AN: OK…here's something for you. Just keeping it moving right along.
Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who is celebrating tomorrow!
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Carol sat with her feet propped on Andrea's lap, taking up most of the couch in Andrea's living room while Michonne paced around and Andrea watched Michonne, absentmindedly squeezing at Carol's feet from time to time.
Carol hadn't seen Michonne this worked up in some time and she wasn't entirely sure yet that she understood what it was all owing too. It was rare that something got Michonne into such a place that anger or fear, or whatever the emotion was that was coursing through her, robbed her of her ability to really clearly express what was going on with her.
"So wait a minute…" Andrea said, her voice strained with the same confusion that Carol felt. "Who is going to cost you your practice?"
Carol had gotten that much as well. Someone was threatening Michonne. She'd found it out like most things in Sweet Junction and the surrounding area were found out. A friend of a friend told a friend of a friend what they had heard coming in a hushed whisper from someone's mouth somewhere.
But still, no matter how questionable the source, it was most likely true…especially if it was bad.
Good news had a way of getting distorted, of getting lost entirely even, but bad news had a certain appeal to it that made it that much tastier on a gossip's tongue and therefore it was rarely too bent out of shape to be recognizable, no matter how far down the tree it had tumbled.
"Philip Blake!" Michonne spat. "He's running around…digging up stuff. He's trying to turn me in. He wants me disbarred."
"But why would he want that?" Carol asked.
Michonne was pacing at a rate that dizzied Carol. She was at risk of wearing out the floor, or at the very least, making herself drunk enough to fall over her own feet.
Michonne threw her hands up, not ceasing her pacing.
"Because Satan has sent him to fuck up my life!" Michonne said.
Carol giggled at the explanation but stifled the laugh as soon as she saw the fury and the seriousness in Michonne's eyes.
This was apparently no laughing matter.
"But can he really do that?" Carol asked.
Michonne stopped pacing for a moment, but only a moment. She sighed and started pacing again, twisting at her hair.
"Realistically? Yes. If he wants to there's plenty of stuff for him to find. My hands aren't clean. I've pulled a few strings here or there…called in some favors…and delivered on some," Michonne said, lowering her voice a little.
Carol knew full and well since she'd come to work with Michonne that the legal system in Sweet Junction, and for the most part any of the surrounding areas, wasn't clean and it wasn't functioning under the rules that it claimed to be run by.
Michonne wasn't the only one with dirty hands. Everything and everyone involved in the legal system was pretty much corrupt and they kept right on functioning under the age old law of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." No one told on anyone else because throwing one person under the bus could very likely land you under a tire as well.
"So find something out on him," Carol offered. "He can't be clean…if he is then he's the only lawyer within a thousand miles that is…"
Michonne stopped pacing again. She sighed and Carol could tell that she had been worrying a good deal. She looked exhausted, but more than just the tired at the end of a day exhausted. She looked defeated almost, and that wasn't a look that Carol liked to see on the face of a woman she considered one of the strongest people she'd ever known.
"He's clean," Michonne said. She shrugged and shook her head emphatically. "Either he's the only one around with clean hands, or he's really good at sweeping up after himself. I've been looking since I heard what the snake was up to…but there's nothing to find. Not even an unpaid parking ticket."
Carol cast a glance at Andrea who was looking off to the left of Michonne, eyebrows furrowed, as though she could see a ghost or something that no one else was aware was even in the room.
"If you had something, though," Andrea said, glancing toward Michonne then, "if you had something that wasn't clean…something to hold over his head…would that stop him?"
Michonne furrowed her brows and shrugged again.
"Yeah…I mean I don't know that it would stop him, but I'd have leverage. I could at least hold it over his head and threaten revenge if nothing else," Michonne said.
"But he wouldn't want you to ruin him," Andrea said. "He's comfortable. You can see he's comfortable. He's a smarmy bastard and that shit wouldn't fly if he were disbarred and…say…run out of town on a moral rail."
Michonne chuckled and Carol was surprised that Andrea had been able to evoke any emotion in their friend when she was so firmly set on the doom and gloom attitude she had earlier.
"He's not in Sweet Junction, though…and he is clean," Michonne said.
Andrea squeezed at Carol's foot enough that this time it wasn't pleasant, but Carol didn't say anything. She had no idea what Andrea was working out in her head, but she could almost smell the smoke of the gears turning across the couch.
"But if he weren't…if there was something…and you had proof, then he'd back off," Andrea said. "He'd leave you alone, right? I mean he'd know you'd always have the proof."
Michonne shrugged and nodded again.
"I suppose," she said. "But I'm telling you that the man's cleaner than a nun's underwear."
Carol chuckled then and was thankful that Michonne didn't shoot her the same warning look as before.
