For sweetjamielee's The "Plan B" 2013 Summer Ficathon
TITLE: The Three AM Habit
PROMPT: Kalinda reveals a guilty pleasure
A/N: Really, the last time I will borrow the two… in this ficathon. :) Thank you, demoka for the wonderful prompt - this is for you. :) Cheers!
This wasn't the first time the case shocked her.
In her line of work, "shock" has to be one's middle name in order to survive. She has to be prepared to be both the giver and receiver of it. Always.
But Alicia Florrick has the tendency to be prudish at times – especially when it deals with public appearances and accesses. This, of course, talks about what should and shouldn't be allowed to be seen in public.
And this particular case has stretched her tolerance for voyeurism and exhibitionism.
"Why would you even walk around your house naked?" The pictures didn't answer her. They may not have had the time because Alicia slammed the folders shut soon after.
"Hmmmmnnn…?"
"Nothing."
"Well, maybe he's burning up, his place doesn't have proper ventilation, maybe it's a guilty pleasure" the woman sitting across the lawyer started counting her fingers for emphasis. "Or maybe because it's just comfortable."
"Comfortable?"
"Yes. Being in the nude is comfortable."
"You sound like you've had much experience there, Miss Sharma."
Like the pictures, Alicia was answered by very potent silence.
Alicia raised her eyebrows. She placed her palm on top of the folder the investigator was reading. Kalinda slowly met her eyes, the light hitting it at the right corners to counter the accusatory stare of the lawyer.
"What?"
"You…" Alicia lowered her voice, afraid that the empty office could eavesdrop on their conversation "wuhlkroundyrhwsnaykuhd?"
"I don't understand."
"You walk around your house…"
"Naked?"
"Shhhhh…"
"Alicia, no one can hear us."
She paused to consider the investigator's words, rolled them around her inner ear and shook them off just as quickly.
"It's getting late. Maybe we should continue tomorrow?" Alicia didn't wait for the response. She began gathering half-strewn folders and papers into an almost neat pile in the middle of the room.
"Sure," Kalinda watched the lawyer's hands skirting along the jagged lines of papers sticking out. Alicia tried shoving the edges into the pile to create a semblance of order, but was unsuccessful.
They rode the elevator, silence fogging the inside, like some joke cracked on their heads. Their cars were parked on the same level, same block, and now that the SUV that separated them has left, they were closer.
"Good night," Alicia called out before she opened her car.
"You know Alicia, the trick is to put a lot of lotion. Or essential oils – so your skin won't chap."
Kalinda slipped into her own SUV and drove off, waving at the stunned lawyer in the process.
Kalinda received a message at three in the morning. She woke up with a jolt. She was a light sleeper now, an essential job requirement. She grabbed her BlackBerry from her nightstand and read the message.
Is one better than the other? I mean in preventing chapping?
Kalinda raised her eyebrows and smirked.
Alicia, it's three AM. She replied instead.
She didn't even have enough time to place her phone back on the table when it beeped again.
You're right. I am sorry. Forget I asked.
Actually, it doesn't matter. What matters is preference. Remember, I am flexible.
Kalinda turned off her phone immediately after sending.
The next day rolled without any mention of lotions and body oils. The nudity had to be brought up, naturally. The case was slowly unfolding and all they had to prove was that there was no intention to offend anyone. And the man was really just that. Careless with a strange penchant for going au naturel.
In the evening, an exhausted Kalinda stumbled to bed. She was finally lucky to have at least seven hours of sleep after having been able to go home earlier than the previous day.
At three in the morning, her phone beeped once more.
Aren't you worried someone might see you?
The investigator shook her head, both in exasperation and in a desire to clear sleep away from her mind, even for a few minutes.
You just have to draw the curtains shut, or dim the lights. Go to sleep, Alicia.
It was the second night she turned off her phone at dawn.
They won the case. It surprised everyone. Even Alicia herself was shocked (for quite possibly the thousandth time in two weeks). The judge decided that there was no probable cause, and he dismissed the case with a warning to the defendant to be careful next time.
