A Routine
The day the press catches hold of the infamous 'scandalous' photo of Finn leaving Alicia's apartment they're at a bar, downing bourbons, wine and tequila after work. Their sentences start off articulate, calculated even but relaxed, it is always relaxed with Finn, Alicia realises. Their slurs of words begin edging and testing the barriers of their friendship, sly remarks thrown sporadically followed by giggles and laughter like teenagers.
Just another Thursday.
This has become a growing habit of theirs, sitting in the back booths of old dimly lit bars, tucked away from the press, their families and Eli. The small TV mounted in the corner of the half populated bar repeatedly showed the image, with numerous commentators and anchors speculating and reporting falsities in a loop.
Bold headlines with words like affair, sex and cheating plastered all over; nothing new.
They laugh at the audacity and repetition of the news, they laugh a bit too loud after a few more drinks. The people at the bar don't pay too much attention, because that's the thing with Alicia and Finn, they choose far away, non-lawyer type bars to meet. Places where they're nobodies, simply two individuals getting a bit too drunk, being a bit too loud and sitting a bit too close. Where they're anyone but the Governor's wife and sworn enemy of Florrick, Agos and Associates.
Until they became the topic of the month, with more far away photographs of them being spotted together; some professional, some after work and some even photoshopped. People begin recognising them even in their dingy hiding spots, causing their innocent after work drinks to become some sort of affair and scandalous meeting.
Then they began meeting at Finn's apartment just out of the city, where the streets were quiet and the neighbours kept to themselves. The drinks were cheaper, the environment more private and no one to comment on how close they sat.
He was the first to suggest this.
They were at a bar, just 10 minutes away from the courts, they've had a long day going at each other's throats on a new case and decided to just stay local, their level of caring at a minimal. Alicia was already at the bar waiting, nursing a glass of red with an empty seat and bourbon next to her. She snuck glances at the door every time the bell chimed and lingered on any men wearing fitted suits with dark brown hair, only to look away half disappointed, though she'd never admit out loud.
A lawyer, she assumed by his attire and cocky aura, sat on the empty stool next to her and began very poorly thought out small talk. He definitely knew who she was and was not shy to admit so, commenting on things that any normal person would deem inappropriate. Three minutes of a one-sided conversation, Finn walks through the entrance and immediately spots Alicia sitting at the bar, her posture rigid and exerting an air of irritation. He coolly maneuvers his way through the crowd, unbuttoning his jacket and top button before standing between the young man, no boy, and Alicia.
"Is he bothering you?" Finn says in a cool even tone, loosening up his tie as he smirks
"In fact, he was just leaving" Alicia intervenes before the lawyer whose name she didn't bother to learn could reply with an overreaction
He eyes them both and adjusts his suit jacket before walking out the door with a slam.
"I give him 3 days before he calls the press" She smiles at him as he sits down and takes a long sip of his drink
"I say tomorrow"
"Care to bet on it?" and they shake on it, their hands lingering ever so slightly in each other's grasp
The following day at work, Diane is showing her an interview on the local news of the very same lawyer, giving an over sensationalized recount of the night before, with details of flirtation and public displays of affection. Alicia rolls her eyes, 'if I had a penny for every time someone has insinuated this'.
She calls him at lunch and they have a good laugh about it.
"So you've lost the bet" She hears him chuckle over the phone
"I thought he'd have the decency to wait it out at least a day, I swear I put too much faith in people sometimes,"
"That you do,"
She smiles to herself.
"So, claim your prize – I mean" She stops herself before she can continue her line of thought,
"I was thinking dinner at mine? Say 7pm tomorrow?"
There's a millisecond of a pause over the white noise of the phone,
"Sure, I'll bring the wine."
She rings his doorbell at 7:02 with a bottle of red in her hands, the bite of the chilly night sinking through her coat. She looks up and down the road, the lights from most of the townhouses were off or dim, the street as dead as silence. She hears his footsteps pad across the wood veneer floorboards and then the door opens to reveal his welcoming smile.
"Hey,"
He leads her into his home like it is the most natural thing in the world. It isn't the first time she's been to his place, not even the second. They've worked on witness prep and some depositions together a few months ago, although limited to when the sun was still up and did not include home cooked meals. She hands him the bottle and proceeds to take her coat off, hanging it over a chair.
"Do you need help with anything?" She asks as she follows him through to the kitchen
His place is smaller than Alicia's, but only by a little. It is cozier, the stove is running, a pasta is simmering, the sound of the cork being unscrewed is music to her ears. She accepts the glass of wine and revels in the first taste.
Three quarters of the bottle later, the dirty pasta dishes in the sink, they're sitting on the couch with the TV on low volume. Her shoes are discarded on the side somewhere, legs crossed to her side on the couch and his arms stretched over the back of the sofa and consequently Alicia.
"Why don't we do this more?" He asks,
"What, dinner?" She half answers, raising an eyebrow at him swiveling the wine in her glass
"No, have drinks at mine" He says "or yours" he adds as an after thought
"The drinks are cheaper, there's no speculation and I have a couch"
"But how would it look, me coming over to yours every other day after work"
"Everyone already assumes we're sleeping together anyway" He eyes her, downing the rest of his glass in a large gulp
She contemplates it for a while, drinking small sips in between thoughts
"Well, I'm going to miss having other people make my drinks" Alicia sighs looking into his eyes, accepting their new arrangement
"I used to be a bartender, you know" he smiles at her,
She leans over him and grabs the nearly empty bottle to top up his glass
"I guess it's a win win then."