The sun is starting to shine over the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The office is empty except for the two associates Donna saw on the way to her cubicle. She was up way too early for a Tuesday morning. With nothing else to do, she decided to get ready and go to work earlier than usual.
She purses her lips on the lid of her cup while admiring the skyline and listening to the faint, bustling city noise along the streets. Mind is nowhere near the four corners of her boss' office.
"Morning."
"Jesus Christ!" She jumps, almost spilling the hot drink, surprised to hear the familiar low and husky voice she heard when she woke up. She and Harvey were on the phone earlier, and she informed him that he doesn't have anything scheduled until 9, implying that he can take his time with his morning meeting if he has one.
She refused to ask if he did, but that's where her thoughts were when Harvey decided to show up, startling her.
"What are you doing here?"
"I work here." He replies matter-of-factly as he drops his briefcase and the morning newspaper on the desk.
She gives him a deadpan stare for the sarcasm, and he flashes his million-dollar smile as he makes his way towards the shelf full of his record collection.
"You didn't have to come in this early." She says, leaning against the window ledge decorated by his meticulously lined ball collection.
He shrugs with his back facing her as his fingers run through the neatly stacked records on the shelf. He fishes out two and holds one in each hand.
He doesn't have to say it, she looks back and forth between the two albums and does the actual choosing. "The one on your right."
"Excellent choice!"
"Yeah well, they're both your choices. You just wanted me to pick because you can't make up your mind."
A deep chuckle comes out of his throat because she's right.
After putting the record on, he grabs the coffee from the desk courtesy of Donna. She took a chance when she ordered two cups instead of one because she didn't know if Harvey would come in early.
He joins her by the window, standing a few inches from where she's sitting. He tilts the cup, gently clinking it with the one in her hand, and mutters a genuine thank you.
"You're welcome." She peers up, and he's still looking at her with a shy smile. And there they are, sucked into their bubble, heart, and eyes talking without talking.
He's the one to look away first, breaking their gaze, pretending to be engrossed by the same dull view of the skyscrapers he sees every morning.
As if on cue, they both take a sip simultaneously.
Then he coughs, almost spitting the beverage out, "Donna, what the hell is this?!" He frowned as he swirled the cup to see what ingredients were written on the side.
"What do you mean?"
"6 sugars. And it says Jane here." He says with distaste.
"Oh shoot!" She slams a palm on her forehead. "The other lady must've grabbed my other cup by mistake. I didn't even realize." She grins sheepishly and apologizes.
"I'm taking the thank you back." He pouts like a kid, discarding the cup of sweet coffee to the bin.
"So dramatic." She rolls her eyes and offers her cup. "Here."
He takes the cup from her fingers, and the contact gives him a buzz, jolting his senses awake. A warm fuzzy feeling he has yet to unlock the meaning of but consistently disregards.
"So much better."
"Duh!" She grabs the beverage back and makes her way to the couch.
Shortly after grabbing the morning newspaper, Harvey flops down on the vacant space beside Donna, flipping through the pages to give her the entertainment section.
The melodic jazz fills the silent atmosphere as they skim through the paper in their hands. They're at peace just by simply sitting beside each other, exchanging interesting information they find while sharing one good cup of coffee.
"The New York Knicks lost by one." He shares another article, shaking his head. He takes a sip and passes the cup to her.
"I'm not worried it's just the first game." She comments, taking the cup from him. She has started to care about basketball because of him. And baseball, and boxing, and the many other sports he'd blabbed about.
"According to critics, the new Broadway show sucks." She shares her disappointment with the article she just read.
"And according to you?" He genuinely asks. She'd been excited about the new show for weeks, so he started caring about it. Though unlike her, he's more subtle in showing he cares.
"I wouldn't know." She replies, face hidden between the pages. "I didn't go."
He drops the paper on his lap and shoots her a confused look. "But you left work early yesterday."
He knows she's been seeing someone for the past two weeks. Last night was supposedly a date with Troy? Trey? Taylor? He can't even remember the guy's name. Or that he refused to acknowledge whoever it is she's dating.
A date entailed a fancy dinner after the new Broadway show was the reason she left early yesterday. He's delighted for her, yet he's bothered like there's an annoying splinter he can't remove, no matter how hard he tries.
