Bound by Law (Matt Murdock x Reader)

28. Chasing Wind in the Dead of Night, pt. 2

"Morning." You open the doors of Nelson and Murdock, and are immediately greeted by Matt's sour face, and it takes you by surprise that he's sitting at Karen's desk.

"Hey." He makes himself at least to greet you, but his voice is just above the whisper.

"Where is everybody?" You hang your coat, noticing that only Matt's was hanging.

"Foggy went out to Landman and Zach with Karen." He says, jaw visibly tightening.

"What for?" You sit in front of him and drop your purse next to your legs, together with a paper bag, whereas Matt drops the papers that he's been reading in an angry manner.

"A case." He says with a serious tone, crossing his arms.

"The Spanish lady one?" You furrow your eyebrows slightly, recalling the glare she gave you yesterday.

"Yes, the one you almost dropped." Matt's jaw tightens a little when he takes in your perfume. You poured a lot more than you usually would, but you still smell like him. Wesley.

"I'm really not used to giving out charity when this place is falling apart, Matt."

"You work for me..." he takes a longer pause than he actually needed and quickly finishes his sentence, "and Foggy, which means that you have to consult us before deciding if the person is worth our time."

"I would, but you know, the problem is that you're barely in the office, boss." You stress the last word, and Matt clenches his fist under the table. He knows deep down that you're right. Without money, they soon will have to close the office, and the money they got from Melissa's case barely covered this month's rent.

"As a defence attorney, you should start acting like one." He slips accidentally, and closes his eyes for a moment.

"Rough night, Murdock?" You dodge his statement, instead of starting the defence lawyer argument again. You still had to come a long way to become a real defence attorney, and this pressure from Matt was only putting fuel in the fire.

"Might ask you the same thing." He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms on his chest.

"A little, yeah, but you know... Exactly how I like." You say with something in your voice that Matt can't quite put his finger around, but it makes his stomach drop.

He left yesterday when Wesley kissed your forehead and closed the door. Now he would have given anything to be able to force himself to leave earlier, but his legs felt like lead, preventing him from moving. "Foggy told me that you left early yesterday."

"I had plans." You say, feeling how your mouth suddenly got dry.

"You didn't finish finalizing the case."

You roll your eyes, and feel like you're back in Hogarth, Chao and Benowitz again, on your trial-week, afraid that a minor mistake will ruin your chances of getting applied there full-time. This lawyer passive-aggressive behaviour was exactly how Benowitz treated you that first week, and exactly how Hogarth scolded you when you lost to Murdock your first case, despite winning 5 before.

"I'll do it today, that's why I'm here." You say instead, turning your head slightly to the right, as if to avoid looking at Matt.

"Try to not leave until the work day is over." He says rather coldly, but softens his tone almost immediately, "please."

"Sure, boss. I'll bore myself to death, only if it pleases you." You get ready to stand up, when Matt changes the topic, a desire to talk with you winning the battle inside of him.

"Anything important happened yesterday?"

"A charity event. For kids fighting cancer." You put your butt back on the chair.