Young Hearts Fade into the Flood
Okay, I did it. Chapter 6 is up. Job's taking up a lot of my time but I still think I wrote this one fast. I hope you like it. Keep on reviewing cause it makes me want to keep going and develop / finish this story. This is unbeta-ed, so I'm sorry for all the mistakes you'll come across when you read it. I'm really trying to feel some empathy towards Paula but I can't say it's easy.
Warning: a bit of sexually explicit content in this one.
But her unrequited love for you is sick. Harvey couldn't help but reminisce on Paula's most inconclusive conclusions. He had to lie to her. There was nothing sick about Donna's love for him. It was unadulterated even though she had initiated that kiss. The entire conversation he and Paula had shared seemed closer to a therapy session than a lovers' quarrel. It had actually been easier to deal with that way. Too easy. He had thought about hiding the fact that it was Donna who had kissed him first but Paula had seen right through him – or was it that she had been looking for a culprit? Driven by one's hatred of the competition before eliminating it? He'd never thought about his girlfriend possibly hating the woman that mattered most to him. 'The woman that mattered most to him'; he was putting Donna on a pedestal again. All Paula could see were unrequited feelings materializing in a kiss but she hadn't considered the terrible sickness within him. Harvey stopped staring at the blackened ceiling when he felt Paula positioned herself between his thighs, her face close to his groin. He had thought her to be asleep this entire time.
"What are you doing?" Harvey asked, stunned at her actions.
"You know what I'm doing," she said with a luscious voice.
But her tone felt plain to him.
"I'm tired, Paula," he said, breathing in.
"You need to relax and I'm here to help you do just that," she said, claiming him.
He wished he'd screamed right there: You think giving me head is gonna make it all go away? Are you serious right now?
She knew she was doing a poor job by blurting out medical mumbo jumbo. Her mind was going places she never thought it'd go to. She wished she were her for a minute for she hadn't been on his mind all night.
He actually felt sorry for her. She was trying her best to make him redirect his attention to her.
But it felt good for a moment, allowing him not to think. He needed sleep. Sleep is how you get better, he thought. He felt her mouth on him, shaking off his ghostly demeanor – only he couldn't focus on her. He closed his eyes and pictured himself sleeping in another Midtown bedroom.
"Harvey?" Paula asked confused, whispering softly before she realized he had fallen asleep.
Donna spent the next two days planning the fundraiser. Rachel almost never left her side, assisting her any way she could. Harvey hadn't shown up at the office too much, working on a new case with Mike. Donna had brought up Harvey a few times in conversations; and each time, Rachel knew it didn't bode well for her friend's sanity to think about the possibility of the two buddies working on something shady – albeit trying to do the right thing.
"–You know Louis is so full of himself when it comes to his 'temple'," she made fun of the senior partner, making a quote-unquote sign with both hands.
"Yeah, he treats it as such apparently," Donna sniggered and paused for a moment, eyeing her salad carefully. "I heard one of Harvey's least favorite clients is getting poached by VanDyke," Donna broached, eating a bite of her salad.
"Yes, he and Mike are trying to get to the bottom of this. Someone tipped off VanDyke that Visionary-Data wants to get out of a multi-million dollar class suit and that they don't think Harvey and Mike will handle it without colluding against its CEO. And Sean Cahill really wants to take down V-D's CEO, Gary Douglas," Rachel explained with a sad look on her face.
"And you think this has to do with Mike?" Donna asked, concerned.
"I know that's what he believes," Rachel admitted with a sad look on her face.
"Just because Mike would rather support the class action than that greedy CEO doesn't mean he would go against Harvey. And you know damn well that the first who would collude with Cahill would be Harvey, not Mike. Unless..." Donna paused, not liking this one bit.
"Don't tell me you believe –" Rachel began to ask, knowing where her friend was going with this.
"Yes, someone's trying to set him up." Donna sighed. "I have to disinvite Cahill," Donna gasped out and rose from her seat.
"Sit down, Donna!" Rachel exclaimed. "You'll jump at the occasion of saving Harvey. Well don't. You might make things worse," she paused and gave her friend some advice. "Don't disinvite Cahill. You need proof to accuse someone of collusion. And Cahill not showing up at the party would signal that. The entire state bar will be there; VanDyke will be there and he might suggest that Harvey be prosecuted for misconduct."
"And this opens doors to a lot of shit," Donna sighed.
"Exactly," Rachel nodded in agreement.
"Then what should we do, Rach?" The pencil skirt aficionado could sense her friend's desperation.
"I'll talk to Mike. You just stay out of it considering how unstable your relationship with Harvey is at the moment," Rachel said and added, smiling: "You just make sure this charity fundraiser is this year's major event. Treat it like a temple."
Rachel left Donna's office, grabbed her smartphone from her purse and started texting Mike:
Hey, do you have a meeting with Harvey today?
'Cause Donna and I were talking about the V-D case
and she thinks someone's plotting against Harvey
in order to prosecute him for collusion.
I honestly believe she might be right about this.
Warn him but don't mention Donna. xx
A few minutes later, she received a text from Mike:
Hey WOML; you're right, something doesn't add up.
I'll tell him to be careful. xx
The night of the fundraiser was fast approaching. In less than six hours, Manhattan's – the nation that is, most pre-eminent law firms, litigators, prosecutors, the senior staff at the NY state Attorney General office and professors would gather to celebrate Jessica Pearson's departure from her firm and NYC. Jessica herself knew that most of them would turn up at the chance to officially say goodbye to such a famous African American lawyer. A most adequate reason indeed. The New York bar itself couldn't pass up the opportunity to let the press know she and the NYBA parted on friendly terms.
