A/N: I had big plans for lying in the sun and eating ice cream today. Rain stopped play, so this is my ice cream for you guys to share. Let's say it is vanilla, with a chocolate flake ;-) Happy hump day!
Piper had been emboldened by Alex being on video call when she went into the shower on Tuesday night. Feeling so close to her ex-girlfriend by being in her apartment and seeing her on the video had given Piper a surge of bravery that could have easily backfired. She knew that she shouldn't attempt to push herself like that again and resolved to take it steady by showering at her own place for the rest of the week, leaving the door unlocked and even a little ajar by Friday morning. She couldn't wait to go and see Julie to tell her about the progress she had made since they last spoke and her counsellor shared her joy when she saw how much brighter Piper was as a result of it.
"That was pretty brave to do on your own Piper. I'm glad you haven't pushed yourself too far though. You've been sensible to know your limits and that's something to be proud of. These are big steps for you, so you need to reward yourself for that with a pat on the back."
"Thanks. You know what? I should have a little reward for that I think. Good idea!" Piper was still smiling, happy that Julie was pleased with her progress.
"Why did you try that with Alex being away?"
Piper shrugged. "She knows how to keep me calm, even on the phone. I wouldn't have done it if she wasn't with me – even in a virtual sense. I stayed at her place that night. She said it was OK. I can't explain it, but I just felt so safe by being surrounded by her stuff. Do you know what I mean?"
"It's familiar to you. The sights and smells of that permeate your brain when you're anxious. I suppose hearing her voice and seeing her too was almost like she was right there beside you."
"Almost, but I don't want almost." Piper whispered the last few words and turned her gaze to the window, watching the trees blow in the wind.
"Have you told her how you feel?"
Piper thought for a second before answering. "No. It's not fair to do that while she's away with work."
"You think it's not fair to tell her you love her?"
Piper blushed, surprised at the directness of the question and avoided Julie's eyes as she responded.
"It's not that simple."
"Because your relationship is complicated, right?"
"Well, yes. Plus she needed space and I want to give her that. It's not fair to her if I'm….I don't know…."
"Telling her how you really feel about her? That you miss her?"
"Yes, all of those things. Plus, I don't know that she feels the same. What if I bare my soul like that and she says 'thanks, but no thanks' and has found that she's better off on her own? What if she really likes the space I'm giving her?" Piper ran her hands up and down her jeans as she looked at Julie, hoping for her to tell her everything was going to be OK.
"Then you're in the same boat as everyone else is when they love someone I'm afraid." Julie smiled.
XXXXX
She got a call from her Lawyer on Friday afternoon to say the court case would kick off at 9am next Thursday, but she wouldn't be called to take the stand that day. She felt her anger start to rise a little and went for a run to cool it down since it was a nice day. It was still cold out, but the end of March signalled the start of some warmer weather for spring and Piper felt her optimism rise with the first shoots of daffodils as she pounded her feet around the park. Since Alex was trying to work and Piper was trying to keep to her promise to give her space, the pair had only exchanged a few texts since they spoke on Tuesday night. Alex had been checking Piper wasn't pushing herself to go too far with the shower fear and Piper was determined not to sound needy in her replies or even ask if she had booked flights home yet. She dared not hear the answer in case it wasn't as soon as she wanted it to be. She was sure that Alex had told her three weeks, and that would be exactly 3 weeks next Friday. One more weekend and 5 working days and she could be back in the city. She would throw herself into work and the gym to kill the time until then and tire herself out so she would not lie in bed thinking about whether Alex would want to be with her when she got back. On the flip side, Piper was uncertain about what a reunion might look like. The limbo was difficult because Alex wasn't in the city. Once she was, would she call time on the relationship and leave Piper in no doubt that she wasn't wanted. It didn't bear thinking about.
Piper insisted that Polly take the weekend off again to go and pamper herself at the spa on Saturday since Pete was preparing their date night for then. It was sweet how much trouble he was going to and Polly knew about the home cooked meal, but not the extra touches he was planning. Piper was sworn to secrecy and just had to help make sure Polly was out of the house all day and Pete would pick her up from Piper's place at 7pm.
She didn't mind being in the store on her own and enjoyed the quiet hum of the radio, until Nicky came in to change that.
