AN: Yay, Mummabro for being number 40 in the reviews. Thanks to all of you for the thoughts on the last chapter. Alloutte, that was so kind and I hope that I can keep earning that high praise. Thanks for the comments on the plot flow Master's daughter; I worry about that sometimes. So happy to contribute to your jubilance Crimson92501. Lastly, glad you are enjoying the daily postings innocence2652. Hope you all enjoy the M and Cas banter here.
He sat across from her pouring over the all too complex memos and exchanges from one government agency to another. There was no simplicity in bureaucracy and these papers proved it. When Niveus would communicate with one agency then an entirely separate agency would respond. Sometimes Cas wondered if there were documents missing as they did not go together in a coherent path.
M sat at her side of the conference table clearly bored. She was supposed to be there answering his questions. She clearly was not enjoying her role. "If you are bored, you can leave. I don't mind calling with questions." Cas offered.
"Nope, sugar. Boss don't like it when we share certain stuff over the phone. We only do this in person." She got up and wandered over to the cabinet on the far wall of Cas' office. She popped open the door and peered inside.
"Can I help you find something?" Cas asked while she closed the door.
"Nope. You have boring cabinets. Where do you store your libations?" She moved on to another cabinet and popped it open.
Cas got up then to arrest her progress. He pressed the door closed and said, "I don't store alcohol in my office. This isn't the 1950s." Cas beckoned her back to the table, "Besides, isn't it a little early for that?"
She sauntered back to the seat and plopped herself into it with exaggerated frustration. "Bored, bored, bored."
"Sorry, I couldn't be more entertaining." Cas laughed a little at her as he returned to his seat.
"You do realize that this is all rather...unnecessary?" She swept her hand out over the papers on the table to indicate what she meant.
"Really, you think that putting together an acceptable defense for your boss is unnecessary?"
"Yep, complete waste of time. You should just scrap this effort. The sunlight beckons and beyond it there will be a sad little bar with daytime drinkers just waiting to welcome us with open arms." She smiled what likely was her most charming smile, all teeth and wide-open eyes. The way that her wavy brown hair fell around her face framed her in a manner that gave her face a sense of youth. Cas looked at her and thought, not for the first time, that she looked like an adult cherub and kind of cute, for a girl.
"So, clearly we have just taken the short trip to Bizarro World." He tried to begin working again and was successful for a few minutes. Then her finger tapping on the table became a new distraction.
"Did you ever wonder why Mr. Crowley picked your little firm?" She threw out at Cas.
"Everyday."
"Do you think that you are special?"
"Nope."
"There, you go. That was the first right thing you have said all day."
"What are you talking about?"
"We have a lot of lawyers."
"Still not following."
"The case that you are working on will never go anywhere. You only have to get the evidence together, but if you don't we have back-up."
"Not for this case though."
"Meh, maybe. This case is nothing though. The FDA wants to approve this. They don't care how we got our results. They just need us to make it so that everything looks good. So, that's your job, but you are not the only one working on it."
"Well, now I feel rather pointless." Cas sat back then and wondered what to do next.
"That is why we should work elsewhere. Come on, sugar, get me a drink."
Cas stood then and scooped up the stack of papers. "I'm only going along with this if you let me work."
"Fair enough. Thank God, you're not as stiff as I thought you were."
Cas had to laugh at that. "I am. I just know when I'm losing, and I cut my losses."
"You're going to have to teach me that skill." She laughed and they headed out.
They found the most smokey dive the city had to offer within walking distance from the office. Cas was nervous about the clientele. They seemed rough, but his mind was put at ease by M's casual attitude.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this. How am I going to work here?" Cas slipped into a dark booth deep in the bar.
"You were powerless against my charms." She laughed at him and added, "You forget that I do this for a living, manipulate people. Gotta admit though, I thought that you'd be more of a challenge."
"Hmm, maybe I wanted a little change of scenery too. Sometimes my subconscious is my guide." Mostly Cas just didn't want to believe that he has been manipulated.
"Well, call me Jiminy Cricket then." She playfully punched him on the arm and added, "What are you drinking?"
"What does one drink at 10 am?" Cas asked with a wry smile.
"A Bloody Mary if one is trying to pretend that morning drinking is any different from afternoon or evening drinking." She stared at him though and said, "You, my new friend, are going to have a gin and tonic."
"Fine." Cas tossed her some cash and she took it and headed for the bar. Cas pulled out the papers to at least feel like some facade of work was occurring. M returned with their drinks a few minutes later.
She slid into the booth and was opposite him. She tipped her head back with her beer in hand and took a long pull from the bottle.
"So, why is it that you think my little firm is so insignificant?" Cas asked while lifting his drink to his lips.
"We do our best to retain as many lawyers as possible. Any firm worth noticing will find us knocking at their door. Even if we don't use you much, we have set up a conflict of interest for you that keeps you out of our enemy's back pocket."
"Who is your enemy?"
"Plural, sweety, and that is a list that is too long for this conversation." She finished off her beer and proceeded to twirl the bottle around on its base. "So give me your deets."
