A phone is placed face down on a desk. An audible sigh from a woman echos in a room. Grace pulls her hair back away from her face. She hears her coworkers in the hallway celebrating the won case. It was a major win for the firm, and Grace has proved to them that she’s good at her job. The win is bittersweet for her; she’s happy she has another win under her belt, but she wishes she was celebrating this win with the one person that matters and helped her get through it.
She remembers her first win on a case, she was still partnered with Max. She remembers jumping into his arms due to the excitement of the case ending and them winning it. She was happy celebrating that win with the man she loved. She only wishes now she could do the same again, but not with Max.
Jamie.
Grace starts to sort out the files on her desk and puts them in their proper spots. A knock is heard on the Grace’s door. Without looking up, she calls out to come in. The door opens and Ari walks in the office.
Ari: Look at the baddest bitch in the firm just sitting in her office, being humble as fuck, not celebrating with everyone else.
Grace rolls her eyes.
Grace: Case closed, that’s it.
Ari: *annoyed* Grace.
Grace looks up and at Ari. Ari has her arms crossed and one of her eyebrows cocked up.
Ari: I’m not saying you can’t be a sad girl, but damn sis… you just won your first official case as a lawyer! That’s fucking huge! Are you not happy about that?
Grace: *annoyed* Sorry that I have other things on my mind besides a useless win on a case.
Ari: Grace Ashmore? Not caring about a win on a case? Who are you?
Grace gets up from her desk with the box of files and puts them on the table next to the exit. She walks back to her desk to straighten up some more. Ari watches her carefully.
Ari: Did you talk to Jamie today?
Grace doesn’t say anything. She just mindlessly continues to clean her desk. Ari gets annoyed and turns Grace around by the chair.
Ari: You’re not shutting me out again, Grace. You did it the first time, but you’re not going to do it this time. Talk to me.
Grace looks at Ari in a sullen matter. She deep sighs.
Grace: I told him about the case, but I doubt he read it; it’s like 3 in the morning over there.
Ari: Did you talk to him about anything else since he left?
Grace: No, because why should I? He’s in another fucking country, living his normal life, doing his normal thing with no thought in mind. Why should I bother holding onto something that clearly isn’t here?
Ari: Because you love that man, Grace.
Grace stops what she’s doing and looks at Ari. She’s angry.
Grace: I am not in love with him, Ari. You don’t know a goddamn thing about how I’m feeling, so don’t assume you know.
Ari: *annoyed* I may not, but I know my best friend, and I know when how you felt about him. If he didn’t matter as you claim, you’d be coming out with us to celebrate after work tonight.
Grace: Just tell me the time and place and I’ll be there. *sarcastically* Let’s go out and celebrate a damn win!
Grace grabs her purse and coat from the back of her chair. Ari watches her; she’s concerned. Before Grace walks out from the office, she turns around to look at Ari.
Grace: Meet me at my place at 8pm.
Grace walks out.
Later that night…
The bar is lively on this night, and a crowd of people from the firm walks into it. Ari and Grace follow behind. Grace is wearing a short skirt with an off the shoulder sweater and booties. Grace confidently walks to the bartender and requests a drink. Ari is nervous for Grace; she feels like Grace is going to make decisions she is going to regret in the morning. Ari’s boyfriend puts an arm around her and tells her that Grace will be okay and to just let her breathe a bit. Ari agrees. She walks away from the bar and mingles with the other people in the firm.
One drink. Two drinks. Three drinks. Grace keeps drinking and she has now a crowd of men surrounding her as she chugs like one of the guys. Grace is feeling warm inside, she’s feeling confident, and she’s being flirty with the guys at the bar. One guy has got her attention, Nick, and she’s feeling good about herself; possibly more so because of the alcohol.
Nick: So what’s the occasion? It seems like you’re celebrating something special tonight.
Grace: The occasion is meeting you tonight and celebrating life! What more can I ask for?