Andrea nodded and shifted a little, still squeezing at Carol's foot…the act breaking off her laughter quicker than it might have dissipated on its own.
"Just hold that thought," Andrea said.
"Why?" Michonne asked. "Do you know something?"
She raised an eyebrow and Andrea shook her head, smiling a little.
"Not yet," she said. "Give me a day or two…"
Michonne raised her eyebrow again and looked at Carol before glancing back at Andrea.
"What are you up to?" Michonne asked.
Andrea shook her head, a slight chuckle rumbling in her throat and half smile spreading across her face.
"Nothing…" she said. "Just don't worry about it…give it a rest for a few days."
Michonne didn't look wholly convinced and Carol had to admit that she wasn't entirely sure what was happening either. It appeared, though, that Andrea had something going on in that mind of hers.
"Do you have a couple of days?" Carol asked.
Michonne shrugged again and Carol almost laughed at the facial expression she was wearing now. It was one of utter confusion, but at least the look from earlier was gone.
"I mean…I guess I've got a couple of days. Right now it's just rumor anyway," Michonne said.
"And that's all it's going to be," Andrea said. "Just rumors…"
"You're up to something…" Michonne said, suddenly narrowing her eyes and pointing her finger at Andrea.
Andrea smiled broadly. It was her best attempt at innocence and Carol had seen it before. She feared, though, that it had been so long since Andrea had actually been innocent of anything that she'd forgotten what it looked like. The smile she was wearing, therefore, gave off more a feel of a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar but was standing firmly that they weren't involved, chocolate stains on their fingers or not.
"Just don't worry about it," Andrea urged.
Michonne sighed deeply and sat down in the horrible burnt orange secondhand recliner that Merle and Andrea had acquired from Tyreese.
"Fine," Michonne said. "Fine…you want a couple of days to do whatever you're doing…you've got it. But don't get yourself arrested because I don't have a leg to stand on anymore…not with Philip Blake walking around with his nose stuck in my business."
"I'm not getting arrested," Andrea said. "And besides…even if I did…might be exciting."
Michonne shot Andrea a look and Andrea laughed.
"Kidding…" she said. "I'm not getting arrested. I'm not doing anything. I promise."
Carol shifted around, waiting for a moment and finally realizing that silence was descending upon them and no one was making a move to break it.
"I don't know if it's the best time," Carol said, "but I do have some good news…"
Michonne looked at her, her face still tired but not as heavy as it had been.
"It's always the right time for good news," Michonne said. "Especially now."
Carol smiled softly.
"Well, I guess it's really good news for Andrea," Carol said.
Andrea looked at Carol then, her smile having faded to be replaced with curiosity. It wasn't all that often that Carol got to be the bearer of good news and it felt a little strange to her.
"What?" Andrea asked.
"Well," Carol said. "I was talking to Jacqui at Lula's today and she bought the old music store…the one that closed down on Main?"
Carol glanced back and forth between her friends. Both were nodding slightly and watching her with fixed anticipation. It was almost enough to make her uncomfortable.
"Yeah, what about it?" Michonne asked finally.
"Well…she's turning it into a salon," Carol said. She saw Andrea's face drop immediately and she knew that her friend was going through the same feeling she'd had in the few moments when she thought that she should feel happy for someone else, but she was too tangled up in her own feelings of disappointment over something she thought she'd never have. "She wants us to all be partners…three ways."
No one moved or said anything for a moment. Andrea's face didn't register at first what Carol had said, and then slowly it did and she slung Carol's feet roughly off her legs, dropping them to the floor before Carol could even stop them.
Now Andrea's eyes were wide and Carol almost laughed at her.
"You mean a salon for us?" Andrea asked.
Carol nodded.
"And Jacqui…" Carol offered.
"On Main Street?" Andrea asked.
Carol smiled and nodded again.
She wasn't expecting Andrea to launch herself across the couch at her, but that's what she did, grabbing her in a bear hug and squeezing her.
"Oh my God! A salon on Main Street! Oh my God!" Andrea squealed in Carol's ear, shaking her back and forth so that they both bumped against the back of the couch.
Carol found herself laughing at Andrea's reaction and over Andrea's shoulder she could see Michonne sitting in the burnt orange chair and laughing too.
Andrea separated from her quickly and flopped back into her position on the couch, her feet balled up under her and her eyes no less wide than they'd been before.
"Do you realize how amazing that is?" Andrea asked. "Main Street!"
Carol grinned and nodded again.
"I know! I wasn't expecting it either. She said that T-Dog's doing a lot of the work…she wants Merle and Daryl to help too."
"Well of course they'll help!" Andrea declared.
"I'm sure Ty could help too," Michonne offered from her spot.
