The Marvey Chronicles [6/31]
Title: The Marvey Chronicles
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other characters: Jessica Pearson, Donna Paulsen, Norma, Rachel Zane, Harold Jakowski
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3,270
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
Summary: Coworkers fangirl over Harvey/Mike.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘The Pearson-Hardman employees ship Harvey/Mike and try to get them together.’
‘Hmm, that is really weird.’
Mike observed as he rested his chin on his hand. All morning, he saw coworkers happily walk around with a white bag that was written ‘H&M’ in red. He had gotten curious and had tracked down the source; everyone seemed to be getting it from Donna. He knew that H&M was a famous Swedish clothing company, but he couldn’t figure out what the connection was between Donna and the brand.
‘I need to take a closer look.’ Thankfully, he had the perfect excuse to walk up to her area.
“Hey, Donna, can I put this file on Harvey’s desk? He told me he’d need it by eleven.” Mike asked as he eyed yet another woman walk away with a shopping bag, beaming as if she had won the lottery.
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Donna didn’t even look at him. She was busy distributing the Marvey items as discreetly as possible. She had chosen this particular day because Harvey had a long meeting with other partners on another floor.
Mike went inside the office and left the file but didn’t go back to his cubicle. “Donna, will you answer me if I ask you what you’re up to?”
“No, Mike.”
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t concern you.”
“Are you like a wholesaling middleman or something? And, why doesn’t it concern me? I saw Harold get a bag too. You must be dealing with men’s outfit too then.”
Donna gave him a warm smile. “Let it go, Mike. When the time comes, you’ll get to know.”
“But the mystery is killing me! Please, Donna.” Mike worked his puppy eyes.
“Oh, that’s not fair. You can’t do that to extract information out of me.” Donna said sternly.
“Pleeease. I won’t tell anyone!”
They were so immersed in the conversation that they didn’t hear footsteps approaching them.
“What’s the puppy begging for?” Harvey asked. He had come to take a break from the meeting.
“Nothing.” Mike answered quickly. He had a feeling that Donna didn’t want Harvey to know about her extracurricular activity.
Harvey eyed Mike suspiciously as he told his secretary, “If he keeps bothering you, just throw him a small bone.”
“Got it.” Donna smiled as Harvey disappeared into the office.
“What’s a small bone?” Mike asked.
Donna knew that she had to give him a distraction. “We have new security cameras. Have you noticed?”
“Really?” Mike looked up at one corner and saw that she was right. “Wow, they’re bigger and scarier. Jessica’s big on keeping her dogs on their toes?”
“Something like that.” Donna grinned. Jessica had taken her advice seriously and had gone for the best model out there.
Mike kept observing the new camera as Donna let out a tired yawn. She should really get more sleep if she wanted to stay healthy and beautiful.
“Uh, Donna? Is there some sort of a motion sensor attached to the camera?” Mike asked.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I think it’s following me.” Mike proved his point as he took a few steps to the right. The camera indeed followed him.
“Oh, I don’t know. We have cameras for security reasons. It’s not there to catch your every move so don’t worry about it.” Donna delightfully lied through her teeth.
“Okay…” Mike shrugged and left Donna in peace. He completely forgot about the H&M bags as he felt camera after camera follow him all the way back to his cubicle.
The next day, the unthinkable happened at Pearson-Hardman. Harvey felt it as soon as he had walked out of the car (the building looked different) and Mike felt it as soon as he had stepped out of the elevator (the air smelled different). Donna was absent from work.
“Is the world coming to an end? I thought it was going to end next year! That film ‘2012’ is a lie!” Harold cried with his hands in the air.
“I knew she had too much work. I should’ve helped her more.” Rachel bit her fingernails to lessen the guilt.
“It’s not your fault. She’s an incredibly strong woman. She’ll get over it and work even harder.” Norma offered her a piece of comfort.
“Are you sure she fell ill from overwork?” Mike asked as he dropped his messenger bag on his desk. Harvey hadn’t had that many cases during these past two weeks, so he couldn’t think of what could have pushed Donna to illness.
“Of course we’re sure.” All three of them snapped, scaring Mike.
“Okay… I just asked because I should probably go see her.” Mike cared about Donna and knew that she didn’t have any family close by.