"Yo blondie! Long time, no see!" She bounced up to the counter.
"Hi Nicky! Yeah, you've been quiet. Up to mischief?" Piper raised an eyebrow.
"Always. You know me. Speaking of mischief…."
"What?"
"I understand I have to give you something."
"A delivery?"
"No. Do I look like a delivery driver? It's more like send you something I guess."
"Am I supposed to ask you 20 questions to get to the answer now?"
"We could do it that way. Want to lose clothes every time you get it wrong?" Nicky waggled her eyebrows.
"Not while I'm working….and sober. Thanks for the offer though." Piper shook her head in despair.
"Probably best. Vause ought to take your advice more often." Nicky grinned.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing. Anyway, how are you doing? Missing your stick of celery yet?"
"If you're referring to Alex, she's not my stick of celery."
"Ah, right…..Do you want her to be?" Nicky hopped up to sit on the counter.
"This is a bit deep and meaningful for you. Are you fishing for something specific?" Piper narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Hey, I'm just asking a question!"
"Did Alex ask you to ask me that?"
"Do you want Alex to have asked me to ask you that?"
"Does Alex want me to want her to have asked you to ask me that?" Piper challenged.
"OK, I'm out." Nicky held her hands up and Piper laughed.
"Good job you don't have to lose any clothes now isn't it?" The blonde grinned victoriously.
"Which reminds me. I need to Bluetooth you something. Get your phone Chapman."
Piper pulled her phone from her pocket and switched Bluetooth on. "What is it?"
"All your birthdays come at once." She pressed send and Piper's couldn't hide her smirk when the photo came through.
"Is that everything?" Piper enquired innocently.
Nicky sighed. "No. Alex said you had to witness me do this." Nicky turned her screen to Piper as she deleted the photo.
"Do I have the only copy now?"
"Yes, you do. Scouts honour." Nicky saluted. "I had big plans for that."
"So do I." Piper grinned and slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"A few of us are going bowling tonight in Williamsburg if you fancy it?"
"Who's going?"
"Yours truly, Taystee, Taystee's boyfriend, Poussey, Poussey's girlfriend, Lorna….Lorna's boyfriend." Nicky counted them out on her fingers before nodding she was finished with the roll call.
"So, you're asking me to be your plus one?" Piper smirked.
Nicky rolled her eyes. "You'll only come if I say yes, so yes."
Piper grinned.
"You can take that look off your face. I'm not putting out."
"Really? This will be our third date Nick. I never had you pegged as being such a prude."
"Believe me, if I did drop your drawers, you'd be U-hauling before Vause could say 'first flight to JFK'."
"Who says I wouldn't drop yours first?" Piper smirked as she went to greet a customer at the door.
"Was that a yes?" Nicky shouted as she walked to the door.
XXXXX
Piper made sure Polly was looking gorgeous for when Pete picked her up and waved them both off before locking her house up and heading over to meet Nicky and the gang at the bowling alley. They had a great time and her face hurt from laughing at Nicky's bowling technique as she tried increasingly creative ways to throw the ball into the gutter at every turn. They lost dismally, with Taystee's boyfriend coming out as the clear winner. Piper had opted to drive so she could get up early for work in the morning, so she dropped Nicky, Poussey and her girlfriend off on her way home. Only since she was in Williamsburg anyway….she might as well stay at Alex's place tonight she reasoned.
She couldn't keep the smile from her face as she searched through Alex's dresser drawers for something to wear. Settling on a silky cream camisole top with matching shorts, she reapplied her makeup and changed into Alex's clothes before fanning her hair onto the fluffy pillows and lying on the luxurious sheets. After a few practiced pouts and poses, she took some selfies of herself on the bed and grinned at the results as she swiped through them. Landing on the photo she got from Nicky earlier, Piper stopped and zoomed into the image of Alex in red lingerie. It wasn't a set she'd seen before, but Piper wondered how many sets of lingerie would be new to her on Alex's gorgeous body now. The photo of her leaning on all fours gave a more than tantalising view of her cleavage to the camera and Piper followed her pale skin down to where pretty French knickers met her long thighs. Her eyes lingered for a long time and she swiped the screen to keep it open several times before moving to meet Alex's eyes. They were looking straight into the camera, over the top of her glasses, her signature eyebrow raised as though knowing where Piper's hands wanted to wander as she lay looking at the beauty before her.
