A/N: I'm aware that it's been a month since my last update and I'm sorry. I can only hope you're still reading :)

Chapter Twelve

With a mug of freshly made coffee in hand Diane sat down at the kitchen table to skim through the morning paper. She was aware that she could have read the news online like most people did these days, but she still insisted on this ritual, no matter how old-fashioned it might be.

Will would never have thought of teasing her about it, but Eli rarely held back a joke, when he saw the paper in her hand. He even gave her an iPad to encourage her to use it more often, but it was mainly in her handbag or lay on the desk in her office, untouched.

She didn't doubt that Eli was right, that she should have spent more time exploring the Internet, but that's what her staff was for, to keep her updated about anything she may have missed. Maybe with Nat working on the campaign, he could teach her a few things not to feel too dumb when she heard some of the words her staff was throwing around in her presence. Nevertheless she was sure Eli knew what he was doing and she let him do his job, while she did hers.

The footsteps in the quiet house gave away that her husband was already awake as well. She quickly filled another mug with coffee, to welcome him with the hot brew when he entered.

"Good morning," she smiled at Will who was already dressed in his suit. She handed him the coffee, which he took with a pleased expression, giving her a kiss in return.

"You couldn't sleep?" he asked while they both sat down at the table.

"I haven't been up for too long," she responded and closed the paper to keep her focus on him. "Will you call me when the verdict is out?" she referred to the trial that had kept him up so late the last days.

"Of course," he promised, but didn't seem too optimistic. Diane knew that a lot depended on them winning this case. The father of the accused had a business that meant a few hundred thousand in a year for the firm. They had to try everything to keep the client happy.

"I'm going to tell Eli about Nat, wish me luck with that," she changed the subject, because he didn't seem too keen to talk about the trial.

"If he doesn't want him there, I could always use him at the firm," he suggested and it was hard to tell if he was joking or serious. "Maybe I should feel offended that he was so eager to work for you, not for me," he added with obviously mock jealousy, making Diane chuckle.

"You said yourself that working on a campaign is considered cool," she reminded him playfully.

"I'd pay to see Eli's face when you tell him about it though," he teased and she was glad to see the positive change in his mood. Maybe the coffee helped as well.

"I'll tell you all about it," she promised with a smile. "Would you like something to eat?" she offered and stood up to place her empty mug in the sink.

"No, I'll get something on the way," he smiled and approached Diane to hand her his mug. "Thank you for the coffee." He kissed her once more and when he pulled back she adjusted his tie.

"I'll see you tonight." She let him go with a smile that was meant to disguise the unvoiced wish to accompany him. She'd much rather have been there with Will today, than deal with Eli's moods. But she didn't really have a choice.

o-o-o

Their morning had been busy with meetings and video interviews, so Diane was only able to talk to Eli about her son in the afternoon.

"I must have missed a memo. Is it bring your kids to work month?" His reply, that was probably meant as teasing, sounded a lot more sarcastic with his usual tone.

She didn't expect him to protest the idea, but some complaints were inevitable in his case, which made it all amusing.

"Only these last weeks, until school starts. He wants to help, he's a lot more enthusiastic than Emma," she explained, because she expected Eli to appreciate the fact that Nat was the one who asked for this opportunity on the first place. Maybe Eli's ambitions had started in his teenage years as well.

"At least you only have two kids," he noted, raising a brow. "Unless you want your niece on the campaign too," he added, clearly as a joke, referring to the ten-year-old Mimi.

"I should have brought her in for a day, might have been fun," she replied with a chuckle, and Eli rolled his eyes in response. "What? Your daughter must have been adorable at that age too."

"Marissa was never adorable. Troublemaker is more her style." His face showed exhaustion by the mere mention of his teenage daughter.

"I'd love to see her again, maybe she and Emma would like each other." Diane had only met Marissa once so far and she didn't have to wonder where the girl got her outspokenness from. It had been fun to have her around for a few hours.

