Ten
"So spending the weekend with you means I get to see you in the daylight now?" Harvey asks, sitting across from Nichola. She smiles a little, playing with the straw in her drink, but it doesn't reach all the way to her eyes and it fades quickly.
"Yeah, um, look, I don't have a lot of time so I'm gonna cut to the chase-I need your opinion on something." She looks up, distress in her eyes. A little bit of worry begins to creep into his mind.
"Okay, shoot." She takes a deep breath.
"Matthew's suing me for part of the profit from my website," she deadpans. There's a pause as Harvey tries to understand what she just said. He frowns, his gaze on her face.
"What?"
"Yeah. He-I used him and a few of his friends as like, models, examples, for a lot of my menswear stuff so their pictures-mostly his-are all over the website. Since the website turns a profit thanks in part to his face, he wants his share." Harvey's jaw tightens and he narrows his eyes.
"Nichola, that's ridiculous-"
"I know it is."
"No judge would ever take such a case." She pulls a large envelope from her purse and drops it between them.
"Apparently someone would." Horrified, Harvey looks from the envelope to her with wide eyes. She just nods and he opens it.
"This is insane," he says after glancing through it. She nods.
"I know."
"He doesn't have a case."
"I know."
"Have you shown this to your lawyer?" She grits her teeth, her eyes glistening slightly with tears.
"Harvey…Matthew's dad gave me Robert Donovan." Despite the despair on her face, her voice is even. "They-when my website started to really grow, they sent me to Donovan and he helped me set it up as a real business. He represents Matthew's family's newspapers, which spans half this country and four more in Europe. They're some of his oldest, biggest clients." Harvey's stomach drops to his feet.
"I haven't spoken to him yet," she says after a pause. "He probably already knows. I just wanna know…what you think I should do."
"Let me handle it." She meets his eyes.
"What?"
"Fire Donovan and let me fight this for you. I can get it thrown out tomorrow." She starts to shake her head.
"Oh, I don't know, Harvey, I don't think-"
"What else are you going to do, Nichola? If they have a judge on their side already, and Donovan's in their pocket, they're going to sink you. Or make you spend a ton of money on a lawyer who's only going to waste your time. Let me handle it. I promise, I'll get it thrown out and you won't have to worry about it again." She hesitates.
"Isn't that…I think that's getting a little too involved, don't you?"
"No, because in twenty-four hours there won't be a case anymore, and we can go right back to how things were." Completely inappropriately, a smile finds its way onto her lips.
"Head to toe rug burns?" she asks before she can stop herself. Harvey smirks.
"Yeah." Her smile leaves as quickly as it came and she sighs. "Nichola, I know we talked about boundaries, and I'm not saying we forget them, but I am saying I care about you enough that I think this is wrong and I want to help. I can even let Mike do all the work, this case will be so easy." She meets his eyes.
"You really think so?" He nods.
"I've gotten rid of worse." She swallows, twirling her straw between her fingers as she thinks.
"Alright. Okay, fine."
"Yeah?" She nods.
"Yeah. Harvey, I dunno how to thank you-" He shakes his head.
"Don't. You don't have to." She searches his face and nods slowly. The corner of her mouth flickers.
"Does this count as billable hours?" He smiles.
"No. No, it doesn't. I will, however, take one of your fries," he says, reaching across the table. She rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, okay, I told you you could do that." He laughs.
"Thanks. I'd kind of forgotten how good these are. I haven't been here in a while."
"I come here all the time."
"Of course you do." He meets her eyes, grinning, and she rolls hers but she smiles back.
"Robert." The man looks up from his computer. A large grin spreads across his face.
"Harvey!" he says in a booming voice as he stands. "It's been a while since I saw you. What've I done?" He smiles, shaking his hand.
"I have an old client of yours, Robert." Robert frowns.
"Oh?"
"Nichola Scott." A dark look crosses his face.
"Ah. I see." Harvey stops smiling, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Come on, Robert, what is this? You're a good lawyer, you know this case is bull."
"I'm simply following the wishes of very old and very loyal clients."
"Miss Scott was one of those loyal clients until she fired you this afternoon. And now you're going to try to take her for all she's worth? That's a little much, even for you." Robert narrows his eyes.
"It's a legitimate case, Harvey." Harvey shakes his head.
"It's not. William Lewis might have Judge Smithson wrapped around his finger, but as soon as this finds someone reasonable, it's going to be thrown out. You would really be wise to advise your clients against spending their money on you for nothing." Robert smirks, standing up a little straighter.
"And why would this go to a different judge?"
"Because I'm going to explain the real situation to Smithson's boss, and he'll be removed to avoid a conflict of interest. It's not usually advised that a judge preside over his golfing buddy's case." Robert laughs.
"Good luck with that, Harvey. William Lewis has friends all over the court system." Harvey sighs.
"If you'll agree to drop the case now we don't have to go to court at all. Come on, Robert, she's just a kid. She's worked hard for this business and I thought you were better than watching this family screw her over."
"I work for them, Harvey. And she fired me. I'm just doing as they ask." Harvey shakes his head.
"Well, I'm not going to roll over and let them take her money. I've got friends in this court system, too, and a damn good record with the DA. If I recall you mostly have a record of screwing money out of people who can't afford it." Robert laughs again as Harvey turns to leave.
