The Internship

Chapter 14:

Surprises & A Decision

Alex spun her black helmet between her hands as the elevator rattled upward, slightly dropping each time it stopped to let off another early riser on their respective floors. She mentally cursed each and every person that got off before her, along with the ancient, poorly engineered elevator.

Reaching her own floor, thankful her morning stomach flips were over, the black haired editor was surprised to notice that the office wasn't pitch black, as usual. In fact, there was a single light above the cubicles where Piper sat and a glow coming from the kitchen.

"Piper?" her raspy voice carried softly through the seemingly empty office. "What the fuck?" Tucking her helmet under her arm, Alex walked around to her favorite office beauty's seat, which she found to be empty. Investigating the kitchen turned up no early culprit either.

Maybe the cleaning crew just left the lights on?

Confused, her light footsteps carried her into her office, where she tossed her keys and placed her helmet on her desk, grabbed her coffee mug and proceeded back to the kitchen. She flipped the rest of the office lights on, still looking around each cube and corner as she paced, finally deciding that someone must've just left the lights on yesterday or came in last night and forgot to flip off a few before leaving. That is, until she was jerked out of her thoughts by being stopped at the threshold of the kitchen by a small, toned pair of arms wrapping around her waist from behind. An instant smile spread across her lips.

"Boo," Piper's voice softly danced around her ears. Alex grabbed the blonde's and wrapped them tighter around her; the act spawned a giggle from her girlfriend.

"Someone's up early," Piper's grip loosened letting Alex spin to see the beautiful woman. Her hair was up today, in a somehow extremely attractive messy bun, and her so-light-blue-its-basically-white button down fit her body stunningly, "and I'd say in a much better mood than yesterday." She grinned and lifted her eyebrow in a sarcastically curious manner, "What sparked the mood change?"

Piper's eyes lit up more than they already were, shining blue and causing Alex to melt all over again, as she slid past the editor and shrugged before turning and leaning her back against the counter top next to a freshly brewed pot of coffee. "Couldn't tell you, I guess I just got a good nights sleep."

Alex shook her head, loving every stubborn minute that Piper had brought into her life. It's still hard to believe that the woman has only been in her life a very short time; Piper feels like someone she's known her entire life, and maybe even before that.

"Well, a good nights sleep does you well, pretty girl," Alex followed the blonde, meeting her lips softly with her own and running her thumb slowly down her girlfriend's jawline. The black haired woman smiled as she felt the shudder beneath her finger.

"Goosebumps, every damn time," Piper rubbed her face, smiling and shaking her head. Alex felt her blue eyes follow her as she rinsed out her coffee mug and refilled it. "Let me know if I need to add more next time, I noticed you like your coffee strong."

Alex blew on the steaming liquid before taking a test sip. She goofily smacked her lips and pretended to really ponder over the coffee's taste. Seeing Piper's eyes roll in her peripheral, she put the cup down and kissed the blonde woman's cheek.

"It's perfect, thank you," Piper smiled, to which Alex couldn't help but return her own. They walked back toward the intern's cubical and Alex's office. The editor stalled at the cube before heading off to read emails and scoff at the requests of people who seem to have no idea how anything works. She noticed Piper's desk was full of binders, some opened, and extremely organized compared to the mess she saw last night.

"Jesus, when did you come in, Pipes?" The blonde plopped down into her chair and leaned back dramatically.

"Um, I think I've been here two hours now? I woke up early and needed to use the restroom," Alex saw Piper glance at her more directly, "and decided to come in early after that."

"Lots of toilet contemplation?" The blue-green eyed woman joked as she sipped at her coffee with a smirk.

"I guess you could call it that," Piper smiled. The elevator doors opening caught the pairs attention; when Alex saw that Destiny stepped out, along with Ben and a few other young new comers to the office, she shot a Piper a soft smile, mouthed "kill it, kid" and made her way back to her office. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the older woman striding toward Piper as if her intentions were to make her life a living hell.

Good luck, the girl's pretty damn irresistible.