"What do you mean?" Cas asked and swirled the drink with his pointless tiny straw.
"Your deets, you know. Married, kids, your job is your life, etc." She ran through the list rapidly then stared at him.
"Not married. No kids. Married to my job. Gay." He responded with equal speed. "What about you?"
"Not married. One kid. Married to my job, but it's a rocky marriage. Straight." She stared at him as if she were trying to read him. "In a relationship?"
"Sort of. It's complicated." He stammered out.
"So, your arm candy at Ezra's...Is that the 'sort of it's complicated?" She asked.
"Yes. It is too new to call it a relationship," Cas explained.
"Well, I can say this for you, you have good taste."
"So, you were at the party? What did you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. Did you like it? Did you find it enjoyable? I don't know." Cas was just trying to make conversation that didn't involve a discussion of his maybe kind of not sure yet relationship.
"Well, I am not the kind of girl to shy away from free alcohol and a vista of pretty boys, so I would say that the party was mostly satisfying. How about you?"
"I found it all to be a tad ostentatious." Cas took a sip of his drink then went back to swirling the ice around.
"More of a beer and pretzels kind of guy?" She reached over to the peanut bowl on the table and popped a couple in her mouth. She grimaced as though they contained all of the tasty dust that they appeared to contain.
"Not really. I just like things to be simple and orderly. When a place gets to be that big or that full of people, it is hard to see it as orderly. It's just chaos. If that makes sense."
"Well, it certainly fits what I read about you in your dossier."
"What? You had a file on me?"
"We do? You were a fascinating read."
"Really? What did you learn?" Cas considered all of the odd little tidbits that could be floating around about him. He felt a knot of discomfort growing in his stomach and chose to drown it in a gulp of the gin and tonic.
"Don't worry, it wasn't like reading a novel about you or anything. It was just sort of like taking someone's vitals. Where you went to school, who your roommates were, your grades, your parents and siblings, significant connections, and such…"
"What do you mean by significant connections?"
"Oh, you know. Who popped your cherry and such."
Cas choked on his drink and began sputtering in gasps.
"Oh, sorry, sweety. I was so joking. God you are easy. I might just have to make our little visits a habit just for the entertainment that you afford." She laughed at him and waved a hand of dismissal. "We looked into marriages and domestic partnerships. We don't really care about the casual hook-ups."
"Still, kind of makes me uncomfortable." Cas had somewhat recovered his composure. "So why ask me if I was married or had kids?"
"Because I am polite. It would be the height of rudeness to just say hey let's drink and not talk since I already read all about you." She smirked at him now and popped up out of the seat. I'm getting more beer, and then we will play darts.
She left before he could offer up a protest. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. Dean would be here in a little more than an hour. He would have to make some sort of effort if he were to extricate himself from M by then. He drank down more of his drink, but not all of it. He didn't want to give M an excuse to get him a second.
She returned to the booth, beer in hand. "So, miss me?" She was so comfortable in this wretched place, that Cas had to laugh a little.
"I don't get you. How can you be comfortable here. I mean, I can honestly say that I would never have come through that door if you hadn't dragged me, and yet here you are acting like this is your second home. Are you always like this?"
"Always."
"Well, it seems like a lot of work to be that comfortable all of the time, everywhere."
"Are you uncomfortable?"
"I am, pretty much, always a little on edge." Cas admitted with a slight shrug.
"Well, I just find that it is all a little easier when you just stop caring so much about what other people think. People are all selfish dicks anyways, so just have fun and be yourself."
"So, you think that all people are selfish dicks and that is why you are so easy going?" Cas shook his head as if trying to wrap his mind around it all.
"Yep, selfish dicks, the whole lot of them." Cas pondered this for a minute before he realized that she had likely just tossed him into the pile of selfish dicks and he found that mildly irritating. His face must have provided a tell because she spoke up then, "Of course, now you are wondering, why I think that you are a selfish dick. Now here is the best part, Cas, my buddy. I am an expert at reading people. I can just absolutely tell what they want me to say, and then it is my job to kind of give them what they want. So, I'm looking at you and all I'm seeing is this guy that wants me to say Oh, don't worry, you're different. So let me get this out of the way. Everyone is a selfish dick, but you Cas, who I only just met. You are likely the one exception." She smiled her most toothy smile of the morning and cocked her head to the side placing her hands up to her cheek in mock sincerity.
And there was his opening. "Well, this selfish dick will likely need to cut this meeting short. I have a lunch meeting scheduled for 12:30."
"Oh, is it business or pleasure?"
Cas wasn't sure how to answer because he really didn't see it as any of her business, but he erred on the side of honesty. "Pleasure."
"Well, great. I'll join you. One shouldn't drink on an empty stomach." She bounced up out of the booth then and headed for the door. "Well, are you going to sit there all day?"
Cas threw a couple of bucks onto the table and, with resignation, followed her out the door.
Review, Fav., Follow. I am so ready for you all to see the next chapter. Dean joins them for lunch. 'Till tomorrow.