Chapter 10- The Painting
As promised at the hospital Harvey and Donna were getting ready for dinner with Harvey's mother. Donna had booked a new restaurant, she originally suggested that they go to Del Posto's but Harvey said no. That was their place and he didn't want to ruin it with the memory of this dinner in case it didn't go well. Harvey was nervous. He hadn't had a proper sit down dinner with his mom since he was 16. They hadn't even spoken since she barged in at the hospital but he was pleased with the outcome of that talk. He never imagined that they would be able to move forward that quickly after 20years but thanks to Donna they made progress.
Donna was feeling less stiff now and was walking around a lot easier. The doctor had refused to give her the okay to go back to work but other than that she was a lot better. She will be starting radiation next week after all her surgical scars had completely healed. She was still a little stiff under the arms and she still hadn't been able to be intimate with Harvey. She couldn't explain it but she just felt like no one could ever find her attractive now. She used to flaunt her cleavage with V-neck dresses and low cut clothing and now she had nothing to flaunt. Harvey was being very understanding and patient but she knew that he wanted more than she was giving him.
Harvey was tying his tie when Donna walked in. He saw her and immediately stopped what he was doing "What" Donna questions curious to why he had stopped.
"Well your just doing to re-do it anyway so I thought I would skip the middle step" He said turning to face her with the tie hanging around his neck. Donna rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through the tie as she re-positioned it to tie. She did a flawless Windsor knot that hung in a perfectly straight line down the center of his shirt. Please with her work she tapped him lightly on the torso and he turned to look in the mirror.
"So" she said causing Harvey to turn back around to face her "Which dress black or wine coloured?" She held up two high necked dresses. Since her operation she had refrained from wearing anything low. She had gotten a pair of bra inserts so that it looked like she had boobs but she wasn't keen on them. She just wanted her old body back; the one she was so proud of.
"Hmm" Harvey liked both of them but he had always liked her in colors "the red one" his very male like interoperation of the wine color making Donna smile.
"Okay then" She lay the dress down on the bed and proceeded to hang the other one in the wardrobe "Harvey do you mind?" she said pointing to the dress she was about to put on. She didn't want anyone to see her, including Harvey. She could barely look at herself in the mirror at the moment. The look of herself with no clothes made her cringe.
"Oh sure" Harvey frowned a little before grabbing his jacket and leaving the room. He didn't know whether Donna just wasn't comfortable with herself anymore or whether she thought that he wouldn't find her attractive anymore but either option made his heart break. She was still Donna and nothing on the world seemed as perfect as her.
Soon they were both ready to go and were sat in Ray's car once again. Harvey's knee was shaking a little on the floor which was one of the more obvious signs he was nervous. Donna placed her hand on his leg to stop it from shaking. He looked over to her and smiled as a thank you. Her touch calmed him a little and before he knew it they were sat at a table for three in the corner of a busy restaurant. There were a lot of couples here much like most restaurants but the decor in this one was a little different. It had a Greek theme to it. The frames of the doors and a few pictures were painted blue and there were green plants dotted around the sides of the room. The walls were a collection of different shape and sized stones and there were only a few small lights embedded into the room. These lights along with candles on the tables made for a fairly dull lit restaurant with a slight amber glow. It was not the typical sort of restaurant they would usually go to but he imagined that is why Donna had picked it. That way if it didn't go well they would not mind not going again.
They were sat there for a while and there was still no sign of Lily. Harvey didn't know whether she had ditched their plans or whether lateness was just a part of her character. He didn't really know the woman after all. Donna had ordered some drinks a while ago. She had gotten herself a small glass of red wine since she was advised by the doctors not to drink too much and Harvey had his usual scotch. As it approached 8:30 and Lily was now around 30 minutes late Harvey got less optimistic she would show up. Both he and Donna had been watching the door for the last quarter of an hour and she never appeared.
"This is stupid, she's not coming" Harvey downed his scotch and stood up from the table.
"Harvey she might just be late we should wait a little longer" Donna grabbed onto his hand to stop him from leaving. She still had some hope that she would turn up. She didn't know the woman either but she had good instincts and something told her that the woman she saw at the hospital who wanted to make amends with her son wouldn't stand him up at dinner.
"Donna it's been half an hour. She's not coming" Harvey didn't hold much hope when it came to this sort of thing. It seemed all too plausible that she had just decided that he wasn't worth knowing. She had left him once before and if you can do it once you can do it again.
"Okay" Donna had to admit that it was late and she hadn't called or anything to let them know she was running late. If she were going to turn up late she would have called right?
