Hey there, dear reader!
Here's another chapter, with a new character - hope you'll like it!
xxx
Miriam met Eddy for the first time in the Met. The museum had just opened and so it was surprisingly empty, only some Asian tourists roaming the halls. Bridget Morris was an art student, and she definitely looked like one. She was taller than Miriam, and skinnier. Her light blond hair was cropped short, pointing in every direction, and her the tattoos on her arm were partly covered by the chequered flannel shirt she had popped on over a pair of too big dungarees.
She sat in front of van Gogh's self portrait, a sketch-pad on her knees, studying the Dutch artist's painting.
When Miriam almost tripped over Eddy's army backpack, it was love at first sight.
Two hours later they met in front of the museum to go for a coffee.
"So, Eddy", Miriam said, as they walked down the white steps "that's a funny nickname."
"Yeah, well. I'm not even sure where I got it from. They called me Jetty for a while and then it slowly changed... At one point you just roll with it", Eddy stopped to look at her "Hey, the weather is so awesome, why don't we just go to the coffee cart down there and sit here on the stairs for a while?"
"I'd like that", Miriam smiled, looking up at the blue sky. Soon it would be June and still she hadn't heard from Harvey since their little fight one week ago. She had talked to Mike, though, and tomorrow she would go to the firm to take a look at the next offer.
Miriam took a deep breath and followed Eddy down the stairs.
"So, what exactly did happen to your arm?", Eddy asked as they were waiting in line for their turn at the coffee cart.
"Oh, that", Miriam sighed and looked at her plastered arm "That's going to come off in, like, three weeks. I took a cab to the airport and somehow the driver managed to run us into a lantern."
She paused for a moment, thinking about how Harvey had taken her for a coffee. Why didn't he call? They had been so close to being friends. Actually, in her eyes, they already were friends. If only she would bump into him again – if they could talk, she would know what was going on. Had she really been that harsh towards him?
Maybe he just had other things on his mind than to call her just to chat. Probably. Yeah, she was just completely in over her head.
She ordered herself a Cappuccino and together the two young women sat down on the stairs.
"So, what exactly are you doing?", Miriam asked Eddy after a while.
"I'm about to finish university. Actually, I'm only writing my thesis now, about Vincent van G", she grinned "Poor old fella."
"That he was", Miriam agreed with a smirk "you got yourself quite a topic there, I guess."
"Ah, well. I've always thought it easier to write about something difficult as long as it actually interests me", Eddy shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, while Miriam did the same – not without spilling a little of it over her sweater.
"Ugh", she grimaced "you know how in films and series the actors always have empty cups in their hands yet seem completely happy with it? Sometimes I wish life was a little more like this."
"You're a bit clumsy, aren't you?", Eddy laughed and took her backpack "Wait, I have a tissue somewhere in here."
They spent more than an hour chatting away on the stairs and promised each other to meet again the next day for lunch in Brooklyn, after Miriam would have had her appointment at the law firm.
While Miriam went on a spontaneous walk through Central Park on her way back home, her phone rang.
"Yes?", she answered it, quickly jumping out of a jogger's way.
"Amy", she heard a familiar voice "how are you? Just wanted to check in on you."
"Sophia, hallo!", Miriam smiled while switching into German, happy to hear from her friend "I'm fine! How are things in Washington?"
"Well, there's a lot of work at the office", Sophia sighed "as always."
"Oh no. So you're still with that newspaper?"
"Yeah. Well, someone has to write about American politics, too, you know. Goddamn globalisation."
They chuckled a little, as it reminded them of the old times working together in the media. Sophia was a correspondent for one of the bigger German papers, and while Miriam had been working for the BBC they had run into each other so often that they had eventually become friends.
"God, I haven't heard from you in ages", Miriam grinned as she sat down on a park bank "Are you finally fulfilling your promise to come visit me?"
"Sorry, Amy, I can't. Washington's buzzing with the election only being a few months away now. Maybe afterwards... Hey, how are things between you and Connor?"
"Well, I haven't really seen him the last two weeks. And he has about as much time to chitchat as you have", Miriam sighed "Sometimes I really hate politics, you know?"
"I get that. So, have you talked to him lately?", Sophia asked.
"I think I last spoke to him on Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday, yesterday I had to skype with Dan and calm him down. His wife is going to give birth again, soon..."
"Oh... well... Amy, I don't know how to say this but... you remember Alessia, right? That hot Italian TV correspondent we used to gossip about?"
