Wow, nearly one-and-a-half years since the last update. I´m so, so sorry, I really don´t know what happened (/.\) Anyway, here is the next chapter. I really don´t know when I´ll update again.
The next morning Mike woke from his slumber peacefully like he had never done before. Today a new chapter of his life would begin and he couldn't wait for it. There was a sense of purpose to him that he had lacked previously and he couldn't quite fathom how he had made it through his life so far.
He rose from his bed and tore open wide the curtains, allowing the sunlight to stream into his room and turn everything into a goldish glow. An angry shriek from his drawer informed Mike that not every occupant of this room was sharing his enthusiasm for the new day.
"I´m sorry that I woke you," Mike told the little creature sincerely as it flew up to him and began to scold him in her unrecognizable high-pitched voice. "Do you wanna eat something?" That seemed to make the fairy´s whole anger disappear as it suddenly began to glow in a deep orange. Continuing its inane chatter, it flew towards Mike´s kitchen corner and began to rummage through his pots and Tupperware. When it found Mike´s stash of sugar it let out a scream of joy and threw itself at the jar. With detached amusement Mike kept on looking as the fairy consumed more sugar in a few seconds than what was healthy for even a grown man.
Leaving the little thing to its own devices Mike poured himself some cornflakes and milk into a bowl – which had probably as much sugar in it as the fairy had eaten – and sat down on his coach. Usually, Mike would watch the morning news or some cartoons to start the day but he was too excited to concentrate on anything, let alone some boring morning news.
"You need a name," he told the fairy absentmindedly when she had finished with her meal and sat herself down on his shoulder, staring at his decrepit TV with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "I can´t keep calling you 'fairy' in my mind." The fairy replied something – probably her name – but like the whole time before Mike didn't understand a single thing.
"I can´t call you that," he replied, "I´d destroy my vocal chords trying to get that over my lips. You need a human name I can call you." He pondered a moment. "Cindy?" A firm headshake was his answer. "Lucy?" He grinned. "Chastity?...Ow!" That little minx had bitten him. "Okay, okay, no Jersey Shore names then." He fell silent as he continued to think about it. "What about Cassiopeia?" The fairy smiled and her wings turned a deep forest green.
"Cassiopeia it is then," Mike repeated. "I´ve always wanted to know one. Now I do." He held out his hand – well, his smallest finger. "Nice to meet you, Cassiopeia." The newly christened Cassiopeia grabbed his finger with both of her hands and shook it enthusiastically.
Mike was sure this was to be the start of an awesome friendship.
The building the law firm of Pearson Hardman resided in was in one of the most expensive and most sought after neighbourhood of Manhattan. Mike had to take a deep gulp as he craned his neck to be even able to see the top of the building which every now and then was obscured by some low flying clouds. Men in tailored suits and women in tight costumes populated the sidewalk, the men wearing expensive watches on their wrists and the women wearing even more expensive jewellery around their necks. Everyone was speaking into their phones, some clearly agitated, others more collected, but what all had in common was the urgency in their steps and the way they held themselves: self-confident, no straying gazes and an aura of sophistication and arrogance around them like only inhabitants of the financial district could.
As if they owned the very air they breathed.
Mike didn't belong here. Definitely not. He felt completely alien, with his 20 Dollar watch, the unkempt hair and the suit that was probably one or two sizes too big for him. As he stood on the sidewalk and the stream of people parted around him he had this feeling – this paranoia – that they were silently judging him. Casting one wayward glance at him and finding him lacking – not worthy – and that very thought made Mike straighten his posture and put his best poker face in place. He was as worthy of being here as they were, even more so in some cases and he wouldn't allow any doubt to took take root in his mind.
One last breath and then he stepped into the lobby of the building, careful to avoid running into one of the many stressed people that were streaming through the glass doors. Inside the imposing architecture of the building´s façade continued: Glass, steel and marble – polished until it shone – everywhere you looked and Mike wondered again who possessed that much money to throw away on a lobby. The elevators seemed to be behind the reception and the security desk, so Mike made his way towards them.
