Also, so excited to hear that production for Season 6 is underway, exciting stuff!
Rachel returned to the apartment and braced herself before opening the door. But, she was surprised to find that as she dropped all of her things from law school in the entrance hall, her nose was invited by the beautiful smell of something Italian. Her stomach growled in response. What was Mike up too? She suddenly had a thought that maybe they had been broken into and the robber was cooking in their home.
"Hey!"
Her reverie was broken by the sound of Mike's voice and Rachel was surprised to find that he sounded much less broken than last night. In fact, if she had to describe it, she'd say he sounded optimistic. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Hey, um, have you been cooking?" Rachel couldn't help her surprised tone as she made her way into the kitchen where Mike greeted her with a kiss. She also couldn't help her smirk when she saw Mike stood at the stove with a kitchen towel over his shoulder, stirring a pan of rich red bolognese sauce. It wasn't just Rachel's stomach that was hungry. She could get used to this house husband thing.
"I make one thing and one thing only." She giggled at his cockiness and tried not to sound too patronising.
"Mike. Every single guy thinks that his spaghetti sauce-"
But Mike cut Rachel off as he forced the spoon into her mouth and Rachel couldn't control her reaction.
"Oh my God, thats amazing." Those words didn't do it justice. Rachel prided herself with being a foody and had tried many different tomato based sauces but never had her mouth been attacked by such a wonderful blend of flavours. Mike could cook! Her mouth was watering and she craved more of the sauce instantly.
"Not every single guy was raised by his Grandmother." He gave Rachel a wink and then pulled her in for another peck.
"Now you, sit down, shut up and tell me about your day." He smirked at Rachel's confused expression as he gently tugged the love of his life to a chair and started pouring her a glass of wine.
"What got you in such a good mood?"
"Oh nothing, I just spent the afternoon figuring out what i wanted to do with my life."
"Well, that sounds like quite the afternoon. What did you figure out?" Rachel was so pleased that Mike was in a good mood. She had been so worried about him all day and he seemed so much more relaxed and happy now compared to the broken man that she had left this morning. It even pulled her thoughts away from Logan for the time being.
Mike poured himself some red wine and clinked his glass with Rachel's before taking a mouthful. He smiled at her again and was beyond happy that she had got home on time to hear the small speech he had been preparing all day.
"Well, I don't want to take the job with Forstman and I don't want to be an investment banker…"
He sat completely opposite Rachel now and grabbed her hand in a loose grasp. Their eyes met with his tender touch and he said, "But I know that I want to be with you."
Rachel smiled at Mike, his eyes were blazing with emotion and love and this is exactly what she adored about him. It filled her with this beautiful feeling inside which engulfed her body in warmth. She wanted to be with him forever. She returned his broad smile.
"What are you saying?"
"I wanna start over."
"I don't understand?" Rachel questioned.
"Rachel, when I met you I had nothing in my life except what came from being a fraud." Mike's voice was so endearing. Rachel couldn't help the love she felt for this wonderful human being.
"And now, I have nothing in it except being with you and I wouldn't go back, even if I could because-"
"Mike-" Rachel felt the tears brimming at her eyes. They were burning as was the rest of her body now. She was struggling to keep her emotions under control. Mike was laying his heart down for her and she couldn't take it. Not after what she had done.
"I don't care what I do for a living. I mean, I'll figure it out. But as long as I have you, I have everything."
Rachel felt awful, she could feel her resolve slowly slipping away as Mike finally looked up from the table and saw her discomfort. She saw his eyes change, still a brilliant blue but now filled with concern, worry. No way did she deserve him. He had always been the good guy and she had stabbed him in the back.
Mike was taken aback by Rachel's reaction. What had he said that could possibly make her cry? He reached his hand across the table to try and pull her into a hug or at least comfort her. But she blocked it.
"I didn't mean to make you cry, I meant to make you feel better." Mike was really worried now, Rachel was close to sobbing.
"Rachel, what's the matter?" He asked softly but with urgency.
"I'm sorry, I just need a minute."
This wasn't entirely what he had been expecting when Mike had declared his love for her in such a personal way with his entire heart up for grabs. He had felt so vulnerable but had gained strength from her. His insecure self started panicking. What if Rachel didn't love him back? What if she was so disgusted with what he had done to Sidwell? But he couldn't think about that now. His heart was breaking watching her break down in front of him. He rushed round to her side of the table.
"Hey, hey, hey, Rachel. I'm right here." Mike tried to keep his voice calm, reassuring.
"I just need a minute." She repeated through more tears.
"You can tell me. Whats going on?" Mike could feel his heart pounding. There was dread in his stomach but he wasn't sure why. He felt this overwhelming urge to grab Rachel and protect her. He would hurt anyone who made her break down like this and damn the consequences.
He reached up to brush her tears away and felt her shaking as she holted his hand.
"I can't."
"Rachel, stop, its ok, you can." Mike was really struggling now. He was trying to calm her down but was a right state himself. What was Rachel hiding from him?
"I don't deserve you." Mike grabbed at Rachel trying to pull her into his arms. He wanted nothing more than to run but knew that he couldn't leave her like this.
"Of course you do, Rachel. Look at me. Whats happening?"
Rachel removed her fingers for one second to blurt out, "Logan and I kissed."
Mike instantly backed away. He felt like his hands were on fire where he had touched her. At first all he felt was shock. Had he heard her right? Was this a dream?
"What?"
"We were just talking and then he.."
