Much thanks to my beta, Nicki for her assistance with this story.
The next morning, Piper walked to the shed, where Alex had told her they'd meet. The first thing she noticed was a blue Ford Escort with New Hampshire plates in the brunette's driveway. There was a rainbow sticker on the back, and the blonde's heart sank. It felt like she'd just been slapped in the face. Clearly, someone had spent the night at Alex's cottage, and Piper would put money on it being her lover.
She paced in the street, hands on her hips, and considered going back home. She could lie and tell Alex she was sick—vomiting and diarrhea—anyone would believe that without asking questions. Before she could make up her mind about how to proceed, Alex appeared with a woman right behind her. There was no place for Piper to hide. She stood in the middle of the street, arms dangling at her sides, wondering if she might faint. She couldn't move—it was as if her feet were rooted to that spot. She watched Alex hug the petite woman before she got into the car. Alex turned her head and noticed Piper, expression impossible to read. Finally, the blonde walked up the hill to the shed and began loading the regular items into the old Chevy.
The woman pulled away in her Escort, but Piper didn't turn around. She hoisted the wheel barrow into the flatbed by herself and forgot how heavy the fucker was. She struggled to get the rubber wheel over the tailgate when Alex appeared beside her. "You're going to hurt yourself." The dark haired woman lifted the front end of the wheel barrow into the truck.
"Hello," Piper tested out her voice to ensure it didn't shake with the hurt and anger and rage she felt.
"We don't need the wheel barrow today," the brunette announced, standing to the side.
"It's already in the truck, so let's move on." She grabbed a bucket of tools and threw them into the flatbed with a bang. "I don't know where your toolbelt is."
"It's under the seat."
She glanced at Alex, who had her hands on her hips and a grave expression on her face.
"Let's go." For the first time, Piper opened the passenger's door instead of sliding along the bench seat from Alex's side of the truck.
The brunette stood there for another minute, and then finally closed the tailgate and got into the Chevy.
"What do we have to do today?" Piper kept her attention straight ahead and tried to act normal, but she knew the other woman could see right through her.
"It's supposed to rain, so we'll cut the Blanchard's grass and do some edging, and then we'll see if we have time to mend the fence at the front of the road." Alex didn't look at her companion. Like Piper, her attention was focused anywhere but on the other person in the vehicle.
They arrived at the Blanchard house, which was one with a gate that required a code, so Alex punched in four numbers before the iron gate swung open. She put the truck in park, and they both hopped out. They silently unloaded the lawn mower and the Black & Decker edger.
"Have you worked with one of these things?" the brunette asked.
"No." Piper gave her a pointed look. "Is that surprising to you?"
Alex kept her head down, but her eyes met Piper's. If the blonde had to guess what message her companion was sending it was most certainly, Don't fuck with me, kid.
"Fine. Mow the lawn." She started the mower for Piper, and then walked back over to the truck.
Piper was thankful for the loud hum of the lawn mower and wished she'd brought headphones so she could listen to Metallica or some other garish hard rock. She hoped it wouldn't rain that day so that they could be as far away from each other as possible and not stuck in close quarters inside one of the homes. Evidently, Alex wasn't willing to discuss whatever happened with the rainbow flag woman, and Piper felt that she had no right to enquire. She pushed the mower back and forth until the last strip of grass was cut, and as if on cue, the moment she finished, the skies opened up.
Piper turned off the mower and searched for Alex, who had just powered down the lawn edger. They both ran to the truck and scampered inside, already drenched with rain.
"Holy shit!" Piper was out of breath.
"That came out of nowhere." Alex brushed her wet hair out of her face.
"I have grass all over me." The blonde glanced at her arms, and tiny blades of green grass looked like they were glued to her arms. "Sorry." Normally, they took great care to brush off debris before getting into the truck. "What do we do? Just wait it out?"
"Well, we can't go inside anyone's home like this." Alex looked down and was equally covered with flecks of grass.
The rain pelted the windshield and thunder crashed around them. The heat from their bodies began steaming up the windows. All Piper could hear was the dense rain and the sound of Alex's breath.
They sat silently for a couple of minutes before the brunette cleared her throat. "That was Sylvie."
Piper turned her head and stared at the other woman, quickly catching on to her companion's train of thought.
Alex kept her head down, eyes focused on the floor. "We've had a fucked up relationship for years."
The blonde listened silently, biting down on her back teeth so hard that it created a cramp in her mouth.
"We're not together…well, not technically, I guess." She put her hands on the steering wheel and Piper watched her triceps flex. "We made a pact a while ago that as long as we were both single, we'd be there for each other, no questions asked."
