Firstly, I want to thank you all for the nice reviews on the first chapter, that really meant a lot! Next, I just want to say that I'm not entirely sure about this chapter... I just can't seem to get it exactly right. But it's good enough and it's the build-up I need for the next chapters, so stay tuned ;)
After getting out of the shower the next morning, Harvey looks at Donna, who is still sleeping soundly. She is lying on her left side, left arm tucked under the pillow, right hand fallen just in front of her face. Her legs are curled up slightly, he notices when he gently pats the blankets to find a place to sit. As he lowers himself onto the mattress, it sinks down a little, causing Donna to stir. She doesn't wake up though, not until he runs his fingers over the bare skin of her right arm. Slowly, she rolls on her back and blinks a few times, her eyes finding him, "why on earth would you wake me up," she yawns, "before the alarm has even gone off?"
Harvey keeps running his fingers up and down Donna's arm as he looks at her, "the alarm did go off," he looks at the clock, "about twenty minutes ago." Her eyebrows knit together in a frown, but as she follows his gaze she sees that he is right. "Why didn't you wake me?" She asks him, propping herself up on her elbows. He lets his hand fall to her hip, "you were still sleeping so peacefully," he answers, leaning into her and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead – noticing how hot her pale skin is, "and I thought you could use every little bit of sleep since you're not feeling well." She smiles lightly at him, before sitting straight up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, "that's sweet. But that does mean I have to hurry now." She gives him a tight-lipped smile as she takes off to the bathroom, leaving Harvey on the edge of the bed, concern etched into his features.
In the bathroom, Donna turns the water in the shower on, but doesn't get in yet. She leans over the sink, hands gripping tightly at the edge as waves of nausea rush over her. She tries to take deep breaths, but sharp pains shoot through her every time her belly expands to suck in air. With a trembling right hand, she reaches up for the cabinet where she knows a bottle of painkillers is sitting on the third shelve behind a tube of expensive face cream. She pops two of the pills in her mouth, telling herself she just needs to get through two days and then she can take it easy on the weekend. A little voice in the back of her head wonders why she's not telling Harvey, but a louder voice overrides that voice by saying she doesn't want to worry him, and she doesn't need him to take care of her. Blowing out a soft breath, she straightens her back – seeing herself wince in the mirror as she does so – and she steps into the shower.
Once the pair gets to the firm, Donna immediately makes her way into her office, telling Harvey he has to go find Mike to work on the LuvaCorp case. As soon as she gets to her desk, she sinks down in her chair, closing her eyes for a second. She's glad her office here has actual walls, as opposed to the offices they had in New York. The walls give her privacy and therefore time to compose herself and focus her attention from her wellbeing to the work at hand, a welcome distraction. She opens the folder on top of the pile that's lying in front of her, but her thoughts remain focussed on her morning with Harvey for a second longer. He's trying so hard and she knows she should have been nicer to him, but she can't find the energy for that right now. He means so well, but his worried expression makes her feel cornered. It makes her feel like she's fragile, and if there is one thing Donna doesn't like, it's that. Pushing Harvey away might not be the kindest thing to do, but she needs to feel like she's strong enough to stand on her own two feet – because she is.
Around lunchtime, Rachel wanders into Donna's office, patiently waiting until her friend looks up, "what can I do for you, Rach?" The brunette puts a folder on top of the pile on Donna's desk, "I promised I'd get this to you today." "Thank you," Donna nods with a forced smile, and then refocuses her attention on the file in front of her, looking up again when she notices Rachel lingering in front of her office. "What is it?" She asks. Rachel carefully smiles at her, remembering the run-in they had the other day and having taken note of Donna's formal behavior in their current encounter. "Wanna grab lunch?" She asks quietly. Donna hesitates, but then shakes her head. She's still nauseous, and just the idea of lunch makes her feel like she might throw up. Besides, she knows Rachel well enough that 'lunch' is just a cover for asking how she's feeling, and Donna is not up for that. "I'm sorry, Rach, but I'm really busy." She feels her friends' pointed look on her and taps her pen on her desk, "Mike and Harvey need all the help they can get on the LuvaCorp case, maybe you should focus your attention on that instead on focusing on me." Her words come out sharper than she intended but have the desired effect as Rachel turns around and leaves her office.
You said you would talk to her," Rachel runs into Harvey when she rounds the corner. For a second, he's confused as to who she is referring to, but then he notices the direction from which she came, and he nods, "I did… But she doesn't really want to talk." Rachel folds her arms over her chest, "well you better figure something out because I overheard some associates talking about her this morning and… Let's say it was not positive. And then I just tried taking her out for lunch to talk, but she refused before snapping at me." Harvey sighs, "I'll talk to her again." He murmurs. He was on his way to see her anyway. Rachel nods at him, "good."
