what they wouldn't do | DAREDEVIL

chapter fourty two

trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault (non graphic, but i want to throw it here in case) 💗

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Roughly One Year Ago

            The first month of Sarah's new position at Orion, Inc. was full of unfortunate surprises. The first and most obvious being the job itself, which she had been shoved into with little warning. The second was the discovery that her new supervisor—a tall, sneering man named Ronan—was among the most detestable of the company's employees; much worse than James Wesley, who had been the one to 'offer' her the job in the first place.

The third and worst surprise was when she opened her first paycheck. There was no accompanying stub with a breakdown of hours worked or deductions—and why would there be? Had she forgotten what kind of company this was?—but she was certain there had to be a mistake. Had they accidentally left a week out?

It wasn't as though they had an HR department she could ask, so she had to resort to something she had quickly learned to hate: knocking on Ronan's office door.

Ronan didn't look surprised to see her entering his office. In fact, he looked expectant and almost—gleeful? The sight immediately set her on edge.

"Um...I think there's a mistake," she said hesitantly. "With my paycheck."

"What kind of mistake would that be?"

Sarah looked down at the check, then back up at Ronan's smug expression. She held the check up.

"There's barely anything in it?" she ventured.

Ronan squinted theatrically, as though trying to read the check from across his desk. "Mmm...no. Looks right to me. Maybe you just don't understand how the math works."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to keep her breathing steady. He was always playing these weird games with her, and she hated it.

Ronan rolled his eyes, then pointed at the chair in front of his desk.

"Take a seat," he said.

Sarah was reluctant to make herself any more comfortable in his office than necessary, but she did want to know what was happening with her pay, so she took the chair.

"Didn't Wesley walk you through the logistics of this arrangement?" Ronan asked. "Were you not listening? You do the work, we keep half the money to pay off daddy's debts."

"He said it would be a—a portion," Sarah argued. "Not half."

"Half is a portion. A big one. Plus, there were a few special deductions I had to take out myself," Ronan said. At Sarah's confused stare, he elaborated. "We don't pay you to just show up here and look pretty. You have to actually do your job. So all those breaks where you go—I don't know—cry in the bathroom or whatever you do? That's not paid. Neither is the time spent staring a the clock like you'll make it go faster. So...that's the pay you actually earned."

Sarah hadn't realized until now just how closely Ronan watched her while she was at work, and the knowledge made her skin crawl.

"But I can't survive on this," she said. "I have to pay rent, and bills, and—and buy groceries—"

"Then I'd suggest you pick which one of those is most important to you," Ronan said with a callous sneer.

Sarah bit the inside of her cheek hard to stop herself from responding. It wasn't like he needed a response to continue anyway.

"I feel bad for you. I really do. It's not like you can go get a second job. You have no real marketable skills," he said as he stood from his chair and walked around to lean against the desk in front of her. His proximity made her want to get up and run, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was making her uncomfortable. "Remind me again what you were doing before this? Playing the violin?"