AUTHORS' NOTE: Hello, guys! Thank you for taking the time to read our collaboration fic. We hope that you will enjoy this little AU that we made. We really did our best for this fic (which involved a lot screaming and freaking out). We're first time fic writers so we hope you guys will give this love and a little review if you like. Thank you so much! We hope you enjoy this and love Harvey and Donna even more.

Special thanks to our #1 supporter and cheerleader, May (darveyxoxo) from K34!

xx Nikka and Jil

the saddest word in the whole wide world is the word almost

"Do you sometimes think we gave up too soon?" Harvey is on scotch number 6 and is starting to slur with his words.

Donna found him in his usual bar sulking all alone with his glass of scotch. He found out from Mike that Scottie broke up with him again and he's trying to nurse his 'heartbreak' by drowning himself in alcohol.

She knows what he's talking about. He's talking about the other time and how they tried to work out a relationship and realizing that it's best that they just stay as colleagues and friends.

"We were almost there, Donna. We were the best power couple out there. We were happy. We were living our best lives together. Where did we go wrong? Do you ever think we gave up too soon?" Harvey said. Downing another scotch after saying it.

"Yeah," Donna says, "I think about it sometimes."

Her words caused him to sober up a bit. Harvey slowly turns his head towards the woman sitting beside him, glowing under the dim lights of the bar – her red hair swept up in a high ponytail, her tired eyes closed, long lashes sitting atop her cheeks, faint hint of freckles scattered on her nose, and those soft lips that are the sweetest he's ever kissed. He takes her all in and he wishes time could stand still, just him with her.

The ringing of her alarm clock wakes Donna up on a fine Monday morning. She blindly reaches for the object on her bedside table to stop the sound, then snuggles back to the pillow beside her, thinking 'just one more minute, please.'

After a moment, she slowly opens her eyes, sees the soft rays of sunshine peeking through the curtains by her window. She sits up and leans against the headboard, taking a few more minutes to herself before padding to her en suite bathroom. "Brand new week, Paulsen!" she exclaims, looking at herself in the mirror as she dries her face with a towel.

Quickly grabbing her phone from the dresser, she moves to the kitchen and starts preparing her breakfast – a bowl of strawberries and a cup of coffee, black, two sugars, and a splash of vanilla. She's busy catching up on e-mails when a calendar reminder pops on the screen, [August 05 at 9 AM: Meeting at Pearson Specter Litt]. "Oh, right," she says, finishing her drink before walking away to take a shower.

It doesn't take her long to finish preparing, after all she's used to the fast-paced work of her industry, a lot has to be done in a short period of time. She's now wearing a red Angelica crepe trousers and jacket with a silk twill blouse and watersnake belt, paired with gold pumps that match the rings on her fingers. Straight hair tucked behind her ears, showing off her chain-like silver dangling earrings. She finishes the look with a pinky-nude lipstick, offering a tinge of softness to her power look. One last glance in the mirror, she's ready to take on this day.

٠٠٠

Harvey arrives at the firm, walking across the lobby and slips right through the elevator before anyone else can enter. His morning is slow and he's enjoying this rare moment of quietness that he has – no attacks on the firm, no clients in danger, no trouble anywhere in sight. He's leaning against the metal bar at the back, hands in his pockets, and foot tapping on the floor until the elevator dings, signaling his arrival at the 50th floor.

The doors slowly open and the sight of Gretchen on the other side is what greets him. "Uh oh," Harvey groans. His secretary nods at him, "Mr. Specter," handing him his coffee which he graciously takes. "I don't like it when you meet me here, feels like a problem is on the way," he jokes, walking towards his office.

"Your 9 o'clock is in the conference room."

"My what?" Harvey stops in his tracks, "I thought you said I'm free all morning?" But before Gretchen could reply, Louis appears right in front of him, out of breath after running along the corridor.

"Harvey! Great you're here. I need you to take over this meeting. I have an emergency and I really, really, really have to go now." Louis blurts out, ready to sidestep Harvey and leave the firm.

"What? No! Why me? I know nothing about this client," he replies, annoyed to be dumped with work he wasn't prepared for.

"That's exactly why this meeting was set up, for us to know them and what they need." Louis pushes him towards the direction of the conference room, "Now go there and talk to the client. I'm leaving because Bruno needs me!"

"Fine." Harvey lets out a breath as he sees Louis brisk to the elevators. He continues walking but pauses just before entering the room, he asks Gretchen, "Who's Bruno?"

"His cat," she replies, leaving him to his meeting.

Harvey rolls his eyes upon hearing the answer. 'You're paying for this Louis,' he thinks as he opens the door to the conference room. He places his coffee on the table before looking up to see the client, then he stops. He stops because this is not at all what he expected.

A woman. Standing by the window, looking at the view of the city – her straight, red hair shining with the natural light, her wrinkle-free red suit exuding power, and that disarming smile on her face as she turns around – her presence caused a weird feeling that Harvey can't seem to comprehend. He thinks the world stopped turning for a minute and he is too caught up with her that he almost misses what she just said.

"Hi," she says, chuckling quietly as she sees his reaction – a bit wide-eyed, lips slightly parted. She may have just caught him off guard.

Harvey gulps and blinks his eyes. "Hi," he replies, holding out his hand as he tries to compose himself. "Harvey Specter."

She reaches out, shaking the hand he offered. "Donna Paulsen," she introduces herself. Her eyes meet his and a moment is shared – like the whole room has disappeared, just the two of them left in the middle of a huge space. She breaks out of the trance and clears her throat when she notices he hasn't let her hand go yet. He drops his sight to where they are joined and he smiles slightly as he retrieves his hand, putting it back in his pocket.

"I thought I was going to meet Louis today?" She asks, just to break the tension.

"Yeah, about that. He had an emergency." Harvey replies, shaking his head before offering her a weak smile, "He asked me to take over."

"Oh," she pauses, "Thank you. Uhm, I hope everything's fine?"

He scoffs, "Trust me, it's nothing. Just his cat."

"Bruno!" she says with too much excitement in her voice. Shocked with her own reaction, she quickly apologizes and looks down shyly, "Sorry."

Harvey laughs at her expression. "You know him?" he asks, then gestures for them to take a seat.

"He may have brought it up once or twice. Louis and I often see each other at the theater," Donna replies as she moves to sit opposite him.

"Right," nodding at her response without taking his eyes off her. He then places his arms on the table and links his fingers together, "So, what can Pearson Specter Litt do for you?"

Pushing the folder across the table, she starts explaining the situation, "One of the modeling agencies we used to work with is suing us for wrongful termination."

He reaches for the folder and scans the files in it. "I'm from TrendStyle Magazine, by the way. In case you didn't know," Donna quickly adds, biting her lip to stop herself from smiling. "We need legal representation."

"Need?" he asks, looking up from the document and staring at her.

"Need." she replies, holding his gaze.

See you in the next chapter! :)