Chapter 19 - Escape

Donna felt the long stillness in the air, which felt a hell of a lot longer than the split second it actually was, which cloaked the small group.

It took less than a second for Harvey to register Donna's reaction and responded by slowly turning his gaze to the two new faces next to her.

'Harvey!' Donna managed with a little more enthusiasm than he'd expect after the conversation they'd just parted ways on. His eyebrows raised in curiosity as he turned his head back towards her, knowing full well this was not a pitch her voice usually reached. 'This is Ana, my friend from London.' Donna beamed and gabbled erratically as she placed her hand on the shorter woman's arm. She was never one to be caught off guard or to be thrown into a situation where the destination was only downhill. She felt herself bite down on her bottom lip and she flicked her tongue nervously behind it, trying her best to hide her panic from each of them. Her eyes met Harvey's, who had already noticed the man standing to the side, for some reason not yet to be introduced.

Harvey, always the social gentleman, regardless of who it was, held his hand out towards Ana with a Specter smile, 'Ana, how lovely to meet you. I've heard lots about you.'

'Oh, same here Harvey, nice to finally meet you.' She held her smile as Harvey then cast his attention to the tall, dark and chiselled man standing to the left of Ana.

'And is this your..?' Harvey began, unsure to whom this man was, who had obviously made Donna so un-Donna-like for the past minute. His intrigued peaked.

Donna opened her mouth ready to respond, but thankful that Ana managed to beat her to it.

'This is Thomas. My brother.' Ana smiled, 'I can't fly without someone. I hate it. And as Thomas has business in the city anyway, he decided to fly with me.'

Donna shuffled her feet slightly, brushing back her hair from her face to keep her normal poise, trying hard not to bring attention to the pounding sound her heart was suddenly deafening her own ears with keeping a tight smile across her face.

'Thomas Kessler,' he held out his hand towards Harvey, who in turn accepted.

'Harvey Specter,' He mirrored the introduction, 'So, what business brings you to New York Thomas?'

Donna heard the change of tone instantly in Harvey's question. Shit.

'Real estate. I'm heading up a project in the city this week and have a few final arrangements to take care of.. Or should I say, some loose ends to tie up...' Thomas' deep voice dripping with English charm. Not the stereo-typical English charm either, in fact, he didn't have an upper-class London accent at all, much alike to Ana. He seemed genuine, down to earth and polite. Harvey was always on point for first impressions and so far he couldn't fault Thomas Kessler. Nevertheless, he hadn't failed to noticed the slight glance he made towards Donna after he mentioned 'final arrangements'. Whatever those final arrangements were.

'I hear Donna is working her magic on the offices here too?' Thomas asked as he threw a wide smile across to Donna, who was still stood the other side of Ana in front of the elevators, hands drawn together neatly in front of her body unsure what to do with them if she was completely honest.

'Yes, she's doing an amazing job,' Harvey answered smiling uneasily towards Donna, who noticed the strained, tight lipped smile he usually gave people whilst gauging their intentions.

'She's certainly something!' Thomas beamed as he placed his hands inside the pockets of his cashmere overcoat. 'She redesigned our offices in London to high acclaim.'

'Hmm,' Harvey cast his eyes away from Donna, making it near impossible for her to sense her boyfriend's thoughts.

Almost shattering the awkward silence that was beginning to unfold, a voice sounded, as a younger lawyer exited the elevator behind the small gathering.

'Harvey!' Mike appeared at the exact moment Harvey was about to broach the subject of his girlfriend's level of acquaintance with this tall and handsome Englishman. 'I've been waiting downstairs with Ray, we need to get over to Grifford's office for the Slater deposition by one.' Mike stood in between the elevator doors, one hand keeping them apart in order to hold it for him and his senior partner.

'Nice meeting you Thomas, I'm sure Donna will look after you.' Without a goodbye to anyone else, Harvey turned on his heel and walked into the elevator with Mike. The doors closed shut.

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The two men stood together waiting until the ride was over. There was an obvious silence, which Mike had immediately noticed, as soon as Harvey had entered.

'So, who was that?' Mike began intrigued.

'Some friends of Donna's from England.'

