A/N: Hey! Slightly longer update for you as it's been a few days since the last posting. Glad to see so many of you liking the long story, so I'll keep on. Likening this to a well-worn paperback makes me feel warm inside, so thanks JessTerr :-) I loved the mix of guesses on who the hand belonged to between Alex's legs last chapter - haha! As always, thanks for the ongoing support from MadeintheUS, Librarybook, WB79, izzielg, RJVause and FaeCym (swoon ;-) ), prooffice, Tiffr3n33, StephanieKryx and also Sandfromoz.
So far, it's been a day by day story of Vauseman. I'm planning to change that soon to allow easier storyline progression for the VSU meets and court case (which are the two big threads we're following). It's unrealistic to expect Piper to process and heal from emotions associated with these events from a single weekly meet and I don't want to write filler material that doesn't progress the story and characters on days where all she's doing is going to work - we already know how boring those days are from our own lives!
Anyhow, I have words for you to consume...
Nicky was doubled over and holding onto the wall for support with laughter at Alex's reaction. She couldn't have hoped for anything better than the brunette spectacularly missing her shot and jumping so dramatically.
"Oh….my God…can't breathe…..Ohhhh…..man….funniest thing ever."
Alex maintained a death stare for a moment, before raising both of her eyebrows and putting her weight onto one hip as she watched Nicky struggling to breathe. Poussey was on the opposite side of the table in a similar state, but dared not mock Alex too much, she was still the boss at the end of the day.
"God I wish I had that on video…Your face Stretch….what a picture…..Fucking awesome timing Chapman!"
Piper was really trying hard to suppress her laughter by pressing her lips into a determined thin line, making them disappear completely. Standing a short distance away from Alex, she looked at her with Bambi eyes as she reached out to put her hands on her girlfriend's waist and stepped closer.
"Erm….Hi?" She ventured and chewed the side of her cheek to try and maintain some composure.
"Hi." Alex looked at her with an 'I can't believe you sided with them' narrowing of her eyes before pulling the blonde into her and putting her arms around her neck loosely, kissing the top of her head.
"You two are gonna pay for that." She raised a single eyebrow at Nicky and Poussey, who was now standing next to her. "Or should I say three?" Alex leaned back to look at Piper questioningly.
"I'm pleading innocence." She smiled and leaned up to kiss her on the lips as Alex dodged her at the last second and whispered in her ear. "I bet I could make you plead." She whispered into Piper's ear as she pulled away with her signature smirk.
"I owe you a drink for that Piper. What are you having?" Nicky was upright again now and waving an empty beer bottle.
"Nothing. I'm OK thanks. I'll get some water in a bit."
"It's OK, I can get you that." Nicky started to walk to the bar before Piper let go of Alex to go after her.
"Alright, I'll come with you then."
"Are you driving or something?"
"What? Oh, because I'm drinking water, yeah. Polly and I have got a meeting tomorrow with a marketing guy that Alex set up for us. It's a pretty big deal for PoPi, so I want to be fresh for that."
"Sounds it. Alex was telling us about the new contracts we might get in the next week or so for our place too. It looks like there could be a lot of overtime on the cards, which is good news for me. Not like I have anything else to do these days anyway." Nicky's shrug was meant to be indifferent, but Piper could see there was a hint of loneliness in there.
"I've stolen your drinking buddy haven't I?"
"Nah, plenty of other fish in the sea as they say."
"There might be fish in the sea, but they won't match you drink for drink like that one can I bet."
"Drinking I can do with any one of these fine ladies. It's not the drinking I miss."
Nicky ordered their drinks and Piper helped her back with the trays. Lorna, Dannii and Taystee were all back from the dance floor now and they were settled in a booth while Alex and Poussey got serious with the remainder of their pool match.
"I'll take these over to Alex, see if I'm forgiven yet." She winked at Nicky as she took two shots and beers over to the pool table, where Poussey was leaning over for a shot and Alex was trying to distract her by psyching her out and telling her she made the wrong choice.