Nick laughs and puts his arms around Grace and she giggles. She takes another drink and leans in closer to Nick. She circles her finger along the bar-side table and continues to be flirty. Grace’s phone buzzes in her pocket; she ignores it. Nick whispers something in Grace’s ear and she flirtatiously giggles. Ari watches Grace from across the room; her boyfriend notices right away. Ari gets up from her seat and towards Grace while her boyfriend calls for her.
Ari reaches the point of the bar where Grace and Nick are getting cozy. Ari interrupts.
Ari: Hey, Grace… Dean and I are getting ready to leave.
Grace: *slurs* Ima stay a little while longer, *looks at Nick* The night is still pretty young.
Ari: The night is coming to an end, come on–
Ari tries to grab Grace’s hand, but Grace yanks her hand away.
Grace: No, I wanna say with… with… Nick, right?
Nick smiles at Grace and she winks at him back. Ari is visibly disgusted.
Ari: Grace, come on, you had enough to drink tonight–
Grace: Don’t worry about me, I’ll go home when I’m ready to go home!
Nick: Hey, I’ll make sure she gets home safely tonight.
Ari: …Yeah, no. *grabs Grace’s arm* Let’s go. Now.
Grace: *annoyed* Ari, stop!
Nick: Hey, let her stay.
Ari forces Grace off of the bar stool and walks away from the bar. She turns around and looks at Nick; annoyed.
Ari: Sorry sweetie, she got a man that’s waaay better looking than you.
Ari continues to pull Grace away from the bar towards the front door. Grace continuously tells Ari to let her go. Once they are outside and Ari’s boyfriend calls for a cab, she lets Grace go.
Grace: I’m not a child, Ari! I could take care of my damn self!
Ari: I’m not treating you like a child, I’m treating you like a dumb bitch, because only dumb bitches do what you were trying to do.
Grace: You told me to come out and celebrate this dumb win on this dumb case so that’s exactly what I did and now you’re dragging me out?
Ari: Yeah, I didn’t mean get shitfaced and throw yourself all over a guy! What the hell are you doing?
Grace turns around and stays silent. Ari walks to face Grace and keep her in place.
Ari: This isn’t like you. This isn’t you. If you stayed in there any longer, you would’ve done something reckless tonight and instantly regret it.
Grace: And what makes you think that? Huh?
Ari: Grace, you’re emotional as fuck. You legit lost the love of your life to his job back in his country, and you’re heartbroken. You need to allow yourself some time to heal.
Grace: Maybe I don’t wanna heal. Maybe all I want is some random guy at the bar to fuck the sadness away for one night. Maybe all I want is to forget about everything and everyone and just fucking live for a little bit! Maybe that’s all I fucking want!
Ari: So that I can hear you instantly regret your decisions once you’re off this roller-coaster of self-pity? No. I won’t allow you to do something as stupid as that, because I know you, Grace. I know that you will wake up in the morning next to that man wishing it was fucking Jamie!
Grace stands there and hr eyes get watery. Ari immediately notices and takes a deep breath. The cold air is shown when she exhales.
Ari: Come on, let’s go home.
Grace walks with Ari and her boyfriend in the cab, and it drives off once everyone is in it.
A little later in the night, Grace is shown sleeping on a couch with a blanket covering her up. Across the room, Ari stands at the doorframe, arms crossed, looking at Grace while she sleeps. Her boyfriend passes her and kisses her head goodnight, leaving Ari looking after Grace. Once the room is cleared, Ari walks into the living room and grabs Grace’s purse from the coffee table.
Ari walks into the kitchen and sits at the table. She pulls out Grace’s phone out of her bag and unlocks the screen.
3 unread messages: Jamie.
Ari ignores the messages and immediately goes into the contacts. She clicks Jamie’s name and writes the phone number on her own phone. Backs out, locks the phone, puts it back into Grace’s purse.
Ari walks back to the living room and quickly puts the purse back where it was, and walks herself back to the kitchen. She sits back down and writes a new message.
Ari: Hey, it’s Ari; Grace’s friend. Talk to Grace when you get the chance.
Sent.
Letters From Liz. 