Piper Chapman woke up startled by two things: one, she was in bed and she was sure that she fell asleep on the couch, and two, she was jerkily searching the room for the dark haired woman who brought her take-out and kept her company while she worked last night. Realizing that Alex was no longer in her apartment, she found her phone placed on her nightstand (Alex had even plugged it in, how sweet?) and noted the time: 3:21am. She flopped her back onto the bed, tossing her phone and flinging her arms back dramatically, groaning and wishing she was still asleep, and also that a certain tall beauty was next to her.

Shutting her eyes and curling back up, she groaned once again at her body forcing her to get up to pee. "Fuck," she whined, dragging herself up and stumbling to the bathroom like a slightly hung over teen.

Refusing to turn on the light and burn her retinas, she found her way around the bathroom by feeling the walls and sink. Finally sitting, she rubbed her eyes dreading the thought of having to get up soon and face her new manager again. The woman was a damn dragon and there was no way Piper would ever be able to win her over. Especially not when the thought of walking back into the office made her think shaving with a cheese grater was a better idea.

Reaching for the toilet paper that she had placed on the sink counter, she knocked it into the floor. Again, she groaned. Unable to find the roll by feeling around, she leaned up to turn the light on.

"There you are,"

Okay, it's official. I'm going crazy, I'm talking to the toilet paper roll…

Turning on the water and washing her hands, Piper dared to look into the mirror, knowing she would see nothing more than baggy, red eyes, and messy hair. Except, she was wrong.

The words "You're beautiful" were written on the mirror in red lipstick, and a note was scribbled on a piece of paper propped behind the faucet.

I just wanted to be the first to tell you this morning. – A.V.

Piper picked up the note, smiling widely. Who knew that the woman she had been so forewarned about had a soft, sweet side? Piper did, or so she had assumed from the beginning. Taking the note back into her room, she placed it in a drawer on her nightstand and walked back toward the bathroom, determined to make today a better day. Hell, it already was. Alex Vause had determined that before the sun even began to rise.

Alex rubbed her face with her hands in the middle of listening to a meeting from her office phone. Her mic was on mute, as usual, in case she accidentally let herself voice how idiotic people were being while discussing clients and contracts and bullshit. Thankfully, her phone buzzed, distracting her from being annoyed.

Good morning al. I love you. How'd the dinner go? – Mom

The black haired woman leaned back in her chair and grinned slightly at her mom's nosiness. She was always so concerned with Alex, never with herself. Diane Vause was the epitome of selfless, especially when it came to her daughter. Alex began to type out a response.

Worked like a charm. How do you always know what to do? I love-

The phone buzzed again and another message appeared before she had a chance to respond.

When do I get to meet her?

Jesus, mom. Alex finished out her message with "I love you too" before she let her brain dissect her mother's question. First and foremost, Alex had never brought anyone around for her mom to meet. Only one girl she had ever been with got the pleasure of meeting Diane, and that was only because her shift got canceled and Alex and some girl had been making out in her mom's living room. That was high school, and Alex was determined to make sure nothing like that ever happened again. She hated the disappointment she saw in Diane's eyes that day.

Second, would Piper even want to meet her mother? Maybe one day? She wasn't really sure where Piper stood on the whole "public" thing, nor had it really been long enough to involve family. However, Alex and Diane were extremely close, and it's bound to happen with the way things are going.

Idk, mom.

That's all she could really give without talking to Piper, and feeling out their relationship more. Alex knew without a doubt that she had never been so into anyone in her entire life. She never craved the looks and the touches that she'd been replaying over and over between herself and the blonde, blue-eyed beauty. Nor had she ever felt as warm and comfortable towards anyone else before. It was definitely new territory.

Soon, I hope.

After her meeting ended, Alex pulled off her headset and grabbed a notebook from the bottom of her bottom drawer in her desk. She flipped about halfway through it and reread the last few lines of a poem she had been working on, trying to get back into the mindset she was in while writing it.

Shutting her eyes, she let her mind drift, and the first place it landed was on Piper surprising her this morning with hugs and coffee. She smiled and flipped the page in her notebook. That poem would never get finished; her head is nowhere near where it was when she wrote about "flailing and falling through the universe" and being "directionless". Instead she jots down a few quick ideas that pop into her head, until she hears a knock on the door.

"Just a second," she calls out while throwing the notebook back into the bottom of her desk drawer. Alex stands up and grabs her cup, taking a drink of water. "Come in." Ben leaned in, only cracking the door open enough to stick his head in.

