Chapter Seven

"Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney, we're pleased you could make it," Alicia welcomed one of their few clients to the party.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Colin Sweeney flashed them his widest grin. "You and Miss Lockhart are going to build the biggest firm in Chicago and we'll be proud to say we've been here from the start," he added and turned to his wife, Renata, who nodded in agreement, her lips curled up to match his husband's.

"We're honored," Diane noted with a smile.

When Alicia had mentioned Sweeney was her only client left, Diane had found it rather amusing. It was a mystery why the famous alleged wife killer insisted on Alicia as his representation. Not to mention Diane knew Kurt had his own issues with him as well. But Sweeney's business meant money, and they needed every cent.

"Is your husband here, Mrs. Florrick?" Mr. Sweeney glanced around before his eyes stopped on Alicia again.

He had always favored the brunette over the blonde, but in his case Diane didn't mind or cared. Especially now that they were equal partners.

"He had a prior engagement, but he might arrive later," Alicia explained, while Diane began to wonder when her own other half would care to show up.

"I heard rumors that he might run for president," Sweeney brought up a subject Diane hadn't had the chance to discuss with Alicia yet either, although she'd heard the same rumors.

"I can neither confirm, nor deny that." Alicia's diplomatic answer was very on point.

"You as the First Lady, I can see that," Sweeney concluded, after looking Alicia up and down openly.

"That makes one of us." Alicia didn't sound enthusiastic at all, and Diane made a mental note to bring up this subject between them again in the near future. She was curious about how her partner felt about her husband's rather ambitious plans.

When she finally spotted her husband enter, Diane used the opportunity to flee from a conversation she wasn't really part of anyway. "Could you excuse me?"

"Sorry, I'm late," Kurt opened with an apology, but Diane was simply happy to see him.

"You haven't missed anything," she reassured him and kissed him on the lips.

"Quite a few people here already," Kurt observed after looking around.

"Yeah, I just wish there were more potential clients and less of those who're only here to root for our quick downfall," Diane responded a little bitterly.

Starting all over again wasn't easy, even if she'd enjoyed every minute of it so far. The harder part was still ahead of them.

"You'll be okay, I'm not worried," Kurt's encouraging comment put a huge grin on Diane's face.

"You have way too much faith in me," she patted his arm playfully.

"And if this doesn't work out, you can still run for office," he reminded her of the dream she wasn't even sure still existed among her thoughts.

"I'm starting to think you want me to run for office more than I do," she concluded with a chuckle.

"Could be fun," he shrugged with a mischievous smile.

A democratic candidate with a republican husband, fun probably didn't even begin to describe this surrealistic image Diane rushed to shake off from her thoughts, "I need to mingle, but I wanted to say hi. You know where the buffet is."

"You mean the buffet that was part of my responsibility," he pointed out, probably fishing for another compliment.

"Exactly, and you did a great job," she fulfilled his unvoiced wish.

"It was my pleasure. Will there be any dancing here tonight?" he glanced around.

"I'm not sure, probably," she replied, following his gaze to check out the guests.

Providing music was on Grace's to-do list, but they couldn't really predict where the party would lead.

"Just make sure to save one for me," he whispered and placed a kiss on her cheek before he let her go.

o-o-o

Diane had noticed Alicia walk away in the direction of their new office a few minutes earlier and when she hadn't showed up after a few minutes, she decided to follow her. The party was coming to an end soon, only a handful of people got slightly drunk, and the dance floor didn't stay empty for too long either. Grace proved that her musical knowledge exceeded her age and Diane shared more than one dance with her husband in between her obligatory dances as a host.

She and Alicia had done everything they could to entertain their guests, they definitely earned a few minutes to themselves.

She found Alicia standing there, looking out the window, so she knocked on the door, to announce her presence.

"Is everything okay?" she inquired while she stepped inside.

"Yeah, I just needed a quiet place for a phone call," she explained and Diane could only guess that call may have been to Peter, who was still a no-show at his wife's party.

"Looks like we did it," Diane announced proudly.

"We did," Alicia responded happily.

Their shared office may have been so small that they actually had to borrow the extra space for tonight's party, but they were officially in business again.

"How about a private toast?" Diane suggested and showed her partner the champagne bottle she'd snatched from the other room.

"Let's do it," Alicia welcomed the idea, so Diane filled two glasses with the golden liquid and handed Alicia one of them.

"To Florrick an..."

"And Lockhart," Alicia finished it for her, raising the glass in Diane's direction. "May we still be here a year from now," she added.

"Unless you'll be in the White House," Diane pointed out, still unsure about how Peter's candidacy would affect their small practice.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Alicia waved the mere thought away not only with words, but her hand as well.

"Then let's drink to moving to a bigger office soon," Diane switched to a playful tone.

"Hear, hear," Alicia echoed supportively.

A knock on the door almost startled them both. Grace was standing there and, judging by the look on her face, she didn't bring good news.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mrs. Canning is on the phone and she wants to talk to you now, mom," Grace informed her mother.

"Now? Did you tell her I'm busy?" Alicia tried to find a way out, while Diane began to wonder what Louis Canning's wife could want from them at this late hour.

"She said her husband died."

THE END

A/N: I know it was probably unexpected to find 'the end' note at the end of this chapter. I weighed the pros and cons and decided I need to end this fic here. When I started it after the season 6 finale I only had some vague ideas where I wanted to go with it. Sadly I didn't have enough time to work on my fics this summer, been trying to get my routine back these past weeks. But now that season 7 starts I don't want to be influenced by what's happening there, so I think it's the best time to say goodbye to this short story. I mentioned every topic I wanted to touch in this last chapter, so you can hopefully use your imagination for what might come. I don't want to give up hope that Diane and Alicia will someday lead a firm together again.

Thank you for reading and the reviews and enjoy season 7! (: