Disclaimer: The Good Wife is not mine

October, 2017, Chicago

The conference room of Cavanaugh, Lockhart & Gardner, that was the room in which she was about to bare her heart to all of the world. The room in which for the first, and last, time she would reveal the truth about her marriage, about her life. It was a month now since she Cavanaugh & Associates had been transformed into Cavanaugh, Lockhart & Gardner. Despite her initial concerns about the merger, things had gone smoothly. She and Will had been getting on well. It was strange to think that despite not talking for over twenty years, the had almost slipped back into their old friendship. Hard cases would turn into late nights, when they would sit on the floor of his office – or hers – with an empty box of pizza and bottles of beer. Papers surrounding them.

The business side of things had gone fantastically, with four major businesses moving to the firm since the merger. Alicia primarily lived in Chicago, in a small apartment that she had decided to rent. However she would go back to DC whenever she was needed. But DC wasn't her home anymore. The apartment was.

Whilst she thought of it as small, that was only in comparison to the townhouse. In truth it was probably bigger than she needed, with three bedrooms, a living area and a kitchen which had stolen her heart from day one. Alicia didn't mind the extra space, thought. The two spare rooms were her children's, and they knew that. It was cosy, and gradually becoming a place furnished to her taste.

The makeup artist who had been applying an excessive amount of powder to her face finally moved away and left Alicia sat there, in front of a camera which was on standby, and so many lights she felt like the fairy at the top of a christmas tree. She took a deep breath, nervous about the interview. Eli had advised her that one final interview might be a good thing. It would air everything out, get everything in line and open the door to a life without the media as a concern. When she had approached Will and Diane, a little hesitant to agree, Diane had surprisingly enough encouraged it. After all it would give the firm some good publicity.

So there she sat, in the red long sleeved dress with a square cut neckline. It was flattering, she knew that. It matched the colour of the lipstick that had been applied. Her hair was straight, but not pulled back away from her face. It was left loose, making her look attractive not severe. Will and Diane were stood near the back of the room along with Eli who was there to step in if the interviewer – Piers Morgan – stepped too far over the line like he was known to frequently do.

It was a bold choice; choosing him to conduct the interview. He was known for touching subjects which had already said to be off limits. But that was what Eli had wanted – everything to be out. So there she sat, whilst her interviewer shook her hand and took a seat. Before Alicia could comprehend what was going on, he was talking and the whole charade had begun.

"So, Alicia Cavanaugh, the ex-wife of Vice President Peter Florrick, it is an honour to be sat here with you." He was English, probably about her age, with dark hair and a voice which perfect for television – enthusiastic but not overly. "Thank you for agreeing to let me interview you."

"You're more than welcome."

"Now, I want to start at the beginning. Your parents are divorced, your father died, and your mother had remarried how many times?" He questioned, smiling, Alicia just laughed.

"So many times I loose count."

"You were young when your father died, but it is never something that we have heard you speak about. How did his death affect you back then?"

Will watched her from behind the cameras. She looked stunning, and to the untrained eye she looked comfortable. His eye was trained, though, he knew that she was nervous. The way that her hand kept brushing her hair behind her ear, then removing it only to move it again. He was aware that the questions would be hard, she had told him that there was a chance their relationship might be brought up. He didn't mind though, after all it was not much of a scandal. The only issue that would arise would be Diane. Yet the looks Kalinda had been giving him since the merger made him wonder if Diane had already had the younger woman investigate what happened at Georgetown and knew about the relationship.

"...to this day, I still want to make him proud." Alicia said, looking at her interviewer with eyes that portrayed all the hurt that she was feeling.

"Now you graduated from Georgetown in 1994, top of your class. That is quite an accomplishment!" Piers said, making Alicia laugh.

"Thank you."

"Despite this fact, you have only recently, maybe in the last five years, had a really prominent name within the legal community. Why wait so long?"

Alicia looked down at her nails, bit her lip and considered her answer before brushing her hair behind her ear. "I gave up the law when I found out that I was pregnant with my eldest, Zach. I always said that you can catch up with what you missed in the law, you can catch up with your career. You can't do that with your children... I didn't want to look back and realise I had missed so much of their lives. Realise I hadn't been there to see them say their first words, take their first step, kiss them when they fell off of their bike. A lot of people ask me if I would do the same again, and I would. I don't regret taking time out of my career to look after my children. They mean the world to me."

"How old are they?"

"Zach is 19, Grace is 18. He is at MIT and she is at Stanford." Alicia said, pride written all over her face. The look caused Eli, Diane and Will all to smile, just like it caused the interviewer to do as well.