Donna and Harvey both got up and grabbed their jackets and headed towards the doors on the other side of the restaurant. Harvey didn't even know why he wasted his time trying to reconnect with his mother. She just let him down it's what she did and maybe it was all just more hassle than it was worth. Just as they were about to get into a cab Lily rushed onto the sidewalk.
"Wait" she called after them and bot Donna and Harvey stopped getting into the cab. They turned to see a very flushed looking woman "Please don't leave" she continued.
"You're late" Harvey stated rather harshly.
"I'm so sorry I can explain" Lily was out of breath; she had obviously rushed there and so was still trying to catch her breath. Her flushed complexion was another sign of her lateness.
"Well we were just leaving" Harvey explained. He was still so angry with her and he was reflecting that onto her right now. He wasn't mad about her being late he was mad about the fact that she left him when he was a child and he thought that she had done the same thing again. He was mad that she didn't have the common courtesy to let him know that she was going to be late.
"Harvey please don't go I am really sorry that I am so late" Lily was being rather vague about what held her up; she obviously didn't want to tell him whatever it was which just made Harvey more curious.
"So come on then, what is the excuse" Harvey knew that he wasn't going to like it he could tell. Donna grabbed onto his hand at this point. She too knew that whatever it was Lily really didn't want to tell Harvey by the way she sighed as he asked the question.
"It doesn't matter, how about we just go inside" Lily suggested.
"No I want to know what made you so late and unable to call and let us know" Harvey was just being stubborn now. It didn't matter but he wanted to know.
Lily sighed again before answering "Bobby came over unexpectedly and he needed my help with something. I would have called but we just lost track of time" Harvey scoffed at the sound of that bastard's name. He hated Bobby and when he found out him and his mother were still together at his dad's funeral he was livid.
"Right" Harvey should have known it had something to do with Bobby the second she had avoided the topic of why she was late "Well as I said we were just leaving" Harvey turned to Donna who gave him one of her looks. She wasn't going to let Harvey leave every time Lily did or said the slightest thing that he didn't like.
"Harvey, go inside" Donna ordered tapping the bonnet of the taxi so the driver would know to leave. Harvey did what he was told with little enthusiasm and walked back into the restaurant where the waiter once again showed them to a table.
They all sat in silence and Donna couldn't help but roll her eyes at Harvey's stand offish behavior. Boy he could sulk when he wanted to she thought to herself "So Lily" Donna broke the silence unable to take it anymore. Whoever said silence is golden obviously hadn't sat at a table with Harvey and his long lost mother. "How is the painting going?"
"It's going well; actually I just held my annual children's art exhibition at the Children's Museum of the Arts. It was a really good year this year" Lily smiled and Donna mirrored the expression. Harvey however was still straight faced and not engaging in the conversation.
"Harvey had one of your paintings in his office for years" Donna knew Harvey wouldn't like his mother knowing this but right now she didn't care. If it got Harvey to actually speak it was worth it.
"Really, I didn't know that" Lily knew what painting it was as Harvey had only taken one of her painting and Gordon had returned the others too her soon after she left. She had assumed that he burned it or something.
"Well I don't have it anymore" Harvey had used the painting to remind himself that he and his mother were once close. When she painted this he had been young and he had thought her to be the most amazing artist in the world. He had admired her and they had fun together. Since Stemple took it he lost the only thing that reminded him that his mother was not all bad.
"Oh right" Lily didn't exactly know how to respond to that. Obviously he hadn't wanted it there anymore so something must have caused him to take it down.
"Another lawyer took it" Harvey expanded. As much as he was angry he was thinking about that painting and remembered the good days before he had found out about his mother's cheating behavior.
"How come?" It was odd that someone else would even want that painting. It was not particularly good if she remembered correctly but it was one of her favorite painting because of the story behind it. She had liked it so much that when she found out Harvey had it she had done another one to create a kind of series. She believed that it connected them a little even if Harvey didn't know it.
"He wanted to punish me and so he took it" Harvey looked down at his food swirling it around his fork. He missed it, now there was just an empty space on the wall. He couldn't bring himself to replace it so he had just left it. Donna saw Harvey's pain and placed her hand on his leg. Harvey looked up at her and smiled appreciative of the contact right now. Lily could see that this was obviously a sore subject so just dropped it.
The rest of the meal was good. Harvey had a delicious Moussaka dish for his main that he offered a taste to Donna. He later realized that was a mistake when Donna ended up eating half of his meal instead of her own. Lily noticed the closeness between the couple sat with her and it made her smile. She had never been that close with Gordon and the fact Harvey had found someone made he happy.
When desserts came out Lily decided to broach the topic of their relationship "So how long have you been together then?" It seemed like they had been together their entire lives the way they were around each other.
