A/N: I have no idea if this is any good at all. It feels to over-dramatic and angsty maybe? But this is where I ended up landing, anyways, hope someone enjoys this continuation of Darvey's double date! Reviews and suggestions are always welcome!
Donna slid into Mitchell's car with nerves wracking her body. She tried to calm herself down and be enthusiastic about their evening plans. It was dawning on her that both she and Harvey were dating people from their past. Both giving them a second chance of finally getting it together.
Donna tried to turn her brain off and not psychoanalyze the fact they had both decided to go through their dating history roster in their early 40s around the time she had asked for her 'more'.
She also chose to ignore how he had freaked out and jumped into Scottie's arms, while she reconnected with Mitchell through their shared friend's engagement party… Instead, Donna decided to focus on how much she wanted her and Mitchell to be on good terms, and how much she desperately needed to be calmed down before being forced to spend a minimum of two hours across from Scottie and Harvey.
Donna glanced slyly at Mitchell who was driving them through Manhattan's busy streets in style. His car was a sleek new Tesla model he was testing out for a client (which she saw Harvey eye with begrudging respect, not that it mattered) and Mitchell, Mitchell looked incredibly hot tonight. His peppered short hair was offset beautifully by his grey fitted shirt that made his green eyes stand out even more than usual. He looked hot in a manly raw manner. The shirt sleeves were rolled up showing off his tanned toned forearms, one of his hands went from confidently shifting gears to resting on her leg and that's when she snapped, realizing exactly what would get her nerves down and her infatuation for Mitchell up.
The minute they were near the restaurant, she told him sultrily to not park with the valet just yet, her tongue already working its way into his ear.
They ended up having sex in the back of his car, or more specifically, Donna gave Mitchell a blowjob while he reciprocated with heavy petting, rutting, and nipple play. Her pantsuit didn't leave many options for her, but she didn't care. Mitchell's ministrations managed to get her hot and bothered and sedated all at once.
She patted his shoulder affectionately as they tried to catch their breath. "Well, you can definitely tell that client of yours that there's plenty of backseat room."
Mitchell laughed as he ran his hand affectionately through Donna's hair, trying to get it back to its styled look, knowing he'd get yelled at if she looked unkempt at dinner.
Donna gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before she adjusted her attire and make-up real quick. They eventually moved the car to the valet section and got into the restaurant.
They spotted Scottie and Harvey at their table and made their way in. "Sorry we're late." Donna abashedly apologized as Mitchell pulled a seat for her.
"Yeah, which was weird considering we followed you guys here, and I could've sworn I saw your car out there already." Harvey mused with a glint in his eye, a glass of scotch seemingly out of nowhere, making its way into his mouth. Scottie stifled a cough behind her own cup.
Donna blushed slightly at the insulation of getting caught but rolled her eyes at Harvey.
"Glad to see our tardiness didn't stop you from ordering anything." Mitchell added, smiling.
Points for Mitchell, Donna thought amusedly. "Well, I'm starving and thirsty."
"We ordered a round of drinks for the table." Harvey clarified.
"What, more scotch?' Donna raised a cajoling brow.
Harvey shook his head slightly. "No wiseass, I got you a lime martini, and Mitch, I got you a rum and coke. Donna mentioned it was your drink of choice."
Donna found herself searching Harvey's eyes for a read on his demeanor. She felt like his words were meant to be a nice gesture, but all she read was possessiveness underneath it all. He highlighted how he knew her preferences and that he listened to her even when she didn't think he was.
Ok, maybe she was overreading everything. She teared her eyes away from Harvey's and brought her attention down to her menu. "Ok, so what does everyone feel like having tonight?"
"We should definitely get some dumplings for the table." Mitchell said.
"Ugh yes, I heard they're amazing." Scottie added.
After a few more rounds of debating, they all settled on ordering dumplings, drunk noodles, hot and sour soup, as well as 3 main dishes of chicken, pork, and tofu served in various sauces.
"So, where'd you two meet?" Mitchell asked politely after the waiter had left, taking their order down.
"Law school." Scottie replied, smiling to Harvey in memory.
"Yeah, she was the annoying girl who kept raising her hand." Harvey teased.
"And you were the douchebag who kept challenging me."
