#Business Lawyer in Chicago

[jordenb12]

How can a law firm leverage video content to improve SEO and client engagement?

[swagatusa]

Top Immediate Relative Visas Attorney in Chicago

If you're applying for an immediate relative immigrant visa, SwagatUSA, LLC of Chicago, IL, has family immigration attorneys with extensive experience helping individuals bring their foreign family members to the United States. With years of experience, we provide personalized, effective legal strategies to ensure a smoother visa process. Contact our law office and ask to schedule an initial consultation to discuss your legal options and how we can help.

[attorneyzim-blog]

Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer for Expert Legal Representation Are you having trouble with infractions of contracts, problems with shareholders, or disagreements about intellectual property? The practice of commercial litigation is our area of expertise here at Zimmerman Law Offices. Since 1996, Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C. has represented individuals and corporations in a variety of legal situations. Thomas Zimmerman, our firm's founding attorney, has vast experience representing clients in Chicago. Having our attorney on your side can help you avoid expensive and time-consuming court battles, which is one of the many advantages of working with your attorney. Do not allow legal issues to impede your business. Trust Zimmerman Law Offices, Chicago's leading business litigation attorneys, to safeguard your interests and give the legal assistance you require. Contact us! Visit us at https://www.attorneyzim.com/practice-areas/business-litigation/.

[driverdefens]

Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Expert Legal Counsel for Corporations

Navigating legal disputes in the business realm requires expertise and finesse. Their seasoned Chicago business litigation lawyer at Zimmerman Law Offices is well-equipped to handle a wide range of commercial legal issues. Contact them today!

[miley1442111]

back to chicago-c.berzatto

a/n: i'm probably going to make this two parts (or more) because I really like this idea so this is part 1. i imagined a fem reader and it's mentioned quite a few times but as usual, imagine what you like. SET AFTER SEASON 2

summary: a double date with your boyfriend at the Bear can only go well, right?

pairings: carmenberzatto x femreader (complicated relationship), platonicthe bear x reader, romantic oc x reader

warnings: general angst, mentions of mikeys death

You and Carmen had grown up together, living across the street from one another. Your childhoods were wildly different, his filled with family drama and personal independence. Yours filled with absent parents and the necessity of independence. You went to school together, went to prom together (as ‘friends’), and you were each other's first kiss. Then, you went off to college for law and business and he went off to cook. You vowed to never go back to Chicago, but stayed in contact with Mikey until he died. Then you came back. You felt a debilitating need to see Mikey off. Watch him be put into the ground. You had hoped Carmen would show up. He didn’t. 

You had stayed in Chicago, you had the time and money. Being a successful lawyer in New York was a great gig. Straight out of college you’d gotten a job at a top law firm, and just last year you were made partner. Taking time off for personal reasons wasn’t questioned. Even if it had happened a year ago. Even though you were in Chicago purely for the reason of nostalgia. You’d gone last year for the funeral and this time it was just because something in you missed it. 

It felt good to breathe in the Chicago air again as you walked down the darkened streets, ready for a date at a new Chicago restaurant, The Bear. It was where The Beef had been. Devastating how someone just came in and wrecked all of Mikey’s work. You thought to yourself as you opened the door and searched for the man you were meeting. Adrian, an accountant you’d met at a jazz club, was a nice man. He was sweet and reliable, funny and kind and you both got along well. He was never too handsy and always on time… but you still feared full commitment. He waved you over and you sat beside him as he pressed a kiss to your lips, you smiled, greeting his friends. This ‘double date’ thing had been his idea. This restaurant had been his idea, and as you stared Richie Jerimovich in the face, a shocked dumb-founded look on his face, you remembered why you left Chicago in the first place You remembered Carmen always wanted to call his restaurant ‘The Bear’ and you remembered that there was no getting out of this. 

Shit. 

“Do you two know each other?” Adrian asked, a hand on your shoulder, pulling you back to reality. 

“Fuck yeah we do! Cousin, how are you?” Richie smiled, forgoing the formalities and pulling you out of your seat and into a hug. 

“Richie, how are you?” You mustered up your best fake smile, trying to keep the gaze of Adrian’s friends unsuspicious. 

“I��m great Bug, how are you?” he asked, using the wretched nickname you endured for all those years. 

“Bug?” Adrian smiled. 

“Childhood nickname,” you explained quickly. “I’m good, Rich, real good.”

“You're a fancy lawyer now huh? What was it, New York right?” 

“That’s right,” you smiled. You couldn’t ruin this dinner. Adrian had flown all the way from New York to see you. This was the first time in a month that he’d seen you. Adrian’s friends had to like you. You had to make them like you.

“Sugar’s going to freak out when she sees you,” Richie smiled. You followed Nat on instagram, but refused to like any of her pictures, not wanting her to reach out. You knew she was pregnant. “You won’t believe it, she’s pregnant!”

