A/N: Hope you're having a good weekend so far - everyone busy with their Stash Plan books? Me neither ;-) Thanks for the new follows and reviews as always. I love how you pick up on the little details and have your conspiracy theories about what that detail might mean later. Nothing gets past you guys! Yes to all of those people who think Piper has some deeper issues, you are quite right! Hope you like the next instalment. Here goes...
Piper went to find a seat by the window while Alex placed their orders at the counter. She pulled her phone out of her bag and called Polly to apologise for not turning up this morning.
"Hey Pol."
"Oh hey, you're alive then?"
"Yeah, sorry about today. I totally forgot I said I'd be at the store this morning."
"It's OK. SuperCunt filled me in. Is she there now?"
"No, well she's getting us some coffee so she'll be back in a minute."
"Are you OK? She told me you had a fight last night."
"It's fine. She finally told me the truth about how she turned me in and I ended up in prison. I was pretty pissed last night. I think maybe I still am."
"Well it's not exactly a big surprise to you. You pretty much assumed it was her from the start, so I guess that's not what you're pissed about. What are your plans for New Year?"
"Um, I haven't thought about it actually. Are you going out with Pete?"
"He's going out with the boys tonight. He said I could come along but we can stay in and watch romcoms and drink wine if you're fancying it?"
"That sounds pretty good actually. I really don't fancy fighting through the pubs and clubs tonight. It will be crazy and expensive. You sure you don't mind a quiet night in?"
"God no. A chance to put my feet up and not have to queue for a drink all night sounds perfect to me."
"OK, I'll come round later tonight then. I'll bring some wine and my PJs."
"Cool, see you tonight."
Piper hung up and sent a quick text to Cal to check he and Neri were still planning to come around to visit tomorrow as Alex came back with a tray of food.
"Thanks. Is the ham one mine?"
"Yeah, they are both the same anyway."
Alex sat down and put the tray to one side before taking her coat off. Piper was avoiding her eyes as she focused on her lunch as though it was the most interesting piece of bread in the world. The brunette clenched her jaw at yet another stony silence from Piper, but she refused to be drawn into another argument.
"So when's your appointment with the VSU woman?"
"Monday morning. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible. It's a bit pointless."
"Why?"
"Why do I want it over?"
"Yes and why is it pointless?"
"Because it's a load of horse shit. All that sitting there talking about your feelings. What good does it do? She can't turn back time and change what happened so what's that point in sitting and discussing it all the time? I just want to get all the boxes ticked and get the all clear from Dr Shetty and get on with my life now."
"But he must think it helps, or he wouldn't be saying you need a couple more sessions before he checks you over again."
Piper scoffed at the idea. "He just wants to put notes in his file that he had someone else check I wasn't going to go batshit crazy. Trust me, it's a box to tick in his file too. He'll give me the all clear once I get this second session out of the way."
"Weren't you supposed to think of some sort of exercise idea to get rid of your anger before Monday then?"
"Yeah. I'll just say I'm taking up spinning classes or something. That will do."
"Piper…..is spinning classes actually going to be something you can do whenever you get angry?"
"It doesn't fucking matter Alex. She just wants to write that I'm following her advice. She's not going to check all the health clubs in New York to see if I'm attending."
"She's recommending exercise because you need a way to deal with your anger. Pretending to follow that advice isn't going to help you."
"What is it with you dishing out the fucking life advice Alex? What makes you the expert all of a sudden?" Piper was clearly looking for another argument and she dropped her lunch before grabbing her coat to leave.
Alex sighed and ran to follow her outside.
"I'm not giving you advice Piper. I'm saying there's no benefit to you in lying to your Doctor or the VSU. They are seeing you because they think you need help. They can't make you follow their advice but why not try? It might help." Alex shouted after her when she finally caught the blonde.
"Help?! Is it going to change the fact that half the neighbourhood saw me with my dress hiked over my waist lying on the ground? Is it going to give me my dignity and self-respect back Alex? Is going for long walks in the park going to change the fact that I was too fucking weak and pathetic to stop a man from humiliating me again?" Piper's eyes burned with rage and she stared at Alex for only a second before turning to walk away as fast as her legs would go.
Alex stood in the street, too dumbfounded to react fast enough to stop Piper from leaving. She couldn't predict where this rage would come from or what might cause it, so she was at a loss as to how to deal with it. She felt ill-equipped to give Piper the kind of help she clearly needed, but Piper wasn't taking the professional support seriously either. She ran down the street, looking for her and saw her rounding a corner to her apartment.
"Piper!...Piper wait!...Will you just stop for a second?!" Alex caught her by the arm and turned her around.
