A/N: Lots of lovely reviews for the last couple of chapters - thanks to everyone who took the time to drop me a line. This update is a birthday treat for a reviewer who has been here since the start of this fic. Happy Birthday to Orlando Bloom! Actually, I can't say that as that surname doesn't appear at all in this fic (I'm proud of that). So, Happy Birthday to EJM137 instead - felicitations dude!
They lay in bed, limbs entangled with warm proximity and Piper pressed against Alex's chest as the taller woman stroked her hair. It was daylight by now and they saw occasional airplanes flying across the window in the ceiling. It was the longest Alex had spent lying in bed looking though that window since she had moved in 6 months ago. It had been a big selling point from the Realtor at the time and she wasn't planning on spending time gazing up there anyway when she signed the contract. It was nice right now to see the clouds floating by, as though the world was still there but going at their pace this morning.
"What do you want to do today?" Alex asked absently.
"Is staying in this bed all day with you an option?"
"It is…until you want to eat toast. Then I'll have to kick you out."
"Why?"
"Crumbs."
"Alex, there are squashed rose petals all over these sheets! Not to mention chocolate sauce on your pillow." Piper leaned up on her side to point to the evidence. "You'll have to wash the sheets anyway later."
"Oh yeah?" Alex rolled over so Piper was on her back beneath her, arms pinned beside her head. "If we're looking for reasons to have to wash-."
"Don't!….." Piper started sharply, before she trailed off, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Alex furrowed her brow in confusion at the sudden change in demeanour and saw Piper panicked beneath her. Immediately letting her wrists go, Alex jumped back off her to the side.
"Shit! Sorry…."
Piper felt immediately guilty for what felt like a silly reaction to something innocent and playful and brought her arms down, rubbing her wrists as though to wipe away the reaction. She sat up and pulled the sheets up to her chest. "It's OK….." Seeing how mortified Alex was, she followed it up. "I guess it's easy to jump right back into old habits." She nervously pulled her hair behind her ears with the hand that wasn't gripping the bedsheet.
"Sorry." Alex dragged her fingers through her scalp, reality had just landed and it brought caution with it. "I'll clear this stuff away if you want to get a shower." She immediately leaned down to pull her robe on and Piper scooted across the bed on her knees to slide her arms around her waist from behind before Alex could stand.
"Hey." Piper knelt high enough to kiss the side of her girlfriend's face. "I'll get better."
Alex stayed put, shaking her head at how quickly she had slipped back into forgetting what had happened to her girlfriend. One night of intimacy and her brain went on autopilot, completely disregarding the long journey they were still on as a partnership.
Alex sighed a little and dropped her head back onto Piper's shoulder, moving her hands over the top of those holding her. "I know…..I'm sorry you have to keep reminding me."
Piper kissed the shell of Alex's ear gently. "I'd rather remind you because you're wanting to touch me than be asking you to because you're too scared….You're doing great." Piper raised herself up to drop her arms over Alex's shoulders and kissed the crown of her head.
"That's twice you've had to remind me this morning though."
"Al…it's OK…..I'm not going to let it burst my bubble. I had two orgasms last night for the first time in years and I had prepared myself for not being able to have any. I'm delighted with that." Piper stroked her hands up and down Alex's shoulders as she hugged her from behind, arms crossed over below her neck. "I know I'll be able to have more when you go down on me too….it just…..it feels too intimate for me right now."
"You don't feel like I am pressuring you…do you?" Alex turned to look into those blue eyes for certainty.
"No. Far from it." Piper moved to pick up her robe from the floor and pulled it over her skin, tying it at the waist before standing. "Come. Let's take a shower and then we can tidy this place up." She held her hand out to pull Alex to stand.
XXXXX
It didn't take long for them being under the water together before their hands started roaming and they were making out under the hot water. Alex had been so good to her yesterday and last night was better than she could have dared hope for, so Piper was keen to make Alex feel good in the shower. She was keen for Alex to try and forget what happened earlier and focus on all of the positives from their weekend together. She had gained so much confidence from being closer to Alex, that it was making her eyes prick when she thought how long she had been without that kind of closeness with anyone at all. That she had overcome those fears with someone she had loved so dearly a long time ago and loathed until more recently, was all the more amazing in her eyes. She had never imagined being able to trust someone to be this close to them again and all but locked that part of her away until recently.
