Hello guys, apologies for the delay in posting...travel and work got in the way and I couldn't work on this story. There will still be some delay. I am going on a vacation soon and probably wont be able to write something (would still try to take it up). Nonetheless, this chapter has some interesting drama required for dynamics of the characters and their relationship. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Awaiting your reviews.
Chapter:10 Meeting the Dad's
Harvey is on a call talking with one of his friends making plans to play poker tonight, just when he spots Donna waiting for him near his office door.
"See you tonight, Steve", he hangs up the call and puts his phone away.
"Donna".
"Morning Hotshot"
"You know you are the best", he takes the coffee from her hand and walks inside his office, following him inside she knowingly replies,
"I know. Your dad called…. he keeps asking when the fools around here are going to make you a senior partner…. it's so sweet".
"He is right you know…. I have been killing it here".
"Give him a call will you."
He nods and she walks away…. turning around she says, "Today Harvey".
An hour later he decides to call his dad up.
"Dad"
"Harvey…good that you called".
"What's up dad….is everything okay? Are you okay?"
"Yes, everything is okay! I was calling to let you know I am coming to the city for a gig".
"That's amazing Dad…. when? Where are you staying?"
"Tomorrow…and I would really like it if you could come see me".
"Of course, Dad…I would love to see you perform."
"Why don't you bring the girl that you are dating along with you."
"What…how do you know I am seeing someone".
"Son I may be old, but I am still your dad."
Harvey rolls his eyes at his dad's comment, "Okay Dad I will talk to her."
"Good, and Harvey extend the invite to Donna as well. I would love to finally meet her. She sounds like one hell of a women".
"She is Dad" a smile creeping out on his face.
"See you soon Son".
"See you".
It was later in the evening when Harvey walks out to Donna's desk,
"Do you have plans for tonight"?
"Yeah…. I am going out with Rachel Zane; she is a paralegal here.
"The pretty brunette…isn't she Robert Zane's daughter?"
"Yeah…but she doesn't like talking about it…. she is weird and awesome I think we are going to be great friend".
Harvey immediately scrunches his eyebrows at Donna's description of Rachel and decides to change the subject,
"So, I talked to my dad".
"All, okay? He sounded urgent."
"Yeah…. he is coming to the city for a gig tomorrow".
"Oh, that's fantastic".
"He wants you to come along".
"Harvey…. you really think it's a good idea for me to meet him this early on?"
"Donna…. I don't have any experience in this arena but is there really such a thing like a good time to meet someone's parent".
She still didn't feel convinced….so Harvey continued.
"Look he doesn't know that we are together, and he asked me to invite you anyway so if you still feel you don't want me to let him know I won't…. but Donna we are hiding our relationship here, I don't want to keep it hiding from my dad too".
"Okay Harvey, I will come along". She nods in understanding.
"Great I will pick you up at 8 tomorrow".
Next day went with Harvey working with client meetings and Donna filing in his motions and working on writing up his meeting notes and deal points. She decides to leave early and drops a text for Harvey to pick her up from her place.
Harvey recently hired Ray as his driver, it was one week ago when he was driving with him carrying 10,000$ which he forgot in the car when he got dropped for a client meeting, by end of the day Ray tracked him down to return him the package with the cash, and Harvey seeing his honesty decided to hire him on payroll permanently.
He calls Ray and gives him Donna's address. He gets her a bouquet from the nearby florist and takes the elevator to her house. Three knocks on her door, he waits for her to open up and is stunned to see her looking all gorgeous in a black halter neck jump suit. Without her heels on, he had an added advantage over Donna's height and instead of greeting her he continues gaping.
"I know".
"What" he shakes his head coming out of the reverie.
"I look amazing" winking she moves aside to let him come in.
"Yeah…. you do" he hands her the flowers he got.
"Thank you…you know you don't look so bad either", she smirks at him.
Truth be told, Harvey's casual appearance always tucked on to Donna's heart strings. His power suits are what the world sees him, but his laid-back carefree appearance is something that Donna is privy too and that is the kind of Harvey she likes to see, a side of him that she fell for and today was no different.