They celebrated with their usual tequila shots, and finally, the air was clear of nudity. They laughed at the silliest things, salt and zest flying off their mouths; the air electric with frivolity.
The investigator arrived home and collapsed on bed for the second night in a row.
Her phone vibrated again at exactly three in the morning.
What if you get drunk and you are nude and you forget to close the blinds and dim the lights and you fall asleep near the window?
Kalinda groaned.
I never forget anything even when I'm drunk; now let's sleep.
That night, Kalinda forgot to turn her phone off.
The next day, Kalinda never removed her sunglasses. Alicia would have done the same if she could – but they shared big bottles of Gatorade. Alicia was about to get some coffee in the pantry when Kalinda swatted her hand away from the pot and replaced it with more Gatorade.
"You need rehydration."
Alicia glared at her but accepted the bottle anyway. They barely spoke to each other or to anyone for that matter.
At eight in the evening, they both (quite uncharacteristically) left for home. They rode separate elevators, the motion still doing damage on their sense of equilibrium. At home, they both didn't have the appetite for anything, afraid that anything that comes into their mouths would trigger a chain reaction that would end up in some invisible force yanking their insides out.
It didn't stop the message that came knocking at three in the morning.
Okay, what if we were in a post-apocalyptic world and suddenly zombies came after you and you were walking around in your house naked?
Kalinda grinned. She couldn't afford to laugh. Sleep was still pulling her back to altered states.
Alicia, zombies aren't real.
She wasn't fast enough to turn her phone off.
That's not the point. What is your answer? What are you going to do?
Kalinda chuckled – it was all the laughter her throat could produce.
That's not the point? Then what is the point?
As if the lawyer knew the investigator wouldn't answer, another message popped in at the same time Kalinda hit send.
Just humor me. Answer the question. Please?
She wasn't defeated. Not really. She just couldn't resist the lawyer. And both of them somehow knew that.
I would run outside naked then.
Kalinda's message was left unanswered.
The next day was a holiday. Everyone slept in.
But Alicia was determined to catch Kalinda. Now, whether that was catching the investigator nude or lying, she wasn't sure. Her feet itched the moment she opened her eyes at seven in the morning. She didn't get enough sleep. Maybe she didn't even sleep at all.
For the past few days, the lawyer couldn't really fall asleep. Every time the first particle of dust from the sandman hit her, she saw Kalinda. She was standing, no, levitating outside the investigator's window and all she could see were the woman's naked back, or naked legs, or naked shoulders. One time she even saw Kalinda's naked ass, complete with a glimpse of the butt crack.
She woke up searching for coins to use in animating the images in her mind.
At ten in the morning, a perfectly decent time for visiting friends and (unexpectedly) discovering things, Alicia found herself in front of Kalinda's door. She had no choice but to knock. Her sleuthing skills remained at a beginner level and she hadn't learned how to work the universal door opener she had purchased for emergencies.
It didn't take long before the investigator opened the door, fully-clothed and holding a big mixing bowl on her left arm.
"Alicia."
"Uh, nice jammies."
Kalinda raised her eyebrows playfully. "Thanks. Do you want to come in?" She stepped aside to punctuate the invitation.
Alicia nodded and stepped in to the investigator's living room.
"I'm making marshmallow Oreos."
"Marshmallow Oreos?"
"Yes. It makes me happy," the woman says nonchalantly. "Yes. Guilty."
"Oh. Erm, so you don't walk around your house nude…"
Kalinda shrugged, "I'm sorry to disappoint."
"No no… I mean, yes, I mean, it's good that you don't. We might not be so lucky in court next time."
"Uh-huh…" Kalinda resumed mixing, the Oreos blending well into the whiteness of the melted mallows.
"You don't walk around your house nude," Alicia whispered to herself.
"Who said I did in the first place?"
"No one, I just thought…"
"And who said I didn't?" Kalinda put the evenly-mixed treat down, "And why are you so hung up on that?" She approached Alicia slowly until they were just a foot apart, her face coming in even closer.
"No, no, I'm not… I'm just, I'm just," Alicia cleared away the sand in her throat. "I…I told you, I was… worried, 's all."
"You know… all you had to do… was ask."