"I don't know what to say to you or what to do to help you Piper."
"Join the fucking club." Piper pulled her arm away and started to walk again.
"Jesus, you're impossible! I'm trying to help you here, but I can't if you're gonna keep being an ass."
"Fuck off then. It's not like you've been around for the last 4 years anyway. Get on with your own life Alex and stop trying to give me charity as your way of dealing with your fucking guilt." Piper spat over her shoulder and didn't stop walking.
"Piper!" Alex stopped walking.
"Seriously, just fuck off. You've offloaded your guilt now. You're free to do whatever you want. This is as close to a Hail Mary as you're gonna get."
Alex didn't follow her after that and let her walk away. She leaned against the wall for a few minutes, running through what just happened in her head. Piper was always prone to mood swings, but this anger that she had borne the brunt of twice in the last 24 hours was on a completely different level. There was clearly something wrong and Piper wasn't in the mood for sharing with her, neither was Alex in the mood for being treated like a punch bag. Last night, she had accepted because she had sent her ex-girlfriend to prison and had been prepared for every possible reaction from her in finding out the truth. This morning was not her fault by any stretch, but the last 24 hours of being verbally assaulted meant she was drained quite frankly. She kicked back off the wall and walked to hail a cab home.
She looked at her phone to see some group messages from Nicky, Poussey and Taystee making plans for New Year's Eve tonight. After catching up on the plans to meet in Sandy's at 6pm, she texted back to say she would see them there and boy was she ready for a drink tonight.
XXXXX
Piper kept her head down as she walked back to her apartment, lifting her eyes only to cross the street. Seeing a liquor store on the corner, she decided to take a detour and pick up that wine she promised to take over to Polly's later. She picked up a basket and added 4 bottles of wine and headed towards the counter, before spying vodka by the check out. She picked up 2 bottles and added them to her total as the cashier totalled it up.
It was only 3pm and Piper had plenty of time before Polly would be closing the shop, so she kicked off her shoes and ran a bath so she could try and relax before she met her best friend. It would do her good to have a long soak to forget about the last 24 hours of drama and she was looking forward to having a drink later.
XXXXX
Alex was dressed in black leather pants, a black silk shirt that was rolled up above her elbows and killer heels as she met the group in Sandy' bar. Her long black hair was loose and poker straight, accentuating her winged black eyeliner and red lipstick. She slid into a booth next to Nicky and helped herself to a beer off the table.
"Evening ladies! Ready for finishing the year in style?" Alex raised her beer and an eyebrow at the group.
"Hell yes!" Shouted Poussey and they all raised their drinks to clink the start of the night.
Alex downed half of her beer in the first drink. The cold taste was refreshing and it was tempting to finish it in one – well, it was only a small bottle really.
"So, blondie's not joining us tonight then Vause?" Nicky asked as she saw her put her bottle back down.
"Nope. No blondie tonight." Alex said in a very cavalier manner as she looked directly at the shorter woman.
"OK….but you were with her all day right?"
"Yep. So my shift is over now."
"Did she get a better offer?" Nicky was surprised that Piper wasn't joining them, especially if she had spent all day with her tall best buddy.
"Better than this? I doubt it." Alex snorted.
"So where is she tonight?"
"I'm not her keeper Nicky. I don't know. Probably with her psycho friend Molly I guess." She shrugged her shoulders.
Nicky could sense it might be a sore subject so opted to drop it and offered to get another round in.
They drank flaming sambucas next before another round of beers and Alex was starting to relax into the banter of the group. Taystee was showing them the dating app that she met her new boyfriend on and they all crowded around the screen to see how it worked with selecting potential dates. It was quite hilarious for the only straight girl in the group to have her gay friends choosing whether to swipe left or right for who they thought was a suitable match for her. She called time on it when they rubbished 95% of every male match she showed them.
"That's enough you guys! If I had to rely on your judgement to find me a man I might as well become a nun! There's only one guy you said maybe on out of all of those and that was only because I said you HAD to say yes to at least one of them."
"What? We're just helping you be very selective on who you choose is all." Poussey reasoned.
"Yeah, you don't want to waste your time on any of those others. We're saving you from a night of boring talk about the stock market or Daddy's ski chalet." Nicky added her views.
"Are you kidding me? Those guys were wearing baggy pants and snap back hats. There ain't no man in that selection with a ski chalet and if they talkin' 'bout a Daddy it ain't the guy they was bred from that's fo' sho'." Taystee had them all in fits of laughter.
