"Hey, I know you said drinks, but I'm starving. What do you say?"
"Yes, please. You know, they have a new…"
"Not from that shitty Thai place, Donna," he complains with a playful tone.
"Ok mister, what do you have in mind?"
"I believe I've earned a burger after tonight. Those are on me too, if dessert is on you," Harvey offers with a mischievous smirk and opens the glass door of the lobby for her, his eyes glued to hers.
"Oh, you've earned?" She smirks back, meeting his gaze as she passes by him and exits the building, knowingly avoiding his choice of words for the last part of what he offered. They are playing this game now apparently, flirting and teasing each other at every opportunity they have.
Maybe it's the fact that a few days back he openly referred to that night over a decade ago, mentioning the strawberries and the whipped cream. She can picture his devilish smile while he somehow confessed he sets himself off thinking about her. What the hell are they doing? Is this their new normal? And what is normal for them, anyway?
"Earned," he ruled seriously as he walks to the black Lexus, knowing she cannot argue with him on this tonight, not after he agreed to step down and let Louis become managing partner. He's quick to open the door for her. "So, are you coming?"
And there it is again, that smirk of his. Oh, what are you going to do to make that happen? She refrains from uttering the comeback that crossed her mind, biting her bottom lip for a second at the thought, and smirks back at him. "You're an idiot," she says instead and gets in the back of the car.
.
They've been chatting about work stuff, coming up with ways to let people know about the new leadership and the -once again- name changing of the firm. After a few minutes, the waitress interrupts them placing their order on the table. He thanks her and keeps bringing up ideas, but Donna isn't fully paying attention to what he's saying.
She's observing him while he grabs a bite of his burger, as she takes in their surroundings one more time. After they got into the backseat of his car, Harvey told Ray he'd texted him the address, and then they ended up at the diner.
She's still a little surprised by his choice of place, can't help to notice the calmness in his behavior tonight and the fact that she just rolled with him and his improvised plan. It's like they've been doing this since forever, simply going out and spending time with each other outside the office, except they really didn't.
A few years ago, maybe. But if you don't take into account their anniversary celebrations, it was not a common thing for them to do. And must certainly not after that night at her place, the one when he blurted out those words and took off before she could even process a thing. They just don't do this.
"Hey," he draws her attention by placing his hand on top of hers as if it's also something they do on a daily basis. "Did you hear anything I just said?" The sudden warmth of his palm snaps her back to reality, and she must have been lost deep in thought, because she has no idea what he was talking about. "You can at least pretend I'll have a say in this whole thing," he smiles, and she immediately misses his touch when he lets go of her hand to grab some fries from his plate.
"You'll have to check with your managing partner," she points out, recovering fast and giving him a wink.
"You'll be the end of me. You know that, right?"
"Funny, I thought that was the point of my master plan to become your boss."
"We both know you've always been the boss here," he assures her, suddenly stopping their banter and motioning to the space between them.
She can't help the grin that spreads over her face. "Well, I sure as hell won't argue that."
They just laugh and go back to their previous conversation, exploring their options and eventually drifting to some other work related topics while finishing their burgers. In the back of her mind Donna keeps noticing these little things about him. To anyone else they would mean nothing, but to them, they are utterly out of place.
It's the way he refers to her daily work, actually recognizing the importance of her responsibilities and how she excels at every task. Not that he didn't sometimes express the fact that without her they'd be lost. Yet the I'm proud of what you've accomplished and the I knew since the moment I met you that you'd be amazing in whatever you do statements leaving his mouth certainly are something else.
There's also the fact that he seems to find excuses to get closer to her, seeking for every opportunity to establish some kind of physical contact. At this point, it's his hand placed in front of her offering to help her up as they leave the table, his palm hovering over the small of her back as they exit the diner, his fingers brushing her neck and briefly caressing her arms as he helps her put on her coat when they are outside. This is absolutely not how they usually act around each other.
And, of course, it's the way he edges every limit there is regarding the lines of their relationship while teasing each other. Comments and remarks about how he knows for a fact that she likes sometimes releasing control of a situation, that she doesn't mind food in bed, or that she can very well express when someone is excelling at whatever they're doing for her. All of them perfectly timed as a comeback to some random topic.
What she finds interesting though is how easy it is for them. It's no secret that they've always had this chemistry, it simply flows whenever they're in the same room together. Yet everything that happened so far tonight feels so… unbelievably natural to her, being here with this side of him.
"Let's grab a cab," he starts. "I have a bottle of that wine you've been wanting to try out."
She'd accomplished so far not to engage in trying to figure out what all those things meant, only the proposal he's making right now as they're standing outside the diner leaves her no choice but to address it.
"Harvey, what's going on?"
"Celebratory drinks?" He waives the question, of course. "You were the one who wanted to go out for drinks, and you also said that they were on me. I'm just keeping my end of the bargain here," he explains, and she just looks at him, smiling and lifting an eyebrow.
Being proud of himself, he whispers leaning near her ear, "I am the best closer the city has ever seen."
"Let's see about that, counselor," she teases him, holding his arm as they start walking to find a cab.
.
This is not what she had in mind when she proposed the plan earlier. Maybe a couple of drinks in his office, or even in a bar, sure, and then they would've parted ways. But being in his living room this late, drinking wine while listening to his dad's music, watching him stand up and offer his hand to dance? This was certainly not what she expected to happen tonight.
"Are you serious?" She laughs at him while taking his hand and stands up too.
"What?" He asks as he places his free hand on her lower back and begins to lead her to the beats of the music. "Can't I celebrate our one and only managing partner by indulging her with a dance?"
She can't stop grinning and his smirk is just so fucking annoying, but she loves it. "Oh, so now I'm the one?"
"I told you," he whispers near her ear. "I've always known, from the very beginning," he's quick to respond, and before she can process what he may just have admitted out loud, he's dipping her down holding her back and bringing her up to his front fast enough that the ground spins a little under her heels.
"Harvey," she tries, and her voice sounds breathier than she intended as she steadies herself in his embrace.
With his smirk plastered all over his damn face again, he chuckles. "Donna."
And fuck, she is overwhelmed by the urge to stand on her toes and just kiss him. But she promised him she'd never do that again, and he couldn't have meant what she was thinking, right? They're just getting back to normal after those shitty months, and she can't bear to lose him again. She has to leave, now.
"I…" she starts as she frees herself from his grasp, rearranging her dress and turning around looking for her handbag. "I should go."
"Why?" With a puzzled look, he follows her every move.
Really? Wow. She's instantly transported to her own living room a few years back, and suddenly terrified everything that happened then will now come back to shatter what they've fought so hard to regain. So she quickly puts her actress' skills in place and brushes the whole thing off. "We had our drinks and now we should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow, remember?"
"Oh, right…" he mumbles, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking at his feet. "Sure, ok. Do you want me to call a cab for you?"
Of course, no more comebacks now that it's playtime, and no dessert either. So it didn't mean what she thought, it's fine. Or maybe, maybe he did mean it, but tonight is definitely not the one where she finds out, not when it means putting them at risk again. "No, it's alright Harvey," she answers as she walks to the door and out of the apartment.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, boss" he's right behind her, leaning on the threshold.
The elevator doors open and she turns around smiling before stepping inside. "Good night, Harvey."
"Sleep tight," she hears him say as the doors close.
Only time will tell.