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Donna maintained an iron curtain between work and her personal life. Her job, and Harvey, and the firm were so all consuming that if she didn’t keep a strict work life divide the one was bound to take over the other. And she liked her life.
She liked her Yoga classes, she liked her dinners with her old school friends, she liked Sunday lunches with her nieces and nephews, and she liked lazy evenings at home with an old movie. And no one from Pearson Hardman had any business in that part of her life.
There were only three people from Pearson Hardman that had her personal cell number. And that was only because she trusted each one of them explicitly and knew that they respected her and that unspoken divide that should never be crossed.
So, when her personal cell lit up and started vibrating across her bedside in the darkest hour of the night, she was awake instantly. Because who would be calling her at that hour? Her heartrate spiked and she forced herself not to assume the worst before she grabbed for the phone.
She didn’t recognise the number, which didn’t help her panic.
“Hello?” she asked into the receiver, forcing her voice into the authoritarian role of Donna Paulson, Legal Secretary Extraordinaire.
“Donna.”
The voice on the other end was rough and weary and punctuated with a grating cough at the end, but she would recognise that voice anywhere.
“Mike?” she asked worriedly, already pulling herself out of bed.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m sorry for calling but…” he paused. “I didn’t have anyone else.”
Not ‘I didn’t know who else to call’, not ‘you are the only one who can help with this’, but an explicit ‘there is literally no one else I can call’. Oh kid, she thought as she pulled on a pair of yoga leggings underneath her sleep shirt. But pity wasn’t what he needed to hear from her right now.
“What’s wrong Mike?”
“I… there was a fire… my apartment. Everything’s gone.”
“Are you OK?” Because the kid didn’t sound OK.
“Yeah,” he said, but it was broken halfway with a cough, so Donna didn’t buy it. “Just some smoke inhalation. The doctors said I can go but… they won’t let me go on my own. Said someone needs to watch me. Make sure I don’t choke to death or something.”
He laughed brokenly down the phone, but Donna didn’t find anything about this situation remotely amusing.
“Just tell me which hospital and I’ll be there.”
“Donna…”
“I’m already leaving so either you tell me or I’ll be forced to call every single-“
“Presbyterian,” Mike interrupted.
“See now that wasn’t so hard was it,” she said with a satisfied smile. Really the kid was too easy to carrel into compliance. “I’ll be there soon.”
She was about to hang up and flag down a cab but a weak calling of her name down the line had her pressing the phone to her ear once more.
“Just…” Mike sighed, seemingly trying to decide what to say. “Thank you, Donna.”
-
She was ushering back through her door less than two hours later with a pale and ash-stained Mike Ross in tow. He was compliant and docile in a way that scared her a little bit.
With a gentle hand to his elbow, careful of the bandaged burn wound on his shoulder, she moved Mike through the apartment to her sofa. He was dressed in crisp green scrubs from the hospital. He had been wearing them when she picked him up. She hadn’t asked yet what happened to his clothes.
“Now you just lay here. Get some sleep,” she instructed, pushing him gently until his knees gave way and he dropped back onto the cushions. “I’ll call Jessica in the morning to tell her you’re not coming in.”
That managed to get a spark of something from him. Mike looked up quickly, his blue eyes wide and red rimmed.
“No! No, I have to go in. I have to finish the Henderson Brief.”
“Mike…”
“Argh,” he groaned in realisation, his eyes closing. “I have court in the morning with Louis.”
“If you tell him what happened I’m sure he would understand.”
“You know as well as I do that he won’t.”
Donna could see the moment Mike had a thought. His head lifted off the back of the coach and he looked down at himself and his green scrubs. A humourless laugh escaped his lips and Donna saw fresh tears crowd into his eyes.
“What is it?” she asked patiently.
“I don’t have a suit.”
Tears threatened the back of Donna’s eyes and she grit her jaw against them. There wasn’t time for that right now. Instead, she grabbed the blanket off the back of the armchair and draped it over Mike’s body, pushing slightly on his chest to get him to lay down.
