Mitch and Noah

MITCH

"I don't think in this instance we should ask for visitation, until you get some help."

"What the fuck!? You're my lawyer! You can't say that! I want FULL CUSTODY! That BITCH deserves to pay for what she did."

Mitchell Ferguson sighed internally as he smiled his most professional, no-nonsense smile.

He was starting to hate the recent pro bono cases being sent his way, especially when they involved a bad parent attempting to use the courts and their child as a weapon.

"You were caught leaving your BABY alone at home while you went to the bar to drink!"

"What, should I have brought him with? It's worse if I had left him out in the car."

"No, what would be worse would be you getting any type of custody of a child, when you are obviously still one yourself."

The fat, sweaty man stomped loudly as if to drive Mitch's point home, staring Mitch down in his small, corner office chair, in the firm he wished more than anything had his name on it.

"Just cause you're free doesn't mean you can talk to me like that you asshole! I fucking HATE lawyers. As soon as I win this case, I'll be coming for you next."

It took all he had in him to not say any of the many witty retorts racing through his brain as the man loudly stormed out, making a scene Mitch could hear lasting the entire way to the parking lot.

He was still in his place of work after all, and wanted more than anything to remain professional, not let the crazy that very few knew existed within him to show, so he took a deep breath, said his favorite mantra, and waited for his crazy to lurk back into the pit of his stomach where it belonged.

He liked to think his crazy made him passionate about things in his life, something that helped drive him into being the top successful lawyer in their firm, even more so than Holly, Pentie, and Main, the names on the doors that made Mitch laugh and cry internally every time he looked at the absence of his, the one who should be on there with them.

It was a long story that he didn't like to dwell on as it had already been 7 years since his young mistake had cost him a shared partnership. He was 36 years old now, and needed to accept he might not get everything in life he'd ever wanted.

He knew if it wasn't for the county's richest patron making him her personal family lawyer, he would have been filtered out a long time ago, and he thought of Amelia as he smiled through the pain.

He still remembered years before when she had randomly hired him for a small neighbor dispute case, the case win ending with her vow to help him achieve happiness.

While he had not understood the life-changing action it was, he'd had practically nothing but good luck financially ever since due to his affiliation with Amelia and her connections.

She sent him regular business, and many other things she thought he might need.

He was a good person, and knew his complaining correlated with her gift giving, so he ensured not to speak on things that bothered him anymore when speaking with Amelia in her monthly checkups.

Something that even as a Lawyer he had a hard time doing, as she was just so warm and inviting it made his words tumble without restraint at times.

Thinking of Amelia reminded him that he had a check-in meeting with his newest favorite clients, Gregory and Ash. Having been the impromptu best man at their wedding, after helping them resolve the drama behind Gregory's ex, he was excited that Ash was now taking the steps needed to adopt cute little Abbey, and that he could help make that happen for them.

He knew there would be no better parents than them, especially now that Ash was the proud new owner of Grace's mansion, a wedding gift she'd insisted she didn't need.

It was crazy to Mitch just how fast he had been drawn to becoming close friends with Amelia and her motley crew, but he was more grateful for it than ever, as his quality of life had changed dramatically in the last 2 years since he had finally allowed Amelia a little more access to his life.

He had resolved to just start saying yes more, especially when it came to her, and was reaping the rewards so far.

"Well, well, well."

The voice of Jacob Holly, the worst of the three top dogs of the company, had Mitch's mind ripped from his happy thoughts.

"Lost another one, eh?"

"Pro-Bono asshole that needs to find someone shadier. Hey, maybe I should have sent him your way."

Jacob's shiny, slick, black hair and perfect white teeth looked too fake, and Mitch was grateful for once for his crooked smile. He marveled at the fact that Jacob seemed fake inside and out and tried his hardest not to laugh at the thought of a Jacob doll.

"You're such a funny guy. If only you could get a job as a comedian, you might finally have a success story on your hands."

"Fuck you, Jacob."

"Oh, I know you want to, but let's try to restrain ourselves at the office, shall we?"

Mitch cringed, He hated those harassing comments that he could do nothing about and that seemed to be escalating as of late for no reason other than Jacob had decided to annoy him more than usual this month.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to stop sending our pro-bono cases away, it's making us look bad."

"Stop sending me cases that are bullshit cases I can't possibly win and are morally unacceptable."

"PSHHH. Morals. Morals are only made to keep the non-working class in line. If I used my MORALS I would not have my name on this building. I would probably be stuck in some corner office somewhere wishing I had a life and..oh...wait."

"Ha. Funny. Maybe YOU should be a comedian."

"That's ok. I already have my success story. Anyway, next case you take and complete to the end, no matter the moral dilemma, or you're out of here, I don't care if you're that old lady's pet or not."

He smiled his biggest fakest smile, and Mitch once again felt sick and cringy as he mockingly matched it.

"Have a nice day."

Flipping the bird towards Jacob's back, Mitch felt his inner turmoil attempting to rise once again, and he knew tonight he would need to meditate even more than usual at how often his crazy was trying to escape.

Heading outside he lit and took a forbidden puff, vowing for the 4th time that week he was going to kick his dirty smoking habit once and for all.