It was a calm afternoon, a cool breeze came in from lake Michigan. Alicia Florrick enjoyed the view from the pier, looking at the horizon from a park bench.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Will Gardner was sitting next to her.
"Will..." Alicia smiled when she saw him. "We were never here together."
"I know. What a shame." Will extended his hand to touch Alicia's hand. "I miss you."
"I miss you too, Will."
"Oh for God's sake, mom." A teenage Grace, wearing her school uniform, appeared on the other side of the bench. "He's dead. Get over it already."
Alicia woke up miles away from Lake Michigan. She was in her New York apartment and she had to get up to catch 5 am flight to Chicago. She got herself a cup of coffee and checked her emails. As a partner of Florrick and Canning, Alicia had to make special arrangements for her bigger clients. In this case, she had to go to Chicago to oversee an acquisition for the Midwest branch of millionaire Alan Buehrle's company.
Alicia didn't like going to Chicago, everything reminded her of Will. To keep her mind off the subject, Alicia called Zach but she got his voicemail.
"I guess you're busy; its the middle of the day over there. Anyway, call me when you can." She hang up the phone and resumed to get ready for her flight.
"Hey." Daniel entered the kitchen with Ruffles, the orange cat, in his arms. "Even Ruffles doesn't get up this early."
"Hmm." Alicia didn't look up.
"I see you're already in your Chicago mood."
"What?" Alicia finally looked at them."Sorry. Good morning."
"Good morning." He gave her a quick kiss. "Are you nervous?"
"About the contract? No, it's a regular contract. I'm going to please the client more than anything."
"I meant, about your daughter." Daniel clarified. "You're meeting with her, right? About her campaign."
Grace had announced that she was running for State's Attorney in Chicago and wanted to meet with her mother.
"Grace? I'm not sure why she wants to talk to me. I'm not a politician...that was her father."
"Maybe she only needs mom's advice." Daniel occupied himself with feeding Ruffles.
"Grace hasn't asked me for my advice in a decade." Alicia sighed deeply, Daniel noticed it.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I need to go. My car is waiting. I'll be back in 3 days." Alicia grabbed her things and kissed Daniel goodbye. "Bye!"
Alone in in the apartment, Daniel looked at Ruffles. "I know, I know. But my ex wife was way worse."
Owen picked Alicia up from the airport, she could've taken the train but she was afraid people would recognize her, although she didn't tell her brother that. There was some traffic and they had a chance to catch up.
"Thank you again."
"No problem, sis." Owen kept his eyes on the cars not moving ahead of them. "I want to talk to you."
"Okay." Alicia noticed how uncharacteristically serious Owen was acting.
"I'm gonna move in with mom in Miami."
"What?" What about your job? They finally gave you tenure at the Polytechnic."
"I know, but mom is alone."
"She could moved back here."
"She doesn't want to spend another winter here." The mathematician said. "We looked into a retirement home and they're too expensive."
"Owen..."
"Before you say anything about how it's not my responsibility or whatever. I want to do it, okay?"
"If you say so." Alicia told him. "I don't want mom to be alone neither. But what about you?"
"Me? I'm tired of teaching at the Polytechnic. And my love life is dead."
"Aww, Owen." Alicia pat his brother's shoulder.
"It's okay, really." Owen smiled. "Mom is getting up there. I don't think we have many years left with her."
"I know. I'll send you money."
"You don't have to."
"No, but I want to." Alicia touched Owen's arm. "Thank you."
"Maybe I'll get me Miami sugar daddy." Owen joked.
"Good priorities." Alicia looked to her right when a bus with an ad for Grace's campaign passed them by. She gasped.
"What? Oh, Grace's ad? I've seen a few of those around the city."
"Look mommy, I'm just like daddy." Alicia could hear Grace's voice in her head. "Did she tell you anything about it before the announcement?"
"She did give me a heads up." Owen replied. "She didn't call you, did she?"
"No. Not until it was on my news feed." Alicia crossed her arms. She didn't really get it.
"I'm gonna give you a heads up." Owen told her. "There had been...shall we say, tasteless attacks on Grace."
"Like what?"
"Some video manipulation. Don't look it up. That's all."
Alicia observed her brother. She knew him to well. "Anything else?"
"She might have called you a drunk on the radio."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, she didn't named names, she implied a family member had a drinking problem. Do a Chum Chum search for Grace Florrick Radio 720 AM. There is a video of the interview."
Alicia found the interview. Grace on the radio booth with the radio anchor.
"This morning we are join by..."
Alicia started the video
"It's at the end of the video, fast-forward." Owen interrupted. "Let me find it for you."
