"Jessica, please tell me this is a joke. You cannot possibly be taking this seriously," Harvey said flatly. There was no way. He was in no way going to be attending this event.
"Harvey, this is a big client. Mr. Robins expects all of our senior partners to attend, and that means you too. All I'm asking of you is for one night to put on your dazzling smile and come to his company's summer gala. And bring a date," she said with her air of superiority.
"You think my smile's dazzling?" he teased, trying to change the subject with his trademark cocky grin. Just then, the glass doors to the man's office burst open as Lewis stomped in. Harvey barely restrained himself from mocking the manner of the man's stance with his arms crossed over his chest, hip jutted to the side, and sour look on his face.
"What is this summer gala the Robins' are throwing? And why am I just now hearing about this?" he asked testily.
"Lewis, Mr. Robin's just recently invited only the senior partners and their associates. I'm sorry, but junior partners were not included in the invitation," Jessica stated matter-of-factly.
Lewis opened his mouth to protest, but Harvey beat him to it. "You said nothing about associates," he said in disbelief. "You want me to bring Mike?"
"No, Harvey, I want Mike to bring himself. I want you to bring a date. Be there tonight night at seven. This firm has an image to uphold." She then turned on her heels and strutted out the door.
"Lewis, since you're not going to the gala, I'm going to take your wife. She needs a night out on the town."
"Screw you, Harvey."
/
Mike was rudely called back to reality as his headphones were suddenly yanked from his ears by none other than Harvey Spector. "Hey!" he exclaimed as his attention was taken away from the online game he was excelling in. "I just got to level 63!"
"What the hell is this? I'm paying you to work, not download computer viruses." Harvey didn't really care what was going on, as long as Mike wasn't slacking.
"Oh, you mean the files I finished before lunch?" he said with a smugness he had picked up from his boss, reaching behind him without looking to unceremoniously drop them onto the ledge of his cubical in front of the other man. His attention was already halfway divided, half to the unamused man to his right and half to the computer game.
The older man decided not to comment. Instead he moved onto his main point. "There's a summer gala hosted by one of the firm's biggest clients, a Mr. Robins. As a senior partner, I have been carefully selected to go. As my associate, you are my extra baggage. Wear something snazzy, and be there at tonight at seven. Bring a date." And with that, he walked off without further instruction.
"Harvey! Wait! Where is this place? And how does one dress snazzy?" He signed in exasperation as he got no response from the retreating figure. "Time to visit Rachel," he muttered before pushing himself up from his chair to get some advice, and hopefully a date, from his tasteful friend.
/
"Donna, Donna, Donna," Harvey said waltzing up to his secretary's desk with his (in)famous charming smile.
"Harvey, Harvey, Harvey - what do you want," she replied arching a perfectly shaped eye brow without looking up from her computer screen or slowing down her typing.
"What, a man can't admire his wonderful secretary's work without wanting something in particular?"
"You? No. And I will go with you to Mr. Robins' gala on one condition." He wasn't surprised that she knew exactly what his request was. She always knew what was going on in the office.
"And what would that be," he asked politely, but she saw right through it, rolling her eyes.
"I get the rest of the day off to shop for a dress," she stated, still intent on her screen. The focus of this woman was astounding!
"Done-"
"At your expense."
He sighed. "Fine. My driver will pick you up at six thirty," he said leaning away from the desk and turning to walk into his office, giving her a final glance. She met his eyes and gave him a small smile before logging off her computer and grabbing her purse. She held out her hand for his gold card, which he reluctantly handed over to her.
"See you at six thirty," she said before walking to the elevators.
/
"Helloooo, Rach!" Mike exclaimed enthusiastically as he came through her door and plopped down into the extra chair in her office. She lifted her head up to give him a look.
"Don't...ever call me that," she said slowly.
"Dually noted," he replied, his light airiness quickly decreasing. "Ok, so I need a favor." She lifted her eye brows. "Ok, so I need a big favor. Please," he with an attempt at Harvey's charming smile. By the look on Rachel's face, it obviously wasn't working.
