It had been a long day at the office. Rumors were clustered like fruit flies to an orange slice on a hot summer day. The sun had recently set and New York had just awaken. As the partners headed home or to a damp corner of a bar, all of the offices emptied out one by one. Soon enough it was just the paralegals and Harvey left in the firm, with the exception of maybe one or two assistants or secretaries. He could feel the weight of the coming day on his shoulders, and his muscles ached with the damage of today. He fit a glass of scotch in the palm of his hand and plumped himself onto his couch. Breathing out the day, begging for a peace of mind. Confidence was key in his line of work and more times than not it wasn't an issue. He carried himself with dignity. Though some days, maybe once in a blue moon, doubt would come sneering through the cracks and nest itself right in the back of his neck. His every move, haunted by the phantom of his insecurities. Sometimes a drink helped, other times he went boxing, sex was a good distraction but today he didn't feel like putting in the effort to charm anybody. Nor was he in the mood to be charmed. Breathing out another deep breath he tried to let go of thinking about the lives that rested in his hands. He was above thinking emotions were a weakness but at times like this, they were a cruel statistic, miserably daunting.
"He took another breath, tried to hold onto it for a minute before letting it go. The seconds separating his inhales were decreasing as he found himself somewhat close to panting. His arm loosely held out the glass that was in his hand and placed it onto the table. Or so he thought. As he brought his face into his palms, elbows resting on his restless knees he heard a sharp crashing sound. His head popped up for an instant to see if it had really happened or was it a weird projection of his thoughts at the moment. Then he stared, at the crystalized glass resting amidst the golden puddle. That was when the door swung open and she'd walked in. "Harvey?" she breathed out, unsure if that was a question or a statement. Usually when he was out of his element, she was able to bring him back with a snark. Either that or by confronting him with the feelings he was purposefully not acknowledging. His eyes slowly moved from the puddle to the woman, standing there, worry dripping off her face. But rarely, he'd be in places much harder to get back from. Their eyes met for a better part of a second and that was all it took for her to recognize that this was one of those times. The mans eyes were foggy and his head elsewhere. "God, what happened?" She could tell he wasn't in a place to talk but the need to relieve him of his pain was overwhelming and with every second he continued to look at her with his "help me" eyes she grew more desperate to do something, anything. His breathing was off the charts right about now. "How can I help?" the redhead asked. "Harvey tell me how I can help". But alas, all she got in return were some mumblings about a deal, a settlement and other things that just seemed irrelevant. Donna's high heels clicked as she made her way towards him. No metaphor was getting them out of this one. Crouched between his legs, looking up at him, a "hey" spilled out of her burgundy lips. Harvey's eyes glued on anything but her, proving his minds to be elsewhere as missing a beat the woman rushed over to the bar cart and grabbed an ice cube in her hand and walked over to him. Lowering herself back to his level she gently wrapped her fingers around his right wrist. "Here" she spoke, softly. Placed the cube in his hand and closed his fingers, holding his hand with both of hers, her thumb dancing on the back of his hand. With minimal awareness of his limbs, the man went with it. Her touch alone was enough to rattle him for a second and the freezing sensation that moved up from his palm to his arm he felt himself being chased out of the depth of his head. About a minute or two in his eyes trickled down to the floor from the previous nowhere they were at and made their way up to her face. "Look at me". Harvey's eyes met Donna's after much intrusion, "That's good, just look at me". As his hand grew colder his fist slowly opened to drop what was left of the ice cube on the ground and as if receiving a cue she slowly got up off the floor and sat beside him, without for one second, letting go of his hand. His breathing was slowing down but his balance was all over the place. Donna let her free hand trace up his back and rested on his shoulder, allowing him to lean onto her. Letting out a deep breath, Harvey's eyes wandered around the room, moving from one object to another as he felt her fingers on his back. His head fit perfectly into the space between her jaw and collarbone. Like a puzzle piece you'd once lost, and found it miraculous how easy it fit. Nervous but certain she just sat there, letting him lean into her, her hand resting on top of his, fingers intertwined. For a little bit more they sat like that, until he slowly let go of the tension in his body, enough to lean back on the sofa, and so did she. Kicking her heels off and pulling her legs under her on the couch, they remained seated, not an inch of space between them. "I thought you left" he finally spoke, "I hadn't just yet" she answered. He wasn't ready to move just yet, the gravity of what just happened pinning him onto the leather of the cushions still. They weren't strangers to talking without words. So they sat there, leaning into each other, breathing each other in, letting each other breath
At about quarter past four they she woke up, cradled gently between his arms, linear, on the sofa. The soft streak of morning sun lit up the room just enough and you could hear the world trying to wake up. Birds chirping and car engines running, it wasn't everyday she got up this early. Slowly sneaking out from under his arm, Donna sat up on the couch, surprised at how they managed to fit together in such a small space. Looking down at him, peacefully sleeping, she smiled to herself before getting up. Barefoot, she walked over to an ottoman and lifted the top part to reveal a storage space with many things along with a blanket. After laying it on top of him, her eyes remained glued on him a little longer than say, a friend would. Blaming it on the weight of the night they'd just had, she grabbed her spare flats from by her desk and headed to the coffee cart for some breakfast to share.