“I have one of Harvey’s spare suits here that I picked up from the dry cleaners,” she said, concentrating on tucking the corners of the blanket into the sofa cushions. “You can wear that tomorrow. I’ll schedule an appointment with Rene for the afternoon after your conference call with Weller.”
“Donna.” Mike’s soft words and a hand grabbing her wrist made her pause. She looked up and was faced with Mike’s large blue eyes looking at her with unconcealed gratitude. “Thank you,” he said earnestly, giving her wrist a squeeze.
She retrieved her hand, replacing it on Mike’s forehead brushing the hair tenderly off his face. “Just sleep Mike. Nothing that’s gone is irreplaceable.”
-
The next morning Mike was dressed in a suit a little too big with eyes a little too tired and an awkward set to his shoulders where a fresh bandage lay beneath. But Donna knew there would be nothing she could say to dissuade him from going to work. So she watched as he downed his cup of coffee and sent her a small smile before he hustled out the door.
She got to the office just before Harvey, opening his office and setting up her desk.
He blew in like a storm cloud just after nine, but that was pretty normal for the past few weeks since the merger with Darby… since Harvey had sent Scottie back to London.
At lunch Harvey blew back out again, some terse instruction about ‘briefs’ and ‘Kyle’ muttered at her as he walked past, phone in hand. Donna waited until she was sure he would have cleared the lobby before she left too.
Call it morbid curiosity, call it nosiness but Donna hailed a cab and gave the driver Mike’s address.
Or… Mike’s old address.
The cab pulled up on the corner, slowing at the roadblock still in place ahead. With eyes stuck on the building in front of her Donna swiftly paid the man and jumped out.
It was worse than she had imagined.
The entire block was blackened with soot, smoke still eked out of each open window, all of which were broken and gone. Looking at the building now it was inconceivable that it was full of living souls not 24 hours ago. Now it was a smoking tower of bricks.
Yellow tape covered the open doorway to the building, cutting off access and standing out starkly against the blackened bricks.
Donna looked up at the derelict building and wondered how anyone could have gotten out of there alive. She had a sudden image of Mike alone in his room, sleeping, waking with smoke clogging his lungs, coughing, trying to find his way blindly to the door through the smoke.
Her own throat closed up just thinking about it.
“Hey lady,” a voice called from her side. Donna blinked away from the building and saw a short Hispanic woman stood next to her, looking up at her worriedly. “You alright?”
“Yes, sorry,” Donna muttered, shaking her head clear. “My friend lived here. I couldn’t believe it when he told me… Do you know if there were any causalities?”
“Nah. Thank Christ. A goddam miracle if you ask me.”
“I came to see if I could get any of his things but…” Donna trailed off looking at the ruined building. None of Mike’s things would have survived that fire.
“Yeah there’s a lotta people feeling that this morning. Thank god my sister lives on the next block with a spare room. Did your friend find somewhere to stay?”
“Mike stayed with me last night.”
“Mikey?” the woman said quickly, her eyes darting to Donna and staying there.
“You know him?”
“He was in apartment 2B. He helped Miss Waterford out of the building. She’s old and has trouble. He wouldn’t leave until everyone was out.”
Donna couldn’t help but smile at that. “Sounds like Mike.”
The woman looked at her worriedly. “Is he OK? They took him away in an ambulance.”
“He’s fine. Just…” Donna trailed off looking back up to the building. “Everything’s gone.”
Donna tried to imagine what she would do if one day she woke up and everything she owned was gone. Her clothes, her photos, her books, her home. She would call her dad. He would insist she come home. But Mike… he had no family. Donna knew enough to know that Harvey was the only thing close to family Mike had left. And since the merger he didn’t even have that. Who did Mike have now?
A hand on her arm pulled Donna from her thoughts and she looked down to see the woman looking up at her kindly. “Nothing’s gone that’s irreplaceable though.”
“Right,” Donna smiled.