"Hasn't Harvey taught you to not be so quick to beg? And what is this big favor?" she said in a poor imitation of his voice.
"I need a date to Mr. Robins' summer gala tonight. And I don't have time to meet and woo a random woman by seven tonight."
"Thanks Mike. Always good to know that I'm second only to random women," she said with thick sarcasm, but he detected a hint of humor in her voice from his teasing.
"Thanks for understanding. Also, Harvey told me to dress snazzy. What are the stipulations for that?" he mused. She smiled.
"Mike. Mike!" she said pulling him from his inner turmoil. "I'll go with you." He fist pumped the air. "BUT," she called out. "Only because I got this dress that I absolutely love but haven't had a chance to wear."
"So really, now you owe me a favor?" he asked hopefully. She laughed.
"Bye, Mike," she said still chuckling, waving him off as she started to get back to work. He lifted himself from the chair with a pep in his step as he walked to the door. Suddenly he pivoted around.
"Oh!" he said, preparing to ask a question.
"Wear your nicest black suit and dress shoes with a white dress shirt and a solid pale purple tie," she said with a smile.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Bye, Mike!"
/
Harvey's limo pulled up in front of Donna's building at exactly 6:30 pm, right on schedule as usual. His driver hopped out to open the door the woman, and it was then that his eyes took her in.
Her hair was curled and pinned to perfection, her full lips a popping red, smoldering eyes, and that dress. Dear God, that dress. The thin straps seemed to barely hold up the gold material that clung to her round curves and thin middle. His eyes nearly bulged out when she lifted a leg to step into the limousine, revealing a mid-thigh slit showing off her long, perfect legs attached to a tall pointed stiletto.
She looked beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Not that he would ever tell her that.
"I hope you like the dress," were the first words out of her mouth. "Because it cost you a fortune," she said handing him the receipt for not only the dress, but for the shoes and clutch too. He barely took note of the four and five digit numbers, opting to let his eyes glaze over her a second time. He smirked.
"All this money and I don't even get to take it off?"
"Play your cards right and you could give me a hand," she said saucily. They sat in sexy silence until the limo stopped. Looking out the window, Donna asked, "why are we at Mike's building?" Harvey snorted.
"If I hadn't given that bozo another transportation option, he would have attached a passenger seat to his bike for Rachel. And the last thing I want is an upset paralegal on Monday when I need some research done," he replied sure of himself.
"Right, so this has nothing to do with you going soft on the kid," Donna asked with a superior, knowing smile.
Suppressing a faint grin as he looked out the window to see Mike smirking cockily and Rachel covering her mouth in laughter with mirth in both their eyes, he responded with a threat to ditch her for the next best dressed blonde on the street. She retorted with a threat to find the next man with the worse haircut on the street to help her unzip her dress later.
/
"Wow. Rachel...you look gorgeous," Mike said in earnest once he found his voice. He cleared his throat and gave her another once over. The dress she wore, a tasteful lavender wrapped bodice with a full aline skirt. The gold accents on the dress were perfectly placed to accentuate her curves and Mike had a hard time pulling his eyes away.
"You don't clean up too bad yourself," she said with a small blush, reaching up to fix a piece of her hair that fell out of place. They both awkwardly smiled and nervously laughed at the familiarity of the action.
"Better than Lewis, anyway," he said at an attempt to break the ice. She nearly doubled over in laughter and he couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh. If only he could get her to agree to go out to dinner with him for a non-work related event...
Harvey's limo pulling up to the curb pulled them both out of their little world, and Mike opened the door for Rachel, ducking in after her to take a seat next to his date.
"You're late," Mike said.
"If you didn't want to ride your bike Jersey, you'd shut up."
/
Within minutes of walking through the door, Harvey was bombarded with dozens of clients coming to say hello. As little as he liked people, Harvey Spector certainly was a master with them. The women especially. Despite Donna and their husbands being present, six women managed to slip their room key or address into his pocket, not that he was surprised. He knew his charm. But it didn't matter - he was pretty sure that he had a late night date secured for later anyways.