Her lover was a little more cautious with her touch than last night, so it wasn't too hard for Piper to control things as she kissed her way along Alex's upturned neck and run her hands down her sides with the soapy water.
"Mmm Pipes…..you don't need to.-" Piper's finger was quickly on her lips before she could finish, her lips against her neck.
"I want to thank you for last night…" Piper pulled back a little to look up into those deep, green eyes as she spoke. "For this weekend. You've been so good to me and I want to do this….It helps to fill showers with good memories now and I want to start like this."
"But I don't expect-."
"I know you don't…(kiss) …Less talking, more moaning…..panting….sighing…" Piper nipped at her pulse point quickly before moving her hands up to massage Alex's tits under the spray. "Have I told you that you are beautiful when you're wet?" Piper smirked as she ran her lips over the top of Alex's left nipple.
"Mmmmm." Alex ran her hand up Piper's back, her other smoothing the wet hair from her cheek.
Piper wound her tongue around the tightening bud in ever decreasing circles before blowing cool air over the top. Feeling Alex press herself forwards seeking more contact, she smiled and reached over to stimulate the other with the pads of her index and thumb gently. Finally sucking it into her mouth, she felt Alex pull her tighter against her as she fell against the tiled wall, a whimper escaping her those rosy lips above her.
Alex's eyes were fluttering closed, but she struggled to keep them on the woman in front of her. Piper sucked the nipple hard briefly, before pulling it slowly between her tightened lips and eventually releasing it with a pop as Alex's body stiffened with the sudden pain of the pull. Watching as the woman beneath her caressed and stroked every part of her body under the water, Alex writhed against the tiled wall. She reached down to touch Piper's breasts under the water and massaged them for only a moment, before Piper moved further south and began snaking her tongue over her ribs and stomach. Placing slow, open-mouthed kisses down the sides of her torso, she made her way to Alex's hips. Holding her tongue stiffly, Piper traced it up and down the inside of Alex's hip bone slowly towards her mound. Moving in slow and slippery circles as she went, she tasted the indent of the 'V' that led all the way to where Alex needed her to be. Reversing the path back up, she nipped the skin with her teeth quickly before repeating the sensual torture on the opposite side. Alex's hands mussed her hair, trying to direct her movements to where they were most keenly anticipated. Piper was in no rush to give in to those desires though and moved her hands to massage up the back of her calf muscles on each leg, working their way up the slippery skin gradually. She ducked her head lower and kissed the backs of Alex's knees as though she were making out with them with her tongue and it was all Alex could bare.
"Fuck…Piper….." Alex arched her back against the cool tiles of the shower wall, legs beginning to tremble slightly.
Piper smirked into the milky wet skin on her girlfriend's legs and began kissing her way up the inside of her thighs, fingers pressing in slippery circles around her hip bones.
"Any special requests Al?" She kissed the skin between thigh and pussy as she finished the question and Alex's reply was to push her fingers into Piper's hair and pull it hard enough so Piper's nose was pressing into her pussy and her laugh blew cool breath over her heated labia. The woman kneeling between her legs hummed enjoyment as she began to stroke her tongue along the dripping arousal that Alex had led her to.
"Hmmm…I don't know what's wetter, this shower or the fountain between your legs."
Alex groaned and parted her legs more, wanting to give Piper all the room she needed to lap up the heat that was growing there. She continued to hold the blonde's head in place and tried very hard to resist the urge to grind herself against the delicious mouth that was providing a soft sucking vacuum over her clit and surrounding nerves. Piper's mouth was a wide 'O' shape, sucking at Alex's peachy centre, her tongue flicking over her sensitive clit every so often and the woman enjoying all the flavour knew her quivering girlfriend wouldn't last much longer before her release. She gently moved a single finger inside her silky slit, just enough to tease the nerve endings at her opening and it was enough for Alex to grasp on to her head and hold her still as she felt the tightened coil in her pussy suddenly release.