“Oh my god! I must congratulate her,” you smiled, not realising what that tiny statement would bring.

“I’ll take you to the back now! I’ll give the rest of you guys the tour after,” he smiled at the rest of the table and they seemed to be excited by the prospect of seeing the kitchen so you plastered on a smile, kissed Adrian’s cheek, and let Richie lead the way. 

As you edged closer to the kitchen, you could hear voices, but thankfully not Carmen’s. You turned a corner, pushed through the door behind Richie, and you were led to a small office. Inside sat Natalie ‘Sugar’ Berzatto, ‘Uncle Jimmy’, and Carmen fucking Berzatto. You let out a breath.

“Look who came in to say hi,” Richie announced, stepping to the side to stop covering you. Sugar and Jimmy’s eyes lit up and they immediately started to hug you, yet Carmen stayed frozen to his spot against the wall.

“My love, how’s New York?” Jimmy asked, his arms around you. 

“It’s great, everything I wanted,” you smiled. Your life was something you felt you could be proud of. You loved New York and you loved your job. You had great friends, friends that were practically family. You had Adrian, he was great and he loved you. Yet you still thought about the Berzattos daily. “Congratulations Natalie!” You turned to her, hugging her side due to her large bump. 

You exchanged small talk back and forth with Jimmy and Sugar as Richie and Carmen whispered in the corner. You couldn’t make out what they were saying but it worried you. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

carmen

There you were. Standing there, fucking glowing. And here I was, a stained white t-shirt on and a pair of fucking jeans on. You looked beautiful, the type of beautiful that would make me jealous of the guy you were going home to if I saw you walking down the street. What were you doing here? Why the fuck were you standing in my office, looking so damn beautiful, yet so unattainable?

“She’s here with a guy,” Richie whispered into my ear. 

“What?” I scoffed. 

“She’s here with a guy!” He whispered louder. I felt my blood boil. So you’re here, in my fucking restaurant, with some other fucking guy. Awesome. I searched your hands for an engagement ring, or worse, a wedding ring. I saw none and my ears refocused into the room. 

“So?” I sighed, feigning disinterest.

“ ‘So’? Your fucking girl is with another guy. In your restaurant!” Richie snapped. 

“She’s not my fucking girl anymore, stop talking outta your ass,” I shoved him, making him leave me alone. My words were deflections. Of course you were my fucking girl, you always would be. You were perfection personified in my eyes, even with any of your flaws. And I wanted you to be my girl, but I got so fucking in my head about it I couldn‘t ask, and then we left and went our separate ways. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You

“Look, I’d better get back to my table, my boyfriend’s waiting-”

“Boyfriend?” Jimmy cut you off. “I thought you and Carmy were dating?” 

“Yeah, when we were like 17-” You started but Carmen cut you off. 

“We never dated.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Your smile faltered, then faded entirely and it was all Carmen’s fault. 

“Look, I’m sure my table is waiting on me to order, it was great to see you guys,” you smiled and left the room, walking back to your table, a sigh leaving your lips. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmen 

“You are such a fuckin’ asshole!” Richie shouted as Sugar and Jimmy sighed. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about ‘we never dated’? You’re still fuckin’ in love with her!” 

“Richie just fuck off ok! I don’t have to explain shit to you-” I started but I was cut off by Sugar. 

“That was such a shitty thing to say Bear! We haven’t seen that girl in fucking years and of course you had to fucking ruin it. We’ll probably never fucking see her again!” 

“I know that was shitty Sugar, I’mf fucking aware!” I started as I walked out of the office and into the kitchen. I wanted to make your food amazing. That was the only way you’d ever forgive me, right?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You

You walked back to your table and answered any and all questions pertaining to your relationships with the Berzattos, leaving out that you had a crush on Carmen. You allowed yourself to peek into the kitchen window and you saw him furiously moving. He was mixing something? You couldn’t see. Adrian’s kissing your shoulder pulled you back to reality. Adrian was great. He knew how hard tonight was for you. He knew about what happened in your childhood. He knew about what happened with Carmen. Adrian’s friends, Emilia and John both got up to take a smoke break and he turned to you. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, squeezing your hand.

“Fine, it’s just… messy, I guess.”

“Well you’re doing great. John and Emilia love you,” he smiled and kissed your cheek. “I wouldn’t have picked this place if I knew, I just wanted to see you-”

“I know,” you smiled at him. “I wanted to see you too,” You pressed a soft kiss to his lips and he grinned. 

“You look so beautiful tonight,��� he flirted. 

“So do you,” you simply said and he chuckled. 

“Such a flirt,” he joked and you laughed, a real laugh. He kissed you again, quick and sweet. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” you said matter-of-factly and his face lit up. You truly had no idea if you actually loved him. Your commitment issues were constantly getting in the way of your relationships, so you had to do something, telling him you love him, I admit, might’ve been a crazy thing to start with but, you were running out of options.