“That’s a wonderful idea.” Norma encouraged him.
“Yeah, I would’ve joined you if I didn’t have a hundred things to do today.” Rachel sighed.
“I’ll let you guys know how she’s doing. For now, I’ll have to go get Harvey’s permission.”
Mike started walking towards Harvey’s office. The security cameras kept following him and it strangely seemed like they only followed him around, but he had almost gotten used to it. He kept walking until he saw another girl sitting in Donna’s area. “Uh, good morning?”
“Oh, good morning.” Claire smiled and explained, “I’m Donna’s replacement for the day. I’ll be assisting you and Mr. Specter until she gets back. I hope that’s all right.”
“Oh, sure. I just hope Harvey will behave and won’t give you too much of a hard time.” He smiled back.
“I heard that.” Harvey was standing by the door.
“Oops.”
Mike scratched the back of his head and watched while Harvey asked Claire to take care of a few things for him. He could tell that the woman was in total awe of his boss.
‘Well, he’s great at what he does and he does it with style. Who wouldn’t be in awe?’ Mike thought and noticed that Harvey looked a little lost without Donna around.
‘Would he look like that without me too? Or would he just look for someone else with an eidetic memory?’
Mike didn’t know why he was hurt by his own imagination. He would hate to see Harvey work with some other young thing, but it wasn’t going to happen unless he got sick or fired.
“Mike?” Harvey lifted an eyebrow. “What are you here for?”
“Oh, yeah. Can I go see Donna? Bring her something to eat? She’s probably alone.”
“Sure. Claire can give you her address and the spare key to her apartment. Tell her that she shouldn’t come back until she’s 100% fine. Tell her that it’s an order.”
“All right.”
“I can’t believe she actually missed a day.”
The worry was evident on Harvey’s face. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s recovering nicely, Harvey. If she needs a doctor, I’ll take her to the hospital.”
Harvey nodded. “Take Ray with you. I don’t want you to bike down there and give her street germs or something.”
Mike chuckled. “You got it. I’ll let her know your undying love for her.”
With Ray’s help, it took Mike only an hour to stop for food and get to Donna’s place. He had already left her a text message and had received a green light to enter with the spare key.
“Hey, Donna. It’s Mike!” He raised his voice so that Donna would know that he had stepped into the apartment.
Mike pricked up his ears and heard a moan coming from the bedroom. He left the food on the coffee table and knocked on the half-open bedroom door. “Hey, can I come in?”
“Yeah, get in here, puppy.” Donna sounded heavily medicated.
“How are you feeling? Any better?” Mike kissed her cheek and put the back of his hand on her forehead. Thankfully, she didn’t have a fever.
“Much better now that my cute puppy’s come to see me.” She sat up with Mike’s help.
“I’m Harvey’s puppy.” Mike quietly corrected her.
“Is that so?” Donna grinned, glad that she had her recorder on behind one of the pillows.
“I brought you some soup. Do you like chicken soup? It’s still warm.”
“I love anything with chicken in it. Are you going to feed me though? I don’t feel like moving at all.” Donna felt like acting like a child for once. Her whole body was aching. She didn’t want to lift even a finger.
“Sure. Let me go get it and find a spoon.” Mike left the bedroom and walked into the kitchen.
‘Hmm, perhaps I can help myself with a glass of juice first.’
He headed over to the fridge, feeling thirsty. He was about to open the white fridge when he spotted a picture of Harvey and him pinned on the door with a magnet.
‘Aww, she keeps a picture of us. How sweet!’
Harvey was patting him on the shoulder with a broad smile on his face. Mike smiled as he looked at the picture. He had managed to convince a big client that he should stop making his own deals behind Harvey’s back and completely trust the lawyer that he had hired.
‘Wait a second. When did she take a picture of this?’
Mike knew that Donna was waiting for her soup, so he stopped thinking about it and pulled out a bottle of grape juice. He then checked the cupboard to get a mug when he spotted something else.
‘Is that me??’
He pulled out the mug that had his face on it; he had a yellow highlighter between his lips and was probably looking straight at the camera.
‘Oh my god, did Abby leak these pictures? It’s even in color!’
