The Temp

Summary: Harvey has just made Junior Partner at Pearson Hardman and is assigned a temp to work on his desk until he can find a permanent secretary. When Scottie notices him becoming infatuated with the fiery redhead, she takes matters into her own hands, ensuring Harvey won't be distracted. Darvey AU.

AN: This was meant to be a twitter ficlet but I got a bit carried away haha so apologies in advance for any mistakes. Thank you to Beth (NAhavenbb) for the prompt! I think this may be my first AU and I had a lot a fun with it :D

"She's pretty."

Harvey glances up at Scottie's comment, following her nod to the small cubicle outside his office. After recently being made junior partner, he's still on the hunt for a permanent secretary, but the redheaded who started this morning certainly caught his eye. She was bubbling with enthusiasm when Jessica introduced them, wearing a smile that framed her face perfectly. But he's not about to go advertising that he noticed. "She's a temp."

He buries his nose back in the case they're going over, and Scottie snorts at the casual dismissal. "I thought that was your type."

It takes effort not to roll his eyes, assuming the dig is a quip at their college days. They were young and had fun together. But she also stabbed him in the back more times than he can count when it came to getting higher marks. Which was just one of the several reasons they were never exclusive. Out here in the real world he respects her, but he's still not sure he trusts her. Especially when her voice winds suggestively around the highlighter pressed to her mouth.

"I heard she's an actress."

He's adamant about keeping his head down, but in the three seconds of silence that passes, he caves and lifts his gaze, meeting the redhead's smile through the glass. His lips twitch with an involuntarily smirk, her eyes holding him captive until Louis waddles up to her cubicle, and Scottie clears her throat.

"Does yoga, too… From what I hear."

"You've heard a lot," he quips, wondering why Scottie's suddenly so invested in his love life. When she took the job at Pearson Hardman, they agreed to keep things purely professional between them. And if he didn't know better, he would say she's the one interested in his new secretary. "You sure you don't want to ask her out."

"If I did, you wouldn't stand a chance." She grins smugly. "So, you admit it. You want to ask her out." The highlighter in her palm slides over another line while she waits for him to answer. She's not encouraging him to date the redhead. Just to do what he does to get women out of his system so he won't be distracted by them in the long run.

"What I would like is to get some actual work done." Although the comment isn't strictly true. He's enjoying watching the scene play out in front of him through the glass. He doesn't know what's being said, but Louis looks mortified, and he smiles approvingly when the redhead winks at him.

Temp, actress, yoga fanatic… she's definitely got something special going on.

And yeah, maybe he would like to ask her out.

…

As soon as Harvey has a spare five minutes, he finds an excuse to approach the redhead's cubicle, struggling to recall her name from their earlier encounter. He was paying attention to all the wrong details before, but he takes a stab, fairly confident with the gamble. "Debbie, right?"

"Donna." She swivels around in her chair, in no way disarmed by his handsome features. After temping at several law firms, she's heard all the rumours about the legendary Harvey Specter, and she flashes a smile at him. "Though, really, I'm not surprised you can't keep a girl's name straight in your head... You must be extremely busy around here, climbing the corporate ladder and upholding your sterling reputation."

"Excuse me?" He takes immediate offense to her tone and whatever else she's insinuating. If she's looking to get herself fired on the first day, she's going about it the right way, and if she wants to play hardball, then game on. "Listen, I need the—"

She lands a folder on the petition, the exact brief he was about to ask for, and fine. It doesn't take a genius to check his calendar and know what he's working on. But his 5'clock isn't marked in the diary, and he swipes the file under his arm with a firm expression. "I also need you to—"

A stack of copies appears in front of him and, goddammit it, she's good.

Too good.

Rather than be annoyed, her smug grin actually impresses him, and he raises an eyebrow, challenging her. "Okay. How about—"

She reveals the fresh cup of coffee she was concealing, black with a splash of vanilla, and leans back in her chair, crossing her legs with a sweet smile. "Anything else you need, Mr. Specter."

He glances around, making sure he isn't the victim of a practical joke, but there's no one else watching them, and leans forward with a curious whisper. "Who the hell are you?"

"I told you." She shrugs casually. "I'm Donna."

"Well, Donna—"

"No."

