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"Rachel, can I ask you for a very, very, very big favour?" Mike made his best puppy-dog eyes at Pearson Hardman's best paralegal.
"What is it?" Rachel asked with a sigh.
"My ten-year high school reunion is coming up this weekend, and I need a date. You're gorgeous, and I think you'd impress my classmates to hell and back."
Rachel looked at him. "What happened to Jenny?"
"Jenny and I aren't together anymore. I promised Trevor I'd leave her alone. If she went with me, it would get back to Trevor in an instant."
"No."
"Aw, come on, Rachel. Please?"
"The only reason you're asking me is because you can't have Jenny. I'm not going to be your second," Rachel told him and walked away.
Later, in Harvey's office....
"Why so glum, Mike?" Harvey asked.
"Is 'glum' even a word, Harvey?"
"I told you to put that dictionary app on your phone. Yes, glum is a word. Now, what's your problem? Spill it."
Mike explained about the high school reunion. "I got a scholarship to this school. All the other kids were a lot higher class than my Grammy and I were. I got an invitation to the reunion, and I wasn't planning to go, but Grammy wants me to go. And take pictures."
"So what's the big deal? Go, put in an appearance, take pictures, and leave. Remember, you work for Peason Hardman now. That must count for something."
Mike snorted. "Yeah, I'm a first-year associate, bottom rung of the ladder. Like that's going to impress anyone."
"But Mike, remember, you're a Harvard graduate," Harvey reminded him. "Or at least you can say you are. You don't have to tell anyone that you're a first-year associate here."
"I don't have a date," Mike blurted.
"What was that, Mike? I didn't catch it."
"I don't have a date, okay? I don't have anyone to go with. I looked at the pictures on my class reunion's Facebook page. Everyone else, all the other guys, have really gorgeous girlfriends — except for the ones who have gorgeous boyfriends, that is — and I don't have anyone to go with."
"I can help with that." Donna was standing in the doorway.
"How long have you been standing there?" Mike asked in embarrassment.
"Long enough," Donna answered with a smile. "Harvey, credit card, please?"
"Wait a minute. Before I hand over my plastic, what exactly are you planning?" Harvey asked his assistant.
"I'm going to be Mike's date, but I need to dress the part." She gave Mike the once-over. "So does Mike. Trevor's suits and skinny ties won't cut it for this occasion."
"Wait a minute! Those skinny ties are my own," Mike protested, but Donna, credit card in hand, was already dragging him out of the office.
A few hours later, after an extensive shopping trip, Donna and Mike both had new outfits to wear for the reunion, which was being held at a swanky hotel downtown.
"Let's hope Harvey doesn't look too closely at his credit card statement next month," Donna said when paying for their clothes.
The reunion party was on Saturday. On Friday, Mike paced Harvey's office nervously.
"Mike, what is the big deal with this reunion thing?" Harvey asked.
"I guess I never got over being an outcast when I was in high school," Mike sighed. "Being here kind of reminds me of it, actually. I don't fit in with the other associates. They're a lot like the guys I went to high school with."
Harvey got up and put his hands on Mike's shoulders. Mike tried to ignore the electric tingle that went down his spine when Harvey touched him. "It's just one night, Mike. Remember what you have going for you. You're probably smarter than every one of those people you went to school with. You have Donna for your date, and she's a knockout. You have a position at a very prestigious law firm. It doesn't matter what your position is here. Just working here is a big deal."
Mike sighed. He came very close to telling Harvey that he wished he were his date for the evening.
When Mike left on Friday, Harvey said, "Knock 'em dead, Mike."
Saturday night arrived, and Mike went to pick up Donna. Harvey had loaned them his car, with Ray, for the evening.
"Let's drop by Harvey's condo," Donna suggested. "He wants to see what we bought with his money."
"Will he be home? I don't want to drop in on him if he has a date or something."
"Harvey doesn't date very often," Donna informed Mike. "If he has a date, then he won't be home."
So they went to Harvey's condo for a few minutes. Harvey gave his approval of their outfits. Mike just shifted from one foot to the other nervously, then excused himself to use the bathroom.
While Mike was in the bathroom, Harvey turned to Donna. "Be good to him," he told her. He sighed. "I wish I were going with him, actually."
Donna's eyes widened. "Harvey, are you jealous?"
"Does it show?" he asked.
"You'd better believe it."
"Then why hasn't Mike noticed?" Harvey asked.