She moves around the kitchen to fetch out the vase to put in the flowers and Harvey uses that opportunity to pin her from behind, the dress being backless was adding fuel to the fire.
"Harvey…. we will be late".
"My dad will understand". He says in between kisses that he has been peppering across her open back.
"I don't want to re-dress and I definetly don't want to go through setting my hair and makeup".
"Do you have any idea what you do to me" he says eyes dark with desire.
"I do have some idea" she says blushing.
She kisses him once and Harvey tries to sneak in for more, Donna skillfully ducks him
"Let's not start something we can't finish".
"Okay…. then hurry up because if we stay in any longer, I won't be able to stop."
They step out together, get in the car, with Ray driving them through the city to the pub where Gordon was performing.
Harvey steps inside, Donna in tow and immediately spots Gordon near the stage area, he quickly walks towards him.
"Dad"
"Harvey" they hug each other tight. "I am so happy to see you".
Once apart, "Dad…...this is Donna".
"Gordon it's so nice to finally meet you".
"Donna….so nice to meet you too" Gordon steps forward and gives her a friendly hug.
"You are so much more beautiful than I imagined you to be".
She just chuckles…" Now I know where this one gets his charm from" she points at Harvey.
"Well, what can I say…. we Specter men are nothing if not charming" chirped Harvey.
"Wait till you meet Marcus" Gordon winks and Harvey immediately rolls his eyes.
"Oh, come on Dad, between me and Marcus, it's not even a competition". They look at each other and say together "Pussy".
"If I had to choose…. I would definetly go with you Gordon" Donna winks at him.
"I already love you Donna". he puts a hand over his heart.
Donna and Gordon start chuckling, and Harvey shakes his head in mock annoyance.
"Now why don't you two grab a table and I will come to you after my set."
They take a seat at the table in the front row towards the left end…. order themselves Macallan 18. Donna had heard Gordon's music before but hearing him play live was something else altogether.
"He is amazing"
"He sure is" Harvey said proudly.
Once the set was over, Gordon walked over to them, and Harvey quickly ordered another round of drinks for the table.
"She drinks scotch…. you might be the best woman ever". Gordon says looking at Donna.
"You were amazing out there Gordon."
"Yeah dad…that was a great set".
Harvey and Gordon continue talking about baseball, Marcus and a bit more about work.
Donna excuses her to use the restroom and Gordon turns around to Harvey, "So where is your girlfriend."
"Dad".
"Come on Harvey…. I thought it would be a great opportunity to get to meet her".
"But you already did".
"What…. what do you mean" shaking his head Gordon asked confused?
"Donna….and I are in a relationship".
He looks at him…. trying to gauge if Harvey is being honest or not.
"What happened to "I maybe old but I am still your dad" I thought you already knew".
"I am not convinced". He narrows his eyes at his son.
"Okaayyy…. then why don't you ask Donna" right on cue Donna comes back.
"Ask Donna what" she says.
"What is a girl like you doing with a guy like my son?"
"You know…. I keep asking myself the same question". She snickers and Harvey scowls at her.
"Hey…. I am sitting right here", he rolls his eyes at her.
"I wished I would have met you sooner Gordon, and who knows instead of being a legal secretary I could go around touring with you".
"It's not too late". Gordon whispers loudly.
"Okay…. I am still sitting right here". They all end up laughing now.
"I need to go back for my next set…. will catch up with both of you".
Donna scoots in closer to Harvey now…. holding hands, she lays her head on his shoulder listening to the live music and enjoying just spending time like this with him.
They enjoy the music and each other's company whispering sweet nothings while Harvey continues to absentmindedly graze his thumb across back of Donna's hand.
Gordon sees them together and winks at his son from the stage. Once his set ends, he comes back to where they were seated.
"So, what's the plan now Dad".
"Well, the troop is heading to a local bar to get some drinks".
"Okay…. but Dad I would love for you to stay at my place tonight".
