I have more chapters in production I just want to see if anyone is even reading it first. so enjoy

Tuesday afternoon – the Fish and Cage law firm

Ally comes out of the conference room. She has just had a mediation meeting with a client that didn't go so well. It is a divorce settlement that has ended up very heated. The settlement ended in nothing and they are now going to court and the meeting took way longer then Ally expected it to do. Ally walks towards her office and passes Elaine who is chattering with John on the way.

"I just don't know if it is such a good idea to tell her," John says in a whispering voice. "Ally is my friend. She deserves to know. I just don't know how to tell her…" John says. Suddenly Ally isn't so eager to get to her office. She wants to know what it is John think she should know.

"deserves o know what John?" Ally asks and that spooks John who lets out a scream and then apologies afterword when everyone in the office is looking at them. John seems to not really know how to tell her what he wants her to know.

"Larry Paul is back." Elaine starts and immediately receives a look from Joh that tells her to break the news more gently to Ally.

"Yeah, I know." Ally just simply says and walks to her office. That leaves Joh and Elaine with a puzzled look on their faces. They look at each other and then follows Ally into her office. Ally is already sitting in her office chair looking through her file on her divorce settlement.

"What do you mean you know?" Elaine asks with her arms crossed over her chest. She almost sounds upset that Ally knew and hadn't told her.

"I knew. I saw him last week at the courthouse." Ally explains with a movement of her head that says it is not a big deal to her.

"You saw him?" John asks surprised. "did you talk to him? were you opposing?" Elain continues with questions without giving Ally a chance to answer.

"no, I didn't talk to him. he got on the elevator. He was on his phone and no we were not opposing lawyers." Ally is busy looking over her case file.

"how do you feel about it?" John asks trying not to sound too curious or invading but still tries to get some answers. He thinks Ally is being a little too uptight about this subject.

"I don't know." Ally says and gives up on focusing on her case file and leans back in her chair. "I just briefly saw him but it makes sense why my mind has been playing tricks on me for the past few months." Ally explains.

"What tricks?" Elain asks. "past few months?" John asks in a high pitched voice. A little too loud so it attracts the attention of the rest of the office. Ally stands up and closes the door to avoid any more attention.

"I got a new neighbor a few months ago. I think it is a father and a son. The boy's name is Sam. And for a while I thought the voice of the father sounded exactly like Larry but it was just my imagination. My brain was warning me that Larry was back and I was going to meet him someday in court. I mean we are both lawyers. It was inevitable." Ally rationally explains to her two colleagues."

"didn't Larry Paul have a son named Sam?" Elaine asks.

"yes." Ally says not sure where Elain is going with this. "how old is your neighbor's boy?" Elaine asks.

"I don't know maybe 10-11 years old."

"Ally wasn't Larrys son 7 years old 2 years ago?" Elaine asks.

Ally now realizes where Elain is going with her questions. Technically the boy, Next door could be old enough to be Sam Paul, Larry's son. Which would mean that the father that she has heard several times would be… Larry Paul. Ally is starting to lose her balance. She can't believe it. Elain and John grab her and helps her to sit down for a moment.

"have you meet your neighbor? The father?" John asks.

"no… just heard his voice. He is always calling out his Son because the son forgets his keys. I have only met the son." Ally says but she can't stop thinking that it could be Larry living right next door and she didn't know.

Ally is shocked. she doesn't know how to handle this.

"Ally…" John says and looks down. He is kneeling down in front of her. "this might be a really bad time to tell you this but now might be as good a time as any…" John starts. He gets a look from Elaine that says get to the point… John clears his throat before he starts. "Ally when I saw Larry Paul today it was at the ice cream place." John has pain in his voice when he tells Ally the news but Ally doesn't understand why it pains him so much to tell her that. Yeah okay, it was at the ice cream place where Ally saw Larry with his ex-wife being all flirty with whipped cream 2 years ago, but… it was 2 years ago. "he wasn't alone." John continues. Ally still looks puzzled. "he was with a woman…" John explains.

"John… Larry can date whoever he wants. He is an amazing guy and of course, he has moved on and he is in love with someone else. He is in love and I am… happy… for… him…" it hurts more then Ally thought it would say those words.

