Okay, first things first: I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart for the lovely words in response to the first chapter. I was and currently am super nervous about this story, though that the first two chapters might be boring, that people wouldn't be interested and give up, there I could have focused on dialogue... so there are really a thousand things that make me insecure, but with your support it definitely gets easier!
So, this chapter deals with events from episode three to episode eight. Enjoy!
G-
Chapter 2: Heart on your sleeve like you've never been loved
If staying away from each other had been extremely difficult in the span of two days, things had certainly been facilitated as time went by.
As a matter of fact, the next few days, weeks to be generous, were mainly painted by tenacious fights over control and adaptions to this new chapter of their lives.
Everyone was doing just what they had promised the night Mike went to prison — committing to give the firm every ounce of blood, sweat and tears they had left.
Rachel had slowly begun to find her balance again — starting on the right foot once she took over a case of the death row. As much as she constantly thought about Mike, she came to the conclusion that time passed by quicker for good, if she put her energies on something else rather than just pining away for him.
Jessica had given her a hand, and had surprisingly found out that she liked working with Rachel, just as much as saving Leonard Bailey's life. Weighting that, and all the obligations her position bought along, had ultimately resulted in one hell of a challenge. Being the captain of a shipwrecked boat wasn't a child's play, but she was confident she could handle it. It gave her a purpose, and helped her rediscover and keep in touch with the true reason she became a lawyer after all. As a teenager, she had found the will to stand up against the tyranny of her demanding father and follow the ideals she truly believed in — turns out that returning to the field, being a player again, and not just the coach, reminded her that.
Being in court most of the day was also one more reason not to witness to the mess that had become the fiftieth floor.
Crawling with new tenants, the bullpen — but the concept can be easily expanded to the whole office — had slowly turned into a living hell. The classical and tastefully decorated space now resembled more Manhattan during New Year's Eve. There were big screens everywhere, showing the newest updates about stocks and business shares — all well portrayed by mandatory graphics. The phones wouldn't stop ringing and chaos reigned supreme above the hustle and bustle of the people flying from their desks to their friends' — apparently unaware of the word 'sitting down'.
And not to miss anything, they had purchased a basketball, equipped with a rim. Generally, it looked like they were training for the next NBA's game, instead of reading Wall Street's stock indexes.
The rabble of young traders that inhabited that land were also making Louis go nuts each passing day. The poor man had wanted to help just by himself, but it didn't even take a day to prove that Donna had indeed been right and he had shit the bed.
With the brokers' lease expiring in eighteen months, the lawyers were forced to make room for these noisy intruders. But they weren't just noisy, hell no — they were fizzy, and savage, and gross.
Basically dickheads.
Stu Buzzini, chief of the satellite division, had been the greatest one so far. A true pain in the ass, he had already desecrated Louis' mugs and authority, letting his childishness win over. But Donna had seen more beneath the layer of recklessness and money mania, and had put herself on the first line to mend their fences.
Truth to be told, it was working quite well now, and she was glad to have something that required her whole attention.
Well, that and helping Louis with his new love interest.
The secretary wouldn't have given their relationship a day — considering it had started with a lie and how it only seemed to get more complicated. Donna knew her friend's peculiarities well enough to be able to foresee that he was embarking in something too big for him and he would consequently ask for her help.
They always do.
She had welcomed the distraction, telling herself that some 'Louis drama' would cheer her up. She was willing to do it all, even buy a beach house overnight to cover his idiotic attempt to save his ass. Her inclination, though, radically shifted when her boyfriend, Mitchell, had come back from his two-weeks business trip to Cincinnati.
As much as it was horrible to admit, she had completely forgotten about him. Like his presence in her life for the last few months had been insignificant. Truthfully, comparing the turn of the newest events to their relationship — yeah, it seemed pretty insignificant.
When she had slept with Harvey that faithful night, Mitchell had been the last thing on her mind. To be fair, that night and the other ones that came, he had been completely erased by her brain. Until her phone had buzzed one morning, and her former boyfriend's name had flashed upon her screen, as well as her mind.
'Just landed back in NYC. Can't wait to see you, I missed you so much. Have something important to tell you.'
Yeah, me too, she thought. I cheated on you while you were gone, how does that sound?
And yet, as hard as she tried to convince herself that she must've regretted her past choices, she didn't. She felt bad for him — of course she did — but being with Harvey hadn't felt wrong. In fact, it had felt more than right in any possible way. She had been sensing more infidelity when she was dating Mitchell, than when she had had her clandestine lovemaking sessions with Harvey.