Her grin widens as she sits up, shaking her head with a soft laugh, and once again he isn't sure whether to be annoyed or impressed. But there's no way she can read his mind, and he's not losing this battle as well. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

She takes in his smug expression and pauses, giving him a few seconds to think he can still win. Then she clasps the edge of her desk and wheels her chair closer to where he's leaning. "You were going to ask if I'm free for a drink tonight and the answer… is no."

He opens his mouth, the fact she can read him so well actually unnerving, but he doesn't let his smile falter. Whatever she's heard about his reputation, he knows what to do when someone has him by the balls.

Either defend the lie or admit the truth.

"Tomorrow night?"

She's surprised by his quick surrender, flattered by his focused determination, and maybe she didn't give his talent enough credit. He might actually be on he's way to becoming NYC's best closer, but she still turns down the invite. "Sorry, busy then too."

"Friday?" He grins, blowing over his coffee as she shakes her head. "I get it. You have a boyfriend."

She tilts her gaze up at him with a smirk. "No boyfriend."

"Girlfriend?" he queries, his expression gleaming with amusement as she leans in closer.

"Oooh, what if I do?" she challenges, holding his gaze, and fighting a smile when he shrugs.

"I could be into that."

"Oh my god." She laughs in spite of her resolve, leaning back. "What is wrong with you?"

"Well, see… I met this redhead, she kinda did a number on me. Broke my heart." He plays his final card with a smug grin. "I could really use some comforting."

They both know she's holding all the power, and even though she thinks about breaking her rule, she stays firm. "I don't date guys I work with."

"You're a temp." He motions his coffee at her desk, implying the position isn't the same as working together, but she quickly shuts down the argument.

"Who is here for another three weeks." Surprisingly, she isn't saying no. But she suspects when it comes to dating, Harvey Specter has an attention span shorter than her contract. Though that doesn't mean they can't engage in some fun, harmless flirting while she's here. "You're going to get the full Donna experience, Mr. Specter. Trust me."

He chuckles, hiking up an eyebrow. "Will you actually do some secretarial work as well?"

"Check out what I did with your calendar there, hotshot."

He balances the files he's hanging onto along with his coffee, skimming his gaze over the sheet she places between them, and holy shit. "Holy shit." The echo slips free without any resistance. "You really are good."

"Wait till you taste that coffee."

When he's back in his office, she hears his appreciation through the open door, and for a few seconds she almost regrets not approaching him at the DA's office while she was temping there. But with her first lead role in a prestigious play practically secured, she knows she made the right decision.

If everything goes to plan, this temping job is going to be her last, and then she's going to have the career she's always dreamed of.

One that's going to rival any job at a law firm.

…

…

Harvey grins at Louis as he enters the elevator, no longer feeling the same hostility to his once sworn enemy. In the two weeks Donna has been on his desk, he's come to see the firm in an entirely new light. She's a brilliant secretary, and her insights into the place are scoring him goals left, right and center, but more than that, despite her aversion to getting involved with men she works with, the two of them have formed a friendship that extends beyond the office.

He calls her up, sometimes an hour—sometimes several—after they've finished their day, and they talk about anything and everything. Conversations he's never had with anyone else flowing freely. He knows her placement is only temporary, that she's been invited to a final casting call for a major theater production, but he still has two weeks to convince her they could be something more when her time on his desk runs out.

He never thought he would be the type to commit to a relationship, but Donna is re-writing all of his rules, and his grin widens as the elevator doors ping open. Before stepping out, he claps Louis on the back. "Looking good, Louis. Keep it up."

The man flusters at the acknowledgement, and Harvey feels like the cat who got the cream, but the spring in his step falters as he approaches Donna's cubicle. She isn't there and all of her things are gone, including her Let's kill all the lawyers plague that she told him has graced all the top law firms.

He frowns, glancing around, his gaze landing on Scottie as she casually strolls up to him. Her head is buried in a file, something that strikes him as odd because they're not working a case together at the moment, and he narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Where's Donna?"

She lifts her gaze, feigning confusion. "Who?"

"My secretary." He waves his hand at the empty desk, still looking around despite suspecting the search is futile.

"Oh, you mean the temp?" She checks over her shoulder with a shrug. "I think she got reassigned by the agency."

