30 August 2001
Well guys, so much has happened during the summer break !! I’ve got to fill you in with what occurred for our favorites lawyers. In a way, things have changed at Cage & Fish, a few have left and others have remained in Boston . Of course, the office is still haunted by memories of the past year but everybody is trying to get a new start. Okay, let’s catch up.

First off : Melanie. She’s now completely out of the picture. She knew she had found true love in John but left anyway ( doesn’t it remind you of anybody ?). The thought of living a few blocks away from the office of Cage & Fish was too hard to handle , so that when she was offered another post in New York, she didn’t think twice about it and settled there. “He’s better off without me” she kept telling herself. And months passing by, she started to believe it. She had turned the page and hoped he did the same.

Speaking of John: the biscuit was heartbroken. Something he thought would never happen again when he first met Melanie. His only comfort was that he didn’t feel guilty : he would have done anything to make it work with her, but she just couldn’t trust it. It wasn’t his fault. But why did he have that sensation of failure ? It was like in spite of all his efforts, everything would eventually come out wrong. He began to think he’d end up alone in the end. Ally’s mood was definitely getting to him.

In a little while from now, if I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself and visit that nearby tower
By climbing to the top, will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to whoever
What it’s like when you’re shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church where people saying
“my God that’s tough she stood him up, no point in us remaining.
We may as well go home”
As I did on my own, alone again naturally.

“Feeling sorry for myself isn’t a solution, I have to make things move. Maybe a little trip wouldn’t hurt…I’ll tell Richard about it”. In fact, John did travel with Richard. They went back to L.A, mainly ‘cause Jane was homesick. John saw there the opportunity to say hi to Cassandra. Unfortunately, she was involved with another man and it looked like she’d met her match. Back in Boston, John was back where he was before, except his sorrow cut deeper. His trip had changed his mood, just not as he expected. Late August, he got a call from the last person he thought would call him : Nelle Porter.

Yes, Nelle. What about her ? In June, she took a three weeks vacation in Illinois to visit her family. It’s funny how people who know you can see you through. And that’s what happened to Nelle : her cousin felt her loneliness and a serious talk with her. Things came out…such as her grief over her break-up with John. Okay, she dumped him, furthermore while he was blocked in the elevator. She wasn’t ready for the kind of relationship he was waiting for. But now, she’d thought about it and was willing to give their couple a second chance. What she deeply feared was that she might be the only one reconsidering them getting back together. After all, John had had an important thing going on with Melanie. She was pretty sure he wasn’t over her yet.

Anyway, back from her vacation she decided to call John early August : her life couldn’t get worse, so it was worth the try. She was surprised to hear a yes at the end of the line : John would re-evaluate their relationship, he’d just some time to mourn his love for Melanie. Meanwhile, the would go out and catch with each other. The truth be told, they both needed to talk about their mutual feelings without the pressure of actually “being together”. This has been going on for about a month.

Money, money, money… No, it’s not the title of one ABBA’s song, it’s just a Fishism. In July, Richard tended to forget it : for a whole month, he took care of somebody else : Jane. For once, he was letting love rule : Jane regretted L.A, the coldness haunting the office being the main reason. She didn’t feel at her place, even if Richard was helping her feel more comfortable. At the end of his vacation with Jane, he took a step forward in their relationship : he asked her to move in…the apartment adjoining his. He would pay the rent, he just wanted to be near her. From this moment, Jane knew things were their way to get better. Her and Richard had been together for three month by now. She resigned her job as a secretary ‘cause her main future plan was to keep on auditioning for theater roles.