"Harvey…. I wouldn't want to intrude".
"You are not intruding…. I am asking".
"Okay son…...just give me the address and I will see you there".
"No, I will just drop Donna back to her place and you let me know once you are done, I will come pick you up."
"Alright then".
"It was lovely meeting you Gordon".
"It was great seeing you too Donna and you let me know if this one doesn't treat you well". He hugs her tight and Harvey rolls his eyes at his dad's comment.
"She is a keeper Harvey" Gordon looks at his son.
"She sure is Dad". Harvey tells winking at Donna.
"Actually, I am the lucky one Gordon" she tells him slightly blushing and Harvey's chest swells in pride. Donna had never been vocal about her feelings in front of him and she said this out loud in front of his dad and that felt even better.
They are riding back to her apartment, holding hands with Donna leaning into Harvey's side when Harvey asks, "Did you really mean what you told my dad?"
"I really did Harvey…. you make me happy".
He just smiles and kisses the side of her head. "You make me really happy too Donna".
Two weeks later, Donna gets a call from her dad, saying he wanted to talk to her about his upcoming project, the details of the project weren't exactly legit and still required a considerable amount of investment.
"Dad, I don't have that kind of money".
"Honey, I am not asking you for your money."
"Harvey"
"Look Donna, he is a budding lawyer, I am sure he has deep pockets and an investment like this with guaranteed returns I am sure he will be definetly interested. Plus, it would be good for me to have a lawyer to check the deal as well."
"I am not sure asking Harvey for an investment is a good idea Dad".
"If you ask him, he will most likely say yes, just think about it".
"Okay Dad, I will let you know".
Thinking about how, this would be a good opportunity for Harvey and her dad to bond she decides to reach out to Harvey about this.
"Harvey, I need to ask you to do something".
"Of course, Donna I would do anything for you".
"Oh well it isn't for me it's for my father…he wanted to know if you would consider investing in his real estate Project", she keeps the file with all the project details on his desk.
"Sorry I can't do that."
"You just said you would do anything for me."
"I meant I will consider anything, and I just did."
"You haven't even looked at it."
"I don't need to…you are family to me; he is family to you, and you don't invest money with family".
"That's not what you said when Marcus asked for money for his restaurant", she annoyingly states.
"That's different"
"Why"
"Because Marcus actually knew what the hell he was doing".
"You know what Harvey…. if you don't wanna invest don't invest but I don't want a lecture from you as to what a bad businessman my father is" she gets up from the chair to leave the office.
"Yes, you do."
"Oh, really and why is that" she sneers at him.
"Because if I know you…. you are thinking of giving him the access to your 401K."
"So, what if I am." she challenges him.
"Donna this man lost your family once, you are going to give him a chance to do that again" he barks back.
"Harvey…...this man is my father, and he has been there for my whole life, and I shared my family history with you not for you to throw it back on my face", she starts to choke up.
"Donna"
"Look I know what happened with you and your mother, but don't you judge him for what she did to you"?
"How dare you…. this has got nothing to do with that, and now who is throwing family history back…. you have a blind spot when it comes to him, and I am trying to protect you".
"Well, you are not…. you are just being an asshole! And for your information keeping me from helping my father isn't protecting me its pissing me the hell off" she storms out of his office
He picks up the folder and reads through the deal, proving his suspicions, he decides to go and talk to Donna's dad directly.
Next morning he walks into the club where Jim plays golf.
"Nice club".
"Are you new here?"
"I am just visiting not much of a golfer."
"Unfortunately, neither am I, I come here only for formalizing deals with investors".
"Harvey Specter".
"James Paulsen" he puts his hand out to firmly shake his hands." I assume this is about the opportunity Donna talked to you about".
"It would be an opportunity, but the numbers don't add up".
"What are you talking about, Donna told me that you are the type of guy who is willing to take risks".
"I am but not if they put people I care about in jeopardy, which is why I am here to tell you when Donna offers you access to her 401K you are gonna tell her you don't need it anymore".
