PART THREE
Back at the firm, the partners are trying to cope with the prospect of a new merger. At such a crucial time, the absence of the managing partner leaves everyone restless.
"Where in the goddamn hell is Harvey? I've been trying to reach him since the past hour!" Louis demands, ambling into the COO's office.
Donna is sitting at her desk meticulously arranging her files when Louis startles her.
"I don't know Louis." she says with a shrug.
"What do you mean you don't know Donna? He's Harvey! You know every damn second of his life!" Yells Louis.
"Louis." She says firmly.
"I think you are forgetting I am no longer his secretary.
He's probably just having a late morning. Mike leaving must have been definitely rough on him."
Louis' frustration comes down a notch as Donna knocks some empathy into him.
"I am sorry for coming at you Donna." He sighs
"I understand what Harvey must be going through, but the position at which the firm is right now, we need him to be there. Robert Zane might swoop in any minute announcing a merger, and without Harvey here things can go south.
The partners are worried Donna. It is just very unlike Harvey to not show up for something so important.
Just…let me know if you can reach him."
"Okay Louis, I will. Till he comes, I know you are capable enough to handle this. Remember, Jessica put her trust not only in Harvey but also in you when she left this firm in our hands." Donna says reassuringly.
"Thank you, Donna." Louis nods and leaves her office.
Louis does not notice the underlying worry in Donna's fake act of nonchalance, of Harvey not showing up today. But then, she has always been a good actress.
Her instincts, as sharp as ever, noted Harvey's absence long before anyone at the firm did. She has been resisting the urge to call him because she knows Mike leaving has been hard on him and wants to give him enough time and space to recuperate. Though somewhere inside her, she senses it is something more than that.
She doesn't hint about any of her concern in her talk with Louis, knowing how stressed out he already is, and can tend to get.
She had already rehearsed their conversation in her head, long before Louis arrived. And with Donna Paulsen, conversations always go according to her script. The world is too predictable for her.
The only thing she cannot decipher is what her heart is trying to say. And also, the heart of another human being.
The thought of him reminds her of Rachel's words to her, the night before. And just as fast as that thought comes into her head, the worry starts seeping in again.
It is only a matter of time before Louis comes back to ask if she has got in touch with him yet. But more than that, it is only a matter of time before she explodes with all the anxiety she's been burying within her. He has been this late only on a couple of rare occasions before.
After almost half the day having passed, she is sure this is not just about Mike anymore.
She hopes that his mother and Marcus are not in any trouble. But then if they were, he would have told her. He called her even at six in the morning. The fact that he hasn't tried to reach her yet, troubles her. Even though she snapped at Louis, she knows he was right. She does know every second of Harvey's life.
Or at least she did. She wonders if her decision of becoming the COO would slowly bring a distance in her relationship with him, and that thought pinches her a little.
She catches herself spiraling with these thoughts and decides to ring him finally.
She picks up her phone, and speed dials. He's been on her 'favourites' since the day she came to work for him.
It rings.
Once…
Twice…
Thrice…
Voicemail.
She redials.
Ringing
Once…
Twice...
Thrice…
Voicemail.
With every passing ring, her heartbeat increases. She tries reaching him through her phone two more times.
No answer.
She tries calling him from the office number too, just in case.
Now her anxiety doubles. Beads of sweat are starting to form on her forehead when she opens her drawer, picks up the keys to Harvey's house and rushes out of the building.
He had given them back to her after things had ended with Paula. An intimate part of her had been pleased and relieved, although she chided herself on feeling that way.
While in the cab, on the way to his house, she tries to think of a million reasons for his uncharacteristic behaviour.
He has come this late to office, few times before, yes.
He has ignored calls from Louis and other colleagues, definitely yes.
He has ignored a call or two from Donna, twice. Out of which on one of the occasions he was toked up with Mike. And the other time he had genuinely missed her call and called her right back. He had heard enough admonitions on both those occasions to promise her never to not pick her call again, unless it was a fatal emergency.
Although he had said that last bit donning his annoyingly handsome smirk in that moment, that is what has been bothering Donna the most.
And 'bothering' is an understatement.
Her palms are wet as she keys his door ready to blow him to pieces, but there is no sight of him.
She walks over to his room and sees an empty bottle of scotch lying on his bed. Fear grips her, tight.
The empty apartment makes her more paranoid and perplexed.
She has already prepared a mental list of other places he could be at, and is walking out of the door, when her phone chimes.
"Come Home"
For one second, she goes blank, head spinning from the stress. The next second she is closing the door behind her, knowing exactly where to go.