The extra supplies for the gift boxes arrived the next morning. Piper signed for the delivery and didn't get so much as a glance from Jake to suggest whether he had sent the chocolates. She walked back into the store where Polly was grinning as she put the phone down.
"See, I told you we could get the money. It's being transferred to our account right now, so we can talk to a design agency straight away. I've got some gift sets in mind, so maybe we can make some up and take some photos to send them. Do you think we should do a special offer on something to get people to come into the store as well?"
"OK, I admit I'm a bit relieved that the pressure is off on the design work. I would have preferred to do it myself, but we have so much to do. I admit you were right. This time. The supplies for the gift packs just arrived, so we can do those today and we can send some photos through from my phone. Maybe we could use those damaged sea kelp soaps as a freebie with sales over ten dollars? I don't think we could do a gift pack for less than twenty dollars, so maybe start at twenty five, then fifty and do something extra fancy for like a hundred or something?"
"Let's see what they look like, but using those soaps is a good idea Batman."
They brought the new boxes of supplies into the front of the store to make up in between serving customers. As they brought them through, Polly found a box of chocolates sitting on top of the last box of ribbon. There was an envelope tacked onto the front, with Piper's name hand written across the front. Debating whether to give them to her or put the straight into the bin, Polly was interrupted by Piper shouting her from the other room.
"Hey Pol, these boxes are gorgeous! We can make these sets looks really great you know..."
"Cool, you go ahead and make a start then."
Polly quickly checked that Piper was busy in the other room, before heading out the back to make a call.
"Hi, it's me. Listen, you have to stop with sending these messages and gifts to her. You know this is only going to end badly and she will totally flip out if she finds out who is sending them." Polly spoke quickly in case Piper came looking for her.
"I don't know. There's a box of dark chocolates here and an envelope with her name on the front of them. I fucking know it's you, so cut the bullshit."
"Well who else would be sending boxes of chocolates to her from your fucking company? Nobody else even knows she likes them...I can't open it, it is sealed shut so it would be obvious I've opened the note. Shit. I would have thrown them in the bin already if it was you, but I don't want to fuck up a chance for her to meet someone else, somebody fucking decent who deserves her."
"OK, alright. Look, I have to go. She's looking for me."
Polly ran back inside just as Piper rounded the corned into the stock room. "There you are! I've been holding this gift wrapped box for ages asking you to bring me some ribbon. Did you get it?it should be in one of these boxes that were delivered this morning..."
Before Polly could open her mouth to stop her, she had noticed the box of chocolates sitting in the top of the ribbons. "Ooh look Pol! Looks like I have an admirer! Where did these come from?"
"Uh...I don't know. They were just in here with the other boxes that got dropped off this morning...Are you going to open them?"
"Hell yes! I might even share them with you, if you get us a coffee?"
Polly waited while Piper looked at the hand written envelope. "Do you recognise the hand writing at all?" She asked nervously. "Um, no I don't recognise it. The last one was typed and printed out, so maybe they are getting braver." She ripped the envelope open and read the note, while Polly was practically hopping from foot to foot waiting to find out what it said.
"Come on Piper, spill! What does it say? Who is it from?"
Piper smirked and folded the note, putting it in her back pocket as she turned to walk away with the chocs.
"What the fuck ?! You can't leave me hanging. Who is it? Come on Pipes, just tell me!" Polly chased after her into the store room to be stopped by Piper raising her hand.
"I will tell you in good time. For now, we need a coffee to share these chocs out and finish the gift packs. These photos need to go today to the design agency. Don't lose focus Pol." She winked as she went back to work.
Polly went to pick up the box of ribbons and sent a quick text message:
'She won't tell me and she's hidden the note. Grinning a lot.'
Seconds later she got a reply back:
'I'll find them'
They got the gift packs prepared and took a heap of photos of the different sizes, agreed the pricing and offers they wanted to run with and noted it all down. Piper then called two design agencies for prices and went with the cheapest. It was a start up firm much like their own, which made Piper feel better about spending the money. She sent the photos through just in time for closing up.
"Are you coming out for a celebratory drink Pol? We've got so much done today I feel like we should toast it."
"I totally would, but I've got to get changed yet before Pete picks me up. We're going out to that new Italian on 17th streettonight. Maybe we can go out tomorrow nightinstead though? Then you can tell me about your secret admirer."
Piper had time to go home, eat and get in the shower before she went out. The note she got earlier was an invite to a bar in Brooklyn for tonight from Nicky. She didn't think it was a date, it seemed to be a pretty casual invitation to a night out. But Piper had no other plans and the least she could do was turn up and thank Nicky for the chocolates.
She got dried and changed into some skinny black jeans and a blue halter neck top. She curled her hair loosely and put on some simple make up and found some strappy heels in her wardrobe that would match nicely. She put on a warm wool coat and turned the lights off to make the short walk to the bar for 8:30. She didn't have to be there for a set time, just to tell the barman that was here to see Nicky when she arrived.
It was 5 blocks from Piper's apartment, in a part of town that was seeing a lot of investment from the regeneration of old warehouses that had long stood empty. A lot of new businesses were opening in these parts and maybe a few of them would be hearing about PoPi in the magazine that would reach this neighbourhood. 'Sandy's' was in an old building in the middle of the block and she could hear the music getting louder as she neared the door. It sounded like a live band was playing tonight and there were plenty of people buzzing around outside on the porch.
