Cooking Up Love - Tumblr Posts

I just love the fic and the world you've drawn us readers into further and further. Very much recommend it even if readers are not avid Daredevil followers. It still makes sense and that's so special.

The guanciale may be easier for some to find depending upon where they live, but yeah, it was a big deal (it ain't cheap) when I brought it home after the road trip but it was worth it. So much flavor. Cold pan to start and let the fat render out and wow. Pancetta still works but if you ever get the opportunity, try it and see. TBH, sometimes those little things (I prepared it with my S.O. not unlike Matt and Reader) are worth more than a trip to a resort to me. Just laundry and taxes and cooking together because it's the company one keeps.

As far as basil, several plants in the garden, and thanks to your story and also the timing of the slightly cooler temps/shorter days I picked a bunch this morning and made pesto because how could I not after reading Chapter 7?! You're such an inspiration!

Ultimately though, it's the characters and how you bring them alive for us. It's a real treat (obviously in more ways than one) and I'm going to be sad to see it conclude but until then, it's been such a pleasure.

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 7

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love, pining... so much pining

Word Count: ~3800

A/N: As promised, here's the 2nd half of Chef Matt & Reader's Sunday afternoon together! Enjoy!

And thank you as always to @theradioactivespidergwen for the super cute divider she made for me!

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

Where the hell are we going? you wondered as you and Matt headed away from Clinton Church. 

It wasn't like you weren't afraid he was taking you off somewhere to murder you -- you truly did feel safe with Matt and hadn't been lying when you had said that you trusted him. "Any hint as to where we're going?"

Matt shook his head. "I know it sounds weird, but I'd rather just show you, if that's okay?"

You nodded. It seemed important to Matt that your destination remain a mystery, so you decided not to push. "Okay."

You continued walking past various shops and storefronts until finally Matt stopped. "Okay, we're here."

You peered at the faded letters on the door. 

Fogwell's Gym

You remembered Matt saying that he frequently worked out after service, but couldn't quite understand what was so special about the location that required the need for secrecy. Well, at least that explains the gym bag.

Matt pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door before stepping inside. "Come on in."

You followed him into the darkened gym and waited as he turned the lights on before looking around.

Cubbyholes lined the wall to the left of the door while several punching bags hung to the right. A large boxing ring was situated in the middle of the room, with wooden steps leading up to it. 

Matt gestured towards what you assumed was the locker room. "I'm going to go get changed into my workout clothes. Be right back."

You nodded. "Okay."

While Matt was in the locker room, you took the opportunity to look at the flyers advertising various past boxing matches tacked to the wall. Johnson vs Lewis, Conway vs Roberts, Creel vs Murdock…

You sucked in a breath, reaching out to touch the poster. Creel vs Murdock. Now it makes sense.

You heard Matt come out of the locker room and set his bag down. 

"This is where your dad trained, isn't it?" you asked, your eyes still on the poster.

You heard Matt sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

You turned towards him and froze. As handsome as he was while wearing his chef's coat and black slacks or a t-shirt and jeans, he was even more gorgeous in a black tank top, gray sweatpants, and tennis shoes.

Your gaze drifted up to his face. His glasses were gone, revealing beautiful hazel eyes that were fixed in your direction. 

Matt must've felt you staring at him, because he ducked his head and began rummaging through his gym bag. "I, uh, I started coming here back when I was in culinary school," he explained. "I was struggling during my first semester and thinking about dropping out, so I came to the one place I knew where I would feel close to my dad to see if I could figure out what he would say."

He took out a small bundle of what looked like Ace bandages and began to wrap his hands. "I was having a particularly bad day that day -- there was this one professor who had been giving me a hard time about my need for certain accommodations -- so I began to take my frustration out on a punching bag."

You had found when people started to open up it was better to just let them keep talking rather than interrupt with questions, so you remained silent.

"With each punch I could hear my dad telling me that he was proud of me," Matt continued as he finished wrapping one hand and started on the other. "And that Murdocks never give up no matter how hard things get. So I decided to stay in culinary school and work my ass off to prove that I have what it takes to be a great chef and make my dad proud of me."

Before you could second-guess yourself, you walked over to Matt and wrapped your arms around him in a hug.

You thought for a split second that you might have crossed a line, but before you could let go and apologize Matt relaxed into your embrace, circling his arms around you and tucking his face into your neck.

You held him briefly, then let go and stepped back. 

Matt began to redo the wrap that he had begun, keeping his face turned downward. "I've, uh, I've never actually told anybody about that before. Not even Foggy."

Your heart constricted. You couldn't even begin to imagine the hardship that Matt must have had to go through in order to prove himself as a chef. "Thank you for sharing it with me."

Matt paused. "I don't suppose I can ask you to keep that off the record, can I?"

You nodded. "I will, if that's what you want. It'll stay just between us."

Matt huffed out a breath. "Thank you."

You sat on the bench as Matt moved in front of the punching bag. "So, I suppose you're going to show me some moves, huh?"

Matt chuckled. "If you'd like."

You watched as Matt did a few stretches, appreciating the way his biceps flexed as he moved. And if your eyes drifted southward, well… you were only human. Cake, indeed. One could bounce a quarter off of that ass.

Your eyes snapped back to Matt's face, which bore a small smirk. 

He reached out and touched the punching bag, found the center, then adjusted his stance, raising his fists in front of his face.

You watched in fascination as he skillfully maneuvered his way around the bag, landing punches as if he was squaring off against one of the greatest fighters of all time. He certainly doesn't fight like a blind man.

Finally he paused, chest heaving.

He steadied the punching bag. "Would you mind handing me that towel, please?"

You resisted the urge to lick the sweat off of his neck. "Oh, uh, yeah, sure."

You handed the towel to him. "So are you sure you haven't had professional training?"

Matt grinned as he wiped his face and neck down with the towel. "Yeah, I'm sure."

He draped the towel around his neck and picked up his gym bag. "I'm going to go take a quick shower and change, but I'll be back in a minute, if that's okay?"

You nodded. "Yeah, of course."

While you waited for him to return you checked your phone for messages, replying to an email from an artist you had featured a few weeks prior thanking you for your article.

You put your phone away and stood, glancing briefly over at the entrance to the locker room before walking in front of the punching bag.

You closed your eyes, curled your right hand into a fist, and swung, missing the bag completely. 

You opened your eyes, frowning. Maybe I wasn't close enough.

You moved a bit closer, then closed your eyes again.

You swung at the bag, this time barely connecting.

"...Your stance is off."

You gasped and whirled around, a hand flying over your chest. "Jesus, Matt, you scared me."

Matt stood next to the boxing ring, this time dressed in a dark blue t-shirt that clearly showed off his muscles and dark blue sweatpants.

He smiled softly at you. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

You shook your head, trying to calm your racing heart. "It's alright. I was just… um… just…"

"Trying to figure out how a blind man can hit a punching bag so easily?" Matt nodded in understanding. "I probably should have told you, but I'm not actually completely blind."

"Oh," you replied, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, I just assumed…"

Matt shook his head. "It's okay. The chemicals that got into my eyes basically fried my synapses, so whatever is directly in front of me looks like a black mass and the rest of my line of vision is what I can best describe as a 'world on fire'."

He tapped the side of his glasses, which you had belatedly realized were back on his face. "The red lenses help neutralize that part."

You huffed out a light laugh. "And here I thought you just wore them because they made you look cool."

Matt grinned. "You think they make me look cool?"

More like slightly mysterious and incredibly hot. Your face heated slightly. "Eh, maybe a little."

Matt shook his head with a chuckle. "Ready to head out?"

You nodded. "Mmhmm."

Matt gestured towards the door. "After you."

"So, where to next?" you asked as the two of you headed outside.

Matt shook his head. "Actually, that was my last errand." 

"Oh." You couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that you had to go your separate ways. "Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Matt bit his lip. "Um, that is… unless you'd like to have dinner with me tonight? My place? My apartment's not too far from here."

You nodded, unable to keep a smile off of your face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd actually really like that."

Matt unfolded his cane. "Great!  I mean, it's the least I could do after you helped me out this afternoon at the soup kitchen."

Your heart sank slightly. Of course he meant it as a thank-you, how else would he have meant it? "Oh. Um, it was no problem. I was happy to help."

Matt turned the opposite of the way you were facing. "This way, then."

As you headed down the street, you couldn't help but entertain the thought of Matt having invited you over for dinner not because he felt obligated to as a thank-you, but because he hadn't been ready for your time together to end either.

You mentally shook your head. It's just as a thank-you for helping him out at the church, that's it.

…You just wished it hadn't been.

Why the hell did I say that? Matt thought to himself as the two of you walked towards his apartment. He'd had every intention of asking you to have dinner with him as a (sort-of) date, but the second you had said yes he had second-guessed himself and blurted out the bit about it being as a thank-you for helping him out at Clinton Church. 

He mentally shook his head as the two of you stopped at a crosswalk. Maybe I can fix this.

Before he could say anything, you cleared your throat. "You know, I'm sure you're tired and I don't want to be an inconvenience, so I actually think I'll just head ho--"

"No!" Matt shook his head. "I mean, no, it's not an inconvenience. I was going to make something to eat when I got home anyway, so it's not a problem to make an extra serving."

