“Caroline, a little help here?” a busty
short brunette came rushing through the back door trying to balance three
dishes in one hand and two in the other. “With Oleg humping pinning over Sophie
and humping anything hump-able and you saying chip chip cheerio to every patron
that comes in and out, I swear, I have to do all the work around here.”
At this point, Harvey couldn’t help but
chuckle at the sight. In front of him was a dishevelled waitress who looked
like she was about to drop dead after a sixteen hour work shift. Despite
looking exhausted she was still a feisty little firecracker.
“You find this funny pretty boy? Let’s
see you and your manicured nails work a double shift serving hippies and
drunks.” She smirked. He was right, this was her second straight shift.
“Ummm,” the great Harvey Specter was at a
loss for words.
No one at Pearson Hardman had the balls
to talk to him like that. Harvey stood up. “First of all, I’m honoured that you
think I’m pretty. But for your information Ms.-I-am-all-alone-and-I-hate-the
world, I have done my time, working my
way in the mail room. So yeah, I get it! And there’s no reason to be snippy at
me.” He had no idea why he felt the need to defend himself in front of this
complete stranger.
Max took a moment to admire Harvey’s
physical stature. He was pristinely clad in an expensive three piece suit
tailored to perfection. His 6 foot frame towered over her. Inhaling his musky
cologne brought chills through her spine. A guy like that could probably get
any girl he wants and would never give her the time of day.
She was a waitress. She was plain boring
Max. This was probably why Johnny left her, she thought. Everyone was getting
ahead in life, but not her. She was diner girl as Johnny had so aptly described
forever.
“Max, this is Harvey Specter. He’s a
lawyer from Pearson Hardman, one of the top firms in the city and a friend of
mine from Harvard. And Harvey this is Max, my high strung friend who I’m
indebted to for taking me in,” Caroline said breaking her train of thought.
“Dude! You’re a lawyer? I practically
live, breathe and eat Law and Order. I’ve seen every episode there is to watch
thanks to my good buddy over here” Max nudged Caroline as a sign of
appreciation for the box set she had given her after that failed attempt to get
her father acquitted.
Harvey chuckled wondering if his
associate, Mike Ross had learned how to become a lawyer the same way. He also
noted that the feisty brunette in front of him although lacking in class and
formal education could probably manage herself and hold her own. He could maybe
even use her help if he decided to help Caroline prove her father was innocent.
“Harvey, I really appreciate you coming
here especially since I know how busy you are, but I have to go help out in the
back. If we could continue this some other time, that would be great.” Harvey gave her a squeeze before saying, “How
about on Saturday at the old watering hole for lunch?”
“Yeah, I could do Saturday.” Caroline
said nonchalantly.
“Max, you’re welcome to tag along.”
Harvey said flashing his killer smile.
“As long as you’re buying pretty boy.”
She winked at him.
Harvey said his goodbyes and exited the
diner. He wasn’t sure if they could
build a case with the lack of evidence and Jessica would probably kill him if
she knew what Harvey was up to, but no one tells Harvey Specter what to do.
Working with the Channings’ for almost a decade, Caroline in particular, Harvey
had a hunch that the older Channing was guilt free and he was just the fall
guy. Truth be told, he had very little interaction with Martin Channing but the
fact that he had raised a daughter like Caroline said a lot about the man’s
character.
This was madness. Half the town had taken
a hit because of the Martin Channing ordeal and just the thought of
entertaining this case would be perceived as suicide. But he was the almighty
Harvey Specter. A gamble like this could destroy him in the short run, but up
his billable tenfold in the long run. If he were to take on this case, He would
just have to do it as discreetly as possible and at the speed of light.