She opened the door and the music got a lot louder as she worked her way past a few people standing and watching the band as she made her way to the bar. Sitting on a stool at the corner, she tried to catch the barman's attention as he was serving a large group next to her. He nodded he'd seen her and she took a look around the place to see if she might recognise anyone in here. She actually had no idea what Nicky looked like, so she could be anyone on first glance. The barman came over to her "Hey, what can I get you sweetheart?" She asked for a large glass of white wine and he turned to start pouring it before she could ask about Nicky. He came back with the bill and she asked him about Nicky. "Who? No idea who that is. Sorry." Before walking away to serve someone else.
Piper decided to watch the band for a while, waiting for a different barman. Maybe she asked the wrong guy? She stood up and took her coat off, laying it across her lap when she sat down again. She asked a different guy about Nicky and got a shrug like he didn't know her either. What sort of a joke was this? She downed the rest of her wine and was about to leave, when the first barman came back over and put a margarita in front of her. "I'm told you'll like this, even if it's a little cold outside." Piper's eyes went wide at what he had just said. "What did you just say? Why did you bring me this?"
"Hey, I just took a drinks order and this was on it. Don't shoot the messenger sweetheart."
Piper looked around frantically for the person who just bought her this drink. The first time she ever met Alex was in a bar, where Piper ordered a margarita. Alex's pick up line was basically that it was a little cold to be drinking one. Could it possibly be a coincidence? Piper looked at the drink, not sure whether to down it or run away from it. Her eyes were constantly scanning the room to see if the tall brunette was watching her from a hidden vantage point.
She decided to drink it when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Piper Chapman?" She turned around to see a short, wiry haired girl grinning wildly at her. "Yeah, whose asking?"
"There you go again with your name infatuation. It's Nicky. Nicky Nicholls At your service Ma'am. Have you just got here?"
"Er, yeah. Kind of. Well, I've had two drinks already. Did you just buy me a margarita?"
"If I say no, have I already lost you to some other suitor?" Nicky raised her eyebrow. Something that Alex was a fucking expert at. Why did she have to be reminded of her at every turn tonight?
"It doesn't matter. I've already drunk it anyway. Are you ready for a drink Nicky Nicholls?"
"Is the Pope Catholic?"
Piper laughed and looked for the barman to order another round. Nicky caught him first. "Same again?" She gestured towards Piper's empty margarita glass. "Uhm...no. Actually I think it's time for something different. What are you going to have?"
"Two beers then please."
Nicky took a seat next to Piper at the bar and they could stop shouting as the band went off stage for a break.
"So, Piper Chapman. You're pretty hot for a soap store partner of Polly. There was a real risk I could be meeting an old lady with a love of cats and knitted cardigans tonight on the information I had."
"Did she turn you down already? Am I your plan B?" Piper laughed as she took a drink from her bottle.
"Yeah, the chocolates don't work on everyone apparently. Only hot blondes with a penchant for complaining."
"I was not complaining! Well, I guess I was actually. How long have you worked there?"
"Um, like a year maybe. It's not exactly my dream job, but actually it pays the bills and keeps me from sitting in bars all day. So it's probably perfect for me when you think of it like that. Plus, the boss is a friend of mine and she's pretty cool. How about you? How did you get into the fast paced world of soap making?"
"Oh, my friend Polly started experimenting with making soaps at home one day after seeing some articles on the internet about how easy it was. I started coming up with new recipes and we got better at it, to the point where we were making far too much stuff to justify it as a hobby. We looked at what you could sell it for, so just started small really and got some local stores to buy small batches to see if it would sell."
"So it's early days still hey?" Nicky's phone was buzzing and she apologised as she took it out of her pocket. "I'm sorry, it's my boss. She's sent me like 10 messages since I got here. I've been trying to ignore her, but I guess it's urgent so I'd better take this."
Piper sat and waited for Nicky to return. The barman came over with another margarita for her and she tried to send it away "I'm sorry, I don't know who is sending these over, but I'm not drinking these tonight." He smiled and pushed the drink back towards her, with a napkin folded over next to it.
Opening the napkin, there was a message inside written in capital letters: 'Enjoying your date? You really shouldn't mix your drinks you know. I suggest you stick to tequila or you'll be too drunk for first base.'
Piper looked around again. Who the fuck was sending these to her? She ignored it and finished her beer. What was taking Nicky so long? What kind of a logistics emergency could there be at 10pm on a Wednesday night that need the customer services person to be talking from a bar anyway? The band were packing up and it had been 10 minutes since she finished her beer. She looked at the margarita again and figured it was already paid for. No point in wasting it then. She drank it while there was still no sign of Nicky. Seconds later another folded napkin arrived with a shot of tequila, wedge of lime and a salt shaker. Piper opened it up : 'Looks like your date isn't a fan of tequila. One for the road? And here's the money for a cab home. You are NOT walking these streets looking like that. You look fucking HOT tonight. X'
She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she read the last message, but looking around she couldn't see anyone watching her. She picked up her coat and went outside to see if Nicky was around. She found her huddled on the porch trying to find some signal.
"I'm so sorry about tonight. My boss is breaking my balls over this fucking big shipment we have going out tomorrow and she's got me checking all the timings before she leaves me alone. What was I saying about her being cool? Are you heading home?"
"Yeah, I actually had a great night though. It's a nice place and it was good to meet you. Maybe we can have that beer some other time hey?" Piper gave Nicky's shoulder a friendly squeeze as she went to hail a cab. A strange night, but interesting to say the least!