Ripped Tights and Late Nights → Muke

fifteen;

tw // rape mention stay safe lovelies. Doesn't happen to any main characters it's just part of Michael's lawyer case.

::

Nobody ever talks about falling out of love. They talk about break ups, about crying in your room with Sam Smith playing and a tub of ice cream. But no one says a thing about the gradual ache in your heart of letting someone go.

They don't talk about wanting to sit on the floor and thinking about every moment you've had with the person. They don't talk about scrolling through your messages; the bland 'I'm going to be home a little late' or 'pick some milk up ' making your heart ache. They don't talk about wanting to rip every photo of you two to pieces. They don't talk about the burden on your shoulders of knowing that you're not as in love with the person as you used to be.

Michael's aware of the fact that it was time to break things off with Leah, but how do you break up with someone who you've been in love with for twenty years? Maybe he's too weak to do it, or maybe he's selfish and doesn't want Leah to find anyone else even though he has Luke. He doesn't want anyone to know what his wife liked with her eggs (basil and parmesan) or what side of the bed she preferred (the left).

He is definitely selfish, he decides. He's also a piece of shit if he'd rather have Leah in a relationship where neither parties love each other than to find another love.

There's no such thing as falling back in love, Michael thinks. It's just rekindling an old fire that you thought was dead but the hidden embers were just that; hidden. Luke and Michael's fire is shining bright, tall and everlasting, while Leah and Michael's fire was long dead.

Michael knows that you shouldn't fuel a brunt out fire, so he's definitely going to break up with Leah. He's going to get the divorce papers sorted so he and Luke can run off into the sunset together. He's going to talk to a lawyer and the insurance company. He just doesn't know when he's going to have the courage to do it.

::

He's tired. He's in bed, the clock reading three a.m. but he can't sleep. He can hear crashes and curses coming from Jake's room and music flowing through the walls from Britt's but he's too tired to care.

He should care, he knows. They both should've been asleep at least three hours ago but they're old enough to accept responsibility for themselves. He'll growl a little in the morning and they'll go to sleep early but they'll stay up late the next night like a cycle.

Michael doesn't even know where Leah's sleeping. She could be in one of the guest rooms or downstairs on the sofa. He went to bed before she did, needing some peace and quiet.

He wishes he was still young. He wishes he could go out with his friends and get drunk, forget about whatever he needs to forget. He considers going downstairs and pouring a bourbon and coke but he's too lazy to move. That and he doesn't want Leah to catch him and give him one of those disappointed looks she's so good at.

Rolling over, Michael faces the white wall, knowing that's where Leah should be. He closes his eyes and sees Luke lying there instead.

::

"Anything new on the Rogerson case, Michael?"

Michael slumps back in his chair, throwing a ball of rolled up blu-tack into the air and catching it. He exhales, stressed and pissed off that he hasn't gotten any further in the last few months. It's not a big case, so he doesn't have the pressure of getting it done in only a few days, but it's still a case he needs to work hard on. Michael hasn't had a big case in so long. He's has no idea what it's like to not get any sleep, too busy interrogating and researching and whatever else he has to do to crack the code.

He's got people from the police station working with him, finding and exploiting any clues they can. He's got Rocher breathing down his neck and his own want and desire to finish this case to the best of his ability.

"Not yet, sir. I've checked everything. Receipts, contracts. I've called clients, employees, insurance companies. Everything. He's covered his tracks better than anyone I've ever seen."

Michael's boss, Jon Rocher, smiles. "Uncover them, then."

He's a pudgy man, Michael notes. Not obese, but not lanky either. (Michael had definitely not laughed when Britt informed them on their trip to France that Rocher was french for 'boulder' which fit the man quite well.) His moustache is the same rusty ginger colour as his receding hair and hangs below his chin, like some Disney villain.

Jon leaves Michael alone, making his shoulders tense slightly. He hates being alone, bad things happen when you're by yourself. But he's an adult, he's a lawyer, a successful one at that. He's a successful lawyer adult, and he can handle being alone for a few hours. Once he gets stuck into his work, he doesn't notice the loneliness, doesn't notice the lack of voices crawling into his eardrums.

He just needs to focus.

The Rogerson case, he reminds himself. The notes you've written down. The cork board on the wall of your office with photos of suspects and sticky notes on it so you can visually see what you're doing.

Employees going weeks without being paid, treated unfairly.

Multiple accounts of clients raping employees. Anna-Louise Frinchley on the 3rd of March, Jackie George on the 5th of May, Liam Thomas on the 6th of June.

The murder of Kelsey Rogerson, in her bedroom at 2.17am, neighbours heard her screaming for help.

Luke.

Michael shook his head, urging himself to focus.

Kelsey Rogerson found dead at 7.29 that morning, the 8th of August. Mr Keith Rogerson no where to be found; no personal belongings found anywhere in the house. Witnesses saw him exiting early that morning, approximately two hours before police found Kelsey.

Luke.

Michael slams his hand down on the desk. Focus, Clifford. He has all the dots, now he needs to connect them.

The clients who had raped employees had to have been hired or tipped off, because the pattern is too perfect for it to be coincidental.

Anna-Louise raped on the 3rd day of the 3rd month, Jackie on the 5th of the 5th month, Liam on the 6th of the 6th month. Kelsey murdered on the 8th of the 8th month.

Today's the 7th of September. If he's following the pattern correctly then this month's victim will be hurt in one way or another soon. September's victim, along with the months of unaccounted victims need to be found. He should call Ruby, his secretary, to see if she can dig up some police files for him. Maybe someone had reported something. Maybe he can solve this.

Luke.

Michael's too distracted. He logs off his computer, turning off the monitor and scribbling on a highlighter-yellow sticky note about calling Ruby. He shuffles his papers into a neat pile and grabs his older-than-Brittany leather jacket before sneaking out of the office.

Seeing Luke will soothe the lonely monster in his chest.

::

am i updating often enough?

this is one of my favourite chapters tbh