A/N: Thanks for your reviews as always - massive thanks to the regular contributors. You guys are great at giving us authors feedback and it really is what makes us keep writing, so thanks for keeping up with that so regularly. I've very deliberately not defined whether Alex and Piper are still together in the last chapter because they don't know either. There will be eggshells around them and there will be an avoidance of the subject, but that suits them both at the moment. Neither woman wants to be without the other and they don't want to hurt each other either, so they're in suspense. We're moving at a slightly quicker pace towards the court case happening now as this is pivotal to the story. I know where the reviews are coming from with the calls for Alex to make Piper fight to be with her, but the timing wouldn't be right for that at the moment. Piper would shut down and withdraw right now, rather than fight. She doesn't have the energy, which is why she wanted to take a break from Alex. It's all a little overwhelming at the moment, so you have to give her a little more patience guys - just like Alex! Anyway, that was longer than planned - on with the story...
Despite having Piper in her arms for much of the night, Alex hadn't slept well at all. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the night before and analysing every word that had been spoken between them. Piper had barely stirred from the foetal position she drifted to sleep in, her back pressed into Alex's front as she breathed deeply. Alex brushed the blonde hair from her neck with her nose as she gently inhaled the intoxicating scent of Piper's hair and kissed the top of her scalp as she rested her head back on the pillow. The t-shirt that Piper had changed into last night had ridden up above her waist as she slept and Alex could feel the warm skin of Piper's back against her belly as she breathed. She moved her palm to rest against the soft skin above her waist and allowed her fingertips to make feather light touches in the same area, closing her eyes to focus on the sensation of the touch. It was the closest she had got to Piper's bare skin there in such a long time and her skin burned from the contact. She longed to be able to wake the blonde up by kissing her ear and whispering erotic salutations as her girlfriend would slowly react to her teasing movements along her beautiful torso. She imagined Piper smiling sleepily as she felt Alex pushing the clothing up further still to send chill bumps across her golden skin as she reached back to run her fingers into Alex's dark hair, urging her to continue with the kisses on her neck. Their legs would entwine and she would move her fingers over and around the blonde's sensitive breasts, with Piper pressing forward to seek her touch in the place she wanted it. Alex would smile and whisper close to Piper's ear, telling her that good things come to those who wait before trailing her fingers over her wanting nipples. Each pass over her hardened buds would be slower and firmer, causing Piper to press her thighs together and moan softly at Alex giving her what she wanted. The brunette would move her long and slender thigh between Piper's legs and raise it slowly, before moving it back down. Each movement up would be a little closer to Piper's aching core and the friction between her thighs caused by the movement would have Piper writhing to press herself lower to get the all-important contact so much sooner. Eventually, she would relent and press her milky skin against Piper's dampened panties and enjoy the sensation of the aroused blonde moving her pussy against her in a circular motion. She envisaged Piper reaching up to take Alex's hand from teasing her breasts and pull it down towards the waistband of her panties, pressing their fingers together to slip beneath the material and to where Piper needed her most. Alex swallowed hard and screwed her eyes tightly shut, blinking away the moisture that was building there. Balling her hand into a fist to stop any reflexive movements, she tried to steady her breathing.
She felt guilty for the pleasure that tingled in the pads of her fingers for the briefest moment and knew she had to stop the skin on skin contact. Afraid to wake her girlfriend, she stilled her hand and pulled the t-shirt down to cover the space to her panties, resting her hand over the material again as though to seal the wound she was inflicting on herself. She wiped her eyes with the sides of her fingers and pressed her lips softly into the hair behind Piper's ear, whispering softly "I love you" into the straw coloured hair before putting her arm over her side and pulling Piper into her more.
Alex must have dozed off again as she awoke to Piper turning in her arms to face her.
"Hey." Piper hooked a stray length of dark hair from across Alex's face and looped it behind her ear so she could see her face clearly. Alex stirred and stretched her neck a little before opening her eyes gingerly.
"Hey." Alex smiled at the blue eyes observing her as though she were in a petrie dish.
"I really have to get up." Piper leaned in to peck a kiss on Alex's nose as they lay facing each other on the pillow.
"Why are you whispering?" Alex whispered back.
"I don't know. Because it feels like the middle of the night?" Piper's tones were still hushed. Alex chuckled.
"Yeah, it does. Maybe we should stay here until we are sure it's morning." Alex smiled and hooked her leg over the long toned calves that were brushing against hers under the covers, pulling them towards her. Piper grinned and reached up to stroke her thumb across the porcelain skin of Alex's cheek.
"Always the temptress between the sheets….But I really can't. I'm already taking so much time off lately that I need to pull my weight this weekend. Besides, that enormous window right above us tells me it's morning already." Piper rolled onto her back to stretch out her full length in the bed, groaning at the delicious stretch in her muscles.
