You Missed The Party (1/2)
anonymous
February 19 2012, 12:15:55 UTC
Alicia finished her talk with her children a while ago; she couldn't help feeling guilty, like she isn't a good enough mom, Zach and Grace tried to reassure her, told her she's a great mom, but they don't know the whole story, do they?
It seems that no matter how hard she tries, she can never be good enough. Things always come at the expense of something else - if she's the model housewife and perfect mother she can't have a career, if she wants to excel at her job it means that she can't spend time with her kids, and that's without adding a romantic prospect to the mix.
She wanted to tell them about Will, she really did, but then came this call from Kalinda, and it was no longer a necessity, there is a chance they will never have to find out. They've been hurt enough, there's no need for them to know that their mother was having a little infidelity trip of her own. So to ease her conscience she told them she'll take a week off and they'll go somewhere. Best mom ever, no doubt.
And there was kalinda. She called her, told her to come to the party, and she could almost hear the smile in her voice when she thanked her. She could understand her now, for the first time ever, she knew why she kept the truth from her; it wasn't pity or guilt, she certainly didn't want to hurt her, she was trying to protect her, to let her live in oblivion a little while longer, not to shatter her world. And while it still stung, she could at least empathize.
She checks her watch, it's not so late, but it has been an hour since the phone call with Kalinda, maybe if she hurry she'll make it to the party.
She arrives at Lockhart/Gardner, finds the place too dark and quiet, she probably missed the party, but there is light in one of the conferences rooms, and she's already there, so why not check it.
She goes to the door and sees Kalinda, focused on some papers, she must have made some noise, because Kalinda is looking up at her.
"Hi", she says and enters the room.
"You came", Kalinda says in wonderment.
"Yeah".
"You missed the party", so apparently they're in the 'state the obvious' phase.
"I can see that", Alicia curtly says and then when she sees Kalinda cringes she adds more gently: "Where is everybody?"
"They went to some bar, something about loud noises at night and city regulations".
"Oh", Alicia looks around her, "and you stayed here to work?"
Kalinda shrugs, "I have a lot of work to catch up, this thing kept me busy lately".
"I see", Alicia picks up a pen from the table for lack of something better to do, and starts rolling it in her hands.
"I could, umm, give you the address?" , Kalinda offers.
"Address?", Alicia doesn't understand.
"To the bar", Kalinda elaborates.
"Uh, no, no… I should head home anyway, it's late and…", Alicia starts to babble, but she doesn't want to go, and Kainda, always the observant, senses that somehow, because:
"Or we could have a little party here", she suggests.
"What you had in mind?", Alicia never commits to anything before she knows all the details.
But Kalinda never was a person of words, so she gets up instead and takes Alicia's hand, urging her upstairs, "come on".
"Umm, where are we going?" Alicia asks but she follows Kalinda nonetheless.
"Will has more variety, but it's Diane that keeps the really good stuff", Kalinda answers without really answer.
Re: You Missed The Party (2/2)
anonymous
February 19 2012, 12:16:37 UTC
When they come to a stop in front of Diane's office, she finally realizes what they are doing: "you're breaking into Diane's office?", she asks in puzzlement.
"Breaking in is such a strong term", Kalinda chuckles, "I merely checking on the firm's security", she open the door, "voilà" and she gestures for Alicia to get in, which she does, reluctantly.
Kalinda opens the liqueurs' cabinet and examines its content, "What does the lady want?"
Alicia still isn't comfortable with this, but she manages a low "white".
Kalinda turns to her, and says half scolding "really? you could've told me earlier, the good whites are at Will's", and she heads for the door. But Alicia had enough of this, she grabs Kalinda's arm before she reaches the door, "Red is fine too".
Kalinda smiles at her, "all you need to do is ask", and she picks up a bottle and leaves the office.
"Wait", Alicia calls, "Wouldn't she miss it?"
"Nah", Kalinda reassures her "She only ever uses the hard stuff, the wine is just there for show".
They walks back to the conference room and sits down, Kalinda has a twinkle in her eyes when she looks at Alicia: "don't worry, we didn't do anything wrong, Diane told me I can take whatever I want from that cabinet, she can't possibly drink all of this alone. The rest was just for fun, but you seem to take this pretty hard, so…"
Alicia laughs, "So, you've done this before?"
"What? Drinking late at the office when no one else is here?" Alicia nods, "Once or twice".
"Do I want to know more?"
Kalinda smirks: "I don't know, do you?"
"I'm not sure", Alicia has resorted to her usual answer when it comes to this sort of challenging questions from Kalinda.
Kalinda waves it off and instead opens the bottle and pours two glasses, she hands one to Alicia.
