Love, love, love next week's promo. This is something that I started before seeing it, but will try to work this new information into a later chapter. Enjoy this for now, more coming soon.

Did you think these were my characters? You didn't? I didn't think so. I would never be so bold as to claim them for myself.

Alicia wearily packed up her things to go home after another long day at work. She'd put on her gracious "Saint Alicia" face for the partners the night before, but she had neither the energy or the need for that now. There was no one left to see her sour expression at this time of night.

When Will and Diane sat her down earlier in the week, she'd thought that all of her hard work was finally paying off. Someone was noticing that she was here late so often, even with a family to go home to. How quickly that compliment had become a slap in the face.

Alicia sighed as she shut the door to her office and walked to the elevators. Everything was dark and she dropped her guard even more, assuming that no one else was here. She pressed the button to call the elevator to the 28th floor. As she waited, she debated whether to call Peter. It sure would be nice to have something to distract her from her issues at work.

She was startled from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around quickly to see Will standing behind her, his belongings collected to head home for the night as well. She must have been wearing a dumbfounded look on her face, because Will made it apparent that he was repeating his question as he asked, "Alicia, are you alright?"

She was thankful to see the elevator doors opening before them as she replied, "Umm...yeah." She knew it didn't sound convincing, but she hoped he wouldn't call her on it.

They stepped into the elevator and Alicia pushed the button for the parking level. The doors closed on them in silence.

Will turned to her as he broke the silence, "Look, Alicia, I know you're upset about the other fourth year associates, but don't think that it's a reflection on your performance. You've earned this!"

Alicia just nodded, biting her tongue and staring at the elevator's buttons in front of her. She was trying to come up with an appropriate response, something that wouldn't get her in trouble. She must have taken too long for Will's comfort, because he spoke her name. Unconsciously, she turned to him, unable to hide the emotions on her face.

"Alicia, I..." he stopped when he saw her face. "What is it? What's bothering you?"

His words set her off. In the back of her mind, something told her to stop, to control those emotions raging up inside her but she was too worn down to listen. She furrowed her brow, spitting her words out at him in anger. "Should it not bother me that I'm just a financial opportunity? After I've worked so hard, I'm supposed to be grateful about the position you've put me in? Either I spend money I don't have to buy into a firm that may go down in 6 months and only sees me as a dollar sign, or I turn down a promotion that may never come again. Do you know what will happen to my family if I lose that money to the firm, if the firm goes down? You could have at least been honest with me instead of trying to deceive me with flattery."

She made herself stop. This wasn't fair to him, and she knew it. It had been a business decision, not a personal one, but it still hurt.

Will had turned his eyes down at the beginning of her rant, similar to what he and Diane had done in court while she was being questioned. He met her eyes now, wearing his typical poker face as he said, "Alicia, I'm sorry you feel that way about it."

The elevator announced their arrival in the parking area, and in the split second before the doors opened Alicia breathed a sigh of relief that she would soon be escaping this increasingly awkward conversation. She began to step out of the elevator without a word.

"Alicia," Will called to her from behind. He was racking his brain for the right words, but he just couldn't find them quickly enough for her.

Alicia turned back over her shoulder, cutting her eyes to him but not making full eye contact. "At least now I know where I stand," she said coldly before turning and walking toward her car.

Will just stood in shock. Was that what they had done to her? They weren't thinking about it that way when they did it. They thought the associates would jump at the opportunity to advance their careers. He hadn't thought of her as an individual, just one of the many people that worked underneath him. The elevator doors began to close on him and he realized that he hadn't moved.

He bolted from the elevator, knowing that he needed to talk to her. "Alicia," he called out to her from across the parking lot. She was near her car now, but he knew that she could hear him in the nearly empty lot. "Alicia," he called again, desperate not to end things like this tonight. She didn't turn around. She stepped into her car and started the engine, refusing to look at him. He picked up his pace, trying to reach her before she drove away, but he was too late. He watched her tail lights speed away in the darkness.