He kissed you again, less quickly but still polite enough to not be seen as improper. John and Emilia started walking back in, so you pulled away to see him with a boyish grin on his face. 

That felt… good? Like it was right?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmen

I walked out into my own restaurant, nervous as I was when I was 17, asking you to the prom. All you have to do is explain the dishes. I thought to myself. I know my dishes. Richie walked behind me with the other two dishes in his hands, and I took a deep breath. There you were, radiant as ever, laughing along with what someone said. I would do fucking anything to just have your number so I could just text you sometimes. 

I walked up, standing beside you and your smile flattened, looking fake. 

“Hey Carmen,” you greeted. 

“And how do you know the owner?” John asked, excited about all of the attention your table was getting.

“We were-”

“We dated in highschool,”  I said before you could finish and John chuckled as your boyfriend put a protective arm around your shoulder. I explained all the dishes and placed them in front of each of your table. 

“Thanks Bear,” you mumbled and my heart practically stopped. 

“Well, thanks,” your boyfriend gritted out. I smirked. 

——————————————————————————————————-

(PART 2)

[neverlookatthisblog]

Bad for business

A/n: I was very inspired hope you enjoyed this let me know what you think I haven’t wrote anything smut related in a while so I was very excited to write this 🥴🥴

GIF from @harlowgifs

Smut

Scalvo x reader the instigators

Life in Boston wasn’t how you expected it to be when you planned to move there with a couple of friends just for a few years later not to even be in touch with them anymore

With your Family back in Chicago you had no one yes you could always go back home but you knew you had to make a life of your own now

You were a successful lawyer working on cases sleepless nights Ironically enough this is how you met Scalvo you’re off and on boyfriend

“I’ve got another case for you” Amanda said handing you the file yawning taking the file ‘Another one’ you thought it never ends with your job you reading the file you wanted to know more about him who he was

“Scalvo” you asked Amanda

“Yup I heard he’s a tough one” she said

“Great” but it only made you more curious about him

You’ve worked for lots of people,Scalvo was different to you in your eyes you loved the way he looked at you even though it felt like he hated everything and everyone

To say the least you were stressed

Turns out Scalvo got himself into some trouble beating up some guy and needed a lawyer and it happened to be you,you took the case

“Why why why” you said to yourself as you made your way inside the building

You approached a tall man sitting down with fluffy hair,jacket,with a hat

“Are u Scalvo??” you asked holding his folder

“Yea let’s just get this over with “ he said getting up

“Hold on wait you can’t just get this over with this takes time especially after what u did” I said making him raise his eyebrow

He groaned sitting back down

“So tell me how you go yourself in this situation” I said taking out my note pad

“Are you really about to write this down” he snickered

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m serious about my job” you said

“Fine” he said

You ended winning case got him out of that shit hole you guys started talking getting to know each other he wasn’t someone you’d date usually it was date nights for you but with Scalvo it was joining him on robberies and much more……

•••

(Present day)

You had the day off spending time at home you made yourself comfortable on the couch seeking into the cushion but that didn’t last it wasn’t for long until Scalvo busted through the doors straddling you

“Hey we need to talk” he said

“Talk about???”

“I know you don’t like this next heist but I have to do it there’s money involved” he said you shook your head

He hurried around the house grabbing his bag

“No… scalvo you’re not doing that” you said eagerly following Scalvo around the house as he gathers things in his bag him doing this kind of stuff was normal to you even when it shouldn’t be

“Are you fucking serious scalvo” you said

You knew he was bad for you but that’s what made it exciting for you loving the thrill and you loved him you knew it wasn’t safe being with someone like Scalvo but you couldn’t resist it

“Y/n please just shut the fuck up I have to do this I made a promise !!!”he said continuing to put stuff in the bag

“No..,Promise to who??? I’m not letting you do this! And if you walk out that door that’s it” you said stopping him he gave you a glare dropping his bag

“The fuck did you just say” he said backing you up until your back hit the wall

“You heard me I said we’re fucking done I’m tired of your shit” you said

“You don’t mean that….” he said making eye contact with you

“Yes I do I’m tired of your shit we’re done” you said pushing him but he wouldn’t move

“And I want you to be done with me too scalvo I’m seri-“before you could say anything he crashed his lips onto yours fighting it you eventually gave in pulling away

“Well I’m not” he said before He picks you up eagerly entering your shared bedroom throwing you on the bed kissing your neck his hands made its way to your button up shirt roughly ripping it

“Scal” you said

“Shut the fuck up” he said kissing your lips his right hand roaming your body until it made its way inside your pants his fingers lightly rubbing circles around your clit

“If you meant that then you wouldn’t be letting me do this to you” he said

“Oh my god” you moaned gripping on to his arm gasping as he continued his movements