He inwardly cringed. Way to make things worse. "Actually, what I meant was that I've really enjoyed your company today and would like to have dinner with you."

He could feel you relax. "I've enjoyed your company today too," you admitted softly. "If you're sure it's not a big deal…"

Matt nodded. "I'm sure."

"Then okay. I'd love to have dinner with you."

Matt smiled in relief. "Great. And actually now that I think about it, I do have one more stop before we get back to my apartment. I need to harvest some herbs from my plot at the community garden, but it'll only take a minute."

"Okay."

The two of you continued on as the crosswalk signal beeped and changed to walk .

"So what kind of herbs do you grow?" you asked.

"All sorts of culinary varieties," Matt replied. "Rosemary, thyme, basil, lavender, and mint."

"Oh, cool."

Matt nodded. "Unfortunately I have to outsource my herbs for the restaurant since I don't have the space to grow the amount that we would need, but this works for my own personal use."

He slowed as you reached the garden. "Welcome to the Hell's Kitchen Community Garden."

"Oh wow," you said. "I never even knew this was here."

Matt led you down the center path then to the right, following along the fence line to his plot in the back corner. "It hasn't been here too terribly long, maybe six months or so."

"And you said Claire from the farmer's market runs it?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah. She petitioned the council to turn the property into a community space and keeps track of who has which plot and everything."

You hummed. "I might have to talk to my boss about covering the community garden for the paper too. This is really neat."

"That would be great. It definitely would raise more awareness and hopefully bring more funding for upkeep." Matt stopped in front of his plot. "This is mine."

He knelt down and felt his basil plants before picking a few leaves and placing them into a small storage container he kept in the side pocket of his gym bag. "All set."

He led you back out of the garden and down the street towards his apartment building, frowning at the distant rumble of thunder. Well, there goes my plan to have dinner on the roof. "Sounds like it's about to rain."

"Yeah, it does seem like it's getting a bit cloudy," you replied. "Is your place much farther?"

Matt shook his head. "No, it's just up ahead."

"Oh, okay."

You walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

"Okay, here we are," Matt said as you reached his apartment building.

He led you to the elevator and pressed the button for his floor, the sound of rain beginning to fall as the elevator began to ascend. "Sounds like we made it just in time." 

"Yeah, thank goodness," you replied. "I wasn't expecting it to rain so I didn't bring my umbrella with me."

You can always just stay the night… Matt shook his head. "I have one you can borrow if you need to, or I can call you a cab if it's still raining hard when you leave later."

He took his keys out of his pocket as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "This way."

He led you down the hall to his apartment and unlocked the door, then opened it and ushered you inside as another roll of thunder rumbled overhead.

He closed the door and dropped his keys into the bowl on the side table in the entryway before folding up his cane and setting it next to the bowl. "Come on in."

He tried to ignore his sudden nervousness. It had been a long time since he'd had someone who wasn't Foggy or Karen in his personal space and hoped you wouldn't judge how barren his apartment was.

He turned on the lights then headed to his refrigerator. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, um, sure," you replied. "Whatever you're having is fine."

He heard you walk over to the large window in his living area as he pulled out 2 bottles of beer along with a block of pecorino cheese and some pancetta. He had gotten an incredible deal on his apartment because of the gigantic neon sign that was situated on the roof of the neighboring building, so he was sure that was what you were looking at.

He quickly washed the fresh basil he had picked and patted it dry, then set the cheese and pancetta down on the kitchen island before popping the tops off of the bottles and walking over to you. "Here you go."

Your fingers brushed his as he handed you the bottle, a now-familiar tingle coursing through Matt's veins. "Thank you."

Matt swallowed and took a sip of his beer. "Quite the view, huh?" he said, gesturing out the window.

You huffed out a laugh. "It's very, um… picturesque."

Matt shook his head with a grin. "Funny, that's exactly how the real estate agent that sold me this place described it." He leaned in conspiratorially. "I have a feeling she might not've been telling me the truth though." 

You laughed again. "Okay, it is a bit obnoxious."

Matt chuckled. "I really do keep meaning to get some blackout curtains, but since it's just me it's never really been a bother."

You hummed. "I honestly don't mind it. It gives your apartment an interesting glow."

Matt could imagine the two of you together on his sofa, the glow of the billboard the only light in the darkened room as he gently caressed your cheek, your lips inches from his own--

He mentally shook his head and gestured to his kitchen island. "Have a seat and I'll get started on dinner."

He heard you sit as he began to gather the rest of the ingredients, placing the eggs he had taken out of his refrigerator that morning into a bowl and setting it on the island before washing his hands and filling a pot about halfway with water.

He set the pot on the stove and seasoned it with some salt, then turned the burner on high to let the water boil.

He crossed back to the island and roughly chopped the fresh basil he had picked, then quickly whisked together 3 egg yolks and an entire egg before grating a generous amount of cheese into the mixture, giving it an additional stir before setting it aside.

He could feel you quietly watching him as he unwrapped the pancetta and began cutting it into small cubes, unable to help but wonder what you were thinking. You'd had the same focus the day before when he had made your crepes, but you had been recording your conversation then and had asked questions about his culinary process. This felt… different. More personal, like you were deep in thought.

He cleared his throat. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"What?" You startled slightly. "Oh, sorry, it's nothing. Just trying to figure out what we're having for dinner."

You were lying to him, but Matt couldn't figure out exactly why or what about. "Oh, I'm making spaghetti carbonara. It's traditionally made with guanciale, but my supplier was out, so pancetta will have to suffice for today."

"Your supplier… Oh, right, Frank, wasn't it?"

Matt shook his head then moved back to the stove, dropping the spaghetti into the pot of boiling water before moving the pancetta to the pan. "He doesn't do cured meats. I get those and other specialty items from Nelson's Meats."

You made a curious sound. "Nelson… as in Chef Nelson?"

Matt nodded as he stirred the pancetta around. "Foggy's family owns it. Best capicola in the tri-state area."

He finished cooking the pancetta and turned the skillet off, then scooped some of the pasta water into a measuring cup before draining the pasta and adding it to the pancetta. "Dinner's almost ready if you want to move to the table."

"Okay."

As you moved to Matt's dining table, he gave the egg mixture another stir before pouring it into the pan, adding a bit of the pasta water and using tongs to mix it all together.

Once it was a perfectly smooth consistency, he added some freshly-ground black pepper and separated it into two bowls before adding an extra sprinkle of cheese and some chopped basil on top of each serving. 

He placed a fork in each bowl, then brought them over to you, setting yours in front of you and his in front of his spot across from you. "Dinner is served."

You gave a slight gasp. "Oh my goodness, Matt, this looks amazing."

"Thanks." Matt quickly grabbed two wine glasses and gave them a quick rinse before taking a bottle of Pinot Gris out of his refrigerator and pouring you each a glass. 

He set your glass down before sitting across from you. "The beer we were drinking doesn't really go with carbonara so I've selected a wine pairing, if that's alright?"

You gave a hum of affirmation. "Of course it's alright."

Matt nodded. "Okay, well, enjoy."

He waited nervously as you took a bite.

You let out a pleased sound. "Oh my goodness, this is so good."

Matt grinned in relief. "Yeah?"

"Yes, absolutely. Everything you've made for me so far has been amazing." 

"I'm glad." Matt took a bite of his own carbonara, the silky smoothness of the sauce pairing perfectly with the crispy pancetta and al dente noodles. "It's not quite traditional carbonara but it's very close."

"Right, you said it's traditionally made with guanciale."

Matt nodded. "And no herbs are usually added, but I like the flavor a bit of fresh basil adds to the dish."

"Mmm. Mmhmm. Yeah, I like it too."

You both continued eating and once you were done, Matt stood. "Here, I'll get this for you."

"Thanks."

"I'm afraid I don't have any dessert prepared, but would you like another glass of wine?"

"Yeah, I'd love one."

Matt grabbed the bottle of Pinot Gris and refilled your glasses. "Care to go sit on the couch?"

"Sure."

You took a sip of wine as the two of you sat together on Matt's sofa. "I really like your apartment, by the way. It suits you."

Matt shook his head with a small smile. "It's not much, but it's home."

You huffed out a laugh. "It's not what I originally expected, but to be honest, neither were you."

"Oh?" Matt turned towards you. "And what did you expect?"

"About you or your apartment?"

"Mmm, both, I suppose."

"Well, had I based my idea of what your apartment would be like on my first impression of you it would've been cold and industrial with no heart."

Matt winced. "Ouch."

"However, having gotten to know you over the past few days I would say warm and inviting with a certain charm."

A smile spread across Matt's face. "You think I'm charming?"

"Your apartment? Very. You? Maybe a tiny bit."

Matt smirked at the teasing tone in your voice. "A tiny bit? I guess I'll just have to work harder on charming you then."

You let out a light laugh. "No need, I'll send you a copy of my article before publication anyway."

"Okay, thanks." Although that's not the reason I want to charm you.

