Chapter 13 - Harvey

"Harvey, do you have a minute?" Donna is collected when she enters my office

"Not really. What is it?" I sigh as I keep my eyes on my laptop's screen

"Two weeks ago, when I was digging some information about Dr. Anastasia Morgan and how she was connected to you--" she starts

"Donna, I really don't need this right now" 

"No, I think you'll want to hear this. During my digging I found her wedding announcement, then tracked down an invitation and pinpointed the location, date and time. But I wanted to be sure, so I called the venue pretending I was interested for that exact date and time--"

"Get to the point" I demand

"They called me today, saying they just got an opening due to a cancellation for that exact date and time" she reveals. 

"No. That doesn't mean anything" I reply, keeping myself from getting excited. This is not something I should be happy about. Ana must be feeling awful.

"It might mean something though. Because didn't her fiancé come her to find you last week?" she reminds me, "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I wouldn't come in between. And I haven't" I reassure her

"Well, maybe you didn't convince him" she assumes

"Not my problem" I reply.

"What are you going to do now?" she asks

"Continue to work..." I answer.

"Harvey--"

"I'm not going to run to Seattle. And if I really broke her engagement off, I'm probably the last person she wants to see"

"What if you're the only person she wants to see?" she suggests.

I've been in this exact position when Ana left 14 years ago. Every day, I thought of running to California, knocking on her door and promising her I'll find a way to make it work. But at the end of the day, I didn't know if she'd open that door in the first place. She was scared, and needed time to figure out her new life. I was scared to take that leap of faith. And the more time I let pass, the bigger the possibility of her moving on got. 

"No" I answer Donna.

"Why?"

"First of all, Jessica will cut my dick off if she finds out I were nearby when Ana's engagement to judge Atkins' son broke off" 

"That hasn't stopped you before"

"And second of all, I've been in the same place before and didn't go after her so she could figure things out" 

"And how did that turn out?" she points out

"She got engaged"

"To someone else. And it broke off when you re-appeared in her life"

"That's my point. She is better off".

"Oh my God! You are so blind!" she sighs, desperate.

"Donna, she pulled her hand away from mine"

"Because, clearly, she felt something too; something she shouldn't feel while being engaged to someone else" she explains.

"And say I go there, what am I supposed to tell her? Hey, I heard your engagement broke off and I am here to be the next" I mock

"For starters, you'll ask her how she is, and see if she--".

"Donna, why are you trying to get me to go to Seattle so badly?" I ask, honestly

"You told me that there was a time you pictured yourself with her, getting married, having babies, family Thanksgivings and Christmas mornings... Now, you have a real chance to get all that. Are you willing to let it go for the third time?!".

Wedding. Babies. Family Thanksgivings and Christmas mornings... To be honest, I don't need any of that, I could certainly live without them; I am living without them. But she is the only one I can't live without. I just need her. Longing for 14 years does no good to a man.

"I'm assuming you already got me a flight to Seattle" I mention

"Your calendar is cleared up, and you're flying in two hours" she reveals.

"Thank you, Donna"

"Anytime" she smiles. "And I better get a raise if this works out. Knocking sense into your mind everyday is exhausting" she adds

"I'll think about it" 

"Don't take too long, I still have time to cancel your ticket to Seattle and buy myself a handbag with the money instead"  she threatens

"Two precent" I offer

"Five" she argues

"Four"

"Five. And I cover your ass to Jessica and Hardman when they ask where you are" she insists

"Fine. Five" I agree

"Great. Good luck in Seattle".

I grab my jacket and leave my office. I basically run to the elevator and the ride down feels like forever. I take a cab to the airport and check in with the ticket Donna sent me. After security clearance, I head into the VIP lounge. But as I sit by the bar, I spot a familiar face.

"Harvey" he smiles and I want to punch him more than ever

"Daniel" I say polite again, not addressing the elephant in the room

"I thought you had court today" he says

"Got off early, and decided to take a trip" I answer

"Business?" he assumes

"Pleasure" I correct him, "I hear Seattle is great around this time of year" I smirk.

His smiles drops. I guess keeping up the act is becoming harder for him with each passing day. 

"Well... I'll see you on the plane then" he walks away.

"Don't count on it" I whisper under my breath as I pick up my phone.

I call Donna, "Next time you book me a flight, make sure Hardman isn't on it" I say

"What?!"

"Yeah... Just ran into him at the lounge" 

"Shit, that means he heard about the break up too"

"And he's probably on his way to try and fix it" I assume

"He won't get to"

"If you find a way to kick him off this flight, you're getting a ten precent raise in your check next month" I promise

"I'm flying to Benjamin as we speak"

"Ten precent, Donna" I repeat

"Consider it done".

I sit tight and order a Macallan 18. I keep glancing over to Daniel, waiting for the moment he'll get his ass out of here. 

About 10 minutes after my call to Donna, two people from the security staff enter the lounge and walk over to him directly. They ask for identification and tell him they got an anonymous report. They ask to search him again, but he threatens to sue them. At this point, everyone's looking at the interaction. 

A third security guard joins them. Daniel finally hands over his phone to them. One of them goes through it and a few seconds later asks him to follow him outside of the lounge; I'm guessing Benjamin planted something interesting in there. As soon as Daniel refuses, they put handcuffs on him for resisting arrest. It's probably just a temporary excuse to take him to their courters and do a better search, but it works for me.

I sit back and watch him get escorted outside. He looks at my direction. I smile and wave. 

Right on cue, they announce the boarding of my flight to Seattle. So, I finish my drink and head to the gate with the biggest grin across my face.