But then he remembered whose kitchen he was in. ‘Donna must’ve hacked the system.’
He did a quick search inside the cupboard and found more questionable mugs. On one mug, Harvey was standing in front of his cubicle. On another one, he was walking down the hallway, laughing with Harvey. Then on another one, there was a pink heart between Harvey and him looking outside Harvey’s window.
‘What on earth is that heart?! Should I tell Harvey? Or is this going to be another little secret of ours? Perhaps she fell ill because she was too busy selling clothes and hacking into the company system! But why would she do all that? She doesn’t get paid enough? Why would she want mugs like these? And, seriously, what’s with the heart?’
“Mike? I’m starving!”
He jumped at Donna’s voice. “Yes! Sorry! I’m coming!”
He grabbed a normal mug and poured himself some grape juice. He would have to think about it after he left this place.
Mike was sitting on the edge of Donna’s bed, blowing on the spoonful of soup. “Here you go. You’re almost done. Ahhh-”
“Ahh-” Donna opened her mouth and finished the chicken soup. Mike had been so sweet, filling her in on the office gossip (there wasn’t any that she hadn’t known already but she let him talk because the puppy looked so excited) and reassuring her that Harvey seemed to be working with Claire all right.
“Okay, I’ll get you a Kleenex.”
Mike left the empty bowl on the nightstand and headed to her dresser. He reached out for the Kleenex when he spotted his face on the box. The smaller version of him was in the middle of sneezing.
‘Holy shit!! This is getting creepier! Although I must say it’s an appropriate picture for a box of tissues.’ Mike thought.
“You look cute there, don’t you?” Donna decided that it was no use making excuses. It wasn’t like Harvey had caught her; she could work things out with a puppy.
Mike pulled out a tissue and brought it back to Donna so she could wipe her lips with it. “Where did you even get this picture?”
“I know a guy in the IT department.” Donna winked.
“You pulled that from the surveillance footage?” The surprise was evident in his voice. “So that’s why I felt like the cameras were only following me around!”
“Yes, you caught me. I’ve been stalking you.” Donna admitted with no guilt whatsoever.
“But why?” Mike wasn’t mad. He was just curious. He had never been popular and he suddenly had a very beautiful stalker.
“You’re cute! Do I need another reason?”
“You like me?” Mike was genuinely surprised.
“Not the way you think I do. I like you as Harvey’s puppy.” Donna was relieved that she could pull this off even if she was ill.
“What do you mean?”
Then something clicked inside Mike’s head as he remembered the pink heart on one of the mugs. “You think he and I would look good if we…” He couldn’t possibly finish the sentence. It was absurd.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Donna grinned, reading him with ease.
“I don’t know what to say.” Mike shrugged. He knew that straight men fantasized about girl-on-girl action, so he figured that perhaps Donna, a straight girl, fantasized about guy-on-guy action.
‘Harvey and me rolling around naked? Seriously? Oh god…’
He wasn’t sure what kind of emotion he was feeling right now. He just felt the sudden urge to change the subject. “Oh, by the way, if we’re going to spill all our secrets, what’s up with you and that H&M company? Trying to make some extra cash?”
Donna suddenly developed a violent fit of coughs and Mike had to drop the subject and fetch her a glass of water.
The fact that Donna shipped Harvey and him distracted Mike from his work. He had told everyone how Donna was doing and had started to work, but he kept seeing pink hearts everywhere on the papers.
‘Harvey’s not even my type. I like someone who doesn’t have a problem with emotions, who’s not afraid to admit that he cares. Donna’s just shipping us because we’re the two guys that work closest with her.’
He tried to ignore the hearts and proofread the file but his mind showed him images of when Harvey’s ladies had rubbed lotion all over his chest.
‘Okay, fine, he’s an attractive guy. But that doesn’t mean anything.’
“Psst, Mike.” Harold got his attention from the adjacent cubicle.
“Yeah?”
“While you were out, Jessica finally told us we’d be getting that raise!”
“Oh, cool.”
“I know! I can finally get that large tattoo on my back!” Harold beamed.
“You’re really going for it? What are you going to get?”
“H&M.” Harold answered proudly.
“What?! The clothing company? Why on earth would you want that?”