"Hey, I'm gonna sit with Taystee and everyone at the table while you finish your game. I brought you these as a peace offering. Am I allowed back in your good books if I drive you home too?" Piper batted her eyelashes.
"What do you think?" Alex pulled the beer and Piper towards her so she could lean in for a very quick, but searing kiss.
"Mmmm, I think I'm forgiven." Piper grinned and Alex gave her a quick slap on the ass as she walked back to the table.
Piper sat next to Taystee, who was telling them all about this new boyfriend she's been seeing since before Christmas and showing everyone pictures of his half naked body that probably weren't meant to be shared when he agreed to her taking them. Lorna was thanking her for the Christmas box and asking about the new ranges they had designed for Spring when Piper became aware of a girl she faintly recognised from somewhere sitting in the corner. She was in her early 20's with short red hair and she had barely said a word since Piper sat down. To the point where Piper started to get paranoid that the woman was side-eying her with death stares when Piper's attention was fixed in the opposing direction. Every time Piper tried to catch her attention with her eyes to make an introduction of bring her into the conversation, she would appear riveted by something Nicky was saying next to her or look over Piper as though she was waiting for someone. She shrugged it off when Alex and Poussey came back. They shuffled up and Alex pressed her legs up to Pipers as she settled into her seat, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. "Having fun?" She asked as she linked their fingers under the table.
"Yeah. Wait, am I getting a Champion's kiss here?"
"Afraid not. Your wounded soldier couldn't come back from the damage caused by that misfired friendly fire earlier."
"Aw, poor you. How about I kiss it better later?"
"Ahem. Didn't your Mothers teach you two any table manners?!" Taystee pointed between them. "No googly eyes at the table please! People are trying to enjoy a drink here." As Piper laughed, she caught the red head in the corner rolling her eyes. Sure of what she saw now, Piper was racking her brains for where she'd seen her before. She must work at NY Logistics if she's out with everyone after work….The woman who came into the store asking to speak to the Manager. Yes! She had attitude then too, what the Hell was her problem?
"Fair point." Piper held her hands up in mock surrender. "You're gonna have to close your eyes for this then babe." Piper pulled Alex by her lapels and kissed her full on the mouth while she looked the red head square in the eye. Yes, that was it. It was an Alex thing. She saw the woman clench her jaw and avert her eyes, as Piper felt Alex move her hand to run through Piper's hair while the rest of the table either cat-called or made puking noises. Satisfied she nailed it, Piper closed her eyes to melt into their kiss briefly before breaking it softly but staying a breath away from those luscious ruby lips she couldn't get enough of.
"Is that where it hurts babe?"
"So painful….more medicine please."
"Enough! Enough, OK. We get it. You've made your excuses to leave early more times than any of us needs to see. Please take your teenage hormones out of this bar. Jesus I haven't had enough beer tonight." Nicky waved her hands dismissively before waving her empty bottle around the table. "Are you going to get us another round before you go play spin the bottle in the park Vause?"
Alex rolled her eyes and took Piper by the hand to join her at the bar, gripping her waist firmly to pull her against her taller frame when they got there. She leaned down and gave Piper a kiss on the nose before standing straight again and stroking her thumb along her jawline.
"It's a nice surprise that you came tonight. How did you know where to find us?"
"Nicky."
"Should have guessed. I tried to call you to ask you know."
"I saw a missed call and figured that's what it was but I didn't see it til Nicky messaged me."
Alex ordered the drink and they took them to the table by way of a farewell.
"Goodnight team. I've sorted the tab, but feel free to stay on - just don't forget to bring your hungover assess into work in the morning."
They said their goodbyes and Piper led Alex through the bar and into the cold night air to her waiting car.
"So….I can drop you home, but I need to come back to my place because I've got some stuff I need to sort out tonight. Or….you can stay at mine. Up to you." Piper said as she checked her mirrors and pulled out into the street.
"Your place is fine with me." Alex yawned and they drove in silence for a few blocks until Piper broke the reverie.
"OK." Piper waited for a few beats before her curiosity got the better of her. "Who was the red head who was out with you tonight?"
"Redhead?...You mean Dannii?"