Harvey looks into Donna's office through the doorframe – her door is always open, literally. It's one of the things that everybody likes about her. Right now, it gives him the opportunity to watch her without her knowing. What he sees, worries him. She's got her elbows planted on her desk, her face leaning into her hands. He's seen her do that before when she was overwhelmed or stressed, but it never took more than seconds for her to recompose herself. Now, however, she doesn't lift her head up again. He waits for minutes, but eventually walks in, softly knocking on the doorframe as he enters. That makes her head shoot up, eyes focusing on him, waiting patiently for him to tell her why he came to her. "Do you have a minute?" He asks, making her lips twist into a straight line. "Not really," she gestures to the papers strewn around her.
"Donna," Harvey sighs. She puts her pen down, "don't Donna me," she warns him, "and don't ask me how I'm doing," she stares straight into his eyes, "this is an office and we're all meant to be working on some pretty big things." Harvey steps closer to her, leaning against her desk and looking into her eyes with a soft expression on his face, "we are all worried about you. You don't seem like yourself." Usually this approach works; the soft voice and the concerned eyes and being honest with her. But not today. Today her eyes narrow and he sees her jaw clenching, "I would be better if all of you would just let me keep working instead of constantly bothering me to talk about feelings," her hazel eyes darken a little, "just because you finally figured out what feelings are, Harvey, doesn't mean we have to talk about mine all the time."
Harvey stands straight and puts his hands in his pockets, fighting back his initial snappy reply. He knows she's not angry at him, she's just not feeling well and she's lashing out. So he takes a deep breath, "you were the one who brought the topic of feelings up," he tells her, a cocky smile on his face, "I just wanted to ask you about something for the case." She lets herself fall lean back into her chair and exasperatedly stares at the ceiling for a second before looking back at him, "what is it?" He looks at her, wondering whether she's in any shape to do any work at all. But she keeps looking at him and she's always been able to stare him down. "I just need you to make an appointment with-" "- Harvey, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not your secretary anymore," she sharply points out, "you can make your own damn appointments, because I'm busy with my job as a COO."
Harvey is surprised by Donna's harsh reply for a second, then he feels anger springing in his chest. Before he can snap at her, he turns around and leaves. Under normal circumstances he would most certainly not have done that, but he knows that she's only acting like this because she's not feeling well, and that yelling at her right now is not going to help the situation.
As soon as Harvey walks into his office, Mike – who continued working there after a meeting in the morning – knows by the look on his face that his conversation with Donna did not go as planned. "She doesn't want to call Hunter?" Mike asks, at which Harvey huffs annoyed, "she told me to make my own damn appointments." Mike looks up at him, "didn't you tell her that you wanted her to do this because you couldn't get through to the guy?" Harvey shakes his head, "she most certainly was not in the mood to talk," he rubs his forehead as he pours himself a glass of water, "she needs to get her shit together or else you'll have to send her home." Mike raises his eyebrows, "and why would I do that? She's your wife." He points out. Harvey glares at him, "but you're our boss." It's a fact he likes to ignore as much as possible, until he needs it. Mike laughs, "so now you're willing to acknowledge that?" He grins, "but fine, I'll try to talk to her later. Maybe I can convince her to call Hunter for us."
Towards the end of the afternoon, Mike runs into Donna in the kitchen area, where she is pouring hot water in a cup. He had planned on delaying his conversation with her until the next day – after he also heard about her foul mood from Rachel – but this seems like a safe opportunity. "Since when do you drink tea instead of coffee?" He wonders, his eyebrows raised. She looks up in surprise, apparently not having noticed him before, "I've had too much caffeine already. You know how jittery that makes me." She smiles at him. Truthfully, she hasn't had any coffee yet, her stomach not agreeing with as much of the idea of it, but she isn't interested in talking about that. Mike reaches past her to grab a cup from the cabinet, and carefully looks at her, "I heard about your discussion with Harvey," he then tries. The soft expression on her face tightens, but she doesn't say anything. She barely has enough energy left to stand here, starting a new discussion is not even an option.
When Donna doesn't respond, Mike decides to push a little further, "no quippy remark?" He asks her, a small smirk on his face. She just looks at him, wordlessly asking him to come to the point. He fills his cup with coffee, carefully weighing his words, "could you please call the guy, Donna?" He then asks, "Harvey and I can't seem to get a meeting with him and we all know you can work wonders when it comes to people." She gives him a nod, "I'll see what I can do." She tells him before she turns around and leaves, back straight and head held high.
Mike watches Donna as she walks away from him before getting himself back to Harvey's office, "she'll do it." He smiles proudly. Harvey looks up, "how the hell did you manage that?" He wonders. Mike shrugs, "she wasn't in the mood to fight anymore." He lowers himself in a chair, "but she's still off. She seemed… flat. Tired. And she didn't even do the swaying with her hips when she walked away." Harvey's brow furrows, "why are you looking at my wife's hips?" Mike can't suppress a laugh, "come on, man. You know everybody loves watching her walk away." Harvey shakes his head, but a smile appears on his face; he can't deny the fact that watching her walk is something he has been doing since he first met her. "Anyway," Mike pulls him back into the real world, "enough talking about Donna's great physique, we have to get back to work. We have that meeting with Neil in an hour."
To be continued... I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker than this one. But in the meantime, let me know what you thought!