"Fuck!...Don't move…Fuck…." Her hips couldn't help but grind against Piper's chin, seeking to make the euphoria last as long as it possibly could before she couldn't stand the contact anymore on her sensitive nerves. Piper carefully licked the warm juices that spilled from her lover with a long and slow tongue, wet pussy pressing against her with a thrumming pulse inside. Piper held her hands against Alex's hips firmly, pinning the gasping woman to the wall, save she might slip down to the floor below. When the contact became too much and Alex was exhausted, Piper reached for the scented shower gel by her side and poured some into her palm. She looked up at Alex, eyes fixed on her movements below and grinned as she soaped her hands up the lithe body in front of her until they were both standing again. Alex pulled her into a slow and sensual kiss as Piper worked more soap into her palm and slid her hands around to cleanse her upper body too.
"That…..was delicious." Piper whispered into Alex's ear before leaning to grab some shampoo, smirking at Alex's coy smile.
"You are delicious." Alex pulled her in for another kiss.
XXXXX
They got dressed and cleaned up the apartment before heading out to Central Park together. Taking the subway was a novelty for Alex and Piper teased her for buying hand sanitiser when they got to the nearest pharmacy.
"When did you become such a snob?"
"I didn't become a snob Pipes. I bought a car and a place of work with a parking spot." She rubbed the gel through her fingers before offering some to Piper, who took it.
"I'm only using this because you're going to buy me a hotdog and there's no place to wash my hands before we eat."
"Yeah, right…..do you want me to tell you about the food hygiene standards at those stalls or would you rather swallow the bacteria in blissful ignorance."
"Blissful ignorance. Every (kiss). Time (kiss)." Piper wrapped her black woollen poncho around her tighter before reaching out to take Alex's hand as they made their way through the crowds and towards the John Lennon memorial.
"I hope you don't expect me to eat with you." Alex screwed her face up and Piper laughed.
"I totally do. Maybe we'll even share one and eat from either end so we kiss in the middle." Piper batted her eyelashes. Alex rolled her eyes before shoving Piper in the arm. "One night….One night I did roses and candles and look what happens."
"I have expectations now Vause. I'm expecting Elton John to pen me a love song by the end of the week."
"You can have a bunch of tuneless British tourists singing 'Imagine'. It's my best offer." Alex nodded at the memorial just ahead of them.
They walked arm in arm around the park, chatting about the investment for PoPi and the extra hours Piper would need to put into the business to make it all happen to prove it would work. Alex bought hotdogs after Piper said she didn't want to die alone from the bacteria she was about to ingest and they sat on a bench to eat them.
"Why don't you try and give some extra hours to Tricia and Brooke over the weekends? They could do a lot of the stuff you've just been talking about and they'd appreciate the extra cash."
"I don't think Polly would like that. Plus, they are still criminals Alex….."
"Pipes….you know my feelings about that…..Have you talked to them about it? Asked them about their crimes, their backgrounds, their ambitions even?"
"No…..I didn't want to pry."
"They're working in your store. You have a right to ask a certain amount of questions I think. Maybe you can talk to Red and see what her advice would be?"
"I'm not sure she likes me enough to impart advice."
"She's not exactly Oprah with the warm and cuddlies, but she's fair. She was just testing you in her office, don't worry about that."
"She told me not to fuck things up."
"You won't. You've done plenty of research-."
"With you."
Alex laughed. "Did she?"
"Yeah. It's not the first time I've had the 'hurt Alex and I will cut you' speech either…..you've got a lot of good people around you Al."
"I have…but don't let them scare you away." Alex wiped her hands and took Piper's fingers into her lap.
"I won't."
"So…I could offer you the choice of a romantic boat ride….or ice skating next, since we're in the right place for either. But I already know what you'll pick."
Piper turned to her, smiling widely. "What am I gonna pick then, smart ass?"
