Suits (My Worst Partner-Enemy)

Gone One Day

8:00PM.

"Oh my lord. She was just—here. His grandma was just there yesterday. Rachel, is he ok?" I asked softly. "It's like his world broke into pieces. He even got her an apartment away from the nursing home. She hadn't even seen it. Now she'll never." She spoke. After Mike's parents passed, his grandma raised him. His only family that gave him love and a home. Maya sat next to me with two cups of tea. I thanked her as she handed me one. "We'll talk to him tomorrow. I know he needs a lot of space right now. Is there a funeral service coming up?" I asked, rubbing my hand on my thigh. "Probably will be. I don't know. If there is, I'll go." Rachel told me. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you should. I barely knew her so it'd be fair if you go. But we'll keep them in our prayers. Ok?" I said. She inhaled a deep breath. "Are we still doing happy hour? This weekend?" She mentioned. Maya smiled sympathetically and nodded. "Yes, we are. We agreed to have him watch Avery but it seems like it'll have to cancel." I told her. "Don't you have a nanny who watches your younger siblings? Nineteen and child pediatrician?" Rachel asked curiously. I scoffed. "How do you know?" I sassed. My brain clicked. "Donna." We said in unison. Maya huffed. "She's still in LA with them. It be crazy if she'd take a flight across just to babysit her for two days." She whispered. I sighed. "She can't. She is still in California but I'll try finding somebody else. Mike would want you to celebrate your score anyway. I saw the look on his face." I said, smirking. Rachel low-key chuckled. "What look? He was congratulating me." She said. I nodded my head no and chuckled. "No when he hugged you." I said. Maya covered her mouth in a snicker. "Between me and Mike, there's another pair we can discuss." She teased. I mentally groaned. My cheeks burned hotter. Handle yourself, Liz. I cleared my throat. "Until I've found a 'nanny', it'll wait." I spoke awkwardly. My brain clicked in remembrance. Finding somebody else...it can be...maybe—whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I snapped out of my thoughts. No way this could happen. But of course, it's not a bad thing because Avery loves spending time with him. He can even spend a few minutes in Ray's car with her. It's always questionable how Harvey been attached to her since she was a baby. At times, I do find it honestly—beautiful. My phone buzzed somewhat again. I looked to see the contact name while Rachel was still on the line.

H.

Damn. "Rachel, I'll talk to you later. Someone else is calling." I told her. "K. See ya!" She beamed and hung up. Maya responded with a mmhm before sipping her tea. I chuckled and shushed her. She took my cup in case I'd drop it. "Hello?" I answered, getting up and walked to the kitchen. "Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth." He joked. I hummed in response. "Harvey, Harley." I joked. He huffed defeatedly. "Alright, I get it." He quickly said. I laughed. "How did it feel? To stick it to a TV asshole?" I asked. Harvey playfully snorted. "Could ask you the same." He joked. I rolled my eyes. "He oughta shut up. He was hella loud in that room." I mentioned. "I know. Kept myself from slapping him silly." He agreed. I sat down on the counter. "Random question, why do you keep calling me Elizabeth? You're allowed to call me Lizzie or Liz." I asked. He scoffed. "Because like I said before, Elizabeth sounds nice. Maybe more than nice." He told me. My cheeks reddened. I leaned against the chair and crossed my arms. "I'm flattered. I guess." I said shyly. All he did was chuckle. Butterflies hit my stomach. "Anyways, how's Avery?" He mentioned. She walked in while yawning. Must've woke up from her nap. "Mommy, I want some water." She spoke tiredly. I looked at her in awe. "Great. Just woke from a nap." I told him. Avery sat on Maya's lap and cuddled. I poured a cup from the fridge while his voice echoed from my phone. "Avery." I called. She got off her grasp and walked up to me. "Here's your water sweet." I said, smiling. She returned the gesture and took the cup. "Thank you." She said sweetly. I chuckled. "She's too sweet. I don't know what I did." I said. "What do you think? You done so well." He spoke kindly. My cheeks burned hotly. "Thanks. Can't believe she's six." I whispered. Harvey chuckled. "It's not like she'll be twenty-five this year." He joked. I playfully rolled my eyes and smiled. "Now I know how my parents felt. Thank you by the way." I said. "For what?" He asked confusedly. I smiled warmly. "For all your help. I really appreciate it." I said. "You're welcome. But you owe me. Having baby vomit on me is not my best memory." He joked in a serious tone. I snickered uncontrollably. That's one cherished memory Donna and I laugh about. "Oh god! Sorry!" I giggled. Harvey almost snicker but cleared his throat. "See? Your laugh is dangerous." He said. I chuckled. "A cherished gift." I said proudly. Avery rushed up to me. "Mommy, we forgot our movie!" She panicked. My brain clicked. I promised we'd watch a movie before bed. "Harvey, I'll talk tomorrow. Promise little A a movie." I told him. "Alright, see you tomorrow—She pouted. "Can I say bye to H?" She asked. I smiled. "There's someone who wanna say bye." I said, handing her my phone. "Hi Harvey. Yeah, I did! Is it ok if I come over to your house? Ok. Bye Harvey." She beamed and gave me my phone. The whole time I watched in awe. I immediately hung up. "Which movie?" I asked. Avery cheered energetically. "Batman!" She beamed. We looked at her weirdly. "Ok, stop bringing her to Harvey or Mike's." Maya blurted jokingly. I smiled amusedly before we plopped on the couch.

