Back to Mike! Hope you all enjoy!
Mike had escaped Kyle and Donna by retreating hastily to the bathroom.
He hadn't meant to hug Kyle at all. He had just been so happy to have discovered he had a last name.
Michael Ross. Mike Ross. Ross. Mike. Mike Ross.
"My name is Michael Ross!" he shouted suddenly at the mirror in the bathroom, arms spread wide in a victory pose.
"That's great," a voice said from behind his left.
Mike glanced over to the reflection of the speaker, his face heating up in embarrassment. "I was just," he tried.
The man, who looked unlike a lawyer in his short-sleeved button-up shirt with pens in the pocket, just glared at him.
"I thought you preferred 'Mike'."
Mike turned around to stare at this man whom he didn't recognize. The familiar pain returned to the back of his skull, and he searched for a name.
"Ben?"
"No, genius, Clark Kent."
Mike frowned. Why did people keep making fun of him? "Superman reference. Real creative," he said.
"I was looking for you. Your computer needs sweeping. I thought I told you not to go looking at porn." Ben looked really angry, as though Mike's computer catching a virus was a personal affront directed solely at him.
"I didn't. I wasn't. I—"
"Yeah, whatever. What's your password, so I don't have to hack into it?"
Mike froze. He had no clue what his password was. He tried to remember and suddenly he found himself clutching at the sinks behind him, one hand held to his head.
"Don't hurt yourself," came Ben's dry voice.
"I don't remember it," Mike replied sadly.
Ben gave him a look.
Mike smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry?"
"Whatever. It's not like you actually put up any effective firewalls, anyway." Ben started to walk away, presumably headed for Mike's computer.
"Thanks, Ben!" Mike called after him.
"You're welcome, Michael," he called back in a suspiciously sarcastic tone.
Mike turned back to the sinks and splashed his face with cold water. He really needed to figure out what had happened to his memory. He didn't want to not remember things! He needed to find Harvey so they could figure this out.
He stepped out of the bathrooms and ran right into a very pretty woman who was carrying file folders, which ended up spilling across the floor. This seemed familiar, and the spike of pain at the back of his skull prompted him to hastily pick up the folders so she wouldn't notice.
"Sorry!" he said, and gently handed the folders to her with a smile…and proceeded to walk away.
"Mike, wait!" the woman said.
He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. He really wanted to find Harvey. His head was hurting him and he wanted to lie down.
When he finally faced her she stepped closer to him, a small frown on her face.
"Can I help you?" he asked kindly.
She gave him a scrutinizing look. "Are you avoiding me?"
He tried to cover his surprise. Apparently this was someone else he knew. "No! Of course not! I've just been really busy doing work for Harvey."
"Yeah," she shook her head and pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Right, of course."
"See you later!" Mike started to turn away but was stopped by a hand on his arm.
"Hey, have you seen Kyle lately?"
Mike smiled. This he could talk about. "Yeah. He's been really nice today. He gave me a muffin!"
"Really?" she asked, the shock evident in her voice. "Has he been…I don't know, doing you any special favors lately?"
Mike nodded. "Yeah. He turned in the Brezhinsky files to Louis for me. I couldn't find them, but he took care of it. Why?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "So he didn't ask you if you wanted to go on a double date?"
"No. Why?"
"Nothing. Wait, he turned in your files for you?" She looked suspicious, but she was smiling at him like they were exchanging secrets, so he felt like he could trust her. Or maybe it was that something in his chest tugged inside when she looked at him like that. He couldn't help the goofy grin that appeared on his face.
"Yeah. I forgot where they were, and Louis said he wanted them and I was freaking out, but Kyle said he turned them in for me."
She frowned at him and he had a sinking feeling.
"You forgot?"
He swallowed loudly. He began looking in his periphery for an exit—anything that could get him away. Why did he keep setting himself up for this question?
"I—uh, I—" He swiveled his head to the side as he saw Harvey heading towards him carrying a really big box that Mike recognized. Harvey had gone to the file room without him and brought back evidence. He was trying to help Mike!
But right now, Mike needed help to escape from this woman. "Harvey!" he called out. The man headed quickly for them and Mike felt relief flood his chest.
"Rachel," Harvey said to the woman. "So sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid I need my associate."
Rachel started to apologize to him but Mike interrupted her with, "I thought you were the great Harvey Specter, and you didn't need anything."
They both looked at him, Harvey with what looked strangely like concern, and Rachel with shock and confusion, and maybe a small sympathetic-looking smile. Mike was feeling confused, though, and his headache had returned full throttle. He needed to sit down.
Harvey seemed to sense this and shoved the box at Mike, the ensuing cloud of dust making both men sneeze.
"Let's go, hot shot," Harvey said snidely.
Rachel gripped his arm once more as she muttered a quick, "We'll talk about this later."
Mike had never been so happy to be walking away from a beautiful woman. At least as far as he remembered.
"Where's my coffee?" Donna asked when they closed in on Harvey's office.
Mike's stomach dropped. "I'm sorry. I forgot it."
She gave him an icy look. "You seem to be doing that a lot lately."
"You were supposed to be watching him, not letting him run gallivanting off to flirt with pretty paralegals," Harvey said, only slightly angry, to Donna.
"She is pretty, isn't she?" Mike said from behind the box.
"I didn't let him do anything. He ran off after hugging Kyle. I only wish I'd gotten a picture." Donna sounded extremely disappointed.
Harvey's face turned slightly reddish as he made a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Yet again, Mike had no idea why Harvey would be laughing at him, but he suddenly realized that the dusty box was extremely irritating to hold when he was trying to rub his head.
Harvey seemed to notice this and steered him into his office, whipping the box out of his hands and setting it down on Donna's desk wall. Mike heard him ask her to find out what had been in the box before he glided into his office, sitting the both of them down onto his couch.
Mike placed his head in his hands and attempted to lie down on his side of Harvey's couch, nestling into its plush corner.
The room was spinning, and he kept thinking of things that seemed familiar, hearing voices that sounded like they belonged to people he knew. The bright light from outside that streamed into Harvey's office reminded him of the lights of the file room. That memory hurt, which was silly, really, because he had started out in the file room, so it shouldn't cause him any pain.
A shadow blocking the streaming sunlight and a hand on his shoulder made him realize that he had closed his eyes. When he opened them he thought he may have actually fallen asleep and was currently dreaming.
Harvey was standing over him with pure concern etched on his frowning face as he studied Mike.
Yep. Definitely a dream, he thought.
And voila! I did promise we'd get more of Mike, didn't I? Well, next up is Harvey (and yes, more Mike...) and I promise it'll be fun! Thanks for sticking with it for so long...there's lots more to go and I still need to write more, but I am assured by my beta that what I just wrote the other night was actually funny, so I don't have to scrap it and get further behind...I'm working on it! I promise!