"This is your building?" Carrie says, in disbelief, "It's so… oh my gosh."
"I felt that way when I first moved in too. I was in complete awe."
"I don't blame you, this is beautiful!"
They get off the elevator and start walking towards Julianne's apartment. Roll all the way down roll down to one of the page
"Oh my! Your apartment!" Standing in the center of the living room, Carrie takes the whole apartment in.
Julianne is very proud of herself of what she has been able to accomplish for herself. New York has been good to her.
"Thank you. Make yourself comfortable. I wish I had a spare room for you, but my bed is plenty big, we can share."
"It's fine. We can make it, like, a slumber party. It'll be fun!" Carrie just walks in and out of the rooms, "I just love New York! It's fantastic! I'll have to come with Kyle sometime."
Shouting from the kitchen Julianne responds, "It is pretty great. Kyle will like it, you two should definitely come and visit me sometime! Want anything to drink?"
"Um…" now in the kitchen, Carrie looks around. Julianne's pouring herself a glass of wine. "Can I look in the fridge?"
"Please! Help yourself."
"I guess, water?"
Julianne suddenly remember, Carrie doesn't drink coffee, tea, soda, or any alcohol.
"I'm sorry, I finished my juice this morning. I haven't had much time to shop. Tomorrow, we'll go."
Carrie smiles, "Okay, it's fine though, really."
Julianne has always admired Carrie for sticking true to her religion. Carrie is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Growing up, Julianne new many Mormon's, but none abide by the "rules" of the church like Carrie does.
"Harvey still comin'?"
Glancing at the clock, 9:00pm, "he should be off soon, so yeah."
"I'm excited to meet him!"
Julianne smiles, "I'm fond of him, I hope you are, too!"
"I'm sure of it, I mean come on he punched Greg!" Julianne smiles at the thought.
"I couldn't believe he would do such a thing, but he is… protective, I guess."
With her water in hand, Carrie follows Julianne into the living room.
"Okay, I can't lie to you Annie."
Julianne takes another sip of her wine, bracing herself for what is about to come.
"Your mom has put me to work while I am here."
"Uh-oh, doing what?" Julianne isn't completely shocked that her mother wants Carrie to do some snooping around, but what could she possibly want to know that she hasn't already share with her?
Carrie looks down; she's embarrassed to admit it. "I am supposed to inquire details on your and Harvey's relationship. Your mom is… upset. Upset because you haven't told her much about the two of you. I guess. I guess you told her everything about you and Greg."
Julianne sits, speechless. After taking everything in, she feels she is finally able to respond. "Okay," she begins, while setting her wine glass down on the coffee table. "Ask me anything and everything. I'll tell you the truth." Carrie smiles, "But when Harvey gets here, it's done, okay?"
"Okay! Mainly, she wants to know if you two are official. You know boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Yes and no. We are together. Only dating each other, no one else, but we aren't labeled."
"Does Harvey stay the night here, a lot?"
Julianne can tell Carrie was uncomfortable asking this question.
"Yes." Julianne leaves it at that.
"Is there a future with the two of you?"
"I…" Julianne stops. How does she answer this? It's clear Harvey isn't the type to settle and marry, but she is. That can, will, pose a problem eventually.
"At this point, we aren't putting any stress on your futures. We are just enjoying ourselves, now."
Carrie smiles, "I'm done with your mother's questions, but can I ask one of my own?"
"Please." Julianne figures it can't be any worse than the ones her mom wanted to know.
"Doesn't it hurt you that you two aren't labeled? Because I'd hate not being able to tell someone Kyle was my fiancé."
Julianne picks her wine glass up and finishes what is left in the glass. Maybe this can be worse than the questions my mother asked. How can I answer this in a way she'd understand?
"It's hard to-"
"I can imagine it would be."
"No, not the situation, the answer." Carrie sits in silence.
The only place to start is from the beginning.
"When I finished law school, I was in a good place, mentally. My mind was, somewhat, clear of all the crap I endured before I left home. I was happy again. Then, I had to come back for that short time, seeing Greg and Amy at Gam Gam's birthday party damn near killed me. I went back to the same place I was before I left."
"Which was?" Carrie asks she is now completely engulfed into this story.
"A state of depression, I guess. For 8 years I had pride myself in being Greg's girlfriend. I had made him my everything. I couldn't wait to become his fiancé, then his wife." Getting more settled on her sofa, she shifts and folds her legs underneath her, before continuing on. "As you can tell, that never happened. 8 years gone. In the 8 years we were together we never just enjoyed each other. We were always out with people, attached at the hip. Always throwing 'this is my boyfriend…' or 'meet my girlfriend…' around. We were too busy showing off. At the time though, I loved it. But it's because I didn't know any better."
