Sweat beaded down Piper's face as she sat up in bed. Her chest heaved up and down as she took a very long few minutes to collect her thoughts, her sanity. "Shit," she groaned as the headache and nausea hit her hard. Wincing against the pain and hand on her head, she eyed her cell phone-- to find it dead. Frustrated, she tossed it to the other end of the bed before groggily climbing out, gripping the bottle cluttered nightstand for balance. The dim sunlight streaming through her window was both a relief and trigger for panic: what time was it? For a normal woman working full time during the day, this unknown element would push her into hyper-drive. Piper Flynn Holmes, however, lazily put on pants and shambled out of the room to prepare for the day, leaving the light on behind her.

Bun up, black coffee drank, teeth unbrushed, cigarette leisurely smoked, and phone still in her room, she threw on dark sunglasses and stepped outside. She left the bottom half of the duplex, which she rented from an older couple with rose colored glasses, and hopped on her motorcycle. It was a small, old thing, but its size suited her and she had little trouble keeping it running. With a kick and a roar, she was off-- On another day, she may have raced through the small town, but on this day the hangover was particularly bad. She rolled up to Jimmy's and sauntered to the garage, almost ready to get to work. 

"Holmes, I've been calling ya," came a voice and Piper immediately tensed up to narrow her eyes at Jimmy Jr. through her sunglasses. 

"Phone died. I'm here now." He was a clean cut guy in his thirties, but ran the shop well enough. He had bright blue eyes and his close shave kept him looking young, attractive. Piper hated him. 

"This guy's here for his car and said you--Jesus Christ, Piper, is that [i]you[/i]?" Jimmy stepped back, wafting the air away from his face. It earned him only an eyeroll, so he continued. "Okay, whatever. Could you handle your damn customer? You didn't leave us with much paper work, but I was about to pick him up myself." He shoved a clipboard at her, the pages blank and ready to be filled out. Maybe he knew Piper would bite back, but he scurried off right after, as if the garage was busy.

Piper threw her middle finger at his back and scanned the lot in front of the garage. There were two people. Rolling her eyes again, she placed her sunglasses on top of her head and approached the one she vaguely recognized. He was tall and may have scared another woman, but Piper was difficult to intimidate even with her small stature. Besides, he had a dull look to his face, and she wondered if he even noticed her approach. "Hey..." she started, but her voice trailed off. What was his name? Well, she knew his car, and she knew it was ready because she had stayed late the night before fixing it. "You're here to pick your car up." It wasn't a question, though one thing was still bugging her: "What time is it?"

[@RedXCross]