"You mean beating you."
"Who was first in class again?" Scottie fired back with a smirk, painting her face as her eyes glistened with humor.
"Who had more fun at parties though?" Harvey smugly replied to which Scottie laughed at.
"Oh Harvey, winning one over you were the most fun I could've had."
Donna gulped down the rest of her martini, glad they had just ordered a plum wine for the table to share because at the rate she was going, she was going to need another drink asap.
"What about you two, how'd you guys meet?" Scottie laughed out her question, settling in more comfortably in her chair.
Donna felt herself blush in inadequacy as she compared their meet-cute story to Harvey and Scottie. College sweethearts through the classic nerdy girl and in suffering jock trope was hard to beat.
"We met through one of Donna's plays."
"You a Shakespeare guy?" Harvey's words sounded innocent enough, but Donna and Scottie could both see the little challenging glint in his eye.
Donna narrowed her eyes slightly at him, about to speak up, when Mitchell beat her to the punch.
He chuckled good humoredly. "God no. I was volunteering my handy skills to help build the sets and stage. Have you ever seen her act though? She's amazing." Mitchell added sincerely glancing at Donna who beamed back at him in reply.
Harvey gazed at Donna slyly, remembering how he'd seen her in every play she'd ever been in since they'd known each other.
"Once or twice." He wondered to himself which of the many times her play had gone on for weeks that she'd met Mitchell, which one of her plays had Harvey and her gone and celebrated together with dinner, that the next night she ended out with Mr. Handy over there, bonding over backstage stories and tequila shots.
"He's pretty good with a hammer and nails." Donna winked in jest at Mitchell who chuckled silently at her ribbing.
"Well, what about you guys, how long have you known each other again?" Mitchell nodded his head between Donna and Harvey.
"12 years." They both responded simultaneously. Their eyes met and Donna's teeth teased her lower lip as Harvey's eyes crinkled in amusement before they both shared a laugh.
"Give or take a few months." Donna joked. Before they could further elaborate on anything the waiters came back with their bottle of wine and first set of appetizers.
"So, Mitchell, you a carpenter?" Harvey's question was followed by a spoonful of hot and sour soup.
"He's an engineer with a specialty in electric cars." Donna clarified as she blew on her spoon full of food.
Donna was half sorry for clarifying his job title because for the next twenty minutes, both men got into a slightly heated debate over car models, types, vintage vs new, what exactly Mitchell did, and finally, a second debate over automated cars and the risks they impose.
They only stopped once the waiter came back with the rest of their food.
"Thank god, one more second and I was going to be bored to tears." Scottie exclaimed, which earned a laugh from Donna.
"Seriously, why don't you just whip out your cars next time and race each other over who wins."
"Don't encourage them, Donna." Mitchell laughed at Scottie's response and put his hands up in mock surrender.
"Okay ok, message received, new topic. So how long have you guys been together?"
"A month or two." Harvey answered.
"On and off for a few years though." Scottie frowned slightly at Harvey.
"That's so crazy, same for us two. Well, we dated a while back and just got back together a month ago or so."
"Oh, right around the time you got promoted to COO right? New job, new man huh Donna?" Donna laughed at Scottie's throwaway comment, but in reality, she was sitting on edge hoping no one drew any conclusions.
How Harvey reached out to Scottie just as she spooked him with her life change, and how Donna immediately followed in his footsteps when the opportunity arose. She wasn't sure if she was overreacting, but it felt like something she had to hide and sweep under the rug. She just wasn't sure why.
Harvey piped up again "Speaking of jobs, did you bring that file over to McKorsfman earlier today? Because he's been hounding us all week to-"
"Finish up the report and find him an extra hundred thousand in the budget for his project, I know. I finished it up yesterday and sent it over to him with two tickets to Macbeth as a 'thank you for your business' despite the fact we were early with it and he's just-"
"An asshole who took away your season tickets?" Harvey finished off for her with a knowing smirk and Donna tried to bite her own smirk back from growing.
"Don't worry, I'll get you another pair, but thanks for your eternal sacrifice." Harvey teased.
"My hero." Donna sang her response with a sickeningly faux sweetness, before laughing slightly at their entire exchange. Until she caught a quick glance of Scottie's face. She was smiling at them close-lipped with an amused look on her face that felt painted on. She was clearly uncomfortable with their entire dynamic.