Alicia moved her phone away from Owen. "You're driving. I'll find it." The lawyer fast-forward the video.
".. true. Now, Ms. Florrick. There is an old saying in politics about candidates 'They look like I can have a beer with them'."
"That's a classic." Grace chimed in.
"But in your case, it's not true because you don't drink, is that correct?"
"That's correct. I've been sober for 3 years now."
"Are you an alcoholic?"
"I know that when I drink I have a hard time controlling it. l'm aware how that could lead to alcoholism. And this is the Midwest, people are used to drinking. I grow up in a drinking family and I've seen close members of my family used alcohol as a coping mechanism."
"I think we all know a person whose life is been affected by alcoholism." The radio host said.
"Exactly, Joe. So I choose not to drink. But hey, if we ever hang out together, you'll have the beer, I'll have a pop and be the designated driver. How about that?"
"That's a deal." The radio host laughed. "Thank you for time, Ms. Florrick."
"No thank you-
Alicia stopped the video. "I can't believe this."
"I know, right?" Owen said. "I think she's talking about you...or Jackie?"
"No, no. Grace has a drinking problem? I've never seen her drink." Alicia said. "And why did she say 'pop'? We never called soda 'pop' in our home."
"She's a candidate. She's gonna say anything to be likable."
"Anything to be likable? Do you think she's lying about the drinking?"
"I don't know." Owen shrugged.
Alicia looked out the window, she remembered a 13 year old Grace telling her how worry she was about Alicia's drinking.
"Sis?"
"I'm fine. I just need to take a nap." Alicia told him.
"Alright, I'll wake you up when we get there."
Thanks to the traffic, instead of going to her hotel, Owen dropped Alicia off directly at the company offices, where a nice intern shower her temporally office.
"Good, you're here." Marissa Gold was laying in the couch, waiting for Alicia.
"Oh God, you startled me." Alicia wasn't expecting to see the young lawyer there. "And you gave me déjà vu."
"Deja Vu?" Marissa sat up on the couch.
"Never mind. Why are you here?"
"We share a client, we have a common goal. We at Gold and Associates want the best deals for our all clients."
Eli and Vanessa Gold got together again for business reasons. Gold and Associates was a consultant company for private business, political campaigns and public relations. They were based in Washington D.C. but Marissa would fly all over the country to help their clients.
"Aren't you a 'fixer' now? Shouldn't you wait until the deal goes wrong to be here?"
"I'm a lawyer like you, Alicia."
"Uh uh." Alicia sat down on her desk and plugged in her laptop. "You could've done this over Zoom."
"You too." Marissa said. "But you're also here for the election, right?"
"I'm not longer in politics."
"Your Gracie is." Marissa replied to her former boss. "Also, your boy Ulises wants to be State's Attorney."
"My boy? He's a colleague."
Ulises Samuel was the lawyer in charge of the local affairs for Mr. Buerhle.
"Here he comes." Marissa pointed out as the forty something lawyer came walking the hallway. He waved at them through the glass door and came in.
"Good morning everyone."
"Good morning Ulises." Alicia smiled to him. "How's everything going?"
"The acquisition is going great. We're happy you are here to help."
"Thank you for having me."
"How's your campaign going?" Marissa had to poke the bear.
"Well, it's tricky." Ulises fixed his glasses. "We're looking for an official nomination, but you both know how these small local elections are."
"Sure, sure." Marissa said. "We all know."
"Crazy that your daughter is running too, right?" Ulises turned to Alicia. "You couldn't give me a warning?"
"I didn't know."
"Yeah, nobody saw it coming." Marissa said with sarcasm and Alicia gave him a mean look. "Sorry. I'm not here."
"If I remember correctly, I did tell you I wanted to run for office." Ulises continued. "I could use your support."
"I see." Alicia didn't like the position she was being put in.
"But I understand, Grace is your daughter, you want to support her. But she's young. Too young if you ask me."
Marissa rolled her eyes behind his back as Ulises continued.
"And the media? They're making a big show of having a Florrick in politics again. Then there's dirty tricks the opposition is pulling. The fake pornographic video? It's disgusting."
"The what now?!" Alicia was surprised.
"Not a big deal." Marissa shrugged. "I'll explain later."
"I think it's a big deal." Ulises insisted. "What about the 'insta tiktoker' whatever, who asked Grace about Will Gardner and you?"
"Someone asked Grace about Will?"
Marissa once again rolled her eyes at Ulises' transparent attempts to undercut Grace's candidacy through Alicia.
"It's awful, awful stuff. If she was my daughter, I don't know."
"Well, Ulises. I think we got the files in the share drive." Marissa told him "We are gonna review them and we'll be ready for the first session."
"Okay."
"Yeah, bye. Thanks." Marissa politely pushed him out the office. She turned around and saw Alicia on her laptop, typing away.
"Please don't tell me you're searching for the video."
"I am."
"Its clearly a fake video, okay? I don't think Grace had a foursome with black men. Even if she did, I doubt she would record it." Marissa said. "Honestly, it feels kinda of racist the way is being frame."
"What?" Alicia looked up from her laptop. "I'm not looking for that video."
"Oh...Alicia, please. You can't fall for it."
Alicia ignored Marissa's complains and found the other video. Grace coming out of an event and the person behind the camera stopping her.
"Grace! Grace! Is it true that Will Gardner was your real dad? And governor Florrick was cuckold from years?"
Grace looked at the camera and then at the person asking. "That's a very rude thing to say about my mother and two good men who died tragically. Excuse me."
Alicia held her breath for a second, her heart was racing. She could see Will with his puppy eyes looking at her.
"I would've loved to be the father of your kids" Will said with a sweet voice.
"Come on." Young Grace appeared again. "He was a 40 year old man afraid of commitment, he couldn't keep a girlfriend for more than 3 months, he couldn't even keep the plants in his apartment alive, but sure, let's all pretend he would've been a great dad."
"At least Grace handled it like a pro." Marissa Gold told Alicia interrupting her thoughts. Alicia shook hear her head.
"That video is horseshit!" Alicia exclaimed.
"That video is a target for you." Marissa closed up the laptop. "Nobody benefits from it except Ulises. He knew you were coming, he knew how he bait you, don't take the bait."
"He wants me to do what exactly?"
"Our client, Alan Buehrle is a hometown boy, he almost bought the White Sox last year. He likes to give tons of money to the democratic party. If you tell him Ulises is the guy, he'll back him up. If you tell him Grace is the better candidate…"
"So suddenly my opinion matters that much?"
"Buehrle likes you, so he'll listen to you." The young woman reiterated. "This is a nice cheat code for the candidates."
"Why did you say Grace handle it like a pro?"
"Because she did. It was, like you put it, a horseshit video and she answered without engaging."
"She's not a pro."
"Is that what's bothering you?" Marissa sighed. "Alicia, girl, you know I like you but come on."
"Come on?"
"You're a like a mamma bear who is surprised her cub likes to eats people."
"Am I now?" Alicia crossed her arms.
"You can say no to Grace. She can take it."
"I got to go." Alicia got up and grabbed her purse.
"Where are you going? We're supposed to go through the new clauses."
"I'll be back before 2." Alicia looked at her watch. "Could you please send my suitcase to the hotel? Thank you. Glad you came after all."
"Alicia, where are you going?"
"I'm gonna visit the original mamma bear."
Jackie Florrick was sitting in front of her apartment window. She like to bath on the sunlight for a half an hour every day. She had her radio on WFMT classical station and she was almost done rereading Anna Karenina.
"Why do you want to see me, Alicia?" Jackie turned around her chair to face her former daughter in law, she invited Alicia to sit down on the nearby chair.
"I want to ask you something about Grace." Alicia sat down and crossed her legs. She noticed the portrait of Jackie, Ramona, Grace and Angie on the book stand. A matriarchy of which she was not part of. Next to it a bottle of sherry.
"What about my granddaughter?"
"She's running for office. I want to know if you put her into it."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because you had all your hopes in Peter, he's gone and now you want Grace to follow his steps."
"I think it is marvelous that Grace wants to continue the family legacy." Jackie replied with a smile on her face. "But I had nothing to do with it. She came one day, she sat exactly where you are sitting, and told me she had a calling. She had enjoyed her work as a public servant but she wanted to do more."
"And you support her no matter what."
"Don't you?"
"I believe that Grace has great potential, just not in politics." Alicia said. "She shouldn't be part of that ruthless world. She doesn't belong there."
"Maybe she's different."
"Like Peter was?"
Jackie shifted in her chair. "Alicia, do you believe that my son's shortcomings were because he became a politician?"
"I know Peter changed after he ran for office."
"Funny. I don't think he did." Jackie said. "That's who he was "
"And that's the legacy you want for Grace?"
"Greatness comes with a price."
"Greatness?" Alicia chuckled. "Is that what you've been telling Grace?"
"No. My granddaughter already had that in her mind." Jackie smirked. "And you won't change it."
Alicia realized Jackie was a dead end. "Thank you for your time, Jackie."
"You're welcome, Alicia."
As Alicia stepped out Jackie's apartment she received a call from Daniel.
"Hey, how's Chicago treating you?"
"I'm already losing my mind." Alicia replied.
