Let Your Heart Beat Here
Pairing: Angst/ Romance/ Darvey established
Summary: Four months after Robert's departure everyone is doing their best to rebuild the firms reputation but when a lucrative client forcefully sets his sights on Donna she finds herself stuck between a rock and hard place. (Darvey established)
Spoilers: Loose spoilers for the end of season 8.
AN: I know, I shouldn't be starting anything new when I have so many unfinished stories! But this is going to be four chapters max. It was only meant to be a one-shot but it got away from me :P
Warnings: There is a chapter that deals with an unwanted sexual advance. Nothing graphic but it does contain some violence so I may up the rating for that one.
O••••O••••O
Donna loses herself in the hum of the copier, her thoughts drifting as the paper spits into the tray with an uneven jerk every few prints. The machine is weathered and needs replacing but since Robert's departure, in the midst of all the recent changes, her knack for fixing it has helped lessen her guilt. She's largely responsible for everything that happened and she wishes several things had played out differently but not everything went to shit and the memory of Harvey appearing at her door tempts a loose smile.
In moments like this, safe in her own sanctuary of solitude, she's always a little too quick to blush thinking about him. They're far from perfect and still discovering things old and new about each other but it's as close to perfect as she needs it to be; everything she didn't realize she was missing with Thomas.
Her hand stalls over the copier and she breathes out a regretful sigh.
All she'd been trying to do was protect him but not every good intention has a favorable outcome; a fact she's reminded of when the smell of over-priced cologne wafts heavily into the room. She'd deliberately made herself scarce not wanting to run into to Harvey's three o'clock but hadn't counted on the man's arrogance leading him to seek her out. An underestimation of his character on her part. If history has taught her anything it's that Christian Sutter has no moral standing when it comes to brazen and unwanted advances. He's a misogynistic asshole who thinks it's okay to objectify women and she tenses as his gaze bores a hole in-between her shoulder blades.
"This isn't the conference room Mr. Sutter-" her tone falls deliberately short of polite, "and you're running fifteen minutes late."
Christian tames his jet-black hair with a wayward hand, smirking at her know it all attitude. It's a little too high and mighty coming from a secretary who probably fucked her way to the top and he pulls the door closed in a swift motion not missing a beat. "I'm fashionably late and it's what people expect from a man of my stature."
His voice crawls beneath her skin but she keeps her focus on the copier canceling the current job, calm fingers gliding over the pieces of paper in the tray. She doesn't believe he would actually try anything, not with so many people on the other side of very thin walls, but she still jumps when he appears blocking her way out.
"Excuse me." She stands defiantly in front of him trying to ignore the hungry roam of his eyes raking down her body.
"I'm sure you can spare me a few minutes..." he tuts at her, the old saying time is money irrelevant compared to his multi-million dollar fortune. If he wanted to he could buy time and keep it stored away in jars for a rainy day. He has wealth in spades but what he really craves is dominance. Having people eagerly cave to his demands like the great Harvey fucking Specter; a powerful man reduced to nothing more than billables and money. It's pathetic but amusing so he indulges it but what he can't stand is a lack of respect and he reaches out snatching the copies from her hand. "Perhaps you could personally reassure me that my time here is in fact valued."
His hot sickly breath makes her want to recoil and she feels like a rodent trapped in a game of cat and mouse. He knows the firm is in trouble and is praying on their financial desperation but no account is worth what he's suggesting and she doesn't waver shooting him an icy glare. "That's never going to happen."
There's more poised on her tongue but it doesn't breach her lips and his expression breaks with an amused chuckle. She might have the balls to stand up to him behind closed doors but he's the one paying her bosses salaries and he hands over the papers casually moving aside. "Well if that's how you feel, after you... I insist."
She takes the out quick to put as much distance between them as possible but his long legs keep a steady pace behind her and as soon as she opens the door his arm reaches over slamming it shut again. She immediately stills, bile churning in her throat as he shamelessly presses against her but before she can muster a protest his mouth is at her ear teasing her with a threatening warning. "You have a price-tag just like everyone else in this building Miss Paulsen... don't forget that."
A spark of anger jolts through her and for a split second she doesn't give a damn about keeping his account, ripping the handle back to place them in full view of everyone else but he's already stepped back and her breath comes out hard and fast as she collects herself refusing to give him the satisfaction of making a scene. Instead she stalks toward her office forcing a smile as Gretchen meanders into her path with a questioning look. She shakes her head indicating not now, and digs her nails into her palm as her heels drive her forward.
Fuck Sutter.