"Noticed what?" Mike asked, coming out of the bathroom.
"That your fly is open," Donna informed him. "Made you look!" she said when Mike checked.
Mike sighed and rolled his eyes. "We'd better be on our way. Thanks again, Harvey."
"Have fun, kids!" Harvey said as he waved them off.
Outside the hotel, Donna adjusted Mike's tie. "Don't be so nervous," she scolded him.
"I can't help it," Mike said. "This is a big deal."
"A big deal? Have you seen any of these people since you graduated from high school?" Donna asked.
"No," Mike admitted.
"Will you see any of them again in the next ten years after you leave here tonight?"
"Probably not."
"Then why is it a big deal?" Donna asked.
Mike shrugged. "I guess part of me is still the unpopular kid in high school wanting to fit in with the popular kids."
Donna shook her head. "When I was in high school, I learned that the popular kids aren't always worth fitting in with." With that comment, she took Mike's arm and they headed into the hotel ballroom.
Mike could tell that people's jaws were dropping when they saw him walk in with Donna on his arm. Donna was wearing a slinky red dress that left just enough to the imagination. Both her dress and Mike's suit were designer brands.
Mike's nervousness melted away when he saw how people looked at him and Donna. When his former classmates heard that he worked at Pearson Hardman, their attitudes toward him suddenly became more respectful. Someone used their phone to take a picture of Mike and Donna together — "To post on the Facebook page," he said.
What Mike didn't see was that his former classmate Carey Martin was texting that photo to Kyle, one of Mike's fellow associates at Pearson Hardman.
Not long after the dancing started, Carey approached Mike while Donna was in the ladies room. "So you're not such a big shot after all," Carey gloated. "You're just a junior associate. And your girlfriend here is your boss's secretary. Pity date, was it, Mikey?"
Donna heard what was happening as she approached the table where Mike was now surrounded by his taunting classmates, male and female. She grabbed her own phone and sent a quick text message to Harvey before returning to Mike.
Back at Harvey's condo....
Harvey lay back on his couch with a glass of scotch and sighed. Donna and Mike had come by before going to Mike's reunion. Harvey had been impressed by both of them, but especially Mike. Mike looked very good. Harvey was insanely jealous of Donna. He had thought of offering to be Mike's date, but Donna had beaten him to it.
His phone beeped. It was Donna's ringtone. Why would she be texting him when she was on a date with Mike?
Get your ass over here, said the message. You wanted to be Mike's date. Now's your chance.
Harvey got his best suit out of the closet, one he saved for very special occasions. He called a cab and headed to the hotel.
Back at the hotel....
"It is true that I'm a legal secretary," Donna told Carey and his friends. "I'm here only because Mike's real date was tied up at the office." She checked the time. "But that should be remedied soon."
"What, Mikey's real girlfriend is coming? Who is it, someone he hired?" one of the men sneered.
"You'll see," Donna answered. She then gave them the patented Donna look, the one that made grown men cringe and check the status of their privates, and Mike's tormentors backed off. "Mike, come on. I love this song. Let's dance."
Reluctantly, Mike followed Donna to the dance floor. "I'd really prefer it if we just leave now," he said to her.
"And I told you I love this song," Donna answered. "I want to dance, and you shouldn't let those guys win or it will just be high school all over again. I have something up my sleeve," she added when Mike was about to protest.
"You don't have any sleeves," Mike pointed out.
Donna insisted on dancing to the next song, too, and the next. Mike was beginning to wonder what exactly she was up to when suddenly Harvey Specter, dressed to the nines, showed up. "May I cut in?" he asked Donna.
This time it was Mike whose jaw dropped. Harvey was here, and Harvey wanted to dance with him? Just then the song ended, and the band switched to a slow dance. Before Mike could say or do anything, Harvey put a hand on his shoulder. "May I have this dance?" he asked.
"You most definitely may," Mike answered with a huge smile on his face.
Harvey took Mike in his arms, and they danced. Mike knew that everyone was watching them, but he didn't care. All he cared about was how close Harvey was holding him and how their bodies moved together.
When the song ended, Harvey bent his head and kissed Mike passionately.
Meanwhile, Donna stood at the edge of the dance floor watching Mike and Harvey with a smile on her face. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me," said a voice. Donna turned to see an attractive man standing behind her.
"My name is Stuart," he said. "You seem to have lost your date. Can I take over — at least for one dance?"
"Sounds good to me," Donna answered. "If you're good, I might let you have more than one dance."