-
She got back to the office in good time and slotted neatly back into her desk, turning the computer on and already organising the paper memos that had piled up on her desk during her absence. She could feel Harvey’s eyes on her through the glass walls of his office but she didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking up.
If he wanted to know where she had gone, he could ask.
-
There were only so many spare suits of Harvey’s that Donna could lend out. And with all Mike’s worldly possessions now ash, there was little choice but to partake in a little bit of shopping.
If Donna also picked up a few new things for herself throughout the afternoon, well… she was very resourceful with her time.
With Mike only having a short window between meetings they had to be efficient. But Donna could do efficient.
“Are you really making me go in there?” Mike asked as their taxi dropped them off outside the clear glass front of Denault & Bray. Donna finished paying the driver and shot Mike a look.
“You spend half your days in a courthouse full of judges and criminals. And you are scared of a tailor?”
“You weren’t there when I came here last time,” Mike started, jogging to catch up when Donna started marching towards the door. “It was like that scene from Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts goes into that high end store and the bitchy store attendant makes her cry.”
Donna paused with her hand on the door. “Are you the hooker in this analogy?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Donna gallantly held the door open and ushered Mike in ahead of them. As always the shop was empty save for Rene and his assistant. In Mike’s defence, the look Rene sent him before he caught sight of Donna was as close to a sneer as the man ever got. But it cleared instantly when he noticed her pulling the door shut behind them.
“Ms Paulson. A pleasure. I was expecting you with Harvey…”
“Rene,” she murmured, accepting his buss to the cheek. “This is Mike Ross.” She gestured to the man hovering awkwardly behind her. “He is in need of a full new wardrobe, and I could think of no better place to bring him.”
“Quite,” the man said, his mouth pursing like it had tasted something sour. He looked at Mike over Donna’s shoulder and ran a seasoned eye up and down his form. “Marie!” he called, waiting for his assistant to come up beside him. “Take Mr Ross to the back. I want every inch of him measured.”
Donna heard Mike’s deep breath as he walked past her, accompanied by his false stiletto voice; “I have to go shopping now.”
Donna hid her smirk behind cough. Just because movie quotes were a Mike and Harvey thing didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a well-placed pretty woman reference.
-
Measurements were taken and samples checked. Mike and Donna were left to peruse the shirts while Rene pulled some pieces together Mike could take home today.
“How much longer is this going to take?” Mike asked, glancing at the doorway where Rene had disappeared a few moments ago.
“It wouldn’t have taken so long if you hadn’t been such a girl about getting measured.”
“She was putting that tape measure in places that tape measures were not meant to go.”
Donna just sent him a look and went back to the rails.
Mike huffed, going back to the shirts. “I still have to figure out where I’m gonna stay tonight.”
“Was my sofa that uncomfortable?”
“No Donna. Of course not. And I didn’t really tell you how… I know I’m not your favourite person right now. Just thank you for answering the call.”
“Of course kiddo.”
Donna’s mind went back to that call last night. She remembered Mike’s rough and defeated voice. She remembered him telling her he had no one else to call. She remembered the broken and lost look in his eyes as he stared at the ceiling of her apartment.
“You could have called him you know,” she said in the end.
Mike took a deep breath, giving a strange pale green shirt more attention than it needed. “Really?”
“Yes,” Donna said emphatically. “He’s angry right now. But he still cares about you. He would want to know if you needed him.”
“I needed him when Jessica blackmailed me and he threw me overboard.”
Donna sighed. Both these boys were as stubborn as each other.
“Loyalty is a big thing to him. He felt betrayed-“
“He felt betrayed!?” Mike interrupted.
“Let’s not,” Donna said, quickly derailing Mike’s no doubt impressive blooming argument. “Whatever is going on right now doesn’t take away that fact that he does care.”
Mike sighed and went back to the shirts. “Whatever. It doesn’t really matter right now.”
“You’re right. What matters is that you get a set of new suits. That you get a good nights sleep. And that you cook me dinner as thanks for my hospitality.”
The grin Mike sent her then was slightly more authentic than anything she had seen from him today so she gave herself the win.