You finished your glass of wine. "And speaking of my article, I should probably get going -- I have to be at the Bulletin early tomorrow for our weekly staff meeting."

Matt nodded and stood. "Here, I'll walk you out."

"Thanks for inviting me along today," you said softly as you reached the door. "I had a really great time." 

Matt nodded, unable to keep a smile off of his face. "I did too."

"I'll see you tomorrow evening?"

Matt nodded again. "Six o'clock?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect."

"Okay, great."

The two of you stood there for a moment longer. Finally you reached out and gave Matt a brief hug. "Goodnight, Matt."

Matt hugged you back, committing what he could of you to memory. "Goodnight."

He waited as you let yourself out, an idea forming in his mind.

…He just hoped he was able to pull it off.

"How was Chef Hottie's cake?" Oh, I like Skyler. Skyler knows. Skyler knows Reader more than Reader cares to admit...Chef Hottie, haha!

Kelsie, mmmrawr, claws out there. Could be trouble with that one.

Back to Skyler: you go detective! Each question revealing just a little more of the 'and then what happened' because each answer goes further and further into the place that Reader is scared to go. Loved how she grilled Reader and backed her into a corner until Reader is thinking, "hmmm, maybe?" But Reader gonna waffle so I hope Skyler keeps going matchmaker...

Chef Hottie Matt all excited and looking forward to the recipe tasting and then does the same thing overthinking it. Beginning to wonder if there is a spanner going into the works somewhere in this timeline and will it occur before or after the main course? Only you know!

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 8

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love, love confessions (but not to each other 🫠)

Word Count: ~2650

A/N: Short little filler chapter here to move the plot along, but next up is the big "recipe testing" dinner!

Thanks as always to @theradioactivespidergwen for the divider!

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

"So? How was it?" Skyler said as soon as she saw you in the staff break room the next morning.

You laughed and shook your head. "Can I at least make some coffee before you start interrogating me about my brunch?"

"Oh, I already took care of that." Skyler turned and handed you a to-go cup from your favorite coffee shop near the office. "I know how much you hate Monday morning staff meetings and figured I'd get something for you while I was getting my own coffee."

You took a sip and sighed blissfully. "You are an angel, you know that? I owe you one."

Skyler took a sip of her own beverage. "So spill, girl, spill! How was Chef Hottie's cake?"

You shook your head with a grin. "Ok well first off, it's Chef Matt , and secondly, his crepes were excellent once again, as was the omelet I ordered. You really should check the restaurant out for Sunday brunch at the very least, although I'm sure their dinner menu is amazing too."

Skyler took another sip of her coffee as you walked into the conference room together and sat. "How was the rest of your day? Hopefully you did something more exciting than watching a bunch of senior citizens play bingo."

You nodded, smiling to yourself as you thought about your afternoon and evening with Matt. "Actually, yeah. Matt invited me along on his after-work errands yesterday afternoon so I could observe him outside of the kitchen."

"Ooh, so you got to spend the whole afternoon with him? Lucky. So what did you two do together?"

"He volunteers to cook for the soup kitchen at Clinton Church on Sundays after the restaurant closes, so I helped him out with that, then I watched him work out at the gym for a bit, then he asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him."

Skyler's eyes grew wide. "He asked you out on a date ? Way to bury the lede!"

You shook your head. "No, not a date , he just invited me to have dinner with him at his apartment as a thank-you for helping him out at the church, that's all."

"You went to his apartment? " 

You opened your mouth to tell her that it wasn't a big deal but was interrupted by Ellison walking into the conference room. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," he said. "First order of business: Kelsie, welcome back. Glad to see you're feeling better."

You glanced over at Kelsie, who was sulking at the other end of the table.

Ellison looked at his notes. "Okay, so assignment updates! Skyler, how was the fundraiser for the senior center?"

"Great," Skyler replied. "I sent you my article last night."

"Okay, good. Mark, what's going on in sports this week?"

Mark, who wrote the sports column, sat up in his chair. "I've got an interview with Coach Calhoun on Wednesday and Coach Dempsey on Thursday, so the article about the big rivalry between PS 114 and PS 118 will be ready to go for Friday's edition."

"Excellent." Ellison said your name. "How's the Restaurant Week feature coming?"

"It's coming along great," you replied. "Chef Murdock has been really open and cooperative, so it'll be no problem getting that article to you by EoD Wednesday."

Ellison nodded. "Fantastic. Okay, new assignments. Skyler, you're covering the music festival this weekend. They'll have a press pass for you at the gate. Kelsie, since we switched up the Restaurant Week feature you're now going to be handling the daily report on what each participating restaurant is featuring. Everyone else, you know your assignments. Let's get to it."

You stood and picked up your cup of coffee.

"Not enough to steal the Features position out from under me, was it?" you heard Kelsie say from behind you. "Now you're going after the lead story for Restaurant Week too."

You turned and raised an eyebrow. There had been a (one-sided, in your opinion) rivalry between you and Kelsie ever since you and she had both been up for the Features position six months earlier. "Oh damn, you caught me. I made sure that you would get food poisoning just so I could swoop in and steal the Restaurant Week feature when I know nothing about the culinary industry and had never met Chef Murdock until a few days ago after the article was assigned to me. And as for the Features position, I won that promotion fair and square. It's not my fault that my article was better and that you bombed the mock interview, just like you would've tanked this one."

Kelsie scoffed. "Yeah, right. I'm sure he would've been extremely 'cooperative' with anyone interviewing him -- as long as they were female and had a pulse."

You shook your head. "I'll have you know, Chef Murdock has been nothing but professional towards me the entire week."

Kelsie smirked. "Oh didn't you know? Matthew Murdock will do anything -- and any one -- to try to salvage his reputation, so there must be a reason if he's not hitting on you."

Before you could respond she turned and flounced out of the conference room.

"What a bitch," Skyler muttered under her breath.

You shook your head. "I'm not worried about her. Ellison knows what I'm capable of."

Skyler sighed. "Anyway, I want to hear all about your not-date with Chef Hottie. Lunch later?"

You nodded. "Sure."

"Great. I'll swing by your desk around 11:30."

"Okay."

You went back to your desk, dutifully ignoring the daggers Kelsie was continuing to shoot your way, and worked on your other tasks until it was time for lunch.

You looked up as Skyler stopped by, purse in hand. "Ready?"

You nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of you walked down the street to your favorite food truck. 

"Okay, so tell me everything ," Skyler said once the two of you sat down at a nearby table with your food. "Like how you went from going to Daredevil for brunch to a private dinner with the chef."

"There's not much to tell," you replied with a light laugh. "But okay."

You took a breath. "I had told Matt on Saturday that I was planning on coming back to Daredevil for Sunday brunch because the crepes he had made during the cooking demo he did for me were really good, so he told me to get his staff to let him know that I was there and he'd come say hi."

A small smirk graced Skyler's face. "So he was willing to drop everything in order to come talk to you, got it."

You shook your head. "He wound up bringing my order out to me, so while we were talking he asked me if I would be interested in seeing how he develops his recipes so I agreed to stop by Daredevil tonight after work for another cooking demo. Then he asked me if I wouldn't mind accompanying him on his after-work errands since he thought that it would be beneficial to my article for me to spend some time with him outside of the kitchen."

Skyler huffed out a laugh. "Right, beneficial to your article, sure."

You smiled and shook your head. "We went by Clinton Church first to cook for the soup kitchen--"

Skyler held up a finger. "Wait a second. So he asked you to spend the afternoon with him out of the kitchen, then brought you to a different kitchen to watch him cook?"

You shrugged. "I didn't mind. He usually cooks at Daredevil and just brings everything over to the church, but he asked me if I wouldn't mind coming over early and he'd just do his cooking for the church over there instead."

Skyler raised an eyebrow. "Mmhmm, so he could spend even more time with you."

" Anyway, after we finished up at the church we headed to his gym since he frequently goes after service to unwind."

Skyler grinned. "Ooh, so you got to see him all sweaty?"

You nodded. "The arms on that man, let me tell you…"

"And the ass." Skyler did a chef's kiss. "You can't tell me you didn't check out his ass."

Your face heated. "Well… maybe a bit."

Skyler gasped. "You did! I knew you were interested in him!"

You groaned. "He's so handsome and sweet and funny and genuine, not to mention an incredible chef… but I'm writing a story about him for the paper, it's completely unethical for me to be thirsting after him -- even though it's absolutely unfair how good he looks in a tank top and a pair of sweatpants."

Skyler shook her head. "Your story's due, when, Wednesday? After that you won't have to worry about journalistic integrity or whatever's stopping you from jumping his bones. So how'd you wind up going home with him?"

You wrinkled your nose. "Don't say it like that, you make it sound so… clandestine ."

Skyler rolled her eyes playfully. "Okay, fine. Having dinner, happy?"

You chuckled. "Yes. After he was done at the gym I asked him where to next and he said that was all he had left to do so I said okay and that I'd see him later, but then he asked if I'd like to have dinner with him as a thank-you for helping him out at the soup kitchen. I agreed, so we stopped by his plot at the Clinton Community Garden to pick some fresh basil then headed to his apartment."