As Stuart led Donna on to the dance floor, one of the girls who had been tormenting Mike said, "How did she do that? I've been trying to get his attention all evening!"
Donna heard her. "I'm flawless, bitch!" was her response.
As she danced with Stuart, Donna found out a few things about him. He had also been an outcast in high school. "I was a geek," he told her. "Skinny, glasses, acne, the whole thing. I spent most of my time with my nose in a book or in front of a computer screen. I wasn't any good at baseball, football, basketball or any other sports. I got stuffed into a locker more than once."
"What happened after high school?" Donna asked.
Stuart smiled at her. "I guess I'm what you call a late bloomer. I went to university and got a computer science degree. Then I founded my own company." He named one of the top tech companies in the state of New York.
Donna whistled. "I'm impressed," she said. "I can see why you don't want to associate with those douchebags." She indicated the woman who had lamented not being able to get Stuart's attention, who was with the men who had been tormenting Mike.
"Enough about me," Stuart said. "What about you? I see that you came with Mike Ross, but now he's with someone else."
"Mike was unhappy because he didn't have a date," Donna told him. "So I offered to be his date. Only later, I found out that Mike actually wanted to go with my boss, and my boss wanted to go with Mike, but neither of them was actually willing to say something to the other one. So I decided enough was enough, and I called Harvey to get his ass down here and claim Mike already."
"So you played matchmaker."
Donna shrugged. "If you want to call it that, sure."
When the song was over, Stuart got drinks for himself and Donna, and they were joined by Mike and Harvey. Harvey had his arm around Mike's shoulders almost possessively.
"Stuart, great to see you, man!" Mike greeted him enthusiastically. "I see you've met Donna. Harvey, this is Stuart Wilson, one of my friends from school. A fellow outcast, as a matter of fact. Stuart, this is Harvey Specter." Mike didn't know whether to say that Harvey was his boss or his boyfriend, so he didn't call him either one. "I hear through the grapevine that you've done well for yourself, Stuart. He owns his own tech firm now," Mike said to Harvey.
"And I understand that you, Mike, work for a very prestigious law firm. Congratulations. I knew that brain of yours would take you far."
Mike shrugged. "I'm just a first-year associate. Low man on the totem pole and all that."
"Don't sell yourself short," Stuart told Mike. "Working at a place like Pearson Hardman is a very big deal. By the way," he added. "My company is looking for legal representation. Do you have a card? I can call you on Monday."
Mike turned to Harvey, expecting his boss to take over. "He's asking you, Mike," Harvey said.
Quickly digging his wallet out, Mike found a card and gave it to Stuart.
"By the way, Donna, did you really call Shelley Sampson a bitch?"
"That little annoying blonde there?" Donna pointed. "Yeah, I did. You know her?"
"She spiked my lunch with tabasco sauce a few times when I was a freshman," Mike said. "Among other things."
"She was one of the ones who stuffed me in a locker," Stuart added.
Donna glared in the general direction of the blonde woman. "She deserves to be called a lot more than a bitch."
Harvey put his hand on Donna's arm. "Down, girl," he said.
Stuart slipped an arm around Donna's waist. "Don't be angry on my behalf," he said. "You ever heard the saying, 'Living well is the best revenge'? Well, look at me and Mike. We're living well, aren't we? We both have great jobs, and it looks like Mike here has a pretty great boyfriend."
Mike looked at Harvey when Stuart said that. Harvey leaned very close to Mike and whispered in his ear, "Yes, I'm your boyfriend now."
Harvey noticed that Mike's classmates were staring at the four of them. He deliberately made a big show of leaning over and kissing Mike. When he was done he kept his arm around Mike, as if to show that Mike belonged to him.
Suddenly Mike remembered that he'd told his Grammy he'd take pictures. So they took turns passing the camera around and taking pictures of each other — Mike with Donna, Mike with Stuart, and Mike with Harvey, along with some pictures of Donna with Stuart and Mike by himself.
"How about we all get out of here?" Stuart suggested. "I'm sure we could find a place that has a better atmosphere and nicer people than this one."
Harvey offered Donna his credit card. "How about the two of you go have fun," he suggested. "Mike and I will head home now."
Donna refused the card. "I have my own," Stuart told Harvey. "Mike, I'll call you Monday morning. Harvey, great to meet you." Then he and Donna were off.
Turning to Mike, Harvey said, "My place?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
END