I'm incredibly sorry for the longest update ever, but life really got in the way and I was hoping to finish and publish the chapter before having to travel. Yet, it wasn't possible so I had to wait till I got back (yesterday). There you go with the famous elevator scene that I'm not that happy with, but still hope exceed the expectations. In any case I haven't felt like someone really followed this story anymore. FUNFACT: just a couple of days ago I was in Greece and really got stuck in an elevator.
G-
The lights go off and are replaced with a softer light blue ones when there's a second shock, this time stronger.
While Donna steadies herself gripping the metal bar behind her, the second sudden jerking makes Harvey loose his balance. He stumbles backwards, groping for something to hold onto. Unfortunately next to him there's Stephen, who he brings down with him in the fall.
Regardless landing right on top of him, none of them move for the first few seconds. Waiting a right amount of time to get pass the initial state of confusion, all three of them realize the position the two man have currently assumed.
Stephen lowers his chin to look better at Harvey, whose eyes are still wandering around to figure out what just happened. "Boy, I get that I'm attractive, but don't you think that jumping on me is a little inappropriate?" He raises both his brows and comments with a steady tone, the mockery in his words still obvious.
This seems to snap Harvey back to reality, and the realization of his proximity with the man makes him instantly pull his neck away to get as much space between their faces as possible. Sighing with disgust, he untangles himself from Stephen. He doesn't miss the chance to put extra pressure on his chest while standing up, the intentional assault eliciting a groan from the lawyer under him. Once up, Harvey smoothes down his suit jacket, eye siding the man at the same time. Stephen gets back on his feet as well, the weight of the body just lifted up from his resulting in a backache.
"Damn if you're heavy." He lets the note slip off his tongue, as he pulls the lapels of his vest to straighten his disheveled look.
Donna would have found the whole situation incredibly amusing if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't stop shaking or that her sweaty hands were still holding onto the handle for dear life.
"You're lucky I didn't crush you completely." Harvey spits out annoyed, he doesn't know if more for the company, for the previous joke or for being trapped.
Something clicks inside of him, reminding him they're not alone, and his gaze instantly looks for Donna. He finds her frozen on the spot and walks to the other side of the elevator to put his hand on hers.
It must be said that in the past Stephen has surely believed in a deeper sentiment from Harvey towards his erstwhile lover. If he has to tell the truth, he has noticed an intense fervor in defending him on behalf of the other half too. But it's not really knowledge to him the full turn of the nature of their relationship. He's still at the boss-secretary type commitment rather than the husband-wife type of commitment. However, given the mayhem of the moment, Harvey's need of comforting Donna doesn't seem weird. After all, he's worried for her himself.
"Are you okay?" They ask in unison. British and american accent fusing in one sound as the question comes out from both of their mouths.
Donna's tense body softens a little as she relaxes under her husband's touch. " Yes," She replies to him, then directing her answer to Stephen, too. "Just a little shaken, but it's okay. Give me minute."
The concern for the woman spares the men the awkwardness brought by the fact of being in such a confined space. Even if staring at her won't occupy all of the time they'll spend together, doesn't mean that the little distraction isn't some kind of help. The lesser they have to speak to one another, the better.
When she recovers, her mind goes on autopilot and her body follows soon after. It's always like this with Donna, when there's a crisis, she doesn't stop. She begins to work like a machine, almost as she has a preset list of things to do in case of emergency and she goes through all the points systematically.
The first pragmatic approach? Pushing the emergency button and asking for help. Easy. The maintenance will probably rescue them in no time safely. Super easy. She was taught that ages ago. But then, she was ten when she was taught that and her parents just wanted her to take the elevator alone without being scared, and she hasn't exactly found herself in the position of finding out if that's true.
The Coo hits the call button.
"Admiral Elevator Company, may I help you?" A metallic voice exits the intercom.
"Yes, we're stuck between floors. Can you send someone?" She asks eager.
"Of course, we'll track you down and get you out safely. Give us a little bit of time." The notion bothers Donna, who was just starting to get used to the idea of having a way out. She pushes herself from the wall she was leaning against and inquires about more, "Wait, what you mean with a little bit of time?"
"Uhm, I really don't know miss. As soon as we can." The attendant says politely.
Harvey sees the look on Donna's face and knows too well what it means. She's not taking anything rather than we're already coming for you as an answer. Even when she herself knows that it's not up to them, she wants what she wants right away. He tries so coax her and convince her that is fine if they wait. But she has her mind set and will not hear anything from anybody.
"Let's try to be a little bit more specific, and don't try to lie to me because I'll know." She gets closer to the intercom and look at nothing in particular while she speaks.
"I sincerely don't know. It takes as long as it needs."
Stephen is sick of standing there doing nothing and wanders around to see if there's anything he can do. The first thing that comes to his mind is to try and pry the doors apart. He could go ahead and save the day, while Harvey would look like the foolish one. Seems like a decent plan to him. He discards his jacket, pulls his sleeves up and walks to the doors with such a confidence, like he's going to eradicate a tree barehanded.