Part of Donna felt incredibly embarrassed and ashamed for a nanosecond because she didn't want to put Scottie in an uncomfortable position. But another part of her felt annoyed, she had to keep walking around an ever-changing mind field just to ease her insecurities.
Her and Harvey were just friends, and they were just joking around. It wasn't even flirting; Donna had heard a similar exchange between Mike and Harvey several times. This was just how friends joked around.
Still, Donna steered the conversation to safer waters. "Enough about work we spend enough hours complaining about those boring old men."
Harvey took a sip of his scotch in response to Donna's change of topic, feeling weirdly on the spot, despite the evening going more or less ok. He was about to ask the table how they liked the food, when Scottie piped up next.
"You know Donna, I've known you for quite a while, and yet I feel like I barely know much about you."
Harvey didn't know why but suddenly he was on edge again, and one quick look at Donna drawing in a sharp breath, made him feel like he wasn't completely paranoid to think so.
Donna prepared herself for whatever Scottie was about to throw her way, picking up her glass of plum wine. "What do you wanna know Dana?"
"Well, we heard me and Harvey's story, and how you and mitch met, but how exactly did you and Harvey meet?"
Harvey frowned at the innate question Scottie had asked, pulsed by her intention. "We worked at the D.A.'s office. You know that." He replied back to her.
"No, I know, but how'd you two meet exactly? I mean, she wasn't always your secretary, right? And he wasn't your first boss right out of theatre school, was he?"
"No." Donna drew out her response, not entirely sure where this line of questioning was going, because Scottie definitely knew where they met, and she knew all about Donna's background in theatre, so the question sounded innocent enough but something about Scottie's tone made it feel like an interrogation more so than friendly get-to-know-you icebreakers to both Donna and Harvey's ears.
"After Yale, I picked up whatever job I could find to pay the bills. The District Attorney's office was hiring, and I got assigned a random attorney there. Except my boss wasn't entirely happy to give me time off for auditions, and when I heard Harvey was making waves and had no plans to stay at the D. A's I figured he wouldn't mind an assistant who had a future outside of the office as well. It was a better fit so," Donna shrugged her shoulders, "I got Tina his first secretary to switch desks with me."
"Tina lucked out not having a hard ass for a boss all those years." Scottie teased and Harvey rolled his eyes at her with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Trust me, Tina is doing just fine, she started her own cosmetics business back in the Bronx." Donna chimed in.
"I can't believe you stayed in touch with her." Harvey mused in awe.
"That's because you can't wrap your mind around doing things just to be nice."
The table laughed at Donna's quip.
"I can't believe how long you've known each other. I could never last that long in an office job, which is why I ended up starting my own company with my partners. And you stayed there for years."
Mitchell sounded fascinated with the timeframe, like he couldn't believe Donna held the same position for so long, and Donna usually doesn't feel uncomfortable with her life choices, but she felt her body repulse at the notion he was implying, that she stayed settling when she should've moved on.
Harvey picked up on her feelings immediately. Could see it in the tightness around her eyes, and the smallest of insincere corners turned upwards on her face, that she didn't like Mitch's implication, didn't know what to make of it. He jumped in before she could attempt to try.
"Well, what can I say, Donna was just too invaluable to the firm to even let her go. That's why she got the promotion to COO."
"Well, with the way she practically ran your office all those years it's not a surprise." Scottie added as she fiddled around with her plate of food.
But the comment didn't really compliment as much as it undercut and undermined Harvey. Donna grimaced slightly at Scottie's tone, side-eyeing Mitchell, clueless-about-Scottie Mitchell, who also picked up on her harsh statement that felt too forced and too calculated to come off as a smart quip against her boyfriend.
Mitchell took a large spoonful of pork to avoid having to comment, and Donna's mouth took over while her brain wasn't thinking.
"Hey, Harvey knew he could do it all without me, it just would've taken him much longer to get to the top that way." Donna winked at Harvey, who visibly relaxed at her comment.
After a few minutes of silence and everyone simultaneously eating, the topic of work was finally dropped completely.
