A/N: That last chapter was especially for Tara and everyone else who has the same anxieties as me about the lack of a coffee machine or the last time they went grocery shopping in the story. It keeps me awake at night wondering if I can write that Piper made a fresh smoothie when she didn't shop for 7 days... Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone - I love that people are reading the same words and interpreting the character feelings differently. I also love Nespresso prooffice ;-) You want some story now?
Poussey dropped Piper off at work and she arrived before Polly, so took to opening everything up and putting the heating on. It was a cold day in New York and the air was freezing, so she wanted their shop to feel warm and welcoming so people would stay a while and browse while they regained the feeling in their fingers and toes.
The coffee machine was as much an olive branch as a love letter and Piper appreciated Alex's gesture, though the snooping through her mail was something she wasn't happy about. She decided to send her a text to say thanks anyway though.
'Morning! Thanks for the wake-up call with a bonus caffeine high, it was perfect. X'
Putting her phone in her jeans pocket, she heard the back door open and was relieved to know Polly was coming back today and not avoiding her after their argument about the John Peters meeting. It was a few minutes before she came into the front of the store and Piper took a deep breath to speak first.
"Pol, I am really sorry about cancelling that meeting yesterday. I thought about what you said and you were right, it should have been a joint decision and I was out of line to cancel without talking to you first."
"I'm glad you're feeling guilty about it. That was a particularly shitty thing to do, seeing as how we need to increase sales." Polly stood with her arms folded across her body.
"I know. I just wanted us to do it on our own, without owing anyone any favours."
"Why would we owe favours?"
"Well, we don't know what Alex did to get that meeting. You've gotta admit it's suspect when we can't get past the start line and she can sort a personal call within minutes, don't you think?"
Polly sighed and sat in the chair next to Piper, rubbing her temples.
"You didn't ask her though did you?"
"Well, no…but it's obvious-"
"What is obvious is you waiting for her to do something wrong so you can jump up screaming 'I told you so!' like you got a full house in the bingo. I called her yesterday Piper."
"Polly! It's none of your business-" Piper started, hands on hips and ready to rage again.
"Just wait, will you? I called her and asked how she got us that meeting. John is the brother of a guy who works for Alex. She gave him a job in tough times and John was grateful for her giving him a chance and said he'd like to do something in return…She called it in for you Piper. The only favours here are on the part of Alex and John."
The wind was totally blown out of Piper's sails. This was exactly the same sort of conversation she'd had with Nicky when Alex went to London at the last moment. She was quiet for a while as she considered what to say to her exasperated friend.
"Well, to be fair…you're the one always telling me to be careful with her…" She finally countered.
"Don't even try and put this on me Piper. I do tell you that, but that doesn't mean jump to conclusions and make snap decisions without knowing the facts. If you ask her something and she lies to you, that's different. But she wasn't hiding anything here Piper, a simple question from you would have avoided all of this." Polly stood, seeing how shitty Piper was feeling right now, stepping close enough to take hold of her by the shoulders.
"Look, it's done now. I was really mad at you yesterday and I am glad that you're being cautious with Alex after what you guys have been through. But you have to start communicating Piper. You're a different person since you came back from Litchfield, I know that. But there's no shanking to worry about out here and plenty of people want to help you and do nice things for you because they like you. Alex is supposed to be your girlfriend for God's sake – isn't that still the case?" Polly dropped her head to catch Piper's eyes.
"Yeah."
"OK. Well, isn't it a nice thing that your girlfriend wanted to help to get you a meeting with this guy?"
"Yes….it's nice OK. I know that. It's just I'd like us to be able to do it all on our own you know?" Piper shrugged and started to straighten the papers on the counter top.
"Fuck that. If someone's going to give us a step up the ladder at any point on this back breaking journey to be successful with PoPi, I'm sure as Hell not saying no to it. Be real about it, we needed investment to help us get this far, we should use whatever expertise we can get to make it in this. Alex has managed to get her company up and running and she should have a few tricks up her sleeve that we can benefit from. If you are doing sexual favours to get them from her, I'm all for it." Polly waggled her eyebrows and grinned as she gently punched Piper on the arm.