'Ok. So why that pensive look?' Mike laughed.

'Because I know people Mike, and I also know Donna. There's something she hasn't told me,' he reached for his tie to loosen it, feeling the heat rise within the small metal box. He tensed his jaw hard and fixed his eyes on the doors in front, waiting for the inevitable ping, which will lead towards the escape he so desperately needed.

'What? Do you think he's more than a friend of Donna's?' Mike risked his luck knowing anytime soon Harvey will close him down like the lawyer he was.

'I don't know Mike, but I'm as sure as hell gonna find out.' The doors opened with that familiar sound and Harvey was first out, striding towards Ray's car with more purpose and vigour than Mike would have expected on the way to a run of the mill merger deposition. However, he guessed his friend's demeanour was nothing to do with the impending deposition.

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'So that's Harvey...' Thomas nodded with a grin, which then began to stretch across his chiselled features. 'Can't see the appeal myself...'

She knew she had to form words right about now, yet they were trapped between her brain and her mouth.

'Wh-? What? I mean, why the hell are you here Thomas?' Donna's cool, calm and collected poise had all but diminished as soon as Harvey had left the fiftieth floor. It was obvious who out of the two people in front of her the question was directed at.

'Ana needed company,' Thomas smiled, 'And remember the construction project in Brooklyn? Well, it seems it's near completion so, being the CEO, I would actually like to see first hand what my company have invested in.' He smiled nonchalantly, making it clear not to address the real inclination behind Donna's question.

'Don't give me that crap, I know exactly why you're here. Here. In this office!' Donna moved a step closer towards Kessler, fists beginning to ball as she restrained them to her sides.

'Donna, I'm sorry, he said he wanted to come with me, what could I say?' Ana interjected with a genuine apologetic half-smile.

'Really! Really?' Donna threw her glare towards her friend, 'Ana, you of all people should have known this...' Donna motioned between the three of them with her finger, 'Would not go well!' She let out an exasperated sigh. 'You know what? Whatever. It was good to see you Thomas,' her voice covered with insincerity as she turned back towards Harvey's office. 'Ana, I'd love to catch up later. Alone, preferably.' She called back over her shoulder. 'Call me.'

And with that, Donna had gathered back her integrity, self restraint and calmness and strode back down the hallway.

With a gentle thud, she collapsed back on to Harvey's closed glass door, her heart beating three times it's natural rhythm, the pounding reverberating in her ears. She lifted her hands and hovered them in front of her, witnessing their cold shakiness. After a moment of quiet, the last few minutes began to replay back clearly in her head, swirling and rewinding like a torturous carousel. Reviewing in detail the look on Harvey's face as he turned towards the elevator. She needed to be with him, explain to him exactly what just happened. But she knew Harvey, and she knew she would be the last person he needed to speak to right now. With a deep breath, she flopped down heavily onto the couch and placed her head between her fingertips trying hard to keep stray tears locked away. Although Harvey Specter was the main reason she wanted to come home, Thomas Kessler could have been the man to have changed her mind.

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Her head snapped up as she felt a presence in the doorway. Her dark haired friend hovered tentatively, half in, half out. She wandered fully into the office, gently closing the door behind her.

'Are you ok?' Rachel began to walk over to where Donna was sat, smoothing down her pencil skirt as she lowered herself down. 'What was all that about?'

Still trying to hold in her tears, whilst holding her hand to her nose, fighting them to stay hidden. It was no use, tears had already started to find their way down her cheeks, writing white lines through her make up, revealing her innocent freckles to the world. With a sniff and a quick wipe to remove the offending droplets, she straighten up and took a shaky breath in.

'Oh Rach,' she began, croaky yet strong, 'I don't even know where to start. You leave a country, hoping to leave the past behind you. Then you have to leave the country you ran to, to leave the past behind you again when you realise that you love the first person you left in the first country.' She let out a sob-filled laugh while the absurdity and confusing state of her words sank in. 'Then the son of a bitch comes here and bites you in the ass!' She threw her hands up in the air in front of her, causing Rachel to flinch back slightly, then she took her friend's shaking hand and held it in hers.

