Who: Matt Murdock daredevil What: Giving some free advice When: Recently Where: Elevator at his condo complex Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Matt is highly observant for a blind guy. Status: Complete upon posting.
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"I'm so sorry! I know, I know! We've got to quit meeting like this."
Her laugh was fake; it was getting harder and harder to pretend not to notice. Matt was able to school his expression into his standard smile of polite acceptance. He'd been 'the blind guy' long enough to know how to look blind even if he could 'see' in a sense these days. The building he lived in had a doorman, elevators which required keycards to access, and additional keycards along with a floor key to get off at a condo. This woman lived on the fourth floor. She had been divorced before she'd moved in. Matt thought her real name was Tamara, but she insisted on being called Tami with an 'I' and only one 'M.'
Matt got on the elevator to go down for his run in the evenings at exactly fifteen minutes to six of the evening. Tami got on the elevator almost precisely five minutes later in order to catch him. She made it a point to brush against him, her hand touching his own for a brief flirtation before she moved beside him. It had been years since he'd taken up residence in the building she also called home. Matt had never let her know more about him than the basics: male, unmarried, blind, lawyer, native to California and New York and nowhere else at all. He wondered now why he had never told her there was no chance he would ever take her out. Wasn't it more cruel to let her think something would happen when it wouldn't than to tell her the truth to spare her the pain when she found out?
"We should," Matt agreed, deciding he was tired of playing the good blind boy, "Tami, you should know I'm seeing someone. It might leave your evenings free to do something other than ride the elevator down to the lobby with me while we make painful small talk. Don't."
He was so tired of people trying to lie to him. The sound of their erratic heartbeats made Matt want to throw himself into a hole deep enough to reach the center of the planet. They wanted him to stay helpless, figuratively blind as much as literally. Matt was tired of happy people grasping to hold onto their happiness while pretending they were terrified of winding up like him, crippled in a way he couldn't understand because he'd been born the way he was with nothing to compare his way of life to other than pure extrapolation.
"Don't try to lie to me. It's condescending in a way I really don't like and I was raised not to treat others rudely. You don't have a job. You live on alimony from your last husband who you still hate but not for the reason everyone thinks you do. You hate him because you loved him and he broke your heart. Not because he cheated on you with a younger woman. You don't own a dog or any other pet. There's no reason for you to leave your place at exactly the right time to meet me other than to meet me. I could go on. I'm highly observant. For a blind guy."
Tears were streaming down her face. Matt could smell the salt as much as the oilly residue being washed away from her painted cheeks. He'd never seen a woman's makeup run, but Matt could smell it all the same. If he focused on her closely enough, he'd be able to hear the exact shape of her as it was presented to him. They were alone in the elevator. He supposed that was one small kindness he offered her except it was more or less happenstance. Their building was protected. It was why Matt had chosen it, why everyone who lived there chose it.
Blocking the view of her from the lobby, Matt stepped to the doors as they opened, "Wipe your face. Go back upstairs and take a cool shower. There's a really, really nice happy hour at the lounge three blocks over called The Waterhorse. I know a very interesting banker who has a fondness for scotch who will be there. You? You're exactly the kind of woman who would make his happy hour happier. Think about it, Tami. You can hate me all you want, but it's a good suggestion. I get paid really well to make good suggestions. This one's free."
It went without saying as Matt got off the elevator leaving her behind: the next time he gave her a suggestion it would come at a very high cost.