Skyler waved a hand at you to go on. "Where you…"

You shrugged. "Where I drank some wine and ate some delicious carbonara, then sat and talked with Matt for a bit on his sofa before I went home."

Skyler's eyebrows raised. "Wait, you were serious? Nothing happened between you two?"

You shook your head. "I mean we hugged before I left, but that was it."

Skyler shook her head with a sigh. "Girl, if you can't see what's going on…"

Your brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"He's clearly interested."

"What? No he's not."

"Oh come on. He invited you to his apartment for dinner."

"As a thank-you, I told you that."

Skyler took a sip of her drink. "I'm telling you, girl, the man is into you! He's probably holding back because he thinks you're not interested."

You shook your head and stood. "Come on, we need to get back. I'm sure Kelsie is looking for any excuse to report us to Ellison."

Skyler groaned then stood as well. "Yeah, you're right. But I am too, and you know it!"

You threw your trash away and started back towards the office, your mind racing.

Skyler had to be mistaken. Matt couldn't actually be interested in you… could he?

Matt grinned to himself as he headed towards Clinton Church. He had spent the morning finalizing his plans for your "recipe tasting" dinner and was eager to get started on prep, but he needed to pick up his supplies from the church's activity center first. 

Father Lantom had left him a voicemail that morning saying how appreciative everyone had been of the hot meal and how nice it had been to meet you. 

Matt's mind drifted back to the previous day. While you obviously wasn't as quick and skilled in the kitchen as he was, Matt had still been touched by your willingness to help out however you could, even if it meant doing menial tasks such as slicing up tomatoes and cucumbers and dividing salad dressing into servings. 

God , he had wanted to kiss you when your fingers had brushed against his while you were handing him his measuring cups, then again when you had hugged him at Fogwell's after he had told you about his dad, then again in his apartment when you two stood listening to the rain by his window, then again when you were getting ready to leave…

He sighed. Hopefully everything went according to plan tonight.

He stepped into the office at Clinton Church. 

"Matthew, hello," Sister Maggie, one of the nuns from the adjoining convent, said.

"Hi," Matt replied. "I'm here to pick up my culinary supplies from the activity center." 

"Oh, yes. Father Lantom did say that you'd be dropping by to pick up your things." Sister Maggie took a set of keys out of a drawer. "He's out on an errand at the moment, but I can let you in."

"Great, thanks."

He followed her out to the activity center.

Sister Maggie unlocked the door. "How is the restaurant doing?"

Matt shrugged. "It's… surviving so far. We're not doing nearly as well as I'd hoped we'd be by now but I'm hoping that the article that's going to be in the Bulletin next week will help drum up some business."

"Oh, the restaurant is being featured in the Bulletin? That's wonderful."

Matt shook his head. "Moreso me than the restaurant, but yeah. We're going to be on the front page of the Restaurant Week kickoff edition."

He paused, smiling softly as he thought about you. "Actually the reporter from the Bulletin who's doing the story on me was here with me yesterday."

Sister Maggie hummed. "Oh, yes, Father Lantom did say a young woman was assisting you, but he was under the impression that you two were seeing each other."

Matt shook his head. "What? No, we've only known each other for a few days, although…"

He sighed. "There's something about her that… I don't know, she makes me feel comfortable around her. She's kind, and gentle, and caring…" And beautiful. I have no idea what she looks like, but I know she's beautiful. 

Sister Maggie hummed. "She sounds lovely."

"She really is."

"What's her name?"

Matt smiled as he said your name.

Sister Maggie gave a hum of recognition. "Oh, yes, she's the one who does all of those lovely human interest stories, right? I do enjoy reading those each week."

Matt nodded. "Right."

He bit his lip. "I wanted her to get to know me outside of the kitchen -- for her story, of course -- so I, uh, I took her to Fogwell's after we left here yesterday and wound up telling her about Dad. She already knew about his murder -- she had done some research before our interview -- but I told her about growing up with him and how he always encouraged me to get an education."

Sister Maggie reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go. "Your father was a good man, you know."

Matt nodded. "I know."

She sighed. "I know I haven't always been there for you in the ways you've needed me, Matthew, but for what it's worth, I'm really proud of you."

Matt nodded. "Thanks… Mom."

"So what are you going to do?"

Matt furrowed his brow. "About?"

Sister Maggie said your name. "She's not seeing anyone, is she?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't think so. At least, she hasn't mentioned anything in that regard."

He gestured towards the kitchen. "She's actually coming by the restaurant tonight to taste-test some new recipes for me, so I better get going so I can get started on everything."

He headed into the kitchen to get his cart.

Sister Maggie gave him a hug as he came back out. "Goodbye, Matthew."

Matt hugged her back. "Bye."

He headed towards Daredevil, his mind swirling. He knew you were attracted to him -- at least physically -- but there had been something holding you back. Could you be seeing someone?

Matt had assumed you were single based on your availability over the weekend, but just because you were available didn't mean you were available. 

He shook his head. He remembered overheating your conversation with that other reporter who had greeted him the day he had brought tiramisu to the Bulletin, during which you had said that you didn't have a boyfriend.

…So then what was it?

Reader, Reader, Reader. Why? This is me after she ran away....

Back to the story...

Chef Matt is finding out all this info about Reader and then when Foggy interrupts HE JUST SAYS, "Here, I'll let you out..." ????????

Matt, you ignorant slut. Step outside with her for a minute. "Thanks again..." What happened to Mr. Mutual Agreement, I'll make time for you, and other charming flirty thoughts to put in her doubting questioning brain so that she...you know... knows that you LIKE her???

Despite Foggy's impeccable unfortunate timing, he does have a valid point or two regarding Matt and love. Glad to know culinary school isn't so different from law school when it comes to cross examination.

Reader just all flustered and full of hope and yet trying so hard to manifest a broken heart. She says she trusts Matt; does she not trust herself? Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette there girly girl.

Enjoyed flirty!Matt working the charm. Given the conclusion, (darn cliffhanger! I see you author, giggling over your keyboard) maybe he should've started with the mimosas (many of them) and creme brulee instead of the risotto.

Thanks for the update!

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 9

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love

Word Count: ~3100

A/N: I'm so excited to share this chapter!!! This was the first scene that popped in my head when I first got the idea for this fic, so I hope y'all enjoy!

As always, thanks to @theradioactivespidergwen for the header!

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

“Hi,” Matt greeted you with a smile as you stepped inside Daredevil later that evening. “Thanks for coming.”

You smiled back at him. “Thanks for the invite.”

Matt led you to a table near the kitchen. “Here, have a seat.” 

You furrowed your brow in confusion. “I thought I was watching you cook again?”

Matt shook his head as he pulled a chair out for you. “I actually kind of had a different idea for tonight.” 

You sat. “Oh, okay.”

Matt pushed your chair in. “Be right back.”

You waited as Matt left then returned with a pitcher of water and some crackers.

He poured some water into your glass and set the pitcher and crackers down on the table, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a blindfold. 

He fiddled with it, looking somewhat nervous. “Since you said you wanted to get to know me and how I developed my culinary skills I thought we could do a blind tasting… if you’re okay with that.”

Your mind drifted back to the skillful way Matt had handled himself in the kitchen on Saturday and Sunday. You had been impressed at the ease and precision with which he had chopped and diced and flipped and sauteed and had been looking forward to watching him cook again (admittedly not only because his cooking skills were so impressive but so you could check him out without being too obvious about it). Oh well.

You nodded. “Yeah, yeah that’s okay.”

Matt huffed out a breath. "Good. I wasn't sure how you'd feel about being blindfolded."

You shook your head. "I meant it when I said that I trust you, Matt."

A soft smile spread across Matt's face. "I'm glad. And by the way, I promise there's nothing too unusual on the menu tonight."

He handed you the blindfold. "Here, put this on and I'll be right back."

You slipped the blindfold over your eyes as Matt left to go to the kitchen, engulfing yourself in darkness. 

About a minute later, you could hear the door to the kitchen open. “Okay,” Matt said. “Here’s the first course.”

He set a dish down in front of you. "I want you to use your non-visual senses to tell me what this is.”

You fumbled around for a utensil. "Oh, um…"

Matt placed his hand on top of yours then guided you to it. "Sorry, here, let me help you."

Your heart skipped a beat at his warm touch. "Thanks."

"It's no problem."

You grinned. "Apologies in advance if I accidentally make a mess. You might have to wind up feeding me like I'm a small child."

Matt huffed out a laugh. "Would you like me to?"

Your face heated as you pictured Matt sitting right next to you, his thumb caressing your cheek as he guided your utensils to your mouth with his other hand…

You shook your head. "It might wind up coming to that, but I'm going to at least try to feed myself first."

Matt laughed again. "Okay, fair enough."

You carefully reached your free hand in front of you, realizing that there was a small bowl set on top of a plate. You dipped your utensil into the bowl, coming into contact with a porridge-like substance.

You scooped some of it up then raised it to your nose to give it a sniff. 

You nodded approvingly. "Hmm."

"Well?" Matt said. "Describe what you smell."

You thought for a moment. "Well, it smells delicious, for one."

Matt chuckled. "That's good, but be more specific."

