It's one of those Sundays in early spring in New York City, when even the laziest couch potatoes are lured outside by the first warm rays of sunshine of the year. Central Park is full of cheerful people sitting in the sun, drinking coffee, having a picnic on the grass, or rollerblading along the paved paths.
Emma and Jane have been out all morning for their study project. They have just settled down on a bench by a small duck pond to go through the first photos and interviews they've already collected.
Suddenly, Jane bumps her elbow into Emma's waist and points to a couple approaching the bench next to them. They both silently watch them for a while.
It's a highly attractive couple probably in their early 40s, radiating pure success and prosperity. Just like one of those New York power couples. The woman is wearing dark jeans and boots, along with a forest green turtleneck sweater, half-covered by an open beige trench coat. A pair of fashionable sunglasses is tucked into her long, fiery red hair. She is beautiful, there's no denying it.
The man, about half a head taller than her, wears a three-day stubble in addition to his sunglasses on his face. He probably allows himself the luxury of not shaving on the weekends, before bagging any big deals again on Monday morning, all spick and span in a tailored suit worth a detached house, Emma thinks to herself. If only she knew how right she was with that.
Although right now he is wearing a pair of well-fitting jeans, brown leather shoes, a light gray sweater and a black leather jacket on top of it. He beams at his female company like the Cheshire Cat itself as they settle down on the bench, seemingly having finished their more serious conversation from before.
And even though they look like they've stepped right out of any celebrity magazine or luxury fashion catalog, they exude an incredible warmth, authenticity and familiarity that's hard to put into words.
They both sip on their coffees before the woman lowers her head onto his shoulder and he immediately wraps his right arm around her frame and pulls her closer to him. Absent-mindedly, his fingers begin to play with the strands of her wavy hair as if that's exactly what they are made for.
It's impossible to hear what they are talking about, but it seems as if they don't need many words to communicate anyway.
Eventually, the man turns his head and presses a kiss onto the crown of her head before he rests his chin there, seeming to breathe her in for a while. He seems to whisper some silly nonsense because she laughs out loud, playfully slapping his thigh.
"Guess we found our dream couple of the day," Jane snaps Emma out of her thoughts. "Mhm," Emma simply agrees. "I want what they have," she adds dreamily. "I bet they've been married for ages, they've probably known each other since high school and were already the ultimate dream couple back then. Who knows what ups and downs they've already been through together. I mean, just look at how familiar and at ease they are with each other. That's true love, isn't it?"
"I don't see any wedding rings, though." Jane falters. "But that doesn't have to mean anything. Let's just go talk to them."
…
"Hi. Sorry to bother you. We are Emma and Jane, two journalism students from LIU and we are currently working on our final thesis on the topic of happy long-term relationships. We've been watching you for a while and you seem to be experts in this field. So we were wondering if we may ask you some questions?"
"Oh," the woman replies amusedly as she lifts her head from the man's shoulder. "We are no long-term couple actually. We've only been together for less than a year.", she shrugs apologetically and peeks over at her boyfriend, a big smile on her face.
"No way!" Emma points out. "You guys exude so much intimacy and history, you seem so content and in love with each other but on a whole different level than all these newly lovey-dovey, everything-is-rosy-red kind of couples."
The couple shares a meaningful glance. "Maybe that's because we've been knowing each other for over 15 years," the man speaks up as he tugs his girlfriend closer.
"Well, that can indeed be considered as a long-term relationship then, don't you think?" Jane smiles. "Would you mind answering a few questions for us? That would be awesome. It won't take long and you'd be a great asset to the story."
The man seems less convinced and clearly more reserved than the woman. But as he looks at her and recognizes the enthusiasm that is written all over her face, he seems to melt away and it is totally obvious that he is completely fallen for her.
"Well, all right," he gives in and squeezes her shoulder. Her smile widens as she looks up to the young women. "Ok hi, so we're Harvey and Donna. What questions do you have for us?"
Thank you for reading :) I'd also kinda like to explore now what kind of questions this interview might involve and what Harvey's and Donna's answers would be. So if you like to read that and maybe even have some ideas for interview questions - let me know, I might write this down in another fic/ficlet then.