'You weren't to know Donna,' Rachel soothed, pulling her best friend's hand closer.

'I should have been honest with Harvey from the start. His face Rach, I've never seen him look like that before. I knew straight away; he can read me better than anyone.' She continued, after wiping more rebellious tears away. 'He told me about Scottie right after I confronted him about her. I should have told him then about Thomas. I didn't think I'd ever see him again after I left the UK, I never thought it was a big deal once I was here. To be honest, I was so wrapped up in wanting to be with Harvey, Thomas didn't even enter my mind. And now, here he is, standing in the middle of the foyer, in Harvey's firm, like he's taking claim of me.'

'Why have you never told me about him? We spoke all the time!' Rachel's confused face questioning Donna's. Donna used a small, slightly embarrassed smile to acknowledge Rachel's question.

'Because there was nothing to tell, before I realised he felt more for me than I did for him, I ended it. For a brief moment I tried to forget Harvey, I did. But after meeting Scottie in London, Ana, Thomas' sister, told him all about what she had said about Harvey and then that's when it all changed. He became jealous, possessive and kept judging me on all of my decisions. I'd had enough. Part of me couldn't believe that, even three and a half thousand miles away, Harvey Goddamn Specter could still influence my lovelife! And that's when I knew.' She shrugged her shoulder and folded the tissue she had been using to wipe her eyes.

'Knew what?' Rachel pushes further, concerned for her friend.

'That I needed to come home. I needed him. Oh Rach, I need to speak to him.'

'Look,' Rachel bounced up and placed herself in front of Donna, 'You've nearly finished in here, how about I help you with the finishing touches and we go back to yours and put a few bottles of wine to good use? What do you say?'

'I say, I like your line of thinking Zane,' Donna couldn't resist a smile as she let Rachel pull her up off the new brushed leather couch.

They spent the next hour placing the rest of the vinyls on Harvey's new shelving unit and unpacking his new table and chairs.

'He's going to love this Donna, it's amazing!'

'I know,' she smiled tightly as she took in the newly designed and decorated office. 'I really wanted to be here when he saw it.'

'Well, how about we text him and let him know it's finished.' Rachel handed Donna's phone to her from the the table.

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'Oh my god really?' Donna laughed, 'What happened then?'

'Mike left the bar without telling Louis, who ended up staying there all night and didn't even realise it was a gay bar!'

'Oh Rach, that's hilarious!' She tucked her cream, ruffled sweater around her as she grasped her wine with both hands, legs pulled in close underneath her. 'I so needed this distraction. I've missed you. We need a Harriet and Michelle night out!'

'Name the night!' Rachel grinned splashing more Bordeaux into their glasses as the sat side by side on the couch in Donna's apartment. They'd left the firm after finishing Harvey's office and Rachel decided to finish her day early to spend time with her friend, being that she really did need company right now.

'Has he replied yet?' Rachel asked leaning over towards Donna's phone, which was still sat on the end of the couch.

'No,' Donna sighed, yet trying not to sound too worried, 'I'm sure he's busy and hasn't checked his phone. He will.' She tried to convince herself, as she swigged generously on her freshly poured glass of red.

'Right, I'm ordering food, do you want any?' Rachel asked as she jumped to her feet trying to lift the mood.

'Thai? I've been craving those Chi Red Noodles from the Thai on 32nd.'

Rachel's nose told Donna everything she needed to know about Rachel's answer.

'What?' Donna laughed.

'What? That shitty Thai place?' Rachel scoffed, beginning to dial the takeout on her cell.

Donna smiled at the memory, 'Funny that,' she looked down into her wine, 'Harvey always said the same thing about that place.'

'Finally!' Rachel exclaimed, 'I agree with something Harvey Specter thinks!'

Donna laughed and threw the grey and white tasseled cushion towards her friend, who expertly dodged it while trying to order their food.

As Donna stood up to pick up the cushion three soft knocks echoed through her livingroom. She looked towards the door waiting to hear it again, she recognised that knock. It didn't take long for the same sound to repeat itself.

Donna caught Rachel's eye and nodded an answer to an unspoken question.

She placed her wine down on the table and went towards the door.