One Flight Down
Chapter Twelve
"If I may have everyone's attention for a moment." Robert clinked on his glass and waited for everyone to look over. "Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate with us. It still seems like just yesterday that Laura made me the happiest man ever and said I do. Now for those of you who may not know, I had to work extra hard to convince her that we should date. I fell in love with her at first glance."
"It took me a little longer than that." Laura spoke up, earning laughter from everyone.
Victoria looked around the room during the toast and found her eyes settling on Harvey. It shouldn't have surprised her that Robert picked up on the vibes between her and Harvey. He was an observant man and knew her well. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew something was going on and he wasn't happy about it even before he said anything.
What that something was, she didn't know. She knew she was still attracted to Harvey. He had only grown more handsome as time went on. But did that mean she still loved him? Could she still love him after all these years and all this time being apart? Was he still the same man she fell in love with as a teenager? Was she still the same woman? Thinking about it gave her a headache.
"I asked her out four times before she agreed. But I was persistent because I knew that we could be something special together." Robert smiled at his wife.
She was still looking at Harvey when he turned his head and they made eye contact. He smiled at her from across the room and winked. She couldn't help but smile before looking back at Robert.
"And then the rest is history." Robert continued. "We got married and were blessed with the best child we could have ever asked for in Rachel. It has been quite the ride these last 30 years and there is no one I would rather have by my side. Here's to another 30 years."
She watched as everyone raised their glasses to toast them. Once they were done toasting, the music started back up again and Robert led his wife onto the dance floor. She slowly made her way over to where Harvey was talking to Donna.
"Hey." She greeted when there was a lull in their conversation.
"Hey." He smiled at her. "You remember Donna, right?"
"Of course." She looked over at the red head. "It's nice to see you again."
"You too." Donna nodded.
"So I met Louis earlier." She told them with a laugh. "He is exactly how you described him to be. But you know who he actually reminded me of?"
"Tyler Whitman?" Harvey guessed.
"Oh my God, yes!" She exclaimed. "That is exactly who Louis reminds me of. Remember he used to come to school wearing those clip on ties and carried a briefcase?"
"And he would go around critiquing everyone's grammar." Harvey added.
"Yes!" She laughed. "Something tells me that Tyler and Louis would be best friends if they ever met."
"I agree." He nodded.
"Excuse me…" Donna interjected. "Did you say school? Did you go to school together? Which one? Elementary school? High school? College?"
"High school." She told Donna, wondering why the woman was so eager to find out.
"Oh I have so many questions for you." Donna laughed. "What was Harvey like in high school? Was he one of those popular jocks? How well did you two know each other? Did you two date?"
She looked over at Harvey, who was groaning.
"Not now Donna. Please." He chuckled. Then he looked at her. "Would you like to dance?"
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Are you a better dancer now?"
"I haven't had any complaints." He smirked.
"Alright. I'll give you a shot, just please don't step on my toes like before." She was aware that dancing with him was borderline dangerous. But she wasn't sure she wanted to stay and have to answer Donna's questions. So it was the lesser of two evils.
They got onto the dance floor area and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They started to dance and she chuckled.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"You're just such a better dancer now." She explained. "Remember junior prom when you kept stepping on my feet? I had to dip them in ice when I got home."
"In all fairness, I didn't have a lot of experience dancing back then."
"True." She would give him that much. "But you still stepped on my feet all night."
"Yes, I did." He chuckled. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's ok." She assured him. "Do you mind if I ask why you wanted to dance now?"
"It was only partially to get away from Donna and that look in her eyes." He laughed.
She couldn't help but laugh too. "That look was intense. Is she always that inquisitive?"
"She is my closest friend. I've known her for over ten years and I tell her everything. But I think it is driving her crazy that I haven't told her anything about how we know each other. She didn't even know you were a part of my past until now."
He didn't even tell his closest friend about her? She wasn't sure what to think about that. "You said that was only partially the reason. What's the other reason?"
"Dancing means I get more time with you." He replied with a smile.
"Harvey…"
"I know." He chuckled. "You don't have to remind me again. We're just friends. But I like spending time with you. I mean, can you blame me? You are pretty awesome."
"Well I know I'm awesome." She couldn't help but chuckle. "And I see you're still trying to lay on the charm pretty thick."
"Maybe." He shrugged. "Is it working?"
"I plead the fifth." She told him. "Let's just dance."
"Fine with me." He grinned.
They ended up dancing for several songs, mostly in silence. But that was fine with him. It was wonderful just to have her in his arms again. When they finally had enough dancing, he followed her to get something to drink.
"So how was that for dancing?" He asked.
"Well you didn't step on my feet once and even included a couple of spins." She explained. "I would say you have definitely improved your dancing skills. I'm impressed."
"Why thank you." He smirked. "Are you having a good time?"
"I am." She smiled. "What about you?"
"I definitely am." He told her.
"But it is getting a little late." She explained. "I have to work tomorrow."
