A/N: I'm back :) Not sure I'll be able to keep up the bi-weekly schedule but I will certainly try. For those of you that are following Feels Like Home as well, I will be updating it soonish too.

Maybe This Time

Chapter 8

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Maybe this time

It'll be lovin' they'll find

Maybe now they can be more than just friends

.

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"Aaaarrrggghh." Slamming the door shut, Donna screamed into the empty void that was her car.

She punched the steering wheel a few times, hitting the horn and a loud honk carried across the street but Donna didn't care. Leaving the mediator's office had left her frustrated beyond words.

After quickly reaching a consensus on a co-parenting plan months ago, they were forced to sit around the table again just a week before the six-month waiting period was over and a judge would ratify their divorce.

Splitting the weekdays and alternating the weekends was suddenly no longer an option and thus Jack had expected her to just give him certain holidays and more than half of school vacations.

She was all for Jack having access to his daughters as much as possible but moving to Chicago was his choice. Why should she be the only one to sacrifice again?

So she had bargained hard and it left her in tears.

Their previous schedule was based on them living in the same area. They had agreed to celebrate the girls' birthdays together and to split some holidays in half to give them both time with their children. They would alternate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day without travel chipping any time away as it was just a twenty-minute drive.

But now there were planes involved which are not only time consuming but also expensive and Jack refused to acknowledge that he would spend certain holidays in California with his family anyway so they painstakingly went through every detail of every major holiday with time brackets, expenses, and long discussions on who would accompany the girls on the plane.

It was everything her mother's heart didn't want for her daughters and why she hadn't been sure about divorce anymore when returning to the West Coast after Christmas.

But after she had let Harvey walk out of her life she had realized she loved Jack, she was just not in love with him. He had swept her off her feet at a time she needed it. Someone that wanted her and was very open about it. They had a shared interest in the arts and it had been a balm to her soul to roam around in the creative world instead of the hard corporate one all those previous years.

But as Jack climbed the ranks in his office he went from scouting at small independent productions to representing established performers. It was once her own dream to be an established actress but as she tagged along with Jack on several occasions, she realized she preferred the small productions more. It was much more personal, more room for your own creative input, and more real and honest. It was the antonym of the corporate world she had been part of for so long and that is what she liked about it.

Of course, she had soon fallen pregnant with Aubrey and again her own dreams were forgotten in favor of someone else. Jack hadn't asked her to stay at home but he hadn't pushed her on doing anything for herself either. If she hadn't run into Harvey on that market they probably would have continued this status quo for many years to come.

But Jack had seen it too. When, ultimately, she handed him the divorce papers, he told her he had known the day Harvey stood at their front door.

"You don't look at me the way you look at him."

But when she filed for divorce she didn't expect to negotiate a long-distance parenting plan. It was exactly why she didn't up and move closer to her own family. She made the ultimate sacrifice for her girls. To give them stability, continuity, and a mother and father close by in equal amounts. She resented Jack for not doing the same when it came down to it.

Louis had his head down, squinting at the resume in front of him. Alma had made several remarks about reading glasses but he had stoically ignored them all.

The name Darla Campbell he could manage but the work experience was in a smaller font so he bowed further down to peer at it from an even closer angle.

He was seated in Conference Room C, a Teams meeting set up to interview a Head of the Legal Secretary Pool candidate currently residing in California. He fully believed there was a suitable candidate in NYC, a city of 8 million inhabitants and he didn't need to gamble on someone that needed to move across the country and find a house when affordable property was so scarce, but Alma had said this candidate would blow all others out of the water so here he was unprepared, just going through the motions to appease his secretary. Because he owed her that much after putting up with him and his quirks for so long now.

A small sound alerted him to someone joining the meeting and when he lowered the paper he was left staring at the big screen, his mouth agape.

"Donna?"

"Ahem… Louis, hi."

Louis had reached the work experience section of the resume and there it was. "Secretary at Pearson, Specter, Litt. Secretary at the DA office."

"Darla Campbell, Donna Campbell," he muttered, finally connecting the dots.

Donna's cheeks flushed. "Sorry, I didn't want to be tossed aside by just my name."

"We would never," Louis responded.

"I know applying to Specter Litt is an admission of weakness but I have a gap of five years in my resume and not many relevant qualifications so I thought I'd try with the only people that know that I am capable of more than what my resume reflects." Donna was rambling and wincing as she tried to explain herself.

