Log: Matt and Warren

[x-daredevil.livejournal.com]

Matt Murdock, junior lawyer at Worthington Industries has an unfortunate run in with the Big Boss. Fortunately for Warren, he doesn't get hurt. He does have an important question to ask later.



"I'm telling you, this entire thing is bullshit," Matt said into his headset as he headed out of the Worthington Industries building where he worked. His white cane arced smoothly before him making sure the path was clear, "I just sat through a three hour meeting of absolutely nothing from my superiors and the expectation is that I'll somehow pull a rabbit out of the hat and solve the problems and win the case," that probably wasn't entirely fair, there were other new lawyers in the meeting, but still. They each needed that rabbit if they were going to succeed and competition was tough.

His cane hit something solid, but not metal. So not one of those silly giant potted trees or a pole or anything. "Hold a sec, Clint. Sorry," Matt stated, realizing it was a leg. "Wasn't watching where I was going," obviously. Idiot should have moved.

A beautiful day meant that Warren liked to be outside more often than not. Add to that a rather long and detailed meeting with senior and junior lawyers, and it exacerbated his nerves.

All he needed was a brisk walk to get his head back on when one of the younger lawyers walked right into him while speaking on the phone. Seems he felt the same way about the meeting.

Marvin? Mark? Warren couldn't remember his name, but he recognized the man. After all -- he had to ensure that the office was accessible for the man.

Max?

"I apologize," he said sincerely, side stepping the man. "I didn't see you coming. I should have let you have the right of way."

Oh, shit. There was no mistaking the voice of Warren Worthington, III. He had been in the meeting too, which hadn't helped things. The VP wasn't a bad guy that Matt could tell, but his presence made the meeting go longer and be even more stuffy than usual. "Mr. Worthington," Matt said smoothly, reaching up to the headset in his ear and hanging up on his brother. He didn't need to listen to Clint cackling about making an idiot of himself in front of the uber-boss. This was awkward, how much of the conversation had he overheard? "Excuse me."

"Not at all," Warren replied calmly. "It was my fault, and I take full responsibility for it. After all, I did subject you to a rather tedious meeting. There truly is no way to make this information interesting, although I have to agree with you: there were perhaps too many leaders in the room."

Translation: he heard more than even he thought he'd heard.

Double shit. He might as well just shoot himself in the foot and be done with it. "Everyone wants to shine," Matt replied, wanting to be magnanimous. They especially wanted to catch the attention of the son of the CEO and get that recognition or promotion. Matt did too, but not this way. "There's a lot of complicated nuances to this though, there is no one cut and dry solution, which is what everyone wants to present with a big bow on top. I wish it were that easy, but that's not why we're your law team."

This was more amusing than he thought it would be. It was obvious there was no malice, it was simply venting, but he was enjoying this. It was good to be boss.

"Exactly. You are the best, which is precisely why you were hired. I have no doubt that what is required of you can be accomplished, without too much trouble." Again with the calm and collected voice with a slight hint of warmth. "Deadlines are a boundary we all need to respect." He put his hands in pockets loosely. He did understand the frustration. Joel, the project lead, tended to micromanage, demanding to review everything and be included in everything. It was an asset when he was a junior lawyer,but now, as a supervisor,it was more of a hindrance.

He'd told Stanley not to promote him.

Maybe this was a good opportunity to get some information. "If this was your project, how would you deal with it?"

Matt considered the question thoughtfully for a moment, leaning slightly forward, both hands on the top of his cane. It was a familiar stance that he used when thinking like this, "Most of the meeting earlier was only for the senior team. The juniors could have been dismissed after an hour, which would have meant more time to work on their pieces without having to stay as late, which leads to better morale overall. I understand wanting everyone to stay apprised of things, but that be done through a summary later," why not just stick his foot in everything? Then again, Worthington had asked. Being micro managed when required to do things differently by necessity was no fun. Neither was listening to his coworkers complain about their relationships tanking because of the hours they had to work. Matt didn't date much, but he had his own reasons for that.