XXXXX
There was nothing to eat for breakfast but black coffee at Alex's place, so she was up early in the morning to go home and get ready for work. It was a quiet morning at PoPi with Polly being off and Piper typed a text for Alex.
'Thanks for the photo. Apparently it's a limited edition?'
Half an hour later, a reply came back.
'Very limited. You like?'
'Ask your bed sheets ;-)' Piper attached the best photo of her in Alex's night clothes and pressed send. She smiled as she waited for Alex to reply.
'Seriously?! Am I going to need a restraining order when I get home? As payment for 2 nights of rent, I'll bank that for my bed sheets tonight. ;-)'
'You're welcome. X'
'Since Nicky has told me she was on a date with you last night…..please just confirm there wasn't an identical twin to Cynthia from Rugrats on the pillow next to you. It may impact my arousal capabilities.'
'LMAO! No!She was very well behaved. Didn't even kiss me goodnight. Three dates in and still waiting for first base.'
'Keep on waiting.'
'Maybe I should make the first move….' Piper played coy to see if Alex would play along.
'Nah. She likes a pillow princess.'
'Shame. I'm all top ;-)'
'Really? I don't remember you getting a promotion…. I'm banking that image with the photo then. Looks like I have a busy night ahead…'
'On your own I hope?'
'I don't think mutual masturbation over an ex is a kink I'll find easily in Madrid, so yeah.'
The reminder of the word 'ex' jarred with Piper as it was how Alex was still thinking about her. She was half hoping for a lapse back into being in a relationship again, but they weren't at the bridge of commitment yet. She wasn't sure the bridge was even built yet as she stared at the white water rapids of 'forgiveness' that she might have to paddle across first with a wooden spatula for propulsion.
'When are you coming home? I know I said I wouldn't ask…..but I'm asking. X'
"Patience was never your strong suit LOL. Friday, so not long. I'm ready for my own bed – especially now I've seen you wearing my clothes in it. Very dirty tactics Ms Chapman - and I guess I'll see just how dirty when I see those sheets ;-)'
Maybe the spatula could be upgraded to a snow shovel?
XXXXX
With confirmation that Alex would be back in only 5 days, Piper threw herself into work and organised their attendance at the first local trades event that John's colleague had recommended they get involved with. The court case was this week and Piper needed all of the distraction she could get to not think about that. Polly had organised a meeting with their investor for next week so that they could get a decision on the expansion plans. It was much better than she'd hoped to get out of Polly this week, as she perpetually shared her stream of consciousness on whether Pete was 'the one' and Piper held in her stream of vomit with just as much gusto.
Piper opted not to attend court on Thursday. She would have to be there more than she'd like when she was called upon, so tried to save herself from some stress at least for the first day. She texted Steve to let him know she wouldn't be there and he said he'd do the same and take an extra shift at the hospital to save his leave days. When Thursday came around, Piper was anxious about the court case starting as well as Alex's imminent return and went to the gym before work. Jess wasn't working when Piper arrived because she was the first person through the door when they opened at 6am. She pushed her reps on every single exercise of her programme to 25% above what she was meant to do. Her muscles burned from the exertion and she relished the feel of the lactic acid building up in every limb and sinew of her body. Pushing through her programme, she left her bag in a locker and put her earbuds in to go for a run around the streets near to the gym to work her lungs to exhaustion. She returned at 8am to grab her bag and rush home to shower and change for work.
She set to work cleaning the large glass window as soon as she got in, wearing her earbuds again until Polly made her jump by tapping her shoulder. Piper pulled the White Stripes from her ear canals and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
"Are you OK?" Polly asked, forehead creased with concern.
"Yeah. It needed doing. Filthy it is." Piper nodded at the window and was about to put her music back on when Polly touched her arm.
"No doubt, but you're doing it with such vim and vigour that I'm worried you're going to put it through."
Piper rolled her eyes. "It's elbow grease as my Grandmother would say."
"It's you working through something that's on your mind, as your best friend would say." Polly levelled. "You thinking about the court case?"