"He what?" Mike could now feel the rage burning inside him. Rachel was visibly sobbing, begging him to calm down but he couldn't hear anything. All he could picture was Logan's smug face pulling Rachel towards him. He closed his eyes but couldn't stop it from progressing. He knew he shouldn't have trusted them together.
He shook his head, trying to clear it but his body was bursting with energy. His vision was wavering now and time felt like it was continuous. He couldn't even look at Rachel, what had they done to him? He had given her his whole life and now she'd thrown it right back at him.
Rachel was trying to approach him wearily but he couldn't handle it. He knew that he wasn't in control and felt like his body was about to give in and collapse.
Mike physically couldn't breathe. He had backed into the living area but Rachel had followed him and he just couldn't stop picturing it. He bolted outside in an attempt to get some fresh air and put as much distance between them as possible. His fist were clenched and no matter how angry he was, he wasn't going to hurt Rachel. No, there was only one man who deserved that.
As he left, the last thing he heard was her broken voice pleading with him, "Mike please, it didn't mean anything.."
It only served to make Mike angrier.
-SUITS-
As he ran out of the apartment, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. After all he had gone through this week, he finally accepted that life was ok, so long as him and Rachel were still hand in hand. But now she'd dropped this bombshell and Mike had never felt more alone.
His anger was consumed by the tears about to fall from his eyes and he swallowed hard, breathing in deeply the dusk New York air. It only made him more mad that those tears were there. He'd always been a weak person, losing control of his emotions as soon as things got tough. And he hated that. Mike growled loudly, causing many people to turn and give him a filthy look. He swung his hand into a nearby lamppost and revelled in the pain that it bought. His every passing thought returned to the face of the man that had ruined his life for the second time this week.
A taxi pulled into sight and he told the man the address that he'd seen in a file a number of weeks previously. The taxi man gave him a look of suspicion but started driving and Mike forced himself to calm down before their arrival. He thought of calling Harvey but knew that would be a bad idea. Never had his thoughts been so muddled.
He felt relief when they pulled up and he'd paid the taxi driver. Mike was still burning hot and the taxi had been suffocating. But it had forced him to calm down and as he ran up the stairs, his thoughts were more rational. He'd decided to take the stairs, burn some energy.
Even though he didn't want to, he thought of Rachel's words earlier. "We were just talking and he.."
Mike knew that Logan was aware of his relationship with Rachel but the guy was a complete pig and would do anything to rub it in Mike's face. Rachel had told Mike that he had cheated on his own fiancée so he wouldn't put it past him.
As Mike approached the door, he was again struggling to keep down his anger. He banged on the door, covering the peephole so that Logan wouldn't know who was on the other side.
As soon as he'd gained entrance, Mike shoved Logan back and enjoyed the look of surprise on his face.
"This is how you handle losing?" Logan had that aggravating smirk on his face and Mike wanted nothing more than to knock it off.
"I'm not here about Gillis Industries," he went straight up to Logan's face now, challenging the slightly larger man to try something.
"What, are you going to fight me?"
"You stay the hell away from Rachel." Mike was shocked by the gruffness of his voice. He was almost shaking to keep his temper in check. He felt like he'd made his point and turned to leave before it got ugly.
"Well that's up to her. But if she does come back here, it won't be to tell me to stay away." Mike could feel the patronising tone of Logan's voice. He couldn't help his loathing of the man. His anger was too much now and he turned back with his fist clenched.
In that frozen second between stand off and fight, Mike watched as Logan's eyes flicker to the engagement ring he was still wearing. His face is unreadable, no fear, no invitational smirk now. But what pisses Mike off most, is the lack of remorse.
Without giving Logan a chance to respond, Mike swung at his face and connected devastatingly. He felt a crack and hated how it filled him with such joy. What had Logan turned him into?
But Logan recovered much quicker than he was expecting and Mike gripped him in a hold, trying to keep control. They were in a messy brawl now, throwing each other around and trying to catch the other one off guard. Mike was fighting on impulse and his instinct wasn't always the best. He just managed to block Logan's elbow as it slammed into Mike's ribs. Better than his face but still causing him to keel over in pain. He picked himself back up just as Logan fist connected with his jaw and another square in his nose.
But Mike was still reeling in his anger and the adrenaline was now soaring through his body. He ignored the taste of blood and managed to push Logan back and connect his own punch and then another in the other man's stomach. The groaning was almost satisfying. But just as he was starting to get the upper hand, Logan hit him again.
Mike spotted his chance with a semi glass table located conveniently behind Logan. He was suffering from that last punch and felt his vision beginning to blur but as Logan pushed his full weight towards Mike's stomach in a rugby tackle, Mike used his momentum to swing them both round and plant Logan directly in the centre of the table.
He hit the ground hard but heard a satisfying groan from Logan who was now planted across the floor, looking worse for wear. Mike quickly got to his feet, heading for the door. He felt almost ashamed now. The fight felt like it had lasted forever but it was in fact a matter of seconds. But now that it was over, Mike felt exhausted.
He turned to check on Logan, to ensure that he could leave him and saw the other man looking up at him too. He was breathing heavily, clutching at his own ribs and although Mike was feeling slightly less angry, he did feel some form of sympathy. This lost its touch when Logan started speaking.
"I dont know what she said to you, but she let it go on a long time."
Mike turned on his heel, quickly, not wanting himself to get worked up again. He fleed but not before Logan really managed to get under his skin.
"And she didn't just like it, she loved it."
Mike would never forget the sound of his cackling laugh, almost like a witch. But he continued his walk, masking his anger and aggravation. As far as Mike was concerned, he had the upper hand following that fight and he didn't want to give Logan the satisfaction of bringing him back down.