Harvey had been glancing at the corridor to his office for the past twenty minutes when he saw Rachel leave Donna's office. He had been meaning to talk to her but Rachel had been a pain in his ass and the Visionary-Data case had taken up most of his time. It had been a welcome distraction anyway, he thought. He rose from his chair and headed for Donna's office for the first time in two days and knocked on her door. She was still wearing trousers – things definitely weren't back to normal. That didn't mean he didn't want to open her door again.
"Hey. Can I come in?" he asked.
Surprised, it took Donna a few seconds to reply: "Sure. Have a seat."
"Thanks," he said, taking the seat in front of her. "I never said it before but this feels weird," he added.
"You mean us seating like this," she raised an eyebrow. "I hope it's some good kind of weird."
"Yes, it is," he admitted.
"Did you pick out a tuxedo?" she asked him, thinking he should pick the Tom Ford one.
"I did," he replied, remembering each time she had chosen a tuxedo for him.
"Good," she managed to say.
"I wanted to let you know I'll be there around 8:45 because I'm bringing Paula and–" he said, trying not to over think it too much – unlike what he had been doing for the past twenty minutes.
"You have to pick her up at her place," she finished his sentence for him.
"Yeah," he exhaled. He thought about asking her if she was bringing anyone but that would have been just to be nice. He had no desire to know. Another part of the problem.
Harvey felt his phone vibrate in his vest. He glanced at it quickly. "Pal of my life's calling. Sorry, I gotta go," he said, giving her a boyish grin as he rose from his chair.
"Pal of my life, really?" Donna said, wittily.
"I will have you know that Mike Ross can't get enough of my corny tantamount to BFF. The poor boy can't help it; he looks up to me," he laughed and added, more seriously, closing the door behind him: "I'll see you tonight then."
No yelling. No pain. No tears. They hadn't had a conversation like that in what felt like ages. They seemed strong enough to let it go now. Let it all out – the kiss, their argument – of their minds.
At around 8:30PM, men and women, in tuxedos and beautiful gowns respectively, paraded into the Palm Court. Jessica Pearson arrived escorted by Jeff Malone and saw Donna, Louis, Mike and Rachel having drinks at the PSL table.
"You look amazing, Jessica," Rachel told the former managing partner.
"Breathtaking," Donna concurred.
"You two don't look so bad yourselves," Jessica winked at them both.
Jeff pulled up the chair where Jessica had to sit. But she didn't sit. Instead she called a waiter nearby, took a glass of champagne from his tray and said: "A toast–"
"To Pearson Specter Litt!" Louis said jovially but cutting off his former boss in the process.
"Not yet, Louis," Jessica shook her head and her mouth curved up in a smile. "This one is addressed to Donna," This threw Donna off-balance. "Thank you for organizing such a beautiful venue. Everybody's accounted for, no invite it seems were lost, and the food looks delicious."
"And the delicious boo– alcohol," Mike added with a smirk, raising his glass of Whisky as well.
"Thank you Jessica," Donna almost blushed. "But I would not have been able to do it without Rachel."
"You're welcome," Rachel mouthed at Donna.
"I've been standing alongside Rachel long enough to know she won't mind me stressing – and I think I speak for everyone at this table and beyond – how there wouldn't be a law firm to call Specter-Litt without you," Jessica finished her toast and drank from her flute.
"Speaking of beyond. Here comes Harvey," Jeff said extending his glass towards the entrance.
Donna couldn't help but turn around and come face to face with Harvey. Did Life, God or the Wonder Women of Awesome Island hate her guts so much that they had made him wear the Tom Ford?
She hadn't realized she had been staring at his not-so-sunken brown eyes anymore, his two signature moles, his perfectly combed hair, strong commanding jawline and smile when Jeff's words broke her out of her reverie.
"And his girlfriend, I suppose," Jeff added receiving a death glare from Jessica.
Her stunned expression turned to a blank one as soon as she saw the woman at his side. 'Knowing about it and seeing it' was a concept Donna thought she could handle. Until that very moment.
Harvey had picked Paula up earlier than he had intended to. During the car ride, Harvey had remained silent; occasionally humming as a means to reply to Paula. But his brain had been busy: thinking about the case, the charity event and Donna.
As soon as he stepped foot into the Palm Court, one of the guests patted Harvey on the shoulder and said: "You're not fooling anyone here Mr. Specter. Jessica Pearson might be one of the most amazing lawyers ever to be disbarred in the state of New York, but this little farce of yours won't make me donate a dime to death row or any kind of pro-bono cases which sure as hell won't come our way."
"Come on VanDyke, you and I both know you need those death row cases to boost up those lowest-to-date billings of yours," Harvey quipped.
"Hey look at me you asshole–" VanDyke warned, displeased at his rival's indifference.
Harvey Specter seemed off, staring into the distance.
"Why would I need to look at you when there's no one for you to poach here tonight? Harvey cut him off. "I think I've been making my point for two days straight now, so why don't you go enjoy the goddamn party?" Harvey asked. His tone was final.
"Ha-ha, we'll see if I do, Harvey. We'll see," VanDyke threatened Harvey, walking back to his table.
"I think this VanDyke's confidence has just been rattled," Paula smirked, "That was actually quite exhilarating."
"Well, the night's not over yet. There will be more than one VanDyke to deal with," Harvey sighed, leading Paula to the PSL table.
He vowed he would find the nerve it takes not to look at her this way. But the woman wearing a Dior dress was all he could see. Of course he knew the designer since he had bought that emerald gown for her.
Yes, I know, you have the right to be frustrated with me. Hit that review button to let me know just how frustrated you are.