"A few months" Donna replied "but we have worked together for just under 13 years now" Donna clarified as she saw the shock on Lily's face when she said a few months.
"Well you seem to really know each other" Lily was mainly talking to Donna who knew exactly what to do and say to Harvey. The way she handled him just proved how well she knew him and in turn how much she cared for him. Harvey was the same. Although Donna was the one helping Harvey now he had helped her with her cancer since he found out she had it. He was her rock.
"Yeh we do" Harvey added
"That's good" Lily had wanted to approach the topic of Donna's illness for a while but couldn't think of a good way to approach it. It was none of her business and she knew that but that it would be a big part of Harvey's life and she was curious what exactly Donna was suffering from. Obviously it was cancer and she assumed it was breast cancer but she wasn't 100% sure. "So how have you been doing Donna?"
Donna knew her illness had been on Lily's mind for a while and the woman was very careful about the way she asked about it. "I'm good thanks, I just had surgery that went well and will be starting radiation soon" Donna had become very open about what she was going through. Other people seemed to dodge around it and try and avoid talking about it but she didn't really mind it anymore. It was just a tough part of her life and she was dealing with it an no matter how hard it got she would get through it. Harvey had given her that confidence.
"It's breast cancer right?" Lily hadn't actually been told so she was just confirming.
"Yeh stage 3" Harvey answered instead of Donna this time. The table then plummeted into silence again as no one who how to continue the conversation. They had all finished eating and the waiter came over with the bill which Harvey paid. His mother did offer but he insisted. Something told Harvey had he was making a lot more money than Lily was.
"So I want to show you something if that's okay" Lily said as they walked out of the restaurant.
"Sure" Donna said as he pulled on Harvey's arm forcing into a cab on the sidewalk. It would be too much of a squeeze to all get in the back so Harvey and Donna went in the back together and Lily went in the front so that she could tell the driver where to go.
The cab arrived in a small, quiet street with only a few rough looking houses. Harvey never came to this end of town because there was nothing much there and it was not very nice. The houses were old and the streets were dark but he recognized one building in particular as he got out.
"Your studio?" Harvey said with a hint of surprise. He hadn't been there since he was a kid. His mother rarely used this studio because it was in New York and they lived in Boston but she had kept it because sometimes she would go there for a change.
"Yeh I want you to see something" Lily walked towards the building and entered to code to open the door. Harvey wondered whether she ever changed the pin or whether it was still 012272 (his birthday). Turns out she never did change it.
They walked in and Lily fumbled for the light switch and soon a larger than Harvey remembered collection was lit up. Donna looked around and spotted on painting that she particularly liked. It was a young boy (she assumed to be Harvey) playing baseball with the ball heading out of the canvas. She hadn't known Harvey during his baseball days and it was nice to get an insight to it.
"I'll be right back" Lily walked to another room where some of er older painting were stored.
"These are all amazing" Donna had heard Harvey talk about his mother and how she liked to paint but apart from the painting in his office she hadn't really seen anything else
"Yeh they are" Harvey agreed. Even he hadn't seen half of these painting.
Soon Lily reappeared with a canvas in her arms "Here" She said placing the canvas in front of Harvey for him to take.
He turned it over so that he could see the painting and immediately shock spread over his face. It was like the painting he had on his wall except it showed the whole scene. Harvey was at the front of the canvas looking at the his mother who was painting in the background. She was painting the canvas that he had on his walls for all those years. He had always loved the painting for its sentimental value.
"I want you to have it" Lily saw the shock and the happiness spread over Harvey's face as his eyes were fixed on the canvas. Donna seeing his reaction felt a wave of emotion pass through her. He never opened up about that painting to anyone and it was a big step for him to tell the woman who created it about what happened.
"It's perfect" Donna commented looking over Harvey's shoulder at the painting "Now there will no longer be a gap on the wall"
"Thank you" Harvey looked up to his mother who was just enjoying the scene that she had somehow managed to create.
"Harvey it's the least I can do" Harvey handed the canvas to Donna and went and did something unprecedented for him. He wrapped his arms around his mother and hugged her. He'd missed his mother as much as he denied it and somehow she was there and he was beginning to let go of some of the resentment that had built up over the years.
Donna and Harvey planned to go straight back to their apartment when they left his mother's studio but instead Harvey decided to make a little pit stop. He positioned the painting it its rightful space and then took a step back to admire his new piece of artwork. Donna, like usual, straightened the painting after Harvey had already hung it and then turned back to look at him. His face said it all. A soft smile was building and when she walked over to him so that their shoulders were just touching. They both admired the complete wall again for a while. That had gone better than Harvey had ever thought possible and it reminded him once again just how lucky he was to have Donna because none of this would have happened without her.