"Name?" The guard behind the desk asked Mike, eyeing him critically.
"Mike Ross," Mike replied. "Today´s my first day working for Harvey Specter at Pearson Hardman?" It was more of a question than a statement and Mike wanted to scold himself for sounding so timid, but what was done was done, so no need to antagonise any further about it.
"Ah, here it is," the guard said. "I´m to give you your key card and instruct you 'to never lose it on the pain of death'." He raised an eyebrow at Mike who just shrugged. Trust Harvey to let the security of his workplace do the threatening.
"Name´s Steve, by the way," the guard introduced himself. "Now that you´re working for the slave drivers on the 37th floor I have this feeling we´ll be seeing much of each other in the future." He stretched out his hand, Mike´s key card between his fingers.
"Nice to meet you, Steve," Mike replied, taking the card. For a short moment, their hands touched, their skin connected and suddenly it was like electricity was flowing between them.
Hearing his dad screaming at his mom in the kitchen, hiding under the covers and hating himself for not being able to defend his mother from his father´s drunken wrath.
Touching his baby brother for the first time and suddenly feeling everything he felt: Hunger. Thirst. Warmth. Happiness. Joy.
Staying with his mom and brother at the women´s shelter after she had left dad, fearing that the man would come after them for daring to defy him. Having all these strong emotions clawing at his mind, causing a headache so severe that he couldn't move anymore. His mother´s worried voice as she sang his favourite song for him.
Taking this low-paid job as security guard to pay for his mother´s bills and his brother´s college education. David was smart and he would make a great doctor one day and he would make sure that money wouldn't be something his brother had to worry about.
The call that their mother had died – killed by their father who had drunk himself into a furry. Harvey Specter taking their case pro bono, claiming that it 'would look good on his portfolio' but he could see behind the lawyer´s façade and knew that it was about compassion and empathy.
The connection broke and Mike nearly stumbled backwards from the backlash if he hadn´t clung to the counter so tightly. His key card fell to the ground. Steve looked at him wide-eyed, his gaze filled with horror and shock.
"What did you do?" He whispered. Before Mike could answer, though, the black man had moved around the counter – he was far more agile than Mike would have thought – and gripped Mike tightly around his upper arm. With a strength and determination that could only come from years working security, Steve lead a dazzled Mike into the nearest empty room, full of cleaning utensils. Mike wanted to say something, but the guard was already pressing him against the wall, his forearm cutting into Mike´s throat.
"What did you do?" He growled again.
"I don't know," Mike exclaimed. "Look, I really don´t know what just happened, but I promise that I won´t tell anyone!" The pressure on Mike didn't lessen.
"Why should I believe you?" Steve demanded to know. "What´s gonna make me believe that you won´t snitch me out to MRB?" There was real fear in Steve´s voice now and Mike could understand why he would fear the MRB coming after him. While the laws against latent magic users like empaths weren´t as harsh as they were on magic users like Mike, they still took away much of your freedom. Empaths were often used to work for the police or at court to discern the honesty of witnesses, but using their abilities tired them out fast and not many did make it past fifty years when they were constantly required to use their abilities.
Steve couldn't risk that, not if he wanted to ever feel at least a little bit secure and so Mike knew what he had to do. To get the other man off his back he needed to give him something of equal value to hold over Mike.
Mike summoned his magic, let it coil around Steve and then he pulled him back hard. Steve, not expecting this, flew across the room and crashed against the wall. Suddenly bereft of the other man holding him up, Mike fell to the ground, finally able to breath again.
"You...you..." Steve stammered, his eyes wide in both amazement and fear.
"Now you know why you can trust me," Mike said as he collected himself from the ground. "You´re not the only one to fear the MRB." He held out his hand to the other man who, after short hesitation, took it and heaved himself up.
"I´m really sorry about...that," Steve said awkwardly. "But, you can at least understand why I had to do it, can´t you?"