She has something he doesn't; integrity and he can go to hell but there's no way she's letting him drag the firm down too. She's Donna and if he doesn't back off he's going to learn exactly what it means to be a name and a title all in one.
O••••O••••O
Harvey's buried in work when his door opens, the movement swinging a shadow through the dusk light filtering into his office. He'd missed the time passing by having had a shit of day playing pony to Christian goddamn Sutter but his expression softens as a manila folder lands open on his desk- the mere presence of his girlfriend easing the tension budding behind his temples. He doesn't waste any time scrawling his name across the dotted line and signing off on the business side of things so he can put the arrogant prick out of his mind.
"Thanks." He closes the cover over the documents and hands them back to Donna with a grateful sigh, "I didn't need that dragging out any longer than it had to."
"Guy's a jerk." She offers with a shrug, sharing the sentiment and rearranging the pages so his signature's at the back. The sooner it's put to bed the happier they'll all be, herself especially.
The comment isn't surprising but the lack of follow-up lifts his attention from the open laptop. There's a distracted look on her face which is somewhat puzzling. Not that he would normally call himself insightful but thirteen years working together and four months sharing the same bed has started to hone his senses. There's something off and he takes in her tense expression with a small frown. "Everything okay?"
"Fine." The response is clipped and she tucks the folder under her arm meeting his curious gaze. There was a time he wouldn't have picked up on her hesitation but he's become a lot more invested in trying to figure out her needs recently and she's grateful but the situation with Sutter isn't something she wants to advertise. Not until she figures out how to handle it for herself first. "It's nothing." She tries to smooth over his confusion with a smile, "long day, that's all."
Bullshit. He can tell the platitude is being forced and sinks back in his chair debating whether to call her out or leave it until she's ready to talk. He trusts her to come around on her own but they also agreed their lives are so entwined they can't afford to keep secrets and he hooks up an eyebrow testing the waters.
She reads the look and there's room in his silence to let it drop but the concern nestled in his gaze urges her to be honest. He's right, even without saying it out loud. They don't keep things from each other and she swallows, strangely nervous as she stumbles over how to tell him what happened. "Sutter... walked in on me in the file room. That's why he was late for your meeting."
He nods slowly, shoulders tensing in response to her hesitation. There's obviously more to the story and he tries to keep from jumping to worst case scenarios as he prompts her to keep going. "When you say walked in-"
"I mean he came in, shut the door and basically propositioned me." She recounts what happened, not sugarcoating it but not intending to play the victim either. It was an unpleasant encounter but that's all and she keeps the details deliberately vague so he won't overreact. "Nothing happened and I handled it but like I said, the guys a jerk."
The brush off along with her hasty 'nothing happened' isn't exactly reassuring. She's acting like he's her lawyer or boss, not the man she takes home every night, and he casts a quick glance out the door as he pushes up from his seat. They decided to keep things professional at work but this is different, he's worried about her and steps in closer keeping his voice low. "Donna..." he takes a deep breathe holding her gaze, "if Sutter did anything-"
"He didn't." A flash of being pressed against the door fires a spark of guilt but admitting things turned physical will only be blown out of context. They need to be level headed, consider the firms best interests first, and she rests her fingers lightly against his arm reassuringly. "You know as well as I do we need his account."
Fuck the money. That's the first thought that springs to his mind but there's an undertone to her soft expression. She's asking him to trust her and his jaw stiffens though he can't bring himself to argue. They're a team and he might not like it but there are going to be times they have to tow the line in their personal lives. Still, that doesn't mean he's going to sit idly by and do nothing about one of his staff members being harassed. "I'll organize the next meeting offsite." He dredges up the the reluctant compromise, "I know you handled it... but I don't want him near you if it's avoidable."
The protective edge is sweet and wraps around the stupidity of her nearly keeping what happened off his radar. Their trust in each other is one of the reasons why they work and if this was one of the first real hurdles in their relationship then as far as she's concerned they've cleared it with relative ease. "I can live with that."
Her loose smile relaxes him despite the unease still knotted in his chest. He hates the idea of her having to fend off an asshole like Sutter but also knows no matter how much he wants to protect her she's capable of taking care of herself too. It's just another thing he admires about her and he places a chaste kiss to her temple, pulling back when he catches a sudden movement behind her.
It's Alex- no doubt with another crisis looming on the horizon and his hand falls back to straighten his suit as he sits down. Sometimes he worries he and Donna are getting a little too good at separating their working and personal lives but it's an adjustment he knows they'll figure out.
They're in this for the long haul and he's never been more sure of anything else.