August 27th, 2013. Marvin glanced over at the abandoned office across the hall from his. Had it really been over a year since the room was bustling with activity? He remembered the day he paired the ladies' man Diego with the serious Mia Fey. Marvin had hoped the fiery young rookie would whip his senior associate into shape, and perhaps she did. However, Diego had been poisoned before Marvin could really see a difference.
As he gazed at the darkened office, he could still clearly hear the two bickering in his memory.
"C'mon, kitten, I have to do this. I'm not letting you get this close to her."
"So you're going to interview her alone, then? Great plan, Armando, really, great going. Maybe I can invite Hannibal Lecter to dinner afterwards, hm?"
"Mia, that's not—I didn't mean—I'm sorry. But I'm not budging on this! I'm going to keep you safe, no matter what. I promised, remember?"
"Yes, because I'm the fragile little kitten, aren't I? Oh, just leave me alone! Interview her, then! I wish you luck."
A door slam later, Mia was fuming about it to Marvin. He'd tried to console her, reassure her that she was indeed a fabulous lawyer, and yes, Diego was being unreasonable.
By the time he managed to calm her and convince her to chase after him to the courthouse, it'd been too late. Not even twenty minutes after her hasty departure, he received a chilling phone call.
"Mr. Grossberg! It's Diego, he's—" Then his rookie, the brave, strong Mia, broke off into sobs. He remembered making a mad dash to the courthouse, running faster than he had in years, maybe even decades. He arrived just in time to see Diego ushered to the hospital, leaving behind a hysterical Mia.
It had taken hours to get Mia even a little bit calm, and he even drove her home. Of course he'd felt just as awful—he'd mentored Diego for five years now, the man was an unofficial son to him. After dropping Mia off—and reassuring her she didn't have to work that week—he drove home himself.
Now, that little office was empty and cold, and Marvin wondered if maybe he could have done something different that day, anything, to save Diego from his terrible fate.