"We need to toast, it's bad luck not too, what are we drinking to?, Kalinda asks her.
Alicia thinks about it for a minute and then says: "to second chances and new beginnings", she raises her glass, she was thinking about Will and the day's events when she proposed this toast. But when she looks at Kalinda she see something in her eyes and realizes that it can means so much more, so she adds: "and to old friends", and she locks her stare with Kalinda and clicks their glasses together.
They drink some more, and Alicia never wants to leave, but it's getting late (or early, depends on how you look on it), and she need to return home. Kalinda is walking her to the elevators and maybe it's the wine, or the hour or her light-headedness because she finally talking to Kalinda again, whatever it is, she suddenly hears herself say: "can I hug you?" and she doesn't know who is more surprised, herself or Kalinda.
And it seems as if Kalinda is affected by this spell too, because instead of laugh it off, or tell her no, she just shrugs, looking lost. So she approaches her, wraps her arms around Kalinda and holds her. Kalinda is stiff at first, her hands at the sides of her body, but as Alicia whispers in her ear: "Don't worry, I'm here", she melts down, and brings her arms up to hug Alicia back.
They stay in this embrace for a few minutes, then Alicia kisses Kalinda cheek gently and back away, she wipes the lipstick stain off Kalinda face with her thumb and softly says: "good night". Then she goes to the elevator, right before the doors close she mumbles, just loud enough for Kalinda to hear: "I guess I didn't miss the party after all", and smiles.
Re: You Missed The Party (2/2)demokaFebruary 19 2012, 13:41:12 UTC
Ee! Nice interpretation of what happened after the ep. Haha, and one day we'll have Will & Diane asking each other if they've been mooching each other's booze! XPPPP
I especially loved the ending with the hug and Alicia whispering in K's ear!
Re: You Missed The Party (2/2)sweetjamieleeFebruary 20 2012, 04:55:08 UTC
How desperately does this make me wish that Alicia accepted Kalinda's party offer in canon?
I love Kalinda knowing where all the good booze is stashed all over LG, and how when she and Alicia drink, everything just slides back into place the way it should. And the HUG! And the KISS!!! I will admit to being a really easy sell when it comes to fics where A/K hug, but this was lovely for all sorts of reasons.
Re: You Missed The Party (2/2)nessakitty821February 22 2012, 03:21:23 UTC
Alicia thinks about it for a minute and then says: "to second chances and new beginnings", she raises her glass, she was thinking about Will and the day's events when she proposed this toast. But when she looks at Kalinda she see something in her eyes and realizes that it can means so much more, so she adds: "and to old friends", and she locks her stare with Kalinda and clicks their glasses together.
that's my favorite part - and sure, it's probably because I'm an Alicia/Will shipper but I just like that you don't dismiss Alicia's feelings for Will in this story. Alicia has strong feelings for both Kalinda and Will and that one simple toast applies to both. thanks for sharing!!
It seems that no matter how hard she tries, she can never be good enough. Things always come at the expense of something else - if she's the model housewife and perfect mother she can't have a career, if she wants to excel at her job it means that she can't spend time with her kids, and that's without adding a romantic prospect to the mix.
She wanted to tell them about Will, she really did, but then came this call from Kalinda, and it was no longer a necessity, there is a chance they will never have to find out. They've been hurt enough, there's no need for them to know that their mother was having a little infidelity trip of her own. So to ease her conscience she told them she'll take a week off and they'll go somewhere. Best mom ever, no doubt.
And there was kalinda. She called her, told her to come to the party, and she could almost hear the smile in her voice when she thanked her. She could understand her now, for the first time ever, she knew why she kept the truth from her; it wasn't pity or guilt, she certainly didn't want to hurt her, she was trying to protect her, to let her live in oblivion a little while longer, not to shatter her world. And while it still stung, she could at least empathize.
She checks her watch, it's not so late, but it has been an hour since the phone call with Kalinda, maybe if she hurry she'll make it to the party.
She arrives at Lockhart/Gardner, finds the place too dark and quiet, she probably missed the party, but there is light in one of the conferences rooms, and she's already there, so why not check it.
She goes to the door and sees Kalinda, focused on some papers, she must have made some noise, because Kalinda is looking up at her.
"Hi", she says and enters the room.
"You came", Kalinda says in wonderment.
"Yeah".
"You missed the party", so apparently they're in the 'state the obvious' phase.
"I can see that", Alicia curtly says and then when she sees Kalinda cringes she adds more gently: "Where is everybody?"
"They went to some bar, something about loud noises at night and city regulations".
"Oh", Alicia looks around her, "and you stayed here to work?"
Kalinda shrugs, "I have a lot of work to catch up, this thing kept me busy lately".