Thursday afternoon – courtroom

It has been weeks since Ally saw Larry at the courthouse elevator. She hasn't heard her neighbor lately or seen the boy Sam in her building. It was probably as she thought just her imagination that the man and boy living next door was her long lost love, Larry Paul and his son Sam.

Ally has had a really good week. There was a man she meets at the bar who asked her out on a date and she hasn't heard Larry's voice anywhere lately. Overall it seems to be a pretty good day. That is just until she enters the courtroom to present the wrongful determination case she has been preparing for the past few days. She has all her arguments lined up and she knows the opposing attorney pretty well so it should all be over before lunch. That is until…

Ally is standing in the courtroom next to her client when the judge enters the courtroom.

"Mr. Johnson…" the Judges addresses to the opposing side. The head of the company that is being suid by Allys client is standing by himself. His lawyer is nowhere to be seen. "I was just informed that your lawyer had a heart attack this morning and he is currently hospitalized."

"yes, your honor. I have already hired a new lawyer. He should be here in a minute." Mr. Johnson informs the judges.

The judge nodes in agreement with the proceed. There are a few minutes of small talk in the courtroom and Ally is busy explain the process to her client when the door opens to the courtroom. Ally doesn't pay attention it is probably just a court officer.

"My apology for my delay your honor. I was called in last minute and my son is homesick." Ally immediately turns her head the moment she hears the voice of Larry Paul. He is walking towards his client but stops the moment he sees Ally. Their eyes meet and Ally recognizes the sweet smile of Larry Paul. She can't really believe he is actually standing right there.

"is there a problem counselor?" the judge asks and snaps both of them back to reality.

"no your honor," Larry responds and hurries to take a stand next to his client. He quickly shakes hands with his client before he turns his attention to the judge and the court can proceed as planned.

throughout the rest of the process in the courtroom, Ally is distracted by the very presence of Larry Paul. But the good thing is that he is clearly distracted by her too. He was expecting her to be there as much as she was expecting him to show up. So they are equally affected and distracted. The case falls out to Allys clients favor. Ally has a big smile on her face as she leaves the courtroom afterward.

"you know technically you didn't beat me." she hears Larry's voice behind her. She turns around and he is walking right behind her. "I saw that smile on your face. you didn't beat me. I was thrown in the last minute. If I had handled the case all the way through I would have won." He argues. Ally just smiles at him. "tell yourself that Larry." Ally says as they leave the courtroom together. Once they are in the hallway they step aside. "so you are back in Boston for real?" Ally asks. Larry nods and scratches the back of his head. "yep."

"and you live with Sam and…" ally has to search for the name of Sams mother. "Jamie… right?" she asks for confirmation that she got the name of Sams mother right. Larry smiles. "yeah her name is Jamie but I am not back together with Jamie, but… we live pretty close so Sam can ride his bike between us so he sort of stays with me 50% of the time so I get to be a part of his life like he wanted." Ally smiles. She actually feels a bit relieved about hearing that Larry is not back together with his beautiful ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. She knows it sounds selfish but somehow she can't help but feel a bit relieved.

"I would love to stay and chat Ally but I gotta go. Sam is home, sick." Larry explains apologetically. Ally nods in understanding.

"can we maybe meet up some other time and chat?" Larry asks.

Ally remembers what John told her a few weeks ago that Larry was seen with another woman.

"we will probably meet in court." She just says a little cold but she feels like she needs to protect her self, but it pains her to see the sad look on his face that he is trying to hide from her. He nods in understanding and walks away.

Same day – Allys apartment building

Ally exits the elevator and walks down the hallway towards her apartment. She passes a tall brunette woman on the way. At first, glance, when they pass each other in the hallway Ally, doesn't recognize her but once Ally is in her apartment it hits her… the tall brunette woman looked exactly like Larry's ex-girlfriend Jaime. The mother of Larrys son Sam. Why would she be in Allys apartment building? Ally tries to forget it. she must have seen wrong. It couldn't have been her. Ally is exhausted. First being up against Larry for the first time after he comes back and that being at the same time she actually gets to speak with him for the first time since he came back. Ally drops down on her couch and a sudden feeling of deprivation and loneliness washes over her. She closes her eyes and the only thing she sees is his smile. The way he used to look at her. The smile and when he would take off his glasses and lean closer to her and look right into her eyes with his dark chocolate brown eyes. It would melt her heart, but now… seeing his face all she feels is loneliness. She didn't realize how much she actually still misses him.