"Hey, I've done proofreading these. Did Harvey leave me any new work?" Mike asked as he put the files on Donna's desk.

"Nope. He's too busy searching random stuff on the Internet." Donna pointed her chin at Harvey who looked very serious in front of his laptop.

"Random stuff?"

"Yeah, I bet he's looking for clues for his condition." Donna spoke with a half-amused, half-annoyed voice.

"He told me he had a bad cold."

"And, you buy that?"

"Not really, but he told me to stay away so there was nothing I could do. Do you think we should be worried?" Mike frowned.

"Nah. He'll be fine." Donna wondered how much Mike knew.

"He'd tell me if he had something serious, right?"

Donna nodded and saw that Harvey had spotted his associate.

Harvey felt a tingle of excitement as his eyes met Mike's for a brief moment. He had been in a bad mood ever since he had told Mike to stay away, but now that he had seen him, he felt a little better. He had spent hours on the Internet last night and all morning to figure out what could be possibly wrong with him, but he hadn't found anything promising.

"I think Louis has some work for you."

He heard Donna tell Mike. He felt sick even thinking about Mike wagging his tail at Louis' compliments. Louis would probably throw him all kinds of tasty bones and Mike might want him as a mentor some day.

'Over my wrinkled suits.'

If he didn't want to lose his associate, he had to get better fast.

'Hmm, for the sake of argument, let's say that I'm in love with Mike.' Harvey mused.

'When did it all start? I've known him for a few months now, so I can rule out love at first sight. But then, didn't it start quite abruptly? It's not like Mike changed his hairstyle or wears better suits. What was the trigger?'

Harvey couldn't think of anything that could've started this whole mess. As far as he could recall, Mike hadn't acted any differently towards him or had done anything that would've impressed him more than usual.

'I need to talk to someone who knows about love and who's not a shrink.' He also realized that it would have to be someone who would keep his mouth shut.

Harvey thought about the people around him who might fit the profile. Thankfully, he came up with a name: Ray.

Harvey chose a restaurant where they would be able to talk in peace and where Ray would feel comfortable. They devoured the burgers as they talked about jazz until Ray's expression became serious.

"What's on your mind, Harvey? I may not be as bright as Mike but I can tell when something's bothering you."

Harvey smiled. "I'm sure you can, Ray. We've spent many years together."

"That's right. So you can tell me whatever's going on. My lips are sealed." Ray said sincerely.

"You know I went to see the doctor yesterday." Harvey started to talk.

"Yes, I drove you. I thought the doctor said you were fine." Ray looked worried.

Harvey shook his head. "I lied. He said something so ridiculous that I felt like lying."

"What did he say then? If you think he's wrong, you can always get a second opinion."

"He thinks I'm in love with Mike." Harvey just said it. He was tired after going through so much during the past few days.

Ray laughed.

"I told you. It's ridiculous."

"Well, he's quite lovely." Ray smiled.

"I wanted to talk to you because you seem to know about love." Harvey couldn't believe that he was actually having this conversation.

"You're talking about Helen?" Ray's smile became wider as he thought about his lady friend.

"Yes. How did you know you were in love with her?"

Ray shrugged. "I don't know. I just knew. It was simple. I wanted to spend more time with her. I saw her quite often but it wasn't enough. I wanted more. And, I think I noticed little things about her."

"Like what?"

"Like how she bit her lower lips when she was excited or how she tucked her hair behind her ears when she needed to ask me a favor. Oh, and I kept seeing her everywhere. I'm not talking about dreams. Well, I did dream about her too, but I'm talking about hearing her voice when I drove around or seeing her when I was alone at my place. I also kept replaying our conversations in my mind or imagining random situations including her."

Harvey was listening attentively. Ray sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

"But I think it all comes down to one question."

"What is it?"

"How afraid are you when you think about something awful happening to Mike? Do you feel like you can't breathe? Are you willing to use extreme measures to prevent that?"

"Of course." Harvey answered without a thought. He felt his whole body tense up as he imagined Mike dying in some sort of an accident and walking out of his life.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to him." Harvey's knuckles went white on the table.

Ray smiled fondly. "I think you found your answer, Harvey."

"But…"

"There's no logic in love, boss. I know you're an expert at logic, but you've entered a new territory here. Believe me when I tell you it's no use fighting against it. You'll only feel worse. You think I didn't battle against my feelings for Helen? I'm just a lowly driver and she's a school teacher. I knew she deserved someone better than me, but I couldn't help it. I was acting all silly in front of her and couldn't stop thinking about her. I know I sound like a cheesy love song, but that's what really happened."

