Rachel Zane had just gotten to work, and she already was in a foul mood. She had spilled coffee on her favorite blouse and had to change into a new one. She hadn't had time for a second cup of coffee, and she had a wicked headache. Law school was stressing her out and she had a test Friday.
To put the cherry on top Harvey had hired a new associate and, of course expected her to give the tour. The last thing she wanted was to give a tour to some stuck up Harvard douche who would try to hit on her. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, and realized her boyfriend was giving her a kiss. "Holy shit you scared me", she said laughing. Mike's brilliant blue eyes stared at her
"What's wrong?", he asked her. Rachel sighed deeply; "Harvey is making me give the new associate he hired the tour, I'm really not in the mood!"
"Oh, you'll be fine Rachel", Mike said laughing, "Harvey said the new associate is more of a puppy than I was if you can believe it!"
Rachel snorted; "I don't know about!" The pair fell into a fit of laughter. Their laughter was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door of Rachel's office. "Come in", Rachel said.
A diminutive young man stepped in. He had brown curly hair, striking green eyes and a shy smile. He was very thin, and although he had to be in his twenties, Rachel was struck at how young he looked. He could pass for a teenager. "I'm Jesse Houlihan, the new associate," he said shyly," I was told to meet a Rachel Zane." He had a very distinctive accent, she believed it was Irish. Rachel was good at reading people, and she didn't pick up any arrogance, only warmth and some shyness. "Oh congratulations yes I will be giving you the tour Jesse may I ask where you're from?" "Ireland", Jesse responded. "Okay come with me", she said. She noticed Mike giving her a smirk.
She finished the tour. To her surprise the new guy was very pleasant and asked a lot of questions. He seemed fascinated by her answers, and enthusiastic. She led him to his cubicle in the associate bullpen. "Wow", he said, "It's still so hard to believe I'm here". Rachel smiled. She walked back to her office to see Mike. "Holy crap Harvey is right", she says as Mike laughs.
Jesse was given some files by an unfriendly, rodent-like man named Louis Litt, but he accepted the gracefully. For an hour he went through the briefs, becoming lost in his work. This trance-like state was interrupted when he felt a presence in front of his cubicle. He looked up into the harsh brown eyes of Harvey Specter. "You're coming with me Irish boy", he said nonchalantly. Jesse stammered,
"But, But sir Louis gave me these files…" "I don't care I'll take care of Louis", Harvey interrupted. His firm stare left no room for argument, and Jesse obeyed.
Jesse followed Harvey to his office. Mike Ross and the lovely Rachel Zane were there. Also, there was a tall, elegant African American woman. She wore a tasteful navy-blue dress, and high heels, and had immaculately done makeup. Nothing, about her seemed unfriendly but she had an intimidating presence, one of authority. "Hello I'm Jessica Pearson", she said. "Jesse Houlihan", he said shaking her hand. She then went into an explanation of why Jesse had been summoned there. A high paying client of theirs' a dean at NYU was attacked in an inflammatory article by a trashy magazine. The article concerned an alleged gang rape that occurred in a fraternity. The victim was referred to by the pseudonym "Emma" The magazine portrayed the dean as uncaring, and cruel and alleged that the dean had attempted to cover up the alleged rape. The dean wanted their firm to convince the magazine to retract the article, and if they chose not to sue for libel. Jesse was stunned. "Well, the magazine surely made a hames of it did they?", Jesse said. The whole room stared at him quizzically. He could feel his face turning crimson. "Irish boy what the hell does that mean?" Harvey asked with a grin on his face.
"Oh, it's a way of saying you made a mess of things", Jesse said all flustered and blushed again. Harvey, Mike and Rachel laughed and even Jessica smiled. "It's okay Jesse, I think it's cute", Rachel said causing Jesse to blush even more.
"Alright enough picking on Irish boy Harvey said, "So Mike, Jesse and Rachel if you three have any plans this evening cancel now. All three of you are on this case".
The trio had retreated to the file room to prepare for a very long day. The three each had a printout of the story and were going through to look for actionable statements. Mike was looking at Rachel's notes when he heard Jesse's lilting Irish brogue; "Oh hey Mike", he said shyly," I think we have a lead. So, the article says that a few of Emma's met her on the night it happened, and it says that they discouraged her from sharing her story because they wouldn't get in any frat parties. It says she was bruised and had a bloody dress. But I don't see anywhere where the author even contacted them"
Mike looked at the section of the article being referred to and frowned. The article didn't name the three people but used pseudonyms. "Jess that's true but they use pseudonyms, how do we find them?"
"They name some other people at an advocacy group on campus that the accuser went too", Jesse responded, "Those people may know the three friends. If we find them, we could see if their description matches Emma's. Also, they could be another lead. Emma told them about the alleged gang rape. We should see if what she told those people matches with what she told the magazine. "
Mike and Rachel looked at each other and nodded. "That's a good start Jess, I can have Harvey tell his private investigator to find the three friends."
Jesse smiled at the praise.
A few hours later, Jesse called the student activist mentioned in the story and had found a silver bullet. Emma's description of the gang rape completely contradicted what she told the magazine, and she had explained this to the author, but the author went with her own story anyway. Excited, he got up from his cubicle and began to run back to the file room to share his findings. In all the excitement, he had not watched where he was going and ran right into someone. He fell to the floor in pain. A hand helped him up. It was Harvey. Shit. "Oh, sorry sir, I didn't mean to," Jesse stammered but fell silent when Harvey held up a hand. "Well Irish boy what's got you so excited", he asked grinning. "I talked to one of the activists in the story, and the rape story Emma told her is totally different," Jesse responded.
Harvey was impressed to say the least. "Good boy," he responded," You three come to my office in an hour, I have a lead, but big partner meeting right now."
Mike and Rachel were still in the file room waiting for Jesse to come back. As they had been working a long time, they were taking a five-minute break. The conversation turned to the new associate. "How do you like the new kid?" Mike asked Rachel. "It's impossible not to like him he's like a human golden retriever", she said laughing, "But seriously he seems like a nice guy, not a typical Harvard douche. "
"Yeah, I do too", Mike replied," He needs a bit more confidence though." Rachel nodded in agreement. The moment was unceremoniously by Jesse opening the door, running in and proceeding to trip and fall on his face.