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
Alicia realized her comment sounded pretty bad. "I'm fine. It's just work."
"I don't believe you."
"Dan, thanks for checking on me. But I'm okay." Alicia changed her tone. "Love you."
"Love you too."
Alicia came back to her office, the parties got together and went through the acquisition contract. Mr. Buehrle was going to video call them the next day, they better be ready. During the meeting Grace texted Alicia the location of her campaign's headquarters with a smiley face. Alicia recalled that afternoon when she arrived home to a concern Grace.
"You're running for State's Attorney?"
She forgot to tell Grace, it was very sudden with Eli pushing for it, Cary in jail. Everything was going so fast.
"I am." Alicia dropped her purse on the kitchen island. "It's not what it looks like."
"It looks like you want dad's old job." The teenager told her.
"I have a job, I'm happy with my job." Alicia stated. "You know Cary Agos has been wrongfully arrested and I'm gonna help him."
It took a second for Grace to process that information. "You want to be the State's Attorney for Cook County so you can let your friend off the hook?"
"Among other things." Alicia pulled out of the fridge a bottle of white wine and pour herself a big glass.
"Such as?"
Alicia didn't like this kind of inquiring coming from her daughter. "Sweetie, it's gonna be okay."
"Alicia?" Back to the present, Ulises was asking Alicia a question
"Excuse me?" Alicia stared at the team of lawyer, including Marissa.
"We're good for today?"
"Yeah, we're good for today." Alicia nodded.
"More billable hours tomorrow, right?" Ulises joked but Alicia and Marissa ignored him as they headed out the conference room.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm…" Alicia stopped walking. "No, I'm not okay. I don't like being in Chicago."
"Too many ghosts?" Marissa said. "Shit, I didn't mean like that."
"I know, Marissa." The older woman assured her. "And I just think its crazy that Grace is running for office."
"Again, you can say no to her. You can also say no to Ulises."
Alicia looked at her watch again, Marissa noticed it.
"When are you meeting with Grace?"
"At seven." Alicia took a deep breath "I think I have time for one more stop."
Alicia headed to the business district, she knew Ramona had her office nearby. If original mamma bear didn't work, maybe step mamma bear would do the trick.
At her small office, Ramona was finishing a phone call while Alicia waited, she looked around the place. It was still awkward for Alicia to see Ramona's photos with Peter.
"Sì, per prima cosa domani mattina. Ciao." Ramona finished her phone call. "Sorry."
"No problem. I forget you speak like 10 languages.
"No, I only speak 7 languages."
Alicia thought that was still a brag. "Anyway, thank you for having me on short notice."
"Tell me what's in your mind." Ramona laid back on her chair.
The brunette woman took a deep breath and decided to speak from the heart. "I feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode. You know the one where the protagonist wakes up and the world is upside down, and everyone else think they're the crazy one."
"This is about Grace's campaign." Ramona realized.
"It doesn't make sense." Alicia said. "Grace was never comfortable with Peter's campaigns, she never like the spotlight; she was supporting of Peter because we asked her to, because she was a good girl. But she never liked it. So why on God's green earth is she doing this?"
"This time she's in control. She wants to do this and knows the risks for herself."
"Does she?" Alicia remarked. "She's going to have her life exposed, the good and the bad. Like being in a debate where a reporter is asking you about your husband's affair with a staff member, and your daughter is right there holding her tears."
Ramona knew exactly what Alicia was referring too. "That's uncalled for."
"But it happened."
"You want the truth, Alicia? Grace wants to be better than you." Ramona said. "She wants to better than Peter."
"Better than me?" Alicia didn't know what to think. "What does...
"Mom, I'm…" Angie busted into the office. "Oh…shit…I'm sorry, hi Mrs. Florrick."
"Hello Angela." Alicia nodded to the teenage girl. Seeing Peter's daughter was even more awkward.
"Honey, weren't you with Maddie?" Ramona asked her daughter.
"Maddie got sick. Her mom dropped me off here."
"I should get going, leave you to your family business." Alicia stood up. "Thank you, Ramona."
"No problem."
"Actually, one more thing." Alicia looked back at Ramona. "The drinking issue, is it true?"
"Is it true? I mean, I know Grace started drinking in college and she avoids it now."
"Have you ever seen her drunk?"
"Not that I can recall."
"Right." Alicia nodded. "Excuse me."
"Goodbye Mrs. Florrick." Angie moved out Alicia's way and stood still until she was gone.
"Have you eaten?" Ramona asked her.
"She hates me."
"Alicia? Why would she hate you?"
"Because my dad was still very much her husband when I was born." Angie sat down.
"I don't think she hates you, and even if she does, you shouldn't give a damn."
