A/N: A short ficlet through Zoe's Point of View. Wrote this because I always felt like Zoe was portrayed as Harvey's almost good relationship, and I wondered how she dealt with the Donna and Harvey of it all.

This takes place sometime after Zoe quit, when Harvey was dealing with his dad's death.

Zoe walked back to the exit, along Pearson Hardman's familiar hallways and into the elevator, feeling more than pleased with herself for holding her own against an impromptu meeting with Jessica Pearson, a woman she's been in awe of most of her career at the firm.

They had had a good meeting, and Zoe wanted to make sure she got a recommendation from her for her next endeavors in her career. Zoe was a little hesitant to come back to the premises of Pearson Hardman because of the off chance of running into him. She felt like a high school girl all of a sudden, hoping and praying her past crush Harvey Specter wasn't going to be roaming the halls, while simultaneously holding her breath in the hopes he was, and if he was, would she look as good as he remembered? She couldn't tell in the early hours of the day if she was taking extra care to look professional for Miss Pearson, or irresistible for Harvey.

She took a longer than necessary shower, indulged in her luxurious shampoos and shaving routine, took extra care of her hair, made sure she styled it just right, so it dried in perfect locks, she had prepped her face with serums and put on more than her usual amount of makeup- dewy foundation, pink blush on her apple cheeks, voluminous black mascara, subtle blueish eyeshadow that made her grey eyes pop. She swapped a spoolie on her eyebrows making sure not a hair was out of place. She put on her best grey A-line skirt and white dress shirt. She looked amazing if she said so herself.

But none of that mattered in the end, because Harvey Specter wasn't around- not when Zoe went into the elevator in the main hallway entrance of the building at nine o'clock sharp with a casual cup of coffee in her hand, not when she walked out onto the 50th floor and greeted the receptionists, not when she turned left then right to get to Jessica Pearson's office where she was ushered in with a nice enough smile and knowing eye by Jessica herself.

Zoe felt a mix of relief and foolishness. She wasn't ready to admit that Harvey may have been the catalyst for her three hours of prep pre meeting, but she was disappointed he wouldn't be seeing her at her best after all this time. At the same time, she felt relief wash all over her as she stepped into the empty elevator because she had no idea how she'd react to seeing him. She was positive he still looked amazing, was sure her heart would still skip a beat when she saw him clad in his trademark three-piece suit and slicked short hair. She wondered if Harvey looked at her as the one that got away… Because she was, in every sense of the word. Their story wasn't one of one-sided crushes, it was a mutual liking that never managed to be executed and somehow fizzled out before it even properly got started. She knew she was a huge reason for their demise, but she also believed his lack of action was to blame for her lack of leaping into whatever they could have been.

"Hold the door, hold the door, hold the door!" A voice chanted from a distance, breaking Zoe's thought process. Zoe chuckled as she complied. She was going to miss the fast-paced energy of this place.

A limber freckled arm shot out of nowhere and Zoe froze as she looked up to see it was attached to the infamous Donna Paulsen, the only redhead Zoe knew of at Pearson Hardman.

"Donna!" Zoe blurted out in surprise to which Donna grinned back in reply. "Oh my god, Zoe!" She entered the elevator and wrapped her arms around Zoe, hugging her excitedly.

"What are you doing here?" Donna asked as she stepped to the side, excitement, and happiness still evident on her face. Before Zoe snapped back into reality to answer her, she took in Donna's appearance, in awe of her as always.

She was wearing a tight blue wrap dress that accentuated every curve on her body and made her red hair stand out even more so. Zoe wondered to herself how Donna Paulsen, an assistant, managed to have the confidence and natural ability to pull off such outfits at a law firm and no one batted an eye, lest it was to compliment her.

"I was meeting with Jessica for a recommendation for another firm."

Donna's eyes widened suddenly. "Does Harvey know you're here?" Zoe rolled her eyes good naturally at Donna, shaking her head no with a soft smile on her lips. She always found it amusing that Donna was one of the biggest cheerleaders of Zoe and Harvey's love saga. Donna would always tease the both of them about it and give Zoe insider information on his schedule, so she'd know where he was and when he'd be around.

Zoe was going to miss Donna's fast bubbly personality that hid behind sly remarks and mischievous smirks. Zoe would bet a quarter of her salary that Donna was more disappointed they didn't work out than she was.

