Suits (My Worst Partner-Enemy)

"I'll Win with You."

At Mr. Zielinski's show set, aka sexist. He sighed. "No way! You want me to apologize on the air? Why don't I just drop my pants and paint "clown" on my ass?" He asked in disbelief. I snickered. "That's not a bad idea." I joked. "Save that for sweeps." Harvey added. "I have a reputation, Mr. Specter. And by the way, I don't appreciate you bashing it in court." He growled. "Look, I went to court to win the case, not protect your reputation." He told him. Mr. Zielinski scoffed. "Yeah, well, turns out you didn't do either one." He sassed. I cleared my throat. "Here's a suggestion. Next time, make sure you're actually off the air before shooting your fat mouth off." I growled. He looked up from his clipboard. "I stand by what I said. Solis is doping. Roger Maris got an asterisk next to his name. This guy deserves an asterisk next to his name and I want him out of the league." He said in a serious tone. This fool got some nerve. "You're not the commissioner of baseball." Harvey argued. "Yeah, well, the commissioner could never get my ratings." He sassed. Harvey turned to take a minute. I huffed. "This asshole." I muttered. Mike sighed. "Mr. Zielinski—He cut him off. "See, finally, someone who treats me with respect." He said. I scoffed. "If you had it, we wouldn't be here." I said rudely. He sighed deeply. "We can't claim that you're just offering up opinions anymore. If you don't apologize, we have to show that you have a factual basis for accusing Solis of doping." Mike continued. "Of course I did." He said. "Then give us your source." He told him. "What kind of career do you think I'd have if I give that up? I'll tell you what—nonexistent." Mr. Zielinski said. "Exactly like your source." Harvey spoke and sipped coffee. I nodded in agreement. "Harvey, please, could—He cut him off. "That's it. Instead of bugging me to give up my guy after I already told you no, why don't you do your damn job and win this case?" He growled and walked away.

Whilst walking, I inhaled a deep breath I didn't know I held. "Well, looks like good cop, bad cop didn't work." Mike spoke. "Actually, it did...on me." Harvey told him. We looked at him confusedly. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "If he's full of shit and has no source, he knows this eventually goes against him in court. I think Solis is doping." He explained. "Welcome to the party." Mike said sarcastically. I hummed in response. "And Zielinski may have some integrity." He added. "I thought you said he was a dick." Mike reminded. I playfully rolled my eyes. "Clearly, you don't know he made a sexist comment about Jennifer Lopez." I sassed. Harvey raised an eyebrow. "He's an ass for that. If he's actually protecting his source, he's a dick with a code." He said. I nodded. "His code is our problem. If we can't find that source, we can't fix it." I said. "Forget the source. We need to figure out how Solis passed those tests." Harvey said. "How are we supposed to do that?" Mike asked. "Not us, you two." He said, referring to him and me. Mike immediately sighed. He smirked slightly. "I'm like Zielinski, you're like Solis." He said. "An all-star." He said. "A cheater." Harvey said. I scoffed. "And what am I? JLo?" I asked sarcastically. He almost spoke until I shushed him. "Good." I said, smiling. Mike low-key snickered. "You're not gonna tell the bar association that I deserve an asterisk, are you?" He joked. A realization hit Harvey's face. "You just gave me a good idea." He said. "I hope it doesn't involve you telling the association that I deserve an asterisk." He begged slightly. Harvey said nothing but smirk. "You make a hot JLo." He muttered. "Then I'll slap the hips off of you." I sassed before winking. Mike fake coughed. "Flirtation." He joked. I rolled my eyes but my cheeks burned.

******

7:30PM.