The girl smiled. "Can we have pizza for dinner?"
Meanwhile at Ulises Samuel's office, Marissa was having a chat with the candidate.
"I told you that Will video was stupid."
"Alicia saw it, so I think it worked." He crossed his arms.
"You should focus on Buehrle, making him notice you with this acquisition." Marissa told him, half of her attention was on her phone, texting. Ulises didn't like that attitude.
"When are you dropping this 'consultant' bullshit and become my campaign manager for real?" He said loud and clear to get her attention.
"When you become the only candidate." Marissa said. "In the mean time, take my consultation seriously."
"Do you think I'm a good candidate?"
"I think you're not evil." Marissa said. "And considering the state of current politics, that's enough."
It was around 7 pm and Alicia stood outside Grace's campaign headquarters. She stared at the 6 feet photo of her daughter on the window. It was a surreal moment.
"Mrs. Florrick?" Selina came out of the office. "How are you? I'm Selina Perez, the campaign manager."
"Nice to meet you."
"Please follow me." The women entered the office. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, water?"
"I'm good." They walked through the desks with the volunteer and staff.
"Okay, please wait here." Selina told her as they entered the smaller office. "Grace would be here in a sec. She's finishing a call."
"Thank you."
Alicia could see Grace through the window, her little girl all candidate up. The young woman waved at her, Alicia waved back and held her breath. Here goes nothing.
"Mom. Hi."
"Hi Grace."
The mother and daughter shared a hug.
"Please, sit down. How was your flight? Do you want some water?" Grace sat down on the chair next to Alicia, keeping it causal.
"I'm fine." Alicia said with a shy smile. "So…"
"It's all very exciting." Grace said. "I believe we're having a good campaign so far."
"Did I ever tell you why I ran for office?" Alicia interrupted Grace's flow.
"Uhm…something to do with your partner Cary?" Grace frowned. "I think."
"No. That was an excuse."
"An excuse?" Grace looked at her campaign manager for a moment. "Okay."
"I was spinning out of control, I was drinking too much. I needed something to run towards, something with a plan, something to give me a purpose. And I thought that was it, but it wasn't." Alicia said very seriously, she put her hand on Grace's knee. "All I needed was to find myself again. You know what I mean?"
"I do."
"Have you found yourself, Grace?"
"I have." Grace didn't hesitate. "I believe this is my calling. Public service, I'm sure you worry for me. But I can take the heat."
"You raised a good girl, Mrs. Florrick." Selina added. "She has her heart and her head in the right place."
"Sure." Alicia retreated to her seat. "So…what do you need from me?"
"Well, mom. I know your client is Mr. Buehrle, he's a big democratic donor, he has business in the city and I would like you to put a good word for me. Maybe introduce me to him."
"It's kinda conflict of interest for me." Alicia was setting up an excuse.
"I thought about that." Grace was ahead of the excuse. "Selina, please."
Grace reached out to her manager, Selina handed over a file. "These are my top 5 proposals to make the State's Attorney office better."
"You wanna pitch them to me?"
"I want you to see me as the best candidate for the job, so you can honestly say to Mr. Buehrle or anyone that I'm the right person to be the next State's Attorney."
Alicia looked at her daughter directly in her eyes, she saw the earnestness. "Alright, I'll hear it." Alicia half listened to Grace's speech. Her mind kept wandering off to the past, to the events that lead them there.
"So what do you think?"
"I think you have put a lot of thought into this." Alicia said.
"Can I count on your support with Buehrle?" Selina was direct about it. That's what managers are for.
"I'm going to talk to him tomorrow." Alicia told them. "Let me think about it."
"No problem, mom." Grace smiled to her. "Do you wanna grab dinner with us? We can have taquitos."
"I'm pretty tired, Grace. Its been a long day." Alicia stood up. "I'm going directly to the hotel."
"Let me get you a car." Selina offered her. A few minutes after Alicia left the office, Selina checked on her candidate.
"What do you think? How are you feeling?"
"I don't know." Grace shrugged.
"You don't know? She is your mom." Selina crossed her arms. "She opened up to you, that's a good sign."
"Opened up to me?"
"The stuff about spinning out of control."
Grace snorted. "I was there, she didn't have to say it like it was a big revelation."
"I hit a nerve."
"Just…I hate to be in this position."
"Grace, it's between you and Ulises. If you get Buehrle to endorse you I assure you, it's going to be an easy win."
"Right, an easy win."
Alicia woke up in her old bed, she was in her apartment, the morning sunlight coming through the window. Will was next to her.
"Good morning." He smiled to her.
"Will…" Alicia felt her heart skip a beat. "I miss these mornings with you."
