A wonderfully bitter aroma seeped into a quiet office air. By the time Harvey tore his tired eyes away from the tortuously complex file, the mug of coffee and its tantalizing column of steam had already appeared in front of him.
"I've said it once and doubtless I'll say it again. Donna you are an angel." He smiled up at his wonderful secretary who hid her pleasure at the compliment behind raised eyebrows.
"With this hair? I don't think so. My mother always told me angels have pale blonde hair. Blue eyes too. Looks like I don't make the cut."
Harvey didn't press the point, but he could tell there was more to that story. He also knew there were some places that shouldn't be revisited. After all, they said there was no better teacher than experience.
"Well, you're my angel. And I think red hair is beautiful." His tone was casual, and he lifted his coffee as he spoke so Donna missed the anxious tightening around his eyes. She probably wouldn't have seen it anyway; she was too busy trying to keep a lid on the emotional overreaction that his words rather inconveniently had the power to provoke.
I really need to do something about this, she thought, irritated with her high school reactions, its getting out of hand.
She didn't kiss him until he couldn't breathe like she wanted to, but Donna couldn't keep a smile from brightening her face as she took her accustomed spot on the couch. Figuring a change of subject was in order, she informed him of his associate's status.
"Mike's still here you know."
He rubbed a hand over a face lined with exhaustion and stress.
"Stupid kid, I told him to go home. He doesn't sleep enough."
"Aw Harvey. That almost sounded like concern."
He glared the same way he always did when someone suggested he had emotions.
"You know me better. But this is a big case and knowing the puppy he'll probably pass out and spill coffee in the middle of negotiations."
"As long as you remember that the negotiations wouldn't even be happening if it weren't for him. You have to admit, his brain is pretty amazing."
Harvey's face softened and he didn't need to tell her she was right. The conversation drifted into cozy silence as the two sat, content to just be.
Donna gazed out at the gorgeous view of Manhattan nightlife that Harvey's wall of windows afforded. Her smile faded and her face slipped into the mask no one had ever been able to read.
Harvey ignored the view, preferring to examine the nuances in Donna's angular face. He skimmed over her defined cheekbones, noted the impenetrable depth of her eyes, and mentally traced her soft lips. He found himself dwelling on the lips, lingering on the dips and curves.
Snap out of it Specter. She's not interested.
He had never gone so far as to actually ask her out, but he knew how Donna felt about mixing the professional and the personal. Dealing with David Cranford for six months was enough to put a woman off men period, never mind office romance. More cautious around her than anyone else, he downplayed the flirting and made sure he let nothing slip. He wouldn't risk losing her over a relationship he'd probably screw up anyway.
For once in her life, Donna was oblivious. Unaware of Harvey's surveillance, she stared out the window, lost in internal debate. It wasn't just David Cranford, she had never been one for mixing professional with personal.
Relationships in the office are practically the definition of complicated.
Actually if she was being honest, any relationship was just a little too much.
Too much what?
She stifled the nagging voice in the back of her head. It was best her wariness of romance not be examined too closely. It wasn't like there weren't men in her life; they just weren't there for long. She wasn't at Harvey's level with a new woman every week, relationships that lasted a night, maybe less. Mentally changing the subject after refusing to recognize the little twinge in her stomach as jealousy, Donna thought about Mike.
Harvey kept up his careful examination of Donna and he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about when her features softened. Her face relaxed into an expression that was still unreadable but without the hardness that made him feel like he was examining at an iron wall. A beautiful iron wall, but closed off and cold nonetheless. He figured the only person that could put any kind of a dent in Donna's perfected suit of emotional armor was Mike.
Harvey had never shared the thought with Donna, for fear of getting seriously injured, but he was inclined to think that Mike had managed to evoke the secretary's maternal instincts. The way she went after the associates who harassed him, the way she scolded Harvey when she thought the senior partner was too hard on his associate... Harvey smiled and shook his head. Best of all was when she worried over him. He had to resist the urge to tease her about her fretting over his sleep patterns and diet.