"The Natural History Museum. Because you are a total geek." Alex pulled her closer with her arm wrapped around Piper's shoulder and squeezed her tight, kissing her head. Piper laughed loudly and the sight of her nose crinkling up and her perfect white teeth shining up at her almost melted her heart. Her eyes danced with excitement and there was nowhere on this planet Alex would rather be than reading through dusty exhibits with this woman for the rest of the day.
XXXXX
They ate dinner at a diner just down from Lafayette before Piper insisted they went to Serendipity's to share a frozen hot chocolate for dessert. Alex was equally insistent that they got a cab back to her place after that and they snuggled together on the sofa to watch 'Lost Boys' on TV. Piper lay behind Alex, propped up on a pillow so she could twirl her hands through her dark hair absently. Alex was always a sucker for her hair or head being soothed and it wasn't long before she had drifted to sleep. It allowed Piper a rare opportunity to gaze at the beauty of the woman below her without feeling self-conscious or creepy about it. She continued to run her fingers through her long locks and thought how far they had both come since the hurt and pain they had both endured. She hoped that they were through the worst of it now and that it had made them stronger, but she dared not be sure of it just yet.
XXXXX
Alex had to get up really early on Sunday morning to take a conference call with a company in Barcelona. NYC Logistics had been tendering for contract work with them for the last 12 months and lost out to an ambitious competitor who was based in Barcelona. Alex thought this company had bitten off more than they could chew and was keen to be able to step in and take over, for the right price. It would make them more than they had offered to do the work for originally, but the short notice and the fix the company was now in meant that all of the cards were in Alex's hand when she got the request for talks. Her mind was buzzing with information and ideas when the call ended and she noted down as much as she could for discussion with Bill, Nicky and Lorna on Monday. She didn't want to spoil her weekend with Piper with this, as big as it was.
Piper came downstairs into the kitchen wearing Alex's robe, wandering over to Alex to stroke the back of her hair as she passed.
"Morning babe."
"Hey. Did I wake you?"
"No. I couldn't sleep after you got up really, so Jane Austen kept me company. She's not as warm as you though." Piper ducked down to kiss Alex on the cheek quickly. "You want another coffee?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"How'd it go with the Spanish Inquisition?"
"Good. Really good actually. They're going to give a final warning for breech of the contract to this other company, so they've got 30 days to deliver or we step in. I asked a few questions about what shipments were overdue and where they were expected. There's no way these guys can pull it back in 30 days and I think everyone at this place in Barcelona knows it. I'll need to work out some figures with the guys in the morning and pull another proposal together."
Piper smiled at Alex's enthusiasm for sniffing out a good deal. She loved that expression on her face, like a kid in a candy store. It also made her remember that it was the face that preceded her changing their plans together and making bargains to make it up later. The thought made her stomach turn and she turned away quickly to fill the coffee machine.
"It was a big contract when we lost it 6 months ago, but now….Christ it could be worth 50% more than we tendered originally." Alex continued her thoughts aloud, not really expecting any reply or verification to them.
"That's fantastic Al! I'm so pleased for you." Piper put on her Chapman smile and turned to bring the coffees over to the table.
"I know! I just need to get a few more things down on paper in case I forget anything and I'll be right with you." Alex reached for Piper's hand and brought it to her lips to kiss her knuckles. "Give me 10 minutes, OK?"
"Sure. I've got Jane upstairs waiting." Piper smiled, but Alex was already poring over her notepad with a pen between her teeth.
An hour passed before Piper heard Alex talking on the phone animatedly. She couldn't hear the words, but she could tell it was a call where grand plans were being shared and she went back to her book again, flipping the page and stretching out on the bed. Her stomach started to grumble after another hour and a half had passed, so she folded the page over to save her place and got up. Walking downstairs, she could see that Alex was tapping out an email on her laptop, her back to the door.
"Hey. You want some lunch? I've no idea what you've got in to make it with…." Piper wandered over to trail her hand along Alex's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.
"Shit, sorry Pipes. Time got away from me. Let me make you something." Alex stood up and brought her hands to cup Piper's cheeks before leaning into kiss her softly on the lips.
"It's OK. It's been nice to be able to read for a bit." Piper stretched up into the air before dropping into Alex's seat as the taller woman headed to the fridge.
