A/N: Vauseman angst is in full flow. Thanks for the reviews, they really help me and I like to know you guys are reading these :-)

Tuesday was really busy in the store and it took Piper's mind off the events of last night for much of the day. She had lain in bed last night wondering if she had pushed Alex too far or not far enough. The main thing she felt was frustrated at not getting the answers she was pressing for. Maybe the problem was the fact she started with the big questions. She should have started small and worked up to them, but there was a risk of Alex leaving before she even got that far.

As they were locking up, Polly couldn't stand the melancholy mood any more. "Are you gonna tell me what is wrong with you or should I expect the same mopey face from you for the rest of the week?" She stood with her arms folded in front of the now locked front door.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just thinking is all."

"If you don't want to tell me, just say that. Don't lie to me though and tell me there's nothing wrong because I know you Piper. You are supposed to tell your best friend all your problems and deepest secrets you know. It's kind of the rules we've lived by, so I don't get why you're not telling me. Unless it's something I've done?"

"It's not you. I want to tell you, but I know you'll freak out and I don't have the energy to deal with that as well as what is already going on in my head."

"Well, this is progress. And so if I promise not to freak out, will you tell me?"

"You have to promise and if you break that promise I reserve the right to tell you to fuck off and not share again. Can you do that? Because I really need you to promise that and I really need to share this shit so I can make some sense out of it."

"That's a lot of promise for something I know nothing about just yet. You didn't make me promise like this when you got sent to prison so now I'm really trying hard not to freak out here... Alright. I'm gonna promise. Tell me."

"Um...OK. Whew! Here goes...I saw Alex last night." Piper left it there and winced while she waited for the reaction she was expecting.

"What the fuck Piper?! Where? Are you sure it was her?"

"Yeah, it was her. It's a long story, but she came to the pub with Nicky on Sunday night. God knows how, but they are friends and Nicky doesn't know we already knew each other, so it was a bit of a shock."

"Wait. You said you saw her last night. Did you mean Sunday?"

"Well, I saw her last night as well. She came to the store after you left..." Piper explained what happened on both nights and Polly did an amazing job of not losing her shit about this, to her credit.

"So, did she tell you why she was in New York?" Polly asked, still seeing a few missing pieces in the jigsaw yet.

"No. She just said she lived here and she worked here. But she isn't part of the cartel anymore, so I don't know what she's doing. She said it's legal and all though. And she said something on Sunday night about Nicky being her best friend, so I don't know how they know each other either. Small world eh?" Piper sighed at the strangeness of the whole situation she was in.

"Well she has to be lying anyway Pol. There's no way she would be allowed to leave the cartel just like that. She will be saying it to make me think she's all honest living to get in my good books. She's trying to manipulate me again and I'm not going to fall for it. "

"Pipes, as much as I want to agree with you. I have to ask, did you give her a chance to explain this without losing your shit? Before you jump to any conclusions I mean."

Not expecting any sort of a defence for Alex in the least, Piper thought about it for a second. "Well, I did sort of lose my temper with her a bit. She wasn't giving me any detailed answers, just saying she was here for work. You can't blame me for thinking the worst can you?"

"OK. I'm going to do something right now that you will not be expecting. I just need 5 mins to make a quick call and then I'll be back alright?"

Piper nodded her head and Polly disappeared into the back office for a few minutes.

When Polly came back into the store, Piper was leaning on the counter with her elbows. "Pol, I'm grateful that you haven't totally lost your shit with me over this. But I was expecting you to be gritting your teeth and being a lot more sarcastic and acerbic at the mere mention of Alex's name." It was as much a statement as it was a question. Piper had almost been prepared to defend Alex a little when she had this conversation, but it was unusually calm.

"OK. I have a teeny weeny fucking enormous confession to make now. So, like I promised earlier, please don't freak out when I tell you this." Piper was wide-eyed that Polly could even have a confession. She was such a blabber mouth, she couldn't keep secrets from Piper ever.

"Go on."

"Are you promising?"

"OK..."

"Right. Here goes. Alex works at NY Logistics with Nicky. That's how they know each other."

"Really? How come I've never spoken to her before then?"

"Because that was the rule we agreed when we set up the contract. You were never supposed to find out she worked there."

"Wait. You KNEW Alex was working there?! That she was here in New York and working for a company we are are using as a contractor and you didn't tell me?! Why the Hell would you keep something like that from me Pol?!" Piper was less bothered about Alex working at the logistics company than she was about her best friend keeping it a secret.

"Um, well it was what we thought was best. Look, I'm not going to speak for Alex, but I thought your life was less complicated without her in it. We could give them the contract without you ever needing to speak to her...at least that was the plan."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Polly shifted to open it and a few moments later, Alex walked up to the counter with Polly walking sheepishly behind.

"Um, she told you then?" Alex adjusted her glasses nervously. She had no idea what Piper's reaction could be to this, especially after their arguing last night.

Piper stared back at her, not sure how she felt about the revelation just yet.

"Yeah, I told her we tried to keep it to a professional contract and you two never needed to speak. I think she's still a bit shocked."

"Pipes, can I leave you and Alex to talk and I will talk to you tomorrow? I am really sorry for keeping it from you, but I did it for the best reasons. I hope you can understand that? I'll see you in the morning." Polly picked up her coat and bag and left through the back door.

Piper stared down at the counter for a long time, trying to process the deceit.

"Say something Pipes. Are you mad?"