"And I miss having you." Will caressed her arm.
"Wow mom." Teenage Grace was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Your affair lasted like what? 3 months? And you're still thinking about Will. Was the dick that good?"
Alicia looked to her left, Will was gone. She looked back at Grace. "Why are you doing this?"
"Me?" Grace laughed. "It's you. You're in Chicago and you can't stop seeing Will? How come you never think about your dad?"
Alicia woke up in her hotel room. It was Friday 5 am, the time difference was affecting her. Alicia looked outside her window, Chicago was still calm, she saw the train on the distance, a few workers already on their commutes. She thought of her dad, Freddie Cavanaugh was one of those blue collar workers, getting up very early to provide for his family. Alicia sighed deeply and carried on with her day. She made her self a cup of coffee and checked the contract again, the day before she didn't pay attention during the meeting. She had time now. Alicia opened up her internet browser and a pop ad for Grace campaign started playing a video.
"My name is Grace Florrick and I want you to help me to make Cook County..."
"Jesus." Alicia closed the video. She knew the ad was because she had searched Grace's name the day before, if she wasn't an atheist, she would think it was a sign from God. Then she got another sign.
"Mom, hi!" Zach video called her. "Sorry I missed your call yesterday. Did I wake up?"
"Don't worry, sweetie." Alicia was happy to see her son. "I'm up and having my coffee. How are you?"
"I'm busy working, but thankfully the weekend is here."
"Yeah, I get it."
"Are you in Chicago?"
"For work and...to see your sister."
"I know, it's pretty wild Grace is running." Zach said. "But Grace knows what she's doing."
"Zach, did Grace ever tell you about having a drinking problem?"
"She didn't have to tell me; I saw it first hand."
"What do you mean?"
"When Grace visited me that summer after law school, she drank pretty much every day. And she's kinda a mean drunk."
"Oh."
"So it's better she doesn't drink now. Good for her, really." Zach continued. "Oh, mom, sorry, I have to go. My boss is calling me."
"Good bye, Zach." Alicia smiled to her son. "Love you."
"Love you too."
Alicia spend the next 3 hours thinking about her decision. She made her mind during breakfast with Owen and Marissa.
"Do you own the apartment?" Marissa was asking Owen.
"I do. It was very convoluted but Alicia paid the mortgage and then she sold it to me, it was a steal considering the neighborhood."
"Are you going to sell or rent?"
"Sell it. I can't keep tabs on apartment 1000 miles away."
"I know a guy who can sell it fast, it's not that expensive."
"Well, give me his number." Owen said. "Cheers for new beginnings."
They raised their mimosas except for Alicia. "Earth to Alicia?"
"She's overthinking the Grace thing." Marissa said, Alicia didn't clock in the comment.
"Marissa?"
"Yeah?" The younger lawyer turned her attention to Alicia.
"The fake video is all they have against Grace?" She asked. "No other allegations against her from work? Corruption or anything like that? She's good?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're working with Ulises, right? You must know the dirt by now. So tell me, is Grace good?"
"She's good." Marissa nodded.
"Then I made my decision."
Later that day, Alicia and the rest of the lawyers finished the contracts for the acquisition of the company. Alan Buehrle contacted them via a conference call.
"Sorry I couldn't be there, things are crazy in China right now." the millionaire told his lawyers.
"Don't worry, Mr. Buehrle." Alicia said. "We got it done."
"Thank you, Alicia. Hey, how is Chicago treating you? I miss my hometown."
"Everyone here has been so nice and helpful…specially Ulises." Alicia looked at the surprised lawyer. "He's a great lawyer and I can guarantee you that he will be a fantastic State's Attorney."
Melissa and Ulises shared a look, he smiled.
"Is that so?" Buehrle said over the phone. "I'll make a note of that."
After the call ended, Ulises rushed to thank Alicia.
"This means a lot to me." He shook her hand. "Really, thank you."
"Ulises, don't take this the wrong way. But I didn't do this for you. I did it for my daughter."
"You made a good choice." Marissa told Alicia.
"I'm already regretting it." Alicia felt a pit in her stomach.
"Grace will be fine. Do you want me to tell her?" The curly hair lawyer offered.
"No. I'll do it."
At her campaign headquarters, Grace got a text from Alicia.
"Mom wants to meet me today at 5 at the office." She told her campaign manager. "That's good right? She'll call Buehrle and introduce me to him. "
"I'm not sure." Selina said. "Why meet in Ulises' law firm?"
"Yeah." Grace re read the text message. "We'll find out soon."
Alicia and Marissa stood behind the office's lobby and saw when Grace and Selina came out the elevator.