Alex brought them 4 beers each for the drinking game as they prepared to play 'drink while you think' to make the most of the happy hour specials in the bar as it started to get busy. Poussey started with 'Kim Kardashian' and Taystee barely took a sip before she got to say 'Kanye West'. Nicky was similarly quick when she said 'Walt Whitman'. Alex was already drinking while thinking when she realised Nicky had broken the rules.
"Wait a minute. That's a fictional character! You can't have that. Get back to drinking while you think of another." Nicky shrugged and started chugging her beer, getting half way down before breaking for air and gasping 'Walt Disney'.
The game continued until the beer was running low and Nicky went to get some more while Alex and Poussey went to the rest room. It was getting busy in there now and Alex was at the sink washing her hands when she was tapped on the shoulder.
"Well, hello there stranger. Fancy seeing you in here." It was Nicky's squeeze from the other night, Lucy. Not that Alex could actually remember her name if she was honest, so she avoided mentioning it.
"Oh, hey. Yeah, gotta make the most of a happy hour at New Years' right?" Alex smiled.
"So, who are you out with?" Lucy grinned.
"Is that you not so subtly asking if Nicky is with me?" Alex raised her eyebrow, seeing if the girl was seeking her best friend out for a third time now.
"Not necessarily. I'm a free agent. Maybe I want to see what else is on offer at your table." She shrugged.
"Yeah, Nicky is here. We're over by the back opposite the bar. No chance of getting anywhere near the pool table tonight I think." Alex laughed and dried her hands to leave.
"Cool. Maybe we'll stop by later if you're staying." It sounded like a question, but Alex just smiled before closing the door behind her.
After another round of shots, Alex was starting to feel the effects from the drinks and joined Taystee on the small dancefloor. Nicky and Poussey were not going to be seen dancing for any amount of drink or money so they stayed in the booth. The jukebox was switched off tonight in favour of a constant mix of good dance music. Taystee was throwing down some serious moves and Alex was doing her best to keep up. They had been dancing for 5 or 6 songs when Alex felt someone's hands on her hips behind her. Fully expecting it to be a creepy dude who had too much to drink, she lifted the fingers off her pants and pushed them behind her. A few seconds later the hands were back again, this time a little higher on her ribs, roaming over towards her stomach as the song hit the chorus. She looked down to see long, slim fingers moving over her shirt. Definitely not a hairy dude then. She felt the woman behind her pull Alex into her front, pressing her hips into Alex's backside in time with the music. Alex smiled at the contact and put her hands over the top of the other woman's to move them down over her hips as they danced together.
Taystee turned and rolled her eyes, but carried on dancing in front of Alex, enjoying the music enough to just get herself lost in it among the throng of people on the dancefloor. Alex raised her arms up over her head as she danced, which allowed the woman behind her to move her hands move freely over Alex's body and she took full advantage as she squeezed her ass when their hip contact was broken briefly before pulling Alex back towards her firmly. Alex bent her knees to grind back into the stranger and she felt lips gently moving over the back of her neck, kissing her softly and making their way towards her ear now.
"Are you enjoying yourself Miss Vause?"
"Mhmm. I have a feeling there's more enjoyment to be had tonight though." Alex smiled wickedly without turning around.
"Really?" The voice was low in her ear.
"Yeah, if you're up for a little enjoyment that is?"
"That depends on who I'm going to be enjoying I guess." She spun Alex around and crashed their lips together. Their lips parted almost immediately as each sought to taste the other, tongues battling for dominance against each other among the throng of dancers on the small dancefloor. They were being jostled about as their hands started roaming to areas that was far too much PDA to stay put, so Alex took the lead and took them off the dancefloor and towards the rest room. The bar had just announced 2 for 1 cocktails for ladies, so the women were running in the opposite direction to the rest room as luck would have it. Alex was pulled into a stall in the corner and she locked the door behind them before putting her hands on the wall either side of the other woman's face and leaning into her.
"So, now that you have my attention….what is it exactly that you'd like to do with it?" Alex was leaning over the other woman, breathing onto her neck and was fully aware of the effect she was having on her.
"Well, I…"
Alex pulled back slightly so she was face to face with the other woman now, only a couple of inches between them. "I'll help you shall I? How about you don't take your eyes off mine while you shimmy up that little dress of yours until it's around your waist? Go on, we don't have all night."
The other woman didn't waste any time before hiking her dress up, revealing small black panties. Alex grinned wickedly, knowing exactly what was coming next.
"Good girl. Now…do you want to show me what's inside those cute little-"
"Alex! Alex are you in there?!" There was suddenly someone banging on the cubicle door. Alex's eyes went wide at the voice on the other side of the door.