Title: Prolongation
Author:
theoreme Fandom : The Good Wife
Pairing: hints of Alicia/Will.
Rating: FRT
Summary: A phone call helps to rekindle what seemed to have come to an end.
Spoilers : Heart
Length: 2081
Timeline : Pre-series
Note : No beta. If someone wants the job, feel free to say so.
Disclaimer: Will and Alicia are not mine.
Will Gardner was feeling sticky, annoyed and tired. The wet and hot weather of Chicago’s last days of summer, the pressure of a long day at the office and the silent -but sometimes quite loud- battle he and Diane had engaged about hiring a junior associate were wearing him down.
He had met Gary, Harry, whatever his name was, to please Diane and he had only needed a few minutes to realize that, if the kid was good, he wasn’t good enough.
He had the manipulative skills of a third-grade, he was far too persuaded of his own cleverness and yes, Will hadn’t liked the way he was smiling, even though it wasn’t the reason he had given to Diane. She was already snickering at his two first remarks, muttering something about pot and kettle.
Diane was refusing to understand that the firm had no need of a junior associate. They were struggling hard enough as it was, especially with Stern’s little eccentricities, and bringing someone in this mess was not going to help at all.
And how he hated to walk in this heat, which should have been considered illegal. He amused himself briefly about applying labor law to weather conditions and the joke was sufficient to help him arrive at home with higher spirits.
The major perk of his apartment was its close proximity with the firm, which allowed Will to sleep a little more than his colleagues and still arrive before them at work. Some days, he would even choose to go on foot, immersing himself in the vitality of the Loop. But he couldn’t remember why he had decided to do so this morning, considering the heat. He cursed himself one last time while waiting for the doorman.
The freshness due to the air conditioning system in the entrance hall was a blessing and allowed him to reach the elevator with a newfound dignity. The engaging prospect of a cold shower and an even colder beer had him almost running along the corridor.
Damned Stern, he would never show up at the firm, letting Will and Diane do all the work, and when he deigned to come at the firm, he would mess around, Diane would blush like a teenager on her first crush and Will would suddenly be viewed only as a careerist manipulative bastard.
Will had no problem to admit that his moral compass was a bit frayed but the sanctimonious parade Diane and Stern would put on every time would always get on his nerves. Like today. And of course, Stern was backing up Diane on the junior associate issue, even though the old man knew nothing about the current staff and its capacity for work.
The angry click of the door opening was audible in the empty corridor.
Will walked into the living room, put his briefcase on the coffee table and took off his jacket with a relieved sigh. His place was small, but it was the price to pay for the location and the view. And the diminutive apartment suited him. Most days he wasn’t home and when he was, he was alone. The few times he had company, it was only for the night and for breakfast. When he could, he would meet his rendezvous in a hotel in order to avoid an awkward and unsavory intimacy. He liked his home to be the place where he could lay down his guard and the mere idea he would do so in front of his latest conquest was laughable.
Will showered first, a very cold shower that was followed by the extreme pleasure of putting on an old t-shirt and some slacks. He was on the mission to grab himself a beer, when he noticed a green light flashing on his answering machine, installed on a worktop near the fridge.
Green light usually meant only one thing: his mum’s weekly call. Everyone else he knew would try to reach him on his cell phone, except her. She was actually the sole reason he was keeping the line. She couldn’t get used to his cell phone, not wanting to disturb him at work and hating to hear him walking or surrounded by people when they were talking. Will frowned. His mother had called two days ago and she was as regular as clockwork. Beer forgotten, he reached to the machine to listen to the call.
“Hi, it’s Will Gardner. I’m not here at the moment, so please leave a message and I will call you back.”
Smooth, Gardner, smooth. His voicemail hinted that he had the personality of a slice of white bread. Will thought he should do something about this recording and then remembered he had been telling himself that for more years that the cared to count. Furthermore, his mother didn’t care about his voicemail.
“Hi Will, it’s Alicia. Alicia Florrick. From Georgetown.”
Oh fuck. Alicia. Quick pictures flashed in Will’s mind, brought to remembrance by the woman’s soft voice. Alicia. Curly black hair, a quick smile, hours spent together in the library, alabaster skin, glorious curves under a worn-out sheet, straight As and top of their class, her ponytail under the black cap she used to wear to watch him pitch, passionate kisses - Alicia.
“I hope you remember me, we haven’t seen each other in a long time and…”
When was the last time they had met? Not in court, not at her marriage -Alicia in white, beautiful, happy, in the arms of a man who wasn’t him- so it might have been at one of these parties when they would be perfectly polite with each other while her husband and his date would exchange names.
“Well, anyway, you must know that things have been a little… hectic for me.”
