As always, I only own the people you guys don't recognize.

James, the jazz club owner, heard the door to his establishment open and spoke without seeing who had entered, "Sorry, we're closed."

Alannah held back a laugh, "And to think, you used to tell me that when you got your own place, you'd always have open doors for me."

"Lanna!" the blonde exclaimed as he looked up from his position behind the bar.

The lawyer walked towards the bar, "Hey James."

"Sit. Sit," he commanded.

She placed her purse beside her chair as she sat. She looked around the club for a moment before speaking, "This place is gorgeous."

This earned her a smile, "That's what happens when you have a genius lawyer invest in you."

"Well, Monica wouldn't let me invest in her place so why not yours?" she responded with a shrug.

"True," he agreed, "but most people wouldn't have let me buy them out so easily."

"I couldn't let you lose this place." She looked around again as she added, "It was perfect for what you wanted to build."

He gave her a knowing look, "If it makes you feel better to believe that's the only reason you invested in me."Alannah didn't respond to his statement and he filled a mug with Guinness before sitting it in front of her.

She took a sip, "You carry Guinness on tap?"

He shrugged, "This place wouldn't be possible without one amazing Irish American. It seemed fitting."

Lanna took a few more sips and sighed, "I don't know if Harvey and Jessica are going to win this war."

"Clearly, time apart has made you forget how resourceful Harvey can be," he argued.

"Clearly, time has made you forget that I know both men quite well and I know how devious both of them can be," she shot back. "Harvey has integrity. Daniel doesn't. Harvey has royally ticked him off by closing clients for different departments to swing votes. Now, yes, I gave him the list of people he needed to persuade to vote for Jessica, but he could have been more discreet about it."

James stared at her for a moment before asking, "Why are you here?"

"Monica isn't Harvey's biggest fan. Hell, half the time, she's not my biggest fan either. Not when it comes to Harvey, Daniel and Pearson Hardman. Harvey?" She shook her head, "Well, I'm not convinced he hates me but he can't seem to forgive me and Donna tells Harvey everything so I can't talk to her. Rachel—she's a paralegal—is quasi-dating his associate so that's a no go."

"That's all fine and dandy, Lanna," James leaned across the bar, "but that doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Because, even if it's just for a few hours, I would like for the past to truly be in the past." Alannah took off her jacket and leaned in closer to her friend, "You're the only person I know who won't throw it in my face. The only person who treats me the same as you always have."

"How can I considering the stuff I've done myself? I'm a lot of things, but a hypocrite isn't one of them," he replied as he poured himself a glass of scotch.

"We're quite the pair, James Specter."

"That we are," he agreed before taking a sip out of the glass, "He still wants to be with you, you know."

She didn't bother pretending not to know who he was talking about, "No, I don't know."

"In his closet, my brother has a box hidden on a top shelf. Donna and I pretend that we don't know it's there, but we do." The blonde crossed his arms, "There are two things in it: the letter you wrote to him to thank him after he helped you win your mock trial and the picture of you two from Monica's brother's wedding."

She laughed as she remembered the picture he was referring to, "He hates that picture."

"Of course he does. He looks hideous in it," he said with a laugh, "but you two seemed to have a ton of good memories on that trip."

"Yeah, we did," she confirmed as she ran a finger around the rim of her mu.

"And then you came home and started an affair with Daniel."

Her finger stopped moving, "So much for not throwing my past in my face, James."

"Don't even," James shook his head, "Other people throw it in your face as judgment. I'm not here to judge you. You know that." He grabbed her hand, "But, Lanna, it makes no sense. Anyone who saw you two together knew that there was a connection there. Look, I know why I made the choices I made and you and I have talked enough that you know why I made the choices I made. I just want to understand it."

"Fine." Alannah sighed, "Maybe it's time I shared it with someone. This doesn't leave here. Not even Monica knows."

"You're seriously going to tell me something Monica doesn't know and I can't hold that over her head?" James threw his hands up in mock exaggeration, "I can't believe you aren't going to let me have bragging rights."

"How about this? If ever I decide to tell her to tell her, I'll let you know so you can gloat about finding out first," she conceded with a laugh.

"Deal." He downed his scotch, "Now, spill it."

"We went to the wedding and it was wonderful. Afterwards, he kissed me. Did he tell you that? I'd wondered off from where they were holding the reception with a bottle of wine. It was warm and the stars were shining. There's nothing like an Irish summer. He followed me. And there we were, alone, and he looked utterly dashing. We talked and drank and, I don't know if it was the wine or Irish air, but he kissed me. I kissed him back. I truly believed it was the beginning of us being together. Finally, after dancing around the issues for months." Alannah couldn't stop the smile from growing on her face as she remembered how wonderful that night had been.

"What changed?"

"After the wedding, we didn't come straight back to America."

"Yeah, Harvey said something about Daniel wanting you two to go check in with the European branch of Pearson Hardman," James said as he leaned on the bar.

She nodded, "It's a short plane ride to London from Dublin. Hop, skip, and a jump, really. While there, Harvey ran into a woman that he went to law school with. From the look on your face, I can tell you already know who I'm talking about."

"Scotty."