"Yeah, I do," Mike agreed. "Ours is a lonely life." Steve didn't reply anything after that, but Mike knew that his words had rung true. They made their way back in silence, Mike picking up his key card from the ground where he had let it fall down.
"Pearson Hardman´s on floor 37," Steve told him subdued. "Have a nice day." Mike nodded at him and then he continued his way. He didn't notice how Steve continued staring at his back.
The elevator opened to a vast reception area that was dominated by light brown and glass. Lots of it, to be exact. People were hushing around, all looking very important and well off. To his left the lettering 'Pearson Hardman' decorated the wooden wall.
Mike had absolutely no clue where he needed to go.
"Are you Mike Ross?" Mike turned around and was caught in the gaze of a brunette who looked like she would love to be anywhere but here. Her arms were folded and her index finger tapped impatiently on her forearm as she waited for Mike to deny or confirm her question.
"Y-yes?" Mike answered, more question than answer. The brunette´s perfect manicured eyebrows rose a few centimetres.
"Great," the woman replied unenthusiastically. "I´m Rachel. I´m your guide for today. Now, follow me and I´ll show you everything."
"Wow," Mike said thunderstruck. "You´re awesome."
"Good. You hit on me. We can get it out of the way that I am not interested," Rachel retorted with bored expression.
"I´m sorry, I-, I wasn't hitting on you –" Mike spluttered.
"Trust me," Rachel explained. "I've given dozens of these and, without fail, whatever new hotshot Harvard associate it is thinks that because I'm just a paralegal, that I will somehow be blown away by his dazzling degreene. Let me assure you, I won't."
"I was," Mike uttered as if a very important revelation just had taken place.
"Mh-hm," Rachel hummed.
"I was hitting on you," Mike repeated and he felt somehow bad. It was just his normal response to attractive people.
"You were," Rachel commented, completely oblivious to Mike´s inner turmoil. She handed Mike a notepad and a pen and continued: "Take notes. I´m not gonna repeat myself." Then she walked away without bothering to wait for Mike.
"The faculty operates on a chain of command model," Rachel started to explain when Mike finally caught up with her. "Harvey is your commanding officer, however, Louis Litt, he oversees all the Associates, so you´ll answer to him."
"And what do you think about Harvey?" Mike asked, genuinely curious about Rachel´s opinion of the man. Rachel just gave Mike a 'really' look.
"People are in awe of him," she said as she led him down the hallway. "They say he´s the best closer there is, but I have little contact with him, so I don't know."
"What about Louis Litt?" Mike continued prodding, evading a group of paralegals that were walking down the hallway, laughing and cheering at each other. Rachel stopped and Mike would have nearly run into her, but caught himself just in time.
"Let´s just continue with our tour, shall we?" she asked and her smile was all teeth. Mike just nodded, his voice temporarily leaving him. Rachel led him through the hallways, chattering on about the firm until she turned around a corner and threw open the doors leading to a spacious room which was filled with cubicles behind which others were furiously working. Rachel took the aisle in the middle until they stood in front of an empty cubicle.
"And, finally, this is where you´ll live," she said and made a grand flourish gesture towards the conception.
"Wow," Mike replied unenthusiastically. Rachel, though, eyed the still empty notebook and glared at him.
"I gave you that for a reason," she said. "You haven't taken a single note."
"It´s because –" Mike was about to say that he didn't need to take down notes anyway, but Rachel didn't allow him to finish his sentence.
"Because you were too busy ogling me to listen to a word I´ve said?" Now Mike was a little bit angry. He was not that shallow that he would neglect his work ethics over some pretty piece of skin. Rachel may think that she was the best that someone like him had seen in his whole life, but Mike could name a few others that played way above Rachel´s league.
"Paralegals' offices anchor the wings. 5th floor research, six is security. All work gets documented, even if it´s finding an address. I answer to Harvey and Louis Litt, judging by the way you responded to my questions, I should admire Harvey and fear Louis. You have been here for five years and just because I outrank you doesn't mean I have the authority to command your services. Oh, it's also pretty clear that you think you're too smart to be a paralegal."