"Hey Vause, sorry to bother you, but there's some guy here looking for you, Ferrari or something,"

"Fahri, shit," Alex put her cup down, ran her hands through her hair. He had never been to her office to see her; she knew it meant they must be either desperate or moving along with the new club quickly. After stepping through the door Ben was holding open, she visually scanned the office, but didn't see the mustached man at first. Looking toward Piper's desk, her eyes grew wider and she stormed off toward the man talking to the blonde.

"Fahri," she said sternly. The dark haired man turned away from Piper, whom he was talking with and stood up more straight. He always seemed to try to intimidate Alex, but with him being smaller than her, not to mention that Alex could definitely hold her own even against a man, it never worked.

"Ah, the woman of the hour, Piper here was just talking about you," Fahri's eyes were full of mischief and snark as he spoke.

Alex looked at Piper, who looked slightly worried by Alex's demeanor. In return, the editor gave her a small smile and an "everything is okay" glance before striding toward a small conference room, Fahri on her heels.

"What the fuck, Fahri?" She stood in his face after shutting the door behind them. "Why are you here?"

"The big guy wants an answer, Alex." Fahri walked around the office, clearly not phased by her anger, looking at the decorative pictures, before looking back at the dark haired woman who pushed her glasses up on her head.

"I need more time to think, I'm not just going to leave my career here, and I'm not-"

"leaving your girlfriend?" He finished, snarkily.

"That's none of your fucking business. Piper stays completely out of this." Alex stepped forward angrily as she spoke and Fahri raised his hands in surrender. She didn't like that both Fahri and Kubra knew who Piper was, and she hated that Fahri had just been that close to her without having Alex there, too. She'd seen both of them do some pretty fucked up things to quite a few people with no sense of remorse, no way in hell was she going to let Piper be in that group.

"Hey, I call it how I see it, Vause. Regardless of how you want to play this, you're involved. And if you're involved with her," he shrugs, "she's involved, too." Fahri pulled his phone out of his back pocket and glanced at the vibrating device. "Its him, you in?"

Alex pressed on the middle of her forehead where a headache was forming quickly. She crossed her arms, contemplating the money she was about to be giving up, the job she could have, and the traveling she always wanted to do. Throwing her hands up, she shakes her head.

"I'm out, I can't do it right now," Alex's mom flashes through her mind and she begins to tear up, knowing she's being extremely selfish, "You're gonna have to find yourself another girl."

"Whatever you want, Kubra won't be happy, but he can't force you, I guess," Alex scoffed knowing damn well what her former boss was capable of. "Just leave, Fahri." She opened the door and waited for him to move toward it.

As he was walking out, he leaned toward her and whispered, "You know where to find us." She rolled her eyes and followed him out of the room, watching as he got into the elevator and the door closed, wanting to make sure he was gone.

"Alex," Piper was all of the sudden beside her, "what was that all about?" The slightly taller woman looked around to see who was watching the scene that had just unfolded before responding with one word.

"Office."

Piper was sitting at her desk when she felt a presence behind her. Swiveling her chair around, she saw the man Alex had introduced her to at the club, instantly feeling uneasy.

"Piper, right?" He leaned against her desk, much closer than Piper found comfortable. She nodded.

"Can I help you?" She asked, looking around the office to see who else was around. She had a horrible feeling about being with the man alone. He chuckled.

"Oh, no, I'm just waiting for Alex. We need to have a chat, but," he looked closely at Piper, "hm, I didn't notice before, but now I think I see what Vause sees in you, Miss Piper. You have a sort of natural beauty," he picked up a pencil and spun it around, pointing it at Piper in the process, "unlike the other girls Alex brings around."

Other girls?

A surprised look must've crossed Piper's face, because she saw amusement in Fahri's.

"You didn't think you were the only one, did you? Alex is quite the little swooner. I still have girls come up and ask where she is. She's not a 'long-term' kind of woman. Did she leave that out, too?" Piper sat speechless while Fahri wore a smug expression. Of course, she was the only one Alex was seeing right now, right? They had just gone through all of that bet bullshit; there was no way she was with anyone else. Right?

