Guts And Glory

ACT II: CHAPTER SEVEN: LONG & LOST

ACT II: OPENING SCORE

CHAPTER SEVEN: LONG & LOST

Annie's solution is alcohol.

Having arrived at her offices twenty minutes after the departure of Troy Madden-now public enemy number one, the second being his fiancée, a fact Piper is choosing not to pay too much attention to-she had thus decided that the only way to celebrate saying goodbye to bad waste was to get ceremoniously pissed-a plan that Piper isn't wholly in support of, as she has had to remind Annie several times too many of the live press conference occurring the following morning. Though she will say-not aloud, of course, but in the back of her mind, watching her best friend from across the booth at this new bar that has just opened, previously suggested by Chase who has proven to be quite useful-that she is proud, no, pleased that Annie has taken her side, choosing to fight in her corner.

Admittedly, Piper is not surprised to see her friendship with Troy crash and burn-if she had been expectant at all, which she hadn't been for a very long time, of the friendship ever coming to a close, then it being dramatic and sudden is the only thing she could have been prepared for-and she isn't surprised with the outcome. Annie has chosen her, making Piper somebody's first choice, and that in itself is something which takes away from the sting of the betrayal. It's not her, Piper is assured-having acquiesced to Annie's pleads to drink something a little stronger than wine tonight-that is so bad in friendships that people are looking to jump ship away from the Titanic that she is. It's Troy. It's Felix. But most importantly, it's not Piper.

"Next steps?" Annie asks of her, choosing to indulge in something different to the cheap beer that one of their 'art friends' brews himself, of which Piper has chosen to steer clear of. Her tan shines under the blue toned lighting, and Piper refrains from rolling her eyes at the length of Annie's legs on display, there being no Jesse here to one up-she's already heard all about the aftermath of her bout of anger and Jesse's reaction to that, resulting in an argument and Annie arriving at her office in the first place.

Piper shrugs her shoulders, thankful the music isn't too loud to require them to shout to be heard, though the look on her face answers the question for her. She's momentarily backed into a corner here, the only way out is to let her trust in Finn get rid of Evie, but that isn't how Piper works-she is always the one to crush her opponents, the idea that she let someone else take the lead in something that she has the courage to do is damning. "Finn's plotting something," she says, the pregnant pause stretching between them as her eyes lock onto the spawn of Satan barely ten metres away, before focusing her attention back onto Annie, "I trust it to be . . . sufficient."

In the next breath, as Annie is preparing to pry into the nature of her and Finn's relationship, establish how serious it is at the two month mark, figure out how much he would do for her. Piper is sure that Eric must have already relayed her hostile nature to Annie, whom is out going for gold in a competition to see whom can wheedle the most information out of her, the simple answer being that they will both lose and look stupid whilst doing so. Annie's questions never get heard, and Piper is saved from having to be blunt with her, as she knows very little of Annie's own relationship, and she knows Piper's stance on double standards-as Arsehole-Ayden and his best friend, now officially Piper's competition in this election for Prime Minister, Evie Erichsen approach the table.

"Piper," she's not quite sure she has ever loathed someone as much as she does this man, dark hair, green eyes, a smirk that just won't quit, no matter the situation, Arsehole-Ayden is just that-what Finn would say to be an absolute tosser who's so sure of himself he'd like everyone else to know it too. His smile is perfect, though, enough for wandering outside eyes to mistake this as a pleasant conversation rather than the vicious confrontation it is soon to be. "I didn't get a chance to see you at the fashion show-you had an accessory hanging off of your arm for half of it. How is Finn treating you? I never realised how much you seem to enjoy being left with my sloppy seconds." He pouts at this, an expression meant to rile her, but Piper merely arches an eyebrow-he seems to have forgotten that Piper has and always will make the rules in these games and it doesn't matter how long he's had to practise, he will continue to be beneath Piper, on a level so untouchable she is his new idol-unimpressed with his lack of subtlety.