“Right??? But your not shit talking now are you?” He said you moaned as he continued on with his movements

“Answer me” lightly chocking you feeling two of his fingers push in and out of you

But you knew you couldn’t You could barely answer mumbling words

He kissed you knowing that you were on edge

You kissed him harshly gripping his tightly

“I can’t….im gonna-“ you cut off by his movements as his fingers repeatedly pushed against your spot

“I know”he said kissing you until you came

Slipping his hands out your pants licking his fingers he hummed as he sucked them clean

“You taste good” he said

“ I’ll be back” he said making his way to the bathroom

He finally came back you wasted no time flipping him over now on top of him you kissed him your hands roamed his around his body but before you could continue he stopped you for a second looking into your eyes you smiled at him

“I know you don’t want me to do this but….”

“Yeah but what??” You said your smiled faded getting off of him

“I’m sorry y/n but I have to do this” he said turning to you both laying on your side

“I knew you would still do it anyways”you rolled your eyes

“Well what did you expect”

“I expected you to not go through with it” you said

“What you thought just because you said we might be done that was gonna scare me” he snickered

“I’m not bluffing scalvo If you do this….” you said shaking your head

“I’m doing this whether you like it or not” he said looking at you

you knew you couldn’t trust him because no matter what you said or did he would’ve did what he wanted to do anyways

that’s just the part that hurt the most was knowing that he may not come back…

[nottobehornyonthemain]

I’m just going to throw my hat into the ring about Steve’s parents because I’m bored. But like, Let’s spice up the level of shitty parenting.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington who’s actually a professional. Steve has said that she’s “super well respected” and, for as much as the fandom likes to play him as a dumbass, you don’t put people whoes only achievement is being a jealous housewife on your résumé, especially when you have another parent with a notable (ostensibly white collar) career.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington who’s a news anchor, or a lawyer. Give me a Mrs. Harrington who worked her ass off to be taken seriously by men for the entire late 50’s and early 60’s. Give me a young, ambitious woman with hazel eyes at a mixer for the company she’s working for in Chicago one night, who caught the eye of the charismatic man with ridiculous fluffy brown hair.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who grew up with a veteran father who never really seemed to care. Give me a little boy waiting, every day, for his dad’s letters, waiting for his father Otis to get back from this horrible war. And then he does, and he’s a hero, and suddenly it’s like nothing his son does is worth his notice. When he’s 15 and gets into his first fight? Otis doesn’t even comment on his bruised face before he walks out the door in the morning. When he gets into college? His mother is the one to hand him the watch his parents allegedly both got him as a graduation present. When he gets a job! A good job, where he has his own office and his name on a plate on his desk, not so much as a card.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who promised himself that, if he ever had a son, he would notice. He would pay attention to his kid’s grades, and what they were doing in school. That he would be proud of whatever college his son got into. That if his kid was ever doing something stupid, drinking, fighting, smoking, he would care. And he would say something.

Give me a Mr. Harrington meeting a beautiful woman in Chicago one night, and somehow, convincing her to come back to Hawkins with him. Give me the big news engagement and the blowout wedding fit for two people with nowhere to go but up.

Give me the Harrington couple buying their house, and planning to wait a few years before they start having children. Give me them having their first child, a son.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington being offered the promotion she’s been working towards for years almost immediately after, and taking it.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who never really thought his wife would keep working when they had children, but being smart enough not to say anything about it. Give me them realizing that, between both of their jobs, plans change, and their son will be their only child.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington who “doesn’t trust” her husband not because he might be cheating on her, but because, for as much as he can charm and schmooze with just about anyone, he has never had anyone tell him that he lacks actual understanding of his business. Give me a Mrs. Harrington seeing a stack of papers her husband brought home last night where the math doesn’t quite add up. Give me the blowout fight over his shady new business partner and the costs they could save if they just… cut a few corners. Give me her struggling to be taken seriously and explain to him that the consequences could be actual jail time and a complete destruction of their lives. Give me him hating that she thinks she knows better than him about his own business.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who keeps his promise to care about what his son is doing. Give me his unnecessary lectures, and comments and micromanagement whenever his son walks in the door.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington who couldn’t care less what her son is doing as long as he’s alive. Give me her bitchy comments that have been her best defense in the professional world for so long rubbing off on her son.

Give me a Steve who’s let it shape him. Who got his brown eyes, and desire to be at the top of the social sphere as soon as possible from his mom. Who got his begrudging tendencies to care while still finding something to complain about from his dad.

Give me a Harrington couple who isn’t absent, exactly. Who have the occasional business trip, but are actually in town when most of this stuff goes down. Give me a house that’s almost always empty, not because no one lives there, but because Mrs. Harrington is out late again tonight because the boss needs to be sure everything is in perfect order for Monday. Because Mr. Harrington absolutely has to close this deal. Because Steve has practice for both swimming and basketball today.