You smelled it again. "It smells… salty? Well no, not salty , but like something familiar that's salty, and it's also sort of earthy? Like grassy, but not."

You winced. "I'm sorry, I'm describing this so badly."

"No, no, you're doing great," Matt assured you. "Now give it a taste."

You took a bite, your eyebrows raising in delight at the taste of rice, cheese, and… something . "Is this sweet potato risotto?"

Matt hummed. "No, actually it's butternut squash and saffron, but I get how you'd think it was sweet potato."

You took another bite, now recognizing the salty with which you had described the scent. "With pancetta?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to perfect it but felt like it had been missing something, so tonight I used the leftover pancetta I had on hand to add some extra flavor and texture to the dish."

You nodded. "I really like it."

"So do you think it's menu-worthy?"

You took another bite. "Mmm. Mmhmm, yeah, absolutely."

"Okay, great." Matt took your hand and placed a cracker into it. "Okay, so between courses I want you to eat a cracker and drink some water."

"Okay." You furrowed your brow as you tasted the cracker. "Huh, I guess I was expecting it to taste like a saltine."

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, table crackers actually kind of remind me of Communion wafers. They're pretty flavorless but cleanse the palette so you don't get any flavors confused."

You heard him stand. "I'll be right back with the next dish."

You nodded as he picked up the plate. "Okay."

While Matt was gone, you carefully reached for your glass of water then took a sip. You couldn't even imagine the trauma he had gone through as a child, having to learn to navigate the world without his eyesight.

You felt around the table before setting your glass down, terrified that you would wind up setting it too close to the edge and spilling it -- or worse, dropping it and breaking the glass.

You turned towards the kitchen as the door swung open.

Matt set another dish down in front of you. "Okay, next one."

He handed you a piece of pita bread. "This one's a dip, so go ahead and try it."

You felt for the bowl and dunked the pita bread in, then took a bite.

You made a face then grabbed for your water, taking a big gulp to get rid of the taste. "I'm sorry, but what the hell is that?"

Matt chuckled. "It's beet hummus."

You heard him dip a piece of pita bread and take a bite. "Oh, yeah, no, that's definitely a failed experiment."

You shook your head. "Yeah, sorry, zero out of ten for that one."

Matt handed you another cracker before taking one for himself. "Let me go get rid of this and grab the next one."

He continued bringing out a variety of different dishes for you to try, including an arugula salad with heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese, a parsnip puree that he was considering as a side to the restaurant's steak options, and (your personal favorite) pesto-parmesan linguine.

"Oh my gosh, this is so good," you said as you ate the entire sample. "Eleven out of ten, definitely needs to go on the menu."

Matt chuckled. "Noted."

He stood. "Okay, time for dessert. Let me go finish getting it ready." 

You nodded. "Okay."

A few minutes later Matt returned and set what sounded like a small bowl in front of you before handing you a spoon.

You reached out and picked up what you realized was a ramekin, then inhaled the sweet aroma of caramelized sugar. "Mmm. It smells sweet."

You poked your spoon into it, the metal breaking through a solid crust into a custard-like concoction.

You took a bite, the flavors that were marrying on your tongue unlike anything else you had ever tasted. "Is this cremé bruleé?"

Matt hummed in the affirmative. "My own take on it, yes. Can you tell me what you taste?"

You nodded. "I can taste the caramelized sugar, of course, and a vanilla custard, but there's something else…" You took another bite. "It's definitely something citrusy… orange?"

"Yes, blood orange, to be exact." Matt guided your hand to a champagne flute. "I'm thinking about pairing it with a blood orange mimosa."

You took a sip of the mimosa. "Oh, wow."

"Good, huh?"

"Mmhmm." You took another bite of the cremé bruleé. "This is wonderful, Matt. It might even replace your tiramisu as my favorite dessert."

Matt huffed out a laugh. "Well damn, just when I thought I had someone to do a final taste-test of my tiramisu before I put it on the menu."

You shook your head. "Oh I'm definitely still willing to do that, this is just amazing too."

"Good, because I added a new ingredient and I want to see if it made a difference in the taste."

You smiled. "You know, you're spoiling me with all this gourmet food. Too bad I'd never be able to afford to hire you as my own private chef."

Matt huffed out a laugh. "Oh, I think we'd be able to come to some sort of… mutual agreement."

Your face heated. It was getting harder and harder to not misconstrue Matt's jokes as flirting, especially after Skyler had planted that seed of hope within you… and Kelsie a seed of doubt.

Matt stood. "You can go ahead and take the blindfold off, by the way. I'll be right back."

"Okay." You took the blindfold off, then blinked to clear your vision before looking over at Matt.

"Would you like something else to drink?" he asked. "Maybe some more champagne? No sense in letting the bottle go flat."

You nodded. "Sure."

You took a deep breath as he left to go to the kitchen. There was something about Matt that drew you to him (besides the fact that he was exactly your type), so you really hoped that he wouldn't wind up breaking your heart. 

Just a few more days, you thought to yourself. Just a few more days until my article is published, then I can see if this is real.

…Please let this be real.

Matt took a deep breath as he entered the kitchen. He felt an undeniable connection with you, one even stronger than the connection he'd had with -- 

He shook his head. He wasn't going to let her get into his head, not again.

He opened the refrigerator and took the tiramisu out. He was fairly certain that it was ready to be added to the menu based on his own taste-test as he was making it, but he really did want your opinion before making his final decision.

He plated a small piece for you then placed the rest back into the refrigerator before grabbing the bottle of champagne and another glass. Okay, here we go.

He headed back out to the dining area and set the plate of tiramisu on the table before pouring you each a glass of champagne. 

He sat and waited as you took a bite.

"Oh wow," you said, sounding surprised. "I don't know exactly what you added to this, but this is even better than the one you made the other day."

Matt grinned. "I added a splash of Frangelico to the espresso."

"It's delicious."

"So you think it's ready to be added to the menu?"

"Definitely, and please let me know when you do, because I'll be here right when you open so I can order both that and the pesto-parmesean linguine."

Matt chuckled. "I'll have it ready for you when you arrive."

You hummed. "Will you bring it out to me yourself so I can say hi?"

Matt nodded. "If you'd like."

"Yeah, I'd really like that -- if you'd have time and weren't busy, of course."

Matt shook his head. "I'd definitely make time for you."

He paused as your heartbeat picked up slightly. "Hey, um, can I ask you a question?"

You took a sip of champagne. "Sure," you replied.

Matt bit his lip. "I was wondering, um… what do you look like?"

"Oh," you said in slight surprise. "Oh, um…"

Matt quickly shook his head. "It's just… I have this blank picture of you in my head, so I've been curious, you know?"

You made a thoughtful sound. "That must be odd, not knowing what anyone looks like. Especially friends and loved ones."

Matt shrugged. "It can be, but I can at least imagine what people look like based on physical descriptions. And I can more accurately picture someone if I've touched them -- you know, if I've hugged them I can determine their body type or if I've felt their facial features I can put together an idea of their face shape."

You let out a light laugh. "I bet that makes dating interesting. 'Hi, yes, nice to meet you. Do you mind if I touch your face to make sure you're not hideous'?"

Matt chuckled. "I know it sounds cliché, but personality obviously really is the most important trait in a woman for me. The face touching usually comes later, although it's admittedly been a while since I've gotten to that stage. Kind of hard to meet someone I'm interested in when I'm always working." 

He paused and took a sip of his own glass of champagne. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"No, not at the moment," you replied. "Although the last woman I did a feature on kept trying to hook me up with her grandson."

Matt chuckled, relieved that he had been right in his assumption that you were currently single. "But you weren't interested?"

"Nah, he wasn't my type."

"Oh? And what is your type?" Hopefully dark-haired chefs. 

You hummed. "Honestly, just someone I can connect with, someone who understands me and is willing to put in the work to make a relationship equal. Someone I can build a life with, who I can trust and who will trust me in return."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

You cleared your throat. "So about what I look like -- well…"

Matt listened intently, putting together a mental picture of you based on your description and the few hugs you had shared.

"So," you concluded, "did I describe myself well enough for you to picture me? Because I, um, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to feel my face too. You know, for accuracy."

Matt's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Matt nodded. "Okay then. Um, I'll have to get really close to you so I can reach you."

He heard you get up and move your chair over. "Like this?"

Matt brushed his hand along your shoulder, judging the distance. "Yeah, that's good."

He swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. "Ready?"

"Mmhmm."

Matt reached out once again, his hand bumping into your nose. "Shit, I'm so sorry, I --"

"Oh, no, no, it's okay," you replied. "I'm fine, I promise."

Matt shook his head. "Do you mind if I…" 

He waved vaguely up at his glasses. "If I can at least see your silhouette I can better judge exactly how far you are from me."

"Oh, no, go ahead."

Matt took his glasses off and set them onto the table. 

"You, um, you have very pretty eyes, by the way," you said somewhat shyly.

Matt couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. I bet yours are very pretty too." Just like the rest of you.

He reached out once again. "May I?"

You made a sound of affirmation. "Yeah, go ahead."

