A/N: Hello and welcome to my new Fan fic.

Enjoy…..

Alex awoke with the same promise she made herself every day; today she would be better than yesterday. But it was only 9.30am and she'd already been an asshole at least twice. It wasn't like she went out of her way to do so; it was just that she was surrounded by idiots.

She took a deep sip of coffee, immediately regretting it. The place she usually went to was closed for refurbishment, so she had to make do with Starbucks. It tasted like shit and they had fucked her order up, so they had fully deserved her ass-holery. However, the cup afforded a warmth that was pleasant against her chilly hands.

'Is that a new look? Hobo chic?' Mia said, peering around the doorway of the back office and pointing to Alex's white, V-neck t-shirt.

She looked down, spotting the coffee stain; slowly bleeding across her midriff. 'Shit' she exclaimed, slamming the leaking paper cup on the desk. 'Well don't just fucking stand there, how about you get me some tissues?'

'Jeez' Mia replied, disappearing into the bathroom and returning with a scrunched up handful of toilet paper, 'someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning…if it was your bed that is' she smirked.

'How about you quit being a jackass and unpack some of those deliveries we got in yesterday?' she said, her thumb pointing in the direction of the stock room.

Mia scowled, 'I don't get paid enough to deal with this crap' she muttered under her breath, sweeping her dyed red tousles away from her face and leaving the office to do as she was told.

Fucking teenagers, always needing a firm hand. She dabbed ineffectually at the stain. If anything, it made it even worse. Alex sighed, conceding defeat and tossed the coffee cup into the waste paper basket next to the desk. It landed softly on top of endless Twinkie wrappers and yesterday's half eaten Five Guys cheeseburger.

Her cell phone buzzed softly across the desk. She winced when she saw who it was: Sylvie. She had ignored her calls the previous two evenings, so to do it for a third time in as many days was a new low in the asshole stakes, even for Alex. She counted to three and flipped the phone open. 'Hey' she said, attempting not to sound as underwhelmed as she felt.

'Hey…Alex!' came the excited, slightly hesitant reply. Clearly she had not been expecting her to answer.

'What's up?' she asked, eyes skimming over last month's stock taking records.

'I thought maybe we could go out for dinner tonight?'

Eurgh. She was trying to move the casual fucking up a notch, to a level that Alex had zero interest in familiarising herself with. Absolutely nada.

'I'm a bit busy this week Sylvie' she replied flatly.

'But it's only Monday? How can you be busy for the whole week already? I miss you' she said, losing a grip on the breeziness that she was trying so hard to cultivate.

'Just work and stuff'.

'Work?'

Yep, that was a shitty excuse. After all, it wasn't like Alex worked for some multi national. She ran a vintage clothes store, one that just about met the basic overheads every month.

'And stuff' she repeated, as if that made the excuse more plausible.

'What stuff?'

Alex could feel a pounding behind her eyes, she wasn't sure how much more of this conversation she could handle, especially without the assistance of some decent caffeine. 'Fine' she conceded, keen to get her off the phone, 'we can go to dinner'.

'Tonight?'

'Yea ok, if that's what you want'. It was a slightly better alternative to last night's left over Chinese, especially since the egg rolls had already seemed a little questionable. She wasn't convinced they would stand up to a second round of reheating.

'Great, I'll come by your place around 7 then?'

'Sure' Alex replied, hoping it sounded a little more enthusiastic than she felt. She hung up before Sylvie attempted to extend the conversation any further.

She dropped her phone back on her desk clumsily and leant back in the chair. It was the only thing worth a dime in her office. Delicious, buttery soft Italian leather: holding her in a familiar embrace. She removed her glasses, running a hand over her tired face and shivered a little. Winter had well and truly arrived. The slight warmth the coffee had provided had quickly dissipated. That was the problem with having an office with two external walls. She yanked the black cashmere sweater, a gift from her mother, from the back of the chair and pulled it on. She felt a little better, but still shot a filthy glare at the disused radiator underneath the peeling window ledge, as if it was mocking her. The shop was barely breaking even right now. Heating was a luxury she could ill afford. She was already toying with the idea of having to let Mia go, but as annoying as she was, the thought of spending all day every day in the shop alone, was too depressing to contemplate.

'Hello, is anyone serving?' A female voice said, breaking Alex out of her rather gloomy train of thought. Unsurprisingly, Mia was nowhere to be seen, probably still sulking in the stock room. She grabbed her glasses from the desk, quickly putting them back on and made her way out to the front of the shop.

'Hey' she said locking eyes with the customer. She was blonde, around 22/23 years old, a little shorter than Alex, and although she was wearing a coat and scarf, it was still obvious she had decent figure. You couldn't wear jeans like that and not have a smoking hot body. And the deal clincher? The most crystal clear blue eyes you ever saw. The sort of eyes you could well and truly lose yourself in, without any thought of being found. She was a nine. No, fuck that. She was a ten.

