"Thank you, mom. It's good to see you!" Donna kisses her mom before Clara goes inside the taxi. "Next time I promise I'll go visit you." She says as the door closes, waves Clara and her boyfriend goodbye, waits until the car moves and goes up to her place.
First thing Donna sees when she enters her apartment is the cleaned table. The clatter of dishes against each other coming from the kitchen calls her attention so she steps to the place. She finds Harvey placing the pile of dirty dishes inside the sink. She crosses her arms and leans against the door jamb watching him for a second in silence. "What are you doing?"
Without flinching over her voice breaking his focus in the activity, he looks at her. "Nothing," he responds, opening the tap.
"No, Harvey you don't have to–" she says, uncrossing her arms and stepping towards him.
"I don't. But I want to," he points out the obviousness.
"Okay, but let me wash and you dry," she offers.
In a silent agreement, he closes the tap and they switch places. She can't help but her thoughts go straight to the fact she has a dishwasher and Harvey knows it —he saw her using it early today.
After a long time talking about everything and laughing over the shrimp situation with her mom from early during the dinner, Harvey focuses his attention solely on Donna. It's like the world stops for a second and the only sound he can hear it's her voice, her laugh.
Considering the story of his parents he never feels inclined to marry and in fact he usually does not even give a chance for himself to put much thought on the matter. But when he does, all he can think about is how over time passing, it would be boring. He likes routine and is utterly against changes, but not boredom. For him, it's perfectly possible to mix routine with excitement, but not in marriage. He believes it's impossible to have both.
But at this moment, watching Donna doing the dishes, wearing casual clothes, after spending a day with her family, he gets a glimpse of what life could be if they were together. As a couple. So he lets his mind sink into the fantasy of a married life with her.
Harvey doesn't know why his mind is navigating in such unknown waters, he had never had this vision with someone else, not when he was with Scottie, in fact, he ran away from this talk with Dana as much as he could. Yet he's enjoying the concept of a life with her. It seems different with Donna.
He can blame the domesticity of their day: they took breakfast together at Nougatine, went to the grocery store to shop ingredients for the menu she planned — a menu he quite doesn't enjoy to eat or cook, but he gave up trying to convince her to change the dish; and went to her place to cook together —by cook together, he'd say he cooked and she helped with savoring the food so he could adjust by her liking. And now they're cleaning it.
It was a day full of married activities. And there's nothing about boredom. It's all about joy. He enjoys his time with her more than anything in his life. It doesn't matter if they spend the whole week working together for over ten hours, when he has the opportunity to spend more time with her, whether it is a late night talk or whatever plan she has for the weekends, he takes the opportunity without a second thought.
Even if it's a family event –those he hates the most. Because when she's with him she can make anything vivid and better. Donna is always dazzling in any place she is in. The light that brightens the most and everyone around is always amused by her charm and beauty.
He doesn't notice but while he's daydreaming he's staring at her with a smile on his face.
"Harvey?" Donna snaps her fingers, calling for his attention.
"What?" He says, adjusting his posture and coming back to reality.
"You're staring." Donna has finished the dishes and is drying her hands on the dish towel Harvey has on his hands.
"Oh." He nods, letting the fiction go away. "Nothing, just lost in thoughts."
He picks up the dish towel from her and goes back to drying the dishes. He isn't allowed to have those thoughts when it comes to Donna. They made a deal when she came up to work with him at the firm. Isn't a visualizion of sex with her –sometimes he can't help but picture her while he's jerking himself in the bathroom. This is way beyond sex, it's another level of intimacy.
The kind he knows he isn't prepared for and he would never put Donna at the risk of trying to get some with her.