Matt tentatively traced his fingertips across your hairline, raising his other hand as well once he was sure he wasn't going to accidentally knock you in the face again.

He began to build a mental picture of you as he traced along your forehead, down your temples and across your eyes, down the bridge of your nose and across your cheeks down to your chin.

I was right, he thought as he brushed his thumb across your lips. "You're beautiful. "

You sucked in a quiet gasp of breath.

Matt's eyes flicked down towards your mouth. It would be so easy to kiss you, to taste the champagne on your lips.

He leaned in to close the gap, your name a whisper in the air.

"Hey, Matt, I saw the lights were on and --"

Suddenly you jumped back as Foggy entered the dining area from the kitchen.

Foggy froze. "I'm -- I am so sorry, I'm clearly interrupting something, I'll just go --"

"No!" you exclaimed. "Um, no, I was -- I was just leaving."

You grabbed your phone and bag. "Um, thanks for dinner, Matt. I'll let you know if I have any other questions for my article."

Matt sighed as you hurried towards the seating area. Shit. "Here, I'll let you out."

He put his glasses back on and followed you to the door, unlocking then opening it for you. "Thanks again for coming tonight."

"Sure. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Matt nodded. "Okay."

He locked the door behind you and turned back towards Foggy, who was fidgeting nervously.

"Shit, I am so sorry, Matt," Foggy said. "I figured you were working on perfecting those new recipes for the menu, I had no idea you were on a --"

Matt shook his head. "No, no it's -- it's fine. That was -- that was nothing."

Foggy let out an awkward chuckle. "That didn't look like 'nothing' to me, that looked like you were about to get your mack on."

"No, we were just --" Matt let out a frustrated growl. "Just drop it, okay? It's not like it would've worked out anyway." 

"And why not?"

"Because she's -- because it just wouldn't, okay?"

Foggy let out a groan. "You know, you're a damn good chef but you're absolutely terrible when it comes to love."

Matt snorted. "Says the man who's been single since Marci dumped you back in culinary school."

"Uh-huh. This is not about me, Matt, this is about you . I know Elektra screwed you over but that doesn't mean that every woman who also happens to be a journalist will." Foggy's demeanor softened. "Come on, Matty, admit it. You've got feelings for her, don't you?"

Matt sighed. He could hear your nervous heartbeat fading away the further you got from the restaurant. "Yeah, I do. I really, really like her, Fog." 

Foggy let out a delighted gasp. "I knew it!"

Matt shook his head. "I thought she felt the same way about me, but obviously I was wrong. I mean, you saw how fast she ran out of here after I tried to kiss her."

Foggy hissed in a breath. "Again, I'm really sorry about interrupting that, dude."

Matt shook his head. "It's okay, you didn't know she was even here."

He moved your chair back to its rightful place, his stomach twisting at the memory of how quickly you had lunged away from him. 

He sighed. "Come on, since you're here you can at least taste everything then help me clean up."

An update! (sorry about your trouble sleeping; it can be so awful)

"I'm fine." Oh Reader, any bestie knows that answer is unacceptable. Good thing Skyler is not buying it. Plus Skyler is ready to take out Chef Hottie Matt if necessary; I'm taking note of that in case we need her to kneecap Kelsie. Go stomp some grapes, Kelsie, maybe it will improve your mood.

"Can I get you anything? Water, coffee...tea...my hot and adorable colleague Skyler?" I like Reader and Skyler's tagteam matchmaking approach. This is good. I suspect that it will (unbeknownst to Reader and Matt) assist in the romance of Reader and Matt because Foggy and Skyler collaborating could result in Matt and Reader being in forced proximity to each other.

Pretty bold of Foggy to show up at the Bulletin, though. Tip of the hat to him, especially when he intimates to Reader that there's some uhm interest between her and Chef Cake Matt. That's a delicate situation but Foggy is way better at direct but tactful communication than Matt in a way, perhaps because Foggy is the interested bystander. Foggy understands Matt (similar to Skyler/Reader) and how past experiences influence present choices, as well as how we rationalize our responses to those situations. Foggy sees they are lovesick for each other but Matt is wary, Reader is wary and neither is being particularly honest with themselves (yes and no, they admit the attraction but not the relationship that accompanies it) or with each other, perhaps in the desperate hope that hearts will remain whole?

Hearts are meant to be used; it makes them stronger and full of life.

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 10

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love being idiots

Word Count: ~3200

A/N: Here we are with the next chapter! I have to prep for an important work event on Saturday that will more than likely cut into my writing time, so there may not be another update until next week, but until then enjoy our pining dumbasses!

(As always, thanks to the fantabulous @theradioactivespidergwen for the divider!)

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

"Come on , you stupid thing," you grumbled at the Bulletin's ancient copier as it sputtered and creaked. "I know it's early, but work , damn you."

You weren't in the best mood this morning -- you hadn't slept well, your mind choosing to replay your almost-kiss with Matt from the previous evening every time you closed your eyes.

You looked over at the doorway as the sound of footsteps neared. "Oh, hey, there you are," Skyler said as she poked her head in the doorway. "You have a visitor."

Your heart leaped. "Who is it?"

Skyler sighed wistfully. "The future father of my children. He didn't give his name but he's a really hot blonde-haired dude."

Part of you wished that it had been Matt, but after the way you had run out on him the previous night you supposed that would've been too much to hope for. "Okay, thanks."

Skyler stepped fully into the copy room, her brow furrowing. "Hey, are you alright?"

You shrugged. "I'm fine."

Skyler crossed her arms. "No, you don't look happy. Did something happen with Chef Hottie last night? Because I don't care how many Michelin stars he has, I'll go kick his ass if I need to."

You huffed out a soft laugh and shook your head. "Not necessary. I'm just tired."

Skyler nodded and uncrossed her arms. "As long as you're okay."

"I am. Thanks for your concern, though. I really appreciate it."

Skyler gave you a quick hug. "Of course. You're my bestie, I'm not going to let anyone mess with you."

You gave her a hug back. "Ditto. I'll tell you all about last night as soon as I deal with whoever this is, 'kay?"

Skyler nodded, then winked. "You'd better." 

You followed her out of the copy room and into the bullpen, your eyebrows raising as you spotted your visitor. "Chef Nelson." 

Chef Nelson raised his hand in greeting. "Hi. Is this a bad time?"

You shook your head. "Oh, no, I was just fighting with our copy machine, but I can let someone else have a turn trying to battle it out. What can I do for you?"

Chef Nelson bit his lip. "Can we talk?"

You nodded. "Sure."

You turned towards Skyler. "By the way, Sky, this is Chef Nelson, Chef Murdock's business partner. Chef Nelson, this is Skyler. She's our Lifestyle writer here at the Bulletin ."

Skyler reached out to shake Chef Nelson's hand, a broad smile spreading across her face. "It's nice to meet you, Chef Nelson."

"Nice to meet you too," Chef Nelson replied with an equally broad smile. "And please, call me Foggy -- uh, both of you."

You smiled to yourself. You could practically see the cartoon hearts floating above both Foggy's and Skyler's heads. 

You nodded. "Sure."

You turned towards Skyler. "I'll be in the conference room. Foggy, you can follow me."

You led Foggy to the conference room, your heart twisting as you remembered doing the same thing with Matt not even a week earlier.

You closed the door and gestured to a chair. "Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink? Water, coffee… tea?"

Foggy shook his head as he sat. "No, thank you."

You sat across from him. "So what can I help you with?"

Foggy took a deep breath. "I um, I just wanted to apologize for interrupting you and Matt last night. I had no idea that he, uh, had company at the restaurant and didn't mean to intrude."

You shook your head, your heart beginning to thrum nervously in your chest. "No, you weren't intruding. I was just there to taste some new recipes that Matt had said he was thinking about adding to the menu. We had already finished and were just talking when you came in."

Foggy huffed out a laugh. "Seemed like a pretty important conversation."

Your face heated. You weren't sure what exactly Matt had told Foggy about your evening together. "Nothing he and I couldn't talk about later."

You licked your lips nervously. "By the way, how, um, how is Matt this morning?" 

Foggy shook his head. "I don't know, I haven't talked to him yet today. We start prepping later on Tuesdays since Matt's always experimenting in the kitchen until really late on Mondays."

"Oh." You couldn't help but wonder if Matt had ever had anyone else over to the restaurant for a 'blind tasting'. "Okay."

Foggy studied you. "You know, I really do appreciate you giving him a second chance after you two started off on the wrong foot. Not that I'm trying to make excuses for him, but he's been through a lot in the past couple of years and is still dealing with some stuff."

You shook your head. "It's not a problem. And there's no need to apologize for last night, I promise."

"Thanks so much." Foggy stood. "I should get going -- I have a couple of errands to run before I head to the restaurant, but thanks for taking the time to talk with me."

You nodded. "Of course. Here, I'll walk you out."

You opened the door to the conference room and ushered Foggy out into the bullpen, stopping by Skyler's desk. "You know, I actually really do need to get back to my battle with the copier, so Sky, would you mind walking Foggy out?"

Skyler shook her head. "No, it'd be my pleasure."

"Thanks." You turned towards Foggy. "Thanks for dropping by."

