Chapter Nineteen
Piper stared down at her food, it had been three days since the brave speech she gave Alex. And in typical defensive Alex manner, Alex had been avoiding her since. Piper felt annoyed, not that she could be blamed, after all, she had literally laid her heart on the line for what? For Alex to then ignore her for the rest of their stay here?
Great. I hate this place. She twirled her fork and toyed with the mashed potato.
"You gonna eat that?" Nicky asked.
"probably not." Piper confessed, Nicky helped herself to Piper's food. She troughed down the mash.
"That...is disgusting." Piper said. Nicky shrugged, "I love potato. Can't go wrong with them."
Piper sighed, deflated.
"You guys!" Morello exclaimed as she hurried over to their table, "you guys!"
"What?" Piper asked begrudgingly. Seeing Morello's joy managed to piss her off even more.
"He's decided to give the engagement another go...I'm getting married!"
"Again?" Piper and Nicky asked incredulously.
"Again." Morello beamed at them, "Anyway, I gotta go use the phone and tell the printer to make the invites!"
"Fuck me..." Nicky sighed in disbelief. Piper didn't speak, she just stared at her now empty tray of food.
"It's fuckin' pathetic, to think the feminist fought for her rights for what? So she could be unbelievably stupid and let this guy walk all over her? It'd be sad if it wasn't so fuckin' embarrassing..." Nicky got up and stormed off. Piper sighed as she watched Nicky go, Nicky was furious and Piper didn't blame her. People were disappointing, that was something she had learnt. About herself, and everyone she knew. They were fully grown, irresponsible disappointments.
"Is this seat free?" Amber's voice cut through Piper's pessimism.
"Yeah." Piper said, she sat up and ran her hand self-consciously through her hair as she watched Amber. She always forgot what a stunner Amber was, Amber smiled softly at Piper, "so how's things?"
"Not great."
Amber nodded then ate her food, after a moment she glanced at Piper.
"You and Alex... are you two...?"
"No." Piper said firmly, "we're definitely not. I inadvertently made sure of it." She scoffed, shaking her head.
"Good..." Amber said softly, "because I really like you."
Piper stared at Amber, she felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Piper wasn't sure what to make of it, did Amber just hit on her?
"What about Alex?"
"She'll get over it, we were strictly a friends with benefits type thing. You're more my type..."
Piper studied Amber, unsure of how she felt about the idea. Amber reached out and ran her hand gently over Piper's. The woman was good with her hands. Piper's cheeks reddened, she pulled her hand away, unsure what to say.
"Thank you..."
Amber winced while smiling, "That's not a no..."
"No." Piper said surprising herself, "No it's not."
"Great." Amber replied. Her eyes locked with Piper's as the two women shared a small smile. Piper stood up from the table, what was she doing?
"I should go, I need to go and hand in my laundry."
"See you round." Amber said. Piper turned and walked away, feeling a lot like a giddy teenage girl. She could Amber's eyes on her. Piper glanced back at the gorgeous woman, she had never been with another woman before. She had only been with Alex, but then that was all she ever wanted. Nothing else made sense to her other than loving Alex. Of course there was the Larry situation, but being in prison had forced her realise that she had simply used him as a ladder to climb up and out of her own heartache and denial about Alex and what they were doing all those years ago.
Alex studied Mendez, "What're you saying?"
"I'm saying they want more." He replied, with the softest hint of apology in his tone.
"I gave them all I had." Alex answered, her voice raising in alarm.
She sat back in her chair and stared at Mendez then turned to the two way mirror on the wall. She knew the lawyers and cops were stood on the other side of it, watching and hanging onto her every word.
"Vause, they're more powerful than us. If they give the word, you'll get moved to a tougher prison. A place designed to make you speak."
"I gave them all I had and I'm serving my sentence. They can't do this."
"Yes they can. He's been taken in, but they need more evidence to sway the jury." Mendez answered.
"So you lean hard on cornered inmates rather than force the cops to work harder? Classy."
"You can be as mad as you want. It is what it is."
Alex fell silent, she studied Mendez, "if they move me, promise me you'll try to bring me back."
"You really aint got more on him, have you?"
"No." Alex answered, her voice shook sadly. Mendez looked away, he hated this part of his job. He lowered his voice and leant in, "They'll try to spook you. Break your spirit, all you can do is be consistent. A hint of weakness and they'll think you're keeping some thing. Okay?"
Alex nodded.
"And Vause, keep your eyes peeled. Where you're going, I hear he's got people on the inside."
Alex studied Mendez, "you can't send me there."
"I don't have a choice, but I promise I'll push until they transfer you back."
Alex stared at him, grateful and sad both at once. She never thought he would by an ally.
"Thanks."
"You wanna say goodbye to anyone? Chapman?"
"No." Alex answered. If Kobra had people on the inside, then Alex needed to keep her distance from Piper. She needed to keep Piper safe. She wouldn't risk putting Piper in the way of danger. That wasn't how you treated the people you loved.
Alex would face this, the same way she had faced the most difficult and impossible times in her life, she would handle this the only way she knew how. She would handle it alone.
"Then I guess they have to transfer me, because I don't have anything else."
Mendez nodded, he patted her on the shoulder.
"I'll make sure they bring you back to the Litch as soon as possible. Just stay strong in there, Vause."
Alex kept her composure and fought back the nerves dancing through her entire body. She was terrified but she had to hold fast.
Daya knocked on the door, Bennett emerged from within the C.O.'s bubble. He nearly did a double take when he saw her, "what? You nearly forgot I exist?"
"How're you?"
"Fine. I don't wanna talk about why you've suddenly started avoiding me. I just wanna know how my baby's doing."
"Our baby." He corrected. She gave him a look.
"Our baby? You're the one who's switched on me since I gave birth."
"You were sleeping with another man...!"
"And you knew about it."
Bennett shook his head, "do you have any idea how hard it is for me to not wanna kill him whenever I see him?"
"That must be hard. Know what's been easy? Giving birth, realising George has been a better man to me and my child than the man I fell in love with has been—"
"Don't you dare compare scum like him to me."
"When do I get to see her?"
"You don't." Bennett said bluntly, Daya stared at him. He let out a frustrated sigh, "Look, I think it's better for both of us, if we end whatever this is...between us. I won't give her up though. I still want to be in her life." Daya fought back tears as she stared at Bennett.
"I love you and I love her, but this is too hard." Bennett explained.
"You're pathetic." Daya managed as she fought back tears. Bennett's expression softened the instant he noticed the tears.
"Please don't cry," he said softly as he reached for her. She pulled away from him.
"Fuck you, Bennett." She said angrily before turning on her heel and storming off.
"Daya, wait..." he called. He took in a deep breath then glanced at the inmates watching him. He disappeared into the bubble, slamming the door shut behind him.