Chapter 5:

Alex had picked up her car from the Central Parking System near their loft in Tribeca as soon as she had arrived back in New York the previous day.  She knew she would be making frequent trips back and forth to Weehawken that week preparing for and attending her mom’s funeral and she definitely didn’t want to stay in her mom’s empty house alone or be kept at the mercy of the public train schedule. Besides, it had felt good to turn the key in the sleek black BMW 335i and feel the powerful purr of the engine. So good in fact, she had jumped on the FDR and made a loop around the entire island of Manhattan. She weaved in and out of cars recklessly while breaking speed limits to complete the circuit in less than 30 minutes.

However, she didn’t reveal that particular incident to blonde that as they approached the car on the street. Nor did she make any mention of the sexy highway patrolwoman that had cited her for speeding.  It was just as well, she supposed. She doubted she would be making any use of the personal number the officer had left on the back of a blank ticket….at least not now when she and Piper were doing whatever it was that they were doing.

The blonde was grateful to see the luxury coupe parked near the door of the building, “I’m surprised you got the car out of storage.”

Alex shrugged nonchalantly, “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to stay in New Jersey and I wasn’t taking the train every day.”

Alex opened Piper’s door and the blonde slid down into the comfortable leather seat. She closed her eyes momentarily. She was overly exhausted. After her earlier shower, she and Alex had taken a short nap, but it was nowhere near long enough and she guessed that the next few days were going to be chaotic. She felt the rumble of the engine as the car came to life and then they were pulling away from the curb as the brunette carefully navigated the car into the lanes of traffic. She considered taking a nap in the car, but it was a relatively short 20 minute drive to the funeral home. She knew she would hardly be able to rest any before they would reach their destination so she focused her attention on the brunette behind the wheel. Alex was a master at making her face as stony as any situation required, but years of experiences with the brunette had left Piper with the ability to see when it was all for show.