Heroin and Vodka
Author's note: Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews. I'm pushing out this chapter slightly earlier than I said as I'll be quite busy come February due to my dissertation work. Anyways I don't want to bore you guys with academic stuff. How did you guys like 5x10? I personally loved it although the twist at the end was somewhat predictable. I always knew Miller would turn out to be innocent after all. Or at least that's what I know so far. But who would have guessed that Gabrielle was talking to Miller on 5x09? Didn't see that one coming. Really interested to see how they connect the two plots. Anyways, read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own How To Get Away With Murder. Its plot and characters are the sole property of Pete Nowalk and Shonda Rhimes.
Chapter 29
"Micheala!" Laurel shouted, trying to stop her, but failing.
"Leave me alone." Micheala shouted back, not slowing down.
"Slow down. I'm pregnant!" Laurel shot back, hurrying to catch up.
"That's why we can't do this. Things are good in our lives for once. We have a second chance." She hailed a passing cab. "Taxi!"
"Can you at least let me tell you my plan?" Laurel asked, finally catching up to her and swinging her around.
"No!" Micheala protested vehemently.
"All you have to do is access my father's account." she continued, ignoring her. "It's called Antares."
"Wha—?" Micheala spluttered.
"You just have to find some illegal activity that we can leak to the SAC or the FBI." Laurel finished.
"Oh my God!" Micheala shot back, rolling her eyes and walking past Laurel.
"You have to Enron him!" Laurel shouted.
"You Enron him!" Michela shouted back.
"I can't." Laurel confessed.
"Why?" Micheala asked, pulling out her phone and glancing at it. "Are you afraid that he'll find out and kill us? Because that scares me too!"
Laurel sighed.
"This is for Wes, Micheala."
Micheala turned around.
"That's exactly who you sound like right now. He found out about Sam, Rebecca and the Mahoneys and look what happened to him!" she cried, in exasperation.
"My father killed him." Laurel argued.
"Ok." Micheala shot back. "Where's your evidence?"
"I'm trying to get it. That's what I'm trying to get." Laurel replied, her voice rising.
"No. You're trying to get me to steal files from my dream job based on circumstantial evidence!" Micheala replied.
"The evidence" Laurel continued "is my entire life. Ok? My father is a terrible person. He's done terrible things and he needs to go to jail and you can make that happen."
Her phone beeped and she glanced down at it.
"Don't follow me." Micheala replied, rushing towards a cab which had just pulled up.
"Micheala!" Laurel shouted after her, trying to get her to see reason.
"Drive!" Micheala commanded to the driver as soon as she was in it. She slammed the door shut and the cab sped off down the street, leaving Laurel staring after it in disappointment.
As the cab sped into the darkness and disappeared around the corner, Laurel sighed. She decided to give it another go when they would all gather at Connor and Oliver's later next day.
She was about to set off back to her apartment when her vision began to flicker. She felt slightly nauseated and had to grab the nearest lamppost for support. Her breathing began to become heavier as the seconds passed.
Crash!
Glass shattered on to the floor, reflecting off the fire near the hearth. Each shard of glass appeared to glow a bright red.
Her vision faded back to normal. Laurel shook her head to clear it.
What….just happened? she thought, steadying herself. She waited to see if anything else would happen. Moments passed and nothing did. She sighed in relief and sped off towards her apartment, thin king on how she could possibly convince Micheala to go through with her plan.
03-09-2016
Isaac stared down at the date he had scribbled on the journal just moments ago. It had been a month since he had been discharged from the hospital. Ever since, he had decided to undertake a daily journal, a departure from his usual tradition of using his Dictaphone to record daily logs.
He sighed.
It had been a month since he had last seen Annalise. A month since she had slipped that envelope beneath his door. A month since they last spoke.
At first Isaac had thought to call her. But each time he dialed her number, and was about to hit 'Call', he would pause. He couldn't bring himself to actually go through with it. He was fairly certain that she wouldn't answer and that the call would be redirected to voicemail.
He dialed her number. Once . Twice.