"And you say I'm the temptress…"Alex raised a brow and propped herself up on her elbow as she observed Piper from a slight height advantage now.
"I do and you are." Piper smiled and slid out of the bed, gathering the clothes Alex had loaned her last night, padding to the bathroom to change. Alex heard the door lock and sighed before getting up and pulling on some jeans and a hoodie, tying her hair up in a messy bun. She headed downstairs to put some coffee on and popped a couple of slices of toast in the machine before checking her phone. Nicky had sent her a couple of texts and there was a mail from Lorna to say that the Rigoveri shipment was complete and the last containers were en route now. That was a relief, well it would be when they arrived safely. Alex's luck lately meant there was every chance of a Titanic size iceberg popping up half a mile from docking, but she dismissed the thought as Piper appeared in the kitchen.
"Is one of these for me?" Piper pointed towards the two mugs on the side.
"Yeah. What do you want on your toast?" Alex dropped the hot slices onto a plate before looking through the cupboards for condiments.
"Marmalade? Or jam, either. Thanks." Piper got her phone out of her coat pocket to text Polly she was on her way before sitting down at the table.
"There you go. What time do you need to be at PoPi?" Alex put the plated breakfast on the table before turning to put a couple of slices in for herself.
"8:30 really so we're ready to open at 9."
"OK. Cool."
The mundane conversation was easy and Alex really wanted to continue on this track, unnerved by any silence between them in case Piper filled it with an announcement about their relationship status. She busied herself tidying the bread away and wiping down the surfaces in the kitchen as Piper ate her toast. Alex buttered her own breakfast before sitting down opposite the blonde at the table.
"Did I tell you Polly met with John last week?" Piper suddenly asked as she brushed crumbs off her fingertips.
"No. How'd it go?"
"Really good apparently. Polly was nervous, but she said he had some great ideas and didn't dismiss anything we wanted to consider for the future. We've got some more work to do now around the brands to tidy up what our core product line looks like, but we've got some direction now. I feel like we can focus our stress on something positive."
"That sounds like a great meeting then. I told you he is a decent guy. He's got a lot of experience in turning brands around and making new business ideas a reality. There's a reason he's one of the top guys in his field."
"Yes, I know. You were right and I was wrong. AGAIN."
"I didn't mean that. I meant he's good at what he does and you don't realise it until you work with him. I was the same when he first offered to help." Alex shrugged.
Piper stood up and downed the rest of her coffee, putting the dirty plate and mug in the dishwasher.
"You don't need to do that you know."
"What?"
"Keep tidying up after yourself. You're a guest, so I'm supposed to do that."
"Well, it's no hardship to put things away. I know where everything is already. You keep everything in the same places you always have, so it kinda feels familiar I guess."
"Everything does." Alex spoke softly and before she had a chance to check herself. Piper ran her hand through her hair quickly before picking her coat up.
"I really have to go…..Thanks for breakfast." She leaned down to peck Alex on the cheek quickly before leaving.
XXXXX
Alex resolved to leave the ball in Piper's court from the moment she left her apartment on Saturday morning. It was no good trying to second guess the blonde's emotions or motives for her decisions right now and she found herself over-analysing everything. It was exhausting quite frankly and she started to wonder whether Piper might have been right to suggest they both take a step back from their relationship while they had so many other stressors to distract them. She had a lot to work out with her Lawyer to get these new contracts set up from her trip with Nicky and didn't want to leave Bill's crew up in the air with the prospect of future work either. There was plenty to keep her mind occupied over the coming weeks already and she'd start on Monday.
Knowing that the Rigoveri order was dealt with, Alex decided to take the day off to get on top of things at home. She texted all of the girls to see if they were up for a poker night at her place tomorrow night and there was a resounding holler of appreciation for the offer. She took the car to be valeted to get rid of all the sand and food wrappers from her road trip last week, took her business suits in for professional cleaning, did some grocery shopping and tidied her apartment up ready for everyone coming around on Sunday.
XXXXX
Both Saturday and Sunday had been busy at the store, thanks to a local rally that was taking place around the corner in support of pension rights for health workers. It was good to see so much cash coming over the counter and it was a good job that both Piper and Polly were in on both days as they hadn't know about the rally until the day. After a couple of early sales, they put some boards up in the front window offering a discount for health workers with valid ID, showing their support with some coloured balloons. People were honking their horns on the way past and waving their thanks, so the mood was great on both days.
"It's been soo good to see actual cash bills and be scratching around for small enough change. It takes me back to when we first opened Piper. I'd forgotten how simple it was to just exchange soap for cash in order to run a business." Polly shouted over her shoulder as she turned the 'closed' sign over and locked the front door.
"I know what you mean. It's transactional business at it's most basic – like kindergarten playing shop."
