Author's Note:
Hey, I'm back. This one there's no beta, so sorry for any mistake.
I wanna thank you all for keeping here. Thank you for the RT and comments. This warms my heart.
Like I said before, I plan this one to have 4 parts, which they could easily read independently. But Donna's death is the center of everything.
While I consider this the softest of the parts I've planned, I'm already working on part 3 and 4 and they are heartbroken. As usual, reviews are always welcomed :D
With love,
Jana
"Daddy, Daddy." A tiny strawberry-blonde carrying a notebook and a pencil case is screaming while running towards him.
"Hey, little monkey, what happened?" Harvey is sitting on a chair in his office, reading some legal documents because he is dealing with a sensitive case at the firm and even though it is Saturday he brought some work to do at home. He places the case's paper aside, getting all his attention to the little girl.
Hazel puts her notebook and pencil case on the desk and asks for space on her father's lap. With Harvey's help, she climbs into his lap, straightens up, taking her notebook and opening it at the page she was reading before.
"Can you see it?" she points with her left index finger to the draw of a family tree.
"Yes," he responds.
"Ms. Pattison is saying that we need to fill with our ancestors," she explains. "She wants it before we go on our Holiday break." She is playing with a pen in her fingers and she looks up at her daddy. "I could put you and mom," she says, pointing again to the draw showing two dots of dolls drowned. "But I don't know where to put my grandparents."
Harvey looks at the family tree and he can see Hazel's name in the center of the picture, followed above by two spaces filled with his and Donna's name and a few voids on the top.
"Oh, so do you want me to help you put them on the tree?" Harveys asks the girl.
Hazel is 6 years old now and is in first grade. So he has a lot to learn about what a first-grade child learns and how much input and effort he is going to put to help her with her housework. He learnt for the past 6 years how fatherhood is a journey full of new lessons.
"Yes!" she says.
"Okay, do you know what this is?" the lawyer points his finger to the family tree.
"It's a family tree," she replies with a big smile on her face.
"Yeah, little monkey. Very good. It's a family tree. Do you know what a family tree means?" He is now staring at his daughter, full of affection.
"I'm not so sure, daddy," she confesses. "But Ms. Pattison said that is important to us to know where we all came from. And she explained that some of us will not have a mother and a father. Maybe some will have two fathers, or two mothers, or just grandparents." She is explaining to her dad, remembering what she learned at school. "And some of us, like me, will have just a dad, because their mommy died. But I wanted to put mom either way," she extenuates.
"Your teacher is right. This family tree can show us different family structures. But even though your mom is not with us, she's still your mom and someone that you have biological things from, like your haircolor." He takes a lock of her hair and puts it behind her ear. "And your eyescolor."
"And that's why you named me Hazel, right, Dad?" she asks.
"Exactly. Because I loved your mom's eyes very much," he says.
"So, is that okay to put mom into the tree?"
"Yes, it is. Let's fill it. Can you see this place here?" He points to a blank space right over his name on the tree. Hazel nods. "Here you will put your grandpa, my father's, name. And here," he points to the blank space right beside. "You will put your grandma, my mother's, name."
"So here, I will write Gordon and here I will write Lily." She repeats and points to the places her father showed her before being sure if she got it right.
"Exactly. Do you know how to write Gordon or Lily?"
Hazel takes some time thinking and finally says, "I know how to write Lily because I have a friend named Lily and because it's my middle name, but I don't know how to write Gordon."
There's something in Hazel's eyes that makes Harvey smile. She seems to be excited to be learning a new word, the name of someone she is so well aware of his importance.
"Oh, that's okay. Daddy is gonna spell it to you." He looks at her, still smiling.
"Great!" the girl says in a high-pitched tone and bends over to write in her notebook. "But I'm going to start with Lily, Dad."
Harvey stays in silence, seeing his girl writing the letters to form Lily's name. Considering her age, Harvey thinks he has such a wise daughter. He doesn't know if that impression it's just him being a doting father or if she is in fact a little too advanced for her age. Either way, she is proud of her handwriting and development.
"Done, Dad. Is that right?"
Harvey looks at the paper, a handwritten note that clearly needs to be improved and will over the years, reminding him of accountable notes he had received from Donna in the past. He nods.
"How's Gordon? Spell it and I'm going to write it."
"G-" Harveys says and the little girl repeats out loud while she is writing it. He proceeds, spelling the letters and waiting for the girl to write it, until she gets the name written.
"G-o-r-d-o-n. Gordon." She spells the words by herself.
"Exactly." Harvey says.
