Chapter 10:
2 months later.
Donna struts down the halls of Specter Litt Wheeler Williams, a smile on her face as she spots her fiancé, heading in her direction. Her white dress accentuates her small, rounded bump, it hasn't been long since she started showing, and she's made no effort to disguise it.
"Harvey." She greets, meeting him half way as they stop among the hustle and bustle of their workplace.
He pecks a kiss on her cheek, a grin plastered on his face when she blushes, partially scolding him with her eyes, she's always been slightly opposed to displays of affection at work, only slightly.
"Feeling as good as you look, I hope?" he quips and she purses her lips in a failed attempt at suppressing laughter.
"That depends," she replies, shrugging her shoulders with sarcasm, "how good do I look? 'Cause I feel pretty great."
"I was wrong then," he sighs, and she raises her eyebrows, "you look amazing."
Donna beams back at him, shaking her head, "what do you want Specter, I'm busy."
"Just checking up on you, both of you." he ghosts a finger along the curve of her stomach, "need anything?""We're doing just fine," she assures him, glancing over his shoulder she spots a young man at a secretary's desk, staring at her. He looks away quickly when she makes eye-contact, "I was just on my way back from the file room…"
She trails off, upon flickering her gaze back to the desk she notices him staring at her again, looking her up and down. She catches his eye for the second time, narrowing her eyes in a deathly glare, and if looks could kill…
"What was that for?" Harvey asks, mistaking the look for having been directed at him.
"It's nothing just that guy in the grey shirt," she begins, rolling her eyes, "he keeps staring at me." She mumbles.
They'd often received judgement since going public with their relationship, and especially since her pregnancy became noticeable, she'd been keen to ignore those who gossiped or stared, but he wasn't on the same page.
"What's your problem," Harvey yells, at the man, who glances up at him from his desk, he looks bored by the encounter, which only angers the senior partner further, "you got a name?"
"Tom Fields." The blonde man replies in a monotone voice, his eyes flicker back to Donna and Harvey feels his face flush, ready to explode until her feels her hand rest on his shoulder, a light squeeze of warning.
"Get out of my sight." He fumes, and the employee stands, walking off in no hurry.
"I wish you'd learn to let these things go." She whispers.
He decides to change the subject, "Are you excited to have everyone over tonight?" he questions.
They had invited their colleagues over for dinner and drinks, a long over-due house warming party, combined with a baby shower of sorts. They'd put the party off for a couple of months, giving them both the chance to recover and heal from their ordeal. He finds his eyes trailing up to the small scar at her hairline, an image of the nasty wound it used to be flashing across his mind.
"Yes, I can't wait. What time does Mike and Rach's flight get in at?" she asks, the thoughts of seeing their best friends again elating her.
"They should be getting in around now," he answers, smiling, glad he managed to swerve away from an impending argument, "Mike said they'd call by the office this afternoon and see us."
"Perfect," Donna replies, glancing at her watch as she remembers she still has plenty of work to do, "We'd better get back to doing our jobs, Harv, I'll see you later." She places a kiss on his lips, deciding to throw caution to the wind, and give a big fuck you to all who judge them for their relationship.
"Make sure you tell me if you need anything."
"Will do."
And with that she struts off, Harvey eyeing the sway of her hips longingly as she goes.
It's over an hour later when Donna steps out of the revolving door of their building, she takes a well needed deep breath, the fresh air a craving she just couldn't beat these days.
Ever since the ordeal with Lawson, she'd found herself more inclined to feel claustrophobic, and while the feeling wasn't always serious, being confined inside for too long often made her feel uneasy, needing to step out into the open for a few minutes to calm her nerves. The counsellor she'd been seeing had reassured her, time and time again that it was completely normal, to be expected actually.
The day is warm thankfully, a light breeze tickling her skin, she relishes in the moment of peace, the white noise of NYC somehow comforting to her. Soothing her to know she's surrounded by others, safe, in her home town. She'd taken huge strides in the last month to get back to normal, so much so that she rarely felt the need for an appointment with her counsellor anymore. Although she still had small falters, moments when she almost loses control, but she's learned to manage them and she's better, now. Or so she tells herself.
