I stand in front of Mike, trying to process what he just said to me. "What do you mean she's our next case, Mike? Jessica gave us a pile of cases. You shouldn't even be looking at another case!" I say, turning away for a moment. As he begins to speak, Mike places his hand onto my shoulder.

"I know-" I look at his hand, feeling a little uneasy. I know Mike wasn't going to do anything to me, but my anxieties told me otherwise. My trauma from Dylan, as a therapist told me long ago, had made me scared shitless whenever a man had placed their hand onto me. It wasn't even Mike's fault, and I could only feel for him, because he is probably one of the nicest and sharpest men I'd met. 

He sheepishly pulls his hand back to himself and bows his head for a moment. "Sorry..."

"It's fine... I... ever since-"

"You don't have to explain it to me, you've been through enough." He smiles at me and we look at each for a moment. I felt warm and slowly my fear melted itself away. I then clear my throat and his smile fades momentarily.

"Go ahead." Nodding, he begins speaking again.

"I... er... I've already been through them-" I scoff, not realising how it was coming off.

"Sorry. I forgot how good you are Mike. Harvey isn't always right, and I guess that he still is about you." Smiling at him, he also plays with the smile creeping on his face. I knew how it felt when, as an associate, your boss praises you to other lawyers. It felt hella good.

"I was saying, I've been through them. And I know that each one of them needs help, but that's before I saw Mrs Parker." I divert my eyes  to the woman with short, wavy hair in the conference room.

"And... that's her?"

"Yes... I met her by the elevator earlier. And... she told me her story." He hands me a folder and I open it, Mike standing by my side. "It's one of our cases that I read. And hers was kind of at the bottom of the pile. It seems Jessica didn't think anything of it at the time. But because I'm a quick reader and learner, I read her case, and I feel like we can help her. That, and the fact that she told me about her husband." I skim over the first page and spot a name.

"Mr Steven Parker?" 

"Mhm... Just, please Amy, just speak to her and get to know her story that isn't on a piece of paper. I hope you're not like Harvey and don't like to care about your clients." I close the folder.

"I care enough..." I sigh and I see Mike wait for the one word that would let us go inside to finally speak with Mrs Parker. "Okay." He breathes a sigh of relief and pounds his fist down and silently mouths a 'yes' to let me know how relieved he was. 

I lift an eyebrow and Mike catches me, swiftly changing his happy fist into an open palm to comb through his hair. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh and Mike bursts out laughing. I giggle for a little unable to hold it in, but realise where we were as soon as a few people looked over our way, including Mrs Parker. I cough it out and Mike also stops rather abruptly and straightens his tie. We both smile at each other, clearing our throats in a hope we both could forget it happened, but dang it felt good to laugh without fear with a friend. "Shall we go on in?" Mike nodded and jumped in front of me to open the door, allowing me to step in first. 

He was a gentlemen, and I knew that him and Rachel would be walking into the sunset together.

"Hi, Mrs Parker is it?" Mrs Parker stands up and I shake her hand, as Mike closes the door and sit himself opposite where she was seated.

"Please, call me Charlotte. Mrs Parker makes me feel so old."

"You don't look a day over twenty!" I say to her with a chuckle, sitting beside Mike but still opposite Charlotte. I was hoping that I'd be able to show how I cared. Just a little joke and a get-to-know is always helpful. I open the folder and look up at Charlotte, my hands clasp each other and rest in the middle of the the open folder. "Sorry about earlier Charlotte, me and Mike were just-"

"Oh no, that's okay! It's nice to see lawyers laughing. You see them all serious and 'in business' all the time and sometimes forget that working people have lives..." She sighs shakily. Mike and I look at each other, knowing that this was truly important to her. 

