Mo preferred her style to be business high fashion rather than casual so when she strode up to the familiar building under a dark umbrella and still wearing her sunglasses though the day was drifting into night. The scarf around her neck was a soft blue while her blouse, pants and blazer were all stark white. As soon as she stepped inside she noticed a light on in the building where it was usually already dark. She approached the office, suitcase in hand and bag slung over her shoulder.
“Roman you piece of shit, I thought you’d be off breaking someone’s heart by now. What in the hell has you here so late?” The two had worked on cases together before though she could tell the man was not as obsessed with equal rights as she was but he also was a lawyer and lawyers always overworked themselves.
The lawyer only smirked at the crass lilt, lifting his head. “You don’t think I can’t break a heart or two from here?” He inquired, offering Mo a playful grin. He was wrapping up a few things before heading back to his high-end apartment to hang out with his dog. Breaking hearts, taking for people for all they were worth, it all amounted to the same thing.
“Always nice to see you. What a lovely color scarf.”
Running into Mo typically happened by chance; his cases would run during the day and he made sure to be gone before anyone could inquire about anything preferring to hit the usual watering holes for prospective, under the table, clientele.
Roman waved to the office chairs that sat before his large desk, an offer to Mo to sit if she wanted to. Shoot the shit for a bit before they parted ways. He always wondered if she was lonely there at night before the evening staff came.
Realizing she’d rather stall before she had any real work to do, Mo placed her briefcase by the door and made her way to the chair across from Roman. “Thanks.” She muttered at his compliment and dramatically draped herself in the chair. “You will not believe the assholes I am dealing with in this case. Do you know that the opposing attorney told me to stop being so emotional? What does he think this is? The 1970’s?”
She’d met men like him before back then, always invalidating her words based on her gender. Hell, even in the most accepting of environments she found herself marginalized. “I have a phone meeting with him again at seven and the only thing that’s going to save me from going insane is a fucking drink or a good fuck.” Mo had been surprisingly dry in the dating pool for some time. Maybe it was because she was married to her work but frustrations were definitely building.
She thought for a second with an exasperated sigh. “Want to help me with one of those?” The drinking, not the fucking. Despite how pretty he was, the idea of sleeping with any man was enough to make Mo sick.
“Not everyone has the same grace and tact with beautiful women that I do,” Roman murmured. He knew Moira preferred those of the same sex but charm was one of the skills he had ingrained deeply within himself. It was a natural reflex by now. “They don’t always appreciate strength. Many are also intimidated by strong women.”
He offered her a shrug and eased open a drawer on the bottom right of his desk.
The soft clink of two small glasses could be heard as he drew them from the depths of the drawer. Both would be set on the flat of the counter and then Roman retrieved a bourbon bottle that was half empty.
Amber liquid would be splashed into the glasses. The bottle went away and Roman offered Mo the first glass.
“Always happy to help a friend in need.”
Without hesitation Mo took the glass and began to sip gingerly at the liquid inside. A refreshed sigh came from her lips as she inspected the glass. “You’re a lifesaver.” Although she wasn’t technically alive, the sentiment was the same regardless. The burn felt good down here throat and she wished she had eaten before she came. Damn white suit.
“Tell me something, please. Anything. What had been going on with you?” She wanted nothing more than to avoid thinking about dealing with these assholes.
Roman chuckled at her comment, sipping from his own glass. He leaned back against the leather plush of the office chair, watching Mo on the other side of the desk.
He mused for a moment, trying to decide what to divulge. “Besides wrapping up a case, I suppose the usual things - I am seeing this young man from Searchlight, trying to find new clients, I have an appointment to take Frou to the groomers this weekend.” Boring stuff, but he had an idea Mo would want to know more about the morsel that was Tal.
Mo had made it a point to never meet Romans dog. Ever since she stopped draining people she’d developed an appetite for household animals, especially ones she thought were mean. “You’re seeing someone or you’re fucking someone?” She asked with a quirked eyebrow. From the few years they’d been working together (or rather her under him since he was a partner) she’d never thought of him as the settling down type but she could be wrong.