"The one who's changing men more often than I change my bras? Of course", Miriam said, furrowing her brow.
"Well... you see, I was out with the girls yesterday evening. You know, the Spanish chicas – Isabella, Lorena, Andrea – and when we went to that one bar we all used to go to, I swear to God, I saw Connor and Alessia getting into a cab together."
"But... but... Alessia lives on the other side of the city", Miriam stammered.
"That's what I thought", Sophia sighed "Look, it doesn't have to mean anything, but just in case it does I thought I'd rather tell you."
"Yeah, I get that. Thanks, Sophia", Miriam said and leaned back, closing her eyes "I can't believe it."
"It'll be all right, Amy", Sophia said "I'm so sorry if..."
"No, you didn't do anything wrong. Err...", Miriam cleared her throat as she felt her eyes fill with tears "Sorry, Sophia, I think I have to go. Nice talking to you. We should catch up soon."
Then, without waiting if there was something else her friend wanted to say, Miriam hung up. She sat there on the bank, her phone in her hand, just staring in front of her while tears were running down her face.
She did not know how long she sat in Central Park, but at some point she got up and walked home. Miriam went to a small booth to buy a pack of cigarettes. Normally, she wasn't much of a smoker, just now and then, but in this case she just really wanted to. Finally back at her flat she filled a big glass with red wine, took a blanket with her and sat down on the balcony – close to the wall, but still. She couldn't stay inside at the moment. She needed air.
New York at night was vivid yet strangely serene. Miriam leaned back and lightened her first cigarette, smoking it with relish. She would just talk to him this weekend, when she was in Washington. Yeah. That's what she would do. Connor would not cheat on her, never. It would go against his nature. She took a deep breath before finishing her cigarette, emptying her glass of wine and going back inside. When Miriam sat down in front of her computer and opened the document she was working on – a new chapter for her children's book – the words came to her without any problems.
All was well.
After she had written a few pages she got up, refilled her glass and checked her phone while she went over to her stereo.
Connor had written a short text:
Can we cancel this weekend?
She put down the phone calmly and looked through the EPs and CDs and decided to listen to the Queen vinyl she had inherited from her dad.
And while Freddie Mercury's voice blasted through her flat, slowly she lost her countenance.
Here we stand, here we fall – History won't care at all...
Miriam took a sip of wine before she put the glass down carefully and jumped through her flat.
Make the bed, light the light - Lady Mercy won't be home tonight.
She knew her singing was mediocre at best, but in this case she just couldn't resist to bawl.
We don't waste no time at all...
Fuck that asshole! Fuck, fuck, fuck him!
Suddenly tears were streaming down her face again while she was singing as loudly as she could.
We're just waiting for the hammer to fall!
After the song had ended, she let herself fall onto the couch, half sobbing, half trying to catch her breath. When the door bell rang, she was tempted to just stay there, laying around, a useless, sobbing mess.
Instead, she slowly got up and opened the door, hoping it might be the pizza delivery guy.
"Harvey!", she said, completely taken aback as she saw the lawyer standing in front of her, holding a paper bag in his hand, looking strangely uncomfortable – which quickly changed as soon as he saw her face.
"What's going on?", he said, bending slightly to the side so he could get a better view of her face.
"N...Nothing", she said, trying to quickly dry her eyes and get rid of the mascara that must have spread all over her face by now.
"It doesn't look like nothing... What happened?"
"As I said", she repeated, but this time her voice was steady "Nothing. What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if you wanted a ride to the office tomorrow. After all, the meeting is at eight, and I need to make sure, all of the protagonists are there."
"I'm not a child, Harvey", she said angrily "I know full well, how to get to your beloved firm. And I don't recall me ever being late when meeting with you, so: no, thank you very much."
And with that she wanted to shut the door, only Harvey held it open: "Cut the crap, Miriam. Tell me, why you look like you've spent the last few days without an hour of sleep. And look me in the eyes, goddamnit. If there's one thing I hate..."
"I told you, nothing's happened. So either you tell me now if there's another reason for you to show up at my door after nine pm or I would like you to leave now."
"Well, I thought we could have a glass of a whiskey I think even you might enjoy", he said, looking extremely sheepish.
"That's unlike you", Miriam crossed her arms and looked at the bag in his hands "Very unlike you. You know what's like you?"
"I bet you'll tell me in a second", Harvey smirked, relieved that at least now she was talking to him.