Anyone else and he wouldn't question the information, but he knows Scottie. He's seen every twitch and tell, has fallen for them more times than he's willing to admit, and he grabs her arm, dragging her into his small office and closing the door. "What did you do?"

She shrugs free from his grasp, meeting his accusing glare with her own frustration. "I did you a favor," she reasons, motioning to the empty cubicle. "I said ask her out. Not make moon-eyes at her 24/7. She was becoming a distraction and you know it." She slaps the file in her hand down on his desk. The only reason she encouraged him was because she thought he would sleep with the redhead and then move on, not latch himself onto the woman's goddamn hip.

"A distraction for who?" he fires back. "Me or you?" From where he's standing, along with Jessica and the board's opinion, he's been stepping things up a notch since Donna started, and he can hazard a guess as to why Scottie's nose is out of joint. "Admit it. You're jealous."

"So what if I am?" she snaps, tired of pretending she accepted the job at Pearson Hardman just to further her career. Ever since she met Harvey, she's been standing in Jessica Pearson's shadow, never measuring up, and she thought working with the two of them would shift the dynamic, make her worthy of both their attention. But instead, now she's having to compete with a temp who Harvey's known for all of five minutes and trusts completely, while she's scrambling to make him realize she's been in front of him this whole time. "You keep saying you're not ready for a relationship, but then Miss Moneypenny shows up, and all of a sudden you're acting like you want to drop down on one knee and propose."

He flinches at the accusation, even though he can accept he's been acting differently since Donna started, but he isn't going to apologize for the way he feels. For the first time he's in sync with somebody else, connected in a way that isn't based solely on sex or game-playing. He's never had someone in his life he can just talk to and be himself around. Donna called him out on his bullshit the day they met, and he isn't prepared to lose her, not over Scottie's entitlement, when the truth is, they never shared a relationship half as sustainable. "When you took this job, we agreed—"

"I know what I said, Harvey." She told him the past was behind them, that going forward they should keep things strictly professional. But she didn't think he would actually abide by her terms, and she swipes her gaze, angry at herself for stupidly believing he would change his mind. "Why her?"

The question throws him, and for once he doesn't have any logical reason or argument to come back with. All he knows is that Donna Paulsen isn't someone he thinks he can shake, and he now he's met her, he doesn't want to picture his life without her.

His silence is an answer in itself, and she can see what he can't say; that somewhere between Donna starting on his desk and leaving, he started to fall her, and she shakes her head, saddened by the realization that as much as she wanted to be the person Harvey Specter fell in love with, she never stood a chance.

"I'll take care of it."

She leaves, the door swinging closed behind her, and he exhales a heavy sigh as he slips out his phone. Had he known Scottie was still harboring feelings for him, he would have diffused the situation long before Donna started, but all he can do now is hope she doesn't wind up hating him for getting caught in the crossfire.

…

…

Donna clicks through her emails at Gipstone Law, the clinic lesser known in NYC than her previous placements, but they were in desperate need of someone to help out with admin, and although she doesn't need the work any longer, she jumped at the chance to do something mundane to calm her nerves before starting rehearsals in three weeks. Her family and friends were all ecstatic over the news she landed the lead role, and she's still in a state of shock herself, despite her agent repeatedly assuring her the director loved her. But now it's all happening, she's barely had a moment to catch her breath, and she glances at her phone, the several missed calls she needs to return, and the last name that flashed up in her notifications.

Harvey Specter.

When her contract at Pearson Hardman was cut short, she didn't expect to feel an ache of sadness as she packed up the couple of items that always travel with her, and she picks up her Let's kill all the lawyers plague, turning it over in her hands with a sigh.

It's not the firm she's going to miss, but rather the unexpected connection she made with a man who, by all accounts, is cocky, self-obsessed and a widely known womanizer. She saw that side of him, teased him about it mercilessly, but underneath all his bravado she met the lawyer he wants to be. The kind of man who plays in the gray but still has strong morals and cares about people. He's a good person, and regret twinges in her chest as she sets down the plague, lifting up her phone and swiping his name from her screen.

"And here I was thinking you were just too famous to talk to me now."

She startles at the shadow over her desk, glancing up at the very last person she was expecting to see. "Harvey… What are you doing here?"

He isn't exactly sure himself, not in the habit of stalking women he's only known for two weeks. But she just confirmed his suspicion that she's been screening his calls, and more than anything, he feels the expressed need to clear the air between them. "I want you to know I had nothing to do with you being reassigned."