Sometimes I'd wish I could do more for people, but all I knew is that I could help her and her husband get back at whoever scarred them. "... and that's what makes them special." Charlotte chokes on her last word, tears falling down her cheek. I notice a tissue box on the other far side of the table. I point to them and Mike grabs them and pulls a tissue out, passing it to me. By then, Charlotte had looked up to us and I offered her the tissue, both me and Mike smiling softly. "I'm sorry!" She manages to say, plucking the tissue and patting her tears. 

"No, it's okay Charlotte. There's no need. I understand this is hard for you." I take a moment and inhale deeply. "I recently..." I croak, feeling a little nervous. Then, I clear my throat. "... went through something. But-" Looking over to Mike, he smiles at me. "- I had my friends here and the person I loved, who loved me, by my side. Because I didn't do this alone." My heart warms for a moment as I think of Harvey, but also everyone at the firm who helped me with my dickhead of a ex. "We're hear to help you Charlotte." I say firmly, but softly. "It's our jobs. And I can say that we can be here for you. And make the people who hurt you and your husband pay. Can you trust me a little?" Charlotte begins to smile and nods her head.

"Yes. I can." I simper back at her. 

"Thank you... " I look down at the folder and close it. I glance to my left to see Mike with a slight frown, and continue talking. "I'm not going to look at this folder anymore. I know people look at a file and that's all they see. But, I want to know your story. So please, Charlotte, tell me it."

"And take your time. I know I've heard your story but... Amelia is a great lawyer. You can trust she'll kick ass." Mike adds and we all chuckle for a moment.

I hear Charlotte take a deep breathe, and both me and Mike make sure she knew we were listening carefully.

"This is about my husband. I know I'm here but, my husband isn't well enough to be here... It all started at the warehouse my husband works. He worked there for one and a half years..." My brows furrow with confusion and Charlotte notices. "I know what your thinking. I said worked. But..." Charlotte reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone, tapping it a few times, before handing it over to me. "This was my husband when he got job." I look at the photo. Charlotte and Mr Parker kissing lovingly. 

I hoped that me and Harvey would always be like this. I really love him. "And if you swipe right..." Charlotte says and I continue to do so, revealing Mr Parker with a oxygen mask on his face, and he looked extremely and abnormally skinny.  "This is him just a month ago. We're both in debt. I don't work, because I have to look after him as he gets his treatment. Miss Steele, we were both happy once, and now my husband can't even go get himself a beer anymore. The doctor tells him he has some kind of poisoning. I know that the plant is up to something, because my husband was completely fine and now, after working at that stupid factory, he can't ever be a husband anymore. And as a wife, I need him. And..." She inhales deeply. "I have to fight for him. He deserves to be heard. We deserve to be heard. The lawyers I've been to didn't think that we were worth it, so please... can you help us?" I look at the photo on her phone and all is silent for a moment.

I then place the phone onto the table and look back at her.

"We're going to help. I'll make sure of it." I stand up and walk over to Charlotte. Offering my hand for a shake, she pulls a relived smile, also standing up in order to shake my hand. 

"Thank you so much. Thank you both." Mike walks over to me and we all head to the door.

"Thank Mike. He made sure that I heard your case and I'm glad I did." We leave the room, Charlotte heading towards the elevators. Both me and Mike watch her.

"Thanks for having my back."

"Of course Mike... It's a solid case. And we're going to make it a pro-bono." Mike's eyes shoots to look at me.

"What?" I nod lightly.

"We're making this a pro-bono Mike. I mean it." His eyes widen and he grins. 

"You'll have to convince Jessica though." Clenching my jaw, I said the words that both scared and exhilarated me.

"Oh, don't you worry, I will."

° ° °

I'm so sorry I'm late. Like MONTHS late. I've been extremely unwell and still am. But, I found a little joy in updating. And I really hope you all love this chapter :) Please comment and let me know! I will always try my best to update when I'm better. I think I'll have to stick to update every 2-4 weeks from now, just until my health's under control. Thank you for your forever patience <3  Also if there's mistakes, I will edit them later xx