Foggy nodded, his eyes firmly on Skyler. "Sure."

Skyler stood. "Right this way."

You shook your head with a smile as Skyler and Foggy headed towards the elevator. There was no denying the chemistry between those two and you would've been shocked if Skyler didn't come back with Foggy's phone number at the very least, if not a date.

You headed back to the copy room, determined to beat the copy machine at its own game.

You had finally gotten it to cooperate when Skyler came in, sighing happily.

You grinned over at her. "You're welcome."

She playfully shook her finger at you. "Girl, why didn't you tell me Chef Hottie's business partner was even hotter than him?"

You huffed out a laugh. "I only met Foggy one time before last night, which reminds me…" 

You grabbed your copies. "Come on, let's go get some coffee and I'll tell you about it."

You walked into the break room, pointedly ignoring Kelsie, who was talking to another one of your coworkers. 

"James surprised me with tickets to this very exclusive wine tasting event upstate  this weekend," she was saying. "Only the finest vintages will be served."

You rolled your eyes. You had never met Kelsie's boyfriend and knew absolutely nothing about him (nor did you care to), but you had certainly heard his name enough times to already be tired of hearing about him.

Kelsie sneered over at you. "Well, I guess I better go get started on my Restaurant Week coverage since someone stole the feature story from me."

You sighed to yourself as they left the break room, grabbing the bag of coffee you kept at work and filling the permanent filter pod for the office Keurig before popping it into the brewer.

" God , I can't stand her," Skyler muttered. "Anyway, tell me about last night."

You filled a cup with some water and poured it into the reservoir before placing the cup underneath the Keurig and setting it to brew. "Okay, well, Matt was waiting in the lobby to unlock the door for me when I got to Daredevil," you began. "I was supposed to watch him cook again, but instead he sat me down at a table near the kitchen then went to get some water and crackers."

You bit your lip. "After he came back he, um, he pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and asked me if it was okay if we did a blind tasting."

"He blindfolded you?" A small smirk appeared on Skyler's face. "Kinky."

You huffed out a laugh. "It wasn't like that! Matt just wanted me to be able to understand how he develops his flavors and have me judge a dish using my non-visual senses."

You shook your head. "Anyway, he brought out the first dish, which was a butternut squash risotto with pancetta that both smelled and tasted amazing ."

Skyler hummed. "Ooh, that does sound delicious."

You nodded. "It really was."

"So how was it trying to eat without being able to see your food?"

You huffed out a breath as your coffee finished brewing. "Honestly, it was really disorienting. Matt had to help me find my spoon for the risotto and since he had me eat a cracker and drink some water in between dishes so I wouldn't still be tasting what I had just eaten when he brought out the next dish I was terrified of spilling my water all over. Luckily I made it through without making a mess."

Skyler smiled softly at you as she took a turn at the Keurig. "Something tells me he would've been understanding even if you had accidentally spilled something."

You nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, the second dish wound up being a beet hummus, which I'm afraid to say was awful ."

You grinned at the memory. "Luckily Matt tasted it and agreed with me that it was terrible, that it was definitely a no for the menu."

You continued telling Skyler about the different dishes Matt had you try, including the pesto-parmesan linguine that you were still thinking about. "Finally he brought out this blood orange cremé bruleé that he had been working on and a blood orange mimosa to go with it, and oh my god, Sky, it was so damn good."

You took a sip of your coffee. "I made a joke about it replacing Matt's tiramisu as my favorite dessert and it actually turned out that he had also made some tiramisu and wanted me to try it since he had tweaked the recipe. He also said I could take the blindfold off then asked if I wanted some more champagne since he had opened a new bottle for the mimosa and there was no sense in letting it go flat."

Skyler took a sip of her own coffee. "I'm sure that wasn't the only reason, but go ahead."

"The tiramisu was even better than the first one he had made for me, so he said since it had my approval it was ready to go on the menu." You bit your lip, second-guessing whether you should tell Skyler about the rest of your evening. "I, um, I asked him to tell me when it was added to the menu so I could be there to order it as soon as they opened, and Matt joked that he'd have it ready for me when I arrived, so I asked if he'd bring it out to me personally and he said yes, that he'd make the time to come say hi… and then he asked me what I looked like."

Skyler's eyebrows raised. "He did?"

You nodded. "He said that he'd had a blank picture of me in his head all week so he had been curious then he said that he could picture people based on physical descriptions alone but could more accurately picture them if he felt their facial features, so after I described myself to him I told him he could feel my face if he wanted."

"And did he?"

Your face heated at the memory of Matt's fingertips softly gliding along your skin, his brow furrowed in concentration as he painted a mental picture of you. 

You nodded. "He said I was beautiful… then he leaned in to kiss me."

Skyler gasped. "You kissed him? "

You winced and quickly shook your head. "Right before we did Foggy came in from the kitchen and startled me, so I jumped back. He apologized for interrupting and I said that it was fine, that I needed to go anyway, and then I grabbed my stuff and practically ran out of there."

Skyler groaned out your name. "Girl. Why? "

"Because I'm an idiot, that's why." You sighed. "I panicked. "

"And that's why you couldn't sleep."

You nodded. "I kept replaying it in my head over and over, trying to imagine different scenarios and ways it could have turned out if Foggy hadn't shown up or if I hadn't bolted. That's actually why he came by -- to apologize again for interrupting me and Matt last night."

You bit your lip as a thought struck you. "He said that Matt had been through a lot in the past couple of years, so what if Kelsie is actually right? What if Matt is just pretending to like me so I'll write a positive article about him that'll help him rebuild his reputation?"

Skyler shook her head. "Do you even know what could have happened to where Matt would need to rebuild his reputation?"

You shook your head in response. "No."

"Then don't listen to Kelsie. I'm sure she's just making shit up."

"I hope so, because I really like him. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a really long time, Sky, so if it turns out he's been playing me this whole time…" You trailed off with a sigh.

"Hey, if he has been then that offer to kick his ass still stands." Skyler smiled at you. "No matter how hot his business partner is."

"Oh, shit, yeah." You shook your head to clear it. "How was walking Foggy out? You seemed pretty happy when you came back."

Skyler grinned. "Well, that's because I have a date Saturday morning. Foggy and I are going to go have coffee before he has to get to the restaurant."

You smiled. I knew it. "That's great. I'm really happy for you."

Skyler studied you. "So what are you going to do about Matt?"

You shook your head. "I'm just going to wait until my article is turned in and see how it goes."

You finished your coffee and rinsed your cup out. "I need to start going over these printouts."

Skyler gave you a brief hug. "Hey, I'm sure everything is going to be fine."

You nodded. "I hope so."

You really hoped so, because with the way you were starting to feel about Matt you weren't sure if you could handle a broken heart.

"Combine properly, damn it," Matt growled at the dough he was trying to prepare for the night's supply of dinner rolls. "Why aren't you cooperating?"

"Because you're being mean to it," Foggy said as he came into the kitchen. "Well, that or the fact that your yeast is still sitting over here on the prep counter."

Matt groaned then dumped the dough into the trash. "Shit ."

Foggy chuckled. "Good morning to you too, buddy."

Matt turned his head towards him as Foggy passed him to go wash his hands. "You went by the Bulletin this morning. I can smell newsprint on you."

Foggy hummed in the affirmative. "As a matter of fact, I did. And before you ask, yes, she looked just as miserable as you do."

Matt could feel his friend studying him. "I'm not miserable , I'm just tired. I got less sleep than usual."

"Are you ready to tell me what happened last night?"

Matt nodded. "Originally the plan was for her to come watch me work on developing those new dishes for the menu, but I decided to make it a blind tasting instead in order to try to make it a bit more… personal."

Foggy chuckled. "You mean romantic."

"Yeah, okay, romantic." Matt sighed as he began to re-make the dough for the rolls. "And it seemed like it was working, too -- she was responding positively to my hints that I'm attracted to her."

He shook his head. "Everything was going great -- she gave me some really good feedback on the dishes and was joking around with me about the cremé bruleé surpassing the tiramisu as her new favorite dessert of mine, so I asked her to taste the final recipe before she made that distinction.

"She loved it, of course, and said to let her know when we added it to the menu so she could be the first one in line to order it once we opened that day, so I told her that I'd have it ready for her when she arrived, and she asked if I'd bring it out to her personally and I said of course, that I'd definitely make the time to come say hi to her."

Foggy huffed out a laugh. "Wow, you two are not subtle."

Matt shook his head as he mixed all of the ingredients and began to knead the dough together. "It's been driving me crazy not having any sort of clue what she looks like, so I asked her. She seemed a bit surprised at the question, which honestly was understandable since I just kind of threw it at her out of nowhere, but I explained how I can "see" people by touching them, so after she described herself to me she offered to let me feel her facial features."

He smiled to himself as his mental picture of you floated into his mind. At least he managed to get that before everything went to shit. "I told her she was beautiful, and that's when I tried to kiss her."

"And when I walked in and ruined the moment."

Matt shook his head. "It's not your fault, really. Obviously I had misread something between us somewhere and trying to kiss her made her uncomfortable." 