The blonde shook her head and looked away, hating every word that Alex was saying. She tasted bitterness in her mouth and had to swallow several times to make it disappear.
"Sylvie was the one who texted me last night," she announced through a long sigh. "I'd missed a call and a couple of texts from her earlier, and by the time I saw the third message, she was almost in Kennebunkport." The dark haired woman rubbed her hand against the driver's side window to clear the condensation, and then spent a long moment, staring outside.
"So, what?" Piper began, eyebrows furrowing. "She was lonely and needed a good fuck?"
Alex appeared taken aback. "She got laid off from her job yesterday."
"So you fucked her all night until she felt better?" The blonde's voice cracked. She couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth, but she couldn't stop them from tumbling out.
"That's really none of your business." Alex folded her arms and let out an incredulous laugh. "Maybe you and I have been spending too much time together."
Piper whipped her head around, remaining silent but shooting her companion daggers.
"Yeah, you know…we work together all day, and then hang out until we're so fucking tired we can't keep our eyes open." Alex shook her head. "I don't need you to judge me on any level, and you sure as hell don't get to comment on how I choose to spend my personal time, or with whom I spend it."
"You think I've been judging you?" Piper turned her body fully towards the dark haired woman. "Alex, I admire every fucking thing that you do—the way you sand a deck, the way you make a steak taste like a hundred dollar piece Wagyu beef, the way you decorate your home, your perfect playlists for every mood—everything you do is beyond reproach, so if you think I'm judging you, I've clearly been sending the wrong message!"
She could hear Alex's breathing speed up. The brunette pushed her glasses to the top of her head and stared at Piper with pursed lips.
"The reason I stay at your house until I'm halfway asleep is that I can't fucking get enough of you!" Piper continued. That was it. She'd confessed the ultimate truth, and she'd suffer the consequences come hell or high water.
The brunette reached for her, tugging the straps of her tank top until their faces smashed together. It took Piper a few seconds to realize that Alex was kissing her. There was nothing tender or gentle about the kiss—their mouths were fused together until their lips resembled pancakes. There was no tongue and no finesse, just two bodies that had begged to be connected since the moment they'd met.
Alex pulled back and sighed. "We can't do this."
"What?" The blonde panted. "Why not?"
"Your father is my boss!" she shouted. "I could lose my job if anyone found out."
Piper shook her head. "Why would you lose your job?"
"This isn't exactly liberal alley," she began, slamming her hand against the steering wheel. "The conservatives on this road have political clout, and while I don't pretend to be someone I'm not, I also don't strut around wearing my rainbow t-shirt. More importantly, if anyone finds out I'm sleeping with one of the resident's daughters, they'll fire my ass so quickly you won't even remember I was here."
"These people adore you, Alex! They wouldn't do that." (Piper wanted to comment on the sleeping together part, but that would be for another time and place.)
She let out a short laugh. "You are so naïve, kid."
"I'm not, actually." Piper raised her chin. "You do a phenomenal job as the caretaker around here, and I can promise you that the families on Sand Point Road would stick up for you no matter what. Plus, your mom left a legacy, and that carries more weight than you think. People respect you, Alex. That wouldn't change because they found out that you're gay."
"And what about you?" Alex asked, steering the conversation away from herself. "What if dear old dad finds out that his daughter is a lesbian?"
"I'm not gay."
Alex let out a short, dubious laugh. "Bi-sexual, fluid, whatever. You're sexually attracted to another woman—call it whatever you want. I don't think Bill Chapman would approve."
She was right—her father was a staunch Republican with conservative values. He'd flip if he found out that she and Alex were a couple.
"I haven't thought that far ahead," Piper admitted. "All I know is that I love spending time with you, and I don't want that to change."
"I like hanging out with you, too, kid, but we can't do this," she said in a low, distressed voice. "And the more time we spend together, the harder it will be to go our separate ways."
Piper hung her head and felt Alex's fingertips on her cheek. "Look at me."
The blonde focused on the other woman.
"Your internship starts on Monday. We won't see each other as much, and it'll be for the best."
"How can you say that?" she asked. "Maybe I'm alone in this, but now that I've started to get to know you, I don't want to stop seeing you."
"I'm not saying we can't be friends, Piper," she tried. "But we need some time and distance between us."
Piper looked her in the eye. "I don't want that."
"It's the way it has to be." She punctuated the statement with her eyebrows. "At least for the time being."
The rain stopped, and Piper took a deep breath. Her heart was in her stomach, and she felt completely deflated. "I don't want to work with you today."