In the meantime Donna is still arguing with the poor man on the other end of the line. "Well, I think that's what you tell everyone to keep them quiet and take as long as you need. Too bad that we don't have all day here." She increases, her tone bitter and waxy.
She huffs and the moment her head turns to the other side she notices Stephen in action. She jumps and smacks his arm away.
"Are you crazy? Do you want to get us killed?" She yells, eyes hooded and breath unsteady.
Stephen looks at her puzzled; after all he was just trying to help. As if reading his thoughts, she explains, "We're hanging in the middle of two floors, you put us in danger if you remove the only barrier between us and the void. That is if you manage to open the doors, which you won't."
Her words directed to the british man get to the company employee's ears, who believes they're aimed at him. Believing it's yet another client panicking because of being stuck, he tries to settle her down. "Ma'am calm down, it's going to be alright. Just breathe and relax, you're not going to fall." He coaxes, doing nothing more than increase her stress level.
She's about to get back to shouting at the intercom when Harvey takes hold of the call button, "Thank you for the availability, we'll be waiting for some news." He politely dismisses the man.
"I was handling it." Donna complies with her hands on her hips and the perfect shaped brows taking a wave shape. Harvey would have normally found her need to be in charge and pedantic behavior amusing, but not when she's just losing it. He understands that she's demanding, yet he would describe her more as hysteric right now.
"The only thing you were doing was making him want to leave us here." He clarifies, screw it if it upsets her more.
She sighs and prompts her elbow to lean against the wall, welcoming the cool metal. She puts her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes.
Stephen's gaze traces the pattern of her gesture. That's when he glimpses it. His eyelids slam a few times to make sure he's not seeing things. But it's still there, with its blinding refinement: that big, sparkly rock on her third finger, with a wedding band in tow.
Has she always worn it? How the hell has he failed to notice before? His interiors squirm as the unwelcome concept that Donna is a married woman takes over. His mind is assaulted by tons of questions. It doesn't make any sense. He knows that she has been kept him in the dark about his kinship with Penelope, but has she done the same with her husband? Or maybe she made him believe the baby was his? Or he knew the truth and stayed anyway? Yet, the timing is still upsetting. She got pregnant and then the following week had sex with another man? And soon after she told said man she was expecting and he got on board having a baby with basically a stranger? It's like he has all the pieces of the puzzle, but can't actually put them together.
"Since when are you married?" He practically shouts in total disbelief.
Her eyes snap open, the blood draining from her veins as she almost shivers for how exposed she feels. Damn it. Her eyes don't dare to look at him, afraid that he can catch her lie and talk her out of it - because she's all in the wrong eventually - instead, they find Harvey's. He's visibly confused and seeks some kind of explanation in her gaze. But he won't find any, because the fact is he hasn't exactly thought about what Stephen might know regarding them, too busy fearing the possible lost of his daughter. There's a silent plea for him to let her take the lead, and he gladly obliges, giving he doesn't have a clue about how to keep going.
"It's none of your business." Donna voices steadily.
Stephen feels blood rushing to his ears, almost fuming at her attempt of keeping him at arms length after all and once again. "None of my business?" He bites with a bitter stare. "You think it doesn't concern me? That some man is living under the same roof as my daughter?"
He doesn't think it through before arguing with her about that sensitive subject, ignoring the presence of the other man in the elevator, oblivious the he does indeed know what they're talking about.
"Does he even know she's mine? Or you didn't want to break your little bubble, so you decided to remain in what gave you certainty and lied?" He keeps inquiring.
It's all too much for Harvey. The other man's words too loud, so unconsciously directed at him that he feels the urge to step in. Despite the incredible level of awkwardness and despite feeling deeply implicated, he tries to stay quiet to not throw Donna off her game.
She flinches, her eyes wandering in search of Harvey for help. She's at a crossroad: to come clean or to not come clean? She had wanted to keep her husband out of this whole matter, protecting him from getting further involved. Yet, not specifying was one thing, but lying deliberately was another. The couple stands there with their mouths open - almost as if a fly would enter them - and attempts to get some words out.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, they don't have to, because Stephen gets to the truth before they can lead him to it. All the scattered pieces finally falling into place when he sees the golden band grazing Harvey's finger, as the man brings his left hand to bristle his hair. A wave of consciousness hits him hard. Everything is clearer now, including the fact that they have fooled him. Still, he wants to be sure.
"You-" He mumbles as a dry chuckle escapes his throat. "And you. You two..." He waves his index between them. Harvey and Donna's sheepish looks are enough to give him certainty. Before throwing both his hand into the air in frustration, he adds, "I can't believe I didn't see it right away. You must have laughed so hard behind my back. Poor Stephen. Doesn't have a clue."
Harvey has definitely had enough of hearing his complies and not saying a word; plus, the tightness of the space they're stuck in only raises his irritation.
"Look Stephen, now that all of the cards are on the table, we can be honest. It's a messed up situation and we all have our positions to preserve, but you need to suck it up and stop playing the victim."
"Oh really? And why's that? I'm the one who has been denied all of his rights."
At this point is Donna's turn to intervene, the gravity of his statement weighting over her. "No, let me be clear on one thing. You had and have no rights. You lost them the moment you made all those people killed and were imprisoned for it. You think you would have set a good example for her? Or give her stability?" She lets out in one breath.