“Alright.”
“And you are staying with me until the dust settles a little.”
“Donna-”
“No,” she interrupted. “Not hearing it puppy.”
“But Donna-”
“Are you arguing with me?”
“…I thought you didn’t do roommates.”
“I don’t. But I do do friends. And you could do with one right now.”
-
Donna left Mike to take his new purchases back to her apartment with instructions to make dinner and make the bed in the guest room.
Her cab took her in the opposite direction, back to the office. She wasn’t good at her job with no effort and Harvey had still been there when she left.
It was no surprise that he was still there, sat on the leather coach in his office, a tumbler in hand and piles of paper around him. The light was dim so Donna went straight into the office, turning on the standing lamp behind the seats.
Harvey blinked at the light and finally noticed her.
“Where were you?” he asked, his eyes following her as she picked up the balls of paper next to the bin.
“Out.”
“Out?”
“Your hearing giving you trouble grandpa?”
Harvey huffed but didn’t answer, taking another sip of his drink. But she felt his eyes on her as she left him to it, retreating to her desk.
-
When she got home Mike had something bubbling on the stove and a bottle of her favourite wine open on the counter.
He sent her a grin – not unlike a puppy greeting its new owner at the end of the day – and ushered her to the sofa to wait for dinner to be ready.
As Donna sipped at her wine she thought that this roommate business might not be so bad after all.
-
Having Mike in the house wasn’t a chore by any means. In fact, he seemed to make an extra effort to stay out of her way. The week carried on as it normally did. Mike was very often gone when she got up (the only sign he had been there an extra cup in the dishwasher) and was usually home long after she had had dinner.
But it was an adjustment to have someone else in her space.
But every time she started to get irritated – every time she tripped over Mike’s shoes in the hallway or when Mike used the last of the milk or when she saw the pain in Harvey’s eyes at the betrayal he was still working through – she remembered the charred smoking remains of the apartment block and the harsh cough Mike tried to hide, the bandaged red burn across his shoulder and smell of ash on his skin when she brought him home from the hospital… and she remembered why she was doing this.
-
With the merger fallout still rattling through the ranks of the newly named Pearson Darby, Donna was busier than ever. Paired with Harvey’s extreme mood swings it made for a very hectic and stressful working day.
Plus with Harvey all but refusing to even acknowledge Mike even existed, his own workload had doubled, meaning that Donna’s had too.
She was on her way back from the file room with a pile of papers for Harvey when she walked past Mike wearing one of his new suits from Rene. She sent him a glance, tipping her head slightly in praise.
“Am I properly dressed for the occasion?” Mike said in a terrible faux British accent.
Donna smirked, pausing her purposeful stride. “Quite suitable.”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “Suitable for what?”
“Donna!” Harvey barked, striding past them both and not even glancing in Mike’s direction.
Donna watched the light fade from Mike’s eyes as he watched Harvey stride past.
“Get milk on the way home,” she said, bringing his attention back to her.
“What?” Mike shrilled. “I got milk last time. It’s your turn.”
Donna looked up at Mike over the collection of papers in her arms and raised a dangerous eyebrow.
“Did you just sass me kid?”
Mike gulped. His eyes widening. “No…”
“Let me remind you that you are sleeping in my guest room rent free and I have refrained from telling Harvey about your current state of homelessness. So…”
Mike nodded. “I’ll get milk on my way home.”
“Good puppy.”
-
Donna woke gently, the sky still dark outside her window. Stretching she turned over, glancing at the clock by her bed. It was 3am. With a huff of annoyance she rolled back over to force herself back to sleep but a hint of light under her bedroom door caught her eye.
Pulling herself from the comfort of her bed Donna opened the door and padded gently down the hallway. The light in the living room was on. Mike was hunched over on the sofa, piles of paper scattered around him and all across the coffee table. He was out of his suit at least, changed into one of the pairs of sweatpants Donna had made him buy and a plain white t-shirt. A bandage was visible under the t-shirt sleeve and a yellow highlighter hung precariously from his lips as his eyes scanned back and forth across the folder in his hand.