"So now where I'll put Clara and Jimmy's name?" The strawberry-blond girl looks at her dad.
"Where do you think it would be?" Harvey frowns his eyebrow.
The little keeps her gaze on Harvey for a while, after shifting to the notebook, still trying to guess where she would write the name.
Harvey patiently waits for her to figure it out by herself. He knows his daughter very well to know that she will do this quickly and if not, she will ask help.
"I-I guess," she ponders. "I'll put Clara here," she points to the blanket space right over Donna's name. "And Jimmy's here," she sharpens to the other blank space over Donna's name.
"Yes, Hazel. Very good."
"Daddy, can you spell the names to me?"
"Sure." And then once again he spells to the girl the names, and she follows his saying, writing it on the notebook, correctly filling the names in the tree.
"So, that's it?" Harveys questions his daughter, who nods.
"Dad, how did you and Mom meet?"
"Oh, this is a great story." He smiles, recalling all the memories he has from that day.
Flashback on
Harvey's career is evolving in an interesting way. He worked at the prestigious Gordon, Schmidt and Van Dyke, with Jessica Pearson being his mentor. Nowadays, he is working at the DA's office, with Cameron Diaz as his mentor.
Although working at the DA's office he is having a huge experience and learning so much, this is not what he wants for his life. Harvey's goal is to be a corporate lawyer. Work for the big guys and great fortunes, which would give him his name on the wall. Because of that, his time at the DA's office is temporary.
So, when he had the opportunity for a big case that could bring some attention to his name, he didn't think twice. Harvey fought really hard to let the case go to trial, giving him the perfect occasion to show himself, and what he could do, to the world.
With things going perfectly according to his plans, the action went to court, and the verdict was clear: Harvey won the lawsuit. Considering this winner, it wouldn't take much longer for many lawyers to hear about the great Harvey Specter, the prodigy former Harvard student.
After the trial, he went to the office to tell Cameron about the big victory and leave some documents to be filed in the prosecution's file. While he was there, his fellows arranged to celebrate the winner, and they went to the usual bar where they often make to when one of them won a case or just because they want to do a happy hour.
Since they arrived at the bar, they engaged in a lively conversation about everything and Harvey spent a considerable time bragging about his performance at the court that led him to the victory. His colleagues, already a bit excited, insist on buying a round of whiskey to toast for his significant achievement. Harvey accepts to please her colleagues as well his ego.
The entire group of five or six lawyers toast. Harvey, doing what he does well, joins the group, sipping the amber liquid just to make a gesture. With it, he goes to the bar counter, asks for Macallan 18, a better scotch, and he barely ends up ordering when a not familiar voice gets his attention and he turns to see to whom it belongs.
"You know, usually when someone wins their first trial, they at least pretend to finish the drink their fellow ADAS bought them."
A beautiful redhead is by his side, talking to him. He is not usually to people approaching him the way she just did, especially a woman. There's something in the way she speaks, as if they are friends and have any kind of intimacy. He tries to recall, but he doesn't remember knowing her or even going to bed with a ginger woman like her. Not that he is the kind of guy who usually remembers many women he'd slept with, but considering how unique this woman is, he would for sure remember if he went to bed with her.
"I'm sorry, do we-?" He frowns and tilts his head.
"Know each other?" She nods. "Not yet. But today's your lucky day." Her eyes go down and up, stopping when she gets into his eyes.
"And why is that?" He is leaning against the counter, facing her face to face.
"Because it's the day you get to meet Donna." The redhead is staring him right into his eyes, not looking for anything else.
"And let me guess: you're Donna." He says, a mischievous smile on his face.
He can't say why, but he is enjoying how she is leading the conversation.
"Oh, you have no idea how Donna I am." Her lips turn into a smirk.
Harvey sees some sign of flirtation in her eyes and he is enjoying it as well as her smile.
He fixes his suits. "Well, Donna, I'm Harvey-" He hands her his left hand, which she receives, and they do a handshake.
"Harvey Specter." She doesn't let him finish. "You really think I'd be talking to you if I didn't know who you were?"
"And how exactly do you know about me?" Again he frowns his eyebrows.
Harvey knows he just won a big case and news goes flying, but he isn't expecting to be this fast.
"I know about everybody." She shifts her position, putting her weight on her left leg, and leans against the counter. "What I don't know is why this is the first case you ever took to trial." She points her finger at him while she is speaking.
"Because it was a white-collar crime." Without stopping to talk, he turns to the waitress, takes his drink, and turns back again to face her. "Not some drug dealer on a corner, which makes it the kind of case-"
"That puts your name in the paper-" She completes his sentence when she realizes why he did that.
