Thursday, April 7th - morning

Allys apartment building

Ally rushes out of her apartment and nearly runs a young boy down in the hallway on her way to the elevator. The young boy comes out of the door in the next door apartment. She reaches the elevator just in time. She gets on the elevator and presses the button. Just as the door closes she hears a male voice saying. "are you ready Sam?" the voice sounds so familiar to her and that name… Ally is cursing that the elevator door closed so she didn't get to see who the man was. It sounded exactly like her ex-boyfriend Larry Paul. All the way to work Ally keeps telling her self that it must have been something she imagined. Larry Paul moved to Detroit to be with his son, Sam. Why would he be back in Boston in her apartment building? Ally decides to try get it out of her mind she is late for court. It is a big case she is working on and she can't be distracted for her closing argument.

Court

Ally comes out from the ladies room. They are waiting for the jury to come back with their verdict. Allys client, a young man is sitting on a bench waiting for her and for the jury. A man in a grey suit with a suitcase passes by her.

"excuse me." He says and he bumps into her in the crowded court hallway. "hold the elevator please." He calls out. Ally turns around to get a glimpse of the man's face. for the second time today she hears that all too familiar voice of Larry Paul. It must be in her head. He is in Detroit with his son she tells herself. She can't catch a glimpse of the mans face in the crowded hallway before the elevator door close and the Jury is back with their verdict. Ally has five minutes to get the sweet soft voice of Larry Paul out of her head. She has to be prepared for the jury's verdict.

Saturday, April 23rd - Allys apartment building

Ally comes home from work. It is at about 4 pm. She has had a crazy week with a big case she has worked on for 2 weeks now with John Cage. The closing argument is on Monday and she has spent all her Saturday preparing for that with John at the office. Now she is ready to go to her apartment. Put on her pajamas and just relax for the night with a movie.

The elevator doors open once it reaches her floor and she sees a young boy waiting for the elevator. She recognizes the young boy as the boy named Sam she bumped into a few weeks ago in the hallway. The young boy steps politely aside to let Ally exit the elevator before he himself gets on the elevator. He smiles politely at Ally as he lets her exit. The boy seems somewhat familiar but yet Ally can't place where she has seen him before. Ally stops and stares back at the young boy as the elevator door closes. The young boys seem pretty tall but his face makes him look like he is about 10 years old. Ally walks down the hallway and passes the door where Sam came out from the morning she first saw him. there is no name on the apartment door, which Ally finds a bit odd. For a few months, the apartment has been empty. She hasn't met her new neighbor yet, only the young boy Sam. Ally reaches her own apartment door and fumbles with her key because she is still thinking about her case. Ally finally finds the right key and unlocks her apartment door. The door is almost closed behind her when she hears footsteps like someone is running down the hallway.

"dad I forgot my key to my bike." It is the sound of a young boy. It must be Sam. Ally thinks and smiles. She remembers he was carrying a bike helmet in his hand so how could he forget his key to his bike.

"are you sure you don't forget yourself?" a voice from what sounds like an older man is heard from the apartment next door right before the door to the apartment closes. Once again Ally thought she heard the voice of Larry Paul. The sound of Larry's voice when he was a bit irritated with her when she did or said stupid or silly things. The voice who was speaking to the boy sounded just like Larry. Ally opens the door and looks down the hallway towards the next door apartment, but the hallway is empty and silent. Once again Ally thinks she is just hallucinating. She can't figure out why she would start imaging him again or hallucinate about him again.

Sunday, May 15th evening - Allys apartment

The first nice and quiet Sunday night Ally has had in a very long time. The caseload in the office has been enormous lately so she hasn't really had a nice and quiet full weekend for a long time where she could just relax and stay home. It has been a hot humid week in Boston so Ally has her windows in her living room open to get some fresh air in and Ally has put on her pajamas and gotten all ready to snuggle up on the couch and read her favorite book when she hears the sound of a piano coming through the window. She lives in a quiet area and it is Sunday evening so there is almost no traffic on the street. Ally tries to focus on her book until she starts hearing a singing voice. She doesn't recognize the lyrics but the singing voice almost sounds like the sweet tender singing voice of her sweet love Larry Paul, when he would sit at the piano and sing for her. She can't believe her mind is playing tricks with her like this again. She knows she has been a bit stressed lately, but… imagining her ex-boyfriends singing voice coming into her apartment through the window on a humid Sunday evening in may is just too crazy… even for her. Ally puts away her book and turns on the tv to try and distract herself from the piano and the singing voice. Coming in through her window.

Monday morning - Allys apartment building

Ally is standing in front of the elevator on her floor and waiting. She hears a door being opened down the hallway behind her.

"Sam… your keys." It is the same voice again. The older man who lives in the apartment next door from Ally. He has that sweet raspy voice that sounds just like Larry Pauls to Ally. Ally is determined not to turn around and look for the voice. Her mind has been playing way too many tricks on her lately. She can't keep giving into the hallucinations so she just resists the urges to turn around. The elevator arrives on her floor and the doors slide aside. Ally steps inside and presses the ground floor button.

"hold the elevator please." The young boy Sam calls as he runs down the hall towards the elevator. Ally blocks the doors so the young boy can get on the elevator. "thanks." He says out of breath as he stands in the elevator facing the door next to Ally. Ally notices the young boy looking up at her several times doing the short ride down to the ground level.

"Everything okay?" Ally asks the young boy after she catches him looking up at her for the 3rd time. The boy tries to hide it by looking down at the floor when Ally catches him.

"Oh, yeah sure… sorry, I didn't mean to stare," he mumbles apologetically and looks down at the ground embarrassed about being called upon his starring. "I just thought I recognized you." The young boy explains.

"from where?" Ally asks.

The bing from the elevator announces the arrival at the ground floor and the elevator doors slide aside.

"your name is Ally McBeal right?" The young boy asks her with an uncertain smile as they leave the elevator together and enters the lobby.

"yes…" Ally says, assistant. The young boy lits up in a big smile.

"I knew I recognized you…" out on the street Ally sees a school bus stop in front of the building. "oh there is my bus… Goodbye Ally." Sam calls out and runs to get on the school bus. Ally is left utterly confused. She knows she has seen the young boy before but she can place where.

Wednesday afternoon – court building

Ally has just won a wrongful termination case in court and is now leaving the courtroom along with her client. They are walking down the hallway as they Smalltalk. The hallway is almost empty only a few court employees are buzzing around. A man in a dark suit walks pass them towards the elevator. He is talking on his cellphone. "yes I am on my way…" he says on the phone as he hangs up and rushes to the elevator. The elevator doors are just about to close and a court officer blocks the doors from closing so he can get on. Once again the Ally hears the voice. The voice of Larry Paul. She looks up towards the elevator. She can't believe her own eyes. Just as the elevator doors are inches away from closing she sees him. The smile… the dark-framed glasses and his dark chocolate brown eyes looking directly at her.

Ally is sure…

She really did just see him and he seemed just as surprised to see her as she did to see him. Normally her hallucinations of him don't seem surprised to see her but now… in the elevator, he actually seemed sincerely surprised to see her. The genuinely surprising expression in his eyes when he saw her confirmed her that he was there. It wasn't just another hallucination. Larry Paul was back in Boston. That must have been what the many hallucinations of hearing his voice everywhere have been a warning about. It was a warning that he was back in Boston and that eventually, she was going to meet him in court. Her hallucinations of her new neighbor sounding exactly like Larry Paul was just her mind warning her of Larry's return. Her mind knew that sooner or later the 2 of them would be meeting as opposing lawyers in court. It was inevitable.