"Yeah, none of this need for writing business plans, devising marketing strategies and checking balance sheets every damned week."
"Are you falling out of love with our shop life Pol?"
"No. Well, maybe a little out of love with the paperwork." Polly picked her jacket up. "God, I can't wait for a hot soak in the bath when I get in. Pete's picking me up if you want a lift?"
"Thanks, but I'm OK."
"Is Alex picking you up?"
Piper scowled at Polly for suggesting it.
"What? You don't have to be fucking to get a lift home."
"I'm quite capable of taking the subway thanks."
"Are you seeing her tonight?"
"No. I'm taking your advice and running a bath. I have a date with our cocoa bean and ylang ylang bath soak and a bottle of white wine as it happens and I am very excited by that." Piper grabbed her coat as they turned the lights out and locked the back door.
"Are we going to make a start on the marketing plan tomorrow? Put some of John's ideas into some sort of order?" Polly fastened her coat and they walked towards where Pete would pick her up by the road side soon.
"Yeah, I think we should make a start on that. Have a good night and I'll see you in the morning OK?" Piper leaned in to hug her best friend before waving goodbye to catch the subway.
XXXXX
"Are you shitting me?" Nicky swigged her beer as she stood by the sink while Alex grabbed a couple more.
"No. She wants to cool things down I guess."
"Christ that girl can blow hot and cold."
"Give her a break Nic. She's going through some shit at the moment. The court case is right around the corner and she's got counsellors crawling out of her ass right now."
"Well that's mighty fucking understanding of you Vause…Are you sure you're Ok with that?"
"If it means not losing her completely, I have to be. I don't know how to fucking help you know. I feel like a spare part in the tool box at the moment."
"Maybe you need a counsellor of your own." Nicky punched her shoulder. "Come on, let me take some of your hard earned cash in the next game. That will give you a reason to get some crying therapy." Nicky grinned.
"Seriously?" Alex raised her eyebrows.
"It was a joke. They probably have Gamblers Anonymous for that, not counselling anyway."
XXXXX
On Monday morning, Alex got into the office early and prepared the paperwork she needed to take to her Lawyer to agree the new contracts. She had a proposal for Bill too, well it was more of an idea at the moment. She wanted to check a few things with her Lawyer before she announced anything to him though and called him to make an appointment to see him later in the week to talk about future projects. Lorna was in the main office first and they sat down together to look at staffing for the prospective clients that Alex and Nicky had spoken to. It looked like they had enough people on the ground to deal with the merchandise, but were going to be pressed for admin support to deal with the higher call levels. They needed to get some extra people in to deal with that and allow Lorna to spend more time dealing with the contracts side of things. Nicky would be needed to help manage the sub-contractors so neither of them would be as available to deal with the office side as they had been until now. This last couple of weeks had been a real test for them all and Alex didn't want to push their good will too far, so they looked at what kinds of roles they'd need and where they would work. It took them a good 4 hours to go through the details and get some rough job descriptions together for Alex to look at the finances for.
"Are you going to use the Agency for these Alex?"
"Of course. They always have good people." Alex smiled as she gathered the papers together.
"Damned straight they do. They got you the best!" Lorna winked as she rose to collect their coffee mugs.
"I'll give Red a call and see what skills they have. Some of these we could wait for the right person to fill, but I don't want to hang on too long because I need you to process the payments quickly for Bill's team, not be stuck here on the phone. I don't want his guys waiting on us for payment. Some of them have been on short hours contracts and need the money quickly to keep the dogs at bay."
"Sure. Nicky's over there now, so I'll ask her to bring the timesheets over and we can work out the overtime this afternoon when she gets back."
Alex walked into her office and closed the door before she called Red, setting out the papers to highlight which posts were more urgent than others as she listened to the line ringing.
"Ah, Ms Vause. Long time, no speak. It's nice to hear from you after all this time." A thick Russian accent answered the phone.
XXXXX
Aside from a few text messages shared between them, it was Thursday before Alex and Piper spoke. Alex called into the shop at lunch time with some coffees, donuts and a couple of healthy looking salad boxes in case they hadn't had any lunch.
"I'm always slightly less irritated to see you when you bring a bag of sugary treats. A for effort there Alex." Polly snarked as she leaned over the counter, spotting the branded paper bag in Alex's hand immediately.
"I aim to please, especially women." Alex smirked as Polly rolled her eyes. "Don't push it. No doubt you're here to see the more Sapphic member of the team? She's out back." Polly threw a dismissive thumb over her shoulder as she reached for the bag.
"Actually, I'm here to see both of you."
"Uh-oh. That sounds ominous. Should I put my Piper-proof armour on now?"
"You have Piper-proof armour? Where can I get some?" Alex chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Piper came through the doorway behind them. "Oh, hey Alex. Is something wrong?" Piper was immediately worried by the sudden visit after not seeing her since Saturday.