"Did you want to leave?"
"Would you mind?"
"Not at all." He assured her.
"Just let me go say goodbye to Robert and Laura."
"Ok." He nodded. "I'll go have the valet get the car and meet you out front."
Victoria had said goodbye to the Zanes and was on her way out to meet Harvey so they could begin the drive back when Donna approached her. "Oh hi again."
"Hi." Donna smiled. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I may have come across as a little overzealous with all of the questions."
"It's fine. I understand now where you are coming from." She assured the woman with a smile. "Harvey told me that he usually tells you everything. So I can imagine not knowing anything about me is frustrating."
"So why hasn't he told me anything about you?" Donna chuckled. "I've asked several times and he is still very secretive."
"I wouldn't know." She shrugged. To be honest, it was a little weird to her that he hadn't told anyone about her or their past. Was he trying to hide it?
"Well I won't put you in the position of telling me because that wouldn't be fair to you. I'll keep asking him until he finally cracks." Donna explained. "I was just curious."
"I'll tell you the basics if you want." She took a deep breath. "We dated for a long time in high school until I had to move away. He was a huge jerk and broke up with me in a way that almost destroyed me. So maybe he didn't tell you because he is ashamed of how he treated me. Maybe he didn't tell you because I didn't mean anything to him. Or maybe he didn't tell you for a different reason altogether. I really don't know. But there is the short version of the story."
"Victoria…I'm sor-"
"It's fine. At least now you know." She interrupted Donna before she could finish her sentence. "But if you will excuse me, it's time for me to leave."
"Of course." Donna nodded.
The ride back was quiet. He kept looking over at her from time to time. She was keeping her gaze on the road instead of looking over at him. Ever since she came out to the car, she was acting weirdly towards him. She barely said two words to him the whole trip back. Now that they were almost to their building he wasn't sure what to think. He finally decided to say something.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asked lightheartedly.
"Nothing." She replied.
"You've been extremely quiet." He pointed out. "Is everything alright?"
"Just tired."
He was lucky to find a parking spot close to their building and slid in carefully. Once he turned off the car, he saw her get out of the car and head inside. He hurried to catch up to her. They stood together in front of the elevator door, waiting for it to come back to the lobby.
"Something is clearly bothering you." He pointed out softly. "Want to tell me what it is?"
"Not particularly."
He followed her into the elevator when it opened and watched as she pushed the button for her floor. "C'mon. Something is bothering you. I thought we had a good time tonight."
"We did." She nodded.
"But something is clearly wrong now." He pointed out.
"You didn't tell Donna about me."
"No." He admitted. "I didn't."
"You said it yourself earlier. You tell her everything. But in the ten plus years you have known her, you've neglected to tell her anything about me."
"And you are mad about that?" He guessed. While her tone was calm and she wasn't yelling, he could tell that she was upset about it. "Did something happen before you came out to the car?"
"I had a conversation with Donna." She admitted.
"God, what did Donna say to you?" He groaned.
"Don't go blaming Donna." She argued. "She was nothing but respectful. It just got me thinking about things and I don't understand why you didn't tell her about me…about us."
He sighed. He should have known that this would come back to bite him in the ass. "Victoria, I have a good reason for not telling Donna."
The door to the elevator opened and Victoria turned around. "I'm sorry. It's really none of my business anyway. It's your life and she's your friend. I shouldn't have even brought it up. Thank you for the ride tonight."
He watched as she left the elevator and headed to her place. He couldn't let her go without explaining so he followed her. "Wait."
She didn't stop until she was at her door. "What is it Harvey?"
"The reason I didn't tell Donna anything about us or about you…it's not what you think."
"How do you know what I am thinking?" She scoffed.
"Because contrary to what you believe, I still know you." He smirked. "You believe I didn't say anything because you didn't mean anything to me. Am I right?"
"Yeah. Ok…maybe that thought did cross my mind. I mean, I'm assuming she knows most if not all of your darkest secrets. But yet she didn't know anything about me."
"I can see how that would be upsetting to you." He told her. "The real reason I didn't tell her or really anyone about us is because I was ashamed. I was terrible to you and I thought that if I pretended like it didn't happen then it wouldn't hurt anymore. I thought that I could suppress it and pretend that I wasn't a complete bastard to you. But I was wrong. Every time I thought about you and how we ended, it hurt. Things might have been drastically different if I had just handled that day differently. And I honestly didn't want to relive it with anyone because I knew they would realize I was horrible back then."
"So it wasn't because I didn't mean anything to you?" She asked softly.
"No." He shook his head. "That wasn't the reason at all. Back then you meant everything to me."
"But you still let me go." She pointed out.
"I was a Goddamn idiot back then." He grinned.
"Yeah." She nodded. "You kind of were."
"So are we ok again?" He asked.
She nodded.
He wasn't sure he wanted to push his luck, but then decided to go for it. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight." Then he turned around and went towards the elevator.