Obedient

The door slammed shut, and Steve flinched. “Rough day?” he asked when his girl stomped into view.

She threw her briefcase down, kicked both shoes halfway across the room, and promptly burst into tears. “I hate my job!”

Knowing that wasn’t true, but smart enough not to contradict her when she was already - clearly - feeling shitty, Steve scurried across the room to wrap her in his arms. “You want to tell me what happened?”

She sighed and relaxed into him. “You know how I had that big meeting this morning? The one I’ve been prepping for, for like three days?”

Steve nodded. “The Peterson case, for the boy witness? Yeah, I remember.” She’d only been driving herself crazy about it.

“His mother called it off. Charlie is too scared to testify. Says he’s being bullied at school, and now thinks someone is following him.” She pushed away from him to pace back and forth, something she only did when she was extremely agitated. “A message was left on his answering machine. A robotic voice stating, “Snitches get Stitches.’”

Steve hissed in anger. “The father?”

“Or his gang friends. It already sucks the kid had to witness his father knock off the bodega the kid worked at, but then to watch as his loser dad murdered his stepfather, the only man who’d who’d ever given a rat’s ass about the kid? Fuck, Steve! Just fuck!” She kicked the sofa and cursed again, having already removed her shoes. “Then after I spend an hour trying to convince Mrs. Peterson we can keep her son safe, and we will put them in witness protection to keep them safe, she still backs out on me. After, I was in the middle of chugging a cup of coffee when Marion shrieks at me to get in her office, startling me so bad I dumped the entire cup down the front of my blouse.”

She unbuttoned her jacket to show the dark stain on her pale blue shirt. “That one was a favourite of mine,” he murmured, saddened by the loss.

“Mine too,” she pouted. “So Marion reamed me out for not convincing Charlie to testify, but what was I supposed to do? He’s fourteen and terrified, for Christ’s sake! I can’t force him!” She threw up her hands. “So I spent the rest of the day knocking on doors and looking for anyone else who might have seen Charlie’s father enter or leave the bodega, but of course no one saw anything. I’ve got damn near nothing besides Charlie’s testimony. No gun, no surveillance.  Just that boy, and if he doesn’t testify, his bastard of a father walks! And to really ice this shit brick of a cake, now Marion is threatening to give the case to someone who can “get the job done.” I can’t catch a win on this, Steve! I need something to work for me! One damn thing to go my way and do as they’re damn well told!” She dropped to the couch with a flop, more tears falling from her eyes.

Steve watched her for a moment, knowing she needed to release the pent up stress and anxiety before her rational lawyer brain, that big beautiful brain he’d fallen in love with, could kick in and find a solution.

Already barefoot and dressed for bed in sweats and a t-shirt, he’d been waiting for her to get home, aware from her short texts and clipped calls she’d be late. A few silent steps took him to the couch where he knelt before her knees. “Then tell me.”

She cracked open her eyes to look at him. “Tell you what, Steve?”

“Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. Anything you want. Right here, right now. I’m yours, baby girl. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”

She blinked once, the angry frustration clearing slowly from her features. “Take off your shirt, Steven,” she murmured.

He stripped it off without hesitation but refrained from grinning when she hummed in appreciation.