Harvey thought about Ray's words. He hated to admit that he fit many of the symptoms that Ray had experienced.

"What do you suggest I do then? I want to get better."

Ray shook his head. "There's no cure for love, Harvey. But you'll feel better if you just accept what's going on and show Mike how you feel about him."

"That's not going to happen." Harvey snapped.

"Didn't you listen to what I just said? You'll feel worse if you keep fighting it."

"Not. Going to. Happen."

Ray sighed. His boss could be extra difficult sometimes. "If you don't feel even a little bit better after giving Mike a box of chocolate, then we can rule out love. How does that sound? Don't you think he could use some chocolate as a small reward?"

"You think a box of chocolate will do the trick?"

"Well, it's a start. Give him one and look at his reaction. If you feel better and want to give him another one, it's love. If you don't feel any better, then it's not love." Ray made it simple for his petulant boss.

"I guess there's no harm in getting him some chocolate." Harvey agreed, wondering what Mike would be eating for lunch right now.

"Let me ask you one more question."

"Go ahead."

"Do you ever wonder what Helen has for lunch?"

"All the time! That's why I always ask her when we talk on the phone. The woman has good taste, by the way." Ray was proud.

"Mike doesn't." Harvey sighed. The whole situation felt like a giant mess.

When Mike came back from the copy room, a rectangular box wrapped in dark blue paper was sitting on his desk.

'What is this? Santa came early this year?'

Mike opened the box and found chocolate and a note inside.

'Ooh, do I have a secret admirer? It's about time!'

He grinned as he hurried to read the note: Sorry for pushing you away.

It didn't take Mike even a second to figure out who wrote the note, but it took him a good minute to get over the surprise of receiving something so nice from his boss.

'I guess he's really sorry, huh?'

Harvey watched from the hallway how Mike smiled and pushed a chocolate into his mouth. He had gotten him the best Swiss chocolate in the city. He watched as Mike's smile became brighter while he enjoyed the chocolate. It was a peaceful scene, really. Harvey almost felt that he could fall asleep just from the cozy feeling in his chest.

'If you feel better and want to give him another one, it's love.' He remembered Ray's words.

'Damn it, Ray. I want to give him a dozen boxes, not just another one!'

Harvey turned around and headed back to his office, ignoring Donna's amused look. He didn't need his godlike secretary to tell him that he was facing the biggest challenge of his life.

'Hmm…'

Harvey was now searching the Internet to find out about 'love'. He figured that the logical first step would be checking the definition in a dictionary. According to Merriam-Webster, love meant:

1. (1) Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties

(2) Attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers

(3) Affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

'I do have personal ties with him, but I sure as hell don't feel any strong affection or attraction based on sexual desire.'

Harvey's eyes lingered on the third definition. 'Hmm, but I guess we do have common interests. The kid even knows 'Mississippi burning.''

Perhaps he was just a tiny bit in love.

'I'm sure it's written in the company bylaws somewhere that a partner should love his associate. I'm doing what Jessica wants for once.' Harvey mused and then checked Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English:

1. A strong feeling of caring about someone, especially a member of your family or a close friend

2. A strong feeling of liking someone a lot combined with sexual attraction

3. Someone that you feel a strong romantic and sexual attraction to

'Close friend? I guess we're close enough. But a strong feeling of caring? No!'

He sighed and rubbed his face in frustration.

'Let's assume I'm a bit in love. Then what's the next step? What do I need to do to get out of this mess?'

Harvey didn't want to have vivid dreams about Mike again, so he had to find out what to do next. He visited numerous websites that claimed to know everything about love but couldn't find the answers that he wanted.

'I don't know about this. Flowers? Mike's a guy. He may have liked chocolate but flowers? And, who writes love letters in the 21st century? I thought we stopped that in the 19th!'

Then it hit him that it wasn't about what Mike liked. It was about him getting better. How could he have forgotten that?

'Right. Let's try to stay on course.'

He kept clicking all sorts of websites as he desperately tried not to wonder what Mike was doing right now.

When Harvey got in the car in the evening to head home, he still had no clue about what to do next.

Ray started the car and looked into the rearview mirror. "So how's the wooing going, boss?"

"Wooing? Nobody's wooing anybody, Ray."

"Oh… Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. I know when I'm wooing someone, and I can tell you this is not wooing."

Ray chuckled, feeling as if he was dealing with a child. "Did he like it though? Did you feel like giving him another box? Do you feel any better?"

Harvey sighed. "Yes."

"For all three questions?"