In total, approximately seven times a day, hoping he could muster up the courage to say something to her. Anything. To make her see reason.
He had even been to Bonnie's, hoping to at least get a glimpse of her. That hadn't gone quite as planned.
Flashback
He pulled up outside Bonnie's. As he turned off the engine, he glanced at the bouquet of chrysanthemums beside him. He had once heard Annalise mention that they were her favourite flowers. He had chuckled at that. He had much expected her favourite flowers to be along the more tradition choices of roses or daisies. The woman kept surprising him on a day to day basis.
The smile slowly faded from his face as he remembered the reason he was there to begin with.
He walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell.
The door swung open and Frank appeared.
Isaac stared at the man. He had only ever seen the man once, the first (and last) time being when Annalise had been shot. He had seen the man at the hospital, waiting outside Annalise's room, like a watchdog. Or perhaps a sentry would be a better word.
The man had given him an eerie vibe ever since. From one meeting alone, Isaac had realized that he wouldn't want to be on this man's bad side. Ever.
The last that he had heard, he had been convicted of killing Wes, and his case was directly linked with Annalise's and he had been charged as co-conspirator. Annalise had neglected to mention that he too had been released when she had been acquitted.
"Not whom you were expecting, eh?" Frank drawled, observing his startled expression.
Isaac shook his head. He extended his hand.
"Not quite." Isaac replied with a forced smile. "I don't know whether you remember me but—". Frank cut him off.
"I remember you, doc. We've met. You're Isaac Roa. Annalise's therapist?" he asked, in a questioning tone.
Isaac nodded.
"If you're looking for Bonnie, she's at work and won't be back till evening." Frank replied. "She's recently joined the D.A's office and been keeping busy these days."
Isaac blinked in surprise.
"I thought Bonnie worked for Annalise? Isn't she her associate?" Isaac asked.
Frank raised an eyebrow.
"You mean you don't know?" Frank asked, a puzzled look crossing his face. "Annalise fired her a month ago."
This was not what Isaac had been expecting. From what little he had come to know of Bonnie, during the few sessions they had had together, she had always been a loyal employee to Annalise. To a tee. In fact, if he recalled correctly, her obsession regarding Annalise bordered on the unhealthy. And he had sensed a deeper level to their relationship which Bonnie hadn't elaborated on.
Isaac cleared his throat.
"And the kids?" he asked.
"Them too." Frank replied, with a sigh.
"I see." Isaac replied. "Actually, it wasn't Bonnie I came to see. Its Annalise. Is she…around?" Isaac asked looking over Frank's shoulders as if hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
"She left." Frank replied. "She doesn't live here anymore."
"Oh." Isaac replied, the disappointment evident in his tone. "Do you know where she lives now?"
Frank was about to reply before he paused and eyed him critically, as if he were examining something. His eyes drifted to the bouquet in his left hand and then back up at Isaac's face.
"She cut you off too, didn't she?" he asked in a knowing tone.
Before Isaac could understand exactly what he had meant, Frank continued on.
"In any case, we aren't exactly on the best of terms, her and I." Frank replied, stepping back in. "She'd probably bite my head off if I were to tell you anything. So, sorry man, but you aint getting that information from me."
With that, he shut the door.
End Flashback
From what he had gathered ever since, it appeared that Annalise had cut off all her previous ties. Both with her associates as well as her students.
She wouldn't want to see him. She had made that explicitly clear in her letter.
Its probably for the best that we don't meet anymore. For both you and me.
He had read and reread the letter at least twenty times over the past month. He had practically memorized its contents by now.
Yet it did nothing to diminish the hollow feeling of emptiness in his chest.
To take his mind off of her, he had dived back into his work with much gusto. Whereas earlier, he had a caseload of ten patients per week, here he was taking on double that amount. Sometimes he would even see five patients a day, which was saying something. This was quite ironic as he recalled that this was something that he had warned Annalise against himself—to become a workaholic was just as bad as becoming an alcoholic.
He had to keep his mind preoccupied, lest it slipped back to how things were before she left.
