You are my life

Late

(Piper's POV)

As soon as I left the hotel suite, I immediately knew I was going to be late meeting Zelda. The elevator was packed with people. Well, I guess we were in the centre of New York City at lunch time. I was bound to not be the only one meeting someone for lunch. The whole fucking city was apparently doing so.
And to make it worse, it stopped at every floor on the way down.
Sighing, I take my cell phone from my pocket and find Zelda in my contacts. My last message thread with her was a simple 'I'm sorry' after I'd called her to tell her I was going after Alex.
I began to type as best as I could being stuck like a sardine in this elevator.

"Hi Zelda. Sorry I'm going to be late. The joys of New York at lunch time. P"

A few minutes later after I'd stuffed my cell phone back into my pocket, it vibrated.

"It's fine Piper! Everyone knows this city is a nightmare for traffic! Human and vehicle! Take your time! :) Z"

Zelda replied with her usual cheery demeanour. Smiling, I put my phone back in my pocket just as the elevator doors finally open onto the lobby.

As I leave the hotel, the last taxi drives off because of course it does. Well, at least Zelda knew I was going to be late.
"Oh come on!" I groan as the cab pulls away from the curb just before I could get to it.
I was thinking of texting Alex to tell her I'd be late for Zelda's lunch but then thought better of it because if I told her that she'd either delay me even further or stop me going altogether. Besides, yes, I wanted us to be honest with each other, especially after all that had happened, but I didn't have to tell her every tiny detail of my life.
I'd tell her I was delayed once I finally got a cab.

Zelda had booked a fancy rooftop restaurant for us to have lunch. She texted me the address last night, thankfully while I'd banished Alex to the couch. Not a lot of people text me these days so Alex would've immediately worked out who it was from. A jealous Alex wasn't one to be messed with. Not even I could stand against her. Look what happened when she did get jealous. But let's also not go down that road again.
All Alex knew was that I was meeting Zelda for lunch and honestly she only knew that because she was there when I suggested it. No, she was the reason it was happening in the first place.
I didn't tell her where Zelda and I were meeting because I could tell that she missed her wealth and being able to treat us both to nice things and she was already jealous enough of Zelda no matter how much she tried to hide it, so that was that.

Finally, I managed to pin down a cab after walking up and down fifth avenue for a while. This city was filled with cabs speeding by with the light on their roof that indicated they were full, especially at this time of day. So once I got in, I sighed in relief after flopping down on the leather back seat.
"Where to ma'am?" The driver asks.
I told him the address of the restaurant and off we went.
Now I would text Alex.

"Hi Al. Running really late, it's like everything was trying to stop me meeting her but I should hopefully get there soon enough. P"

I didn't sign it with a kiss.
I loved her but I was still mad at her.
Hurt by her.
Her reply came instantly.

"Hey babe. Shit, if I'd have known that I would've joined the let's keep Piper back party. Hell, I would've hosted it. ;)
A xxx"

Of course she'd reply with sarcasm, an allusion to sex, a hint of jealousy and three kisses. She was trying to be cute because she knew that if she kept saying all the right things, I would eventually crack. Like she did when she kept sending me all those letters while I was in prison and she got out on her little plea deal.

"Behave."

I simply sent back.
I wasn't just talking about now though.

"Always ;) xxx"

Came her response.
Trying to ignore my veiled dig by keeping up the banter.