Skyfall
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"So how is Harvey doing?" Donna asked.
"He's doing as well as he can, with all the things going on right now." Rebecca chuckled. She signed the paperwork in the folder and handed it back to Donna, only to be given another folder. Judging from the tall stack of folders in Donna's hands, this was going to take a few minutes.
"What do you think he will do about his mom being so sick?"
"I honestly don't know anymore." She sighed. "I was hoping that he would use this time as an opportunity to try and work things out with her. But he seems content to try and ignore it all together."
"I'm sure at some point it will hit him that he needs to do something about the situation." Donna posited.
"I agree." She nodded. "All I can do is be there for him."
"How are you doing about the whole thing? I know you were getting pretty close to Lily."
"It breaks my heart. All of this breaks my heart." She focused on signing the papers because otherwise she would start crying. "I never had a sister until I married Harvey. And then Katie was killed. And I haven't had a mother figure in so long. I thought that maybe Lily and I could…but anyway, it's just not fair."
"No, it really isn't." Donna agreed.
"And I don't really feel like I can say that to Harvey because of his issues with her. It's a touchy subject at best. Marcus will be heartbroken and Ethan and Olivia are going to be devastated too when Lily dies. I can't talk to Marcus about it, and I wouldn't talk to Ethan or Olivia about it even if they did know because that wouldn't be fair to them. But it kills me. It's why I've been doing some research on the kind of cancer she has and have been trying to see if there is a clinical trial she could be a part of."
"Have you found anything yet?"
"I've found one that I think she might qualify for. I'm just not even sure if she would want to try." She explained.
"I think it is a lovely gesture that you are trying so hard, even if she says no." Donna smiled, handing her the last folder.
"Thanks." She gave her friend a small smile.
"And I also think that you should try to tell Harvey how you feel about his mom's illness. You have a right to be upset by it too."
"I know." She nodded. "But he is going through so much…"
"So are you." She pointed out.
"I'll think about talking to him." That was the best she could promise.
"Fair enough."
"Is that all of the paperwork I have to sign?" She asked, crossing her fingers.
"Yes." Donna smiled. "At least that's all for today."
"Oh thank God!" She laughed.
"Hey you…" Rebecca greeted as she accepted the Facetime on her phone later that day. She propped up her cell phone against her work phone so her hands were free. "How are things going?"
"Ugh." Harvey sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"I just miss you." He told her.
"I miss you too." She told him. "It's not the same without you around here."
"How many more days do I need to be up here?"
"Well let's see. Marcus is in rehab for two months and he has been in there for 3 days. So simple math would say another 57 days." She laughed.
"I don't know if I can do this."
"Why not?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
"Taking care of these kids is harder than I thought. And trying to do it with my mom is even more stressful. We are barely talking to each other." He explained. "Add into that the fact that I miss you and am worried about putting too much work on you and it all makes me unhappy."
"Well taking care of the kids is going to get easier. I'm fine with the added work and you know I am just a phone call or text away." She reasoned. "You mentioned you aren't talking much. But how are things going with your mom when you do talk?"
"It's awkward and it's always about the kids." He confessed. "I know she is sick and doesn't have a lot of time left. But I don't know what to say to her."
"You need to talk to her." She told him quietly. "And I mean really talk to her. You need to talk until you work some of these issues out. Harvey, there's something I never told you and I need you to hear me out."
"Ok…"
She could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to anticipate what she was about to say. "It's about my father."
"Oh."
The look on his face turned to one of relief and she took a deep breath before continuing. "You gave me the evidence I needed to turn him in for killing my mom, and I will forever be grateful to you for doing that because it was a way for you to show that you really cared about me. But did you ever think about why I didn't just use it and turn him in?"
"I figured it had something to do with the timing." He shrugged. "I gave it to you right after we broke up. Then the Xavier thing happened and we were dealing with the aftermath of that. Then he died and it became a moot point."
"It's true that the timing was never perfect." She agreed. "But also, I realized that turning him in would have been revenge. I hated him but I didn't want revenge. I did at first. I wanted nothing more than to see him behind bars in a prison jumpsuit living there for the rest of his life. But then I realized that seeing him behind bars wouldn't matter as much if he didn't see his actions as wrong. As stupid and naïve as it sounds, deep down I really wanted to use that evidence to make him apologize. I thought that if I confronted him with the evidence I could get him to finally see what he did was wrong and he might actually realize that he was an incredibly shitty father."
