A/N: I was originally going to make this a one shot but decided I was done when my muse whacked me over the head with a baseball bat. So here is chapter 2.

We'll See

Chapter 2

She waited patiently in the doorway until her brother was on the elevator and then went back inside the apartment. When the door was closed behind her, she let her smile drop from her face. It was so hard with him there to read every look and every twitch she made. He had said he could see in her eyes that she didn't love Peter anymore. She had denied the accusation, but it was true. She was so tired of playing the part, and it was harder when her brother was there to read all the signals that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else, with the exception of Eli Gold. He seemed to read her better than most people, but then he was paid to be that way. She sighed and sat herself down on a barstool. She could pour herself a glass of wine and take a warm bath and pretend that everything was going to be ok, but in all honesty, she really didn't want to. She wanted everything to be different. Hadn't she told Eli that when they had spoken in her office, only a few weeks before? Her thoughts drifted back to the dinner with her family, brother, mother in law, Eli, and his friend. That had been and interesting dinner, and she was glad for the phone call that had interrupted, because she didn't think she would be able to make it through the whole thing without saying something to each and everyone of them, even her kids. She was that tired, although, the looks on Eli's face at various times, more than made up for some of it.

A knock at the door brought her attention to the time. Peter had taken the kids out to dinner, and with her brother on his way home, she could only guess that it would Jacqui or Eli. At that moment, she would rather deal with Eli. At least she wouldn't feel the urge to snap at everything he said. Luck was with her when she opened the door. She gave him a soft smile, feeling accommodating at that moment, an emotion that seemed to be more and more present when they were alone.

"Mr. Gold." She said, stepping back to let him in.

"Mrs. Florrick."

"If you're here to see Peter, he wont be back for a few hours. He was taking the kids out to dinner and a movie." She said immediately, thinking that Eli had campaign issues to talk about, but he commandeered a barstool for himself and watched her for a moment.

"I'm not. I came to see you." She was taken aback. He had never come to see just her, unless it was something related to Peter's campaign. She didn't let her surprise show, she was too good at masking her emotions for that.

"Then what can I do for you, Mr. Gold?" She still couldn't bring herself to be informal with him, other than those few moment's weeks ago, when he had seemed to catch her at just the right moment.

"Are you going to do as your brother suggested, and divorce Peter?" She hadn't expected that. How could he have known about her conversation with him in the kitchen? He had been in the dining room, trying to keep everyone at the table from becoming offended. She was starting to believe that he was a mind reader. Her eyes narrowed at him, and for fanciful second she hoped he could, and thought the nastiest thing she could think of in his direction. He didn't even flinch. Some of her surprise must a peeked through though because when she opened her mouth to respond, he interrupted her.

"If you're going to ask how, you'll just confirm it for me. " She closed her mouth and raised an eyebrow, allowing a smirk to steal across her lips. She was too good of a lawyer to fall into that trap.

"I wasn't going to ask how you knew. I was going to ask what you were talking about?" Eli smiled a little. She was good, he had to give her that. There was just something about her that brought him back time and again. He wondered briefly it that was what Will Gardner felt when he was around her, if that was what allowed him to confess that he loved her in a voicemail, the very voicemail he had deleted during the press conference.

"Well then, you've caught me at my own game." He paused, studying her. She was beautiful and projected an air of calm, but if anyone had bothered to look, like her brother had, and he had, they would see how tired she was, and in how much pain. No on else noticed, but they did, and he found himself liking her brother a little more, and Peter a little less, not that he was all that enthusiastic about anyone. Except for maybe her. "What did he say to you in the kitchen, that made you come back to the dinner table and make you very interesting toast?"

It was Eli's turn to be studied. He had shown that he was trustworthy once before, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to put more trust in him yet. She watched his eyes. She had heard something somewhere that said eyes never lie, she wasn't sure that was entirely true. His seemed to be sincere, much like when he'd come to her office and listened while she vented a small portion of what was bothering her.

