew far more about these things than I ever did!" Celeste winked at them both as she put the cork back into the bottle of red and put it into Piper's hands. "You hang onto that. I don't let just anyone have the good stuff you know." She winked.
"I'll bring your case in if you like Piper, just give me your keys and I'll put it into your old room for you." Steve held his hand out for the keys and smiled as Piper closed her eyes drinking a mouthful of wine from the glass. "Mmm, so worth the trip already! Thank you." Piper chuckled as she handed her keys over.
She wandered into the dining room and found Joe talking to her Father. "Here you are, the guest of honour. Happy Birthday Joe! Can I get you a drink or anything to keep you topped up?" She kissed Joe sweetly on the cheek before turning to her Dad and doing the same. "Hey Daddy, good to see you." Joe smiled and took her hand in his as she told her what a beautiful young lady she had grown into before his eyes. A little embarrassed at the compliment, and aware that her Dad would be silently remembering the beautiful young lady who was also an ex-con, she smiled and said it must have been the fantastic organic produce from the garden that helped. Joe got pulled into telling another story from days gone by and Piper had a few moments alone with her Dad.
"How is the store doing Piper? Did you get a good deal on your rent for the first year? You can get all kinds of deals as a new business you know, so you be sure to make the savings where you can." He was so keen to turn her convict past shame into an entrepreneur success story for her Mother to share that he was always trying to give her advice on running PoPi, despite having no experience of running a new business himself. It was his way of trying to help and he had the best intentions, it just felt a little like talking to a bank manager instead of a Dad sometimes while he felt a little distanced from who she was now.
"It's going great Daddy. Polly did get a good deal on the rent, so we have some time to get established in the area. We are going to start doing some marketing campaigns for Christmas soon, so we want word to get out that we are new and organic-"
"That's all well and good Piper dear, but who cares if a soap is organic? Honestly, it makes you sound like a couple of hippies trying an experiment. You need to think bigger Piper and look at opportunities to get aligned with some more reputable brands." Piper's Mother joined the conversation from behind in a style that Piper was all too accustomed to. Scathing, deprecating and completely unhelpful.
"That isn't the strategy or market we want to go for Mom. We want to start small and build a loyal customer base where our products and customers are all local to us. it might change over time, but it is still early days for us yet. Thanks though. For your unwavering support and unabashed enthusiasm for our business plan. As usual." Piper spoke the last words through gritted teeth as she made her excuses to go for a top up from the hidden bottle of red in the kitchen. Two hours she had been in the same zip code as her Mother and it already felt like it was enough to last another 6 months before she had to see her again.
Celeste had overheard the exchange and was about to step in with some support before Piper abruptly left the room. "It's OK Piper. You know what she is like. She doesn't know how to say 'well done' or accept you want to do things your own way. Why don't you have something to eat over there with your wine and try and steer clear of any more helpful advice from your Mother for the rest of the night hey?" Celeste gave her a quick hug before heading back out to play hostess with Joe's family.
Piper was finishing a big slice of pecan pie as Cal came in to introduce his girlfriend Neri to her. Quickly trying to swallow the pie she had in her mouth already, Piper smiled and nodded pleasantly before adding a "Hey, welcome to the madhouse!" Neri smiled and said she is sure to be a worthy addition. Cal and Neri talked for a while about their plans for living a carbon neutral life in the country, which Piper was very enthusiastic to hear about. Steve joined them and they talked a bit about old times as Piper noticed the bottle was empty. Knowing there was a decent bottle of scotch going to be hidden in the kitchen somewhere, Piper set out to find it and emerged victorious a few minutes later. They all snook outside onto the porch to share it, like school kids who shouldn't be drinking at all.
After a couple of glasses, Cal and Neri turned in for the night. They weren't used to the alcohol or the groups of people, so went to their room for some rest.
Piper and Steve stayed out on the porch talking about whether any films have been made from stories that first appeared in books that were better than the book. Both thought of many examples, but none that were better than the written story. They relaxed into easy conversation, teasing each other with stories from their past and then turning to more serious discussions about literature. It was the most relaxed Piper had been for a long time actually. Maybe since even before she went to prison in fact.
It had taken Piper a very long time to get over leaving Alex. It is the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life, to walk away from the person she loved so dearly and would have done anything for. But those were exactly the reasons she knew she had to leave. She couldn't trust herself not to break all rules, all laws, leave all sense behind to follow Alex to the ends of the earth. Alex had used that love to her advantage on occasion and Piper knew that distance and severing all ties was the only way to keep her morals and conscience away from the dark world of drugs. It wasn't all bad. It was mostly very, very good in fact. Alex opened her eyes to a world of culture, experiences and thrills that she would never have dreamed of in her WASP routine of daily life in Connecticut. But she was a drug and one that Piper had become hooked on to the exclusion of all others. Everyone else was background when she was with Alex. She turned to a total recluse for a long time after Paris, drinking herself to sleep to forget her. She lived off her parents' money in a tiny NY apartment while picking up shitty waitressing jobs when they threatened to stop the cash flow. Once the threat subsided, she usually ditched the job and went back to the drink and daytime sleeping. It wasn't until Polly had had enough of the pity parade that she pulled herself around a bit, helping Polly to create skin care products in her home kitchen as a hobby. She was starting to get help from support groups and kick the drink when the police came knocking on her door with the information about her carrying drug money for Alex.
She wasn't able to find out how they got that information as it was a sealed testimony, but her money was on Alex being behind it. She knew she had broken Alex's heart by leaving her and wouldn't be at all surprised to find Alex still holding the grudge. She actually wouldn't have blamed her for it so she didn't even try to find out, and it got her sober again. So, it actually did her a favour in the end.
It had been a really great night and Piper was pleased to see Steve again. "Thanks for keeping me company tonight Steve, it's been so nice to see you again. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun." She reached out and put her hand on his, squeezing gently as she spoke. "I'm going to head off to bed now to sleep off this scotch. Are you going to call around tomorrow or are you working?" Steve returned the smile and looked at their hands, still together. "It's been good to see you again tonight Piper. I was wondering what happened to the cute girl I had a crush on when I was 12 and it's been nice to see that some things haven't changed." His smile spread across his face, showing his teeth and Piper figured he was teasing her again so she laughed and stood to hug him before she left.
"See you tomorrow nurse Chapman!" He shouted over her shoulder as she went inside.