"I see", Alicia picks up a pen from the table for lack of something better to do, and starts rolling it in her hands.
"I could, umm, give you the address?" , Kalinda offers.
"Address?", Alicia doesn't understand.
"To the bar", Kalinda elaborates.
"Uh, no, no… I should head home anyway, it's late and…", Alicia starts to babble, but she doesn't want to go, and Kainda, always the observant, senses that somehow, because:
"Or we could have a little party here", she suggests.
"What you had in mind?", Alicia never commits to anything before she knows all the details.
But Kalinda never was a person of words, so she gets up instead and takes Alicia's hand, urging her upstairs, "come on".
"Umm, where are we going?" Alicia asks but she follows Kalinda nonetheless.
"Will has more variety, but it's Diane that keeps the really good stuff", Kalinda answers without really answer.
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"Breaking in is such a strong term", Kalinda chuckles, "I merely checking on the firm's security", she open the door, "voilà" and she gestures for Alicia to get in, which she does, reluctantly.
Kalinda opens the liqueurs' cabinet and examines its content, "What does the lady want?"
Alicia still isn't comfortable with this, but she manages a low "white".
Kalinda turns to her, and says half scolding "really? you could've told me earlier, the good whites are at Will's", and she heads for the door. But Alicia had enough of this, she grabs Kalinda's arm before she reaches the door, "Red is fine too".
Kalinda smiles at her, "all you need to do is ask", and she picks up a bottle and leaves the office.
"Wait", Alicia calls, "Wouldn't she miss it?"
"Nah", Kalinda reassures her "She only ever uses the hard stuff, the wine is just there for show".
They walks back to the conference room and sits down, Kalinda has a twinkle in her eyes when she looks at Alicia: "don't worry, we didn't do anything wrong, Diane told me I can take whatever I want from that cabinet, she can't possibly drink all of this alone. The rest was just for fun, but you seem to take this pretty hard, so…"
Alicia laughs, "So, you've done this before?"
"What? Drinking late at the office when no one else is here?" Alicia nods, "Once or twice".
"Do I want to know more?"
Kalinda smirks: "I don't know, do you?"
"I'm not sure", Alicia has resorted to her usual answer when it comes to this sort of challenging questions from Kalinda.
Kalinda waves it off and instead opens the bottle and pours two glasses, she hands one to Alicia.
"We need to toast, it's bad luck not too, what are we drinking to?, Kalinda asks her.
Alicia thinks about it for a minute and then says: "to second chances and new beginnings", she raises her glass, she was thinking about Will and the day's events when she proposed this toast. But when she looks at Kalinda she see something in her eyes and realizes that it can means so much more, so she adds: "and to old friends", and she locks her stare with Kalinda and clicks their glasses together.
They drink some more, and Alicia never wants to leave, but it's getting late (or early, depends on how you look on it), and she need to return home. Kalinda is walking her to the elevators and maybe it's the wine, or the hour or her light-headedness because she finally talking to Kalinda again, whatever it is, she suddenly hears herself say: "can I hug you?" and she doesn't know who is more surprised, herself or Kalinda.
And it seems as if Kalinda is affected by this spell too, because instead of laugh it off, or tell her no, she just shrugs, looking lost. So she approaches her, wraps her arms around Kalinda and holds her. Kalinda is stiff at first, her hands at the sides of her body, but as Alicia whispers in her ear: "Don't worry, I'm here", she melts down, and brings her arms up to hug Alicia back.
They stay in this embrace for a few minutes, then Alicia kisses Kalinda cheek gently and back away, she wipes the lipstick stain off Kalinda face with her thumb and softly says: "good night". Then she goes to the elevator, right before the doors close she mumbles, just loud enough for Kalinda to hear: "I guess I didn't miss the party after all", and smiles.
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I especially loved the ending with the hug and Alicia whispering in K's ear!
Thanks for sharing!
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I love Kalinda knowing where all the good booze is stashed all over LG, and how when she and Alicia drink, everything just slides back into place the way it should. And the HUG! And the KISS!!! I will admit to being a really easy sell when it comes to fics where A/K hug, but this was lovely for all sorts of reasons.
I am so pleased right now. Thank you for this!!
Reply
that's my favorite part - and sure, it's probably because I'm an Alicia/Will shipper but I just like that you don't dismiss Alicia's feelings for Will in this story. Alicia has strong feelings for both Kalinda and Will and that one simple toast applies to both. thanks for sharing!!
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"Breaking in is such a strong term"
Haha...this is so perfectly Kalinda.
And the hug! *flail* I love how Alicia asks permission and even though Kalinda doesn't quite know how to give it in words, Alicia just *knows*.
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