XXXXX
Alex was looking around the locations that Lorna had shortlisted for new premises when her phone buzzed with a message from Piper. She smiled when she saw it, but put her phone back in her pocket to concentrate on what the real estate guy was telling her about the place by the harbour. It was expensive purely because it was by the harbour and Alex had serious reservations about security in this area. The roof in particular seemed in need of an overhaul and if any of their stock got damaged through weather getting in, the contracts were as good as torn up while they were on probation effectively. She tested the waters a bit on whether the price was negotiable on the basis of the repair work and the fact it looked like it had been empty for a while, but she couldn't see them moving here and getting the work done in the timescales they were working to right now. Heading over to her last appointment, she dialled Lorna on her hands free to check all of the information had been sent from her lawyer to deliver the hair fashion contract.
"So, we need to have the extra storage in place by Saturday at the latest then?...Fuck, I just can't see us using any of these places as quickly as that…Yeah, the harbour was perfect for space and location, but the ceiling tiles were in bad shape and there's no way we could re-roof before the weekend even if we signed today."
"We're trying to make some space in our stock room, but it's only gonna be for the smaller and lighter stuff as we'll have to put it up high mostly. If we can't start taking the stock this weekend, it's gonna be too late for the ships to take it and we're talking air freight prices to make it on time. You know how much that's going to cost for the amount we're moving to Italy Alex."
"You're right. Shit…Can you work out some costs for if we can only send what we can fit in our stock room on the ships and the rest via plane then? So I can see the risk we're deciding on? I've got one ore place to see today and I'll have to put some pressure on the real estate guys to get out there and find us something quickly if it's no good."
"I'll get on it now. Fingers crossed for the next appointment then. Speak to you later Alex."
"Bye Lorna."
XXXXX
Piper tried to distract herself for the rest of the day with clearing and wiping down all of the shelves in the store, then re-filling with a change around of the stock so the spring scents were closest to the door. She tried to keep her mind off the fact that in the morning she had her first rape counselling session and hadn't mentioned it to Polly yet. Her best friend didn't know anything about the attack when she was in prison and she didn't want to talk about it either, so she switched from pretending it wasn't happening as she hummed to chart tunes on the radio and going over a planned dialogue in her head about how she could tell Polly she needed time off without too much truth or lies. There had been a few more customers through the door today, which was a relief, but two of them in the store full time was overkill right now. Before she knew it, it was 5:30 and Polly was starting to get things ready to close the place down for the night, still not knowing that Piper needed the morning off. If she worked any place else, she could phone in with a phony cough and paper towel over the speaker for a sick day.
As they locked the back door and Polly picked her phone out of her bag to text Pete, Piper saw her chance.
"Oh, hey Pol. I forgot to mention that Sarah from the VSU sorted an appointment for me tomorrow morning. I know it' a bit late notice, but are you OK with me coming in a bit later tomorrow?" She kept her tone casual and avoided eye contact, focusing on the door lock instead.
"Yeah, sure. Did she move your next appointment to an earlier day then?" Polly didn't look up from her phone, thankfully.
"She was switching some stuff around and called me to ask if Friday would be OK and I said I thought it would be fine. I should be in by like 11 at the latest I think though. Thanks, I'd better run if I want to get that subway before I freeze on the platform." She started to walk quickly and finished the sentence talking over her shoulder to avoid any further questions. "See you tomorrow!" Rounding the corner, Piper pulled out her phone and saw that Alex hadn't replied to her text. Maybe her girlfriend was still pissed at her for the argument they had over the court case letters and she also knew Piper had cancelled the meeting with John Peters now, and that could have happened after she sent the coffee machine. Piper sighed and put her phone away until she got home and took her coat off. She called her Dad to tell him a date had been set for the court case and he wanted to check she wasn't planning on using the 'douchebag' who represented her last time. Piper reassured him she wouldn't, but she didn't know who yet. He offered to check his contacts at the golf club to see if they could recommend anyone, but she suspected she really needed someone local to her and also someone fairly affordable by New York standards. After checking in on the family and thankfully finding that her Mother was out at Bridge club, she said goodnight and started to look through the cupboards for something to eat and poured a glass of wine from a bottle of red that she found in the process. She couldn't really be bothered to cook anything and resigned to making some toast with a tin of alphabet spaghetti heated on top. Classy, very classy. The wine was finished before the spaghetti was even warmed and she poured another. It had been a tough couple of days, she reasoned, so she deserved a little relaxed glass or two. Picking up her plate to eat at the dinner table, she caught sight of the NYPD logos peeking out over the top of the shelf and resolved to sit on the opposite side, facing away from them. Picking through her food, she started to wonder what sort of things she might be asked tomorrow and whether any of this might be used against her in the upcoming court case. Could they possibly turn this against her to lay the blame with her, rather that Darryl? It would be just her luck for that to happen. She was suddenly afraid that telling someone might mean it becomes official and can be used in Darryl's prosecution in some way. Fuck! There was no way she wanted that to happen. She didn't want her history in prison to be the reason that sick bastard got away with an attempted rape on her and the actual rape of two other women. The thought of them possibly not getting justice on account of Piper's past made her nauseous and she pushed her plate of half eaten food aside.