******

In my office, Rachel sat on the chair and sighed sadly. "He lashed at me. But I don't blame him. He didn't even tell Harvey." She spoke. My eyes widened. Why would Mike not—I know why. I inhaled a deep breath. "He is grieving yet he's distracting himself by doing work. People often do things to take their mind off losing someone. Whether good or bad. And blaming themselves is only part of it." I told her. She nodded in understanding. "I wish there's something I could do. Probably work with him, I'm not sure." She said. I smiled sadly. "Give him a minute. He needs time to process through this." I advised. Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Have you told Harvey? About what happened?" She mentioned. I nodded my head no while fiddling with my fingers. "Nope. It's better if he hears it from him." I said. Maya came in with a shaky breath which caught our attention. "Did you guys hear? Hardman won the vote." She told us. A moment of silence echoed. "That marks two awful news today." I blurted, putting up two fingers. Rachel looked at her weirdly. "How did you know?" She asked. Delivery men walked past holding four basketballs. My jaw slowly dropped. Harvey. My phone buzzed. Donna's text.

Donna🧡💅🏼: Harvey's moving to the 46th floor. Worse place ever.😳😭

I huffed, looking up. "I think we know why." I said. Maya nodded in agreement. Rachel took a deep breath.

In the associates room, I walked in to see an upset Mike and Harvey's firm look. Oh god. It caught some of the associates's attention. I scoffed and cleared my throat. "Unless you all want a damn pin for an eye, get your asses back to work!" I shouted firmly. They rushed back to their workload in sudden fear. Mike walked past without giving a glance. Harvey and I made eye contact. I awkwardly turned around to leave. Unfortunately, he followed behind. "Did you know?" Is all he asked. I ignored and kept walking. "Elizabeth, did you know?" He repeated in a serious tone. I turned around and sighed. "If I did, why are you ticked?" I asked. He inhaled a deep breath. "I'm not. I'm ticked at something else." He said. I low-key growled. "Louis better not give me fifty pounds of paper today." I muttered through gritted teeth. Harvey smirked slightly. "If it makes you feel any better...." He trailed off. I bit my lip from smiling. "Yes. Please." I said. He smiled which made my knees weaken.

******

Avery laid comfortably on the couch as I went through my laptop with three files piled. She played games on her tablet. A SpongeBob plushie was beside her feet. I low-key chuckled. My brain clicked. "Avery, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" I playfully sung. She looked up while smiling. "SpongeBob SquarePants!" She sung. I laughed. She giggled before getting up and making grabby hands. I smirked, putting her on my lap. Her attention diverted to my laptop screen. "What are you working on?" She asked curiously. I smiled. "An important case." I told her. Avery smiled cutely. "Does it involve helping people?" She asked. I sighed happily and hugged her. "You know mommy loves helping people. Do you?" I asked. She quickly nodded. "Yeah! It's the kindest thing to do. I wish to help people like you do." She said. My heart fluttered. I tickled her neck which made her laugh. "And you will!" I beamed. A tall redhead approached the door and smirked. "Did someone forget their Aunt Donna?" She spoke. Avery got off my grasp and hugged her. She hugged back. We parted. "Goodness, you are getting pretty every day!" She complimented. Avery fiddled with her hands. "Thank you." She replied shyly. Her attention fell on the yellow plushie. Donna smirked amusedly. I shrugged and stifled a laugh. "Where's H?" Avery mentioned. I continued typing while sighing. "Apparently, he's moving to the 46th floor." I told her. She scoffed. "The 46th floor?" She asked in a surprised tone. Donna nodded. "Unfortunately. Who's H?" She asked, smirking. My cheeks heated more. "Uh—Avery cut me off. "Harvey. That's mommy's nickname for him." She told her. Our jaws dropped. She covered her arms amusedly. "This'll be a long happy hour this weekend." She said. I motioned her to sit. Donna sat on the chair as Avery was tablet-distracted. "I'm trying to get someone to watch her. Mike's grieving, we got happy hour and Harvey—I paused seeing her smirk. I nodded my head no a few times. "No way! No!" I said. She pouted. "Aww, why not? He's so good with her! They literally bond like no one knows what. And he's helped you take care of her. If there's anyone you can trust her with, it's him. By Sunday, she'll be in his car back to you. Cmon, nothing will go wrong." She ranted assuredly. I sighed deeply and rubbed my temple. "If I get any complaints—She cut me off. "Then I'll handle him." Donna spoke in a serious tone. I smiled tightly. "Fine. She can go." I said through gritted teeth. Donna breathed a breath of relief. My eyes diverted to Louis strutting past my door. "This fool acts like he's on America's Top Model." I joked. We low-key chuckled. "I'll drink to that!" She whispered.