Give me a Steve who craves the domestic because of this. Who doesn’t have big plans or ambitions. Who, at his center, just wants to be able to flop on the couch and watch movies with the people he cares about. Who wants family vacations, and kids, and a big house filled with noise. Give me a Steve who understands that that’s where his love of parties came from.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who watches as his son seems to completely throw away everything he worked so hard to give him. Give me the fights over the beer, and the weed, and the grades. Give me the bombshell that his son didn’t even manage to get into college, and the realization that he needs to learn to be responsible.

Give me a Mr. Harrington who comes home one night to Robin and Dustin eating cereal in his kitchen at midnight. Who doesn’t really know what to say, so he sets down his briefcase and eats a bowl of cereal while asking these children who they are and why they’re in his house. Give me a Mr. Harrington patting his son on the back the next morning and telling he how much he likes the nice girl who can speak every language, and the little boy who can recite the periodic table from memory. Give me a Mr. Harrington who knows he made the right decision when he made his son get a job of his own instead of just working for him.

Give me a Mrs. Harrington who, when Steve informs her in the middle of a conversation that he has a boyfriend, doesn’t look up from the mirror where she’s applying her eyeliner.

Give me a Steve who’s had enough of her not caring and asks her, “really? You don’t have anything to say?”

Give me a Mrs. Harrington icily meeting his eyes in the mirror and saying, “Steven. You’ve been putting egg in your hair once a week since you were twelve and a girl in your class told you it makes it shiny, and you’ve been stealing my hairspray even longer.” Then goes back to lining her eyes.

[sweetfirebird]

Allegedly, That Man is going to start mass deportation efforts on Tuesday, also allegedly starting in Chicago. Remember, unless an ICE warrant is a judicial warrant (like a search warrant) you don't have to open the door for them. Also if you think someone you know might be an "illegal" immigrant, you are not lying if someone asks and you say you don't know. Keep it that way and mind your business. (Warrant knowledge from the Leftistlawyer on threads. I am not a lawyer.)

[zarartahir9]

Align SEO content with your target audience and brand messaging. Consider paid advertising strategies to complement organic traffic acquisition. Leverage social media engagement and email marketing to drive traffic to your website. Track and analyze data across all channels to measure campaign effectiveness. For more information...

Integrate SEO efforts with overall marketing strategy?

[memecucker]

Thinking about this time in college when I went to a start of year party at the dorm of my friend who also happened to become my neighbor that year and she had a roommate who I kinda like immediately clicked with like we shared similar interests and we kept returning to having conversations bc it felt like we were both interested in talking to the other and when I mentioned that I had a student membership at the Art Institute of Chicago and would study in the lounge she thought that was really cool and would like it if I could show her around it later on after she’s settled in. And I was thinking oh cool I got a date with a cool neighbor girl neat plus I’m friends with her roommate. So the next week my roommates and my friend and her roommates minus the one I was interested went out and I asked about her and my friend said she was busy and same thing next week and eventually my friend picked up that I liked her roommate and she got out that the girl I liked was trying to not sound rude and actually didn’t like going to clubs and holy shit neither did I I only came because I thought she would. So my friend said that next weekend the girl is gonna be out of town but after that she’ll try one more time to get her to come and if not she’ll throw a room party so the two of us can chat again and I can ask her out. Sweet

Anyway one of the ppl she invited was an old high school guy friend that showed up a day early (while the girl I was interested in was still out of town) to stay over and also this guy was a coke fiend that brought a lot of cocaine to share and he bragged about all the cocaine and he was bad enough of a coke fiend that he was picking it out of the carpet when the lines were finished which I thought it was funny bc it was pretty fucking shitty cocaine compared to what my ex-raver roommate had and also this guy was the son of the mayor of a Chicago suburb so he obviously has never faced consequences before type and also liked heavily quoting rap lyrics with the n word and also once left me in a room with my unconscious friend and closed the door behind him as if he was expecting me to do something and was giving a courtesy. Also got the vibe he may have invited himself over.

Anyway the next day at some point around noon the girl I was interested in came back and saw someone trashed in their living room and also broke into her room and trashed it and stole basically all the valuables and yes it was the scummy rich white boy coke fiend that somehow has coke that felt like it was cut with table salt son of Chicago suburb mayor that stole her stuff and somehow thought he’d get away with it which didn’t happen because his dad has no influence over Chicago PD or the girls family who happened to be lawyers.

So obviously she changed dorms and partially blames my friend for what happened for inviting or at least not kicking out/watching that guy and they then absolutely hated each other I won’t go into all the details.

Anyway that’s the story of how I accidentally influenced a chain of events that caused the the girl I was gonna ask out to get her room burglarized and incinerating the chances of actually getting a date bc what was I gonna say “hey remember me I’m the friend of the roommate that brought over a guy that robbed you? Wanna see the Andy Warhol exhibit?”

