Vauseman: Litchfield's Finest Love

Chapter Five: Piper

I walked down the hall to my job in electrical. Nicky was waiting for me at our table. I glanced around, taking in the sight of lamps everywhere. It brought back flashbacks of my first day in prison, when I had to fix a lamp. The manual was in another language, and I cluelessly sat there for an hour, only to find out that it was fine if we didn't get it to work on the first day.
"Hey, Chapman," Nicky greeted me. "Congrats on you and Alex. I hope everything works out. You know, she was really beating herself up before she asked you."
"Really?" I asked, saddened. The thought of Alex being upset hurt me. I had only seen her vulnerable side a few times, and it killed me. When we broke up and I left her years ago, I'll never forget the expression on her face. It broke my heart just thinking about it, and I would regret that decision until the day I died. Us getting married I hoped would help make up for that, because I'd vow to never leave her again.
"Yeah," Nicky said, shaking her head. "I've never seen her so nervous, it wasn't like her. She really loves you, kid. Hold on to her, she's a gem." She paused and handed me a lamp. "Now let's fix this shit!"
We worked intently on our lamps, and Mr. Luschek interrupted our thoughts when he said, "Alright, bitches, listen up. We're ending work early today. Go back to your beds for count."
"Huh, that's weird," Nicky said to me as we put away our tools. "Do you know what's going on?"
I shook my head no, trying to see anything peculiar as we headed back to our sleeping quarters. Nicky and I both had cubes in the same room, so we walked back together.
When we arrived, we stood in front of our cubes and waiting for the COs to come by and do their count. I looked around to see if anyone was missing. It wasn't until the door opened when I saw why we ended work early.