"Connie, I know we have an agreement, but I'm seriously beginning to wonder why your boy even promoted me."

Connie Rubirosa dropped the pile of cash from her hand back into the manila envelope in front of her, as she gave her supervisor an annoyed grimace.

"If you call Jack 'my boy' one more time I'm going to march into his office and demand a transfer," Rubirosa snapped. "No matter what the water cooler crowd may have told you, Jack was my boss. Period."

EADA Michael Cutter nodded as he turned one of the chairs in front of the modest desk around and sat beside his assistant. Although Cutter had been more than a little apprehensive about inheriting the new DA's former assistant, in the short time he had been working the cute brunette Cutter had become sure of two things: Connie Rubirosa was a damned fine attorney, as well as a straight shooter. No matter how scandalous Jack McCoy's reputation with his assistants had been in the past, the gossip that Rubirosa had been yet another conquest was just that.

"Hey, if you think I meant anything other than McCoy's your boy in the sense you're the only one around here that seems to have some insight into the what goes on in the guy's mind, I apologize," Cutter responded bleakly. "Connie, the guy's driving me crazy. If you can't help me figure out a way to get him to back off, I don't know how much longer I'm going last around here."

Rubirosa bit her lip as her face flushed with embarrassment. She hadn't meant to jump down Cutter's throat. Although she had tried to remain neutral, even she had noticed how McCoy's vow to be a 'hands on' DA had become more of a straggle hold as he tried to make the shift from prosecutor to elected official.

"Sorry, Mike," she said with a sigh. "What's he done now?"

"It's the Manning/Steele case."

"I thought you agreed that trying them together was the best solution..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said impatiently as he held up and hand."It was a brilliant idea and I'd be the first one to thank Jack for suggesting it. It's the closing. Connie he's had me in his office three times to review it and he plans to be in the courtroom when I give it. I mean, it's like he thinks he's the lead prosecutor and I'm second chairing for him. You worked with him for over year. Be straight with me, Connie. The man thinks I'm a loose cannon, doesn't he? He probably doesn't trust me..."

"Mike, it's not," she said firmly, as she moved to close the door. "Come on Mike, you knew Jack before he became DA. The whole Hang 'Em High McCoy thing..."

"I know, I know. Jack's a legend in this town. Listen when I found out I got the job, part of the thrill was knowing I was going to work closely with the legend himself. Connie, I've been in awe of McCoy since I read some of the cases he won when I was still in law school," Cutter said candidly. "But if he just wants someone to sit in his old office to fill the space while he trys the cases, maybe I need to think about going back downstairs..."

"Mike, it's not you," she said with more intensity than she had meant to. "It's Jack. Between adjusting to the new job and a case of the before wedding jitters..."

"I thought the wedding was off. Didn't Brooke show up at Melnick's wedding with Mike LaSalle?"

Rubirosa nervously bit her lip. The only reason she knew about McCoy's weekend plans was that she had walked in on the DA's conversation with a Justice of the Peace in Canada.

"Don't let it get around, but they're not only back together, but Jack's taking Brooke to the Falls for another try this weekend," Rubirosa said as she tapped on the envelope in front of her. "I just started hitting people up again to chip in for a wedding present. I just told everyone they were about to set a date, so keep the specifics to yourself."

"The Falls," Cutter said apprehensively as he reached for his wallet. "It's a beautiful place, but given the history it has for them, I'm kind of surprised they'd choose to go back. Listen, how much have you managed to collect so far?"

"Well, Carver is supposed to bring me fifty by the end of business and Novak said to ask her again on payday, so right now I'd say I have about three hundred in cash."

"Add another fifty to the pile," he said placing a bill on the desk.

Rubirosa smiled as she picked up the money.

"Does this mean you'll last until Jack gets this marriage business taken care of once and for all?"

"I suppose if Hang 'Em High McCoy is going to put the noose around his own neck, the least I can do is not knock the stool out from under him. Especially with closing arguments scheduled for Thursday on the Manning/Steele case."

Rubirosa let out a shower of laughter. The unexpected sound immediately brought a smile to Cutter's face.

"Gee Mike, I never took you for such a romantic," she said as she rolled her eyes. "And here I was about to ask you to help me figure out what to buy for them."

"That's so old school, Rubirosa," he teased as he pulled out his Blackberry."If you really want to get the most for your money, let me check some of the deals of the day online. I'll bet I can find you a great gift for the McCoy's and you'll have money to spare."

"Mike, there are some things that need to be done without the Net," she said skeptically.

"I'll tell you what. You give me until the end of business today. If I don't find you the perfect gift online, I'll not only take you shopping until we drop, I'll buy you dinner at Twenty One."

Rubirosa's eyes narrowed slightly as she silently weighed Cutter's proposal. The grilling she had received via the office grapevine after arriving on the tenth floor as the latest of Jack McCoy's bevy of young and attractive female assistants ha dmade her wary of being too friendly with any supervisor. The yougn attorney had taken care not to give the gossip mongers any fuel for their fire ignited by sexual innuendo when Mike Cutter had taken McCoy's place in the EADA chair.

"Or not,"Cutter added, sensing his assistants discomfort. "I just figured if I took the gift buying off your hands you'd have one less thing to do before we head over the court house at noon."

Rubirosa had worked with the computer geek long enough to know Cutter's words were sincere. Shaking her reservations away, she smiled up at Cutter.

"It would be one less thing to thing to do and frankly, I have no clue what those two need," she confessed. "They've both been married before and they've both have had their own places for years. I'm at a total loss on this one. Thanks, Mike."

"Always happy to help," he said as he moved towards the door.

"Hey Mike, wait a minute,"Rubirosa said, suddenly realizing she'd forgotten something.

Cutter turned from the door and smiled.

"No worry's Connie. The answer to your question is: If I win, the only reward I ask in return is, you talk to Jack about steering clear of the courthouse when I give my closing for the Manning/Steele case."