He frowns his eyebrows. "You're not just a pretty face, are you?"
Harvey has to admit there are often two kinds of women whom gets his attention: those who perfectly fit in the beauty standards, which normally approach him for casual sex. For him, that is not a problem at all. Usually, when he goes to this kind of bar, it's what he is looking for: a charming face to get to bed.
The other women's type are those who instigate and challenge him. The type of woman who doesn't talk to him just to boost his ego and please him. He has something like that with Dana.
Scottie is his friend from college and throughout their time at Harvey, they competed to see who would be the best student and lawyer. Eventually, the argument led to sex, which has become something they do from time to time until nowadays, but now the dispute is about who will win the case or take the biggest client.
Yet the woman in front of him seemed to be a mix of the two types, in a way he still can't fully understand.
"No, I am not." They get in silence for less than 5 seconds, her eyes still captivated by his. "So maybe you should buy me a drink and we can continue this conversation in the corner."
Without answering her, he turns again to Jay and orders a drink for her, and after that, they go to a desk where they don't take so much attention and can talk more privately.
Once she is not the woman who will easily fall for his words and have sex with him nor the one who will fight for a case in the court and they will relieve the sexual tension into sex, Harvey feels the need to better understand the communication that is taking place there.
They engage in a very smooth conversation. She has an answer for everything, a completely tongue-sharped person and a good sense of humour. The woman pleases his ego, but not so much to the point he gets bored, neither less to him to think she is not interested. There is a certain balance in the way she speaks with him.
Everyone can see the sexual tension there and how their eyes speak to each other. It was inevitable to look at her with lust. Harvey is sure the reason she approached him is to have sex, and being him straight to the point, he make a shot.
"Okay, enough about me. Let's talk about you."
"Ooh, my favorite subject."
"You know what I think?" He makes a long pause. Harvey is a poker player and usually reads his opponents.
"Hmm?"
"I think your favorite subject didn't come up to me just to find out why I went to trial. You want something." He states.
"I sure do." She confirms.
He knew it. He is not flirting for nothing.
"And I think I might be ready to give it to you."
She arches her back a little, getting close to him. He can feel a slight of tension with her approach, expecting her to touch his body, but she didn't.
"It's not sex." Her voice tone is a whisper.
If not sex, what would be?
"Then never mind." He drinks again, turning his gaze quickly, scanning the place. He needs to choose his next target. If sex isn't what she wants, he will listen to her, refuse whatever her need is and will walk away.
"Wow, you're gonna be that honest about it." She chuckles and laughs.
To Harvey's surprise, she didn't get offended by his sincerity. It is quite the opposite: she laughed. And he likes the sound of her laugh.
"Saves time."
There is something curious about that woman he still can't understand, but something inside him says, yet sex isn't her goal, he can still spend some more time talking to her. The conversation is really interesting, and he is having a good time.
"Well, in that case, I want to move to your desk," she says straightforwardly.
"And why is that?" Among all the things that crossed his mind, that is not something he expected. The woman is interested in business. Again, she surprised him.
"Because it's no secret that in a few years, you're going back to Gordon, Schmidt, and Van Dyke."
"And let me guess, you want to come with me when I do." He thinks he is finally understanding her.
"No, I don't," she says.
"Then why?"
He is lost in count of how many bids he had done on that woman's interest or the signals she gave to him and all of them are wrong. What is happening to his poker reading skills? Every new answer she gives to him increases Harvey's interest in that woman and the puzzle of her mind.
"Because I'm gonna be an actress, and I want somebody who understands that there's more to life than just the DA's office. And that I can give my all to them, but still step out for the occasional audition."
"So, you're stepping out on me already?" He can't believe what she is saying, but he can't help but smile. She is smart.
"Yes, but the important thing is, I'm telling you about it in advance."
And again, the sharp-tongue that showed up since the beginning of the conversation, shows up.
Before he can say a thing, the waiter comes and interrupts them. "Macallan 36."
"I didn't order a Macallan 36."
"It's from the gentleman over there." The waiter points to a guy at some table, forwarding them on the second floor.
"Okay, I don't know who that is, but I'm telling you right now, he is bad news."
After both of them being perfectly clear about what they really want and the server giving Harvey the drink, she ends the conversation by giving him a deadline.
"I know it is a lot to think about. I will give you a couple of days to do your homework and find out that I'm the best corporate secretary anyone ever had. I rarely come here to drink, but I will start by tomorrow to wait for you to come here and say when I can start at your desk."