"I don't know. Early twenties, red hair, flawless skin, looks at you like a puppy waiting to be petted…."
"Yes, that's Dannii. Except that last bit, which is your imagination." Alex was watching Piper and smirking as she spoke.
"And that expression you think I can't see in the dark proves that it isn't. What's her deal?"
"Her deal? She works in the warehouse with Taystee and Poussey, been with us about 6 months or so."
"And?"
"And she deals with the inventory, sorting out the labelling and checking the delivery vans have the rights stuff on them before they go out."
"I'm listening."
"I see that. I don't exactly have her HR record on hand right now to talk about her career development plan though. Why the sudden interest?"
"I'm not interested in what you're paying her to do. I'm interested in why she's so fucking interested in you." Piper kept her eyes firmly on the road as she turned the corner to her street.
"Seriously?" Alex chuckled.
Piper didn't answer, but drove on to pull up in front of her apartment, cutting the engine and turning to Alex.
"Seriously. Why is she looking at you like that?"
Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes as she opened the door to get out, Piper following close behind and locking the car as they walked to the front door.
"She's not looking at me like anything Piper. I'm her boss and she's just a kid."
"Both of those things are true and neither of them explain the evil eyes I've been getting all night off her." Piper pushed the door open for them to get inside into the warm.
"Ah, so that's what this is about…." The brunette smiled. "She's probably feeling a bit protective over you joining the team on a night out. We don't usually have anyone there who isn't working with us, so she's maybe just wary of an outsider is all." Alex shrugged and took her coat and boots off. "What's with the paper mosaic on the floor?"
"That is NOT what I saw in the bar tonight and those are the papers I need to take to my meeting with John Peters tomorrow."
"Oh, great! You got sorted with a meeting then?" Alex went to pour a glass of water while Piper hung her coat up and took her shoes off.
"Yes, he's seeing us tomorrow lunch time. I'm kinda nervous about it actually."
"You've got nothing to be nervous about. He's there to help you, remember? You're the customer here and he's there to help you guys. He's the one who should be nervous, believe me if that Chapman and Harper tag-team get going!"
Piper smiled and knelt to collect the papers up that she wanted to take with her to the meeting. Alex gulped some water down before heading to the bathroom. Having collected everything together that she wanted to take to the meeting, Piper locked the door and turned the lights out before heading to the bathroom herself.
"Are you using my toothbrush again?"
"Until you get me my own for sleepovers, yes. Besides, there's nothing in your mouth I haven't already had in my own." Alex raised an eyebrow and smirked as she finished brushing her teeth.
"Well, I don't know where your mouth's been do I?"
"Are you saying you want your bacteria back? You'll have to come get them." Alex smirked before heading past her and into the bedroom.
Piper got washed and came into the bedroom to change, where Alex was already sitting up under the covers and drinking some water. Her eyes followed the blonde as she removed her shirt and threw it into the laundry basket, before unfastening her bra and slipping it from her shoulders and doing the same. Reaching for a camisole top from the drawer, she caught Alex's eyes on her and froze for a second before quickly pulling the black top over her head and straightening it over her torso. She hadn't really changed in front of her fully since they got back together and doing it while Alex was watching now made her feel suddenly exposed.
"Aw, I was enjoying that channel. Don't switch it over."
"We have to be up early in the morning. I need my head in the game for this meeting and I don't want your libido tiring me out." Piper grabbed some shorts and headed into the bathroom to take her jeans and panties off so she could wear them. Returning a few moments later, Alex was lying down now, watching silently as Piper got under the covers. The fact that Piper had gone to change in the bathroom instead of in front of her had surprised Alex, reminding her of what happened on Sunday night when Piper told her what happened to her in prison.
"Are you Ok if I turn the light out?"
"Yeah, fine with me." Alex replied. Switching the lamp off, Piper moved over to put her arm over Alex's waist as the other woman lay on her back in the darkness.
"Did you have a good night tonight?" The blonde asked after a few moments of quiet.
"Yeah, it's been good."