"Fahri," Piper's attention turned to the raspy voice and watched Alex's expression. She looked worried, but still tried to reassure Piper with a smile before the man followed Alex to a conference room. Piper pretended to work until she heard the door open and watched Fahri whisper something in Alex's ear before leaving. The dark haired beauty looked furious.

The blonde intern was quickly by Alex's side, "Alex."

Alex simply responded with "Office," and Piper followed in her footsteps, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind them, flipping the lock in the process.

"Alex, what just happened? What did he want?" Piper watched as Alex paced around the room, looking nervous and slightly shaken. She had never seen the woman in a state where she didn't seem as though she were in complete control of at least herself. "Al," she stepped in the dark haired woman's path and looked into her eyes as she grabbed her waist. "Talk to me."

Alex slid her hands up to Piper's cheeks and to the back of her head into her hair, rubbing her head gently while looking into her eyes, the blue-green seas frantically scanning Piper's own blue eyes. Piper hated the way Alex was looking at her, but she wasn't quite sure if it was anger or fear that she was seeing.

"What did he say to you?" The intern looked down slightly.

"He told me that I have a 'natural kind of beauty, unlike the other girls you bring around'," Piper felt Alex's body tense up. "Tell me you don't write things on other women's mirrors in the morning? Tell me he's lying, Alex."

"Are you kidding me?" Alex's voice shook and sounded hurt, twisting Piper's chest. "Piper," she felt Alex lift her chin slightly so she had to look her in the eyes. "First of all, no, I do not do things like that with anyone else. I've never wanted to. Second of all, yes he's lying. I have a track record, that's true, but I've never been serious about anyone before this." Piper's gaze dropped a little again. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Why am I any different?" Piper's mind was running a mile a minute, wondering how many women had been in Alex's arms, like she was now.

"Pipes," Alex's eyes softened and Piper laid her head on her shoulder when she pulled her closer. "I don't know why you, specifically, are different. The fact is, you are different. I've wanted to be near you ever since I ran into you," she giggled, "literally."

Piper couldn't help but giggle along with her girlfriend. My girlfriend.

"Okay," Piper stood back up, still in Alex's arms, "besides harassing my insecurities, why was Fahri here?" Alex's arms loosened around her and she saw her expression droop.

"Kubra offered me a job, he wanted to know my answer," Piper's bright blue eyes widened.

"What kind of job?" She watched Alex shake her head.

"One that pays a fuckload of money," Alex bit at her lip and looked around for a second, as if she were second guessing her decision, "And one I can't do. I turned it down. So it's over."

The blonde just nodded and watched her girlfriend as she seemed to be mentally somewhere else. Alex noticed her staring and seemed to shake off whatever she was thinking.

"How's the dragon today? I haven't seen her crawling around the office or scorching you with her flaming wrath," the blonde smiled widely and stifled a laugh before pressing her lips to Alex's cheek.

"She seemed impressed by my work. Actually, I'm kind of in a lull and don't have much to work on," the editor's dark brows rose slightly.

"Hmm," Alex pulled piper in closer once more, leaving a trail of soft, light kisses from her lips to her earlobe. "I'm sure I can find something for you to do." The blonde rolled her eyes playfully and poked Alex in her side.

"What might that be?" Piper's voice was low and breathy, intentionally.

"Clean my office," Alex smiled as Piper pushed her playfully. "What?"

"You're so seductive, no wonder you had all the girls falling at your feet," the blonde shook her head laughing.

"You've fallen for me a few times," Alex winked and Piper's jaw dropped slightly at the joke.

"Touché," she whispered, grabbing Alex's face and kissing her forcefully. The taller woman wrapped her arms around Piper and picked her up off the ground slightly, their lips still locked together.

Putting her down, Alex leaned her forehead onto Piper's, running her hands up and down the blonde's sides.

"The dragon's happy?" Piper nodded. "You don't have to work late, then?" The intern shook her head and reached for Alex's hand, playing with her fingers. "Pick you up at 7?" Blue-green eyes met the bright blues and set their owner's senses on fire. Piper smiled widely and kissed Alex softly once more.

"Yes," pressing her lips to the dark haired woman's cheek and then her hand that she had been holding, "definitely."

A/N: Thank you so very much to every one who has continued to support this story. I appreciate it more than you will ever know and I haven't forgotten about it. I'm determined to finish it, I'm just not sure when that will happen.