no way i'm giving up; 1,283 words
Harvey tugs at the collar of his shirt. If you ask him he will not admit it, but he is sweating. He needs a distraction, something to take his mind off this sweltering heat; within a few seconds he catches a glimpse of Donna.
He does a double take when he sees she's wearing white. You'd think it would make her skin look even paler but instead it accented her red hair perfectly and made her look even more beautiful than normal. She's the definition of perfect: luscious hair, the curve of her neck, the flare of her hips. Harvey can't help when his gaze lingers longer than what would be considered appropriate.
Sometimes he watches her—and not in a creepy way—but in a way where he can't take his eyes off her, in a way where he found her every move faultless, elegant, mesmerizing.
He thinks he's always known it. The thought has always been in the back of his mind; If she can walk like that what else could she do?
He remembers that every once in a while he builds up enough courage (although when he looks back it was the very opposite of that) to say something somewhere along the lines of, do you purposely sway your hips like that to tantalize me? Or your hair looks so soft. Would it feel that way underneath my fingertips? Then he remembers it's the alcohol talking or the fact that he's high—off a win or off her, sometimes he can't tell the difference. And if it's the latter then he hopes he dies with her by his side because he can't imagine a better heaven.
But when it comes down to it, when the day is fading and they're wrapping up he settles for a simple, "Good work today. I couldn't have done it without you." And she knows he's being completely honest. Sometimes he just looks at her and she knows all the words he can't say.
Right now he watches her at her desk. He should be working on some contract or some negotiation; he honestly couldn't care which. He'd rather sit and watch her.
Her voice crackles over the intercom, interrupting his thoughts, "Harvey? Is there something you need?"
He shakes himself out of his reverie long enough to formulate a response, "No…" After a moment something occurs to him and he speaks again, "Is that a trick question. Is there something I should need?"
"Yeah some humility," she mutters under her breath.
"What was that, Donna?" and his tone of voice tells her that he heard exactly what she said but yet she replies with a quick nothing and with hopes that he will drop it.
"Donna…" But of course him being Harvey he doesn't.
Her being Donna she would normally have used her acting skills and quick wit and made up a lie to get her out of it but there's something about the way he says her name that makes her speak. Part of her realizes she wants to get this out into the open because she's tired of pretending, tired of suppressing her feelings and just plain tired.
"It's just that…you've been staring at me for the better half of an hour and I would ask if there's something on my face except for the fact that my back has been facing you for almost the entire time…"
"You're beautiful, Donna."
"…and it's not just today. You've done it a few, actually more like many times before. I've always been hesitant to bring it up but—wait what?"
"I said you're beautiful."
The way he says it leaves her speechless; like it's a fact. Not a question and if someone were to refute him (which of course no one would) he would fight them tooth and nail because he whole heartedly believed it. No suggestive winks or glances. He was being genuine and that fact threw her off when it should have warmed her from head to toe.
"Well…okay."
"Okay?"
"Well… thanks I guess?"
He studies her for a moment. "Are you okay, Donna?"
She scoffs at that, "Of course. When am I not?"
"Umm–," He stops abruptly when she shoots him a glare over her shoulder. After years of spending time with her he knows when to press and when to give her space. Right now was the latter.
A few minutes tick by before Harvey's curiosity gets the best of him and he slowly gains his confidence (and that's when it strikes him that the only time he is even remotely timid is when he is around her) enough to revisit the subject again. "Yeah but Donna–"
"Harvey." She shoots him the glare again. But of course he's the only one who has ever had the guts to stand up to her after being on the receiving end of one of those, and today was not the day, and this was not the conversation he was going to back down from.
He stands up and walks out of his office and perches on her desk. "Donna, whenever you receive a compliment you are the epitome of self-confidence, you practically ooze it. Sometimes you're worse than me." She shoots him another glare for that, he gives her a wink and continues. "Now you're stuttering and rambling and it's disconcerting."
Donna's face stays impassive and she stays silent to the point where Harvey wonders if she's ignoring him or if she even heard him at all.
The clock ticks in the silence and he counted all the things he could be doing with her in the time that passed. Fantasies flickered across his retinas.
She turns towards him. "Look, I appreciate the thought, I do. It's just weird because you're my boss."
"So I'm not allowed to comment on how you look?"
"If I say no, you're still going to do it aren't you?" At his nod of confirmation she rolls her eyes. "Since you insist on being an uncompromising asshole, comment away. But the stares are creepy."
"I don't stare." His voice is the perfect mix of outrage and amusement because she would know.
"Uh yeah, you do." Donna shoots him a don't-argue-with-me look.
"Alright, maybe sometimes I do."
She looks up at him in surprise. Harvey doesn't back down that easily. And then it hits her like a truck (and she knows how cliché that sounds but that's exactly how she feels); the seriousness of this conversation and she panics. She's already been down this road once. No need to relive it. So she deflects, "Don't you have work to do or something? Actually I know you do."
"Hmm alright." He sees what she's doing but he can't break down all her walls in one day (although that is exactly what she did). Sometimes Harvey thinks about how she knows everything about him but he basically knows nothing about her. If someone were to ask him what her favorite color was he would not be able to give them a definitive answer and that bothers him.
He turns back to go into his office but he pauses at the door, "Donna you're not just a secretary, you're my friend, too."
She gives him a tight smile and she looks away but she can still feel his gaze on her.
"I'm really starting to hate this whole office made entirely of glass thing."
He lets out a laugh. "It does get hot in here in the summer," he says with a wink.
As he turns away she takes a deep breath. Maybe they could do it again. Then she shakes her head. He's just high off the win.