There were few things Phoenix liked better than watching Mia Fey at work. When he was supposed to be studying trial procedure or putting away paperwork, he stole the occasional glance of his boss at work behind her desk. He took care not to watch her for very long; she would notice if he stopped what he was doing and give him an exasperated frown and a gentle admonition to get back to work. He didn't mind, because watching Mia engrossed in work was exciting. Mia working on a case in her tidy office was a beautiful and dangerous scene.
Despite her warm nature, Mia cut an imposing figure behind her desk. Her perfect posture that made her seem taller than she was and her crisp movements thrilled Phoenix as he watched her work on a case. She had already been a lawyer for three or four years when he had asked her to take him in as her protégé, and the way she handled her trials showed her experience. Everything she did seemed just right, as if she was performing a choreographed dance accompanied by the rhythmic scratching of pen against paper and the well timed rustles of pages being turned with care.
The way her hair fell over her face and pooled on the desk when she was more invested than usual in her work made Phoenix want to push her hair back. He liked seeing her face when she was focused on a case. Her eyebrows would furrow in concentration and her lips would purse as she pondered her argument. It was this expression of deep thought and focus that had made him want to train under her. Nothing could bother Mia when she was wholly concentrating on a case, and he thought she was the most beautiful when she was thinking.
Phoenix couldn't keep his eyes off Mia when they worked late in the office. She was less grumpy at night and her scolding was more playful. "Take a picture, it'd last longer," she laughed as she caught him staring at her yet again one evening. He laughed along with her, his cheeks growing warm in embarrassment that she had caught him. This was in the beginning of their tenuous relationship, when he still couldn't believe that his gorgeous mentor had agreed to go out on a date with him, let alone agree to a relationship. As their relationship blossomed, Mia scolded him less and less for watching her as she became used to spending time with someone else. Phoenix was only too aware that since her old boyfriend had been poisoned by his first girlfriend, Mia had kept to herself most of the time.
It terrified him to have to interrupt Mia when she was hard at work; her face would contort into an uncharacteristic mask of frustration as she curtly answered whatever query he had and promptly returned to whatever she had been doing with an air of determination. Phoenix had learned not to take this cold behaviour personally; she would apologise when she was finished with a cup of tea and a warm smile that he felt compelled to return. As they grew closer, she would add a gentle peck on the lips to her apologies, and suddenly Phoenix wished he had interrupted her more.
Mia was intimidatingly beautiful when she was working and Phoenix would give anything to see her working behind her desk again. After her death, her desk, that was clean and efficient seemed cold and barren. He couldn't bring himself to work there; it brought back too many memories of Mia and it didn't feel quite right. It felt almost invasive to sit down behind her desk and begin to work on a case; he preferred using the coffee table as he had done before her death. Maya would question why he wouldn't work in the office, and Phoenix would shrug with a sad smile and shake his head.
That's Mia's desk.
