A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed or added this story to their story alerts. I greatly appreciate the feedback. It lets me know that I'm taking this story in the right direction.
Also, the majority of this chapter is a flashback. Several characters have mentioned the night that Harvey kicked Alannah out of his apartment and now you'll get to see how that played out. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own the people you fellow Suitors don't recognize.
Alannah took the bottle of Jameson from Abby's hand, "Put the whole thing on my tab. I'm going upstairs."
She stood from the booth and headed towards the door that led to the stairs to her loft. Once she was inside, she turned on her favorite blues station and poured herself a glass of whiskey. She accepted the fact that she was going to be nursing a hangover in the morning as she let the memories of a night she longed to forget wash over her.
Harvey stopped drinking long enough to turn on the radio that he had hooked up to play throughout the apartment. He flipped through the few progamed stations he had until he found the blues station that he enjoyed listening to. If he was going to relive memories he'd tried to keep buried, he might as well have a proper soundtrack to go along with it.
Alannah took a deep breathe as she stepped off the elevator to Harvey's apartment. Her hand shook as she tried to put the key in the door. Normally, she only used the key when he wasn't home, but she knew he wouldn't let her in if she knocked. When she entered, he was sitting on his couch reading a case file.
"Harvey," she tentatively called from her spot beside the door.
"Put your key on the table and get out," he replied without looking at her.
Alannah ignored his dismissal, "Harvey, please."
He looked at her, his gaze colder than she'd ever seen from him before, "I don't want to hear it."
"Outside of Monica, you're my best friend." She walked closer to him, "Harvey, please, just hear me out."
"You don't lie to your best friend, Alannah," he tossed the file down and stood.
Tears began to build in her eyes at his use of her full name, "I didn't lie. When you asked me if I was having an affair with Daniel, I told you the truth. I didn't tell you when it started because I knew you wouldn't approve. You're not Daniel's biggest fan and it wa-"
The older lawyer cut her off, "He stole from our clients and then blamed it on his wife and teenage daughter to cover it up. How could you stand beside a man like that?"
"It's not what you think, I swear," she defended.
"What I think is that I went to bat with you for Jessica. She wanted to kick both of you out of the firm from the beginning, but I convinced her that you would help us. Convinced her that you might be his mistress but you wouldn't stand by and let him steal from our clients," he countered, anger dripping from every word, "Very rarely do I read people wrong, but I misjudged you. You're both lying low lifes."
The tears Alannah had managed to keep at bay started falling in response to his last statement. She took a few deep breaths before speaking, "Harvey, I understand why you're angry with me but please just hear me out. Daniel ga-"
"I don't want to hear another word from you." He moved past her and opened the door, "Now, you can either get out of my apartment on your own or I can call building security and have them hold you until the police come arrest you for trespassing. Your choice."
Alannah started to argue until she met his stare. The eyes staring at her no longer held a sense of warmth and familiarity. She was now met with the same gaze that she had only seen a handful of times over the years when he spoke of his mother or Cameron Dennis. She pulled the key to his apartment off of her key ring and placed it in his hand as she walked out of the door.
She turned around to speak and was met with him closing the door in her face. She leaned against the door as she slid down it, allowing herself to succumb to the waves of tears she'd tried not to shed during their argument. Her hope was that he would hear her and open the door so she could talk to him.
Harvey listened for a few minutes to the sound of Alannah crying outside of his door before he pulled out his cell phone and called Monica.
It rang a few times before going to her voicemail. Glancing at the clock in , he realized she was probably in the middle of her Friday night college rush. He dialed another number.
"Donna, I need you to do me a favor."
Donna stepped off the elevator and her heart broke at the sight before her. Alannah was sitting outside of Harvey's door, makeup mixed with tears as they streamed down her face. Her hair was haphazardly pulled into a ponytail, but the younger woman hadn't managed to get all of her hair into the elastic band that held it in place. She had her knees pulled to her chest and her arms were resting on them. Donna noted that she was gently rocking back and forth and every few seconds, she reached up to brush away tears.
The slightly older woman kneeled down before Alannah and rested her hands on her knees, "Lanna."
She looked up and a bitter laugh mixed with her sobs before she choked out, "It figures he would call you. You always handle the shit he doesn't want to deal with."
Donna brushed a stray hair behind her ear, "Let's get you home, okay?"
She shook her head, "He won't listen, Donna. You have to go in there and make him listen to me." She grabbed the other woman's upper arms and pleaded, "Please, Donna. It's not what he thinks. It's not."
Before the other woman could respond, Alannah let go and stood from her spot on the floor. Donna let a sigh of relief escape from her lips as she stood as well. She started to head towards the elevator, believing that Alannah had decided to go home. She turned around in horror as the sound of the lawyer pounding on Harvey's doors met her ears. Donna, the woman who always knew what to say and do, was at a loss for words as she watched the other woman beating on the door with both hands as she wailed, "Harvey, open this fucking door! Harvey!"
