Alicia knocked at the door. Once. No answer. Twice. Maybe her knock was too faint to be heard, but she was tired, actually exhausted, and didn't have enough strength for a more decided one. At the same time she knew it was late and didn't dare to ring the bell. She looked down at the dark brown, anonymous doormat and leaned forward, letting her forehead rest against the closed door. She didn't want to go back to the damn hotel now. Two hours of contrived smiles, forced public relations and people calling her Mrs. Governor had totally drained her. She just couldn't take it anymore. She needed to breathe. What would she do now? Her only option gone, she sighed and turned around, leaning against the door for a while, till eventually she let herself slide down and sat on the floor.

She must have given in to tiredness and fallen asleep at some point, because the light ding of the elevator that resounded in the utter silence woke her up with a startle, her heart throbbing in fright. She looked up to meet the most surprised and bewildered gaze ever and for a moment she questioned her decision to come here.

After a long hesitation, she eventually had to say something, to give an explanation. If nothing else, at least a faltering "Hey."

"Hey," Kalinda answered, as she started to walk slowly towards her apartment door. "Celebration's already over?"

"It is for me," she said with a faint voice.

Kalinda's look, so grave and a bit distant, wasn't one of the most welcoming. Certainly not one of those Alicia was used to getting from her in the past.

"Why here so late?" Kalinda asked. There was a slight resignation in her tone; the resignation of someone who already knew that the night was still far from over.

"I needed a friend," she whispered, her gaze fixed on her elegant dress. The dark purple, satin fabric was all creased, probably by her sleeping all curled up there on the floor. She looked up at Kalinda to catch her reaction to her words. She couldn't say she was happy, but she was sure she got some relief, or hope. She certainly wasn't mad.

"Are we still?" A relaxed pose, keys in one hand, she seemed more eager for a confirmation than to raise a real question.

Alicia couldn't really blame her. To leave the firm like that had been a real rotten trick and a stab in Will's back. And if there was one thing Alicia was sure of it was that Kalinda would always choose Will's friendship over her without thinking twice. Kalinda prized loyalty, a quality that she seemed to have lost as of lately. "I messed up everything… "

Kalinda looked up pensively for a moment. "Yes." Her simple affirmation came along with one of her typical knowing looks.

Alicia laughed at her bluntness and watched amused as Kalinda sat down beside her.

They fell silent for a while, enjoying the quietness, probably both lost for a moment in their own thoughts, as they casually cast tentative sidelong glances at each other.

"Will you leave?" Kalinda asked in the end.

Alicia looked at her friend awhile then back in front of her, thoughtfully. "I don't know…"

Kalinda gave her one light nod. "I guess it's time to decide?"

Alicia smiled bitterly but didn't say anything. She knew it very well, like she knew that she couldn't postpone making decisions anymore.

"Thanks for still seeing a friend in me, by the way," Kalinda added.

"Actually I went to Will first but he wasn't home," she admitted with a guilty look.

"Now I think he is home… at least he should… I dropped him back fifteen minutes ago, dead-drunk and singing the national anthem," Kalinda teased her.

Oh. Talk about bad timing… She burst into laughter and she didn't know if more at its irony or at the embarrassing image of Will singing the anthem.

"Nah… He wasn't really singing," she confessed. "Now can we go inside or do you plan to spend the rest of the night sitting down here?"

"Do you have tequila?" she asked, almost begging.

"Are you even asking?"

Alicia mustered some strength to stand up again and followed her. The brief sleep had left her a bit dopey and it took a moment for her body and mind to cooperate. As she walked in she realized that she had never been here before. The apartment depicted perfectly its owner. Minimal, modern furniture, not a single picture. Only a captivating modern painting hung on the wall in the living room. She stared at it for a moment, as Kalinda took off her jacket, disappeared into the kitchen and appeared back with tequila and two glasses.

"So… what led you here in the middle of the night?" Kalinda asked, as she sat on her black couch and started to pour the liquid in the small glasses.

Alicia shrugged. She honestly didn't know. She just needed someone, anyone, who didn't feel the need to remind her where her place was. "I need a time machine…"

"I could check among my connections…" Kalinda joked.

She smiled in amusement. Knowing Kalinda, she wouldn't be surprised if she succeeded in finding one. Sometimes she missed having her around. In spite of all the incomprehension and the past issues, Kalinda was the closest friend she had in years, and the most faithful one. "I'm glad that you didn't join us…"

Kalinda stared at her in what looked like faux disbelief, a filled glass in midair. "Should I take it personally?"

Alicia looked up and winced. "Well, put in this way it did sound bad… actually horrible," she laughed softly, "but you know what I mean…"

"I've started to understand what ties us…" Kalinda said, passing her the glass.

After a good four years of knowing each other, it was a beginning... "What?"

"The innate inclination to complicate our lives," Kalinda stated matter-of-factly, still not hiding a certain humor.

Alicia nodded. "Yep." She raised the glass in a toast and looked at her insightful friend. "To complicated lives," she toasted, then drank up all her tequila.