Suits (My Worst Partner-Enemy)

Firm vs. Firm

We might wanna keep an eye on Maya's POV. Hers will be a little more....interesting.😜🤫 - QueenLiz👑♥️

Maya POV
Between doing paperwork and Liz receiving a call from Mike around eight-ish, it's like every day we're booked for something. The real changes happening at the firm is Alison Holt poaching the associates and offering them work at Bratton Gould. I knew losing associates was happening because Jin was offered a job but he turned Alison down. He's so loyal, it's not even a joke. I sipped my morning coffee and typed on my laptop. Harold gave the Carrillo contracts to Rachel and I on time. Just pray Louis doesn't do more worse to his confidence. If anything, it'll be nonsense for sure. I turned my attention back to my phone, contemplating whether I should accept Jin's proposal. Date proposal. He finally asked me out yesterday but I wanted time to think before this actually happens. Can't mix business with pleasure. Of course, not a day or month goes by that I never thought of him. He's constantly running space in my head yet I don't want anything to mess up between us. Maybe Liz is right. I must move on because dating in Hollywood is very much different than dating in New York. I managed to snap out of my thoughts when Mike walked past my office. Somehow, familiar words from a conversation between Donna and Louis's new associate circled the back of my brain.

'Don't you hire from Harvard?'

'I knew every name and Mike Ross was not in my year.'

'He clerked for three years. Means he wasn't in your class.'

My mind traced back to discussing what happened to Liz.

'Perhaps he was in JJ's year.'

'Wouldn't that mean he was a high school senior? JJ got into Harvard when he was seventeen. If he knew him, he would've known he has twin siblings.'

I rubbed my temple and inhaled a deep breath. But the odd feeling in the bottom pit of my stomach was hard to ignore. Mom always say trust your gut, if something doesn't feel right, it doesn't. That's practically how we made it from working in Hollywood. Trusting our guts because there is a lot of sharks in the industry. Especially when it's something else. That Monroe girl Louis once hired knew that she never met Mike. Me and Liz never heard of Mike except Harvey who works in Jessica's firm. Never ever seen his face in the three years we been at Harvard. But if he was in JJ's year....

I got up and closed the door before grabbing my phone. Waiting patiently, our brother's deep voice echoed my ear. "Hello?" He answered. I smiled. "J! Hey, it's Maya." I said. "Hey M. How's working at Pearson Hardman? Is Jessica a cool boss?" He half-joked. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "Yeah she is. How's working at Dad's firm?" I asked. JJ's the only one who stayed working in Dad's firm. He been there since he graduated. The great news is he's now senior partner which I'm pretty sure brings a lot of workload. He chuckled. "Great. We know it's not easy working with family but we keep things professional, you know? I'll be your son at home but here, I'm your businessman. Is the firm in New York treating you right? Brianna told me you guys freaking love it." He told me. I nodded, sitting down. "We really do. It's pretty great. I just need to ask you something, it'll sound odd but please." I said. "Anything." He quickly said. I cleared my throat. "Well....there's a friend working with us. His name is Mike Ross. You see? Jessica's firm hire people from Harvard. I was wondering if you ever met him when you were there. How many years you spent at Harvard?" I asked awkwardly. JJ hummed in response. "Five years. Then I started working with Dad. I never, ever, once met or heard of him. He wasn't in my years. Neither of my friends knew a Mike Ross. We know a Michael but his last name isn't Ross. Is he in you and Liz's year?" He asked. I lightly scoffed. "Oh, wouldn't we had known him? Liz didn't hug him on the first day, saying 'Hey Mike! It's been so long! You're working here too?!'" I spoke sarcastically. JJ snickered. "True. If he's not in your year, maybe he's a different year. There is plenty of associates I'm sure you don't know nor met in your year." He said. Yet my gut had an ongoing feeling about this. If Mike isn't in our year, nor his, what year was he? I'll need to ask this but make sure I'm not being suspicious. "Does Mom still have our Harvard yearbooks?" I mentioned. "No. You have it, remember? So you can look back and remember blah blah blah. Why don't you ask him yourself?" He said. My whole face went pale. There is absolutely, no freaking way, am I ever going to ask him about this. The bottom pit of my stomach was wrenching my gut feeling. Always follow it, always follow it. I cannot ask Mike something like this, he'll just think I'm being insane or I'm blowing this out of crazy. I nodded my head no. "I can't do that. That'll make me look insane." I told him softly. He scoffed. "What's so damn insane asking if you knew a friend from which year at Harvard? Maya, chill. There's nothing wrong. I gotta go, talk to you later." He assured. I nodded. "Sure. Bye." I said, hanging up. My stomach couldn't shake off this gut-wrenching feeling but I don't know why. Is it right to do this? Is it really important to know if Mike was in our year? Or JJ's? "Maya." Someone called. I snapped out of my thoughts to see Rachel who already opened the door. She looked at me weirdly. "Are you ok?" She asked. I cleared my throat and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Too much paperwork." I lied. She sighed sadly. "Louis just fired Harold." She told me. My jaw instantly dropped. "He what? Why would he—is he serious—Have Louis finally lost it?" I stammered. She crossed her arms. "I know, it's completely unfair. This week's been hectic because of associates leaving." She said. I nodded in agreement and slightly gulped. "Ummm, hypothetical question. This firm only hire Harvard students right?" I asked. Rachel smiled slightly. "Yeah." She said. My heart seemed to quicken as I mentally prepared to ask the question. "How many years you spent at Harvard, Rach? We never talk much about our memories in college. Like the fifty times Liz played a prank on a few kids." I randomly asked. She nodded amusedly. "I didn't go to law school, remember? But I will be soon." She told me. My brain clicked, remembering she taken the LSATs last time. I laughed nervously. "Of course! Precisely. Sorry. My mind's a little fogged." I partially lied. She inhaled a deep breath. "Well, wanna discuss another topic?" She asked. I mentally breathed a breath of relief. "Thought you never ask." I said, smiling. But I cannot let go of my gut feelings. Something may not be right and it'll start by looking through Harvard yearbooks.