Oh god, she was in deep trouble.
Minutes later, Donna had texted him back, arranging a simple dinner as an occasion to sort things out. What she certainly couldn't have prevented was for him to ask her to move in together, oblivious that her sole purpose was to break up. The following moments were just a lame flood of excuses, those notorious phrases you use when you starkly want to get rid of someone. As much as Donna hated them and thought Mitchell deserved some honesty, she didn't have it in her to deal with it anymore. She had already been cranky and uptight the whole week, and this tiresome and awkward dinner only made things worse.
As she left his apartment with both a broken heart and a weight off her shoulders, she wondered how many other decent guys she would to push away again for Harvey Specter. All of this in hopes — since she has memory — that he would wrap his head around them.
Donna had been conflicted the whole morning whether or not to tell Harvey about her temporary 'amnesia', and basically the fact that she had drawn him to become the one thing he loathed.
She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that prompted her to be so sincere with him — did she feel guilty after all? Why feel guilty for him and not for Mitchell?
One thing was for sure: it shouldn't have happened like that.
Because she would lie if she didn't admit she thought about them being together over the years. But every time she had dared to be open to slightest possibility of them, she had envisioned a heart-to-heart talk, or them taking the plunge after some kind of epiphany. Never, therefore, she had considered her formally being with another man. But Donna had been convinced she couldn't wait around forever, that she owed herself more, and had settled for a nice man like Mitchell. The last thing she would have expected was to finally have sex with Harvey under those circumstances.
I mean, they had managed to avoid physical contact for twelve years, why couldn't they keep it in their pants just until things where back to normal again?
A strange tingle spread through the surface of her skin as she smoothed down the fabric of her dress. She hadn't worn a wide-skirt in years, but she had gladly traded her usual for a smoother one, since it had felt too snug around her midsection when she had tried her outfits on earlier.
Reaching her desk, she casually threw a glance over Harvey's office, finding it empty. He was still in court. That meant she still had a little more time to wrap her head about how to act.
Her mind suddenly wandered to Scottie, and how the woman had slept with Harvey when she was involved with another man. About to marry another man, more precisely.
Donna had later witnessed to Harvey trying to cope with a blame that wasn't his in the first place, and handle all the contrasting feelings that were once bottled up, but now set free. How she had wished she could have assured him that he hadn't done anything wrong. That he was the victim in that situation, not the offender. That it had only been that unfaithful woman's fault.
Well, now she's that woman.
She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of breaking him down like that, making him doubt of himself and the man he'd become after all these years. On top of that, she couldn't throw this bomb on him while he had so many side effects of Mike's departure to handle.
Harvey had been busting his ass off to try and make everyone happy, and he was wasted — till the brim of sanity. He was operative day and night, veering between everyday business by light, and plotting secret deals in the dark.
He was trying his hardest to navigate his strategy to be a compelling lawyer for Sutter, who was really trying to prosecute, and cut an agreement with Sean to get Mike out of prison at the same time.
It became obvious how wearing all these masks and being versatile enough to switch them quickly was starting to tear him apart. Because he may had been near to cross the line of justice a few times — his gambling soul pushing him there — but he had never been dishonest. And now it just seemed like he was just playing a merciless game.
It was harder to remember all the pawns he had moved and how he had moved them. He had arrived to the point where he could easily call the federal police and rat everything about his nasty involvement with Cahill. And as much as Harvey told himself that he was doing it to save his good friend Mike from prison, he had brought his ethics down to a bottom he didn't like at all.
But one thing at a time, there will be plenty of occasions to go to confession. Once Mike could see further than a barbed wire.
So no, Donna couldn't be yet another person to backstab him — to steal his focus.
At this point, things with Mitchell were over and she wasn't dating Harvey, so there was no use in adding some insignificant detail that could still result in the signal to open the floodgates.
Her inner monologue ceased at the sound of the phone ringing.
"Harvey Specter's office." She answered raising the cornet.
It was Mike on the line, telling her that Gallo was pressuring him to move forward with his parole hearing. The convict was also threatening him to tell his inmate Kevin about the deal with Cahill. Little did he now there was no 'Mike and Cahill' anymore, since his superiors had implied he hadn't held his end of the bargain.