"I decided to go home after dinner." She replies without throwing him a look.
"Oh," is the only reply he could utter. Unsure what to ask without looking like he's actively prying for information about what happened with her date. Then, his mind caught on to her choice of words, I instead of we decided to go home after dinner.
He's staring blankly ahead when he feels a slight movement on the couch. Donna stood up and is now making her way towards her cubicle.
She stops by the doorframe. "Keep the coffee."
"Donna," he calls before she entirely leaves his office. "Are you okay?" He asks, voice dropping an octave as he holds her gaze.
The concern is evident in his eyes, and he wants her to see it. To show her he cares about her. That's the thing about her; he never has to put up a facade of who he is. And even if he does at times, Donna always knows. She can read him so well, like the back of her hand.
She sniffs as she straightens her dress, but before she can answer, a powerful click and clacking of heels struts inside Harvey's office.
"Harvey, good you're already here. I need you." Jessica Pearson joins them in the office. Donna exchanges pleasantries with the managing partner and excuses herself as she knows to leave the two lawyers alone.
Jessica's asking Harvey a favour to put out fires. What was supposed to be an easy day has suddenly become the opposite. It'll be one hell of a day for him.
"Meet me in the lobby in 10 minutes," Jessica tells him after briefing him on what needs to be done.
"I can go right now."
"I'm giving you time to actually look at yourself in the mirror." The managing partner crosses her arms against her chest and smirks.
"Oh, I already know how good I look." He leans back on the couch, crossing one leg over the other, and wears a confident smug on his face.
Jessica raises a brow at him.
"What?" He frowned when he sensed that she was serious. "Is there something on my face?" He swipes his fingers on his cheek and lips and sees the pink stain on his fingers. Donna's lipstick from the cup.
"We didn't... it's not what you think." Donna heard Harvey say to Jessica through the intercom and could feel his gaze from her peripheral vision. She pretends to be busy, eyes glued to the computer screen.
"None of my business," Jessica raises both her palms up. "And I didn't even imply it was with her." She snickers before walking out the door.
He cleans up and asks Donna to cancel his whole day and reschedule any meetings before heading to the lobby. The lipstick matter is just swept under the rug along with the pile of things they don't talk about when it comes to them.
Not that they actually kissed.
A little while later, Mike arrives and stops at Donna's desk, but his eyes are on his boss's empty office.
"He's not here, and he'll probably be out for the rest of the day," Donna says her speech without throwing a glance at the young man.
"I know," Mike says, as he leans over the ledge of her cubicle, placing a steaming cup of coffee carefully on top.
"Oh, what do you need?" She groans when she sees the white cup with a brown sleeve. Coffee with skim milk and topped with whipped cream, her go-to coffee when she wants to treat herself is also one of the many forms of bribery people offer her in exchange for little favours or when they want to apologize.
"Oh, that's not from me. It's from Harvey, he told me to get it for you."
A smile creeps up her face as she reaches for the cup, but Mike snags it away from the ledge, out of her reach. "What did he do to you?"
"What?" She asks, genuinely dumbfounded by the associate's question.
"This cup is either an I have a favour to ask or sorry for what I did because I'm an asshole, and we both know it's not the former, so…"
She raises a brow and leans forward, finally grabbing the cup. "It's none of the above."
Only she and Harvey know what it means. It's one of his ways of comforting her.
Mike's gaze stays on her as she tries the drink. "And I can kick his ass if he did something, you know." She reassures Mike that she's okay. She appreciates the young man's concern and protectiveness over her.
Rachel's lucky to have him, she thought.
Mike drums his fingers on the ledge, not thoroughly convinced, but figures to leave it alone for now. He's still trying to fully grasp Harvey and Donna's work dynamic. "Alright then. Have a good day, Debbie."
Confused, she looks at the cup and sees the name on the sleeve, Debbie. Before she can ask, Mike has already walked away.
She snorts. Harvey must've asked Mike to write the name.
She composes a quick text for Harvey. You sure this is for me?
You're the only Debbie I know.
Debbie says thank you.
You're welcome.
Aren't you at a meeting?
Client is late. The reply is sent with not one but five rolling eyes emojis.
Harvey Specter finally figured out the emojis.