"You know what nobody likes?" Rachel asked with pursed lips. "Nobody likes a show-off."
"You used the word ogling, I mean –" before he could even finish his sentence, Rachel had left him just standing there and exited the room. Mike let out a sigh, set down and wondered what he was supposed to do now.
He was soon unburdened from this worry as the phone in his cubicle began to rang.
"Hello?" Mike answered, more question than statement.
"Great, you´re here and not in prison or something," came Harvey´s secretary's voice ('Donna,' Mike´s mind reminded him). "Harvey needs you in his office."
"I don´t actually know where his office is," Mike admitted.
"The only office that has me sitting in front of it," Donna quipped and hung up.
Mike needed five minutes to find Harvey´s corner office, which was empty when he arrived.
"Harvey isn´t here," he remarked to Donna.
"I know," she replied.
"Then why did you call me here?" Mike asked. Donna looked up from her screen: "Because he´s in a meeting with Jessica where she´s admonishing him about some shit he pulled off. She´ll give him some work – probably a pro-bono – to punish him for it and he´ll lay it off on you." Mike stared at her, jaw wide open.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
"I know everything," Donna replied haughtily. Mike wondered if Donna, too, was a latent magic user, but he decided not to pursue that line of questioning. "Just sit down on the couch and, for God´s sake, don´t touch anything. Especially his balls." Mike raised an eyebrow at her. "Keep your mind out of the gutter. What are you, sixteen?" Mike just saluted to her and stalked off.
Like Donna had predicted, Harvey entered his office five minutes later with a file in his hand which he subsequently threw at Mike who caught it with ease.
"Your first case," Harvey told him casually as he sat down behind his desk.
"Awesome," Mike exclaimed. It may be just a punishment for Harvey, but for Mike this would be his first case as real lawyer, his first chance at making a difference for someone. "What is it?"
"Pro bono," Harvey replied, "Sexual harassment. Don´t tell anyone I laid it off on you and don't screw it up."
"Got it," Mike said as flickered through the file. "You can´t handle it?" He stood up. "I´ll knock it out of the park." Harvey looked at Mike as if he had lost his mind.
"Easy, Clarence Thomas, just go and meet the client," he told Mike. "And didn't I tell you to get some better suits?"
"I´ve spent 500 bucks!" Mike exclaimed indignantly.
"For how many suits?" Harvey asked.
"Five," Mike answered, which made Harvey´s expression look like he had just killed a puppy in front of the older lawyer. "And...I also may have a fairy living in my flat now."
"You have what?" Harvey demanded to know.
"I have a fairy sharing my flat with me," Mike repeated. "You know, these little, flying humanoids that speak in high-pitched squeals that make your ears hurt?"
"How did you manage that?" Harvey asked.
"I don´t know," Mike shrugged. "She hid in my coat when we left Undertow and now she´s sleeping in my drawer."
"Aw," Donna cooed over the intercom.
"Not now, Donna," Harvey snapped back, which just made the red-head giggle before she turned back to her work. Turning back to Mike, Harvey continued speaking.
"Faeries aren´t the most trusting creatures," he explained. "Neither do they take easily to the presence of humans. What they do like, though, is magic. Yours must be pretty strong if one of the small folk deigns you worthy enough of her companionship." He doodled something on the papers in front of him. "I don´t have to spell out the dangers of having a magical creature living with you?"
"I´m not stupid," Mike replied.
"I would have guessed differently going by your choice of suits," Harvey teased. "Now, off you go. Win me a case so that I can rub it in Jessica´s face."
The case was about a woman who had reported her boss to HR for sexual harassment and got fired two months later. Mike got all necessary information from her, let Harvey on his progress ("I´m not about caring, I´m about winning.") and he even got a promising strategy for the case which led to him making himself ready to call it a day when Rachel entered the bullpen.
"Mike, what are you doing?" she asked him with raised eyebrows.
"Um," Mike stammered, "it´s 6:30, I´m going home." Rachel continued to look at him for a few seconds, then she started to laugh.
"Okay, what´s so funny?" Mike asked confused.