"Are you sure my daughter is the best company for your kids?" he protested lightly, but Diane couldn't help thinking he secretly liked the idea. She'd picked it up that he hadn't seen his daughter enough since the divorce and no matter how little emotion he showed most of the time, she was pretty sure he missed her.

"Don't be too hard on her," she replied with a mild smile and for a few seconds Eli's face softened too, but he hid it quickly.

"So what do you want your son to do here?" he inquired, obviously not pleased with being the focus of the conversation. "I'm not promising any special treatment to anyone," he added in a bossy tone.

"I'm sure you'll find something for him, he's good with computers," she mentioned and observed how Eli typed something on his blackberry without further reply, when Diane's phone began to ring.

"I need to take this," she reached for the device when she saw Will's name flashing on the screen, while Eli nodded and left in a hurry.

"It's guilty," Will informed her of the outcome of the trial and even with the shortness of the sentence she could hear the disappointment mixed with anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry, what's the plan?" She knew he wasn't one to give up easily. He probably already had the next step in mind.

"Appeal, obviously, but I'm not sure that's good enough for the family. Kalinda is talking to the jurors as we speak."

The pressure was obviously too high on him, the parents could decide to drop the firm as their representation anytime. And to think Will promoted Gillian to first chair on the case, would give them a really good excuse to actually do it. Not that Diane thought it had anything to do with the outcome.

"I wish there was something I could do," she offered her help, even though she had no choice but to stay away. She could only be there for moral support and she was glad he actually called, like he'd promised.

"We'll do our best, but I'll probably be late tonight," he warned her.

"That's okay, I understand," she replied softly.

"I gotta go, talk to you later," he cut their conversation short and a minute later Diane was sitting there, staring at her phone, feeling completely useless, while Will was working his ass of saving a client of their firm. The longer she stayed away the less it felt like that the half of the firm still belonged to her.

o-o-o

It was past eight in the evening and - like he'd predicted - Will was still not at home. Diane was going through the speeches Eli had given her to memorize, but she began to get more and more distracted by the fact that her husband was still in the office. She didn't want to call him, but she knew just the right person to ask about him and she didn't hesitate much longer to do it.

When Evelyn, their assistant, informed her that Will was still at his desk and hadn't even had dinner yet, Diane immediately felt the need to do something he might not approve of, but hopefully appreciate in the end.

On her way to the firm she stopped at Will's favorite Thai restaurant to bring him dinner and when she got out of the elevator on the 28th floor and saw their names together on the wall, she felt like coming home. She walked down the corridor with hurried steps to get to Will's office as fast as she could, but the sound of laughter coming from that direction made her slow down.

She had the feeling of déjà vu, finding Gillian in his office again, like the last time she'd been here; even if it made sense, since they were probably working on the case together. The pizza that caught her eyes between them on the table made it clear that Will wouldn't be needing the dinner she'd brought him anymore. She couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Diane, I haven't expected to see you here tonight," Evelyn welcomed her with a flustered smile.

"I wanted to surprise Will, since you said he hadn't had dinner yet," Diane explained, feeling completely ridiculous.

"Gill showed up with a pizza only a short while ago."

"Of course," Diane noted and placed Will's dinner on Evelyn's desk. "I hope you haven't had dinner yet," she looked at the woman who'd been working with her for more than ten years now and could probably guess the feelings she was trying to hide.

"I haven't, thank you, but don't you want to go in?" she asked, following Diane's gaze inside Will's office, where he was too deep in conversation to notice what was going on outside.

"No, I should go back home," she decided quickly. "Please don't mention to him that I was here," she requested before she turned away.

On her way back to the elevator she cursed herself for coming there on the first place. It was time to accept the fact that she didn't belong here anymore. And the less she saw of Gillian and Will together, the better for her sanity. She'd been determined not to get jealous of the woman and she wanted to keep this promise.