“Do you ever sleep?” Donna asked, interrupting the quiet of the night.
Mike started, dropping the highlighter from his lips into his hand. He blinked at the change in distance as he noticed her stood in the hallway. “What? Oh sorry did I wake you?”
“Its three in the morning,” Donna sighed. “Contrary to the myths I maintain about myself, this doesn’t happen naturally. I need sleep.”
“I know,” Mike smirked. “I saw you with rollers in your hair.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I have pictures if you want.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Mike chuckled. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Just needed more space.”
“What are you working on?” Donna asked, taking the few steps to peek at the papers.
“Just catching up on some case files.”
Donna looked over the papers. She might not be a lawyer and she might not have Mike’s mind. But she could easily remember the names of the cases that were on Harvey’s desk right now. And these… these were them.
“These are all Harvey’s cases,”
“Er… yeah,” Mike said sheepishly. “Just trying to keep up you know.”
Donna surveyed the stacks and the post its and Mike’s scruffy handwriting that adorned them all.
“By helping on Harvey’s cases.”
“I’m just helping Kyle out. He’s snowed under. Harvey doesn’t remember that not everyone can read as fast as me.”
“Harvey won’t let you help him.” Donna said, as the truth formulated at the front of her mind. “So you’re helping his associate do his work behind Harvey’s back.”
Mike’s wide eyes looked up at her. “Don’t tell Harvey.”
Donna sighed. “You need to talk to him.”
“I’ve tried. He doesn’t want to hear it. So until he does… I’ll do this.”
-
Donna breathed a sigh of relief when Friday came around. The atmosphere in the office was thick and harried with the new rush that came along with a change at the top. She was very much looking forward to her weekend away from it all… well apart from Mike.
She took a sip of her wine and turned back to the kitchen island.
“I’m just saying that I have cooked you some pretty awesome meals this week,” Mike said, hopping up onto the counter next to Donna as she chopped the peppers.
“You’ve made some edible meals as part of my rent payment scheme,” Donna said loftily. “Now I am showing you how it is actually done.”
“You licked your plate after that one with the mushroom sauce.”
Donna brandished her knife in front of Mike’s face. “I did not and tell anyone and I will tell them about your late night bathroom habit.”
Donna watched with amusement as Mike’s face fell. “How do you know about that?”
“Thin walls.”
“You know,” Mike chuckled awkwardly. “It’s not really that abnormal.”
“Whatever. Just watch my good towels.”
Mike opened his mouth to retort but paused when a heavy knock sounded at the door.
Mike looked at Donna who looked back. He seemed to be waiting for some kind of instruction. Donna rolled her eyes.
“Go get the door.”
“Yes mom,” Mike sighed as he jumped down and went to the front door.
Donna couldn’t quite see the door from the kitchen but she heard it open and then she heard the voice.
“Well hello,” Harvey’s voice echoed down the hall, amusement and intrigue laced within his words.
“Harvey. Umm,” Mike mumbled trailing behind Harvey as he materialised at the end of the hall. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
“Really?” Harvey said, looking around the living room and kitchen. “Because what it looks like is you and my assistant are having dinner together. In her apartment. On a Friday night.”
“Well… yeah we are doing that but-”
“Harvey,” Donna interrupted stepping out from behind the kitchen island. “Leave the kid alone. We are having dinner. What do you need?”
Harvey cut his eyes away from Mike and zeroed in on Donna.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
Donna leaned back against the kitchen island, glass of wine hanging effortlessly from her hand. “So talk.”
Harvey looked from Donna and then back to Mike. Then back again.
“Mike,” he barked. In some pavlovian response Mike’s body jumped to obey, already turning to leave.
“Mike stay,” Donna barked, equally strong.
Mike’s feet juddered to a halt, not sure which instruction to follow. If it had been any other situation Donna would have found it amusing. But the stormy look in Harvey’s face told her he wouldn’t take kindly to her giggling in his face right now.