A low rumbling in her stomach prompts her to be pulled from her day dream, realizing it's lunch time. Ever since her morning sickness had disappeared, her appetite had returned tenfold, eating for two to make up for all that time spent too nauseous to take a single bite.
Her feet carry her two blocks down the street, heading in the direction of her favorite café. A cinnamon bun on her mind. Not her usual choice, however cinnamon had become a constant craving for her these days, the only thing that would satisfy her hunger.
She stands in the queue, people watching in the crowded coffee shop as she waits her turn. There's a family sitting across the room at a window, a mom and dad, a toddler perched on the dad's knee, sound asleep against his chest, while the parents chat quietly, throwing admiring looks the child's way every so often.
Her heart takes a leap as she realizes that, that scene, will be their life soon, their own family.
Donna continues her gaze over the room, when suddenly, a familiar face catches her eye.
She frowns, immediately recognizing the blonde as the young man whom she and Harvey had berated earlier, thinking it to be a strange coincidence that he should be here. She tries to shake the paranoid thoughts from her mind, rationalizing, that though this little café has always been a hidden treasure of hers, and not somewhere that many of the staff frequented, it's entirely possible that some do, and she just never took notice before.
She pays for her order, taking the small brown bag with a polite smile. Upon turning however, her skin begins to crawl, the man, what did he say his name was? Something Fields? Was staring at her, again.
Unlike before, when she glared back with a disapproving look, he didn't avert his gaze. Instead, he stared back intently, a smirk on his lips that set Donna on edge.
She continued forward, her shoulders tense as she moved out onto the street, taking long strides back towards the firm.
Again, she tried to rationalize, maybe he was just being friendly – creepy more like. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't formulate any casual excuse as to why he would behave like that.
She came to a halt at a pedestrian crossing, glancing over her shoulder self-consciously. Her stomach curled tight when to her surprise, she spotted him again, approaching the crossing, approaching her. Only a few feet away now.
Donna could feel her heart hammering in her chest, was he following her? And if so, why?
So far, it appeared as though he wanted her to notice him, maybe a ploy to intimidate her? Or possibly just some creep? Both scenarios made her feel ill.
The sign changed to green and she scurried across the road, picking up her pace as she headed back to work, to safety.
Another look over her shoulder confirmed her suspicions, he was still following her, still staring.
She could feel her breath pick up as she pushed through the disabled entrance of the firm, the revolving door would slow her down too much, she finds the reception to be quiet, with most people probably out for lunch at this time. Taking purposeful strides, she approachs the security desk, informing them of the situation with as much composure as she could muster and asking them to check everyone's ID before allowing them entrance to the elevators.
Before the security guard can give her an answer, she hurries off, jumping into the closest lift and pressing the button quickly before anyone else could join her.
She watches the numbers rise slowly as she makes her way upwards to the fiftieth floor, with every second that drags by, she's sure she can feel the room getting smaller, the four walls closing in, her heart hammering in her ears.
"Relax." Donna whispers to herself, closing her eyes and pretending to be somewhere else, not trapped in this small space, her legs feel like jelly, as she grips the metal hand rail.
The ding of the elevator alerts her, and she pushes herself off the wall and out onto her floor, it's quiet, the receptionist's desk empty, as she hurriedly heads for her office, swinging herself around the corner and colliding with two others.
"Donna?" It's Rachel's voice that meets her ears, there's a hand on her forearm, steadying her, she glances up to see it's Mike, "is everything alright?" Rachel asks, her beautiful brown eyes deep with concern.
"Fine." She replies curtly, forcing a stiff smile, Donna moves away, slightly stumbling into her office until she's resting her palm against the desk for support, she hears Mike and Rachel following.
"Donna you're shaking," Mike says, Rachel stays by the door as Mike moves forward to place a hand on her shoulder, she flinches at the contact, "what happened?"
She just shakes her head, remaining silent and Mike and Rachel share a confused glance.
"I'll get Harvey," Rachel states before rushing off in the direction of his office.
Mike tries again to help, resting a hand on her back but she recoils away yet again, "Come on Donna, you should sit-"
"Stop!" she yells, suddenly lifting her head to face him, her eyes wide and angry, "I said I'm fine – so just leave me be!"
Mike raises his hands to his head, palms turned outward, her outburst taking him by surprise and worrying him further, but he gives her space.