She stood to pour another glass of wine and her phone buzzed with a message on the kitchen worktop. It was from Alex.
'Hey. Glad you like it Been really busy at work today, sorry. How's things? X'
Piper had one hand on the bottle of wine and the other on her phone. She knew if she poured another glass from the bottle, there would only be a small amount left to finish and she'd have the whole thing. As she caught herself staring between her options, she reasoned that it was perfectly OK to finish a bottle of wine on her own on a work night because it wasn't hard liquor. She also reasoned that Alex and Polly wouldn't know any different if she did drink it all if she sent a quick reply back saying everything was fine and she was heading to bed. She poured another large glass and walked to the sofa with it, her phone in her pocket again. After flicking the TV onto a chat show repeat, she finished the glass and went to empty the last of it before getting her phone out to send a quick reply to Alex.
'All food here. I know you talked to Polish, but its K with metro. X'
'Um, did you let autocorrect write that?'
'No. Stupid phone. Weather are you?'
'I'm at home, if I translated correctly. Are you OK?'
'Fine.'
A second later, her phone started ringing.
"Hello Alex."
"Hello you. I'm not bad at languages, but my autocorrect replacement is a bit rusty."
"You are good at languages! Speak French to me."
"Êtes-vous seul à la maison?" Alex asked in a sultry voice.
Piper giggled in response.
"Hmm. Can I call you back in 15 minutes?"
"Should I slip into something more comfortable if you're going to read me a French novel?"
"15 minutes. Don't leave your phone. And yes, your pyjamas sound like a good idea." Piper hung up and finished the rest of her glass before looking through her cupboard for the opened vodka bottle. If Alex was going to call her back and talk French some more, she could properly relax and there was no more wine now. Piper was lying on the sofa watching the chat show again when Alex called her back.
"Bonjour Alex." Piper slurred.
"Bonjour. Are you at home?"
"In French Alex! You're sposed to be saying French to me."
"Oiu, bien sur. Es-tu a la maison?"
Piper giggled again.
"You know, this is a very one sided conversation when I'm doing all the talking and you're just giggling back at me."
"You're not saying it in French Alex! Say everything in French….all the time…..like…FOREVER."
"Only if you're gonna reply in French."
"No fair. You know my French sucks."
"And you know I'm a good teacher."
Piper giggled again.
"Alex! I was talking about speaking French, not the other thing."
"What other thing?"
"You know, the other thing I mean." Alex was taken back to the drunk Piper who was flirty and coy when they were together the first time. That was the Piper who wore her emotions on her sleeve and Alex could read her so well to pre-empt her reactions and was already waiting with a get well plan for bringing her around. It seemed like an age ago compared to the Piper she was developing a new relationship with now. There were still a lot of the familiar characteristics there, but this was a more mature version that wore battle scars and hid emotions and thoughts more.
"No, I have no idea what you are referring to Ms Chapman."
Piper giggled again and was about to reply when there was a knock at the door.
"Ugh, someone at the door. Hold that thought." Piper left her phone on the sofa and stomped over to the front door, fully expecting it to be Polly with a Chinese take out.
"How long do I need to hold this thought for Ms Chapman?"
Piper tried to keep her grin from spreading over her face, but it burst through no matter how hard she pressed her lips together. Alex raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Still on the stoop and holding the thought, as instructed." Alex gestured towards the doorway.
"You can come in." Piper stepped aside and Alex brought a large holdall in with her, dropping it by the coat hooks.
"Um, I said you could come in, not actually move in?!"