Ling never liked great competition. So that when she heard that Jane was staying in Boston, her pride was picked and she decided to move out. She left for San Francisco and there she found her former lover Randy (who was now married ,by the way). She had nothing to lose , no dignity and she broke the happy couple he and Lisa made. As far as Nelle’s been told, she and Randy are back together. Ling thinks it might work, but Nelle sent her illusions flying away : “Ling, you’ve been with him for a month, do you really believe you will stay with him this time ? You were the one who dumped him years ago ! Let me remind you something : you’re too chicken of commitment !” Her answer was quite simple : “Look who’s talking !!” . But Ling didn’t know about Nelle and John. She hadn’t broke the news to her yet. Moreover Jane wasn’t the only reason for Ling to leave : Jackson also had a part in it. Fed up with her games and not willing to play anymore, he considered leaving the firm…until Coretta came in the picture.

Forgot that one, ya ? Boss-less ( because of a certain Larry Paul leaving Boston), Coretta was now looking for a job. It wasn’t long before Ally suggested her to join Cage & Fish, since they were one lawyer-short. At the beginning of August, she was already settled in Ling ‘s office. By going in the unisex, she met Jackson for the first time and they immediately hit it off. Ally was quite septic : Coretta was now one of her close friend and she cared for her. According to Ally after what he did to Renee, Jackson wasn’t the faithful type. Seeing Coretta that happy convinced her to stay out of it. Besides, she had more important to take care of : herself.

To everyone’s surprise, Ally gave the impression that she handled her pain over Larry’s departure quite well. From the outside, she looked serene : the truth is , she was still absorbing the fact that Larry was gone. For good. She hadn’t admitted to herself that he might never come back. And that’s how she kept on living : clinging to her hope . “It’s only been one month, less than when he went to see Sam.” She said at the beginning. Late August, she started to fell more and more depressed. She even called in sick sometimes ‘cause “she wasn’t in the mood for working”. Everything was tasteless, and the void created when Larry left grew bigger and bigger. She finally came to a realization : “he totally wrecked me.” She felt like she had nothing left to give. Larry enlightened her world and suddenly left her in the dark with no support, alone with her sorrow. Deep inside of her, she felt empty.

I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really isn’t it, a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me, or wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago, so well…

Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand

Once early August, she summoned the courage she had left and took the decision to go to Detroit. She had even bought her airplane ticket. But then, two days before the flight she freaked out, fearing the worst : she had that ominous and warning feeling that she would find Larry back with Jamie, something she couldn’t take.

Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God’s experiment in which we have no say
In which we’re given paradise, but only for a day.

You’re all I’ll ever want but this I am denying
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts I wish I never learned
Was it is to be in love and have that love returned

After a while, she gave up and silently vowed that time would resolve things. So she resumed her daily routine, though Larry was a big part of it. Thanks to Coretta and John, who made it easier. They were always there to listen to her, yet something was bothering her : Renee ‘s health.

In effect, for about six months, Renee had been taking all sorts of pills against stress and pressure. She often couldn’t sleep and she also took pills for that. At first it didn’t catch Ally’s attention, but one day in August, everything fell into pieces. Ally had just gotten back from work and she found that Renee was already at the apartment unusually early. She was laying on the couch, very pale and sweating. Renee said she was running a temp, that it was nothing important. When Ally insisted on knowing what was really going on, she kept avoiding the subject .She became verbally abusive and slammed behind her the door of her bedroom. Ally was dumbfounded : Renee had never been that irritable and directly thought : “the pills…”. While Renee was locked in her room still consuming her anger, Ally got into her purse and found many prescriptions that that gave her full access to a medication she was now addicted to. She became conscious of what was going on : she let her best friend poison herself. Right in front of her eyes, without doing anything to help her out. At that very moment, Ally was feeling guilty. How could she never saw something that had obviously been lasting for the last months ? “No, of course you’ve been too busy with Larry. Look where it led !!” she thought. A week later, Renee was on her way to Atlanta to follow a detoxification program . There, she was close to her family. She and Ally agreed it would be beneficially if she left Boston for a while to escape from the constant nervous tension that triggered her lengthy fall into addiction.

After Ling and Renee, it was Mark’s turn to quit the firm, and Boston. He got tired of Cage & Fish and came back in/to the state of Washington where he went to Law School. He was looking for a fresh start to forget his mishaps and bad memories associated to the firm (such as Cindy). Rumors was that he had been recently made partner.