"Not Georgetown?"

Alicia just laughed, it was just what Will had said. "No, not Georgetown."

"How long were you married to the Vice President?" Piers asked, and Alicia sighed, knowing that this was where the really hard questions would begin. Mentally she prepared herself for them.

"Twenty years."

"That is an awfully long time. Do you regret the divorce?"

"Do I regret that I moved on from my marriage? That I took my life into my own hands? No, no I don't. Do I regret that we both let it get to the point where divorce was the bst option? Yes. I regret that I was unable to maintain a healthy marriage."

"Do you blame him for the divorce?" Alicia sighed, god how she hated these questions.

"That is a hard question to answer."

"That is why I asked it." Piers said, with a smug look on his face.

"He was wrong in what he did, the mistakes that caused our marriage to fall apart were mainly his. However I do believe that... I believe it takes two to make a relationship, and it takes two to break a relationship."

"Is that a yes?"

"I partly blame Peter, I partly blame myself." Eli stood at the back of the room grinning with pride as she answered the questions like a pro. He had tried to prep her, only to be told that if she were doing the interview then she would do it. She would not simply spout some rubbish which she had been told to say.

It must have been obvious to Piers that he would not get a response out of her that caused a headline so he changed the topic. "You married very young, in the grand scheme of things. Were there relationships before Peter?" Will took a sharp breath, and Diane looked at him. Wondering just what Alicia's answer would be.

"There was one serious one." The brunette answered, a sad look on her face as she replied.

"When?"

"At Georgetown, we dated for 18 months, but he was more than that, he was my best friend as well." She answered, looking at Piers, hoping he would leave his questions there, but he didn't.

"How serious?"

Alicia just laughed. "I loved him, and he loved me."

"Who ended it?"

Alicia shook her head. "He ended it. We were young, and looking back it was probably for the best. I think we both always knew it would never last, not at that stage in your life, it can't really."

"I think it is fair to say that the last few years had given you your fair share of problems to face. Now I actually met you, before your husband's first scandal, back when he was the Governor, and sitting here today, I feel like I am meeting a very different Alicia. Do you think that it is more than just your surname that has changed?"

"Yes, yeah I do. I think sometimes the hand you're dealt requires you to change. I'm a lot more confident and driven now, in some ways I am a lot more like the woman who graduated Georgetown all those years ago."

"You're also a lot more fashionable now. I think I'm accurate when I say that for many you have become a fashion idol." Alicia just laughed at the comment. "We are nearing the end now, so you can go and fight some bad guys soon. But I want to know, where do you see your relationship with your ex-husband going in the future?"

Alicia took a moment to consider her answer. That was not a question that she had seen coming. "Right now, I still hold a lot of anger towards him. Not really for what he did to me, but what he did to my children. I have a lot of hurt in my heart. However, I hope that we will both be able to move on with our lives. Peter will always be a big part of mine, after all we have two wonderful children together. . . I will also always support him politically, because despite his failings as a husband, he is an incredible politician, and I think he would make a wonderful president."

"Is he running for president?"

"That I don't know." She said, with a smile.

"You said 'failings'. Do you believe he failed as a husband?"

"He broke his vows, and I believe that means that he did not succeed as a husband. However at the same time, it wasn't all bad. I hope that when the hurt I hold has dies down, I will be able to remember our marriage with fondness, because there were some good times, really good times."

Piers sat there nodding. "Where do you see your life going in the future?"

"I want my firm to expand, I want my children to be happy and healthy. I hope to see my family become closer, and I hope to be able to lie in bed of a night and feel content."

"What about romance?"

"What about romance, Piers?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Is there any on the horizon."

Alicia just shook her head. "I have no idea." She said, however Will did not miss her catching his eye, the way she looked as him as she answered. All of a sudden his mind was filled with questions, wondering just what she meant. Wondering just what she was implying. All Will could do was smile.

"You're children are grown up, you're divorced, what is stopping you?"

Alicia just laughed. "Owning a law firm is like having a baby, it requires constant attention."

"Well it certainly has been interesting talking to you, Ms. Cavanaugh."

"And you Piers."

"Shall we do it again some time?"

"I think once is enough." Alicia replied making him laugh. Piers just nodded, and turned to the camera to end the show. Alicia's eyes once more returned to Will's before she turned to Eli, who just nodded at her, smiling. Telling her silently that she had done well. That he was definitely impressed.

Reviews are greatly appreciated guys! Thank you so much for the support :)

Abby