Mother hen, he thought, a metaphor that he would not admit to entertaining even under intense torture. Mike is the only one who could get that kind of reaction out of her.
Up to a point Harvey was right. It was Mike that found the tiny chink in Donna's self made protection, but it was not only the effect the new associate had on her, it was also the one he had on Harvey.
Everyone saw the way Harvey pushed Mike to do and be more than any other associate. What they didn't see was the total weak spot the older lawyer had for his protégé. Donna had teased him about him once, after he pulled Mike out of yet another situation.
"You're going soft Harvey."
"Soft? Me? Please."
"Like a pillow. Honestly next thing you know you're going to be helping old ladies across the street."
"We live in New York City. If I tried to help an old lady across the street she'd probably sue me for sexual harassment."
"True. Or at least consider you insane. But you have to admit, Mike's different."
"Different? Of course he's different. The kid has a computer for a brain."
"That's not what I mean and you know it. We've both seen what he gets like when he finds that one piece of information that cracks the case wide open. He really cares. And you know why that gets to you? You do too."
He had sputtered his typical indignation at the suggestion that he had a heart, but the denial just didn't do it for Donna. Because for every time she saw Mike's eyes light with that fire, there were 100 times she had seen it in Harvey.
Donna snapped out of her flashback suddenly, with the embarrassing realization that she had no idea how long she had been lost in her own head. She turned to find Harvey suspiciously focused on the records so neatly arranged on his wall. He was very conspicuously examining some of his best jazz and determinedly not looking at her. She narrowed her eyes as she came to the conclusion that he had been watching her and now clearly did not wish her to know that he had been watching. Too bad she could read Harvey like a book.
She debated whether or not to call him out on it, deciding she wouldn't because she really didn't want to spend anymore time thinking about how it made her feel.
Harvey started to his feet suddenly, reaching for a particular record. Donna watched him curiously as he strode with purpose to the sleek record player that occupied a space in the corner. An unfamiliar jazz tune soon floated through the air and Harvey turned to Donna, a peculiar look in his eye. Something sounded in the back of her mind, a sense of familiarity. She'd seen that look somewhere. Harvey had turned back to the window, hiding his face from her for several minutes before her brain clicked.
Alex Donovan. Senior year in high school. Donna wasn't much for "the good old days" nostalgia. She remembered the four years as a bundle of stress, pressure, and terror of being different. That last made it all the harder for her because of course she was different. A sense of sarcasm that left classmates and the occasional adult frowning in confusion; a first-rate intellect that put her at the top of her class; a discipline that rivaled military personnel; Donna was light years ahead of her peers. She was closer to her teachers' level than anyone else's.
So Donna didn't have a lot of these special high school memories others her age were inclined to obsess over. But she did remember Alex Donovan, senior prom, and the look in his eyes when he asked her to dance. It was the same look Harvey had minutes ago when he turned on the stereo.
Shit.
Donna didn't freak out; it was just something that didn't happen. But now, like a 16 year old, she was flipping over a guy wanting to dance with her. Worse, she wasn't even sure that he did want to dance. It wasn't like she could ask for clarification.
She had made it clear to Harvey that no sort of relationship would be possible in the office. She saw something flash in his eyes as she dropped her subtle comments and knew he thought David Cranford was to blame. Little did he realize Donna was drop-dead terrified of the havoc emotions wreaked on her control. But despite all her efforts, here she was, absolutely losing it. Over a dance.
Sorry for the cut off, but I need to decide how far I want to go with next part of this scene. Or if there is going to be a next part. I'm also considering leaving this hanging and going to a Mike/Rachel conversation about Harvey and Donna. That kind of chapter would probably end with a kiss between our young associate and paralegal couple. Which do you think? Harvey/Donna dance or Mike/Rachel conversation about the depths of their bosses' relationship? Or both?
Review if you have a preference, please. Either way next chapter should be up in three or four days.
Thanks!