"Am I mad? I don't honestly know how I feel. I think I'm angry that you two made a decision about what is best for me without even asking how I felt about it. I'm shocked that you and Polly are on speaking terms. I'm relieved that you know Nicky through legitimate means of working together and she doesn't have a dodgy past that I will unwittingly find out about in the future. I guess I'm mad that you didn't tell me last night as well when I asked?"

"I didn't want to say anything without Polly agreeing it was OK to tell you. I would have dropped her in it if I'd have told you last night and then you'd be more mad. I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I just didn't think you would want to have anything to do with me and that was something I was coping with until you started seeing more of Nicky. Polly warned me not to play with fire by sending you those notes in the deliveries, but when I found out from Nicky that you two were going out, I guess I couldn't help it."

"So, the 'sorry for the damage I caused' was you? Of course it was! Only you would know they are my favourite chocolates!" She thought again for a second and spoke quietly now "Was that about more than the broken soap?" Piper dared to ask.

"What do you mean by that?" Alex asked defensively.

"Well, you know... I guess I'm saying were you apologising for the other stuff you did that caused damage? It just seems like it could mean more now I know it came from you."

"Why? Because you think I've got so much more to apologise for than a box of broken soaps? Seriously?! You are un-fucking-believable you know that?! YOU FUCKING LEFT ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A JOB THAT COULD HAVE GOT ME FUCKING KILLED IF I DIDNT COMPLETE IT AND WITHIN A FUCKING HOUR OF MY MUM DYING PIPER. If ever a fucking apology was overdue it's from your pretentious fucking mouth!" Alex was pacing the floor now, running her hands through her hair. "I can't believe i forgot what a self-absorbed asshole you are. Seriously. I need my head examining."

She made it to the door in seconds and slammed it behind her angrily.

xxxxxx

On Wednesday, Piper called NY Logistics to see if they could courier through an urgent order for them. An old lady from their neighbourhood had bought a couple of their big gift boxes and she needed them sending to South Africa to her daughter and daughter-in law who just got married over there.

Nicky answered in her usual disinterested tone "Hi, NY Logistics, how can I help you?"

"Hi, it's Piper from PoPi here, partner of Polly." She knew the tongue twister would crack Nicky up and it did.

"Hey Piper, you ought to get a parrot to paraphrase your particularly peculiar partnership."

"Well, maybe you could get one delivered to me and I'll teach it to call you and complain. I repeat myself most of the time anyway since you're always breaking stuff."

"Are you suggesting I don't take my customer services role seriously? Are you gonna take away your multi million dollar contract? Hey, I got you two free delivery girls only this week I seem to remember AND our company picked up your drinks tab on Sunday night. I'd say you are doing pretty well out of this deal so far."

"Oh yes, fair enough. We can leave the parrot in Africa for now then. But you'd better be ready to go and catch it if your standards start slipping."

"Sure thing Ma'am. Anything for our number one customer. Speaking of which, what can I do for you?"

Piper explained about the customer delivery and Nicky said she'd need to check on prices and shipment dates first and would call her back in a bit.

She went to see if Polly needed a hand out in the front and it was quiet for once. Polly sidled over to the side of the counter and nudged Piper. "Are we cool?"

Piper smiled "Yeah. I'm a bit pissed that you were treating me like a child by hiding it from me, but I can understand you were trying to protect me. I just don't get how it can be a total coincidence that she happened to find a job with the logistics company we chose, out of all the companies we could have been using. It's like she was stalking me."

"Pipes, Alex owns NY Logistics. She isn't even charging us for the work they do. She offered their services for free to help us get up and running. She didn't tell you that last night?"

Piper rubbed her temples wearily. "No Pol. Yet again, she has failed to mention something pretty fucking important when I asked her about it. Even when I ask her a direct question, she seems to prefer to lie to me than tell me the full truth at any point in time. You were probably right to try and keep her away from me. I don't have the energy to keep up with this back and forth anymore like I did seven years ago."

The phone rang and Piper picked it up, it was Nicky.

"You want the good news or the bad news Blondie?"

"Oh God, give me the bad news. I have to try and finish this day with something positive."

"You got it. The bad news is this shipment is going to cost this old lady a fortune - three hundred bucks."

"Well, I think she will pay that. It is a wedding gift after all. What's the good news?"

"The good news is we could pick up your parrot on the way back." Piper laughed out loud and said she would check the prices with the customer and keep her fingers crossed she would say yes so Piper's parrot could make the trip.

Since Piper had worked a few late nights this last week, Polly offered to lock up and let the blonde get away early. She needed to pick up some food anyway and it meant she had some time to relax tonight. Getting home, she made herself some pasta and poured a large glass of red wine to drink while she ran the bath. Walking around her apartment with the glass, she tidied the place up a bit and put some laundry in. Well, she might have a visitor this weekend if Steve was in the city. She didn't want him thinking she was a complete slob after being used to her Grandmother's perfectly clean house for the last 25 years.

Lying in the bath, Piper thought about Alex and how beautiful she still was. Apart from her losing the blue tips in her hair, the rest of her hadn't changed at all. She still wore that rock chick look as though she was in her early 20's and her skin was still pale and deliciously smooth. Piper remembered the butterflies she felt when Alex sat opposite her in the booth on Sunday night and Nicky introduced them. It was like meeting her for the first time all over again. Her lips were full and red with lipstick, which she licked whenever she had taken a drink of her beer. Her long fingers had caressed the sides of the beer bottle absentmindedly while she was talking. How Piper wished she could have been that beer bottle for a few moments as Alex touched it like that and drank from it.