Guts And Glory

ACT I: CHAPTER TWO: WHAT KIND OF MAN

ACT I: CURTAIN RISES

CHAPTER TWO: WHAT KIND OF MAN

Piper considers not going.

The idea of staying in her flat, now with a coffee table supporting the gaudy lamp she spotted hours earlier, slowly forming the home that she knows will complete the whole image she has worked so hard to perfect. There is still a bottle of wine left in the fridge from the night before, and she ponders the likelihood of staying in, drinking said wine and completing some work ahead of her fashion show. The thought barely lasts long enough, as Piper rifles through clothes packed away in boxes, waiting for the arrival of her new wardrobe—once Piper goes out to buy one.

A little black dress is discarded, yes, a classic, but Piper has recently gained some weight after foolishly taking Annie's advice and being self-indulgent with the red velvet cake that she'd special ordered on a whim—and god, the muffin top will never work, but it was heavenly, and she doesn't even know if she truly regrets it—and the perusal for the perfect outfit for this date continues.

Her fist clenches around a turtleneck—and Piper cannot, for the life of her, remember ever deeming this acceptable to own and carry with her across the world, and she's certain it isn't even hers, probably Annie's, sullying her flat with clothes from the bloody farmers market, and how it even managed to get into a box of dresses, she isn't sure, but what she can only focus on right now, is the scratchy cotton against her palm—which she is allergic to—has definitely rubbed against all of her clothes, and now she'll have to wash everything, which is going to be so expensive because as it happens, she doesn't even own any washing powder let alone set up a washing machine and dryer. And, Piper mentally takes a deep breath, already formulating a list of all the ways she is going to murder Annie and relish in the bathtub containing her warm blood—she's got her eye on one of those claw foot types—letting the turtleneck fall to the floor as she remembers her dinner is with Finn.

It isn't even that she's in lust with his devastatingly good looks—and it wounds her that he is so self-aware of his physical appearance, as men that know they're good looking seem to be so much more arsehole-y than other men—because Piper has learnt the hard way that good looks are only the tip of an iceberg where baggage is concerned. She's not even that bothered by the fact that he is one of the most in demand socialites in the entirety of London, thanks to his post as former best friend to Literally-One-Shot-Arsehole-Ayden-Peters and the money he has managed to make for himself as a professional model and budding entrepreneur—which, is quite intimidating.

The thing that really rankles Piper where Finn Hanover is concerned is the way he seems to have bounced back after their escapade in Africa, as though he wasn't the one to confess his feelings and then run away in the night. And it isn't very reassuring that she is the one so fixated on one night that other men could have performed better—other men have performed better.

Piper concentrates on the current casualty of her state of dress now that she has to put at least another two black dresses out of the question, along with throwing the items of clothing that had come into contact with the jumper onto the floor. She pauses to consider how slim her options seem now, deciding there is no time quite like the present to go shopping, as it is the beginning of the season, the beginning of a new era, and she deserves this me time after all of the bullshit she has already been faced with.

His name is already ringing warning bells, flashing lights to tell her this is a bad decision, that she will regret this severely, but Piper forces those feelings back down her oesophagus, running her hand over her forest green coloured velvet jumpsuit. She takes it out of the box, holding it up against her, knowing it will look positively deviant, with a nude clutch, her nude red bottoms, and her fresh haircut. Her interest in people like Finn Hanover had always been waiving, especially after they'd left school and she no longer had to see his face amongst the crowd from across the street separating their single sex schools with the same name. But times have changed, the prize is bigger, and Piper smiles, deciding that where a soldier has fallen, she will simply have to fill the space.