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Mike never wanted to be in this situation. Running down the stairs in a hotel trying to escape the police with a suitcase full of drugs? It wasn't ideal. But he had needed the money.
A few years ago he got a call from a girl he had briefly seen telling him she had had a baby and it was, apparently his. He had rushed to the hospital on his bike as quick as he could. She didn't want the baby, saying she would put her up for adoption. But Mike... as soon as he laid eyes on her he knew he couldn't give her up. She was a beautiful, healthy baby girl and, for the first time in 15 years, he was staring at his mother's face again. He couldn't give her up.
So that was how Mike Ross became a single father to baby Charlotte (or Lottie, as he would call her).
But babies were expensive, and trying to look after a baby on top of paying for his Gram's home with his meagre income wasn't working. He had already stopped smoking pot with Trevor - he couldn't look after his baby properly high - but he still hung out with him and Jenny a few times a week. When Trevor suggested selling it for extra cash he caved.
Selling weed for Trevor alongside taking the LSATs for people meant he could afford better food for Lottie, eat more consistently himself, and even buy her more toys and books. But it also led to his current situation. Running desperately from what was clearly a set up and hoping to god he wouldn't get thrown in jail so he could go back to Lottie.
Mike ran through the hotel lobby and into one of the side rooms he had seen earlier (Pearson Hardman Harvard law interviews)
"Rick Sorkin?"
Mike looked up to see a lady in the adjoining room calling what she clearly thought was his name.
"Excuse me Rick Sorkin you are five minutes late. Is there a reason why I should let you in?" she asked
"Look I'm just trying to ditch the cops ok, I don't really care if you let me in or not," he told her.
There was a pause as she looked to the side, presumably at another person.
"Mr. Spector will be right with you"
"What?"
He found himself walking into another room where a smart-looking man was waiting.
"Rick Sorkin nice to meet you," he said, deciding to fully commit to the lie.
"Harvey Spector, why don't you sit over there-"
It was then that the briefcase decided to open, spilling bags of weed all over the floor and incriminating Mike pretty harshly. With the cat definitely out of the bag now, he sat and explained how he was meant to deliver the drugs but was met with an obvious set up clearly inspired by a book he had read in elementary school.
"We should hire you. Jesus I'd give you the 25 grand as a signing bonus," Harvey said.
"I'll take it," he replied.
(God what he could do with that kind of money, and an actual job. He wouldn't be scraping by with Lottie anymore)
"Unfortunately we only hire from Harvard and you not only did not go to Harvard law school, you haven't even gone to any law school," he said
"What if I told you that I consume knowledge like no one you've ever met," he said, "and I've actually passed the bar."
"I'd say your full of crap," he responded.
"Thats a Barbri legal handbook right there right? Open it up. Read me something, anything," he asked.
"Civil liability associated with agency is based on several factors-"
"Including the deviation of the agent from his path, the reasonable inference of agency on behalf of the plaintiff, and the nature of the damages themselves," Mike finished.
"How did you know that?" he asked.
"I learned it when I studied for the bar," he said, deciding not to tell him he also read the law books to Lottie fairly frequently.
Harvey looked impressed, especially when he then reminded him of Sarbanes-Oxley when discussing stock option backdating without actually using the computer.
"Once I read something, I understand it. And once I understand it, I never forget it," he told him.
"Why take the bar?" he questionned.
"This dickhead bet me I couldn't pass it without going to law school," Mike said.
"You want this job so much, why didn't you just go to law school?" he asked.
Mike did not want to tell him about Charlotte. He didn't know what it was, but involving Lottie in this scheme felt wrong. All he could think of was his baby happily playing at school, unawares to the situation her father was in. He couldn't use her like that.
"When I was in college it was my dream to be a lawyer," he started, "I needed some money and Trevor convinced me to memorise this math test and sell it. Turns out we sold it to the dean's daughter. I lost my scholarship, I got kicked out of school, I fell into a different life-"
(I had a daughter, who I love more than anything in the world, and couldn't leave her. She's only recently started going to nursery, and I couldn't afford a babysitter for hours every day to go to college and law school)
"-and I have been wishing for a way back ever since," he finished.
And suddenly Mike had a job as an associate starting a week from Monday. He was told to stop doing pot (not an issue, he stopped long ago), and not to talk to Trevor ever again (slightly harder). He had to ditch the briefcase (he would stash it for now as he wasn't sure where he could ditch it) and to go to Harvard to learn everything he could about being a student there. He was already mentally making plans for how he could go for a few days and what he could do with Lottie as he left the room - now an associate lawyer for Pearson-Hardman.
He was also told to buy new suits, which he'll have to borrow some money from someone to do, but he could make into a fun day out with Lottie and buy her some new clothes too (because he never realised before her how much children grew).
Suits and children's clothes, how exciting.