'Hi' she said, a little hesitantly, 'I wonder if you could help me? I'm looking for a vintage leather jacket for my fiancé?'

'Any particular colour?'

'Errmm, maybe like tan?' she said, biting on her bottom lip and running a hand absent-mindedly over a railing of clothes. Long, slender fingers.

'Well, we don't have any tan in stock right now, but we should be getting a delivery in the next few days, do you need it urgently?'

'Oh, uhh, well, it's not his birthday until next week, so that should be ok.'

Straight girl. Of course.

'Alright, well how about I take your number and give you a call when the delivery arrives?' Alex suggested, strangely feeling a little warmer.

'Yea, that would be great' she said smiling, lighting up those eyes in a way that made them even more stunning. Alex grabbed a note pad and pen from behind the till, unsure why she was feeling so excited and handed them to her. The woman hurriedly scribbled down her number, thanked Alex and turned to leave.

'Wait' Alex said, glancing down at the paper, 'You didn't leave your name'.

'Sorry, yes, it's Piper' she said, brushing a lock of blonde hair away from her face. 'Piper Chapman.'

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It had been a long day, made worse by the fact that it was exactly two months since it had happened. The detail of it was mainly a blur, it had all been so rushed and panicked and for that she felt grateful. But it was the feeling when she came round that she couldn't shake. The immediate sense that she was missing something: that hollow feeling. And all the time, she kept being told, by her mother, by Polly, by Larry, that she had to be brave and strong and that she would get through this, when all she really wanted to do was curl up and vanish.

She hadn't cried until a month later and then it was like someone had broken an emotional dam; a tide of tears that just refused to be stemmed, of a whole life planned out and then dashed. All within a space of a few hours.

'Hey honey, I'm back', Larry yelled from the hallway.

'Hey, I'm in here' she said, shouting from the kitchen, her hands wrapped around a wine glass.

'Wow Pipes, drinking at 4.30 in the afternoon, is this a new thing?' he said, clearly not deciding whether to be jokey or judgmental, but managing to achieve both, to Piper's annoyance.

'How's the being a writer going' she said making air quotes at the word writer, knowing that would cause him maximum offence.

It worked. He made that little boy wounded look that she used to find adorable, but these days was just irritating.

'It's a lot harder than you think you know and it's more about luck and being in the right place at the right time than anything else.'

She assumed then, that for the last two years, he had somehow always managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'So the interview didn't go so well, huh?' she said, popping a wasabi pea in her mouth, coughing a little as the sharp heat got caught in the back of her throat.

'They said they would let me know'.

They both knew what that meant, they had heard it enough times before and if a local rag, that only a handful of people read, wouldn't hire him, then what hope was there?

'You could just get a temp job to tide you over? That's what most people do to fund themselves when they're following their dreams.'

It was a silly question, she knew exactly why he wouldn't do that, he didn't need to. His parents always bailed him out. This apartment was owned by them and Larry's mother cooked them so many meals they may just as well have been living with them. And yet, despite all this, he still insisted on maintaining a veneer of independence.

'Come on Pipes, we've discussed this' he said removing his jacket and tossing it across the back of a dining chair. 'A temp job would affect my creativity and what would be the point in that?' He kissed the top of her head gently, he smelt of spearmint chewing gum.

She was being a bitch to him and he didn't deserve it. He was good and kind and made her laugh and really, none of this was his fault.

'I'm sorry, I know you'll find something soon, you're a great writer', she said smiling. 'What do you want for dinner?'

'My mom called earlier, she's made her famous brisket' he grinned, 'you up for it?'

'Sure' she replied. After all, it wasn't like she had a better offer.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

At 7pm on the dot, Alex's apartment buzzer went. That was Sylvie, a stickler for punctuality. She practically came bounding through the front door. She looked Alex up and down: the sight of her in a sweatshirt and shorts causing a look of confusion to spread across her face. 'You do know when I said dinner, I meant going out dinner, not eating grilled cheese and drinking beer dinner.'

'You mean Monday night?' Alex grinned.

'Yea, maybe your usual Monday night, but not today' she said, he eyes pleading in a way that Alex found unbearably annoying.

'Well, how about I make you an offer you can't refuse?' She'd been feeling horny as fuck all day.

'What sort of offer?' Sylvie replied, eyeing her suspiciously.

'Well let's just say' Alex said, removing the jacket from Sylvie's shoulders and kissing her neck, 'that it involves seeing your clothes discarded on my bedroom floor'. This was fine, this was okay, this was not relationship stuff.

Sylvie giggled in delight, 'so no dinner?' she asked with little conviction.

'Let's skip to dessert instead' Alex mumbled.

'I love dessert'

'Me too' she grinned, ignoring the whispering of her mind.

Piper Chapman. Piper Chapman.