Harold clicked his tongue at Mike’s stunned expression. “Apparently you don’t know the fine things about life, Mike. It’s okay though. You’ll get to learn. I’ll be helping you every step of the way.”
“Uh, thanks, Harold.” Mike said with uncertainty.
“You’re welcome.” Harold gave him a bright smile and disappeared into his cubicle.
Mike had never met an H&M fanatic before, but he could tell that this must be what one looks like.
Harvey was also having a hard time focusing on his work. His temporary secretary was following his every move with dreamy eyes. Claire had already crept him out by repeatedly sighing happily on the intercom while he was talking on the phone. He was aware that he had a very attractive voice but he never had someone act like that.
“Mr. Specter, is there anything else I can do to help?” Claire’s helpful voice came through the intercom.
Harvey had to admit that she was a very competent and enthusiastic individual. He had asked her to type up several documents and she hadn’t even breathed while madly interacting with her computer keyboard.
“No thanks, Claire. It’s a slow day today.”
“But sir, there’s always something to do in the office. I want Donna to have as less work as possible when she gets back. Please?”
Harvey couldn’t believe that she was begging for more work. “In that case… hang on then.”
He looked at some of the files lying on his desk, trying to lessen Mike’s workload.
“In the meantime, I could offer you a shoulder massage, Mr. Specter.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have a desk job, sir. Your shoulders could use an expert’s touch.”
“And, you’re an expert how?”
“Well, I’ve completed my training as a masseuse.” Claire smiled. She had done it for her athletic ex-boyfriend.
“Is that so?”
“I’m coming in, Mr. Specter.” Claire didn’t wait for his answer. She left the headset on the desk and flew into the office.
Ten minutes later, Mike was headed towards Harvey’s office, his eyes on the papers as he walked.
“Ah yeah… Right there… That’s it…”
Mike stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Is that Harvey’s voice?’
His eyes snapped up and took in the sight in front of him. Harvey had his jacket off and eyes closed, letting Claire work on his shoulders.
“Oh yeah… Just like that… This is good…”
Gulp.
Mike felt his face turn red as he watched Harvey moan. He knew that it was just a shoulder massage but Harvey sounded and looked so hot.
‘Damn. Why does he have his shirt on? Wouldn’t the massage work better without the shirt? He had nice abs, I remember.’
Then he jumped with shock at his own thoughts. Suddenly his brain was overloaded with mental images of the calendar photo shoots and the suspicious pictures at Donna’s place. Because of his eidetic memory, Mike remembered exactly how Harvey’s hand felt on his bare shoulder and how his breath had ghosted over his ear.
‘Oh god, what is wrong with me? I work with him! He’s my boss!’
“Mike? Why are you standing out there with your mouth open?”
Mike came back to reality as Harvey and Claire started at him. Apparently the massage was over and Claire was leaving with several files in her hands.
“Uh, I was just waiting for you to be coherent.” Mike answered as he walked into the office.
Harvey was going to defend himself, saying that Claire was an expert in shoulders when he noticed that Mike looked a little weird.
“Why do you look flushed, Mike? You’re feeling all right?” He already had a secretary absent. He couldn’t afford to have his associate sick too.
“What? Sure! Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. Your face is all red and you’re not looking me in the eye. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Harvey. Nothing’s going on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m absolutely sure so quit asking. Now give me new work already so I can get out of your hair.” Mike held out his hand, staring at the edge of Harvey’s desk.
Harvey watched his associate, trying to figure out what was going on with him.
“Harvey, please.”
It was the second time of the day that someone begged him for work.
‘It surely is a tough economy.’ He thought as he handed over a couple of files.
Mike ran out of the office as if Harvey had handed him the baton. ‘This is all Donna’s fault! I was perfectly fine before I found those stupid mugs!’
He sank into his chair and dropped his head in his hands. ‘Is my mind playing tricks on me? Will this feeling go away in a couple of days? Or am I a tiny bit attracted to Harvey? He’s Harvey! Who isn’t attracted to him? So it’s normal to find him a little bit more attractive than usual after working so closely with him, right? By the way, what were those throaty moans? Oh god… let’s not think about his moans!’
Mike buried himself in work, desperately trying to think about anything but Harvey.