"Not to call, text or get in touch with me in any way after you've had me play your wife for a whole evening. That's Harvey-Specter-esque", she said.
"I didn't know it would irritate you so", he shrugged "you didn't seem too fond of me, that evening, and I thought I might give you a little... wait, don't say you look like this because of me?"
"Yes, Harvey", Miriam said, rolling her eyes and walking back into her flat, not wanting to have this conversation halfway in the hallway any more, even though he would now definitely come inside. She turned down the music and took her glass of wine back into her hand, before she said: "I was definitely crying about you not contacting me. Because, of course, I am secretly in love with you – naturally! Who would not fall in love with the great Harvey Specter? Who would not want him to just... show up all of a sudden? Oh, he truly is a knight in shining armour."
Harvey chuckled at her dramatic demeanour while he leaned against the dining table: "How about I get the damsel in distress a refill?", he asked and stretched out his hand with a look at her almost empty glass.
"What a great idea!", Miriam said, not being able to stop her sarcasm, as she handed him her glass "Oh, if only I was Harvard educated, then I could come up with such splendid notions as well!"
"Come on", he said, not wanting to stir her already heated emotions "let's sit."
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Harvey", she said as she let herself fall onto the couch, this time, too weak to yell at him again.
"I only do, when you behave like one, in case you hadn't noticed", he said as he sat down beside her, handing her the freshly filled glass of wine.
He watched her drink some more wine before he said: "This is about Connor, isn't it?"
"Yes", she said meekly.
"He has cancelled on you again, hasn't he?", he continued.
"Yes", she sighed.
"This is... what, the third time in a row?", he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes", Miriam nodded.
"Weren't you supposed to go to DC this time?"
"Uh-huh", she agreed "but he's got work."
"So do you", Harvey shrugged "Look, I've said it once, I'll say it again: He's an asshole. No, don't roll your eyes at me, Miriam. I know you're angry at me, for whatever reason, but you have to see that I'm right. He gives you this. What you deserve is this", he said and underlined his words with his so well known gesture.
Miriam sighed and they sat in silence for a while, she drinking, he leaning back into the soft pillows, eyeing her carefully.
"I still don't get why you're here", Miriam said after a while, without looking at him.
"Remember when you once told me I can always come over if I", and here he started imitating her voice "ever have a bad day or something?"
"Yeah, I remember", Miriam mumbled. It had been the first time he'd been over, the first time Connor had cancelled on her and Harvey had instead stayed for dinner. As she had brought him to the door, she had shyly mumbled those words, unsure if Harvey wouldn't think her to be... desperate.
"Well, I had a fucking bad day today. And it looks like I'm not the only one", he smirked and stroke her curls out of her face.
"Do you want to talk about it?", Miriam said and changed her position so she could look him in the eyes.
"No", he shook his head "do you?"
"Please, no", she said with a heavy sigh.
"Then let's just drink."
"Yeah, let's", Miriam grimaced as he got up and started looking for some glasses.
She snuggled herself up in her blanket and watched Harvey. For the first time, he wasn't wearing his usual suit, only trousers and a black long-sleeved T-Shirt.
"I think I was wrong about you", Miriam sighed. The wine had really gone to her head now.
"And Mike has been, too."
"Yeah?", Harvey grinned as he sat down again, two glasses and the brown paper bag in his hands "Pray, do tell."
"I thought you'd be a total arse", Miriam said with a tiny yawn "cold as a fish. But actually... you know..."
"I really don't", Harvey chuckled, amused by her drunken bluntness, as he poured himself a glass, deciding Miriam really didn't need any more at the moment.
"You're kinda cute", she mumbled and blushed as she snuggled into the pillows.
"Well, that's something I've never been called before", Harvey laughed as she looked up again, her hair even messier than before.
"Sorry", she said, yawning again "I shouldn't have said that."
Harvey opened his mouth to reply something but he got interrupted by the door bell and Miriam's jumping up: "Pizza!"
Yay or nay?
TELL ME! This is - at least somewhat - resembling a democracy here, guys, I need you to voice your opinions in order to improve my writing and the story!
Brenda: I'm glad you enjoy the gala. There might be something close to a reprise coming up in Part XI - just a little sneak peak, because it will still be pretty different. Hope you liked this chapter, though - Connor definitely is a topic here.
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR READING :)
Little A/N:
I know, some of you were waiting for a chapter like this, and I hope you like it, because I fear you may not be very happy about the next chapter, which is coming tomorrow... But, hey! There'll be a lot of Mike!