Mitchell suddenly pipped up. "Was that around the time you reconnected with Amy?" He asked Donna, inadvertently turning his head toward her, glancing at her chewing thoughtfully at her cooked tofu.
"Mmm, just about." Donna replied casually, hoping the conversation would be dropped. Mitchell nodded in reply, but Dana narrowed her eyes slightly confused by the topic. "Who's Amy?"
"Amy is the mutual friend we both had. She was my roommate's girlfriend, and Donna's friend from Yale. I think she and Amy reconnected around the time you applied for Harvey's desk, right?"
Donna just nodded distractedly, following her gulp of food with a gulp of wine, which Harvey found slightly amusing, as she took a large sip down her throat.
"Yeah, Amy's the best. I think that's when she got that secured spot at the theatre group, and she tried to get you to join their tour nationally right?"
Donna avoided Harvey's stare that she was sure accompanied his frown, instead she focused on Scottie's surprised look, her eyes slightly widened with a hint of an amused smirk to her face, mixed in with confusion.
"Why didn't you end up going again?" Mitchell asked, clearly unaware of the awkward spot he had just put his girlfriend in.
"You got into the theatre group?" Dana asked, also unhelpfully with shock coloring her tone in a way that irritated Donna. She knew Scottie wasn't trying to be mean, but the assumption that Donna didn't have what it took irked her.
"Of course, I got in."
"Well, you can't be too surprised by her reaction because evidently you didn't end up touring them, and I for one would like to know why."
His voice was slightly taut and rippled with an underlying current of frustration, as if she was keeping something from him. She hated how it sounded like he was scolding her.
What Donna really wanted to say was that he of all people would not like to know why, because the answer was him and the first case Jessica ever tested him with back when he was still working at the D.A's office, that made her completely preoccupied with him, making her miss the deadline, and turn down the opportunity because she didn't feel like she'd be giving it her all, because Harvey had needed her.
Instead, Donna put her acting skills to use, and shrugged her shoulders in response.
"My roommate at the time wrote down the wrong date for the deadline to officially send in my papers accepting the offer. They didn't like tardiness and gave the spot to my understudy at the time."
That wasn't the whole truth, but it was somewhat true. Her roommate had written down the right date, but Donna was so busy with the firm, she forgot to ask her roommate if she had gotten any messages at all, and her roommate didn't care enough to remind her of her appointments.
Donna felt like she had sold the lie well enough to even fool Harvey, but that wasn't enough to shut him up about the topic.
"Why am I just hearing about this now?" A palpable, awkward silence followed his words. Donna couldn't tear away her gaze from Harvey's piercing brown eyes staring at her adamantly, with no care in the world to how incredibly entitled he sounded over the topic of her life.
Donna blinked at him slowly in reply, trying to send him a mental message that he needed to remember where they were. Donna felt like she was trapped under water, with his stare, Mitchell's slight frown directed at Harvey, and Scottie's sudden flush of regret all over her face over the topic she'd brought up.
He caught onto it. He either had the stroke of genius to cover up his mistake, or the unabashed-ness to not seem even a little put out with his display of possessiveness. "I would've thought you'd mope around the office after missing out on such an opportunity, is all." he shrugged in response.
"I didn't really have enough time to. You kept me busy those days." Donna's voice was sweet and sincere, sweeter than she intended. She saw Harvey pick up on her double meaning with the softening of his gaze.
"Besides, I just vowed to never have another roommate again." She chuckled as she took Mitchell's hand and squeezed it under the table, before turning her head to look at him.
He sent her a faint smile in reply before taking his hand out of hers with the excuse of using it to spoon another mouthful of tofu.
"Besides, didn't she end up in Spain? Can't imagine you'd fare well with all that sun." Mitchell added helpfully, before bringing his hand back down to rest comfortably on Donna's thigh.
Donna breathed out a sigh of relief, glad to have overcome the awkward moment. They still had a whole course to get through.
A/N: Just a heads up, Scottie will definitely be redeemed in the next chapter! And if you guys would like to leave a comment I'd love to know what you guys thought about the little amy-theatre part of the dialogue. I was gonna end up not writing that at all because I felt it added an unnecessary level of drama, but without it as well I felt the date lacked the conflict that I'm well aware Darvey would have when on a double date with other people. Thanks for reading!