Warren nodded slowly. Nothing the lawyer was saying was news to him, but it was true. He'd wondered some of the same things when he worked in that department, many years ago. "I think those are valid points," he stated. "And I appreciate your honesty. Here at Worthington Industries, we understand that our employees are our backbone. It's with dedicated persons, like yourself, that we are able to strive for excellence. I hate hearing about low morale, but long hours are an unfortunate necessity in this field."

"Of course, long hours are the norm, we all expect that " Matt agreed, "but staying an extra hour is preferable to three," it was all about balance. He reached for his wrist, checking his watch, "and actually, I was just headed to get dinner before coming back for the evening." It was important to get out of the building sometimes. Matt was also considering a workout. Worthington industries had an employee fun in the building, but Matt didn't use it, not wanting to draw attention to himself or his powers.

"Absolutely. Thank you for having this chat with me." Warren stepped aside and started to walk towards the office, before stopping and turning around.

"Mr. Murdock." Finally. He knew he remembered his name. "Do me a favour -- when you're finished your work today, come up and see me please. I'll let my assistant, Jolene, to pass the information on to security. I'm there late, so don't worry about bothering me. And of course, this is considered overtime. Your time will be compensated appropriately. " It wasn't really a suggestion.

"Of course, sir," Matt replied automatically, internally cringing. Shit, shit, shit! He was screwed. So, so very screwed. Well, it was nice having a job while it lasted. If nothing else though, he had a contract and was salaried, that was something.




Three hours later, Matt had worked out, eaten and finished his work for the day. Now he was standing in the waiting area of Mr. Worthington's office for his secretary to buzz him in without letting his nerves show. A lot of people complained that he had a great poker face, but those who knew him would recognize the death grip on his cane and tenseness in his jaw as signs of stress. The next step was fiddling with his cane.

A peppy looking blonde, wearing a very expensive Gucci wrap dress finally walked into the waiting room. The no-nonsense look in her face belied her youthful expression. "Mr. Worthington will see you now. Please follow me."

She waited until he stood up before walking back where she came, her heels making audible clicks on the tiles. Without knocking, she opened the frosted French doors which led into Warren's office.

Said man was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, scribbling furiously on a tablet. "Mr. Murdock," Jolene said by way of introduction.

"Thank you, Jolene." With a nod, the blonde left quietly, leaving the two alone. Warren put aside the tablet and leaned back on his chair.

"How was your dinner, Mr. Murdock?"

Following the secretary, powers or not wasn't difficult with those heels. Not every blind person was trained to follow sound like that, Matt wasn't really, but his powers made it easy. "Quick," Matt replied, placing a hand on the back of a chair for orientation. He hadn't been invited to sit, but he also didn't want to look like a fool fumbling for a seat. "Did you eat?"

"I have dinner reservations after this meeting.". Warren waved to Matt to sit down, but realized quickly that the hand gesture wasn't appropriate.

"Please, have a seat. I have a few things to discuss with you, and I feel I should assure you that this meeting is in no way related to poor performance."

That...was a relief. Matt frequently felt that he had to work two or three times as hard as anyone else for the same treatment both because of his disability and his upbringing. His uncles were well off, but Matt still remembered the slums he'd called home for years. Taking a seat, Matt folded his cane up with practiced ease, setting it against his leg out of the way. Canting his head slightly to the side, he waited for Mr. Worthington to begin.

Warren stood up, and clasped his hands behind his back as he walked. "Let me preface this conversation with a disclaimer. What I'm about to ask of you will have a direct effect on this conversation, you need to know this. You also need to know that this is a non-judgmental, safe place to speak."

He stopped in front of his desk, and leaned back, his hands gripping the edges behind him. "What're your thoughts on mutants?"

Matt blinked behind his dark sunglasses. That was unexpected. Once again, he thought carefully before speaking. "It's a genetic mutation that could happen to anyone, but those who manifest it and can't hide it or are found out later are all but burned at the stake. Current sentiment and politics remind me of the eugenics practices in the 1930's combined with a healthy dose of McCarthy-ism. What with M-Day recently, feels are running high. Quite frankly they scare people, but if you're so scared of them, how scared are they of themselves? It's another excuse for people to hate people really. And I don't know if you're a religious man, Mr. Worthington, but I was taught that God didn't make mistakes and was all-loving. Period."