He covered the (now correctly prepared) dough and put it in the refrigerator to rise. "I spent all night replaying everything in my head trying to figure out exactly where I screwed up. She's the most incredible woman to ever come into my life, Foggy, I don't know what I'd do if it turned out she was just using me like Elektra did."

"I honestly don't think she is, Matty, but speaking of meeting incredible women…" Foggy huffed out a happy sigh. "I'm pretty sure I met my future wife today."

Matt chuckled as he moved to the sink to wash and dry his hands. "Well at least one of us is sure. Who is she?"

"Her name is Skyler -- she's the Lifestyle writer at the Bulletin ."

Matt nodded. "Oh, yeah, I met her the other day. She seemed nice."

"We're going out for coffee on Saturday morning, so I might be a bit late getting here depending on how well things go."

Matt patted Foggy on the back. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks." Foggy paused. "So what are you going to do about everything?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know yet. Probably just wait until the article comes out on Monday and go from there."

Foggy sighed. "Well no matter what you decide, I'm here for you, buddy."

"Thanks." Matt began dicing tomatoes for the marinara sauce, his mind drifting back to you by his side as you cut up tomatoes for the salads at Clinton Church.

He really hoped you weren't just using him, because he was pretty sure he was already falling for you.

Thank you so much for answering!! I figured Chef Biceps Matt was keeping you busy and I love both stories so I'm happily consuming them (the story, not them them) anyway, where was I? Oh right, OCACR. Reader is going to be baking up a storm is she? I am so here for that!

Chef Matt is going to be very kneady isn't he? Hehe....

No pressure, absolutely. Just to make sure I'm leaving no doubt with that.

Curious minds (all right, me) would very gently ask how Of Coffee and Cinnamon Rolls is progressing?

I was looking at my *recipe (good Lord was that a cool front of 80 degrees I saw on my weather app, halle-freakin-lujah) for cinnamon rolls this past weekend and in the strange and slightly odd way that various fandoms coexist in my daily life, your PP fic came to mind. You might be saying to yourself, "Self? Why not Chef Bun-Buns Matt?" The answer is unfathomable, except somehow I associate Chef Almighty Abs Matt with pastries of a slightly more refined variety such as the tiramisu, dessert crepes, or the crème brûlèe and no shade for that, nor do I believe he would ever turn down an ooey-gooey cinnamon roll. It is just that in my less lucid moments Peter Parker, on the other hand, I can easily imagine devouring said cinnamon roll and ending up with just an eensy bit of warm filling or frosting on the corner of his mouth. Oh gawd, what am I even saying. I've entirely lost the thread here. Yeah, um anyway, I'll be here, standing in the kitchen doorway staring off into the distance and looking forward to your next updates regardless. Much love to you!

*I've used several different recipes since HS, but lately have been using The Pioneer Woman one. I had to cut back on the icing though because S.O. prefers the cinnamon spice flavor over the sweet.

Ahh, thank you for asking about OCACR!

Chef Beefy Buns Matt is demanding all of my time and attention right now, so my main focus is admittedly on him. (He's hard at work making ladyfinger dough since in case he needs to make Reader some apology tiramisu later, although he wouldn't mind trying to perfect a cinnamon roll recipe to serve her during a lazy morning in together.)

(Don't get ahead of yourself, Matt. You haven't even kissed the girl yet.)

That being said, Chapter 2 of OCACR is at almost 3k words and is close(ish) to being done (if I can figure out how to get to my planned stopping point without being too more wordy).

Peter will definitely be enjoying more of Reader's cinnamon rolls soon though (as well as her banana bread, croissants, muffins, coffee cake, and maybe even some icing off of Reader's lips birthday cake)!

(I'm with your S.O. -- I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I'm definitely team less icing.)

'Scuse me, heading to Vegas to place a bet on whether that was Kelsie.

Hmmm, Matt. Ask yourself why someone working in a newsroom would be revealing that much information instead of asking YOU questions??

Doubters gonna doubt...and those two lovers love to second guess everything except what is right in front of them.

Kelsie's comeuppance is going to be juicy, right? Right? Pie to the face? Copier explosion? Roundhouse kick?

Worried about the upcoming angst...hope Reader gets a good nap in so she's ready for it...

Looking forward to finding out what happens!

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 11

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love, Kelsie is her own warning 😈

Word Count: ~1k

A/N: Super short but super important chapter here! This is setting up our Mega Angst for the story, which will be coming next! 👀

As always, thanks to @theradioactivespidergwen for the stellar divider! 🥰

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment @roseslovedreams

Ugh, why isn't this coffee kicking in, you thought to yourself while you sat at your desk attempting to proofread several articles for the Thursday digital edition of the paper later that morning. I've read this same sentence no less than 5 times.

You shook your head, trying to clear it. The unusual quiet in the normally bustling office definitely wasn't helping your sleepiness. Maybe some stronger coffee will help.

You stood up and walked towards the break room.  Skyler had brought a bag of espresso roast coffee in the previous week and you were pretty sure there was some still left. 

You paused as you spotted Ellison at the Keurig. "Copier's on the fritz again," you said, walking over towards the cabinet that held the coffee mugs. "Thought you should know."

Ellison nodded as he waited for his coffee to finish. "Hopefully there'll be enough money in the budget to replace it next year. Damn thing's probably older than I am."

He looked over at you and squinted. "No offense, but you look like shit."

You huffed out a laugh. "Gee thanks, Mitch. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

"Rough night?"

You shook your head. "Just tired. I only slept about an hour last night." 

Ellison studied you for a moment. "Look, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Go home and get some rest."

You opened your mouth to protest, then thought better of it. You were still exhausted and a nap honestly sounded wonderful at the moment. "Are you sure?" you asked instead. "I was just going to get some more coffee and try to power through the rest of the day."

Ellison nodded. "Absolutely. It's been a slow news day, and besides, you've been working your ass off lately and deserve a break."

You smiled. "Okay. Thanks, I appreciate it."

Ellison shrugged. "Eh, don't get all sappy on me. I just don't want you burning out on me, otherwise who else would tell me if my editorial column sucks or not?"

You grinned. "Oh I'm sure people would be lining up for that privilege."

Ellison chuckled. "Seriously, go get some rest."

You nodded. "I will. Thanks, Mitch. Really. I'll see you tomorrow."

You walked back out to your desk and gathered your things, then stopped by Skyler's desk. "Ellison gave me the rest of the day off, so I'm heading home. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

Skyler nodded. "Okay. Get some rest."

As you headed down to the first floor and out the door, you considered stopping by Daredevil on your way home so you could apologize to Matt in person.

You headed towards your apartment building, sighing happily when you finally walked in the door.

You shook your head. You were so tired that you honestly weren't even sure if you could come up with a coherent apology. I'll talk to him after my article is turned in.

You peeked in your pantry and refrigerator, wrinkling your nose at the paltry options you had for dinner that evening. Instead of a choice between boxed pasta, instant ramen, or leftover Chinese takeout you wished you had Matt's spaghetti carbonara, pesto-parmesan linguine, and tiramisu. Maybe I could order something for delivery later, try something else on the menu.

You headed into your bedroom, changing into something more comfortable before climbing into bed. 

Your mind drifted to your article. You really didn't want to have to replay the last few minutes of the blind tasting yet again, but you needed to add a bit about it at the end so you could give it a quick read-through then send it to Ellison.

You sighed. You were a professional, dammit, and no matter your feelings, you were going to write a damn good article about Matt… Even if you never spoke to him again after it was all over.

I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night… No, take responsibility for your actions, Matthew. 

I'm sorry for trying to kiss you last night… Actually, no, I'm really not.

I apologize for my behavior last night. I must have misread the situation and… Ugh.

Matt sighed as he rode the elevator up to the Bulletin offices, wishing he would have had time to make a fresh tiramisu for you. 

He stepped off the elevator, unable to detect your now-familiar heartbeat among those of the rest of the Bulletin staff.

"Can I help you?" said a woman's voice to his left.

"Uh, yeah." Matt turned towards her and asked to speak to you.

"She's not here."

Matt sighed. Damn it. He probably wouldn't have time to come back later and based on what Foggy had said about you looking miserable he wasn't sure if you would be willing to come by the restaurant either. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Actually ," the woman continued, "she's out on assignment for the rest of the day. You know those investigative types, always looking for their next big scoop."

Matt furrowed his brow. That had been the exact opposite of the type of stories you had told him you were interested in writing. "I thought she was in Features."

"Oh, yeah, she is, but she really wants to be an investigative journalist, you know, digging up the dirt on people, finding out their deepest, darkest secrets and publishing them for the world to see." The woman paused. "Nothing nor no one is going to stand in the way of her and a good exposé… even if she has to make one up."

She made a dismissive sound. "Anyway, would you like to leave a message for her? I'll make sure that she gets it."

Matt shook his head. "Oh, uh, no, that's okay. I'll… catch up with her another time. Thank you."

"Sure thing. Have a nice day!"

Matt walked back to the elevator then headed down to the first floor. He had thought that he was getting to know you, but after that surprise revelation from your coworker he wasn't so sure.

He shook his head. Could you have been lying to him this whole time?