“You really want to do this in front of him?” Harvey asked, his voice hard.
“What I want is for the sauce not to burn. Mike, keep stirring.”
Mike tripped out of her sight but she heard the sound of a spoon moving through the sauce on the stove.
“Fine,” Harvey huffed, sticking his hands into his pockets. “What is going on with you and my associate?”
“Ex-associate. You fired him remember.”
“You don’t think I notice you whispering in hallways. And now he’s in your apartment cooking you dinner. Are you sleeping with him?”
Mike made a choked off noise behind them. Donna ignored him.
“He’s staying here because his apartment burned down.”
“Donna!” Mike interjected but the good puppy didn’t stop stirring.
Donna paused and took a sip of her wine as the words penetrated Harvey’s thick skull. His eyes went wide, flicking back to the kitchen.
“What?”
“He called me in the middle of the night two weeks ago because the hospital wouldn’t release him unless he had someone to make sure he didn’t die in the night.”
Harvey’s eyes found her again. “Why didn’t you-“
“Tell you?” Donna interrupted. “Maybe because every time Mike’s name is mentioned you snarl at me. Or maybe because you’ve been in a shitty mood for weeks. Or maybe because what I do outside of work is none of your business.”
“Or maybe because he’s my goddam associate and I deserve to know.”
“Ex-associate,” Donna reminded Harvey again.
“So you took him in out of the kindness of your heart?”
“I took him in because I was being a good friend and that is what good friends do.”
“Implying that I’m not a good friend.”
“I’m not implying anything,” Donna said, piercing Harvey with a fierce glare. “I’m just stating the facts. And the fact is that when the kid’s life had literally gone up in flames around him he called me. Not you.”
It was harsh. And slightly cruel. But sometimes you had to be if you wanted results. Harvey had taught her that.
She saw how Harvey’s face crumpled slightly at that. She saw the hurt bloom in his eyes before he quickly and ruthlessly smothered it. But she needed it. To get through his thick skull.
“You know what,” Harvey said, in that smug little tone that made Donna want to staple his tie to something hard. “You’re right. It is none of my business what you get up to outside of work. Enjoy your evening.”
And then he was gone, disappearing back up the hallway in a flurry of designer clothes and slicked back hair.
The door shut with an audible think and Donna took a breath.
“Donna,” Mike breathed behind her. “What the hell?”
“Don’t worry,” she said, draining the rest of her wine. “I know what I’m doing.”
-
The building was still black and charred but the police tape had been taken off the door and smoke was no longer hanging off the roof, so Donna assumed it was safe to enter.
She had never been to Mike’s apartment before the fire. She knew Harvey had. She had listened to him complain about the state of his associates show box apartment with the crumbling brick and probable rat infestation. Not many would have caught it but Donna had read the concern and worry below Harvey’s words; he didn’t like the thought of Mike living somewhere potentially unsafe.
The charred black building stared back at her. Little had Harvey known.
She made her way up the short flights of stairs squinting at the remaining flaked door signs until she found 2B.
The door was already partially open.
Pushing it all the way Donna looked up and saw Harvey standing in the ashes of Mike’s life.
The room was gutted.
She saw what looked like the remains of a couch in the centre of the room, and the blackened cupboards in the corner looked like that was where the kitchen used to be. Charred remnants of paper lined the wall on her left, the only thing remaining from what once had been – Donna had no doubt – am impressive book collection.
But it was all gone now.
Harvey’s eyes were running up the flame damaged walls that ran around the archway to where Mike’s bed lay. Or what remained of Mike’s bed.
“He was asleep when it started,” she said, breaking the quite hush of the room.
It was pretty rare that she was able to startle Harvey. But she managed it then. He stared back at her with wide eyes,
Harvey looked back at the bed and she saw him swallow.
“He was one of the only apartments to have a working fire alarm,” she continued. “It woke him up but the room was already full of smoke.”
She took a few steps forward.
“He got to the door and he realised that no one else had woken up. The doctors said his smoke inhalation was so bad because of how long it took him to get out of the building. His neighbours said he wouldn’t leave until everyone was out.”
