What's the point

Bret stares wide-eyed at the two sisters as they argue. He tries to intervene several times, but is cut off as they continue.

Still stunned by this turn of events, he numbly accepts Charlotte’s hug and kiss, wanting to return it, but keeping himself in check. This was certainly not the time to go around displaying strong affections.

As he watches Charlotte leave, he gets to his feet on impulse. He couldn’t let her take all the heat for this. “Charlotte, wait.” He looks at her for a moment, then back down at Angelica. “Look, I’m sorry, Ms. Lockheart, but you can’t blame this on your sister. We just met the other night and I had no idea she was your sister, let alone assisting with this case. I guess we just…never got around to too much details to put the pieces together.”

Bret pauses, knowing he’s probably just going to make things worse, but he just can’t let it go yet. “It was my fault that we saw each other over the weekend. I started it by asking her out, so please…don’t blame her.”

He really isn’t sure now what to do…he didn’t regret the weekend, but if he’d known who Charlotte was, he probably would have done things differently…. His mind remembers the time spent in the pool. His face gets red just thinking about the fact that that was his lawyer’s assistant. “Look…if you’d rather me find an attorney elsewhere because of this, I will…I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, and I’m sorry.” He looks to Angelica with genuine apology.


Scott ambles from his desk to Katie’s with some work from Susanne, but finds her cubicle empty. Odd…her purse was gone. He hadn’t known she was leaving…it was only late morning.

Shrugging it off, Scott simply leaves her a note to come see him when she gets back.


Jason lifts his head at the sound of the glass being put on the table. He looks up at Aerith a bit wearily, though forces half a smile. “You and Mabel take care of me too well.”

He sits up straight to lean back in the booth and gestures to the free seat opposite him. “Take a load off. If Herb complains, send him to me.” He reaches down to take a sip of the orange juice and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Yeah, I haven’t stopped by in a while. Guess there’s been a lot going on.”

His mind wanders for a moment, his eyes roaming the room. A strange lurch to his emotional system stops him for a second. What was that? Brought to a halt for just long enough, he realizes just how quickly and rampantly his emotions are running right now, and he consciously makes an effort to calm them down.

Finally he looks back to Aerith, forcing himself to relax. He had to focus…he couldn’t keep jumping around like this, or he’d drive himself mad.

“That obvious something’s bothering me, huh?” A dry laugh surfaces. “Yeah, I’m not so great at hiding it when I don’t care.” He takes another swig of juice. “What do you do, when everything you do affects someone else directly, and you don’t even have a choice in the matter?”

He shakes his head, knowing the question would make absolutely no sense to Aerith. “I feel like my life isn’t my own anymore… People keep saying they miss me because I’m in a rut, but how can I be me when me isn’t just me anymore, but me and someone else?”

Knowing he must sound like an idiot, he leans his head back to stare at he ceiling. “What’s the point in life, Aerith? Why are we even here?”