Yup. Harvey sends a bunch of different emojis with it. He fiddled with his phone, and it took him almost half an hour to remember what Donna had taught him. He tried, knowing it would make her smile. He also sends one to Jessica, who's sitting beside him, to pass the time.
She smiles and chooses not to reply anymore to continue her day. She has clients to call and reschedule.
A minute passed, and she heard her phone beep again.
How's work? Another text from Harvey.
Work? That's how bored you are?
I'm giving this client five more minutes, and I'm walking out of here.
But you can't because we need that client, and Jessica's there with you.
Stating the obvious. You're annoying.
Leave me alone so I can focus on 'work'. I don't want my boss to get mad at me. Unbeknownst to her, there's a smile on her face as she types on her phone.
Lucky for you, he's not there. But it's the total opposite. She actually likes him around as long as he's not being a pain in the ass— she doesn't admit that.
You got that right.
And she gets a screen full of rolling eyes emoji.
I now regret teaching you how to use those.
Alright, gotta go. And he sends a blushing smiley emoji with it. Her heart rate suddenly spikes and finds herself blushing too. She stares at the message far too long but quickly brushes it off. Knowing him, he probably doesn't mean anything by it.
It's nearing 8 in the evening when Harvey returns to the firm, exhausted from dealing with one client after another trying to fix a mess. The last meal he ate was a bagel, which he grabbed on the way out with Jessica that morning. All he wants now is a bottle of scotch and the comfort of his apartment.
"What are you still doing here?" He asks his secretary, who's still working at her desk.
Ignoring his question, she throws one of her own. "What happened?"
He loosens the tie and discards his blazer and vest. Two fingers of scotch splash down the tumbler. He takes a swig before answering Donna's question.
"Jack Soloff." He didn't have to say much after that. Donna knows what it means.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Donna, why don't you go home? You've been here earlier than most employees who have gone home for the day." He sank on the couch and rolled up each sleeve on his arms, ready to dive into each file folder he brought.
"I could say the same to you." She fires back as she sits across from him, stealing his tumbler for a sip.
He shakes his head at her stubbornness. He knows she's not leaving him, partly because she wants to be of help but also to distract herself from her unsuccessful date. He can read her just as much as she does.
He couldn't help but wonder who ended it and why, but he didn't ask. Instead, he gives her what she needs now— a distraction. More than that, he gave her a brief escape— a breather, without knowing.
The folder reaches her hand. "Highlight Jenkins and Reid. I'll need it for tomorrow."
Stacks of blue folders are now resting on the coffee table, accompanied by a newly poured scotch, thanks to Harvey.
"Before you do that, order us something to eat. I'm famished."
"Are you in for sushi?"
He already knew what she was going to suggest — her comfort food. Most people would think it's the shitty Thai she loves the most. But in times like this, when she's really down, he knows she'll want sushi. Plus edamame, loads of it. He had playfully teased her about it, only to love it like she does. Truth be told, he secretly loves that he's the only one to know about Donna's comfort food. Even Rachel believes it's the shitty Thai.
"As long as it's not the one from Bleeker." A new restaurant Donna was so excited to try a couple of months ago because of the glamorous reviews. They ended up not going to work the next day because of a stomach bug. He didn't let Donna choose where to order food for a month after that disaster.
"Oh just give it a rest already." She says, rolling her eyes, phone balancing between her ear and shoulder as she calls a Japanese restaurant.
He indulges her with work talk for the rest of the night, re-hashing what he did the whole day to keep her mind out of her failed date.
"Take the morning off Donna."
"Thank you, Harvey." And they both know it's not because she worked overtime that day.
"What are you doing here?" She stops in her tracks when she sees Harvey leaning against the black Lexus outside of her apartment.
"What are you dressed for so early in the morning?" He asks without moving from his spot.
She exhales. She wasn't planning on skipping work that morning, not wanting to wallow inside her apartment.
Stubbornness is really one trait they share. Thankfully, he knows it.
"We're having breakfast at Nougatine's."
She looks at him wide-eyed, like he said they just won the lottery.
"Harvey, you don't have to do this."
"Let's go before we miss our reservation." He opens the back door for her and goes in after her.
They get to the firm around eleven. Each takes their respective seat. He winks at her, and they go on with their day.
It's business as usual.
And he does all this because he cares about her with every bone in his body. So does she.