[jordenb12]

Latest legal content marketing trends for SEO & attracting clients?

[iturnlemonadeintolemons]

okay so we all know how protective and possessive klaus is oabout caroline. but care is also equally like that with him right and there arent many stories like that about her so one shot for that please if youwant??

Caroline answers the door almost immediately, her eyes wide and desperate. “How is he?”

“Let me in,” Bonnie says coldly, her hand clenching around the briefcase. “Now.”

Caroline steps away from the door, opening it wide enough for Bonnie to enter. Once she has, Caroline slams the door shut and rounds on her. “How is he?”

“How could you?” Bonnie says lowly.

“How. Is. He,” Caroline grits out.

“Caroline, how could—”

“Bonnie!” Caroline yells lividly. “How is he?”

“He’s at the station!” Bonnie screams. “How do you think he is?”

Caroline starts hyperventilating, her hands covering her mouth. “Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god.”

“Caroline—”

“I need to go see him,” she says, running to the bedroom. “He’s alone, I can't be here while—”

“That is exactly what you need to do,” Bonnie says, stopping her before she can grab her purse. “Caroline, he’ll be fine, he can handle himself.”

“He’s my fiancé,” Caroline growls at her, yanking her wrist out of her hand. “I have a right to go see him—”

“If you go there and see him, they’ll declare you as a co-conspirator,” Bonnie says desperately. “You're a lawyer, you'll get disbarred. Care, I know you love him—”

“You're right, I do,” Caroline says icily. “So I'm going to go see him.”

“Care, you'll get arrested—”

Caroline rounds on her, her eyes blazing with fury. “The police lost any right to ban me from the station when they took away the man I loved. For all I care, they and their rules can rot in hell. I'm going to go see Klaus, and if they try to stop me, they’ll regret it.”

“Caroline,” Bonnie tries, a hand on her shoulders. “Think about this. How are you—”

“Klaus runs fucking Chicago,” Caroline spits. “And London, and New York. Do you honestly think he doesn’t have people in his pocket? And he gave their numbers to me. I’m calling his judges and getting him out by tonight. I’ll be damned if he spends one more night in that hellhole.”

“Caroline, you're essentially committing fraud.”

“Call Enzo,” she replies, ignoring Bonnie. “I need him here by ten. And tell him that I need a partner.”

Bonnie pales. “You can't represent Klaus.”

“Are you stupid? Obviously not. Enzo is.” Caroline smiles at her venomously. “I'm working behind the scenes. Those bastards are going to regret touching Klaus if it’s the last thing I do.”

For everyone who's sent me an ask and I haven't answered it, I'm very busy and will try to get to them as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!

[gregorygerwitz]

no one told you life post-grad was gonna be this way...

Growing up in Chicago as the son of a corporate lawyer, Gregory knew exactly what his life was going to look like. He would go to business school near home, then an Ivy League law school, just like his father. Once he had his law degree, he would work for his father's firm and establish himself in Chicago again so that all the right people knew his name and how to reach him.

And, by the time he was moving into an apartment in New York City, everything was going exactly as his parents had planned for him.

Columbia's law campus was close enough to enough bars and clubs that he could enjoy himself without going out of his way. He could buy drinks that were too strong. He could take a few pills from friends. He could hook up with an equally drunk hot local far away from anyone who knew him as the Gerwitz heir.

He was getting good grades. He was active on the social scene. He was a front runner for one of the best summer internships in the city. He was completely, totally successful in all the things his parents wanted him to do, and he hated every single second of it.

If it had been up to him, Greg would be a few hours away on the MIT campus, finishing up a master's degree in computers and technology. He never would have gone to Columbia, or even finished a business degree in the first place. He would have started his legacy instead of following in his father's footsteps. He would have been his own person, maybe even had a boyfriend, if such a thing wouldn't tarnish the family image beyond repair, or whatever his mother believed. With the weight on the entire family name on his shoulders, he didn't even have the option to imagine a life like that.

When he went back home, he would inevitably be married off to one of his mother's friend's daughters, and he'd have a new to do list for his life to start checking off.

On one night in particular, when he was even more upset than normal, he sat at a bar further from his apartment so that he didn't encounter any of his usual crowd. The last thing he needed was whispers about his bad habits spreading around right before midterms. He'd much rather do shot after shot of expensive whiskey poured by an exhausted looking student, based on the age of the bartender across from him, and ignore the look that was shot his way when the name on his credit card was read off with a level of disdain that was only used by half of Chicago.

"Gerwitz, huh?" "Yup." "From Chicago?" "There's a number at the end of my name, isn't there? Take your best guess as to why that is."

