Chapter 22 - Harvey

Waking up alone in New York today felt unnatural. Even being my own bed that I've been in for years felt strange without Ana by my side. The last 4 days I spent in Seattle were the best long weekend I had in my life. Nothing comes even close to it.

Ana is the first thought in my mind before I even open my eyes. So, the first thing I do is pick up the phone and text her. She replies almost immediately with a selfie of her in the hospital. Her smile is radiating. Her face is adorable. She is wearing the scrub cap with blue and purple butterflies again. I smile as I look at her and I feel a small flutter in my chest.

Never wake me up from this dream.

I text her back the view from my bedroom; every part of my penthouse looks down in New York. Without saying anything, she texts me back a picture of her current view; the surgery schedule for the day with the names of the patients covered.

'You got this, Wonder Woman'

'Gal Gadot? Really? Don't insult me like that again' she responds.

I chuckle.

'Supergirl. Better?'

'I guess. But why is it SuperMAN, but SuperGIRL? No SuperWOMAN?'

'Because y'all are already super'

'Aww... Point, Specter'

'Patriarchy sucks?' I add

'Another point, Specter. If you keep this up, we'll be out of trial period ASAP'

'That's the goal'.

Feeling energized, I get out of bed. I get ready for work and leave. On the way to the firm, I'm already booking plane tickets to Seattle for this weekend -without even asking Donna. I don't care if Ana is working, even 5 minutes with her is enough to make the trip worth it.

Jessica is waiting for me by the elevator. "Good morning" I smile as I put my phone away

"You look happy" she notices

"I know"

"Morning meetings?" she assumes

"You know it" I reply as we step in the elevator.

"I also know where you were in the weekend" she says as soon as the doors shut

"Is it showing? Because I want to pay Daniel's office a visit if it is" I reply

"Cut the bullshit. I told you to stay away from that girl"

"You told me to not mess with her engagement, and I didn't. It was already over by the time I got there"

"So you took advantage of her vulnerable state"

"No. She actually came to me"

"And you think she was in the right mind to make that decision?"

"Yes" I answer.

But now she's planted doubt in my head. As soon as we get off the elevator, I take my phone out and log into my chat with Ana.

'Do you think I took advantageof your vulnerability after yourbreak up?'

'No. I took advantage of your presence, by making you myrebound' she replies

'Always at your service'I respond relieved

'Good to know. I'll go scrub in now, talk to you in 5 hours'

'Go save 'em, Superman'

'Superman?'

'You are the man'

'Oh, great! So... Is pegging on the table?'

'NO! BYE'.

I can almost sense her laughter through the screen. She knows how to push my buttons to make me mad and make herself laugh. I never know what words her sweet mouth is going to let out. She keeps me on my toes, and I'm pretty sure I'm never going to get bored with her.

"Good morning" I walk by Donna

"Your zipper is unzipped" she says

"No, it's not" I reply without even having to check

"But it was earlier this weekend"

"You're not funny"

"I'm hilarious. And instead of talking back, you should be thanking me. If it weren't for me, you'd still be acting depressed and lingering over Anastasia..." she reminds me

"You're getting a 10 percent raise" I remind her

"I want it to be 20 percent if you get married" she states

"You're pushing it..." I warn her.

"Sure" she smriks. "Hardman wants to see you in his office" she reveals

"Perfect" I smile and turn around

"Be nice" Donna warns me

"Nah, it's more fun this way".

I head down to Daniel's office and I walk in without knocking, wearing the biggest smile on my face. "You asked for me?" I speak up

"I'm surprised you actually came" he admits.

'I've been coming all weekend' I think but keep myself from saying it in his face.

"Yeah, I'm extra cheerful this morning" I confess as I sit and cross my legs. "How was your time in Seattle?" I ask ironically

"I think we both know I never made it there. Thanks to you, I cannot travel out of the state for a month"

"Very sad"

"Indeed. For that reason, I'm giving you this" he drops a file in front of me.

It's a request from one of his clients. A team from their company is going to the UK for a month for some negotiations and they are asking for a lawyer from our firm to join them and oversee everything.

"I was going to go with them and you would have gotten rid of me for a month, but since I can't travel now, I want you to step in my place" he says

"No, thanks. I'm good" I toss the file back to him as I stand up.

"I insist"

"And I don't care. You think you convinced me that you were going to go away for a month? You'd never. You just want to send me away out of spite. But I'm not going anywhere"

"Good--"

"Unless you have a client in Seattle. In that case, I'd be gladly to take them on" I smirk.

"Are you so insecure that you need to bring this up in every conversation just to spite me?"

"Not at all. I just wanted to point out how good Seattle is at this time of year. I mean the environment was amazing; welcoming, warm and wet" I smile.

"Always a pleasure, Daniel" I add as I leave his office.

Donna hands me an envelope as I walk by her this time. Mike is waiting for me inside the office now. "Nice of you to join us" I tell him as I open the envelope

"Says the guy who was MIA since Thursday" he replies

"You're quite lippy for a Monday. But for your information, I had better things to do" 

"Oh, yeah? What was her name?"

"Adriana Lima" I answer

"No, it wasn't"

"But she was pretty close" I smirk.

I take the paper out of the envelope and have a quick look. "What the hell?" 

"What is it?" Mike asks

"Draft of complain from Smith and Devane, threatening to reopen Randall vs Coastal Motors. A case I won 4 years ago" I summarize

"Randall vs Coastal Motors? Ah, accident on the Merritt Parkway. They claimed it was Coastal Motors' hood, you killed it in court by saying it was the driver" he remembers

"They're saying there's new evidence" I read

"New evidence? It's product liability. The statute of limitations is expired" he points out

"Which means it's a shakedown" I conclude.

"You gotta put that shit down"

"I do, and I will"

"And then you're gonna put down Andriana Lima to celebrate" he laughs to himself. 

I look at him and squint. "Come here, lippy. I want to show you something" I say as I grab his arm

"What? You know a Hadid look-alike too?" he continues to joke as I drag him out of my office.