"You want a salad? These avocados should be perfect to eat today. I've got some prawns in here too….." Dark hair disappeared inside the fridge to investigate further for a moment.
"Salad is good. Listen, I can head over to the gym for a bit if you want to work?"
"No! I wanted to spend the weekend with you." Alex popped back up from the cold shelves and knitted her eyebrows together, non-plussed at the suggestion that they could be parted. "I wasn't expecting this Barcelona call, but I couldn't really tell them to wait when I could snatch the deal from the jaws of competition." She sighed as she moved the ingredients to the counter top to cut them. Alex was frowning as she removed the avocado flesh.
"It's fine. I could come back after I've worked out and we can do something this evening instead if you want." Piper stood up to get a drink of water and Alex moved to snake her arms around her waist as she drank at the sink.
"I don't want to be here without you though (kiss)." Alex whispered into her ear before letting go and walking over to the table. "Look….it's closed now. I'm all yours right from this very moment." Alex snapped her laptop closed mid-email and returned to Piper, grinning hopefully.
"Until you're checking your email on your phone later." Piper rolled her eyes and folded her arms.
"I won't. Here. It's all yours." Alex slid her phone across the counter and put her hands up in surrender.
Piper smirked and took a step forward. "Are you carrying any more concealed weapons Ma'am?"
"Ah….you'll have to frisk me to find out."
XXXXX
Piper found it hard to leave Alex on Monday morning, after spending a great three days and nights with her. They were both awake early on account of the alarm calls for Alex to get up and get into work to meet with her management team to go through the options for the possible contract in Spain.
"Is it bad form if I call in sick?" Alex snuggled into Piper's neck after switching the beeping off.
"Totally. You should be setting a good example." Piper pulled Alex's arms around her more.
"Aren't you going to try and encourage me even a little to bunk off with you?" She asked, nuzzling her nose into the blonde hair behind Piper's ear.
"No. Because I'm not bunking off." Piper chuckled as she lifted Alex's arm to slip out of the covers.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I have a meeting with Sarah at 9am, then I have to go to work before Red changes her mind. The money should be in the account today." Piper grinned as she remembered their grand plans could go full speed ahead now. Alex leaned up onto her elbow, watching Piper search her bag.
"You have another couple of hours to lie in bed with me then." Alex patted the warm sheets next to her, smirking.
"Nu-uh. I'm not making the mistake of one last cuddle in the warm bed with you. It's a trap I've fallen into way too many times before. Your alarm was set for 6:30 for a reason young lady. Now get your lazy ass up and stop trying to lead me into temptation with those eyes…..I'm not going to look at you…"
"Spoil sport." Alex threw the covers back and jumped out of bed, circling her arms around Piper's waist, despite the shorter women being part way through pulling her sports bra over her head.
"Argh! Alex!" Alex was very temped to take advantage of her compromising position, but checked herself and kissed Piper's temple before releasing her and walking into the bathroom to shower.
XXXXX
Piper continued to be nauseatingly happy for the rest of the day, making her anger management session quite laughable since she was a doe-eyed fawn for the whole hour.
"Do I have to see you again next week? I'm not sure I want to endure another hour of you being so agreeable and positive about everything. It's my job to try and get you more like that and you're non-qualified girlfriend has basically put me out of a job today."
"Yes you do have to see me next week because my non-qualified girlfriend insists that someone with certificates deals with the Chapman monster. There's no telling when it might jump out of the closet."
"I think I'd rather deal with the monster than the fluffy bunny. Can you tell I'm a little bitter and twisted that I'm still agonising over my online dating profile?"
"No….Doesn't show at all!" Piper laughed. "Are you seriously trying dating apps?"
Sarah sighed, slightly embarrassed that she'd said anything to a client. "Yeah, I'm getting too old for the shouty exchange of hobbies and sibling numbers on a nightclub dance floor. Do you think there might be realistic options in the knitting circles of Williamsburg I could tap in to? God, listen to me. I sound like some pensioner hoping to find love in the local newspaper! It's so much easier when you're twenty." Sarah groaned as she packed her files away into her bag.