Will knew he was lucky to get out of Canaryville when he did. A scholarship, even if it was only a partial one, got him from his tiny family home to a dorm in New York, and he could figure out the rest from there. The rest just so happened to include not talking to his father, and being too far away for a proper goodbye when his brother enlisted and was sent across the world, and having too much of his life in shambles when all he wanted was to go home for a funeral.

Through his first four years in college, he had... someone. He knew better than to call Matt his boyfriend, especially after he'd "met" Matt all over again when Moira invited him to breakfast while she was in the city. That didn't stop him from opening the door every weekend at the drop of a hat, ignoring his studies so that he could be laid out in his bed with a hot med student on top of him. It didn't stop him from doing anything with Matt, wherever they ended up or whenever he got the phone call. It should have.

He'd spent the night with Matt just hours before he missed his flight home. He still knew exactly where the blame lay for his alarm conveniently not going off when he needed it to. Jay didn't, and that meant everyone else blamed him for skipping out on an important weekend that his brother never should have spent alone.

After that, during the summer between graduating with his four-year degree and starting at the Columbia med campus, he decided he wanted nothing to do with Matt ever again. He had the support of his rival, of all people, and Stevie quickly became his best friend when they formed a truce long enough to sign a lease on an apartment close to campus. He would have to work multiple jobs to keep up with his half of the rent, but that was something he'd been doing for years just to keep himself fed, as much as he could.

Between classes, and his job in the dining hall, and his job in the library, and a new job at the bar a few blocks down from their apartment, he didn't have the hours in the day to even let Matt Cooper cross his mind, and that was exactly how he wanted to keep it. The only thing he wanted to do was focus on becoming a doctor so that he could go home again, eventually, with his head held high. He wanted to prove he could do what he'd said he would do, even if he was the only one in his own corner.

Without Matt on his mind, the idea of another boyfriend was a distant one, at best, and completely impossible when he took what spare seconds he had to think about his life. It wasn't like he could take a man home to meet his Irish Catholic father, and he doubted that Jay - safely home from Afghanistan, just barely, and dressed in blue while he patrolled Chicago to keep it safe - would approve much, either. Still, being flirted with came with being a bartender, and no one would shame him for flirting back to get a bigger tip so he could afford lunch one weekend.

Especially when the name Gerwitz came up on a heavy platinum credit card.

That name was synonymous with royalty, back home. The only family names that were more recognizable were Rhodes and Sheffield, and they all traveled in the same circles. He just never expected to encounter that circle of people in a dive bar five blocks from his shitty apartment. But there, on a worn out bar stool no more than three feet away, was Gregory Gerwitz IV, heir to one of the biggest fortunes anyone in Chicago could imagine. And he'd been downing shots like a man who got left at the altar and fired within hours of each other since Will started his shift.

They weren't the same, they never could be, not when life dealt them such different hands, but they weren't exactly all that different. They were both alone, in a city far from their home and their families, and maybe being alone didn't always have to be so lonely.

[driverdefens]

Experienced Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer

Looking for a top-notch business litigation lawyer in Chicago? Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C. is the premier choice. They offer trusted legal counsel for a wide range of commercial legal issues, from insurance companies in liquidation to breach of fiduciary duty. Count on us for the best assistance.

[libras-interactives]

It's Here - Version 1.0!

1925. You work for Cecil Flynn, a ruthless high-rolling lawyer and gang-adjacent businessman based in Chicago. While not your first choice of employment, it's more than enough to support yourself or any dependents ... and he's made sure you can't leave easily. You made a deal with this devil three years ago, and since then you've turned into an excellent investment. 

In those three years, Chicago has been your home, but now your employer has decided it's time for a change of scenery. Alongside your fellow ne'er-do-wells Marius Beausoleil and Jack Paige, you travel to St. Louis, where a wildly popular speakeasy has fallen into Mr. Flynn's crosshairs. It's a shame what you may have to do on his orders, but that's just business, isn't it? 

Step right up to enjoy this interactive Lackadaisy fanfiction! Create your character with over 30 options, and enjoy the story, which will hover around ~20k for most readers.

How to read: Simply click that link and download the HTML file. You can open it with nearly any browser that recognizes HTML. On android devices, do NOT use HTML Reader.

Character creation features: Appearance, gender expression, culture, occupation, and most importantly - the deal you cut with Mr. Flynn. Choose your level of affection, and who you feel platonically or romantically toward - you can also go aromantic and/or ace!

Love interests: Only Rocky and Mordecai to start, with the latter being a very slow burn. Others will be added in future updates, and some characters already have romantically-inclined dialogue/text if you choose to be interested in them.

1.1 update will come after I rest up! Thank yall for the very kind words and suggestions and help with the preview !!

[questintheskies]

1. CM Punk says people in AEW felt “betrayed” when he visited WWE Raw backstage in May 2023.

2. CM Punk confirms that no one came to pick him up at the airport for AEW All In, didn’t cry about it, calls it irresponsible.

