Hey there! Just a few cute little oneshots in a '5 times ... + 1 time ...' kind of format which I really love to read. Anyway, I've divided it up into six chapters, this being the first one. I hope you'll like it, and as always; feedback is very welcome!
Harvey Specter doesn't do weakness. Or, more specifically – and more realistically – he doesn't do admitting his weaknesses. He doesn't ask for help. But that doesn't mean he never needs it, and lucky for him, Donna knows him better than he knows himself. She knows his habits and it's so easy for her to recognize the tell-tale signs that something is not right. Even if he won't outright admit it, she knows when something is not right and she knows when he needs a little help.
One of the first things Donna learned about Harvey, all the way back at the DA's office, was that caffeine has quite the effect on him. She gets a little jittery after she drinks a lot of coffee – over five cups in one day will do the trick – but he is so impacted by it that she can tell exactly how much cups he has drunk without being the one to hand them to him – even though she usually does.
The first cup of coffee that Harvey drinks is one Donna makes him. Back when she was his secretary, she always got in before him and had a cup ready when he walked through the doors. Now, she's up before him most days. And by the time he has dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, she's brewing coffee in the kitchen. It's not only his first cup of the day anymore, it's their first cup and it's a moment of blissful peace and being together.
That first cup of coffee – black with a little vanilla extract – is enough to keep Harvey powered up for hours. That first shot of caffeine lasts him through the morning and, depending on the day and his mood, through part of the afternoon as well.
Some days, however, Harvey needs more caffeine. Sometimes it's because he didn't get a lot of sleep and he's tired. Other times it's because of piles of administration that seem endless. That second cup of coffee gives him the energy he needs to keep going. But – as Donna once pointed out – it comes with a little side-effect. When he has downed that second coffee, his handwriting starts to slant a little bit and he needs to focus on keeping his words readable.
When Harvey drinks three cups of coffee, Donna knows. She knows, because every word he writes or dotted line he signs, it's just scrawly lines. She has a hard time making out whatever she is meant to be reading, just a little more than the slanting after two cups, but at least it's still readable, as opposed to when he drinks more than three cups. When he drinks three cups, she always starts to worry a little bit. Because if he's that tired, of if the work piles up that much, maybe he needs a break more than he needs to pump caffeine into himself. Usually it happens after nights spent mostly sleepless or cases he is really worried about. Days when he drinks three cups are days when he eventually allows her to take him home, where he collapses onto the couch and falls asleep within moments.
Four coffees is rare, very rare. When Harvey drinks four cups of coffee, he quite literally feels his body buzzing with adrenaline, the caffeine drowning the exhaustion out. His hands are unsteady and his writing turns into something not even Donna can decipher, once she called it chicken scratch, and while he was a little offended by it, he can't actually deny it.
"Hey," Harvey walks into Donna's office, placing a file on her desk, "could you sign this and get it back to me before the end of the afternoon?" He turns around and leaves again without waiting for her reply. She follows him with her eyes, but doesn't call out for him, seeing as she is on the phone with an important client. Something that Harvey didn't even seem to acknowledge.
During the remainder of her conversation, Donna is a little distracted. While dropping documents on her desk and expecting her to handle it used to be Harvey's style, it's not something he often does anymore. Now he always accompanies the necessary business with some small talk. Depending on how much time they have, he sometimes even brings her coffee and they take a small break together. But even when he is really busy, his requests always contain either please or thank you, and now that even the simplest politeness is missing, it sets her on edge.
When Donna has – finally – managed to wrap up the conversation, she opens the file Harvey dropped on her desk. Her eyes scan over the printed text, which contains nothing out of the ordinary. At the bottom of the third page, however, something catches her attention. A neat dotted line for a signature, with hovering just above it a clear sign that something is up. She knows that it's Harvey's signature, but just because she knows what it's supposed to look like. This is what his handwriting is like after four cups of coffee.
Four coffees, Donna muses to herself. It has been a while since he had the need for that much caffeine. Probably back in New York, during Faye's reign of the firm. She wonders why he needs it now, her mind speeding back through the past few days. Last week he wrapped up a case in court, this week he started on something new and he has been helping Rachel out with her case. He was a little tired yesterday, so they spent their weekly date night on the couch instead of going out. But none of that is a reason for those four cups of coffee.
"Hey," Donna's warm voice catches Harvey's attention. He looks up from his laptop to see her standing in the doorway of his office. She smiles lightly at him as she approaches his desk, the file he dropped off earlier in her hand, "I signed this," she places it down in front of him, "and I fixed that unintelligible scribble you call a signature." She lowers herself down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and crosses her right leg over the left one, "are you okay, Harvey?" She inquires softly.
Harvey is busy and he doesn't really have time to talk, but nevertheless he looks up and meets Donna's hazel eyes, because she always makes everything better. "I'm fine," he notices the grumble in his own voice, "it's just a lot," he amends as he gestures at the literal piles of documents on his desk. She looks at the piles too, narrowing her eyes a little before looking back at him, "what did you do to end up with this much paperwork?" She wonders, the beginnings of a grin playing around her mouth, knowing how much he hates doing the 'boring stuff' as he always calls it.
"I'm wrapping up last week's case," Harvey starts, "and doing the startup paperwork for that new case I started. And then I started helping Rachel out, and she had a sudden meeting so I'm taking care of some things for her. And Mike had to take care of the papers to sign that new client, but opposing counsel on the Miller case called his client in for a deposition so he had to leave too." He sighs, tapping his pen on the edge of his desk, "so actually I need to get on with it."
"Harvey," Donna tilts her head slightly to the left, "half of these piles were here yesterday." There's a slight accusatory tone in her voice and he straightens in his chair, "but last night was date night." He protests, causing her to smile. She leans forward and reaches for his hand, "and then you worried about it all night, so you barely slept, and now you're so tired and stressed you felt the need to drink four cups of coffee?" She phrases it as a question, but both of them know that she just flawlessly pieced together what happened.
"Something like that," Harvey mutters. He looks at Donna, still a little amazed by her ability to read him so flawlessly. Even after all those years, he never truly gets used to her knowing him better than he knows himself. He smiles softly at her, "I love you," he breathes, relaxing for just a second. She offers him a smile, just before she leans forward, "you're going to love me even more," she grins as she pulls one of the piles on his desk towards her.
Before Harvey fully realizes what Donna's intention is, she has already opened the file on top, flicked through the papers and signed neatly on the dotted line. "Donna," he protests, "you can't sign-" His words die out as she turns the file towards him and he sees a perfect replica of his own signature staring back at him. A grin breaks through on his face, "how often have you done that?" He wonders, because it looks too perfect to be a one-time-thing.
Donna innocently smiles at Harvey, "only on irrelevant papers, to save you some time." Her smile is sweet, but Harvey sees the devilish twinkle in her eyes. "So if I understand it correctly," he looks at her, "over the years you've not only listened in on my private conversations and bugged the meeting rooms, you've also falsely signed my name," he can't hide a grin, "anything else I need to know about? Impersonating me?" She bursts out laughing at that and he cocks his head. "Just, no…" Donna giggles, "Louis in that wig." Her laugh is contagious, and Harvey can't help but laugh too.
"Okay," after a while, Donna takes a deep breath and recomposes herself, "let's get back to work." She takes the second file from the pile she pulled towards her and scoots her chair a little closer to his desk. He just looks at her, still jittery and restless from the coffee, but a little calmer than half an hour ago. As it turns out, he didn't really need those four cups of coffee, he just needed a little help. And his wife sitting on the other side of his desk, bent over some papers, her fiery red hair falling in front of her face, is the best help he can wish for.