"I feel bad for Selina. This was her comeback campaign." Marissa whispered to Alicia. "Grace got her cheap because Selina got involved in a scandal."
"Is that so?" Alicia asked as she kept her eyes on Grace walking towards them.
"She slept with her candidate. But you know what that is like."
"Excuse me?" Alicia turned to Marissa.
"You know how a campaign manager can get too intimate with their candidate. Like Peter and my dad. Not that they slept together...that we know of."
Both woman shook their heads a the idea.
"Sorry for putting that image in our heads." Marissa said.
"It doesn't matter, let's move on." Alicia told her.
"Mom." Grace walked up to them.
"Grace, hi. Please, stepped into the office." Alicia opened the door for her daughter.
"Selina, we can stay out here and chat." Marissa held back the campaign manager.
Inside the office, Grace noticed something was off with her mom, the blinds were down giving it an eerie feel. "Everything okay, mom?" Grace sat down on the chair while Alicia took seat behind the desk. She was keeping her distance.
"Grace, I think you're a good person, I think you're a good lawyer." Alicia began her compliments with a certain tone that Grace recognized right away, Alicia was going to say no to her. As Grace listened to her mom, she went back to those doubts she had most of her life.
"I think you can be anything you want to be, Grace. But politics isn't for you. If you want to help people, there are other ways to do it. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"
Alicia waited for an answer, Grace was looking away from her.
"Grace?"
"You don't like me, right mom?" Grace said without looking at Alicia.
"I love you, Grace."
"I didn't say you don't love me." Grace then looked at Alicia. "I said you don't like me. You certainly like Marissa better. Do you wish she was your daughter?"
"Please, don't be ridiculous, Grace."
"What is it, mom? Do I look too much like dad?" Grace continued. "Too much like Jackie? You never wanted a second kid? Is it because I became religious?"
"If you just want to vent."
"Or is it because if it weren't for me; you and Will Gardner would've rode to sunset together?"
Alicia locked eyes with her daughter. "Don't." She worn her.
Grace saw how Alicia's demeanor changed. "There is my answer."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Grace."
"I never, never, asked you to stay married to dad." Grace got up from her chair. "I never asked you to stay married, NEVER!"
"Stop it."
Outside the office Selina heard the yelling. She look with incredulity at Marissa.
"Jesus, she didn't pick her own daughter?"
"Sorry." Marissa said.
"Goddammit!" Selina rushed outside with her phone in hand.
Inside Grace continued "I never told you to stop seeing Will, or Finn or Jonathan..."
"Jonathan?!" Alicia frowned.
"Or Jason, or anyone you wanted to f..." Grace stopped herself.
"Anyone I wanted to what?" Alicia crossed her arms.
"Anyone you wanted to be romantic with." Grace corrected. "I never asked you to make that sacrifice!"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK ME BECAUSE YOU WERE MY CHILD!" Exasperated, Alicia shouted.
"AND YOU WERE MY MOTHER!" Grace shouted back. "WHY DID YOU LET ME GO?!"
They both stayed quiet for a second, their emotions were out in the open.
"We need to calm down, alright?" Alicia said. "I want...I need you to know that I'm doing this because I care for you, because I want to…
"To protect me. Sure, mom." Grace opened the door. "Well, thanks for coming, have a nice flight."
As she left the office, Grace walked by Marissa Gold. "It's not personal, Grace."
"Get the hell out of Chicago already, Marissa."
The lawyer went outside looking for her campaign manager. Selina hung up her phone when she saw Grace approaching her.
"Listen up. We can still regroup. It's Friday evening, they'll announce it until Monday."
"I'm done."
"No, come on. Don't give up. You can go as an independent. You have…"
"I'm sorry, Selina. I won't divide the votes." Grace hugged her manager. "Thank you for everything. Sorry, I got go."
The lawyer walked a block away and then called Connor.
"Can I see you tonight?"
"Of course. Is everything okay?" Connor noticed Grace's urgent tone.
"Not really." Grace told him. "Can I come over to your apartment? I can take the blue line and be there in an hour."
"Okay, meet you there."
Marissa found Alicia standing in the middle of the office, staring at the space.
"So…that didn't go as plan." Marissa said. "But she'll get over it. She has to."
"I don't need a pep talk, Marissa."
"Alright."
"I'm going for a walk." Alicia grabbed her purse. "I'll walk back to the hotel."
"Okay, text me your flight tomorrow. I can give you a ride to the airport."
"Sure."
Alicia walked to the navy pier, she saw the tourist taking pictures, kids running around, the tour boats in the distance. She sat down on a bench facing Lake Michigan, it looked just like her dream.