Warren couldn't help the crooked grin. Ever since his conversation with Sue a few days prior, he couldn’t help but constantly think about it. Generally speaking, the tight social circle attitudes tended to spill over into other themes. With the M-Day incident still fresh in everyone’s minds, he was worried about what was going to happen, and he didn’t want anyone to get affected by it. "Excellent. I knew you were the right man for the job. I share the same attitude as you -- mutants can't help their genetics, and truly, it's their own business if they can create fire or read minds. That's why I need your help.". He pushed himself off the desk, and started to pace again.

"I'm sure you're aware of the current societal and political climate. People don't like mutants. Bottom line. I don't care one way or another, but I'll be damned if my employees and business have to suffer for this." He reached to a glass of water on his desk. "By the way, to your left, on the table,is a bottle of water if you're so inclined." Warren took a healthy drink, and continued speaking. "I'm starting a working group to help draft an anti-discrimination policy, specific for mutants. And I'd like you to be the legal representative on that team. How does that sound?"

It sounded almost too good to be true. It wasn't quite Matt's specialty, but that didn't matter. "I think it's going to put a giant bullseye on Worthington Industries," he replied honestly. Reaching for the bottle of water, Matt uncapped it and continued, "It's going to make the company and you specifically very unpopular with the shareholders, lobbyists, PACs, hate-groups, and everyone else. That said, doing what's right isn't easy and is rarely popular. You'll probably lose some employees too, but you'll open yourself up to hiring those who need a break." Translation, of course he'd do it. "But you need to be prepared for the fallout."

"Hence the working group. I have taken people that I've personally chosen to work in this group. The group's main purpose is to figure out how to balance the needs of my employees along with the needs of my business. As I'm sure you're aware, I will one day be CEO and I have a vision, Mr. Murdock. A vision of inclusiveness. " Warren didn't need to explain anything, but he felt he owed it to the young man. "There are several phases to this project. It's not something that will be done overnight."

He paused and took another sip of water. "All that aside, there is still one large part I neglected to tell you. If you choose to be on the working group, your hours will increase, of that there is no doubt. You will not able to speak to anyone about this project." He reached to his desk, and pushed an intercom.

"Jolene, please bring in the agreement."

A few moments later, his assistant walked in, placed an iPad on the table beside Matt and left, as briskly as she came in.

"On the tablet is a standard non-disclosure agreement. In addition to that, there is an intellectual property clause as well the terms for breaching. You will be fired. Immediately, and with no chance of re-hiring. Feel free to look it over. I want you to go into this being aware of the risks."

Pulling his headset out of his pocket, Matt slid the earbuds into his ears so he could go over the agreement, "I understand," it wasn't like he had a girlfriend to get angry or anything like that. Matt wouldn't sign anything without looking it over, that wasn't a question, he was a lawyer, but that said it was an interesting proposition. "How long do I have to look this over?"

"You tell me. I've thrown a lot of information at you today. How long do you need to process this?"

"Two days then," Matt replied. This was something he would make sure he read and understood. "I assume this would be my primary project then?" Long hours he didn't mind, but he wasn't going to do the work of 3 people, which would be what would happen if he did. This was potentially the case of a lifetime though. He couldn't turn it down because win or lose, it would make history.

"I would expect you to complete your regular tasks, on top of this project. That being said,it's a small commitment right now, an hour or two a week. As it builds in momentum, then we can discuss different job duties." He walked back to his chair and sat down. "Two days then. You can communicate directly with Jolene. And keep the iPad. You'll need it for this project."

That made sense. Matt nodded to himself and stood, slipping the ear buds back in his pocket. "Alright," he agreed, that was very doable. "Anything else, sir? You did mention a dinner engagement after this."

Warren thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing else for now. I trust we will be in touch, Mr. Murdock."