“Donna stop,” Harvey choked out. His hands had curled into fists at his side and Donna could spot the tell tale quivering of his jaw that let her know he was really pissed.
But she wasn’t finished yet.
“The place was completely engulfed in flames by the time the fire department got here. Mike was still inside. He got trapped in one of the rooms on the second floor when the ceiling caved in. He had to force his shoulder through a window and jump.”
Harvey breathed out through his nose harshly, sending her a warning glare. Now she was getting somewhere.
“He didn’t even realise he’d been hurt until he was in the ambulance. A bit of the ceiling had burnt right through his t-shirt-“
“I said stop!”
“Why?”
“I get it OK. I’m being a dick. I know but… he betrayed me. He went behind my back to Jessica. He-”
“He made a shitty choice because he was scared and cornered. But he is loyal to you. And he still is.”
Harvey frowned and looked at her. “Why are you suddenly on his side?”
“I’m always on your side Harvey. Always. But Mike is too. You were pissed at him and had every right to be. So while you were pissed I made sure he was OK. So that when you decide to forgive him he is still here.”
Harvey huffed and turned away, his eyes still sweeping over the decimated space around them.
Donna took a breath. She had tried the carrot. Now the stick.
“He could have died Harvey. Do you get that? Look around here. It’s a miracle no one did. Thanks in no small part to the kid and his bleeding heart. And if he had died… If that ceiling had caved in just a second earlier or if he hadn’t been able to find the window… You would have hated yourself for the way things ended between you.”
“So I should forgive him because he’s not dead?”
“You should forgive him because you are miserable without him. And he’s miserable without you.”
Harvey avoided her eye, his gaze darting around the ruined room. She let him stew. She let him take in the destruction around them. If it made the situation get through his thick skull any faster she could wait all night.
“He’s staying with you?” Harvey asked in the end.
“I cleared out the spare room. I didn’t like the thought of him being alone right now.”
“Good,” Harvey nodded absently. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t just do it for you.”
“I know.”
-
Donna didn’t expect things to be fixed overnight. And they weren’t.
Mike was sullen and grumpy at home – pissed that she had told Harvey.
Harvey was sullen and grumpy at work – irritated that his impressive anger against Mike for going behind his back was undermined with his fear of the kid being hurt and his general inability to not care about him.
All in all, they were both being painful.
But then a few days later she saw out of the corner of her eye Harvey sigh loudly at his desk in his office. His shoulder’s fell almost in defeat and the sound of her intercom beeped.
“Donna,” he sighed into the mic. She looked over her shoulder to show she was listening. “Get Mike.”
Mike tripped into the office in record time, his eyes wide and hopeful as she gave him the nod to enter.
Harvey glanced up at the associate from behind his desk. She saw him say something across the desk and then throw a folder across the surface. Mike caught it, flipping through the pages quickly. A few more terse words and Mike was turning and leaving the office, papers in hand.
It was hardly the tearful reunion Donna had hoped for but she caught Mike’s smile as he strode past her desk, his shoulders broader and more square than they had been in weeks. And she saw Harvey’s smirk as he watched his associate walking away, the playful glint in his eyes there again.
Donna smiled herself as she turned back to her computer.
Her boys were back.
Epilogue
The night was dark outside Harvey’s office windows when he walked through the door. The glass door stood ajar and a few of the lamps in the office gave it a calm and gentle glow.
His prized records lined the walls, signed basket and base balls stood along the window ledge and every piece of furniture within had been chosen carefully by him.
But it was none of those things that caught his eye.
Mike was laid down on his couch, his ankles crossed and polished shoes resting against the arm of the chair. He was facing the windows, the blond tuft of his hair just visible above the edge of the couch. He’d put a record on, the soft sounds playing through the space. His eyes were open, but vacant, looking out into the night.
“Hey,” Harvey said quietly.
Mike bent backwards, his head coming over the arm of the sofa until it hung upside down glancing back at Harvey. “Hey,” he said with an upside-down smile.
