Culpability

Chapter Two

When the elevator dinged and they reached the 50th floor, Harvey let Rebecca go first. After he got out of the elevator he caught up to her and grabbed a hold of her hand. It was something he had started doing a few days ago when they got to the office in the morning and when they walked to the elevator at the end of the work day.

The first day he did it, he was rewarded with a huge smile from her so he continued to do it because he loved to see her smile. It was one of the main things he had missed the last several weeks.

"Hello Donna." He greeted when they approached her desk.

"Hi." Donna smiled at them. "Rebecca, you have a potential client waiting in the conference room."

"But I don't have any meetings scheduled for this morning." She chuckled.

"I know." Donna nodded. "But they are a walk-in who refused to leave and come back later."

"Who are they?" She asked.

"Gold Lake Financial." Donna stated.

"It doesn't ring a bell." She shook her head.

"How long have they been here?" Harvey asked.

"About fifteen minutes." Donna answered.

"I guess I should go see what they want." Rebecca sighed.

She went to pull her hand out of his but he instead pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her. "I'd wish you good luck but you don't need it." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled and kissed his cheek before walking to the conference room.

He turned and saw Donna staring at him intently. "What?"

"Nothing." Donna laughed.

He continued to his office, aware that she was following him inside. "What is it Donna?"

"I'm just happy that you and Rebecca are back on good terms again." She smiled.

"We still have some things to work through though." He pointed out.

"There's always going to be something that you can improve upon in your relationship." She agreed. "I'm just saying it's nice to see you both happier."

"It's nice to be happier again." He sighed. "I wasn't sure that would happen."

"I was." She smirked. "I knew you two would be able to work through whatever was going on as soon as you stopped acting like an asshole."

"You do realize that I'm still your boss and you shouldn't call your boss an asshole, right?" He chuckled.

"What are you going to do?" She laughed. "Fire me? Yeah right. Besides, you know I'm right. You were acting like an asshole."

"Yeah, you are right." He took a look at her face. It was the face she used when she wanted something but was nervous to ask. Usually it revolved around taking days off. "What's on your mind? Is there a Secretaries Day coming up that you want off or something?"

"Not exactly." She shook her head. "You know I'm engaged to Charles."

"Yes. I am aware of that." He laughed.

"We have set a date for the wedding."

"Already? That was quick." He was surprised by that. But he shouldn't have been. Once Donna makes a decision about something she doesn't shy away from it. She runs full-throttle.

"We know we want to be married and don't want to waste any more time. So we are getting married in three months." Donna explained.

"I'd ask if three months was enough time for you to plan a wedding but I know you." He laughed. "In three months you could plan twenty weddings."

"That is true!" Donna laughed.

"So what is on your mind?" He asked. "What can I do for you?"

"Well Rebecca knows Charles pretty well by now. She's spent time with him while you were in Boston. The three of us went out to lunch quite a few times and she's talked to him whenever he came in while I was working. But you don't know him as well…"

"I've talked to him." He pointed out. "We talked at that double date dinner, he was at Louis' bachelor party and I talked to him at the wedding as well."

"You've only talked to him a couple of times." She argued. "That doesn't mean you know him that well."

"Ok." He was beginning to see where this was leading. "Do you want me to become best friends with him? Should I invite him over for a playdate?"

"No." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be best friends. I just want you to make an effort to get to know him a little better."

"Why?"

"Harvey, c'mon." She threw her hands up.

"No." He chuckled. "I legitimately want to know why."

"You are my oldest and dearest friend." She explained. "I want you to get to know him because your opinion matters to me. And I want to know that he will be able to fit into all aspects of my life before I marry him."

He smiled at his friend. "Ok. I'll make an effort to get to know him."

"Thank you." She smiled before leaving his office.

Rebecca entered the conference room and put a smile on her face for the two gentlemen sitting down. "Hello gentleman. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I didn't know you were coming in."

"It's quite alright, Ms. Monroe." The first man said, standing up and shaking her hand. "Like you said, you didn't know we were coming so we didn't mind waiting. My name is Garrett Moore. This is my associate, Raymond Andrews. We are with Gold Star Financial."

"It's nice to meet you." She said.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you." Raymond said, getting up and moving so he could shake her hand.

"Please…" She gestured to the chairs they got out of. "Have a seat." She watched as they sat back down and then went to the other side of the conference room table to sit down. "So I have to admit you have me at a little bit of a disadvantage today. I don't know anything about you, your company or why you are here."

Garrett smiled. "We worked with your late father in California on some legislation. When we decided to expand to the East Coast and realized you were a name partner at a major firm here…well we decided it was kismet that we try to hire your firm as our counsel for our East Coast operations."

She wasn't expecting to hear that they worked with her father. To be completely honest it threw her for a loop. But she recovered quickly. "Ok. Why don't you tell me a little about your company?"

"We are a privately held equity firm that's been around for almost thirty years." Garrett elaborated. "We focus mainly on leveraged buyouts and capital investments."