Near Mike's cubicle, we were working on how Solis passed those drug tests. "Question, how are you here and you have a kid?" He asked. I scoffed, not looking up from the files. "Maya handled that. They went home and she'll be cooking." I told him. Mike chuckled. "So it's true. She really got something going on with Kim Seokjin." He mentioned. I covered my mouth in a chuckle. "Hell yeah." I muttered through giggles. We didn't notice Rachel approaching the cubicle. "Aren't you supposed to be off accepting the award for world's best grandson? And where is little A?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "At home with Aunt M." I told her. "Uh, I had to cancel." He said, looking up with his hands behind his head. She looked at him weirdly. "Weren't you taking her to dinner? To tell her about the apartment you bought for her to make up the fact that you don't have time to take her dinner anymore?" She ranted. My eyes widened. "So, that's the thing you two were doing." I teased. They hid their reddening faces. "For your information, she was happy when I called to reschedule." He answered. "Happy to be stood up." She said. "Happy that I have a job that fully engages me. There was a time she was worried that wouldn't happen." He corrected. My phone buzzed in my pocket. "Sorry, could be little A." I told them and walked off to answer. "Hello?" I said. Cries were heard from the other end. "Liz, she tripped on the stairs and scraped her knee." She told me. My jaw dropped. If she did, why is she calling me? "Is she bleeding? Was it a bad scrape?" I asked concernedly. "No, I'm calling to ask where'd you put the First-Aid kit. Avery, sweetie calm down. I'm on the phone with mommy." She assured. Avery isn't always good with pain. Not even small pain. Quite similar to me. She cry every time she gets a shot. I huffed. "Check the bathroom cabinet." I told her. I waited patiently. "Got it! Got it." She told me. I breathed a breath of relief and turned to see Mike and Rachel's worried looks. "Good. Take care of my baby. She is hollering like crazy." I said before her cries grew a little louder. "K! See ya later!" She said and hung up. "Everything ok?" Mike asked worriedly. I walked up to them and nodded. "Uh huh. A little scraped knee. That's all." I assured. They nodded in understanding. An envelope was in Rachel's hands. "What's that?" I asked. She inhaled a deep breath. "My LSATs envelope." She told me. My eyes widened. "Oh." I blurted. "Why the surprised reaction?" Rachel asked. I inhaled a deep breath. "I'm nervous for you. But whatever score you'll get, you're still the brightest student in that school." I spoke. "Exactly." Mike agreed. She smiled nervously. "Thanks. I think." She said, whispering the last part. I cheered excitedly. "How did you do?" I asked. "Um...I don't know." She answered. Mike lightly scoffed. "Rachel, you did the hard part. You took the test. Opening the envelope is easy." He said. She sighed. "No, every other time I've had to open the envelope—I cut her off. "This isn't every other time." I assured. She shifted herself nervously. "You want me to open it?" He asked. "No." She lied. "Yes, you do." He spoke while grabbing the envelope. I smiled. "I'll be here for you." I said confidently. She nodded. "Ok, um, if I scored below 160, then I just want you to throw it away. And don't tell me, I don't want to know ok?" She said. Mike opened it and seemed unsure. "Um...Rachel, I'm..." He trailed off. "What is it?" I asked anxiously. He looked up. "172." He told us. My eyes slowly widened. "172?" She asked in shock. Mike nodded. "You got a 172." He repeated. Rachel smiled happily. "I got a 172, that's—oh, oh, my god!" She said, laughing. I cheered, hugging her. She hugged back. We parted before she hugged him. "That's amazing! You're awesome!" I beamed kindly. She laughed and lightly hit his chest. "Thanks! Don't you ever do that to me again." She said. Mike held her shoulders. "Rachel, you're gonna be a lawyer." He spoke proudly. Rachel covered her mouth in shock. "Look, open it." He told her. She grabbed the paper and skimmed through it. "Oh my god." She muttered. I laughed. "Like I said, brightest student." I said. "See? Bam. I'm gonna be out of a job." Mike joked, walking off. My brain clicked. I smiled widely. "Happy hour this weekend! To celebrate!" I cheered. Rachel squealed, hugging me. I hugged back. "I'm so proud of you Rach." I whispered. "Thank you." She whispered. A great feeling I've felt when I graduated from Harvard. This was it.

Once I've finished gathering my stuff, I walked out my office to see from across. Harvey sat in his office with a glass of whiskey. I should probably say goodnight. But who knows? He's probably drunk out of his mind. If he is, guess who'll have to drive him home? One goodnight and that's it. I slowly walked to the entry, hearing background jazz. He stood by the window view of New York. I knocked twice. He saw me and smirked. "Elizabeth." He spoke. I smiled a little. "Hi. Just coming by to say goodnight." I said. He inhaled a deep breath. "You pulled quite a fight with Mr. Zielinski." He mentioned. "Is that a compliment or you're tipsy?" I asked, raising both eyebrows. Harvey lightly chuckled. "A compliment. You were really good." He complimented. I smiled softly. "Thank you. I've met too much tabloid junkies when I was a kid. It bothers me when they make someone's life miserable because of who they are." I told him. He sipped his glass and nodded. "That's pretty brave of you. I didn't do much good today." He said. I crossed my arms. "How upset Louis was?" I asked. He took another sip. "What do you think?" He asked. I walked up to him and huffed. "You know what? Louis is acting like this because he feels like he was never appreciated. Whatever he done or did wasn't taken into account by you or Jessica. I seen it back in that mock trial. And most importantly, I been there. Like you were never valued, respected or nothing you did was right. So, I guess what Hardman 'offered' was making him feel appreciated and valued at his job. Whatever shit he did." I explained. His eyes were full of hurt and inhaled a deep breath. "Are you saying I never valued or respected him?" He asked. My insides ripped as I studied his hurt look. "Harvey—He cut me off. "Are you saying I don't care?" He asked upsettingly. I said nothing but sigh. "Honestly, it seems like sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Then I'd try wrapping my head that maybe you aren't a jerk and maybe—just—god, I don't know! Ok? I'm leaving." I ranted, almost leaving but his hand pulled me back gently. We made eye contact in a high intensity minute. My heart was pumping out of my chest. "I never thought of you as cold or heartless. But you treat me as if I'm a bright light. That I'm anything but nothing. And you were there when I needed someone. You make me feel good. Why is that Harvey? Why do you value, respect and appreciate me?" I voiced my longtime thought. His hands cupped my face, bringing my forehead closer.

My eyes closed, breathing into the aftershave. Butterflies flooded my stomach. I madly blushed. Unknowingly, I looked up and accidentally touched his lips. I immediately gasped, parting from him. He looked at me worriedly. "What's wrong?" He asked. I pointed my lips then his. "Shit, shit, shit!" I muttered through gritted teeth. His eyes widened. "I'm sorry, it's my—I cut him off. "No, no, it's mine! I apologize! For real!" I spoke hysterically before turning around. In seconds, I began covering my mouth from laughter. Harvey instantly chuckled. I laughed. "Oh god!" I giggled. "Your laugh is too goddamn contagious. It's a crime." He joked in a serious tone. My cheeks heated crazily. I smiled warmly. "You are a crime Specter. Luckily, I like the danger." I whispered. He returned the gesture and cupped my cheek. "You're the death of me Elizabeth." He whispered. Our foreheads touched lightly, bringing our lips an inch close. I smiled. We slowly parted. A moment of silence passed. We made eye contact intensively while taking deep breaths. "Whatever happens, he won't win." I whispered, referring to Hardman. Harvey slowly nodded. "I'll win with you." He whispered in a serious tone. I smiled softly and nodded.