"You could just settle. Six million dollars." Harvey stops and spins slowly back around.
"Where the hell did you get that number?"
"It's the calculated amount of revenue Matthew Lewis's contributions to the website brought her." Harvey shakes his head in disbelief.
"You're out of your mind. The site isn't even worth that much." Robert shrugs.
"Take it or leave it. Six million dollars and none of us set foot in a court room."
"Hell no. That's insane."
"You're required to offer it to your client."
"I know what I'm required to do, but I can promise you she won't take it." Robert smiles.
"Then I'll see you in court tomorrow." Harvey gives a curt nod.
"Yeah. Good luck."
"Nic, I could've told you this was bullshit as fast as Harvey did." Mike reads over her papers carefully, seeming annoyed. Nichola passes in front of him, equally annoyed that he's decided to make this about Harvey.
"I know, but then you would've either offered your help and he would've said no, because he doesn't want to get involved with your personal life, or you would've had to go to him and ask permission and ugh, Mike, it just would've taken longer, okay? It's not about who knows what, it's just that he's technically the real lawyer in this situation."
"Okay, true, but it's the principal…" She rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, okay, sorry. Next time I'm in legal trouble I'll come to you first to make you feel better." He sighs.
"Nic…"
"Sorry. I know, I'm just-this is really stressing me out, okay? This is just stupid." He sets down the papers and looks up at her.
"It'll be alright, Nic. Harvey's the best. He'll take care of it." She exhales heavily and nods.
"Yeah. I hope so." She starts to pace again, running her hands repeatedly through her hair. She fights back a sob, having been forced back into a state of disbelief. This isn't happening. Why is this happening? She turns to Mike, tears spilling from her eyes. He glances up and does a double take.
"What's wrong?" he asks, setting the papers aside and standing.
"I just don't understand, Mike." Her voice is soft but even. "I just…why would he do this? Why would he do any of this? I thought we were so perfect, Mike, and this couldn't be farther from perfect."
"I know this is hard," he says quietly, laying his hands on either side of her neck, his thumbs on her jaw, "and I know it's going to be hard for a while. And I'm so sorry, and I wish I could just…make it not hard anymore. But you're going to get through this, and you're going to be better off for it. I really believe that." Nichola nods.
"I know. Thank you." He kisses her forehead and wipes her face with his fingers.
"And I'm not…I'm not mad at you or anything, you know that, right?" She nods. "I promise, we're gonna fix this."
"Thank you," she repeats. He pulls her in and wraps his arms around her neck. She presses her face into his chest and he kisses the top of her head.
"Would you…object, if I wanted to go find Matthew and kick his ass?" he mumbles into his hair, a smile spreading across his lips. She laughs and pulls back to look at him.
"I don't want to but I think I have to." He chuckles.
"Damn." Her phone starts ringing, vibrating dully against the couch. She reads Harvey's name and frowns.
"Hey."
"Hey. I have something to discuss with you really quick, if you have a minute."
"Yeah, sure. Go for it." She sits down.
"I spoke to Donovan about dropping the case. They're asking to settle for six million dollars." Nichola chokes on her own breath. "You okay?
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm-six million dollars? Harvey, I don't have six million dollars."
"That's what I figured, but I have to relay any offer they make, so I had to give it a shot. That's a no?"
"Yes, that's a no." Her voice is deeply bitter.
"Okay. We have to appear in front of Judge Smithson at nine-thirty in the morning, to discuss whether or not this will move on. Can you get to my office by eight?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"See you in the morning, then. I'm trying to see if we can get a different judge but I won't know until tomorrow."
"Okay. See you in the morning." She hangs up and turns to Mike, her eyes wide.
"Six million?" She nods. "Nic, that's insane."
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Jessica looks up from writing on her calendar.
"Sure. What is it?" Harvey closes the office door and approaches her desk.
"I need a favor." She narrows her eyes suspiciously.
"Uh oh."
"You know Judge Smithson, right?" She nods.
"Why?"
"I need him off a case."
"What case." He hands her a copy of the file.
"A new client." She glances over the paper, then back at Harvey.
"This is a ridiculous case, Harvey." He nods.
"I know. That's why I need it thrown out." She continues to flip through everything.
"Who is this client?"
"She's new. She's-it's about revenge. She used to date this guy and now he's coming after her with some bullshit claim to her money. And her old lawyer and Smithson are in his family's pocket…" He trails off at the look on Jessica's face. "What?"
"What's your involvement with this woman?" Harvey shrugs.
"I told you, she's a client. She's Ross's friend; he brought her to me." She doesn't look convinced but she nods.
"Well, I'll see what I can do but I can't make any promises. I'm sure you won't have a problem fighting it, right?" He shakes his head.
"No." She hands him the folder.
"Good. This is good, Ross bringing you two clients now?" Harvey opens his mouth and she holds his gaze. Unable to admit anything else, he just nods.
"Yeah. It's great." She smiles.
"I'll call him first thing in the morning. Make sure you have your stuff together." He nods and turns to go.
"Thank you."
"Oh, and Harvey?" He stops at the door and turns around.
"Yeah."
"Whatever your involvement with this girl is, I don't care. As long as she's paying, it doesn't matter. Just keep it professional, okay?" He nods.
"Of course."
"Good night, Harvey."
"Good night, Jessica."