Chapter Forty-Six
Diane went right to Elsbeth's office when she arrived back at the firm. She closed the door and took a seat at the desk.
"We need to figure out what to do," Diane said, kind of hoping Elsbeth had already come up with something while she'd been busy talking things through with Will.
"I know. It would be helpful to know what was the information they got their hands on."
"Will can't tell us, so we'll have to find out in some other way."
She hadn't even asked Will about the leaked information, but she knew he wouldn't have been able to tell her anyway. That would have meant sinking to his partners level and Diane had always tried hard to play by the rules.
"You should put Kalinda on it," Elsbeth suggested the best possible solution.
"I will and hopefully she can also find out who was the leak."
Before talking to Will it had crossed Diane's mind that she might have been the one accidentally providing Will with some information. They were living together after all, it could have happened. She was relieved that it hadn't been the case.
"I might know the answer to that," Diane made a wide eye hearing this reply, "It wasn't me of course."
"I didn't doubt that for a second," Diane smiled at her, she would have suspected herself first than Elsbeth, she just wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing.
"Thank you," Elsbeth obviously appreciated Diane's trust, "Well, you probably won't like the idea, but there's a chance it might have been Chris."
The solution was so obvious that Diane felt stupid not thinking about it first. Chris had been taken off the case, not to mention she had been suspicious of him ever since the incident with the Parker-family.
"Do you think he would be able to do such a thing?" she was merely asking from herself, but said it out loud nevertheless.
"You know him better than I do, he hasn't exactly been too friendly with me ever since I arrived."
"I used to have a feeling he was after my seat," Diane never said this to anyone before, so it was good to finally share her fear with someone.
"He probably still is."
"This is crazy," she sighed.
Even if Chris was the obvious answer, it was still hard to believe he would betray her like that. Not to mention it would mean she had made another bad decision on a professional level and to think that Will might have been right about Chris too, just made her feel even more miserable.
"I know, but we'll fix this," Elsbeth put her hand on Diane's encouragingly and Diane really appreciated her gesture, "Did you talk to Will? How did that go?"
"We've managed to clear the air, it helped that he quit his job."
"Does that mean he might join this firm?"
"We can't afford to maintain a family from one income," Diane smiled rather bitterly.
"Not everything is bad after all," Elsbeth tried to cheer her up with a more positive smile and Diane knew that she was right on some level. In the end things would be the way she'd always wanted them to be.
"But everything comes at a price," she sighed again, finding it still hard to see the bright side.
"I just want you to know that I'm here if you need anything," Elsbeth reassured her and Diane was grateful for her support.
"Thank you," she forced a happier smile on her lips.
"Which reminds me, do you still need my sister as a sitter?" Elsbeth changed the subject quickly.
"I almost forgot about that. Well right now my sister-in-law is in town, and I also have an unemployed husband, but sooner or later we'll need her help," she was looking forward to meeting Elsbeth's sister, but it had to wait now.
"I'll tell her that."
"Thank you, for everything. And now let's have a conversation with Kalinda."
o-o-o
Emma was thrilled that both her parents were there to pick her up from school in the afternoon and Diane couldn't be happier to see her daughter's joy due to such a small, but meaningful thing. They had decided not to tell the kids just yet what had happened, that they would be working together again soon, they needed to solve the problem first and only make new plans afterwards. They simply told them Will took some time off from work and would be home more in the next days and it was enough to make the kids happy.
"Can I skip school too and stay home with dad and Aunt Sarah?" Emma's suggestion made Diane laugh during dinner.
"No, you can't, you only have a few more days of school left until the winter break."
"I know, but may I at least come home earlier each day, right after classes?
"I'll see what I can do about that," Will promised and it seemed to satisfy his daughter.
"I can't wait till Christmas," Em declared and Diane couldn't help agreeing with her.
She was hoping that by Christmas all their current problems would be solved and they could have an unclouded celebration together, with the promise of a better new year.
A/N: I just wanted to let you all know that I've managed to finish this fic. It will have 50 chapters alltogether, so 4 more chapters to come. I'm toying with the idea of writing a sequel that takes place 10 years from now, when the kids are teenagers. If you are interested in reading that, I might give it a try, but only after I finish my WB trilogy.