"You´re a rookie associate," Rachel told him. "If you go home before nine on your first week, you´re not gonna make it through your first months." Mike sighed. "And Louis Litt wants to see you." She began to walk away.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Mike called after Rachel.
"Mm-hm," Rachel hummed and turned around.
"This tie," Mike started and held up the piece of cloth he was wearing around his neck. "Is it too skinny?"
"Yeah," Rachel whispered.
"Man…" Mike whispered dejectedly. As Rachel walked away, he put his bag pack in his cubicle and made his way towards the office of Louis Litt.
Mike´s grandmother had always taught him to not judge people after their appearance, but it was difficult not to judge the bald man sitting across from him while he stared at Mike for an uncomfortable amount of time. Louis was sending out such creepy vibes that Mike feared the man was about to do something very inappropriate to him if someone didn't break the ice very soon. Finally, Louis broke the awkward silence.
"I know you had orientation from Rachel," he started and Mike wondered where this was supposed to be going. "But I wanted to give you a special welcome from me. Amongst other things, I´m sort of the disciplinarian of the Associates." It was at this moment that someone knocked at the office door and entered the room. It was a guy around Mike´s age, with sandy blond hair, lithe built and a smile that would make every grandmother swoon.
"You wanted to see me?" the guy asked.
"Yes, Gary, please come in," Louis replied and beckoned for the other to come nearer. "Mike, this is Gary Lipski. Gary´s one of our most promising Associates from last year." Mike stood up and shook Gary´s hand. "Hi."
"Gary, Ms Pearson wanted me to ask, have you completed the Petrensko filling?" Louis demanded to know and his eyes took on a gleeful glint.
"Oh," Gary stuttered. "Well, my brother was in over the weekend so I didn't really get to it."
"I mean, Gary, come on," Louis said and his smile was downright scary. "This is, like, the third time I´ve had to ask."
"I´ll get right on it!" Gary exclaimed with forced enthusiasm.
"Don´t bother, you´re fired," Louis said while carefully looking at his nails.
"What?" Gary screeched. "Y-y-you can´t fire me!"
"Oh, yes, I can," Louis replied seriously. "And I just did. Go pack up your things. And don't you ever show your face in this place again." Gary hung his head and Mike believed to hear some supressed sobs as the man made his way out of the room. When the door locked behind, Louis instantly turned back towards Mike who had to supress the urge to squirm under Louis scrutiny.
"See," Louis began. "I arranged for you to see that because we offer students the opportunity for advancement, but in return we expect results. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yeah," Mike replied a little bit confused.
"Great," Louis beamed at him. "Welcome to Pearson Hardman." An awkward silence ensued. "Feel free to go back to work."
When Mike came back to his apartment, he did so exhausted and completely wrung out. He would have never thought that being a lawyer was this much work. TV shows and Harvey definitely made it look much easier than it actually was. Maybe you just needed to be Senior Partner, so that you could lay off your work on your poor, already overworked Associate.
He threw his keys in the bowl next to the door. Apparently, the sound alarmed Cassiopeia to his presence, as she flew out of his bathroom (Mike wondered what she had been doing there) right towards him and began chatting at him in her high-pitched voice.
"Hello to you as well," Mike greeted the little creature as he got rid of his shoes and coat. "How´s your day been?" He didn't understand anything, of course, but he imagined that Cassiopeia told him of all the dust bunnies she had found underneath his various furniture and the slice of Pizza Trevor had thrown around when Mike had moved in and which had gotten mysteriously lost around somewhere, never to be found again.
"I bought you some honey," Mike told Cassiopeia. "The really, really expensive one, without any chemicals." The fairy´s glow took a deep pink colour as she flew around excitedly. Mike popped open the cap of the honey and squeezed a small helping on a saucer, watching with an amused smile as Cassiopeia began to devour the sweet substance.
The ringing of his mobile tore Mike out of his reverie. He looked on the screen of the device: It was a message from Harvey.
Meet me at the Entrance, tomorrow at nine.