She gives him a smile and leaves the bar.
Flashback Off
For obvious reason, the lawyer changed the story a bit, hiding the sex part, his 6 years daughter is too young to hear about sex.
"Oh, and you hired mom?" Hazel's eyes are glowing with excitement. This is the first time she hears the story about how her parents met.
"Actually, no. I accepted another job and in that job, I wouldn't need a secretary."
Harvey sees the sparkles on her face fading, and he can't help but smile.
"Hm… And how did mom go to work for you?"
Flashback on
Since he had accepted Forstman's proposal, a lot had happened and having fallen into an ambush had definitely been the final straw for him to stop working for the guy and choose to stay in the prosecution. And amid all the irritation and concern over the threat of his former employer, who had gotten a family member involved in his dirty dealings, it came to his attention that he thought that after all Donna was right about the fact that working for him it would be a big mistake, and he was sorry, but obviously he wouldn't tell her that.
He needs to continue at the DA's office and go on with his life as if nothing had happened and, to his surprise, when he arrives at the place, he hears the familiar voice that had been hammering in his head for a few days.
"Black, two sugars, a splash of vanilla." Donna is carrying a black mug and is sitting on a desk.
He walks towards her, stopping by.
"How do you know that's how I take my coffee?" He lies. He obviously doesn't take his coffee this way. In fact, he is wondering why someone can drink vanilla with coffee. That is insane.
"The same way I know you're not taking that job."
"You know I'm not taking that job because I came into work today."
"No, Mr. Specter. I knew you weren't taking that job the second you walked away from me the other night." She puts the mug on the desk where she is still sitting. "I told you I know people better than they know themselves."
She really had a sort of superpower. He likes and can use it in his favor.
"Well, what did you do with Tina?" He asks, out of curiosity.
"Oh, I had Big Bertha reassign her." She is up on her feet, taking a few steps towards him, getting even close to Harvey.
"To who?". As if he truly cares about who his former secretary is working.
"Do you really care?"
How is it possible? Had he said something out loud? He stares at her for a while, absolutely in awe of her. He can play this little game of innuendo for as long as possible. Her look says she is having fun too.
"Not a bit." He nods.
They both stare deeply at each other, her beautiful Hazel eyes matching perfectly to her redhead hair. He is in amazement.
"Good. Here's the deal." She pauses. "I will take a bullet for you. And I don't mean that literally. But what you do for me is, when I need something, you give it to me. It's not just a one-way street."
Her words hit him far more than anything else she had spoken since they met, and in a very different aspect. There is a great differential: loyalty. In other words she had expressed the same thing that he had put in his yearbook and that was his life guide for all the relationships he had close by, both professionally and especially personally. She had just won all the admiration possible from him and everything he needed to know that whatever relationship they were in, he could trust her.
"Will you also do some actual secretarial work?" He teases.
"Take a look at what I did with your calendar there, hotshot." The ginger turns and pulls the paper on her table, showing him his schedule.
"Holly shit, when'd you get that done?" He takes some steps and looks at the paper.
"I told you I'm not like every other secretary. I'm Donna." She is proving herself for sure.
That look again, that deep look he could not entirely understand, and this is something new to him. The game has started in the bar, on that night when they met and as in their second meet where she could not look into his eyes because she knew at the moment she looked at him the flirt would stay there, in the same way, they were doing right not. Looking into each other, flirting, saying without a word, just the two of them, living in a universe inside their eyes.
"Then let's get to work. But for the record, I don't take vanilla with my coffee."
She gives him his cup. While on his way to his office, he tastes the coffee, getting all the flavors the mix can give, and he really enjoys it.
"Oh, my God, this is awesome." He yells, entering the place.
Even without seeing her, he knows she carries an air of satisfaction for making him admit something, even the slightest bit. And he can't admit it yet, but deep down he knows that the entry of that redhead in the bar changed the course of his life and, even though he was averse to change, he feels very safe with the change she can bring him and was willing to take a risk.
Flashback off
At some point, whilst he was telling her the story, they went to the living room, sat on the couch, and Harvey took Hazel on his lap. The kid was deeply interested in the story he was telling.
"So, did you know for that meeting you would marry her?"
"Yes, definitely." Harvey gives the short answer to the younger. At her age, she wouldn't understand the complex of her question and the feelings he had.
"Dad, can we see your wedding video again? I miss my mom and I wanna see her."
"Sure, sunshine. But first you put your things back in your room while I'm putting the video on TV, okay?"
In a silent nod, the little girl pulls Harvey's lap, takes her things and runs to her room.