"Yes." Piper sighed and dropped the cloth she was holding into the cleaning bucket.
"Why don't you just go if you're thinking about what might be happening, see for yourself?"
"It'll just piss me off more seeing his smug face in his smug suit."
"But you'd hear what the evidence is going to be. Maybe it will be useful?"
"I doubt it. My testimony is submitted already. It's not like I can change anything on account of new information. I'd rather just distract myself today I think. Thanks though." Piper hugged her friend briefly before getting back to the task.
"Alright. Well if you change your mind…."
XXXXX
She had been mulling it over all day and she decided that she would go and buy some essential groceries for Alex to come back home to. Having no idea what time she might be coming back on Friday, she decided to go to the grocery store and then drop them off on Thursday night. That way, Alex would have some food in for a couple of days if she wanted to relax and sleep off the jetlag. Piper went shopping for a few essentials and arrived at Alex's place with half a dozen bags, which inconveniently had to be carried in two trips to her car. She made sure the place was tidy from the couple of times she had stayed over, put the bunch of flowers that she'd brought into a vase on the dining table and then wrote a note.
Hey Alex,
Welcome home!
I wasn't sure what time you'd be back, so I've left some food in your fridge. There is bacon, eggs, bread, milk, salad and some things for lunches and dinners in case you don't fancy heading out shopping. I'm sure you'll be exhausted when you get home, so take a rest to get your body clock in the right zone.
Hopefully see you soon,
Piper x
XXXXX
Alex and Bill touched down in JFK late on Wednesday afternoon. They'd spent a lot of time together this past three weeks, after not really knowing much about each other before the trip. Alex hadn't gone into the details about how she made the money to set up NY Logistics, keeping it as simple as making some good investments with money she had been left. Bill had really missed his family while they had been away and found the trip hard to be apart from his wife and grandkids for so long. He'd been very shy in their first meetings and Alex could see he would never be comfortable with the social side of international travel for pressing palms and making contacts. It would be something Alex would likely need to continue to do. Not 6 months ago, she'd have been perfectly happy with the prospect and excuse for international travel again, but she had missed home this time. The roots that she had put down in New York really made it feel like home now, rather than just the place she kept her possessions in between flights. Spending so much time there, she had a tight group of friends, a good team of employees working for her and Piper. Sort of.
Bill's wife was waiting in the airport for him and he even seemed a little tearful when she ran to him to emrace warmly. Bill introduced them briefly and Alex insisted he get home to rest, rather than talk to her for any longer.
"You've seen enough of my exhausted face already today. Get away home with your lovely wife and go impress your grandkids with those Manchester United football shirts. We can catch up next week."
"You're sure?"
"Totally. Thanks for your help Bill, you've really been a massive help in moving these contracts to signatures. The hard work starts now we're back, so enjoy your weekend buddy." Alex slapped him on the back and smiled as they waved her goodbye and walked out of the doors.
Alex was pulling her bags towards the cab parking when Nicky appeared behind her and out of breath.
"Hey Sasquatch! You need a ride somewhere?"
Alex turned to see a grinning Nicky bowing and waving a set of car keys. Her eyes went wide when she saw the car keys.
"What the fuck?! Nick, you'd better not have been behind the wheel of my Audi…." Alex reached to grab the keys as Nicky whipped them away and put them into her pocket.
"I need the practice. I thought you'd be pleased!"
"You can practice in a learner car with an instructor. Please tell me you haven't tried to drive my damned car Nick?!" She strode to the doors, following closely behind Nicky. "And you could give me a hand with my bags here you inconsiderate asshole."
Nicky laughed and put her middle finger in the air behind her head. "Welcome home boss!"
"What, no marching band and rose petals?"
"Nope. Try your not-girlfriend for the hearts and flowers treatment."
"Oh yeah?" Alex raised an eyebrow as Nicky turned to hold the door open for her.
"Yes, you idiot. She's totally pining for you."
"Why do you say that?" Alex chuckled as she pulled her case through the doorway.
"I don't know….the puppy dog eyes when I mention your name…the trying too hard not to ask if I've heard from you every time I hear from her, the fact she still has my spare key to your place and conveniently misplaces it if I ask about it." Nicky grinned as Alex chuckled as they walked to the car park. "But don't let on you know that."