"Nothing to worry about. I just wanted to run something past you both. It's kind of a favour for me, but it might help you guys too."
"OK…" Polly ventured as she pulled the box of salad open and jabbed her fork into the leaves. "Alex brought us lunch." Polly pointed towards the bag.
"So, we're recruiting more staff for the office at the moment. We're agreeing some new contracts that will mean Lorna and Nicky can't handle all of the office admin as well as deal with the more managerial type stuff I'm asking them to do. So, we've got a couple of new starters to learn the ropes. Thing is, we need to knock a couple of walls through to make the office big enough for a bigger team before they can start anything. So, I need to find them something else to do for a couple of weeks."
"Why don't you just push the start date back to when you'll be ready?" Piper shrugged as though it were obvious.
"They are starting on Monday next week."
"But if you're not ready, just tell them to wait until you are. I'm sure they'll understand."
"I don't want them to wait. I want them to have a job on Monday. So, I'm saying could they come and work here for a couple of weeks until we are ready?"
"We can barely afford our own salaries Alex, we really can't afford to take anyone else on at the moment. Our plans for world domination are not quite ready for John to rubber stamp." Polly munched on her salad leaves between words.
"I'll pay them. I just need something productive for them to do."
"Why would you pay them to work here? We're not a charity Al." Piper eyed her suspiciously over the top of her coffee cup.
Alex pulled her glasses up into her hair and sighed. "I'm asking YOU to do ME a favour here. Just give them something to do – I don't know, tidying the store room or mopping the floors or something. I don't care what they do, just that they have a job for two weeks." Alex held Piper's eyes until the blonde turned away.
"OK, we'll do it." Polly swallowed her food and shrugged. "Free labour while we work on those plans for world domination, right?" She turned to Piper, who glared at her for accepting without a lengthy discussion on the subject.
"Piper says, thanks very much. We'd be delighted to help you out and obviously you owe us for this massive favour we're doing for you. Don't you Piper?" Polly raised her eyebrows at the blonde, waiting for an uttered acceptance.
"Fine. But they'd better not be complete morons we have to train."
"Thanks! Just have them do the manual labour. Nothing too tricky like handling cash or locking up. No responsibility or anything, just keep it simple, OK?"
"I know we make it LOOK like rocket science Alex, but it really isn't all that hard you know?" Polly scoffed as she walked into the back of the store to clean her hands.
"So…how are you?" Alex offered when they were alone.
"Good, fine. Fine."
"Great. Any news on the court date?"
"Yeah. Next week is the first hearing. That's when he's going to plead guilty or not. I have a meeting with my Lawyer tomorrow to prepare for it. Hopefully, it will be a simple guilty plea and the whole thing doesn't turn into a big deal."
"Wow, that came around soon…. You OK about it?" Alex asked gently.
"Yeah. I guess. I'm trying not to think about it to be honest. The old Chapman head in the sand trick is still my favourite." Piper smiled. "How about you? You busy at work?"
"Yeah, I've been busy tying down the contracts for the new clients we met last week while they're still warm. Then working out logistics for how to fit more people into the office space we have at the moment. We need to expand really, but the old guy next door doesn't seem interested in moving out at the moment. We might have to look elsewhere eventually, but we'll just be a close team until then I guess."
"I'm sure Nicky won't mind a pretty girl sitting on her lap in the interests of saving space." Piper chuckled.
"Don't give her the idea or she'll be deliberately making it seem smaller and switching off the heating to share body heat."
"Ha! Do you remember that time there was a gas leak in your old apartment block and they switched the gas off in the middle of winter for like a whole week until they found it?"
"And you wouldn't let me come around to your place because Polly didn't want us having lesbian sex on her couch while she wasn't home? Why was that? Did she just want to make sure she WAS home when we did it?" Alex laughed.
"No, it's because she knew we would do it. ALL the fucking time and she couldn't stand the thought of listening to it for a whole week. I think she was jealous of our sex-fest."
"Well, there was a LOT to be jealous about." Alex smirked.
"Which is why I didn't argue with her and we basically stayed in your bed in a sex fortress for the week."
"Mmmm, I was kinda disappointed when they fixed that leak come to think of it." Alex grinned as Piper pushed her arm.
"Me too. It was great having you to myself for a whole week."
"I know. I wish we did that more." Alex turned serious for a second.
"Well, we can't turn the clock back now. Good memories though….GREAT memories in fact." Piper waggled her eyebrows.
"I'd better get going." Alex pecked Piper on the cheek with a quick kiss. "Bye Polly Hobby!" she shouted over her shoulder as she headed towards the door. "Oh and – just for future reference. I do still have detailed blueprints for that sex fortress if you ever want to re-build." Alex winked and closed the door behind her.