Louis nodded. "You came to the right place." He started tapping the top of his fingers together in excitement. "Does this mean you are moving back here?"

Donna shrugged. "Maybe. I need a job and a space that is big enough for me and the girls. That seems like an impossible task on a secretary's salary. One that isn't inflated by Harvey's paycheck," she added.

Louis scrunched up his nose, shifting in his chair. Ever since Jessica left and he had been managing the books, he had known but he didn't know Donna was aware.

"Oh relax, Louis. I was bound to find out eventually."

Louis decided to brush over it. "You did a business management course?"

"Yes! Surprisingly my motivation letter deemed me good enough to be admitted even though I didn't have the right level of corporate experience according to the guidelines. It was just six months, so of course, it was just the basics but I learned a lot."

"Donna, stop putting yourself down. A business management course at university level is an excellent qualification. However, I'm not giving you the Head of the Legal Secretary Pool position."

Donna's face fell.

"I have something else in mind."

…

Harvey walked past the conference room towards Mike's office when he backtracked to take another glance inside. His eyes hadn't deceived him. The big screen on the wall had Donna's face on it. He stood there silently, as always mesmerized by her features.

She looked good, he thought. Radiant, stunning, exceptional. His stomach twisted equally in both knots and somersaults. He didn't know why Louis was talking to her but he resisted the urge to barge in. If she wanted anything from him, she would have contacted him but it had been eight months so he could only assume she had retreated back into her California family life.

He was pulled out of his reverie when his cellphone in his pocket buzzed.

Your place or mine tonight? X

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then his fingers typed out a quick response.

Actually, I need to stay late tonight to finish an urgent case. Raincheck?

With a pained expression, he sent his lie out into the world.

Emily's reply was instant. Sure, don't forget to eat and say hi to Mike for me ;)

His shoulders drooped. He was an asshole.

With a quick peek over his shoulder, he looked at the redhead once more and then strode into Mike's office.

"You, me, Macallan 18, my place tonight."

Mike's head snapped up. "I thought you'd never ask!" He rolled his pen between his fingers as he leaned back in his chair. "Although, 18 is awfully young. Maybe we should aim for an older woman for our first threesome?"

Rolling his eyes, Harvey walked straight out.

"Fine, 18 it is this time!" Mike yelled at his back.

"Harvey! …. Harvey!" Louis sprinted to catch up as Harvey had passed the conference room in big strides and wasn't planning to slow down.

"You'll never guess who I just spoke to." Louis' eyes gleamed.

"Donna," Harvey muttered as he entered his office and fell down in his chair just in time to see Louis' face fall too.

However, Louis recovered quickly. "I offered her a job."

Harvey blinked, once, twice, rapidly. "Excuse me?"

"She applied," Louis rushed to say.

"She applied?" Harvey repeated, frowning as his head flinched back slightly. "For what?"

"Remember, that new position I told you about, Head of Legal Secretaries." Louis rocked on his heels. "But that wasn't right for her."

"It wasn't?" Harvey frowned again. He stood up, tossing down the pen he had grabbed to keep his fingers busy.

"That woman is capable of so much more."

"I agree." Harvey nodded. He walked over to the window pretending to admire the skyline as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"So I offered her a position as a trustee on the board of Cherry Lane Theater."

"What?" Harvey brought his left hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes. His brain working overtime.

Before he could wrap his head around the words, Louis rattled on.

"Cherry Lane is the oldest running off-Broadway theater in the city and I have been looking for a replacement for myself as I need to cut back on hours now that I'm about to become a father. This job is perfect for Donna."

Even though he wanted to be selfish and have Donna at the firm every day, he knew the theater job would indeed be perfect. His mind was still stuck at the fact that Donna would be here in New York?

"Of course, doing theater is basically charity and you can't live off that so I also offered her a position as COO… here."

Harvey spun around. "You what now?" His body heat was rising and his stomach did some involuntary fluttering.

Louis grabbed the back of the chair, baring all his teeth. He was willing to fight for Donna to the bitter end. "You mentioned bringing in a COO around New Years? It wasn't something we revisited but I think Specter Litt would greatly benefit from it. And Donna is so capable. She did a course in business management. But anyway she was due a promotion a long time ago."

His eyes met Harvey's. He knew Harvey knew and agreed but had kept Donna close for selfish reasons.

"I offered her three days a week because she needs time with her girls and this number." Louis proceeded to name a figure that was eye-watering high. But nothing near what Harvey was willing to pay for having her close, in the city again.