Piper sensed a shift in Alex's mood and couldn't help but feel responsible somehow. She shuffled closer to her warmth and lifted her head, signalling for Alex to put her arm underneath and support her neck as she rested on her shoulder now. Alex did just that and squeezed her close, kissing her head as they settled back down. Well, at least she wasn't mad Piper thought. A few more minutes passed and Piper was beginning to feel sleepy when Alex spoke again.
"Have you opened those letters from the NYPD?" Her voice was clear, but quiet when she spoke to Piper.
"I haven't seen any letters. Must have arrived in the mail today."
"How did they get on the book shelf if you haven't seen them?" Alex was trying to remain calm, but she hated the fact that Piper was lying to her.
"How would you know they were on the book shelf in the first place?" Now Piper's tone was rising and she forced herself to remain lying on Alex to avoid the eye contact.
"Because I knocked them off by accident when I plugged my laptop in the other morning. So I know they didn't arrive today. Why haven't you opened them?" She was speaking as though she was in one of the contract talks with a formal business proposal now.
"Out of everything on that book shelf, THAT is what you accidentally knocked off? Likely story." Piper moved away from Alex now and lay on her back, recoiling from any contact.
"Yes, that's exactly what happened. You didn't answer me Piper. Why haven't you opened them?"
"How about 'none of your God damned business'?"
"Piper…."
"Don't fucking Piper me. I will open them when I want to open them Alex. It has nothing to do with you when I open my mail." Piper turned away in an attempt to close the discussion.
"You're right, it doesn't." Alex spoke to the ceiling before turning over to face the opposite way from Piper.
They eventually fell asleep, the air thick with tension and unsaid words. Piper woke first in the morning and was careful to get up and turn the shower on without waking Alex. She was awake far earlier than she needed to be, but figured the extra time could be used for extra preparation for her meeting with John Peters. Last night, she had never asked Alex how she had managed to get them this meeting, but she surmised that her girlfriend had used her charms and some sort of payment to buy this for her. It's exactly what she used to do in the cartel and Piper felt sick at the thought of history repeating itself. It was precisely what Polly was warning her about and she thought about that hard while the hot water pounded her back in the shower.
Piper was sat poring over paperwork at the breakfast bar when Alex came in a couple of hours later. Alex was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing last night and hadn't bothered to shower. Piper didn't look up when the brunette came in and pretended to be engrossed in making notes, avoiding eye contact with her and not sure of what to say.
"Morning." Alex said simply as she walked to stand by the table where Piper was sitting.
"Hi. I'd offer you a coffee, but it means boiling some water on the stove." Piper said without looking up.
"It's OK. I need to go anyway. I've got my own paperwork to look at." Piper still hadn't raised her head, so Alex walked over to the door and put her boots on.
"OK, well if you're sure." Piper chanced lifting her head when she knew Alex was concentrating on tying her laces.
"Yeah, I'll get the subway home first to get changed."
"I can give you a lift if you want." Piper offered.
"No. I wouldn't want to interfere with your plans." The words were becoming increasingly barbed between them.
"It's not a problem, I just need to tidy this paperwork up first."
"I'd offer to help, but I wouldn't want to be accused of snooping."
"I can manage. This AND my mail."
"Clearly. Not sure ignoring it counts as managing it though, but whatever. It's none of my business, like you said."
"It's mail. Can you try and keep this in a bit of perspective?!" Piper banged her hand on the table as she stood to face Alex now.
"Exactly what perspective should I have? The same as you where you stick your head in the sand and pretend this court case isn't happening?!" Alex stood with her arms folded now, jacket on and ready to leave.
"It's my name on the front. You shouldn't have a perspective at all!" Piper shouted before walking to the kitchen to put the empty glass she'd been drinking from in the sink. As she turned the tap on, she heard the sound of the front door slamming.
Piper kicked the kitchen unit under the sink before moving back to the table and swiping all of the PoPi paperwork onto the floor. How can something as stupid as unopened mail have caused this? If Alex hadn't been searching through her things, she wouldn't have gotten so defensive about it.