No kidding. He had seen her in the newspapers, on the TV and online, standing next to the man who had repeatedly cheated on her and she was holding his fucking hand. He had nearly been sick that day, watching her being meek as a lamb and looking so lost under the flash of the cameras. Will was known to play the field without caring of the hearts he broke, but compared to Peter Florrick, he was a saint. Hell, Peter had set a new whole level of lewdness and egoism.
Will had rejoiced when Peter had been condemned and sent to jail and it had little to do with the ill-use of public funds. He had thought about calling Alicia at the time, but the timing had never seemed right and the idea had vanished over the months.
“I’m currently looking for a job and I thought that maybe you could help me with that, direct me to the firms who might hire me.”
Of course. Will could have slapped himself for not getting in touch with Alicia. With Peter in jail and two kids to take care of, life had to have become very difficult. Peter’s connections couldn’t help or maybe, and Will was sensing it was the true reason, she wanted to have nothing to do with them. This would be like the Alicia he knew, in contrast of the confused and subdued woman he had seen in the newspapers.
But the economic situation was bad and who would hire a woman who had left the bar to stay at home and raise the kids? Not the men and absolutely not the women. Furthermore, Alicia didn’t have any connection by herself - except for him. And so she called.
“I know it’s been a long time since I was in a courtroom, but you know I’m good and Will, I really need your help -
Oh yes, she was good. She was good at finding the missing links, putting people at ease and learning everything she ought to know. He had seen her handling her clients and it was a wonder to watch. She was good in court, calm, posed and friendly, able to win judges and juries without them knowing it. He wondered if she still had her faith in both the law and the court, things he had lost somewhere along the way.
Her desperation was audible here, her voice slipping from her poised and calm tone and he wondered once again how she was dealing with the mess left by Peter.
“I’m sorry, I’m babbling. I’m afraid I haven’t got any better at leaving messages.”
He could see her self-deprecating smile in the last remark. At Georgetown, she used to babble too, every time she was excited or anxious, but only if she was with someone she considered a close friend. She had done so the first time she had kissed him and the only way to shut her up had been to kiss her again.
He found that he was happy at the knowledge she was babbling with him again , even though it was only on his answering machine.
“I will call you back in a few days. Here is my cell number if you want to reach me.”
He grabbed the pen and the pad of paper he always kept by the phone and wrote the number. He put the pen on the counter only to reach it again and add “Alicia” under the number. The last thing he wanted was to lose this number in spite of her assurance to call him again.
“And even if you can’t help me, I would love to hear from you. Good friends are… I would love to catch up...”
Her tone was fluctuating between hopeful and resigned. Will could finish her phrase for her: Good friends are few and far between. He could see the doors closing in her face in her uppity neighborhood, the lame excuses of her friends to avoid seeing her and, above all, being seen with her. It would be nice to converse with her again, to reminisce about Georgetown, to let her know she could have a friend to talk when she needed to and…
“ And to see you again.”
Oh. Will swallowed and closed his eyes. It wasn’t the best idea. The few times he had seen her, she had been with her husband, looking as beautiful as before but definitively unattainable. She wasn’t anymore, although she wasn’t divorced. To see her again, to be alone with her again, to laugh and talk with her. In the last pictures, her hair wasn’t curly anymore and she seemed more remote than ever. He would love to see how much of the old Alicia was still there and how much he would like the new one.
“Bye.”
“Bye”, he murmured in the sudden silence of his apartment, eyes still closed.
His fingers were absently brushing against the scrap of paper as he was lost in thoughts.
It was going to be difficult to find her a nice position with her lack of experience, in the aftermath of the scandal. He suddenly realized that he didn’t want her to go to another firm. He wanted her to work with him. Every mock case on which they had worked together in college had been great. They had been a good team, due to her frankness and his more devious ideas, their habit to bounce ideas off each other and their capacity to think outside the box. They should be even better now.
It could actually be easier to have her hired at SLG than any another place. A small, carnivorous smile appeared on his face. He was going to use Diane’s strategy against her. She wanted to hire a new junior associate? Alright, he was going to agree with her as long as he could have someone else competiting for the job against Blondie. Diane would be forced to accept: they had decided in the beginning to have equal teams. If Alicia won the competition, all for the better and even if she lost, she at least would have come back in the game and it would be easier for her to find a job.
But Will wasn’t afraid for her and was even somehow feeling bad for the kid. The poor guy would never know what had hit him, because Alicia was that good.
He finally grabbed a beer. After uncorking the bottle, he raised it in a silent toast to Alicia, who was coming back to the courts she should never have left. And, even though he might forever remain just a friend, she was coming back to him.