Luckily Roman didn’t mind her japes, she had to hold her tongue anytime she had a chance to see the other partners or rather partner recently. A bit part of her hoped they’d consider her but she didn’t get a lot of face time with any of them.
“Well,” Roman began, smirking. “Fucking, but winding my way in little by little,” he explained. He didn’t care much for relationships, personally, but that was the pathway to Tal’s trust and so he would play along for a bit. Her instincts about him would’ve been spot on.
He didn’t care about her mannerisms. A person was who they were and as long as Mo minded her own business during the off hours, Roman couldn’t care less about what left her mouth.
“I have a question for you,” he began, taking another sip. His eyes dropped. He considered what he wanted to say, working through it.
Finishing off the glass she tilted her glass toward Roman to indicate she’d like another. The phone meeting wasn’t for another hour or so she’d have plenty of time to get to her office phone before then. “Lay it on me, you know I’m an open book.” At least to those she knew. People on the street didn’t need to know any of her personal information any more than she wanted to know any of theirs.
Once the drink was poured she leaned all the way back in her seat and sipped gingerly at the drink.
At her gesture, Roman pushed the bottle toward her instead of offering to take her glass. She could indulge as much as she wanted - Mo was grown enough to know her own limitations - knowing she had business to conduct ahead. He understood their line of work could be stressful, taking the edge off once in a while wasn’t wrong.
He glanced up at Mo and grinned, “What would you say if I wanted you to interview for the open partner position?” It was something he had tossed around with the other partner here, and both of them had come to the same realization - that Mo could realistically be a good fit. They could operate twenty four seven and capture more business that way.
“Only if you’re interested, of course.”
That was definitely not what Mo was expecting to come out of Romans mouth. In all honesty she would have been less surprised if he had asked her to bury a body. She remained speechless for a minute, trying to gather the racing thoughts as they zoomed through her head. “Are you fucking kidding?” She asked, a huge smile on her face.
Realizing the nature of what he’d just said and the fact that he was still very important person around here Mo sat up in her chair and put the half-empty glass on the desk in front of her. “I had no idea I was being considered. Of course I’m interested!” If she’d still been human her face might have been flushed from excitement but things like that didn’t happen to her anymore.
“Well, for starters you’re familiar with the business,” Roman began. He sat up in his chair, set his feet on the floor, and then swiveled around to see her better. A moment would be taken to consume another sip from his glass before he set it down. “Plus you’re around during the hours that Porter and I could only dream of being awake for. In the sense of business and serving clients, it fits. A lot more goes bump in the night than during the day.” His shoulders shrugged.
He offered her a smile. “I can convince Porter to give you a chance to talk, he doesn’t know you the way that I do. And with Schram no longer with us, I feel as if a bit of alleviation of cases could allow he and I more flexibility to work. Of course, you can handle the clientele who require moonlight to thrive, not that it would be strictly those you’d get, and vice versa.”
She stood from her chair, smoothing down her blouse and placed her hands in her pockets. “Okay, I can work up a proposal and have it ready to present by Monday at the latest.” She was never one to procrastinate when it came to something she was actually interested in doing. If she was a partner she could work on more high-profile cases and even afford to do some pro-bono work.
It really was a smart idea considering the fact that she was the only one in the office meeting clients at night. Even the paralegals were sent home at five like everyone else. She smiled at him and couldn’t resist the urge to throw her arms around him. “Thank you.” She said before quickly pulling back.
Roman nodded, grinning at her. “No, thank you,” he chuckled, amused at her eagerness. Honestly they needed another partner regardless of who it was. Mo had the experience and a leg up on the community he’d been trying to crack into for ages. She was useful. “I expect good things to come.”
He didn’t mind the small embrace, either, though naturally he smoothed out the front of his jacket and shirt. It was habit.
“Good luck on your call. If you need anything, you’ll let me know, yes?”
She gave an exaggerated salute and grabbed her briefcase by the door. “Good things will come, I’m going to start on a presentation right now.” She had a few hours to kill and this was better than reading over the files of case she couldn’t move forward on for another week.
She rushed out the door and waved him goodbye as she made her way to her office to settle in for the night.