XXXXX
Piper caught the subway to work later that morning and arrived before Polly by a good half an hour. She was in a foul mood and went about getting the store ready for opening with about as much interest and enthusiasm as if she was putting the garbage out. Polly came in just before opening time and brought coffees and pastries as well as an arm full of the sample products they agreed to showcase with John Peters to show their best sellers and new season range as well.
"Morning!" Polly dropped the treats on the counter before taking her coat off and hanging it up.
"Hey Pol."
"I still think we should have gone out to celebrate last night, but I'm glad we're going to this meeting and we're not hungover I suppose. We're definitely celebrating tonight though right?" Polly was on her way to open the front door, not waiting for an answer.
"So, did you ask Alex how she got us the meeting?" Polly was on her way back to the counter now for her coffee and Piper was leaning against the back wall, deep in thought.
"No. We probably don't want to know."
"It doesn't matter anyway, but at least we'd know if he was expecting anything from us in return you know? Like, do we have to have a follow up appointment and pay full price for instance? Oh God, this cinnamon muffin is to die for."
"It doesn't matter what he expects, we're not paying for it."
"You're just going to refuse to pay are you? Fair enough, he can't make us, right?"
"No. It doesn't matter because we're not going."
"Yeah, well like you say, he can't make us have a second appointment. This was just for trying and getting some ideas anyway. We can't even afford his prices."
"We're not going at all. I already called and cancelled." Piper picked her coffee up, avoiding Polly's wide eyes.
"You what?!"
"I cancelled. We're going to do this our way." Piper looked Polly in the eye now, to add some confidence to her conviction.
"Why the fuck would you do that? Why would you do it without talking to me first?!" Polly was not only confused, but pretty annoyed now.
"Because we need to do this on our own. We shouldn't be relying on favours and people paying for us to get appointments. We should do it on our own merit. This is our business Pol, nobody else's. If John Peters won't see us without Alex paying him to do so, we'll find another route who will."
Polly regarded Piper for a minute before speaking again.
"Is that what she did? Paid him to meet us?"
"I don't know. Probably. Either way, we do it ourselves or we don't do it at all." She shrugged and picked up her coffee to head into the back room, leaving Polly dumbfounded by the counter. That lasted only a moment as Polly came into the room behind her mere seconds later.
"So what say do I get in whether we have the meeting or not?" Polly was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips now.
"I just don't think it's a good idea to use favours to get the advice we need."
"There's that word again. 'I'. Unless you had me sign away my share of this business in my sleep or under hypnosis, I'm a partner in this business. I hate to have to remind you, but I carried it on my own while you were behind bars too, so it's not fucking fair to go and make that kind of decision without my input."
"Pol, I didn't mean to do it without you…"
"Like Hell you didn't! Why couldn't you wait until we both got to work this morning to have the discussion together about whether the meeting should happen? You've got no God damned right to do that on your own."
"OK. Lesson learned." Piper raised her hands in surrender. "I won't make decisions without you again."
"Not good enough. This was massive for us Piper. It could have been a game changer…..Why have you really cancelled it?"
"I already told you."
"Does Alex know?"
Piper rolled her eyes and pushed past Polly to go back into the store.
"Fucks sake Piper! I can't run a business where major decisions are taken because you two have had a fight. Can't you get your head around separating business and pleasure?" Polly was hot on her heels, tearing through the store.
"Will you drop it please? The meeting is cancelled, we move on."
"No! I want you to call him back and say you made a mistake. I'm NOT scratching around to work on a business plan based on free advice on a user forum when we could have had a face to face with a top New York agency expert."
"I'm not going to do that Polly." Piper was defiant now and was not going to move.
"Fine. You can man the store today then and take the thousands of dollars that are pouring over the counter from the mass of customers walking around with arms full of our products." She gestured at the empty shop with her arms. "I need to get out of here." Polly grabbed her coat and left through the back door.