"I am the father." He shouts, pointing repeatedly his finger to his own chest.
"No, you're not!" Harvey mirrors his tone, only a little higher, moved by Stephen's wrongful presumption and possessiveness.
"What the hell do you mean?"
"She's as much mine as yours." He states, while all Stephen's certainties crumble. He turns to Donna for further explanation.
She sniffles and sets her jaw before speaking, "Harvey and I got together the night after you went to prison. There was no way to tell when Penelope was conceived exactly. And after she was born we decided against a paternity test. I don't know who's her father." She admitted, unable to meet anyone's eyes. Every time she says it, it gets a little more uneasy and wrong.
Realizing fast he might not have any leverage, Stephen's disappointment turns into a need to protect himself attacking the woman in the elevator.
"Well, it seems like you waste no time at all Donna." He comments, gaining a heated reaction from Harvey.
"What did you just say to her? Come on, repeat if you have the balls!" He pushes against his flat chest forcefully, when Donna jumps in and blocks his ministrations putting herself in front of him.
"Leave it." She says. It could have been the perfect moment to run away, except there's no escape.
"I'm not letting you beat each other up. What's done is done, but whatever conversation we might have about this is not going to happen here and now."
"Oh you can be sure about that. It's going to be in a courtroom, in front of a judge, to get a goddamn paternity test done, like it should have been moons ago." The outcome of his threat results in a pit in both of Harvey and Donna's stomaches. They're just not ready to let go of the chance to have a happy end end. "And if it comes down to it, I'll be asking for Penelope's custody." Stephen adds.
It's their worst nightmare, what they've feared the most and, in some way, have been expecting the most. It would have been too easy to get away with it. Of course, it doesn't mean that the option of their family being torn apart is easier to digest.
Harvey's collar feels too tight and makes it impossible to breathe. The lightness in his head and the queasiness in his guts tells him he could be sick at any moment, but he's not going to give Stephen the satisfaction of seeing him at his worst. No, he hasn't finished fighting. He has just getting started.
"Yeah, you really believe that? We'll see what any sane judge will say in front of a felon just released that wants the sole custody of a child with a perfect and steady family." He voices with confidence like he's exposing an opening statement, ever the lawyer.
"You are murder, and maybe you haven't properly killed those people with your hands, but you walk around like it's not your fault, which makes it even more disgusting. That is why, even if she could really be yours, you would never deserve a single chance to be near our wonderful daughter." Donna steps in, her hand finding its natural place in Harvey's as their hold gives her strength.
They're not wrong, Stephen thinks. He doesn't have any grounds to open a custody case. But he's moved by the relentless crave to be loved and to have someone to love, someone to live for, someone to come home to, someone he can take care of. Someone like a daughter. And he would like nothing more than to have her mother with him, but from what he's seeing, she's not going anywhere anytime soon. However, despite all she can say, he still feels something for her, and is willing to stand up for it.
For now the three of them just stand face to face, the built up tension making the air toxic.
With a mechanical noise, the lights are on again, illuminating the hostile faces that accompany their heated argument. The elevator starts descending again. This time landing safely at the next floor and the doors open to show off the scene to a very perplexed Louis, Alex and maintenance guy.
Even without the details, the image that greets them is charged with electricity, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out they were arguing, badly. Their whole body language and the fervor in their looks speak for themselves. The picture gets broken by Stephen, who decides to step out, not before whispering a very unpleasant you'll be hearing from me.
Harvey needs space, now.
Donna follows him right away, not really keen to engage a conversation where she'd had to explain things to Alex and Louis and wanting, needing to be there for him.
She finds him pacing near the fire escape. She knew he wouldn't have taken the elevator again to get out of the firm.
"Hey..." She tries to make him feel her presence - both physically and mentally - by putting her hand on his shoulder, when he flinches at the contact. "Harvey please don't push me away. I need you exactly how you need me right now." She's hurt by his rejecting her comfort.
"Sorry, I just-" He apologizes, but his words are chocked. "I don't want him to take her away from me." He manages to get out in what could be described as a sob.
"Look at me." She demands, forcing him to make eye contact by taking his face between her hands. "I've never lied to you when it came to things like this and I'm not about to start now. This is one hell of a situation, but we're not going to worry about anything today."
He's about to interject when she speaks again, "I'm not saying we won't need to face it, but right now you're going to drop the case because it's obvious you can't keep handling it. And with Alex being your lawyer and fixing everything, we're going to head home, you're going to tuck in your daughter and read to her the little astronaut, because you both need it."
Harvey's still reluctant but nods anyway.
"And most importantly, you're going to remember that she's there, safe with you and not going anywhere. I promise you Harvey, he'll have to get over my dead body to have her." Maybe it's her velvet touch, or her vanilla smell, her soothing tone, or the incredible amount of love and trust he fells for her, but Harvey almost believes everything's going to be okay.
After all, reading Penelope the little astronaut story for the fiftieth time sounds like heaven to him.
I'm so nervous about this, I really worked hard for this so I would appreciate if you could let me know what you think!