"She said she's putting down the money to get it ready. She said she thinks it'll be ready to open in a couple of months," Carol said.
Both women were still looking at her with anticipation and she felt like she couldn't remember the last time she'd had the floor like this.
"She's doing the advanced classes," Carol said. "She's putting in the extra time so she can start working part time as soon as it opens. We can start as soon as we finish."
"We could do extra nights…" Andrea said. "We could do the extra classes and finish earlier. You know that some of the women in there were saying they were finishing in half the time. I could cut my hours at the Watering Hole…take extra classes…you don't have to work weeknights anyway."
Carol smiled and nodded.
The thought of taking the extra classes was daunting, especially with exhausted as she already felt, but it was something that she could do. She might…realistically…not finish exactly when Andrea did, but she could finish soon enough and she'd know that Andrea and Jacqui would make sure that there was a place for her there when she did finish.
"You're not going to be able to be on your feet like that," Michonne said, turning to Carol. "Not in a couple of months…the baby will be here, or she'll be well on her way."
Carol nodded.
"I know," she said. "But I can keep working for you…finish up my classes as soon as I can. At least then my schedule at the salon will be more flexible."
"We'll make our own schedules," Andrea said. "We'll work as much as we can and then when we have clients we'll have a little more wiggle room. No more Korean food!"
Carol chuckled.
"No more Korean food," she echoed. "And no more shaking your ass for drunk assholes."
Andrea nodded.
"And no more pencil pushing for corrupt lawyers," Andrea said, winking at Carol.
"Hey!" Michonne said, leaning up from her position long enough to swat at Andrea and then sinking back into the chair while Andrea laughed off the fake attack.
"My job at the law office is great," Carol admitted. "And I might work there part time…just do hair part time. Daryl and I are planning more kids…what if that gets in the way?"
"You've always got a job at the office if you want it," Michonne offered. "Assuming, of course, that I've always got a job there. But it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Lots of women have babies and do hair. The lady that watches the girls is good…and like Andrea said, your schedule will be flexible once you've built up a clientele. You can make your hours fit your life."
Andrea beamed again.
"Work to live," Andrea said. "Not live to work."
Carol smiled at Andrea. She knew her well enough to know that Andrea would work twenty four hours a day if she felt like she could. She liked working and she liked the money. It made her feel secure and it made her feel like she didn't need anyone, especially since there hadn't always been a lot of people she could depend on in life. It was a feeling that Carol understood.
Realistically, she thought that the salon had a real chance of being something and she thought that they had a good chance of finding a good life…good financial security…in their jobs there, as soon as they got everything up and running.
"So Andrea and Jacqui," Michonne said, interrupting Carol's musings with her own thoughts, "can get things up and going. You keep working at the law office until Lil' Bit comes…take your paid maternity leave. Then you can work with me until you get your license, or if you get it by then, you can start at the salon whenever you're ready."
Carol smiled.
"We're going to do this," she said.
Andrea beamed.
"Oh yeah!" Andrea said, her smile spread from ear to ear. "We're totally going to do this!"
Michonne got up from the orange chair and came over, pushing between Carol and Andrea and sitting down on the couch. She wrapped and arm around both of them, tugging them toward her in what was really more of a silly hug than a serious one.
"My little girls are growing up!" She said, rocking from side to side and making all three of them laugh at the act.
Michonne let go of them and they all sat normally, piled onto the couch.
"I am really happy for you both, though," Michonne said. "You deserve it."
Carol frowned, remembering that while they were celebrating, Michonne had come in feeling like her world was crashing around her, and despite Andrea's promise that it wasn't, there wasn't to guarantee that nothing would happen with her.
Carol swallowed.
"I know it's not being a lawyer or anything," Carol said, "but we have room for others…I mean if you were thinking of switching careers."
Michonne chuckled and turned her head, smiling at Carol. She didn't say anything, but a groan rippled up in her throat.
"She's not going to need to work with us," Andrea said. "I'm telling you…just give me a couple of days."
Michonne chuckled again.
"You're so sure of this?" Michonne asked, flopping back against the back of the couch, her face turned toward Andrea.
Andrea nodded and pursed her lips.
"Positive…" she said.
Michonne sighed and shrugged.
"Well…alright then…" Michonne said.
She was quiet for a moment.
"You have any wine around here?" Michonne asked. "This is supposed to be a girls' night."
Andrea smiled.
"And we have a lot to celebrate…wine all around and I've got some sweet tea for the baby machine," Andrea said gaining her feet.
"House wine of the South!" Carol called at her.
"We can drink to opening the salon and to shutting Philip Blake's mouth!" Andrea called from the kitchen.
"I'll drink to that," Michonne said.