"I won't. I'm going to have some fun with it though…..Where's the car then and there'd better be someone with a licence driving it?"
"Relax would you? Poussey's driving, look."
XXXXX
Alex was pretty worn out from the travelling and grateful that Nicky and Poussey didn't hang around to catch up and have coffee when they dropped her home. Helping her to get her luggage to the front door, Nicky ushered them both away and made Alex promise to sleep herself to a really good mood when she came back to work on Monday. It was lovely to smell home when she opened the door and she immediately noticed the fresh flowers on the able with a note perched next to them. She smiled at how thoughtful Piper had been and opened the fridge to find it full of all sorts of food. She ate a bowl of pasta before opening her case to sort some things out for the laundry and typed a text out for Piper.
'Hey, thanks for the fridge-sized food parcel you left me! How much do I owe you? Got home an hour ago, so going to start unpacking before I crash and burn. Are you working tomorrow? X'
Piper smiled when she got the message, relieved that Alex got home OK.
"Glad you liked it and you don't owe me anything. Call it rent for using your facilities ;-) I'm working Sat and Sun. Why?'
"No reason, just wondered. Going to crash now. Have a great weekend! X'
Alex chuckled as she put her phone down and went to put some clothes in to wash before going up to her room for an early night. Her bed smelled of Piper and it was comforting to know the blonde had wanted to stay there – on her side too, while Alex had been away. It took only a few pages of reading before she felt her eyes grow heavy and she slept through the night peacefully.
XXXXX
Piper had been at work all day with Polly, mostly talking about how to play hard to get when Piper so very clearly wanted to rush around to throw herself into Alex's arms.
"It's not hot to be needy Piper. I'm just saying you should play it cool."
"But for how long? I've not seen her for 3 weeks….I mean there's cool and there's heading into the North Pole."
"Let her come to you." Polly shrugged, like it was easy.
"What if she's waiting for me to go to her? Like, what if we're both playing it cool and nobody makes a move first? We could get grey and wrinkly waiting…..that's not hot."
"Exaggerating much?" Polly rolled her eyes as she made up another gift box on the counter.
"Ugh….I really wanna see her. We've been apart for 4 years already, surely we've done our bit for playing it cool…"
"Look, do what you want to do P. I'm just saying, you liked it when Alex pursued you and I get the distinct impression Alex is the spider in all of this."
"Urgh…I wish you'd stop saying that. I really wanna be the spider." Piper whined as she picked a worn label off the shelves.
"You're never gonna be the spider with Alex. The best you can do is run around the edge of the web for a while and make a good show of the chase." Polly shook her head when Piper's eyes lit up.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Alex texted Piper again.
'Hey, you got any plans tonight? Thought you might want to come around to my place? x'
Be the fly Piper, but a fly with running shoes on. Sexy running shoes. Piper considered her sexy running shoes reply.
'I've got plans to head to the gym when I finish work, so I do have plans.'
Shit. What happened to sexy running shoes you idiot? They're no good if she can't even see them! Jeez. That full stop was meant to be a dot dot dot…..as in, to be continued….as in, unless you can persuade me not to go to the gym.
'OK. Another time. X'
Brilliant play there Chapman. You wanted her to come to you. She did and you blew her off. Groan. Now she was going to sound needy. The exact opposite of Polly's advice. Or she could ignore it and just wait for another invitation. Alex was probably already calling Nicky to have a night in with her best friend instead.
'If by 'another time' you mean a little later tonight, then I'm free?' Piper cringed when she pressed send, but her pride could suck it if it got her through the door of Alex's apartment quite frankly.
Polly appeared and saw her boring eyes through her phone screen.
"Lemme see what's got you so captivated." Polly grabbed her phone and read the text exchange.
"Seriously? A budding spider would have left it and made her chase harder. When I said run around the edge of the web, I didn't mean go bounding into the centre like a Labrador after a squeaky ball P."
Piper snatched her phone back as a reply came through from Alex.
'OK. How late were you thinking?'
Polly read it over her shoulder. "Be vague…..Or tell her you'll be there in 5 minutes wrapped in a bow and wearing nothing else." Polly winked as she went back to the stock room.