The sun'll come out, tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun

Just thinkin' about, tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
'Til there's none…

The sun came out for Elaine. Unbeknownst to everyone, she cast an audition late August for a Musical in Broadway. To do so, she spent most of her spare time and weekends in July training for that audition. She wanted to be prepared and getting a part in that play was a way to prove herself she was worthier than she let appear. Indeed she was working on what Larry told her when she won the twist contest : “You won it. Just don’t hold yourself up to it.” For once in her life, she was having doubts about what she was doing, although she was excited over the outcome of it. Her future lied in her hands ; well, in her voice I should say. Much to her surprise, the audition went well and she was pretty sure she had made a good impression. She was confident but she chose not to let anybody know about it. She didn’t want to be laughed at in case she failed. Pleased with herself, she got back to work and for the lawyers of Cage & Fish, she was still…Elaine , a hot girl, carefree and lacking of ambition. One day, Elaine was on the edge of telling Richard she’d found a purpose in her life : “I may be a secretary but don’t you dare talking to me that way !! Damnit, you’ll see what I’ll be in a few months and you’ll go back over your words.” Richard didn’t even take note of it, too immersed in his own problems. Talking of problems…I know someone who has to deal with them by thousands.

I’ll finish this recap by “the biggest jerk on earth” -quoted from Renee- to be quick, I’ll simply call him Larry. LARRY PAUL. Remember that name ? Long time no see…Though he’s not forgotten and still much on our Ally’s mind. So here’s the answers to the questions everybody was asking. What happened to Larry once he was in Detroit ? Well, nothing happened…between him and Jamie. In June, he was too busy trying to find a new place and a job to even look at her. She obviously tried to get him back since the first day he arrived but Larry made her hopes fade away : he was there for Sam, HE was the only reason for him to be there. The first month in Detroit was a real nightmare for Larry : he was seeing Ally everywhere, in the shops, in court…How many times did he stop and turn around in the middle street, thinking he’d heard Ally calling out to him ?

Everything is quiet since you're not around
And I live in the numbness now
In the background
I do the things we did before
I walk Haight Street to the store

Days passing by, he king of got resigned : she broke with him, why would she come to Detroit ? Sometimes, he could just take the phone and start to dial her number…but hanged up before he finished it.

I don't see you anymore since the hospital
The plans I make still have you in them
Cause you come swimming into view
And I'm hanging on your words
Like I always used to do
The words they use so lightly
I only feel for you
I only know because I carry you around
In the background
I'm in the background

Hopefully Sam was there, the only thought of him made Larry smile. That little boy of him was already eight. ”God, he’s growing up so fast ! “ complained Larry. Unluckily, Sam’s presence wasn’t enough to make him forget Ally : his mind was still set on her. Every hours, every day…not a minute passed without him thinking of her. He had only one alternative left : his job. He got himself gripped into work in order to keep himself busy. He found a firm which was ecstatic to have him ( his talent as a lawyer was known in Detroit, mostly because of Jamie).Despite his reluctance to lose his solo practice, he accepted the job. During July and August, he got assigned to the biggest cases and once more his track record remained intact……Until he faced some guy : Raymond Millbury. The case was about two wealthy neighbors that couldn’t get along. Larry’s client was the plaintiff and demanding damages because his neighbor was spread trashes all over his lawn. Larry definitely claimed it was a silly case but had no choice but to do it. His colleagues were only seeing the check at the end and didn’t mind whether it was absurd or not. So he took charge of the case……and lost it. He still doesn’t know how the opposing counsel managed to convince the jury that the plaintiff “earned it” . Anyway, it didn’t stop him from working late. “Nobody’s waiting for me.” He told his colleagues. In truth, none of them really knew Larry .He wasn’t that open with them so that he wouldn’t have to talk about his life, his failures and more particularly : Ally.

All of this brings us to early September, at Cage & Fish…

Feedback much welcomed!