Brother from another mother

Rainy day

It was pouring down. As soon as Mike woke up he could hear the rain thundering on his roof - and probably dripping down that outside wall which doubled up as one of the walls to his bathroom. A flash of lightning made him jump slightly; unaware it was an actual storm. Soon after, however, he heard the thunder rumble around his dingy apartment and he decided that he should get up.

It was one of those rare days in which he woke up in bed, rather than on the couch or - more frequently - at his desk. He had managed to finished the research Harvey had given him early, and had sloped to bed at about 2 am, realising he had nothing more to do. Remembering his finished work gave him a warm glow, and he beamed as he then remembered he had found something in the accounts of a firm that was suing their client - something he was sure Harvey would be very happy about.

Another flash of lightning and Mike's attention was drawn to the storm outside. The rain was coming down fast, and if the dark clouds were anything to go by, it wouldn't stop any time soon. He refused to have his mood dampened and tried to smile. Realising he was alone and smiling like a maniac in his bedroom, he quickly stopped and checked his clock. He had just over an hour and a half before it was deemed an acceptable time to be at work. He jumped in the shower as he calculated when to set off. Usually it would take just over 20 minutes on his bike from his apartment to Pearson Hardman, but with this weather he should plan for an extra good 10 minutes. He would be going slowly. Better to arrive late than in an ambulance.

He finished in the shower and shaved; not that there was much. He usually did it most mornings - mostly on Harvey's insistence, or failing that; Donna's pointed looks at his face. He even had time to iron his shirt. He almost never did that. Turning up in a wrinkled shirt and jacket was what was now expected of him. He had a small idea that Harvey enjoyed looking him up and down and being able to point out faults with his appearance.

The thunder rumbled even more loudly just as Mike put down a large bucket underneath the dripping spot in his bathroom and prayed he'd be able to slip away at some point to change the bucket before it spilled out and all over his floor. He sighed and mentally made a check list in his head to either get his landlord to look at the leak or just buy a new place. Harvey's place was nice... why didn't he have a place like Harvey's?

Amending his list as he looked in his wallet, Mike thought he should earn more money before buying a new place. He scowled as he noticed he didn't even have enough for a taxi. He had decided whilst ironing it would be stupid to go to all this trouble and bike to work, which would mean he would get drenched. So he had thought he could just get a taxi. He felt stupid now.

Deciding there would be no way he could get to work dry, he came to a conclusion. If he set off now, he might be able to get dry in the bathrooms before Harvey, Louis, Donna, Rachel or Jessica saw him. Sure, the other associates would see, but he couldn't care less about their opinions. They were just sour that none of them were hand-picked to be the associate of Harvey Specter. Well - that's what he liked to think.

He stuffed his jacket into his bag; reasoning that at least it would keep the paperwork underneath it dry, as well as an extra shirt. There was no way his jacket could get dry before everyone turned up, so instead he decided to bike in one of his old hoodies. He doubted very much that security would let him through the door if he was wearing that and dripping wet, but he had no other alternative.

God, this was bad. This was really bad. He knew he had a high IQ, his grandmother had gotten him tested at some point in high school, and yet it didn't seem to have stopped him making one of the - at the time, it seemed - biggest mistakes of his life. He should've just called Harvey and begged for Ray to come pick him up. Hell, he would've accepted a ride off Louis, but no. He decided to be eco-friendly and bike.