He was briskly walking to his office when a voice stopped him.
"Cary?"
He looked up to see Jeanese, the student barely out of high school who worked in the mail room running toward him. Normally he barely had contact with her, as she didn't make many visits to the floor of Lockhart Gardner, but she'd taken the liberty to assure that all mail to the firm was delivered in a timely manner. And for that he was grateful. But apparently it also meant making personal deliveries. After the fourth visit in as many days, Kalinda joked that Jeanese was harboring a crush for the brilliant lawyer, Cary Agos.
Even though Cary saw right through Kalinda's compliment and laughed it off, he couldn't help noticing the way the girl was grinning at him. Jeanese was attractive, with her dark wavy hair and green eyes; that much was evident. But she was so young. Way too young. Still he liked her and he couldn't pretend that he didn't. And so he smiled. "Hey, Jeanese."
"Hey Cary." She said brightly. Her eyes darted from Cary to Diane and then back again, causing Jeanese to recoil slightly. "I-I mean, Mr. Argos."
He grinned. "Cary is fine, Jeanese."
When Diane nodded, Jeanese laughed nervously and instantly seemed to relax. "Here's your mail, Cary. And yours, Ms. Lockhart. And this is for Mrs. Florrick. Oh, and this is for Mr. Gardner."
Diane's eyebrows rose and she nodded and smiled. "Well, Jeanese, you're very efficient."
"Thank you, Mrs. Lockhart. Bye, Cary."
Cary chuckled at the way the girl made it a point to smile and wave on her way to the elevator. "Bye, Cary!" She said again.
His face reddened with embarrassment and he waved back, feeling like a kid again. "Bye Jeanese! And thanks again!"
When the girl was gone, he glanced at Diane, who let out a suppressed laugh. "She likes you, Cary. She likes you a lot."
"She's young enough to be my daughter." He said absently, hoping the subject would go away. But Diane knew him too well. And then he chucked again at her expression. "All right, maybe she does. Now where's my mail?"
Diane thumbed through the stack of mail, handing Cary piece after piece. "This is yours, and this, and this and oh, this…"
"All these?" He remarked, shuffling through the envelopes.
"You're popular, Cary. Maybe Jeanese has been writing you love letters."
"Oh please, give it up!" Cary laughed feigning annoyance at Diane's teasing.
"All right fine. But I won't forget about it, fair enough?"
Cary nodded. "Fine."
"Well, I'll leave you to your love letters." She said, making him laugh again. But then he paused, staring at a plain envelope. The return address was from the Dwight Correctional Center. "Hey wait. What's this?"
She glanced at the envelope. "Dwight Correctional Center. Interesting."
"Why does that sound so familiar?"
Diane shrugged at his comment. "Past client, maybe?"
"I guess. Well… Thanks, Diane."
"Don't thank me, thank Jeanese."
He laughed along with Diane as he waved casually and returned to his office. The letter was most likely an update on past clients. Correctional facilities did that from time to time; sent updates through the mail. As though Cary wanted to be reminded of his latest failure.
But as he entered his office and closed the door he went straight to his seat, turning it to face the picture window that framed the Chicago skyline. And once again he looked at the letter. The suspense was killing him. Eagerly he tore open the envelope and removed the carefully folded piece of paper. At first chance, it wasn't the words that caught him off guard, but the handwriting. It was unmistakable. He'd seen it at the prison, nearly a year earlier. And then the memories hit him hard as he stared at the letter in his hand.
It was from Bianca….