He sighed.
He decided to get along with it. After all, the journal wouldn't be filling itself up any time soon. He took up his pen and began scribbling on it.
Its been a week since I have been visiting the NA meetings which I usually prescribe to my patients frequently. Heck, I just prescribed them to a patient today.
He gave a wry grin.
Quite an ironic turn of events right? Who would have guessed that I would also be attending such meetings in my near future. That I would myself begin using again.
Anyways, enough with self-pity. Its been a month since I have stopped using. The urge still remains as powerful as it had been all those years ago. I don't know whether it is the fact that I am a recovering addict or something else, but I have been managing to hold myself together this last month. I don't know what it is—maybe Jacqueline has finally gotten to me. Or I don't know. Maybe it's the thought of her holding me together.
He paused before continuing writing.
I had a rather odd encounter today. With one of Annalise's students. Laurel Castillo. It was duringmy way back from my NA meeting.
Isaac paused as his mind drifted back to the meeting that afternoon.
Flashback
Isaac was on his way home. It was quite late. Almost 9:30. The NA meeting had gone on longer than as usual. It was steadily becoming easier and easier to recount the events which had led up to Stella's death. At least each time it was less painful.
He was approaching his door when he spotted someone standing outside it. Judging from the silhouette from the light which poured out of his hallway, it appeared to be a woman.
His heart suddenly leapt in trepidation. But as he approached the door, the silhouette became clearer. It was a much younger woman. She was Latino, like him, judging from the skin tone (which to his disappointment wasn't the chocolate brown he had been expecting). As the woman came into clear view, he recognized her.
"Laurel?" Isaac asked in surprise.
Laurel turned around.
"Dr. Roa? Sorry. I didn't know you were out." Laurel replied with a smile.
"Call me Isaac." Isaac replied, with a wave of his hand. He had never been one for formalities anyways. "What brings you here? I trust I haven't been keeping you waiting long?"
Laurel shook her head.
"Oh no. I've only been waiting for five minutes actually."
Isaac nodded.
"Do you want to come in?" he asked, walking past her and unlocking the door.
"Actually, about that…" Laurel began in an unsure voice. Isaac turned to face her.
"I was wondering if I could perhaps have a few sessions with you?" she asked, looking up at him. "Its just that what with… Wes's death and everything, I need to get things in perspective again. And I thought who better to ask than someone I already knew?" she finished with a smile.
Isaac smiled, nodding sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, Laurel. I know Wes's death was hard on you all. Especially you."
And Annalise, he added mentally.
Laurel nodded, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"So, could I come?" she asked. "I'll of course be paying you for your services and—" but Isaac cut her off.
"Nonsense." Isaac replied, with a warm smile. "You are one of Annalise's students. She spoke very highly of you all. I couldn't charge you after all that or your professor will have my head."
Laurel nodded and smiled. Yet, Isaac noticed there was something off about this particular smile. It was almost sarcastic. Isaac shook his head. Maybe he was reading too much into things.
Isaac continued.
"You can come over this Friday. I have a lighter caseload on Fridays. Subsequent dates can be set up later."
Laurel nodded.
"Thank you." Laurel replied. "So I'll be seeing you Friday."
Isaac nodded as he watched her disappear into the night.
End Flashback
Laurel had seemed…off. In retrospect, something about her was not right.
Isaac shrugged and continued writing.
So, I guess I'll be having Laurel over this Friday. I'll try to avoid all mentions of you-know-who, as it seems to have not quite struck a chord with her. I'll be turning in now.
He was about to shut the journal, when a stray thought flickered across his mind. He picked up the pen and once again began scribbling on the page.
Sometime I wonder whether I just let her go. Should I have fought for her? Is that what she wanted? For someone to fight for her?
Maybe.
Author's note: There you go. This is actually the first official chapter of Season 4 as the plot kicks off from this chapter onwards. What does Laurel want with Isaac? Knowing her, is there more to it than meets the eye? You'll have to wait and see. Read and review. Next chapter will be out by mid-February. Have a good one for the time being.