"Fine." Alex averted her eyes. "There's not a ton to do anyway. I can manage on my own."
"Good." She scooted towards the passenger door. "I guess I'll see you when I see you." Piper knew that she was being petulant, but things were not going the way she'd desperately wanted them to, and she couldn't find it within herself to handle the situation more sensibly.
The brunette gave her a lopsided, almost fake smile. "Take care of yourself, kid."
The blonde stepped out of the truck and all but ran home, tears streaming down her face with every step.
Alex liked her.
She should have never questioned that, but the brunette didn't like her enough to face whatever came their way. Alex was protecting herself, and if Piper was being honest, she was probably protecting her as well.
Piper stepped inside her family's home and jogged upstairs, taking two stairs at a time, until she reached the bathroom. Her body was wet and cold and sore. She ached for Alex and had to try to put aside what it felt like to kiss her. As she washed the grass and sweat off her body, Piper cried. She let her tears swirl down the drain with the water, and when she finished bathing, she stepped out of the warm water and wrapped herself in a thick, white robe.
She plugged her iPod into the speaker in her bedroom and played Bootstraps' version of I Wanna Dance With Somebody over and over again until she fell asleep.
When Piper finally stirred, it felt like she'd just woken up from surgery—she was groggy and exhausted. It was raining heavily outside, so she pulled the covers higher and closed her eyes again. She vowed to spend the rest of the day in bed, feeling sorry for herself. Part of her wanted to call Polly and ask her to drive to Kennebunkport, but her friend had no clue what had transpired over the past week. She couldn't very well drop that like Napalm onto Polly's lap and expect her to understand.
True to her word, Piper didn't get out of bed until Saturday morning, and it was her brother who finally woke her.
"What's going on?" She sat up in bed. "Cal? What are you doing here?"
"We got here last night. You were out like a light," he explained. "Dad figured you were exhausted from all that manual labor. How was it?"
She laid back down. "Go away."
"Whatever, sis." He jumped off the bed. "We have donuts from Mr. O's."
Even her favorite maple bar couldn't sway the blonde to leave the comfort of her bed. Her heart still sat at the bottom of her stomach, and she had no idea how she'd ever heal. There was no way she could let her parents see her true feelings, so it was best if they thought she was just tired from all of the work.
Eventually, she went downstairs to find her parents sitting in the living room watching golf on television.
"Hey." She scratched her head and shuffled into the kitchen. "Is there anything to eat?"
"Well, look who's back from the dead," her father commented. "How bad was it?"
"Awful." She opened the refrigerator, the contents of which didn't hold a candle to Alex's. She pulled out some deli meat and ate two slices of honey baked ham straight out of the container.
Her mom shook her head. "Where are your manners, Piper? Get a plate."
"Is there a reason why a bottle of Duckhorn Merlot was sitting on the doorstep?" her dad asked.
Piper's eyes grew wide. "Oh, uh…the neighbors asked if they could borrow a bottle of wine, and they promised to replace it later this week." She shrugged. "I guess they left it for you while I was asleep."
"That was nice of you, and of them."
"Yeah." She padded into the living room, towards the staircase. "I'm going to take a shower."
As she showered, she didn't know whether she was pissed at Alex for having replaced her father's wine so soon or glad that she'd done so. Piper tried to think about fun things she could do that day and banish thoughts of Alex.
The next day, Piper kept to herself for the most part and didn't venture outside unless it was to sit on the back deck and read. Her internship would begin the next morning, and she desperately needed something to keep her mind occupied on something other than Alex Vause. Her work hours were from 8:30 am to 4 pm, four days a week, and only 8:30 - Noon on Fridays, and she hoped she'd be able to find something to keep her busy at night.
The first week of her internship went exceedingly well. She started with filing and covering for the receptionist when she was at lunch or on break, but by Wednesday, the vice president asked Piper to work on "a deck" for one of their clients, L.L. Bean. She worked closely with him and learned how to assemble a presentation for a major company.
At night, Piper spent time in town, shopping or just hanging out in the local bookstore—anything to not run into Alex. She continued the pattern she'd started the week prior by going to sleep around 9 or 9:30, so there wasn't too much time to kill after work.
The muscle soreness she'd experienced after working with Alex had subsided and all that remained was some discomfort in her lower back. Piper had never lifted or bent that much in her life, so she expected to feel the repercussions of her activity days later. If she took Ibuprofen four times a day, she was able to keep the physical pain to a minimum, but there was no pill she could take to cure heartache.