"He asked me why I stayed with Peter, when I didn't love him anymore. He said he could see it in my eyes. And that if I decided to divorce Peter, it wouldn't be anything like when our parents got divorced. It wasn't the first time he told me I should leave Peter. They have never really gotten along. He doesn't like Peter, and Peter doesn't like him. And I have been stuck in the middle since they were introduced to one another." Her eyes took on a faraway quality that said she was remembering things that were best left to the past. It became apparent to Eli, that her marriage to Peter Florrick had never really been easy.

"That brings me back to my original question, will you divorce Peter?"

"Worried about his ratings in the opinion polls?" Her comment took on a snide tone that was ill suited to her voice and demeanor.

"Yes, and no. I like to prepare for all contingencies."

"And if I did divorce Peter?" She wasn't sure what she was asking of him. Maybe in some small, slightly crazy way, she wanted him to side with her over her husband, hoped that he would be the one to pick up the pieces when she finally gave in and fell apart. He didn't answer her, just stared, as if judging if she would really do it. He didn't think she would. As much as Peter had put her through, she hadn't been able to go through with it before.

"If you do, give me advance warning, so that I can prepare for the worst." It was said in a joking manner, but there was no joke in the tone he used. She nodded in acceptance.

They sat in silence for a while, neither moving. She felt the beginning of hunger pangs start I her stomach and without thinking she broke the silence.

"Have you eaten, yet, Eli?" It was asked almost warmly.

"No."

"How do you feel about chicken stir-fry?" He looked at questioningly.

"Its good." She nodded once.

"I'll be right back. There's wine in the cabinet if you would like some, or coffee if you want to make it." He nodded, but stayed seated on the barstool. She came back a few minutes later, hair pulled up into a ponytail, and her red suit and heels exchanged for a soft cotton button down, worn jeans and bare feet. He got the impression that he was finally seeing the real Alicia Florrick. She rolled up her sleeves and started rice and stir-fry at the same time. Within minutes, she placed steaming bowels on the bar for consumption. Eli shed his jacket and served up a dish for her and then himself. It was wonderful. He hated to cook himself, and always appreciated the skills of others.

Alicia seemed to relax, calling him by his first name, allowing him to do the same with her. Their conversation stayed far away from Peter, her children, her job, her brother, and his work. Eli felt like he was seeing something no one else, except maybe her brother had seen. The woman before him was warm, compassionate, and had a wickedly mischievous sense of humor, that had, from some of her stories, gotten her into trouble more than once. He found himself chuckling over her anecdotes, and wondering what he had done that allowed him to see this side of her. He was a lucky man indeed.

Dinner was long since finished, the dirty dishes stacked in the sink, and yet, he hadn't moved, and neither had she. He had no idea what time it was and for once he really didn't care. But the opening of the front door, followed by a shout from Peter, told him, that the night was at an end. He thought that she would immediately sober and retreat to her carefully crafted mask, but she didn't. Neither of the kids stopped to in to see, just headed for their rooms, most likely to work on homework, or whatever it was that kids did. Only Peter entered the kitchen. He looked a little surprised to see Eli sitting at the bar, and the friendly look on his wife's face.

"Eli. Did you need to speak with me about something?"

"Not this time, Peter. I'll be off. " He didn't catch himself in time to avoid calling her by her first name, and winced internally over the look Peter gave him. "Alicia, good night and thank you for dinner. It was wonderful."

"Goodnight, Eli." Peter showed him to the door, and once he was safely in the elevator with the doors shut between him and Peter Florrick, he breathed a sigh of something, he wasn't sure what.

Back inside the apartment, Peter returned to the kitchen and questioned his wife.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?" She asked innocently.

"You and Eli, having dinner together? Him being here, but not to see me? I don't understand Alicia."

"There's nothing to understand. Eli came to see me about my brother. We talked for a few minutes and I asked if he was hungry because I was and it would have been rude to just kick him out. So I made dinner, and we talked about things that had nothing to do with your campaign, my job, or his job. It was pleasant conversation, something I enjoy once in a while." She started to walk out of the kitchen and his next question stopped her in the doorway.

"Are you sleeping with him?" She looked at him over her shoulder and allowed the next words to fall from her lips, with the same effect as a dagger to the heart.

"That's your M.O., not mine."