Polly had no idea where she was planning to go, she just needed to get some space away from her stubborn friend. Absentmindedly walking in to the coffee shop near the store, she ordered a coffee before sitting in a quiet corner to drink it. Piper had put her walls up now and there was no way to get past them before the time they were meant to be meeting with John. It just didn't make any sense. Piper was most worried about how they could maintain sales from Christmas by developing new ways to reach customers outside of New York. Polly had been content to let her lead on that – one of them looking at the future, the other looking after business as usual. It was working just fine. Then on a whim, the biggest opportunity they'd been given since getting the funding for the store was thrown on the floor in an apparent tantrum. Unless Piper had found out that Alex had got them this meeting through morally suspicious circumstances maybe? Pulling her phone from her bag, she scrolled her contacts until she found Alex and pressed the call button.
"Morning."
"Hi Alex. Can you talk?"
"It's Alex this morning is it? Must be serious. I can talk. Are you hoping for a last minute pep talk?"
"Not exactly."
"It's going to be tough to find some motivational words for you if you can't be more specific."
Polly sighed, not knowing how to ask this and suddenly feeling like she was going behind Piper's back by calling Alex in the first place. That actually didn't matter anyway right now and she'd deal with that later.
"Did you and Piper have a fight?"
"Why? Has she said something to you?"
"No. I can just tell. Have you?"
"Yes, this morning. Is she OK?" The worry was evident in Alex's voice and it wasn't surprising given some of the urgent calls she'd had in recent weeks related to Piper.
"She's OK. She's just morphed into an angry storm cloud….Was it about the meeting with John Peters today?"
"No. She was going through the papers for it this morning when I left though. What's happened? Has John cancelled on you?"
"The opposite. Piper cancelled on him. She did it first thing before I even got in."
"Why would she do that?"
"That's why I'm calling. She's insisting we don't need his help, but she was all up for it yesterday…..Alex, how did you get us this meeting? Is it anything illegal I should worry about?"
"What?! Of course not! You think I'd do something like that after what I put Piper through with the cartel?! Jesus Polly, give me some credit. John's brother works for me as a driver. He'd had a tough break and was struggling to find a steady job with a criminal record and I gave him a chance when nobody else would. John always said there was a favour to be returned if I ever needed it, so I called it in."
"Oh, so does Piper know that?"
"Well, she hasn't asked. I assume if she wanted to know, she would have asked. Why? Do you think she cancelled because she thinks I made some sort of dodgy deal with him?" Alex laughed at the thought of John getting involved in anything that wasn't by the book.
"I don't know. Maybe. I just don't understand how she can go from excited to cancelling in 12 hours. Could it be something to do with the fight you had this morning?"
"Um, maybe I guess."
"Will you tell me what it was about?"
Alex sighed. She wasn't one for airing dirty laundry and Polly wasn't her biggest fan at the best of times, so she could do without a sermon.
"I found a bunch of unopened letters from the NYPD on a shelf when I knocked them off by accident earlier this week. I was waiting for Piper to mention them, but she didn't. I asked her about them last night and she blew a gasket about me snooping. She's kind of right that it isn't any of my business when she chooses to open her mail, but I can't help but feel she's not opening them because she's avoiding what is inside. Things got a little heated and neither of us was backing down this morning."
"OK, so it's you she is lashing out at. Not John. That's good…Do you think he'd agree to see me on my own today? Like, if you called him to smooth things over a bit?"
"I think that's the worst thing you could do. John's a nice guy. I'm sure he'll arrange another appointment with you, but you'd better do it with Piper on board. If I rearrange something she cancelled in a huff, I'll be the bad guy yet again and you'll be going behind her back. You know how stubborn she can be."
"You're probably right. I just think we really need this and I don't want us to blow it over something silly." Polly resigned herself to losing the slot today and waiting for Piper to be more reasonable. "Are you going to try and talk to her then?"
"To be honest, no I'm not at the moment. I've got a lot on with work right now, so I was going to leave her to cool off a bit. As long as you can keep an eye on her….you know, in case of the drinking. I need to focus on work, which means I need to work late and concentrate my energy on getting this contract right. Can you watch out for her?"
"Yeah, sure. Alex, can you just speak to John and smooth things over with him? I don't know what Piper said, but just say we definitely want his help, but need more time to prepare or something?"
"I can do that. Pep talk over?"
"Yeah, thanks. You can go back to being SuperCunt now."