Although… Something always niggled in the back of Zoe's mind that it was weird how invested Donna was in their relationship, because when Zoe first ran across both of them, she'd assumed they were going to be the big "will they, won't they" couple of the firm. A junior partner who was mysteriously the only one allowed in the law firm to have a secretary and it happened to be in the form of a bombshell like her?

But then Donna seemed to jump at the chance to befriend her, citing something about "Interesting girls have to stick together in a dreary place like this" and she nudged her in Harvey's way when she found out she liked Harvey Specter. She supposed that is what a good friend would do, play matchmaker.

"Don't start Donna, it's for the best that he doesn't know I'm here."

"But why?" Donna whined in reply, arms crossed on her chest in defiance to Zoe's request.

"Because he's changed too much. I used to think he and you were a breath of fresh air at this law firm, but I am afraid it's affecting him too much already. I mean look at the way he reacted to his father passing-"

"Hey." Donna caught her off sharply, eyes slightly narrowed as she took a deep breath to collect her thoughts.

"Look. I know what Harvey did seems improbable to you, or callous and cruel. But people deal with grief in different ways. Some throw themselves into work and deny it before processing it. For the record, he did go to the funeral, and I have known him before he got here and I can tell you right now, he hasn't changed. Not in the important ways, you have to know that."

Zoe swallowed down the feeling she had of being a scolded little girl as Donna passionately lectured her. She also ignored the tinge of borderline possessiveness she felt from Donna's words, as if she were marking her territory with Harvey for having known him longer. She wasn't sure if she believed Donna because Zoe had seen Harvey change, he became more withdrawn, and he always told her how he liked her, was interested in her, wanted to be with her in some form or another, but he never did anything about it. Donna may say he is the same, but Zoe hadn't seen it herself. She didn't see the important ways, she supposed. Maybe he was more vulnerable around her than he was around Zoe. Which in hindsight, Zoe should have figured out earlier on.

"Donna, why do you care if he's with me or not?" Zoe finally asked the question that has been buried in her mind for a while.

Donna seemed stunned for half a second before she composed herself and shrugged. "He's, my friend. I care about him, and you make him happy Zoe, he deserves that and so do you!" She poked her shoulder jokingly and Zoe laughed, despite her doubts at Donna's reasoning.

"I don't know if I make him that happy, Donna. Besides, he's going through a tough change now, he's not up for anything serious and you know it."

"Maybe. He also needs consistency in his life." Donna raised an eyebrow at her, and Zoe raised one back.

"You're not going anywhere, are you?" The words were out of her mouth before she could filter them. Zoe wasn't sure what her intention was, to back Donna into admitting she's in love with Harvey, or to reassure her that Harvey would be just fine without her. But the minute the words were out of her mouth she realized they were true. Harvey didn't need Zoe.

Donna frowned "I-"

The elevator was dinged. Zoe turned around to face Donna fully, who was still stumbling to find a response. Zoe wondered if Donna didn't have an answer because she didn't realize her feelings for Harvey yet.

"I'm going to miss you Donna. And for the record, I hope you're right about Harvey."

As Zoe stepped off the elevator, she realized she wasn't the one who got away from Harvey, because while Donna may be only five feet away from him, as long as she limited herself to being just his secretary- she will always be the one that slipped away from Harvey's fingers.

Years later, she'd forget about her hesitance around Donna and Harvey's relationship, further blindsided by Donna's warm and teasing attitude around the idea of Zoe ending up with Harvey and sidetracked with her brother's cancer. She will easily slip into the idea of Harvey and her becoming a them, because he brought her back to a time in her life of harmless crushes, and hopeful days, and it's just what she needed.

Until reality came crashing down when her brother was given a few months to live. Until she decided to make plans for her and her niece to move out of the U.S. and Zoe wondered how Harvey or any man could fit into her lifestyle after being a surrogate mother of sorts. But then she stopped wondering about Harvey Specter all together when Donna was asked point blank, finally, if she loved Harvey Specter at the mock trial, and she felt her breath hitch in awaited agony at her response, (because Zoe would have, and had not, ever had the guts to ask her) that never came in verbal confirmation. Zoe saw Donna's face portray anger and insult for being accused of letting her feelings cloud her professional judgement. Zoe didn't bother with further analyzing Donna's facial expression because she was too busy looking at Harvey's, which was filled with agony and rage, and a curiosity that was tinged with hopefulness. Harvey got up and followed her, and yet again, Zoe felt like she was getting the confirmation that in the eyes of Harvey Specter, Donna was the one that got away.