Harvey glared and Ray beamed. Ray knew that he should have to talk to Donna about this. "So you need any help to figure out what to do next? You could feel even better."

Harvey didn't appreciate the sing-song tone of his driver, but he could use some practical advice. "What do you suggest I do?"

Ray smiled proudly; he felt like Harvey's mentor for love. "Take him out for a meal. Both of you have to eat, right?"

Harvey thought about it. The doctor had given him the same advice. "Fine. I guess I can have lunch with him over work."

"Great! I can tell Donna to make a reservation for tomorrow's lunch. I have to call her anyway."

Harvey looked a little surprised. "I wasn't aware that you two talked on a regular basis."

"We don't. But we do share some common interests, so if something shows up on our radar, we talk."

Harvey would normally pry some more but he was tired. Now that he had a plan, he wanted to go home and sleep like a baby, then have lunch with Mike tomorrow and take things from there.

The next day when Mike followed Harvey into the restaurant, he had to chuckle at the romantic atmosphere. The place was pink for crying out loud.

"It's like we're on a date!"

"I don't know what Donna was thinking."

Harvey frowned and grabbed Mike's wrist as he took a step before pulling back with a groan. It was happening again; his hand wasn't following the orders of his brain.

Mike chuckled harder. "You want to hold hands, Harvey? I think that's only appropriate in a place like this."

"Of course." Harvey answered before correcting himself, "Of course not!"

"I was joking, Harvey. No need to yell." Mike looked at his boss with worried eyes.

"Yeah, I know." Harvey muttered and quickly walked up to the receptionist.

"Good afternoon, sir. Have you made a reservation?"

"Yes. Specter."

The receptionist checked her list and smiled. "Yes, Mr. and Mr. Specter. Please follow me."

"Excuse me…?" Harvey almost stuttered and Mike burst into a fit of laughter.

"Let's go, darling."

Mike playfully winked at him and followed the receptionist while Harvey swore that he would make Donna pay for this. He started walking towards the two when he realized that his eyes were glued on Mike's ass.

'I am not blatantly checking out my own associate! I don't even want to do anything with that ass!'

"We're here, darling." Mike giggled as he slid into the booth.

"Can you stop with all that darling shit?" Harvey snapped and saw the horrified look on the receptionist's face.

Harvey opened his mouth to explain that they weren't married and that they weren't even in a relationship, but the giggles coming from across the table distracted him.

"Quit giggling and no food for you." Harvey used his voice of terror, only to realize shortly that he had used the wrong word. "I meant keep giggling."

"You want me to keep giggling?" Mike now had tears in his eyes.

"No! I meant keep giggling and there will be food for you." What? Harvey couldn't believe this was happening. "I obviously meant keep giggling and there won't be food for you!"

"Ahahaha…" Mike was bent in half, trying to muffle his laughter with his hands.

'Oh Jesus…' Harvey lifted his finger and called the waiter. He needed a strong drink before putting any kind of food in his mouth.

Ten minutes later, Harvey was regretting that he had relied on alcohol to deal with his malfunctioning hand and mouth. He had already come dangerously close to reaching out and stroking Mike's hair, grabbing his hand and peppering it with kisses, and pulling him by the tie and kissing the hell out of him.

"So Mrs. Grey has…"

Harvey just nodded while Mike told him about the case. He couldn't bring himself to care about it when Mike's lips were so red and shiny.

'I do not feel any kind of sexual attraction to him. It's the booze.' Harvey tried to hypnotize himself. He didn't want to become a sexual predator who feasted on young, innocent associates.

"Harvey? Are you listening?"

"Yes."

"Oh really? Then what did I just say?" Mike crossed his arms. If his boss took him out to lunch to talk about work, he should be listening while he talked about work.

"You were saying how nice it was of me to bring you out for lunch." Harvey improvised.

"Smart answer but wrong." Mike took another bite of his lasagna. "But yeah, it's nice of you to bring me here. Thank you. The food is great."

"You're welcome."

Harvey smiled as he watched Mike enjoy his dish. A warm whirl of wind was constantly knocking on his heart and it was getting harder and harder to not open the door.

"You're the best boss I've ever had, Harvey." Mike spoke in a dreamy voice.

Harvey pinched his leg to see if this was one of those vivid daydreams. But Mike was still there after two pinches; he was for real.

"You didn't have many bosses before me."

"That's true, but even if I had a hundred, you'd still be the best."

Harvey couldn't hold onto the door anymore. Mike's sincere smile was affecting him much more than it should.

'Oh no…'

As the door finally flew open, Harvey saw a smug god play a harp in his mind.