"Because you know, you can't put a price tag on a woman like that," Louis finished.

Harvey's eyes softened. "No you can't," he said hoarsely. "Did she say yes?"

"She said she needed time to think about it."

Harvey nodded. "Louis, could you just give me…?"

"Time to process this? Sure, say no more." And Louis skip-hopped his way out.

…

"What the—?" Mike exclaimed as Harvey had his back turned to him to pour two glasses of Scotch.

He veered towards Mike, holding two glasses as his friend was holding a pink scented candle.

"Pillow talk walks the line between seductive and soothing. It features notes of balsamic blackberries, bergamot incense, and burgundy rose, three rich and relaxing scents that are guaranteed to make your pillow talk that much more romantic," Mike mockingly read out aloud with widened eyes.

Harvey shrugged. "Emily's," he said. As if that explained it all.

"There's like ten of them."

"She said my house smelled too clean and less homey."

Mike just stared at him. "And where is your statue, figurine thingy?" He gestured at the fireplace.

Harvey raised one eyebrow. "You mean my ancient Egyptian sculpture of the guards of Pyramids of Giza that I brought back myself from my Egypt trip?"

"Yeah, that hideous thing."

"Emily thought it was staring at her so I removed it." Harvey took a large swig of Scotch, swirling the remains around in his glass.

"As opposed to this rainbow-colored appalling bulldog?" Mike stood and kneeled in front of the new statue. Staring in the eyes of a multi-colored figure of a dog. "Must admit. It couldn't have been easy to find something more atrocious than the Egyptian one."

Harvey sighed. "Look, it was at that art gallery where one of my mother's students had their exposition. This was on display and Emily liked it. Apparently, this is art too."

"Harvey, what the actual fuck?"

Mike turned around and gave him an incredulous stare.

Harvey slammed down his glass a bit too hard on the coffee table.

"What Mike? What is it?"

"What about Donna?" Mike asked softly.

"What about Donna!" Harvey roared. He ran a hand through his hair. "Look," his voice was more gentle this time, "I gave her space to find out what she wanted and since I haven't heard from her in eight months, it clearly wasn't me. Moving to New York doesn't change that. For all I know she's bringing her husband so I'll just have to live my life."

It was Mike's turn to sigh. Here he was again. Trapped between what he knew and what he should tell.

"Fine, let's change the subject." Mike downed his glass and stuffed a handful of pistachios in his mouth. "But promise me, no more of these abhorrent changes."

…

Letting the door fall shut behind him, Mike made his way into the living room.

"Hey gorgeous," he kissed his glowing girlfriend before plopping down on his couch. He tilted his head and gave her a look.

"It's time."

"It's time," Rachel repeated, confused. Her eyes grew wide. "It's time?" she asked, shocked.

Mike nodded and Rachel opened the built-in closet next to their stained-glass sliding doors in their beautiful brownstone. She retrieved a small brown package from the top shelf. Adding a small note and addressing it, she would drop this off at the post office first thing tomorrow.

Because it was time.

…

A few days later

"Thank you." Donna closed her front door, making her way into her living room holding a small parcel.

The return address revealed it was courtesy of Rachel and she excitedly ripped off the packaging.

Together with a white box, a little note fell out.

It's time you hear this.

Love,

Rachel

Donna's brows furrowed as she lifted the lid of the small white box. She gasped as she uncovered her old cellphone. Firing it up, it indicated there was one saved voicemail.

She shook her head, swallowing repeatedly. This wasn't possible. It had been five years.

She was shaking but didn't realize it until her trembling thumb tried to push the voicemail button.

Rachel's note had been short without any real information but there was no doubt in her mind who this voicemail was from.

It was like opening up a tunnel to the past. For one second she hesitated if it was wise to open that can of worms but she had to know. She always wondered if he had tried to contact her and if so, would he man up or do the same old dance?

Closing her eyes, she pressed the button and as soon as a voice crackled through the speaker, tears slid down her cheek.

"Donna… I'm sorry. Not for yesterday but… well obviously also for yesterday but I mean… I'm sorry for agreeing to your rule. Agreeing to put it out of our minds when it is all I ever think about. My dad— He… it was love at first sight with my mum. She broke his heart, our home. It… I'm not sure… I mean how can I trust my feelings?

I didn't think love was for me and I'm not ready but I want to be…

If you can just wait for me, I'll give you the world, just wait for me…. PLEASE?"