Mr. Robins came up to them at that time, shaking then men's hands and pressing a light kiss the the fingers of the lady's. After thanking Harvey for his legal expertise, he introduced him and Mike to several friends looking to be perspective clients. After an hour of mingling and handing out business cards, the four made their way to their designated table for dinner.
The food was excellent. Mike got a majority of his entertainment from watching Rachel eat and comment on the fine cuisine, and she lightly teased him back for picking off anything that looked too over the top from the main dish underneath. As dinner began to draw to a close, the pair glanced towards Harvey and Donna, who appeared to be lost in their own world. They were talking about work in words, but had more entertainment in what was going on that was unsaid. He was making her smile, and their always easy banter seemed to be going strong.
"You think their together together?" Rachel asked Mike in a hushed whisper.
"I don't think so. I know Harvey's a ladies man, and Donna doesn't really strike me as the type to allow herself to be one night stand kind of girl." Rachel snorted.
"Ya think?" she said sarcastically. Mike smirked.
"But maybe. There's only one way to find out though," he deviantly said, wagging his eyes brows.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Robins announced, drawing everyone's attention to the host. "I would like to thank all of you for coming tonight, especially our sponsors, and our friends from Pearson Harden. As our night comes to a close, I would like to invite all of you to come to the dance floor. Thank you all again!" he said exiting the floor as soft music began to start.
"Unbelievable," Harvey huffed, not trying hard to disguise his disgust. "A dance floor?"
"Smile, he's coming our way," Donna said under her breath. The table straightened up in their chairs and flashed their best smiles towards Mr. Robins and his wife.
"Harvey, I hope you are having a nice time?" he asked a bit too eagerly.
"Of course, Patrick. And a dance floor, fabulous touch!" Mike fought the urge to smile and roll his eyes.
"Well please join us. I hear you are quite the dancer yourself, Donna." Where he heard that, she had no idea.
"Why yes," she said with a pleasant smile. "We'll be out in just a moment."
"Very well," Mr. Robins said standing up and offering his hand to his wife. "Enjoy the rest of the evening."
After he was well enough away, Harvey turned to Donna. "I am not dancing," he said seriously. She just grinned mischievously.
"Play along," Mike whispered in Rachel's ear before standing up and walking over to Donna.
"Donna, I would be honored if I could have this dance," he said with an overdramatic bow, extending his hand. Her face displayed her shock and disgust as he tried to hold back a smile. Rachel bit her thumb to stop laughing.
"Get your boney hand out of her face," Harvey said pushing Mike roughly to the side, offering Donna his hand. "Dance with me." It was more of a statement or demand than a question, but she nodded and took his hand just the same. Mike grinned triumphantly at Rachel at held his hand up for a high five. As she slapped his hand, he grabbed onto it and pulled her from her seat.
"I know absolutely nothing about this dancing stuff, but I'm going to ask you anyways," he said smiling. "May I have this dance?"
She couldn't help but smile. He was so cute! "Yes," she said confidently as he walked them to the dance floor.
"Ok, put your feet there, no there. Right, now step forward, no, your other foot, there we go. Ouch! That's my toe..." and so on.
/
"He's an ok kid, Harvey," Donna said after a minute of watching Harvey watch the young associate and paralegal.
"I'm just agreeing to what you just said because I have found from experience that to guarantee a late night liaison, one should blindly confirm everything the woman says," he said, causing her to chuckle against his shoulder.
"And if I said that the woman in the red dress was prettier than I am and you agreed, what's your escape plan?" she asked defiantly, but with a teasing tone.
"Ah, then I tell her most of the truth, that I was agreeing to everything, but because I was too lost in her gorgeous eyes to focus on anything else," he said with a cocky grin. "And then I would go on to tell her that the red woman pales in comparison, and she is the only women I see." She rolled her eyes.
"Nice save, casanova."
"Yes my lady," he said spinning them another time.
A/N~ I fell in love with this story line, and had so many great ideas for it, so once it got into my mind, I decided I just had to make it a one shot. However, the closer to the end I got, the less inspired I got for it. Oops. I'm not to good at endings anyways, so I'm just going to leave it there. Hope you liked it!