"I see." She nodded. "And why expand to the East Coast after all these years?"

"A company who doesn't eventually grow will eventually die." Raymond answered. "It was one of your father's favorite things to tell us. I guess you could say we are finally going along with his advice."

"Why choose me?" She asked. "There are hundreds of lawyers in this city you could hire."

"It's because of your father. We had a good working relationship with him. We trusted him. Now we know you weren't that close to him." Garrett stated. "But we are still hoping that you will be our counsel. He spoke highly of your skills as a lawyer."

She looked at the two older men and then at the table for a moment. There was something about this that made her a little paranoid, but she attributed it to the fact that they were talking about her father. They made it seem like they were very close with him. That was evident by the fact they mentioned she wasn't close to her father. Not many people knew that. She also doubted that her father ever said anything nice about her. But that was a separate issue.

In the end, this was another client and revenue for the firm. She decided to go forward with this for now until she had to make a final decision. "Let me check and make sure that signing you wouldn't be a conflict of interest with any of our other, pre-existing clients."

"Wonderful!" Garrett clapped his hands together.

"Here is my card." Raymond said, sliding the card across the table to her. "Give us a call when you find out if there is a conflict. If there isn't, we would love to be represented by you."

"Ok." She nodded.

"Thank you for your time." Garrett smiled, getting up from his seat. "And sorry for ambushing you this morning."

"It's fine." She waited until the men were out of the conference room and out of the line of sight before frowning. While she was always looking to sign new clients, should she really sign one that her father worked with? And what kind of legislation would a financial group need to work on with a state senator?

She went back towards her office. But she stopped before going in her office and instead went into Harvey's.

"Hey." He looked up from his papers and smiled.

"Hey." She went over to beside his chair and leaned up against his desk.

"What's wrong?"

She couldn't help but grin at the fact that he was able to read her face so clearly.

"Did the meeting go badly?" He asked.

"No. It was fine." She shook her head. "They are with an equity company from California who want me to represent them as they expand their offices out here."

"What's their name again?"

"Gold Star Financial." She answered, watching as he typed it into his computer. He pulled up their website and she turned so she could see too.

"They look like a major financial player in California." He stated. "It would be a nice client to have for the firm."

"Maybe." She told him.

"What's holding you back?"

"They have worked with my father in the past." She explained.

"In what capacity?"

"I guess they worked with him on some kind of legislation?" She shrugged.

"So since they worked with him you aren't sure you want to work with them?"

"Is that silly?" She chuckled.

"Not at all." He assured her. "And I'll support you whatever you choose to do about them."

"Thank you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I guess it shouldn't matter if they worked with my father."

"Just think about it." He suggested. "And remember that you don't have to take every client that wants you to represent them."

"True." She smiled. "Thank you."

"Anytime." He smiled back.

Rebecca was typing questions for a deposition when she saw Donna standing in the doorway. "Did you need something?"

"Do you have a moment?" Donna asked, still standing in the doorway.

"Of course." She nodded. "You can come in."

She watched as Donna slowly walked into her office and sat down. "Donna, what's on your mind?"

"Charles and I have set a date for the wedding."

She smiled. "That's wonderful! When is it?"

"December 8th."

"Donna…that's three months away." She pointed out.

"I know." Donna nodded. "Is it crazy? Do you think I'm rushing things?"

"I don't think it is crazy and I don't think you are rushing things." She explained. "I think Charles is absolutely perfect for you and I see how much you two love each other. I'm not surprised you want to skip a long engagement."

"Thanks." Donna smiled. "I was also wondering something else though. Would you like to be a bridesmaid?"

"I'd love to." She smiled. Then she noticed the look on her friends' face. "Why do you look so worried?"

"I was just worried you might be upset that I wasn't asking you to be my matron of honor."

"Oh." She laughed. "I already kind of figured that Rachel would be your matron of honor because you two have been friends for a lot longer."

"So you aren't hurt by that?"

"Of course not!" She smiled. "You don't have to worry. I'm fine with Rachel being your matron of honor. But I do appreciate you even thinking about that."

"If you want any help getting the wedding planned, just let me know. I'd be happy to do anything I can for you."

"Thanks." Donna smiled. "I appreciate that. So…you and Harvey…"

"What about us?"

"I've noticed quite a change lately."

"Yeah." She nodded. "He's been trying."

"Are things ok now?"

"They are ok-ish." She admitted. "We have some things to work out, but at least now I know he wants to work them out. So we will be ok."

"I'm glad." Donna nodded.

"So am I." She smiled at her friend.

"I'll let you get back to work now." Donna stood up and walked out of the office.

She waited until Donna left the office before turning in her chair to look out the window. She wasn't lying when she told Donna that she thought her relationship with Harvey would be ok. She did truly believe that. But she was worried about him. Ever since he told her about his guilt about Marcus, he hadn't said another word about it.

It wasn't going to just go away and resolve itself. She felt like he was burying himself in trying to make things right between them and ignoring that issue. It was a sensitive subject but they would need to talk about it at some point.