******

Elizabeth POV
In Harvey's office, we were securing all of his clients from further poaching. Donna and I held pens with notepads, checking off each name until Mike rushed in. "Alison's not done." He spoke. "We know. We're working all the clients." Harvey told him. "No, it's more than that. She's taking McKinney and Kline." He mentioned. Harvey shrugged. "It's just two more associates." He said. Mike nodded his head no. "No, it's more than that." He repeated. We glanced at each other, making Donna nod. "I tell you the rats are jumping ship, and you say it's fine, but Donna nods, and you're busting out life jackets?" He scoffed. The seriousness in his eyes brought chills down my spine. "You have a history of panicking." Harvey said. I nodded in disagreement. "He's not panicking." I said. Mike began counting off his fingers. "Clark, Owens, McKinney, Kline—these aren't just fifth years." He continued. "They're the best fifth years." Donna added. "They're Louis's first class of associates." He finished. Harvey's nose flared up with a growl. All hell's about to break loose now. "He gave her a report card?" He asked before walking past me angrily. Another chill went up my spine since I knew he's a loose cannon. "Harvey, you don't know that." I spoke. "Well, I'm gonna goddamn find out." He said in a deadly serious tone. I facepalmed while huffing.

7PM.

Avery and Isabella were asleep on the couch. My blanket wrapped on their bodies. Honestly, they look really cute! Maya quietly came in. "Ready? Or you're not finished?" She whispered. I nodded my head no. "Just have to talk to Harvey—I stopped when Mike approached the door. "Are you heading home? I can just talk about this to Harvey." He asked, referring to why Mr. Devon is still in contact with Alison. I nodded my head no. "No it's fine. A quick conversation and I'm out. They'll still be asleep in the car." I assured. He nodded in understanding before walking past Maya. She seemed to be in thought. I looked at her worriedly. "Are you ok? You've been kinda spacey." I asked. She snapped out of her thoughts and cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just exhausted." She spoke. I smiled softly. "I'll leave soon as I talk to them ok?" I promised. Maya returned the gesture and sat on the chair. "Ok. I'll watch them." She told me. I got up and walked beside Mike.

We approached Harvey behind his desk and sat down. "Well, that's it. I've talked to every client except Trent Devon." He spoke. "Well, I know why—I cut him off by smacking his shoulder. He pretended to be hurt. I smiled innocently. "We know why he's returning Alison's calls instead of yours." He corrected. "Because he thinks we're not focused." Harvey said. I nodded in disagreement. "That's not enough. Cmon, you always taught me to always ask...." He trailed off. He smiled tightly. "What's in it for him?" He asked. I cleared my throat and pretended to fix my suit jacket. ""If we're looking to expand our reach, then Trent Devon's data platform provides the perfect symbiosis with our search algorithms." Page 23, the CEO of flash-start." I recited, handing him the booklet. "Alison doesn't represent them." He said as he flipped through the pages. "Google bought meebo for $100million. Alison is trying to do the same thing with flash-start." Mike added. "Alison doesn't represent them." He repeated. I smiled. "Pretend she does." I told him. Harvey sighed, looking up. "Trent gets $100million, but his company gets swallowed up, and that's not what he wants." He said. "What if they let him run both companies?" Mike asked. He nodded in disagreement. "That's too good to be true." He said. "It's happened before. So if that's true, all you both need to do is figure out a way to beat that deal. And I say you both because I promise I'd take my sleepy daughter home." I sassed. Harvey shown a look of doubt. "We can't beat a deal." He said. I sighed and crossed my leg. "Ok. What do we do?" Mike asked. His face soon lit up as he got off the chair. Mike was still confused which made me sigh.