"I loved those days! College parties where you weren't even looking but you'd end up with some random stranger grinding his crotch up against your ass in the narrow hallways." Piper laughed.
"Ugh, not so much that part for me, but girls were much more ready to experiment at least." Sarah waggled her eyebrows.
"What's your type? Maybe I can help?"
"Um, no. Thanks for the offer but I'm actually not even registered with an app yet. I'm at the 'research phase' right now."
"Oh! OK. Sorry, didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine. I'm one of life's procrastinators when it comes to stuff like that. Great at giving out the advice in my day job, damned awful at following the same advice myself. Maybe I ought to set myself up as a paying client n my own books?" Sarah laughed and threw her bag over her shoulder. "So, same time next week?"
XXXXX
"How the fuck am I supposed to know which of these prissy College grads to invite for an interview without a photo to go off?" Nicky huffed as she dropped the pile of resumes on the only clear patch of desk in the office.
Lorna eyeballed Nicky for cluttering her desk yet again because she couldn't even see her own under chocolate bar wrappers and a pair of Doc Marten boots. "You go off their qualifications and experience Nicky. Look and see who meets our criteria and those that don't go on that pile over there." Lorna pointed to the neat pile in the filing tray on her desk with sticky notes marking the pages.
"Criteria? Well where the Hell am I supposed to find that? Why can't they just put it on the front page and make it easier?...Yo Stretch! Can't someone else do this?" Nicky waved at the pile of papers, exasperated by the prospect of reading.
"Like who? You see anyone sitting on their ass twirling a pen around their fingers in here? No? Guess that makes you the best person for the job then." Alex tossed over her shoulder from her office.
"Seriously? I bet Chapman would love this job…She'd be all giddy with the choice of highlighter pens and sticky paper….."
"Piper doesn't work here Nicky. You do. Get on with it and stop bitching." Alex murmured as she went through the figures in her costings spreadsheet.
"What about Soso? When do we get her back?"
"She's staying at PoPi, so forget hatching that plan."
"Is she now? And who is paying for that I wonder?" The thought was out of Nicky's mouth before she could check it and the sound of Alex's chair screeching across the floor made her wince.
"None of your fucking business is who. Do you have anything whatsoever to do with payroll? No? Then wind your neck in." Alex glowered from the doorway of her office before turning on her heel and slamming the door shut to block out any further distraction from the other room.
They had nowhere near enough resources to take on this contract so quickly and nothing like the skills and experience they'd need to properly make it into the big leagues. Asking an ex-con with zero logistics qualifications to select candidates for a management team for her was fatally flawed and it was a little unfair to put this on Nicky when her friend openly admitted she was at a loss for what to do. Rubbing her temples, she wracked her brains for any other contacts who might be able to help her out at short notice. Red was an option, but she was old school and would likely have a skewed view on college applicants anyway. Her Lawyer would charge a fortune for getting in some expertise, but he could point her in the right direction and she begrudged giving him an exorbitant amount of cash for the privilege.
There was a quiet knock at the door and Alex sighed as Nicky stuck her head through the small gap. "Am I allowed in if I make a grovelling apology and pay for a month of take away nights?" Alex waved her hand toward the sofa in her office as a reply.
"That was outta line what I said before. It's none of my business what you've got your employees doing." Nicky raked her hands through her hair, feeling awkward while Alex looked on with a clenched jaw.
"I'm sorry, OK? It won't happen again."
Alex pulled her glasses up into her hair before sitting forward onto her elbows in her chair. "You're sort of right though. It isn't a job I should be asking you to do….We're way out of our depth on this one I think."
"Well...I'm not going to second guess where you're heading with this…so how about I nod in the right places while you tell me what scheme is running through your head?"
"I want this deal in Spain. They came to us. Which means we were a pretty fucking good option the first time around. Now it's worth even more, I really want to pull it off…..But then I wonder why the other company couldn't make the grade and if we'd end up shooting ourselves in the foot? I mean, we had most of the guys pulling seven day shifts to get the Italian deal delivered. Do we want to try that again while we're still doing the next deal for Milan?"