She laughed. "It's crazy to think that though because he never would have apologized and he never would have thought he was wrong. And even if by some miracle I did get him to apologize, we never would have been close like a father and daughter should be. I still hated him for what he did to my mom and the way he treated me. But I just…I wanted some closure. I wanted to lay everything out on the table…every grievance, every hurt, every slight…And I never got that with him. But you could have that with your mom. She's there…you're there…"
She saw that he was completely silent and deep in thought so she let her words stay with him for a moment before continuing. "I'm not saying you have to become super close with her or anything like that. But this is the perfect time to talk to her. I don't want you to pass up this chance and then end up regretting it later, because that part really sucks. Trust me. I know."
"I didn't realize you felt that way about your father." He said after being quiet for a few minutes.
"It's not something I like to think or talk about much." She admitted.
"I can understand that." He nodded.
"Look, ultimately the choice is yours whether you talk to her or not. I have an opinion about it, just as Marcus does, and your mom does as well. But the choice is yours and I'll support you no matter what you choose."
"But you think I should air everything out with her." He pointed out.
"I do." She nodded. "Not just for your sake, but for hers as well. There are a lot of years of hurt between you two and you need to work it out. But you have to do what feels right for you."
"I'll think about it." He agreed.
"That's all I ask." She gave him a huge smile.
"Hey, by the way, are you still at work?" He asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"It's really late."
"I know." She nodded. It was almost midnight and she wished she was able to go home. But she still had to finish two briefs so they could go out first thing in the morning. Contrary to what she told Harvey a few minutes ago, taking care of both her clients and Harvey's was proving to be difficult and time consuming.
Last night she didn't leave the office until 11:30. Tonight she wasn't sure when she would finally leave. But she was certain she just needed to get into a routine. Once she got every case that was pressing sorted, things would calm down. They had to. Keeping this pace up for two months would likely kill her.
"I knew this was a horrible idea." He sighed. "You're stuck at the office because you're covering my clients, aren't you?"
"No." She lied. "I'm stuck at the office because I have a lot of my own work to do since we were up in Boston after the accident and I don't like going home knowing you aren't there." That last part was true. It was different going home and knowing that Harvey wasn't going to come through the front door at any moment and she was going to have to sleep in that big bed by herself.
It wasn't fun. Although she understood and supported him staying in Boston to help, there was a small part of herself that was selfish and wanted him with her always.
"You need to go home and take care of yourself." He reminded her.
"I know and I am taking care of myself." She argued. "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."
"See you're wrong because I'm pretty sure that's one of my main job responsibilities as your husband." He chuckled.
She grinned. "Ok. I'll go home after we end this call. Is that better?" She could work on the briefs in the car and then at home until they were done. But he didn't have to know that.
"Good." He smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too. Will you call me in the morning?"
"Of course I will." He assured her.
"Good night Harvey." She took one last look at his face and then disconnected the call.
Rebecca got off the elevator and readjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"Finally heading out?" Larry, the night security guard asked.
"Yeah." She chuckled. True to her word, she got her stuff together after she ended the call with him and was headed home. "Finally breaking free of this place for a few hours! Have a good night!"
"You too."
She got out onto the street, only to find that her car wasn't waiting for her. She got out her phone and looked at her text messages. There was an unread text from five minutes ago from her driver saying he would be there in seven minutes. That was ok though.
The streets were surprisingly empty. Though perhaps that was because it was almost 1 am.
She looked left and then right. The only people to her left were some people on the other side of the street walking away from her.
On the right there were two guys who were standing maybe 1000 feet away from her. They were huddled together and kept looking over at her. It was making her uneasy and she vowed that if her car wasn't there soon she would go back inside and wait with Larry.
She kept subtly looking over at the two guys, trying to burn their faces into her memory. For some reason they were making her extremely nervous.
Finally her car pulled up and she breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly got inside and sat down. "I am so glad to see you." She smiled at Steve.
A few weeks ago Ray's wife started having some serious health problems so they decided to still pay him the same but let him work only two days a week. Steve was the new driver who was picking up the slack the other days. He was a middle-aged, heavy-set man who seemed to like to talk too much for her liking. But he was alright and a nice enough guy. She still preferred Ray though and hoped his wife got better soon.
"Don't worry. I'll have you home as soon as possible." Steve smiled.
