Note : Hello my lovely readers! I am really sorry for having you wait so long for an update. Believe me I'm trying to focus all my energies into completing this story and posting regular updates from now on. Thank you for keeping up with this and do let me know your thoughts. Much love :)


Harvey did not know what time it was or for how long he and Mike had been sitting in his office. He was annoyed at the fact that Mike had chosen not to leave but relieved that he wasn't forcing him to talk either. He didn't want to talk about the case or even think about it. Most of all he didn't want to feel the regret of having taken up this divorce case. He wasn't ready for it yet. He could lie about it to Jessica and pretend that he had remained unaffected but how was he going to lie to himself? Or to Donna who had warned him against taking up this case? Or to Mike who for the first time had seen him so shaken? He suddenly became aware of Mike who was still sitting by his side and for the hundredth time he asked him to go home.

And for the hundredth time Mike ignored him. Instead he loosened his tie and laid him back on the couch gently. He started massaging the back of his neck and shoulders, relieving the tension in them. Harvey sighed as the comfort of Mike's touch fought the numbness of his muscles. After a while his touch was the only thing that he was aware of. He groaned as Mike gently messaged his temples. He hadn't realized that he had a blinding headache until then. Soon he felt Mike pulling away but Mike was back in less than a minute with a glass of water and an aspirin.

"How do you know the contents of my drawer?" asked Harvey.

"How about you worry about that in the morning?" said Mike attempting a smile.

Harvey took the pill and closed his eyes as the touch of Mike's fingers continued to ease the pain.

"Can I worry about you being in my office so late and seeing me like this?" asked Harvey conveying how difficult it was for him to let his associate see him disturbed.

Mike assured him that he didn't have to. "I will pretend not to remember anything and from tomorrow morning you are the same superficial lawyer who only cares about the money he makes for his clients."

"We have a deal then," said Harvey

"Yeah isn't that what we need? One more deal to our list."

"Shut up."

They were silent once again lost in their own thoughts and then Mike cleared his throat.

"Since I am anyway going to forget about tonight, do you want to talk about it?"

"So that's what you had been thinking while you were silent? How to get me to talk?"

"Good to know that all you had been thinking was what was I thinking."

"Shut up." Even in the most intense moments Harvey could trust Mike to act funny without trying. He sat up straight and turned to Mike.

"I thought I could handle divorce cases. I took this one up specifically to prove it to Jessica that I could do it."

"You did do it. So what's the problem?" asked Mike.

"I couldn't do it without getting effected. I..I can't stand infidelity. That's what broke my parents' marriage, it broke my dad. I thought I had come a long way and then there is one case like this and everything seemed to spiral down to that one dreadful night when I caught my mother with another man."

Harvey was prepared to see pity in Mike's eyes as that is what he expected from those who saw him weak and vulnerable but all they reflected was compassion and willingness to help.

"I am sorry for what you had to go through, Harvey. But you cannot let those memories haunt you still. This case is different. The people it involves are different. They have their own story. It shouldn't take you all the way back to yours."

"And yet it does. I don't know how to shake it off." Harvey was surprised by the honesty in his own words.

"But I know," said Mike earning a suspicious glance from Harvey. "All you need Harvey is a technique to separate these cases from the thought of your personal experiences,"

"A technique? What is this, middle school?" teased Harvey but Mike wasn't giving up.

"It's something I learnt from my therapist. You think about the happy times in your memories and see if the case at hand makes you think about them differently. If it doesn't then your mind knows that this situation is not worth worrying about. So close your eyes and go to your happy place. Hurry up, now."

"Mike, this sounds stupid and weird."

"Stupid and weird is better than being depressed and pathetic," teased Mike.

"Well you got a point." Harvey closed his eyes and opened them the very next moment. "And I got nothing."

"Wait there was another technique that would help you think better," said Mike staring into a distance like he had remembered something.

"So you have a technique to help with a technique?" laughed Harvey.

"Be serious, Harvey. This is not funny."

"Okay," said Harvey looking slightly amused. Mike was fidgeting with his hands with a hesitant look on his face.

"I.. I am going to hug you," he blurted out and before Harvey had time to process his words he was pulled in a tight hug. "I want you to relax and follow my voice," Mike whispered in his ears.

Harvey let the warmth of the hug calm his mind and his breaths became longer.

"Go to your happy places Harvey and let me know once you are there."

At first he saw a blur of images in his mind but then slowly the pictures became clear. He was fighting with his little brother Paul for the last cookie on the plate and Paul invited him to an arm wrestling challenge to decide who gets it. Their dad ate the cookie while their match was on and then they teamed up and chased their father around the house. Harvey smiled through the memory. Mike must have felt it as that's when he chose to speak, "Does anyone you see in the picture hold any bitterness because you took this case?"

"No. It's only me," said Harvey.

"Then you need to smack you in the head."

Harvey laughed and gripped Mike tighter. He felt lighter and his headache seemed to be getting better.

"I am now at the secret party that Donna threw me when I became Senior Partner. Jessica is there and she looks proud. I am happy as I know they are all very happy for me."

"Despite the fact that your mother cheated on your dad?" asked Mike.

"How is that related to this?" questioned Harvey.

"Exactly. It isn't," stated Mike."You have happy memories both before and after that family tragedy, Harvey. You have done well. You have found happiness and success despite it all. You don't need to let any case like this affect you any longer. It cannot touch you, not in your happy places."

"Wow. Umm.. thanks, Mike. I will try to remember this." Harvey had not felt so comforted in years. "You can let go of me now," he said when he finally felt that he was ready to go home and fall asleep without any regret.

They broke apart and turned away from each other. Something had changed tonight, something they were both scared to acknowledge.

"I won't let you ride a bike at this hour," said Harvey as he stood up to leave. "Ray will drop you on the way."

Only Ray didn't drop him on the way because Mike had fallen asleep in the car and Ray decided before Harvey did that it would be rude to wake him up and so he should sleep at Harvey's place instead.