"You can't compare that though. We didn't have half the resources when we got that order and Bill's team were brand new to our way of doing things. We're more united now. We know what they can do and hey know we can get them organised and keep it profitable. Bill can expand over there you know. Don't forget he's on skeleton staff because of the redundancies and they've barely recruited until recently. We're short on Managers to take a load off you and bring some experience and new ways of doing things to what we're doing here…You can't do it all Alex."
"Do you think I should stop chasing it?"
"No. The fucking opposite man. You were wired when you called me on Sunday, you were so excited about this contract. I'm saying pull out all the stops to bring this mother fucker in!"
Alex chuckled and sat back in her chair again. "You think we can do this?"
"Yes! Now pull your pretty head out your ass and make it happen Stretch!...Also, am I allowed to go and buy decent coffee if you're making me dry my eyeballs on those resumes?" She asked as she stepped towards the door.
"Yes. But I am gonna ask Piper to do the shortlisting….See, you do have good ideas sometimes." Alex shrugged.
Needy girlfriend option it was then. She dialled Piper's number and waited for it to ring a couple of time before Piper answered.
"Hey, missing me already?"
"Of course."
"Just for the record, you called me first."
"Thanks for explaining the science of telephone communications. I'd be lost without your genius brain."
"If this is a quiz show, you'd better get on with the million dollar question. I'm pretty sure you're on a timer right now."
Alex laughed. "Remind me what your specialist subject was?"
"Ah, so many….Meredith Grey's family tree and her people…..The job titles and office locations of Alicia Florrick and an ability to name that tune in one note of any song featured in a Disney movie….Any of those on your list right now?"
"Er…..nope."
"Shame. My talents are so wasted on you."
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"If this is about to become phone sex, I'm in the store room with Brooke and Tricia." Piper turned to see exactly the reaction she had expected on Brooke's face and smirked as she walked into the main store where Polly was standing.
"Another time then…..I was actually going to ask if you would be able to help me shortlist for the new management posts we're creating to look after the contracts…..seeing as you know all the acronyms for fancy college educations."
"Sure. How many have you got?"
"Half a Nicky – if she brushed her hair down."
"Not many then. Can you bring the resumes over tonight?"
"I can. You don't mind?"
"Of course I don't. It will take my mind off the court case anyway. You want me to ask Pol about helping with interviews?"
"Shit, that's tomorrow already?"
"Yeah. Really, I would rather have a purpose tonight to keep my mind occupied. I'm kinda glad you're asking, so bring everything over."
"OK, see you tonight and yes to asking Molly. Thanks babe."
XXXXX
Alex cooked dinner while Piper set herself up on the floor in front of the sofa with the resumes, job descriptions and highlighters. They worked together on sorting the short list, with Piper reasoning that a mix of very experienced and more expensive managers working alongside newer and highly motivated graduates would be better than a higher number of inexperienced ones. Piper was getting ready to go through the files one last time to highlight key words for ease of interviewing when Alex stopped her.
"Come on. We need to wind down now. Your Lawyer may prefer you to look like you haven't slept for the stand, but I'm the one who has to tackle cranky Piper in the morning before anyone else." Alex bundled the files up and put them in the back of the car so the temptation wasn't there for Piper to sneak out to them in the middle of the night.
"I'm not tired though." Piper whined when her new toys were taken away.
"I know. Which is why we're winding down. Do you want some chamomile tea?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah." Alex shrugged.
"What happened to the badass Alex who partied all night and tried to put her hand up my skirt on any bar stool that would let her?" Piper raised a brow.
"Would you rather I did that than make you a cup of tea?"
"Yes."
"Deal. Obviously. Will you be putting a skirt on to make the experience authentic?"
"I can't be bothered. Improvise." Piper challenged, her eyes sparking. Alex's eyes crinkled up at the corners when she chuckled at the remark and she shuffled closer on the sofa, moving her hand to rest on Piper's thigh.
"Alright….Are you gonna coach me through it?"
"Are you ready to take the plunge….so to speak?"