She pulls herself around to the other side of the desk, sinking into her chair and leaning her head back as she sucks in a long breath, "I'm sorry," she chokes, and Mike can see she's holding back tears.
He approaches slowly, kneeling down in front of her "It's alright," he replies, and she looks down at him, the redhead reaching for his hand in truce.
He remembers how badly she'd suffered, particularly in the week following their return home, that was the last time he saw her this way. The details of whatever her and Harvey went through still unknown to him and his wife.
"I didn't mean to snap at you." she whispers, he gives her hand a squeeze and shakes his head.
"Don't worry about it, I can be a real ass sometimes," she gives a halfhearted laugh at his attempt to cheer her up, but then her face falls again, "do you want to tell me what happened?"
She swallows, a lot more happening in her mind than is visible on the surface, "I think there's someone following me, I know there is." She corrects herself.
"Do you know them –" he inquires, frowning.
"No but –"
Just at that moment Rachel returned, Harvey following closely behind her.
"What's going on?" he inquires, stepping around Mike to perch on the window sill next to Donna's chair.
"Donna thinks someone might be following her," Mike explains before Donna has the chance to speak.
"No," she corrects, "I know someone is. Harvey, it was that guy from this morning, something-Fields? He followed me out of the firm for lunch and the whole way back –" she stops but quickly jumps in again as Harvey opens his mouth, a rational explanation on the tip of his tongue, "and no, it wasn't a coincidence, he wanted to be seen, he was staring and he had this look on his face –"
She pauses again, the memory making her uncomfortable, and she swallows trying to keep that suffocating feeling in her throat at bay.
"Ok," Harvey nods, though she's not sure he looks fully convinced, the disregard grates on her, "I'll look into it." He promises, looking at Mike who nods his agreement to help.
"I can skim the employment records, see if he's even employed here." Mike offers, with another squeeze of Donna's hand before he's standing.
"I'll help," Rachel chimes, leaving the office with Mike, taking it as a good enough excuse to leave the couple to talk in private.
There's a silence when they're alone, neither one sure how to break it. There's a lingering sense of anger that rattles in Donna's mind, the way he didn't trust her to know that something wasn't right. He'd done so a lot lately, when the trauma made everything seem heightened, and she needed to be brought back to reality, but this didn't count as one of those times. She knows what she saw, how she felt, and it was real, without a shadow of a doubt.
"You want to go home?" he asks softly, and he knows he treading on dangerous ground here, knows that she's not impressed with how he handled things.
"You know what I want Harvey." She bites back, looking up to him, eyes compelling him to understand.
"Donna we can't run to them for every little thing, they won't take us seriously anymore, they –"
"Oh ok," she scoffs, "a stranger, and might I remind you, someone who could very possibly be one of Lawson's men, starts stalking me, and that's not information worthy of taking to the police?"
He knows it's a trap, not sure how to respond, "How can we know that for sure?" he reasons, and the flash in her eyes makes him regret it instantly.
She leans back, lips pursed, and head shaking slightly, "Funny," she breathes, but the tone suggests the opposite of humor, "I remember a time when you trusted my judgement –"
"That's not fair and you know it!" he whines.
"Ever since the situation with Lawson, you've treated me, not only like I'm made of glass, but as though I'm not the same person. I am still Donna." She emphasizes every word, "What happened to me doesn't change that." She pleads with him to hear her.
But his eyes don't change, if anything all she sees written on his face is pity, "I know that Donna –"
"Yeah?" she challenges standing from her chair and grabbing her purse from the desk, "Then why don't you start acting like it."
She moves past him, dodging his attempt to grab at her hand, "Where are you going?" he presses.
"Home." She hisses.
"Should you really be going on your own –"
"Oh!" she laughs incredulously, and he sighs, "Now you want to take this seriously?"
"I'm just trying to –"
"Forget it." She replies with an icy undertone that has his chest tightening, and before he can protest she leaves him, alone in her office, nothing but the echo of her words to keep him company.
XXX
Heyyyyy you're in luck! Turns out it's going to take a few more chapters to wrap this up, I underestimated the length of the plot lol. Anyway, hope you're all still enjoying this story, let me know your thoughts and thanks again for the constant support x