3. CM Punk says he told Tony Khan that “this place [AEW] is a fucking joke, you're a clown”. Then he quit AEW.

4. “I don't like the drama but the truth is the truth. He's not a boss, he's a nice guy. That's a detriment to the company [AEW] but it's not my company." — CM Punk when asked about Tony Khan

5. CM Punk talking about AEW: Says it’s not a real or sustainable business, not about selling tickets, not about drawing money. Having good matches maybe which there’s nothing wrong with. Will always exist as long as Tony Khan keeps pumping money into it.

6. “If you're more than happy with some goof saying you had a 5 star match & the building is a quarter full…then we're not in the same business." — CM Punk

7. CM Punk was a consultant to Tony Khan in AEW, working with 2 contracts. One was a talent contract, the other was the consultant contract.

8. CM Punk believed AEW was an alternative to what WWE was. But 90% of the problems he had or identified about AEW were the very things that made AEW different…

He's happy that AEW exists because it allows wrestlers to make more money, but then also says "guaranteed money kind of ruined pro wrestling. If you had to get paid off the house, things would be a lot different"

9. CM Punk on the infamous Hangman Page promo before DoN.

Says Hangman went off the script, and that he wanted to double leg him and “murder” him on live TV if it wasn't for his professionalism. Says he went to TK and the lawyers to get the situation fixed.

10. CM Punk says nobody in AEW talked to him for 6 months after Brawl Out, he had to sort his tricep surgery by himself. He says the difference between getting injured in both companies is “night and day”

11. “I don’t regret my time there (AEW). Im just brutally honest about some things — And it’s done.

I hope they’re happy, I known I am. I would like to leave it at that. I understand fans and the tribalism, I’m a Blackhawks, I’m a Chicago Cubs fan, so I will always troll and needle White Sox fans, or Blues fans, or Predator’s you know?

But some of the shit was so outlandish, talking about my Dog and all this awful stuff”

12. CM Punk says before joining AEW, he was close to re-joining WWE, even before being on WWE Backstage.

He said they had a handshake deal in place but then it didn’t happen. He says Nick Khan lead the charge even before Khan joined WWE as he was with CAA.

13. CM Punk says stories of him being violent backstage are overblown and not true. (Earlier he admitted to choking a co-worker backstage and wanting to murder Hangman Adam Page for going off script)

14. CM Punk didn't have a non-compete clause after being fired from AEW.

15. Samoa Joe told him to stop acting up at All In Wembley, so he did. Then he turned to Khan and told him, “This place is fucking joke, man. You’re a clown. I quit.” Joe and Jerry Lynn came to his room and got him to do the PPV opening match. He said he was “too fired up” then and now rehashing it, and will probably regret talking about it, but “that’s what happened.”

16. He says he wrestled the match for Joe, referee Paul Turner, Lynn who was the agent on the match, and the fans. But he knew it was his last time wrestling Joe, and in the company.

17. He hasn’t spoken to Khan since backstage at Wembley when he quit. He didn’t do anything to make him fear for his life, as Khan said when announcing Punk’s firing on Dynamite, but Punk sayd “he is who he is.” He believes there was a “concerted effort to try to slander [him] and try to ruin [his] character.”

18. Spreading “rumors and lies and bullshit” was the genesis of all his issues at AEW. He thinks it might have been jealousy or envy, but doesn’t understand why anyone would try to dim the star of the company’s top guy.

19. Punk says his remarks at the post-All In scrum weren’t planned, but when he saw “reporters” there who are friends with other wrestlers and who wrote things about him without checking with him, it set him off. He does say it’s in his “top three CM Punk promos”, though.

20. There was nothing it the scrum that Khan hadn’t heard before. Punk doesn’t think he can talk about what happened afterwards. Confirms he is referring to Brawl Out, but says he “didn’t have to sign an NDA for anything I did wrong.” He has nothing he wanted to hide, but Khan wanted him to sign an NDA — he doesn’t know why.

21. As to why he did agree to come back, “I have a lot of friends there”, and Khan wasn’t going to let him go. Rather than sit at home, he thought he’d try to “get some guys together and have some fun shows.”

22. Asked if there’s anything he’s proud of from his time in AEW, he says he made a lot of friends and got to a lot of “cool shit” — specifically mentioning getting to work with Sting. “I think the positives outweigh the negatives”.

23. He talks about attending an indie show recently and telling someone that what happens there works at that level, as evidenced by it selling out an arcade bar, “but that shit doesn’t fly on national television — I think that’s being proven right now.”

24. He’s proud of the work he did with MJF, and thinks MJF’s future is bright as he’s immensely talented. He wasn’t great when he catered to the “niche internet audience”.

25. Punk doesn’t think he’ll ever bury the hatchet with Colt Cabana. He says Cabana approached him at some point before the All Out ‘22 incident, but he told him he wouldn’t speak to him without a lawyer present.