Mike had been pissed, understandable. So Donna had tried to reassure him, "I know that and Harvey knows that, and he's trying to get your deal back." She had tried, but her voice had failed somewhere at the end of the phrase. Tears begun to blur her vision. Was she crying now?
She hadn't been this sensitive in... forever.
"Well, you tell him that while he's getting around to making Cahill honor his goddamn word, maybe he could take just a minute to honor his word and get Gallo his goddamn parole hearing."
And then he had hung up.
Yes, now was definitely not the time to tell Harvey anything.
In a matter of hours, it seemed like everyone wanted to be a samaritan at Harvey's expenses.
The deal for Mike.
The deal for Kevin on behalf of Mike.
The deal for Jill, on behalf of Kevin, to whom Mike owed.
Too little time and too many dangerous tricks to play behind the scenes.
But then, just when the labour had become unbearable and when the over-stressed mind was starting to fail, it was over. It ended how it started — with the same insane force and rawness.
Every piece of puzzle, even the ones that Harvey had forgotten or deemed useless, finally collided and- it was solved.
Mike was finally getting back home.
It had required an astounding teamwork, everyone had truly fed their soul to the devil, but at the end- he was really coming home.
Harvey let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding for the past few months, and the wrinkles that had been creasing his forehead seemed to begin to loosen. He looked younger of ten years alone, once the anxiety had been washed over. Yeah, not carrying any weight on his shoulders definitely suited him.
Mike was happy, and Rachel was happy, but — truth to be told — the most relieved one was definitely Donna.
If she had struggled with telling Harvey about Mitchell, afraid to give another burden to worry about, she now had a way bigger problem to deal with. And nothing in the world could begin to express how grateful she was that the whole thing had come to and end, because she really needed to talk to her boss.
She still hadn't processed it, subconsciously waiting for him- for them to be free and without anything holding them back. This was a life changing news, and, wherever they stood, he had the right to know.
Though, tonight was for Rachel, and only Rachel.
Donna was going to be the one to tell her the happy news, and she would also be the one to watch her face lit up with joy. Then they would celebrate her fiancé's unexpected , yet merry, release. She had every intention of rendering it her night her forget about her problems whatsoever. Her friend needed her.
"Hey," Donna casually greeted her, nervous in anticipation next to her oblivious friend.
"Donna I'm onto something," Rachel held up her finger, "I just need one second to write this down."
The redhead patiently waited as the brunette scribbled something on her notepad. Her back was turned to her, but Donna could sense her giddiness over miles away. And she hadn't even told her about Mike yet.
"What is it? What are you so happy about?" She wondered.
"I think I just figured out a way to get Leonard Bailey's case reopened." She proudly explained.
"Rachel, that's amazing." She congratulated. "Come on, get your things. We can talk about it on the way out, because we're going to celebrate."
"No, it's good news, but I'm not ready to celebrate." Rachel waved off.
"Yes, you are. Because I'm not talking about your case." Donna announced, unable to keep on the suspense any longer. "Rachel, Harvey and Mike did it. Mike's getting out."
"What?" The younger girl frowned, still not totally ready to access the longed hope of finally hugging her fiancé.
"You heard me. They did it. Sutter's going away, which means Mike's coming home." She managed to let out, before her voice begun to break over the commotion. Hormones.
"Oh, my god." Rachel breathed, as her face crushed into a mess of happy tears.
It was a matter of seconds before Donna launched herself to the petite brunette and enveloped her, moved by deep empathy. She knew how much Rachel had suffered, and she was glad she could finally have some peace.
"Come on," she nudged, "let's go have some fun while you're still single." Donna proposed as her friend's wide eyes cracked a little for the wet laugh her joke had provoked.
Just as they were about to make their way out, Rachel's phone buzzed, "Oh wait. It's Mike." She revealed before taking the call.
And it was in that moment, as Donna took in her beloved friend over the phone with the love of her life, finally putting the armors down after the battle, ready to enjoy the glory, that she felt ready too.
At least ready to acknowledge it.
Almost imperceptibly, her fingertips slowly brushed all the way down her dark dress, only to settle just above her lower stomach. A second later, her whole hand relaxed and it splayed across her belly, or better to say — belly bump.
Making Donna "cheat" ( and I put it between quotation marks because of obvious reasons) was a little conflicting, but at the end you have to see this as a total without malice and spontaneous move. The fact alone is useful not to create angst, but to make Donna realize her true feelings for Harvey.
As for the pregnancy, it'll of course be a factor of change but its not the only thing I have in store for you ;)