She pounded on the door a few more times before turning around to face Donna. The assistant had to blink back tears at the desperation that shone in Alannah's eyes as she asked, "You have a key, right? He made me give mine back. He'll listen to you, Donna. If you tell him to listen, he'll listen. He has to listen. He has to."
Donna gently grabbed her arm and spoke softly as she commanded, "Lanna, let me take you home."
"No," Alannah ripped her arm out of her grasp, "You didn't see his face. If I leave now, he'll never speak to me again. Donna, you have to get him to talk to me."
"Lanna, look at me." The red head waited until the lawyer was looking her in the eye, "I can't fix this. I wish I could, but he doesn't want to see you. He told me if I let you back in his apartment that he would fire me."
Alannah recoiled as if she had been slapped. She knew how long Donna been Harvey's assistant. She knew how much he depended on her. She knew that if he threatened to fire Donna for allowing her back into his apartment, then she didn't have to worry about fighting for her best friend because she had already lost him.
She fell into the older woman's arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Donna somehow managed to lead her to the elevator and into a cab.
As the cab pulled up to O'Callaghan's, Donna opened the door and helped Alannah get out.
"Keep it running. I'll be right back," she told the cab driver.
When they entered the pub, it only took a few seconds for Monica to spot them. She quickly ended the conversation she'd been having and rushed over to the pair.
"I'll kill him," she growled.
"No. My fault. My fault," Lanna wiped away more tears, "I'm so stupid. So fucking stupid."
Noticing that patrons of the pub were staring, Monica decided not to argue that point, "Let's get you upstairs,"
She took over supporting her from Donna. As the lawyer turned her head into the other woman's shoulder and continued crying, Monica mouthed to Donna, "Thank you."
Donna nodded before going back outside to the waiting cab.
Monica unlocked the door that lead to the stairs to their loft. She guided her to sit on the bottom step so she could give her employees directions for closing the pub. Once she'd done that, she returned to her friend. She helped the lawyer stand and they slowly made their way into the loft.
Monica unlocked the door and Alannah stopped leaning on her long enough to shuffle over to the couch.
She flopped down and rested her head against the back of the couch, "He wouldn't listen to me, Mon. I tried to tell him about Daniel blackmailing me but he just kept cutting me off. He looked at me like I was gum on the bottom of his shoe. He made me give him back his key." Her voice cracked as she asked, "What am I going to do?"
The pub owner sat next to her and grabbed her hand before softly replying, "This probably isn't what you want to hear, but you've got to let it go." Alannah started to protest, but she continued, "Honey, if he doesn't want to hear what you have to say, then you don't have any other choice."
Alannah briefly considered the option before rejecting it and suggesting, "I can call him. That's a good idea, right? Where's my phone? If I keep calling, he'll answer."
"No, sweetheart," Monica stated firmly, "he'll get an order of protection and have you charged with harassment. There's nothing you can do at this point, but wait and see if he'll come to you."
Alannah felt what little bit of control she had slip. If her only option was waiting for Harvey to come to her, than she and Harvey were truly done. Lanna thought she'd done all the crying she could do on the cab ride home, but she felt fresh tears making an emergence. Her sister by choice wrapped both arms around her, rocked her back and forth, and sang her softly sang her Irish songs of comfort until she fell asleep.
Donna returned to Harvey's apartment and let herself with her key. The scene in front of her was less chaotic than the one she'd walked into hours earlier, but no less heartbreaking. All of the things Alannah had given to him or left at his apartment over the years were in two boxes near the door. Harvey was sitting on his couch with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a picture of him and Alannah in the other. The bottle of Jameson sat on the table with an empty glass that she assumed was for her.
Donna sat down beside him, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he tossed the picture on the table, "Have a drink? I know neither one of us are whiskey drinkers, but I don't want any reminders of her. I was going to pour it out, but I planned on drinking anyway. Why waste perfectly good alcohol just because the person who bought it betrayed you?"
Donna sighed and started to tell him that drinking the whole bottle wouldn't make the situation better until she noticed the blues music playing throughout the apartment. She decided the best course of action would be to hold her tongue.
After a lenghty silence, she spoke, "She's at home with Monica. I'm pretty sure Monica will probably have her on the next flight to Ireland to get away from all of this for a little while considering how upset she was."
"That's probably best since she no longer has a job," he replied.
There was so much Donna wanted to say, but she knew he didn't want to hear it. Instead, she poured some whiskey into her glass, figuring it would be better for her to drink some instead of letting him drink it by himself. No further words were exchanged as they sit and let the music engulf them.