"Hi Leesy, why the long face?" Freddie Cavanaugh appeared next to Alicia.
"Oh dad. I regret so many things. Like I should have stayed with you that one last summer."
"Sweetie, regrets will only hold you back."
Alicia realized she was crying, she wiped away her tears.
"Okay, okay." Alicia talked to herself. "You gotta move on."
The next morning, Marissa was dropping off Alicia at the airport.
"Are you sure you're okay?" The younger woman asked.
"I'm okay." Alicia took her suitcase out of the trunk. "Are you Ulises campaign manager?"
"Not yet." Marissa said.
"So this helped you."
"Well…" Marissa got a text that got her attention. "You gotta be fucking kidding me."
"Now what?" Alicia said with resignation.
"No way." Marissa put her phone speaker right to her ear to hear better. "You gotta be fucking kidding me."
"What is it?"
"Ulises had a complicated divorce 2 years ago." Marissa began to explain. "His ex-wife recorded some of his phone calls."
"Illinois doesn't admit private phone calls in court." Alicia commented.
"The calls weren't admitted during the divorce but they are out there now." Marissa thought about it. "But that's impossible...we had them."
"What did Ulises say?"
"He called his autistic daughter "retarded". Marissa said. "So that's not good. Buehrle has a charity for autistic kids."
"Wait...does that mean...the party is going to drop him?"
"Probably…"
"So…Grace is back in?"
"Probably, if Selina is smart enough to make her move now."
Alicia busted out laughing. "It's unbelievable."
"Alright, so you're clearly not okay."
"No, no, no, it's funny. It's ridiculous, it's absurd. Nothing I do matters." Alicia kept laughing. "I will never get it right."
"Alicia?...do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Good bye, Marissa." Alicia entered the airport still laughing.
Much later that Saturday, Marissa walked in the offices of Gold and Associates in Washington D.C. surprising her parents.
"Saturday evening and you're still working. That's the Gold standard for us, right?" Marissa greet her parents.
"Honey, I didn't expect you until Monday." Vanessa Gold asked her. "How was the acquisition?"
"The acquisition was great, I'm here because I have to know why did dad screw me over?"
"Eli?" Vanessa looked at her ex-husband.
"You shouldn't take it personally." Eli told his daughter.
"I shouldn't take it personally?" Marissa ignored the irony of have her own words said back to her. "You leaked a phone call to eliminate my candidate! We were the only ones who knew about those phone calls. Why dad? Do you still feel guilty about Peter's murder?"
"Guilty?" Vanessa took notice.
"Do you think Grace cares about Peter's legacy or whatever?"
"Stop it!" Eli shouted. "You were in Chicago to help with the acquisition, that was it. You were playing campaign manager because of what? A whim? A teenage grudge?"
"What? I don't care about…"
"I'm still your boss and you disobey direct orders."
"Alright." Marissa raised her hands in defeat. "You're right. But you also said that if I wanted to manage a campaign I should start small and in a familiar place. What fits the bill better than Chicago's State's Attorney race?"
"I'll help you find another election." Eli said. "Something local."
"Yeah, we have some candidates around." Vanessa said. "Now go home and get some rest Marissa."
Vanessa gave Marissa a kiss on her way out. Then she turned her attention to her ex husband. "Anything you wanna share with me, Eli?"
"It was a bad campaign for Marissa." Eli said.
"I mean the part about feeling guilty for Peter's murder?" She put her hands on her hips. "Eli, do you know something?"
"Peter called me; he said he was running for mayor. He wanted me back, he wanted the old team back for one more run."
"The last dance style?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know what that is."
"It's a Michael Jordan thing. Anyway, continue."
"He said he already secured the money; I was thinking about it when he got arrested and I thought he was done for sure."
"Then he was murdered."
"I figured the money Peter had to launch his campaign was the motive."
Vanessa looked how sad Eli was, she gently gave him a hug. "I'm sorry. I know how much you love him."
"Love him?"
"Eli, your relationship with Peter lasted longer than our marriage."
"I don't know if that's a fair comparison."
"You loved Peter, nothing wrong that."
"I thought I could make him president." Eli smiled. "I was going to be a king maker."
They both chuckled.
"You'll make it good with Marissa, right?"
"I will."
Sunday morning in New York, Alicia had been quiet since her return from Chicago the day before. Daniel and Ruffles were giving her space. After having a second cup of coffee Alicia spoke again.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go do something today." Alicia smile to him. "Let's go out."
Alicia knew she had to live in the now, with Daniel and her life in New York city, and let go of the past.
Next chapter: A party, several parties. Those are fun.
Also, I can't believe no one called me on naming Ramona's daughter Angela. Come on.