Carrie remains silent, taking in every word that is being said.
"The thing about Harvey and I is that we aren't concerned with what other people think. We focus on each other, nothing else. When we first started dating no one knew about us, we were able to just be. And that was nice for me, having come from a relationship where all we did is throw our relationship around. It's not like that with Harvey though we didn't have to concern ourselves with other people we only had us to worry about."
Taking a moment to collect her thoughts; Julianne goes into the kitchen and refills her wine glass. Before going on, she takes a sip.
"Little by little people learned about us, and that didn't change anything. Mainly, because we didn't let it change. We are together, for us, nobody else. Labels don't show the other person how you feel about them, spending time with them, investing in them shows them you care. Now, don't get me wrong, eventually I'll want to get married, and I'll want that title of 'wife,' but for now, I am perfectly content in being title-less, as long as it's with Harvey."
"That's really sweet, I'm glad you feel that way. But, what if Harvey never wants to let you have that title of being his wife?"
Julianne has always known that was a possibility, but she has never wanted to think about it.
"I think we are proof enough that things are constantly changing. When we started dating he told me he doesn't do commitment. I wasn't looking for it at the time, either, so it was okay." Stopping to sip some wine, "but sure enough, we got to a point where we became committed. In time, I hope he warms up to the idea of being together forever. If a time comes where I see us not having a future, then we'll part. But I'll worry about that if it ever happens. I'm not sure that it ever will."
"Wow. Okay, I had no idea you felt all this. I am sorry if you thought I was insinuating..."
Julianne stops Carrie there, "please, don't apologize, its okay. Harvey and I are different than most couples. We play by a completely different set of rules."
A silence falls among them, but that is short lived. The door bell rings, breaking the silence.
Julianne has a big smile when she opens the door, "Hey Harv."
He takes a step towards her, placing his right hand on the small of her back and kisses her tenderly on the cheek.
"I thought you would surely be in pajamas by now." Harvey teases.
"Carrie and I have been too busy talking. Haven't had time, thank you very much."
Harvey steps into the apartment and walks over to Carrie. As Harvey approaches Carrie, Carrie cannot help but get tongue tied and nervous. He is far more attractive than the Google images let on. She's amazed at how polished he looks at 9:30pm. His smile is very charming, everything about him is. No wonder Julianne fell for him. It makes sense.
"Hi, I'm Harvey Specter." He says, extending out his hand.
Carrie stands up, she suddenly feels extremely short, "Hello, I'm Carrie McDowell."
"How was the flight in?"
Still in a trance by his movie star good looks, Carrie doesn't hear his questions. Snapping herself out of it, "I'm sorry, what?"
"How was your flight?"
"Great, thanks."
Harvey steps back and looks at Julianne then back at Carrie.
"If you two would please excuse me, I'd like to change out of this suit."
Julianne simply smiles and nods at Harvey. When Harvey leaves the room, Carrie looks at Julianne and mouths, OH. MY. GOSH. Julianne can only smile.
Harvey walks back into the living room in his blue plaid Ralph Lauren pajama pants and black t-shit. His hair is no longer slicked back; he must have run a brush or his fingers, through his hair. Even in his pajamas Carrie notices how he still manages to come across completely put together.
Taking a seat next to Julianne, Harvey breathes deeply.
"How was work?" Carrie asks, picking up the deep breathing.
Looking at Julianne, "Did you tell her what happened today?"
"I completely forgot!" Julianne takes a few minutes to fill Carrie in on the drama with Louis; starting with the kiss from Harvey in front of all the associates, all the way to the conversation in Jessica's office.
"With all that having happened," Julianne concludes, "I can't imagine the mess you went back to, I'm so sorry." Harvey places his hand on Julianne's knee.
"It was worth it all, trust me. Mike says all the associates are laughing at Louis. Louis is now more aware of the fact that people hate him, thanks to you."
Julianne throws his face into the palm of her hands. "I feel so bad, I said that to him, I-"
"Don't you feel bad, Louis doesn't feel bad about any of the things he said to you. So don't give a shit about him."
Almost forgetting Carrie is there, Harvey turns and faces her. "Work was lively after that. A lot of meetings were held and a few changes were made."
Julianne is puzzled, "what changes?"
"Hon, don't worry right now about it. Jessica will call you tomorrow."
Even though Harvey said to not worry about it, Julianne cannot help but do anything but worry.