Piper had never felt this way about anyone. Sure, she'd had her share of boyfriends, and some of them were great company at times, but she didn't count down the days, hours or even minutes until she could see them again. That last week, the blonde did count the minutes until she would see Alex. There was so much still to learn about her—what was it like growing up in Kennebunkport? Did she know who her father was, and if so, was he ever present in her life? Who were her friends? Where did they live? Did she plan to be a caretaker forever? What was her favorite book, color, song, artist…? When the blonde considered those unanswered questions, she sulked, knowing that Alex's answers would have been intriguing to hear.
Her parents and Cal arrived in Kennebunkport early on Friday and were already at the Sand Point Road home when she returned from Weber Shandwick that afternoon.
"Well, how's the internship going?" Her father asked. He was walking down the street, back to their house when she spotted him. Bill Chapman didn't go for walks, so Piper was curious where he was coming from.
"It's good," the blonde replied. "Finished my first week."
They made small talk about Piper's duties as they entered the house.
"Calvin's a good guy. You'll learn a lot from him," he said, speaking of Piper's direct supervisor. "Matter of fact, we're playing golf tomorrow. I'll put in another good word for you."
"Where were you off to?" Carol asked her husband as she stirred a gin cocktail.
Bill removed his Top-siders. "I invited Alex over for dinner tonight."
Piper dropped her purse and her mouth hung open. Surely he was referring to a different Alex.
"Why?" her mother asked, pouring the cocktail into a martini glass.
"She took Piper under her wing last week. It's the least we can do to thank her." Bill pulled out the sliced turkey and a loaf of bread. "I hope that's ok with you, sweetheart."
"Um, yeah. Sure. Of course," Piper stuttered. The blonde opened the refrigerator under the guise of gathering condiments to make a sandwich, but with her back to her parents, she closed her eyes and let the cold air slap her in the face.
"Rumor has it that she's a lesbian," Carol whispered conspiratorially.
"So?" Piper turned around with the mustard and mayonnaise in hand. "What does that have to do with her job?"
"She could be a bad influence on the kids around here," she offered.
"First of all, the only real 'kid' around here is Emma Green, and she has leukemia." The blonde looked her mother in the eye. "Second, it's not like Alex chooses to be gay. People are born that way."
Her mother let out a dubious chuckle.
"Does Alex do a good job around here?" Piper demanded, hands on her hips.
"Yes," her father replied. "I don't care if she's gay or straight, as long as she continues to keep up the properties satisfactorily."
She turned to her mom, daring her to make another asinine comment.
Carol sipped her drink. "I've never met the woman."
"Then maybe you shouldn't spread rumors or pass judgement." Piper was furious. Her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't even put the condiments onto the sandwich that her father had assembled for her—she stared at her mother and felt her chest rise and fall.
Carol rolled her eyes. "It's that liberal, Harvey Bankston. He'll let anyone on his property."
"Mom, there's something I need you to know." Piper blinked twice and stood taller. "I'm bisexual." She couldn't believe she'd just uttered those words with conviction. The blonde hadn't even convinced herself that she was bisexual, yet she wanted…no needed…her mom to understand that Alex wasn't the only person in their lives who was attracted to girls.
"Don't be ridiculous, Piper," Carol replied. "You're just confused because of all the lesbians at Smith."
"I'm not confused at all." She took a step closer and used her best calm, rational voice. "I like boys and I like girls." She shrugged. "Simple as that."
"This is certainly news to me," her father said. "When did you make this discovery?"
"I've come to terms with it over time," she tried, looking away. "It doesn't make me less of anything— I'm still a good student, a good friend, and at the core, I'm still the same girl you raised." She spread the mustard and mayonnaise on the wheat bread with shaky hands, and then put the slices together, cutting the loaf in half. "There's really nothing more to say on the subject, but if you want to talk about it..." Piper glanced up at her parents, eyes roaming between the two of them. When they didn't respond, she grabbed the sandwich and marched upstairs.
Piper sat on her bed with a thump, putting the turkey sandwich aside and covering her face with both hands. She felt the burn of tears threatening to fall, but she willed them to stay in check. She was sad and angry and hurt and frustrated on so many levels. She wanted to be with Alex, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she still sought her parents' approval. If she ever had a chance with Alex, it would likely be against her parents' will.
And then there was the matter of Alex coming over for dinner that evening. Perhaps her parents would cancel now that they knew Piper was bisexual and that Alex was more than likely gay. She didn't want to make life any harder for Alex than it must've already been. The only saving grace in the blonde's mind was that her dad seemed to care about only one thing regarding Alex—that she did an excellent job at maintaining the homes on Sand Point Road.