"Don't worry, I know it's protocol to book U-Haul for that. It's just some clothes to get changed and some work stuff."
"OK." Piper started to close the door behind her and caught Alex moving the vodka bottle away into the cupboard again.
"I only had a glass."
"OK….Sorry, did you want some more?" Alex lifted the bottle again and raised her eyebrows at Piper.
"No."
"Good. Because I want to taste you, not vodka." Alex wrapped her arms around Piper's waist and pulled her in for a chaste kiss. She moved her lips slowly against Piper's, trying to strike a balance between loving and supportive, but keeping just a tongue flick away from passionate. Piper was just drunk enough to be horny and Alex did not want to open that can of worms right now. Alex eventually broke away for a breath and leaned back to look at Piper properly.
"So, how come you're here in my house?"
"I wanted coffee." Alex shrugged and stroked her fingers through Piper's hair.
"I see….Is that like a new neighbour making the excuse to come around for a cup of sugar?" Piper raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, it's exactly like that. Who knows what I might be calling around for next time." Alex chuckled and released Piper from her grip to walk over to the coffee machine.
"Are you going to make it or is that what you wanted me to teach you tonight?"
"Let me do it. I need the practice." Piper puller her out of the way and started up the machine.
Alex sat on the sofa and pulled her laptop out and the pile of papers for vacant warehouses she was going through when Piper texted her earlier.
Piper brought their coffees over a few minutes later and sat next to her on the sofa.
"You're still working? It's like 9pm Alex!"
"Yeah, I've got some stuff to do tonight. I wanted to see you though." She turned and kissed the blonde on the cheek, putting her mug down and smacking her lips. "Mmmm, that's an amazing coffee machine you've got there. Wherever did you get such a fine piece of equipment?"
"Oh, some old trout gave it to me." Piper shrugged and put her mug down too.
"Hey, old I will accept, but TROUT?! Seriously?!" Alex tickled Piper under her arms and around her ribs and they both fell back onto the sofa laughing.
"Ah, my ribs! Ah, ah!...Ok, I take it back!" Piper gasped.
"Now, who gave it to you did you say?"
"My gorgeous girlfriend, who may or may not be using it as an excuse to visit me late at night with an overnight bag."
"Exactly right." Alex grinned and drank some more coffee.
"So how come you're looking at all these…." Piper lifted the papers up and regarded the front covers of a few brochures.
"Because we signed that Rigoveri contract in Italy and we start straight away, so we need more space."
"Oh my God, Alex that's amazing!" Piper was genuinely happy for her and threw her arms around Alex for a bear hug that went on and on. Alex laughed and smiled big at Piper being so happy for her.
"I know right, the girls are thrilled too."
"That's massive for you guys! I can't believe it's all happened so quickly too. Are you moving NY Logistics?"
Alex told her about the need for more space and the work that Lorna was doing to try and work out what it might cost to send everything by air if they couldn't get new premises agreed before the weekend.
"That's crazy. How are you guys going to do all of that?"
"We're going to have to hire, but that won't be something we can do quickly. Nicky's looking at the overtime situation and everyone's happy to pitch in to make it work. There's just so much to do now."
"Can I help with anything?"
"Nah, you've got enough on with PoPi right now. Thanks though." She smiled, appreciating the offer.
"I'm serious Alex. The store is really quiet at the moment and Polly can easily manage on her own for a bit if I can do anything. Just tell me what you need and if I can do it, I'll be there."
"I'll bear it in mind. We might even want to borrow your stock room at this rate!"
Piper insisted she wanted to help Alex to work tonight, so she was given the job of working through the brochures and assessing each one against the criteria that Alex had drawn up for cost, space, security, proximity to transport links and state of repair. Alex knew she wouldn't last too long after seeing the empty bottle of wine and before she was half way through the brochures, Alex saw her snoring softly against the arm of the sofa. The brunette smiled and stroked Piper's hair behind her ear, looking at the peaceful vision in front of her. Gently pushing her arms beneath the sleeping woman, Alex gently lifted her up and carried her to bed, shuffling her under the covers as quietly as she could so she didn't wake her. Bringing some headache pills and a large glass of water back to put beside the pillow, Alex kissed her on the forehead and went back to burn the midnight oil on the warehouse puzzle she was struggling to solve.