Harvey fought down the fond smile he wanted to send back and narrowed his eyes.
“Just because Donna let’s you sleep on her couch doesn’t mean I will.”
Harvey unbuttoned his jacket and strolled in, straight for the crystal decanter on the coffee table.
“Your couch and I were having a moment,” Mike said, not moving. “She says she missed me.”
“Stop anthropomorphising my furniture. And also… this is a hand crafted, Italian leather couch. If it’s any gender it’s he.”
“So if its dark and Italian its automatically a man?”
“No. Because its unforgiving and smells like my cologne.”
Harvey looked up and offered a glass to Mike. The associate took it, swinging his legs down to sit properly.
Harvey took a minute, sitting on his chair and taking a few sips of his drink. He watched Mike do the same, looking around the room as if he were trying to commit it to memory… again.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Harvey asked, not bothering to explain what he meant. Mike would know. “Did you think I wouldn’t answer?”
“No. of course not Harvey but…” Mike breathed and frowned. “You were pissed at me. And… I didn’t want your forgiveness to come because you felt guilty… of sorry for me. I wanted to earn it.”
“Is that why you’ve been doing Kyle’s work for him?”
Mike sent him a wide-eyed look. “Er no. no. that was… I just didn’t want him to… I just wanted to make sure it was all being handled you know. While I was gone.”
"Well it seems you still have things to learn?"
"Like what?"
“The first rule when you find yourself in a burning building?” Harvey shot Mike a dark look hoping the kid saw the seriousness there. “You get the hell out.”
“Harvey,” Mike sighed, as if Harvey were the crazy one. “I wasn’t going to leave all those people in there to die. Not if I could help them.”
Mike looked over at him, all wide eyed and beseeching. And Harvey couldn’t hold his frustration.
“Goddamit kid,” he sighed, throwing the rest of his drink back.
“So what are you going to do now?” Harvey asked into the quiet.
Mike shot him a look. “What do you mean?”
“Were you planning on living in Donna’s spare room for the rest of your life?”
“It’s not such a bad deal,” Mike said with a smile. “She makes me food in exchange for me not telling everyone what her skincare regime is.”
“Aren’t you worried she’ll find out about your…” Harvey made a wiggly hand motion. “Weird bathroom thing.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Oh my god. Why is everyone on that one? It’s not that weird.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Harvey lent back in his chair. “You know you do have one option.”
“What’s that?”
“That apartment you bought in Manhattan that you’re letting collect dust.”
“How do you know I still have it?” Mike asked with a raised eyebrow. “I could have sold it.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t,” Mike admitted looking away.
“So why didn’t you go there?”
Mike took a deep breath and resettled in his seat. “I bought it for my grandmother. And she never got to see it. I felt like… in her last few years the only reason I went to see her was when I needed something. Or I wanted something. And it… it’s the last thing that I have that is connected to her. I didn’t want to just go there because I had no other choice.”
“Well now you have a choice,” Harvey said, standing and buttoning his suit jacket. “You can either take the life that you wanted, that your grandmother would have wanted you to have. Or you can leave it to rot. Which one do you think she would want you to take?”
Mike sighed and stood too. “You’re so irritating when you’re right.”
Harvey smiled and started walking out the office, confident that Mike would follow. “I must be irritating all the time then.”
“Hey you said it.”
They walked side by side to the elevators. Harvey pressed the button and stood back, hands in his pockets as they waited for the lift car.
“Well at least one good thing came out of this,” he said, glancing at Mike from the corner of his eyes.
“What’s that?”
Harvey looked Mike up and down. “You finally got some decent suits.”
Mike grinned, spreading his arms out to the side. “My tailor. Savile Row,” he said in a horrible British accent.
“That so? Mine’s a guy in Washington.”
The bark of laughter that Mike let out eased something inside Harvey. Something he wasn’t even ware needed soothing until that moment.
The lift arrived and the door opened. They stepped forward together and the doors closed behind them.