She leans back with a soft smile. "I know that."

"You do?" He frowns, having assumed the mix-up was why she's been avoiding him.

"The agency said it was a woman who called." She lets him off the hook, suspecting he had something to do with the complaint against her being mysteriously withdrawn. "Twice. I guess Scottie made a mistake, after all."

He's relieved to hear Scottie kept her word, but that doesn't explain why Donna's here, not back at Pearson Hardman. "Then why did you take this job?"

"Because, Harvey…" She breathes in, expelling a sigh. "The last thing I need right now is your ex-girlfriend coming after me with some kind of personal vendetta. I just thought working here would be less complicated, that's all."

"So you think, this—" he motions between them "—is too complicated."

She picks up on the hurt lacing his voice and shakes her head. "That's not what I said." If anything, he's one of the easiest relationships she's ever had. Sometimes when they're on the phone late at night, it feels like they've known each other for years, but she's clearly not the only woman interested, and with her production about to launch into full-swing, she doesn't want to be constantly looking over her shoulder, worried his ex might make trouble for her. "Scottie was pissed about us working together. I can't see her being over the moon about us going to dinner."

A small smile spills across his face, the reaction not one she was expecting, and she tilts her head at him curiously. "What?"

"Nothing, just… that sort of implies you want to go for dinner." He grins, finding it ridiculous how happy he is to point out the observation.

She rolls her eyes, wishing he wasn't so damn endearing when he's being smug. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"I heard you," he says, growing more serious as he leans on her desk. But if all she's worried about is Scottie, then he's already dealt with that problem. Which means there's nothing stopping them. "I spoke to Scottie, and the way she behaved had nothing to do with you. She was pissed at me and she knows taking her anger out on you was wrong."

She's surprised by his candidness and pushes him to reveal more. "Why?"

He shakes his head, confused. "Why what?"

"Why was she angry with you?" she asks, wondering if he'll give her a straight up answer. Maybe it's none of her business, but she did get caught in the crossfire, and she watches his gaze dip down thoughtfully for a few moments, before lifting back up.

"Because… she could see there was something between us. Something she and I never had." Usually he wouldn't be so forward, preferring to keep his cards close to his chest, but with Donna, he doesn't feel the need to hide, and says exactly what he's thinking. "With you, it's different."

She's unprepared for his soft smile, and her pulse skips as she tries to keep her hammering heart under control. She didn't expect him to track her down, much less admit the same feelings she's been trying to deny. But now he's here, she wants to give them a chance. "Okay."

She shrugs, like he didn't just bare his entire soul, and he searches her expression for a hint of what she's agreeing to. "Okay, what?"

"I'll go for a drink with you." She waves her arm, fighting a smirk. "Geez. Do I have to spell everything out?"

A smile spreads across his face, about to get her back with a smart quip, when a female voice interrupts them.

"Donna. Stop playing footsies with your Calvin-Klein-actor-model-whatever…" Her boss, Lauren, dismisses Harvey with a wave of her arm. "I need these copied and on my desk in five minutes."

"You'll have them in two." She feels Harvey's smug grin and waits until Lauren leaves before poking her finger at him. "Do not let that go to your head."

He feigns innocence, catching his reflection in the shiny metal of her plague, and titling his jaw up. "Model, huh?"

"You're an idiot." She swallows her amusement, taking the stack of paper Lauren left, and nudging him off her desk. "I have work to do."

"O'Malley's at 7pm," he asks, arranging their date. And when she nods, smiling brightly, he can't help himself. "There's just one more thing I need."

"What—"

He catches her by surprise with a gentle kiss, slow at first, as his palm glides under her cheek. When she responds, tugging his mouth closer, he can't resist getting carried away, forgetting where they are until a wolf-whistle rings out somewhere behind them.

He pulls back with a grin, brushing off his embarrassment with a wink. "I guess we both know how to put on a show."

"Go." She laughs, pushing him with a shrug, her lips still tingling with the taste of him as he strides confidently out of the small office.

It's taken a lot to get where she is. Long hours, crappy jobs, and until now, her love life has been one disaster after the next, but everything feels different somehow. Like she's finally where she's supposed to be.

At the beginning of a brand new chapter.