"No offense, Mr. Specter, what my daughter does with her money is none of your business."
"It became my business, when Donna couldn't read the bullshit, you tried to dish out, look I care about her and when this deal falls off, I don't want her to go down with you".
"It's not bullshit."
"Yes, it is, I looked at the deal. There is no way you're getting that kind of money with history like yours. You wont get the money without pulling in some shady shit".
"Inflating my assets to get a loan isn't shady, it's what happens in real estate businesses."
"It's what everybody thinks, which is why I am telling you, If you involve Donna in this deal so help me God, I will pull every string I have to shut down this deal".
"All I am trying to do is make my way" shoulder slumped he deflatingly says.
"Do whatever you want to do…..just don't involve Donna".
"You act like I don't love my own Daughter".
"People who love other people don't put them in a position to break the law".
When he reaches his office, Donna is already waiting for him in his office.
"What did you do".
"Donna"
"I just got off the phone with my dad, he told me you went to see him and said you won't invest and when I offered him my money, he said he doesn't need it anymore".
Jutting his jaw, he looks at her" All I told him was, he should try to figure out a way to find the money legitimately".
"Harvey" she dishearteningly shakes her head.
"Donna, you have always trusted me….and now I am asking you to trust me again. I am telling you, stay away from this deal".
"You had no right".
"I have every right; I can't put you at risk knowing what could happen if the deal goes south".
"This is my father Harvey", she chokes on her words.
"And you are the woman I love."
She gapes at him; this was the first time the word "love" came out of Harvey's mouth and never in a million years did Donna think that he would express it in such a way. But the situation is such that the word didn't make her feel the way it was supposed to.
"Please don't make me choose between him and you."
"I am not asking you to choose Donna, I am just helping you out to think straight".
She turns around to leave…" Where are you going now".
"I need some time to think clearly".
It was later in the evening, when Donna calls her dad again to let him know, that he can have her money and that Harvey was on board as well.
"Honey, its late….is everything okay."
"Hi Dad…...yes everything is fine, I just wanted to talk to you."
"What is it sweetie" he asks concerned hearing Donna's low voice.
"I wanted to give you access to my money, I discussed it with Harvey, and he is okay with it."
"Donna, I am happy to know you want to help, but trust me, Harvey was right I went to the bank today and I think my request for the loan will get through. I won't need your money".
"Oh, Dad that's fantastic", she said with a heavy voice.
"Honey are you okay?" usually Donna can read through his lies immediately, but today she didn't ask him details or how he managed to get through.
"I am dad…. I will talk to you soon! Good night"
"Goodnight Donna"
Seeing the state in which Donna is, He decides to give a call to Harvey.
"This is Harvey Specter"
"Mr. Specter, this is Jim Paulsen."
"What is it now Jim, do you want my firm to invest in your project now".
"Waao…...aren't you one hell of an arrogant bastard."
"What do you want James."
"I called you to let you know…. After you threatened me, I told Donna I don't need her money and I know you don't respect me…. but the least you could do is respect my daughter".
"I don't need a lecture from you on how I need to behave with Donna, she is family to me, and I care about her".
"Let me put this in words that your arrogant head will understand, you better start treating my daughter right and now onwards you stay the hell away from me and my business".
After Jim hung up, Harvey tries calling Donna, but the call went straight to voice mail. So, he decides to drop her a text.
"Donna don't shut me out. Talk to me. What is bothering you now?"
Her reply was immediate,
"I need more time to process everything Harvey. See you tomorrow, Goodnight."
Harvey goes to bed thinking another night, where they ended up being on odds instead of being wrapped around each other. This relationship as happy as it makes him, is turning to be much more consuming and requires working than he hadn't anticipated, and he decides that he needs to talk to Donna about it.
Donna on the other hand kept thinking about the encounter she had with Gordon and the interaction Harvey had with her father, the vast difference in both the meetings creates an unease that makes her feel this relationship is much difficult and there is a hard road forward, Tomorrow she will talk with Harvey to sort all this mess out.