"Scotty," she confirmed before continuing, "We were supposed to get lunch, but I was tired and wanted to take a nap. I told him to go without me and I'd call him when I woke up so we could get dinner, depending on how long I slept. He didn't answer his phone after I called three times. I just figured he was asleep. I had a spare key to his room."

"And?" he asked after a few beats had passed and she didn't resume her story.

She blinked back a few tears, "He had one to mine too. I always knocked, but he didn't. They were in his bedroom, arguing. She was livid that we had run into her at this little café down the street from our hotel. Apparently, it was their café and who was he to bring his latest conquest to it. After he told her that what we had didn't compare to what they had, I let myself out. I kept my distance for the remainder of the trip and completely backed off of when we got back."

"He doesn't know this, does he?" James asked, even though he already knew the answer. When she shook her head, he sighed, "Lanna, you know how he felt about you. He and Scotty have history, but you know he couldn't possibly have meant that."

"Have you ever seen them together, James?" she questioned.

"I have."

She wiped her eyes, "He looked at her differently than any girl I'd ever seen him with. That scared me. Up until then, I was secure in the fact that when he was finally ready to give it a real shot, I didn't have to worry about him cheating. Not only because of how much he abhors your mother and what she did to your father, but because I actually meant something to him. It scared me to know that I actually had competition."

The jazz club owner squeezed her hand, "Scotty may be a lot of things, but your competition never was and never could be one of them."

She returned his squeeze, "I get that now. Funnily enough, it's because of Daniel."

James asked, "How so?"

"I loved Daniel. As much as everyone in my life may hate that fact, it doesn't change it. But even when I was so deep in love with Daniel, there was always a part of me that couldn't shake Harvey. No matter how much I wanted to." She ran a hand through her hair, "He's my Scotty. I never would have left Daniel for him, but there was always something there between us. Even now, there's something there between us."

"You're wrong, Alannah." He looked her in the eye, "The push and pull Harvey has with Scotty doesn't come close to what you two could have had, but I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that. What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, if I knew that James Specter, would I be here shooting the shit with you?" she shot back with a laugh.

All the young man could do was laugh and refill both their glasses.

Mike flipped through the contract that Harvey had given him to go over the previous night, "The wording on page sixty-eight needs clarification. If not, they could use that to their advantage to steal Shuman's company."

"Okay." Harvey replied.

"And then, they got really creative on page one fifty-two. It's like they thought we would get tired of reading by then. Section three has got to be cut out," the young associate asserted.

"Okay."

At this, Mike looked up to see that Harvey's chair was turned facing the window instead of him. The older man looked lost in thought and he decided to see if his mentor was paying attention to him, "And then, on page one ninety-five, they found the secret formula to feed pigs to make them fly."

"Sounds great," the senior partner replied.

Mike tossed the contract on the table, "Okay, Harvey, what gives?"

"What?" he asked as he turned his chair around.

"You're not paying attention to me."

Harvey shot him a glare, "Feeling neglected, Mikey?"

"One, not funny. Two, never call me Mikey ever again." The younger man stood, "Seriously, you haven't heard a word I've said about the Shuman case. What's going on? Is it Alannah?" Harvey tensed up for a brief moment. If Mike hadn't been looking for it, he would have missed it, "It's Alannah. You know, Rachel thinks she seems like a good person."

"Right, because we should trust her judgment? After all, she thinks you went to Harvard." Harvey quipped.

"Low blow." Mike stuck his hands in his pocket, "Look, Harvey, the only person keeping you from trusting her again is you. You said it yourself, Jessica is willing to give her a second chance and, so far, she hasn't done anything to screw you guys over. Have you heard her talk about Hardman? She seems to loathe him far more than you and Jessica do."

Harvey tilted his head, "When have you heard her talk about Hardman?"

"What? I didn't say that I had heard her," Mike tried to deny it, but quickly caved once taking in the look on Harvey's face, "Okay. She stopped by Rachel's to get some shoes to match the dress she bought for that charity ball the firm is throwing. While she was there, Hardman called her and basically demanded she go do something for him even though she had other plans. She started ranting about how he was a horribly selfish person and that she couldn't wait until she never had to hear from him again. I'm not saying don't be cautious, Harvey. I'm just saying that cutting her a little more slack than you have been might be beneficial to both of you."

"Now that you've given me your unsolicited advice about a subject that is none of your business, can we get back to this contract?" He waited until Mike sat down before continuing, "What section did you say needed to be cut again?"

Before he could answer, Donna chimed in, "Harvey, your brother is on line one."

"Tell him I'm busy."

"Too late. I told him that you weren't busy and were available to talk to him. Mike, go be elsewhere. Harvey, pick up the phone." Donna shot back.

Harvey nodded to Mike and he exited the office. He took a deep breath before picking up the phone, "James."

"Harvey, you and I need to talk." James replied.

"About?"

"Alannah."

He groaned, "Not you, too."

"Yes, me too." James shot back in the exact same tone Harvey had taken with him. "However, I'm going to be more helpful than everyone else. You want to know why Alannah chose Daniel over you all those years ago? I've got the answer. Come down here. I'll tell you over a drink."

Harvey didn't skip a beat as he replied, "I'm on my way."