Take a Bow (1/5)
Title: Take a Bow
Author: ashamedbliss
Pairing: Belldom
Ratings: up to NC-17/18
Fic summary: Dominic Howard, billionaire and ex-playboy has just returned from a five year stint on a mysterious island. Matthew is his IT assistant who starts getting some very strange requests...
Feedback: appreciated like Felicity screen time
Disclaimer: much as I and many other ladies would like to own Muse, I don't. This is totally fictional, I'm not making profit, and pretty please don't steal it *bats eyelashes* IRONIC as this is basically stolen from the TV show Arrow haha oops.
Author's Note: BASICALLY I really love the TV show Arrow so I plonked in our favourite frontman and drummer, and voilà what do you mean matt's chara is a girl in the show any questions PLEASE ASK. I have written this with non-watchers in mind so hopefully everyone can enjoy. HUGE THANKS TO Angela for being an absolute babe and watching me write/helping me/being amazing, Shay for my computer/archery type questions and Anita for constantly prodding me to finish and being my Arrow fandom friend. ALSO this fills my 'celebratory kiss' trope later on laughs OKAY IM DONE NOW GO READ IT.
Matthew pushes his glasses up, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrates on a particularly tricky bit of code. He blindly reaches for his can of Pepsi, a skill he mastered so long ago that he doesn’t even have to guess where it is.
As he slurps on his drink, he sits back a little in his chair, looking out over the city skyline for a bit of eye relief. He has to admit, his job has its perks. For example, his swanky modern office at the headquarters of Howard Consolidated. Also, the fact that he was doing something he absolutely adored, as the head of the IT department. Not to mention the brief glimpses he’ll catch of his boss’ son, a certain Dominic Howard...
Dominic Howard, former playboy who mysteriously disappeared five years ago. They’d thought he was dead; Matthew even remembers watching the news that night, and all of the coverage the Howard family got afterwards. Five years. They’d given up hope, until suddenly he was found a few months ago. He rocked up in Starling City once more with such grandeur that it was hard for people not to know he was back. Matthew appreciated it, definitely seeing as he’d somehow got even more handsome on that island than he had been. Matthew hadn’t thought it possible.
Matthew allows himself a quick smile, then looks back at the lines upon lines of code on his screen. He knows it’s stupid to think of Dominic like that. He’s a billionaire, for Christ’s sake. He’d hardly go after some nerdy, weedy IT technician, especially when he’s so ripped himself...
“Shut up,” Matthew whispers to himself, before returning to the task at hand.
~
It’s late evening on a nondescript Tuesday, and Matthew is still sat at his desk. The department is currently halfway through an upgrade of some of the company servers, and a few of them are playing havoc with the system. Matthew’s stomach grumbles but he ignores it as he continues working, illuminated just by the light from his desk lamp.
Someone knocks at his door softly, and his head whips up. “Matthew?”
There, in all his glory, stands Dominic Howard with an easy grin on his face. Matthew remembers to breathe. “That’s me,” he says, pulling his hands on his lap and nervously playing with his fingers. He’s here. In my office.
“Can I ask you a favour?” Dominic asks, entering the office and shutting the door behind him. He approaches the desk as Matthew nods, perhaps a bit too eagerly. “I found this memory stick plugged into my sister’s computer, I was wondering if maybe you could take a look at it?”
Matthew’s brow furrows, but he smiles anyway. “Yes, of course. I don’t see the problem in that.” He reaches for the stick and tries not to shiver as their fingers brushed. He plugs it into his computer, and immediately a password box comes up. “So... do you know the password?”
Dominic sucks in a breath through his teeth, walking around the desk to see the screen. “Sadly, no,” he says on the exhale, leaning against Matthew’s desk, his breath tickling the back of his neck. Or maybe Matthew imagines that. “Can you get in?”
“It’s invading her privacy a bit. I mean. If I’m allowed to say that,” Matthew says, turning around to look at Dominic and holy crap he’s close. “I’m probably not allowed to say that. Please don’t fire me,” he mumbles weakly, turning back to his computer and quickly bringing up a program he hadn’t used in quite a while. “But, yes, I should be able to get in... there. I got in through the back end... Well I don’t mean...” Matthew sighs. “Just look, there. See?”
Dominic blinks at the screen, which to him resembles something from the Matrix. Matthew smirks a little at his confused expression, as he clicks through the files on the memory stick.
“Maps, weapons invoices, police reports... Mister Howard, I don’t think this belongs to your sister,” Matthew says, before he turns to see Dominic glaring at him. “Oh, yep, paid to do, not think, gotcha,” he stutters as he turns back to the screen, ejecting the device safely and putting it into Dominic’s expectant palm. “Is this illegal? Am I going to get arrested? Because I’m an only child and it would really break my mum’s heart to see me in prison.”
“Matthew?”
“Yessir,” Matthew replies instantly, looking up at Dominic standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even noticed he’d moved.
“Thank you,” he says, flashing him that smile again. Matthew fiddles with the knot of his tie as he tries not to let his face split in half with a dumb grin. “And please, call me Dominic.”
Matthew nods eagerly once more, before the blond leaves the room, the door shutting quietly behind him.
~
“Starling City’s vigilante has struck again.”
Matthew normally works with Starling City News playing in a tab on his computer, as he likes the background noise and it’s not as distracting for him as music is. However, his ears prick up at the mention of the Hood. This is the first news of him in a week, whereas sometimes he is mentioned every day.
“Last night three men were arrested in connection to an arms deal, with two more found dead at the scene after the Hood had taken them down with his trademark bow and arrow. Sources believe that if the deal had taken place, hundreds of illegal and highly powerful assault rifles would’ve been on the streets of the Glades within the week.”
Matthew raises his eyebrows. Didn’t Dominic bring him a USB with files about weapons on it? He shakes his head. Don’t be stupid.
“Starling City Police Department wishes to remind citizens that the Hood remains highly dangerous and should not be approached.”
Matthew mutes the audio, deciding he actually prefers the silence.
~
The second time Dominic Howard visits Matthew Bellamy’s office, it’s with a can of Pepsi in his hand. Matthew smiles, reminding himself not to say anything dumb like he did the first time which was now a few weeks ago. He quite enjoyed exchanging words with the blond, even though he was thousands of millions of miles out of his league. Even if Dominic was gay, he still wouldn’t have a chance.
“You sure know the way to a man’s heart,” Matthew says as a way of greeting, before shutting his eyes and pulling a face. “Oh God, I really need to work on my brain to mouth filter.”
To his surprise, Dominic laughs. Matthew opens his eyes again and can’t help the warmth flooding his chest at the sight of true laughter from Dominic Howard. He’d seemed so moody since his return from the island, and it was nice to see him smiling for once. Dominic hands Matthew the can, which he places on his empty coaster. “I know you’re not just here to give me a can of Pepsi, appreciated as it is,” Matthew says with a smile.
Dominic hands Matthew a small vial of a bright green liquid. “Could you run this through a mass spectrometer for me?”
Matthew holds the vial up, watching the liquid shift around in the tube. “I’m not a scientist. I could be a scientist for you though, if you’d like...” Matthew says without thinking about what, exactly, he is saying. “I mean... I’ve got a friend who works at some research labs. I could ask him to put it through, or something... I can’t be much more help than that though, I’m afraid.”
He looks up to Dominic for approval. “That would work,” he says, before leaning closer. “But your friend gets those results, you get me a copy, and he destroys the originals. None of his colleagues must know about this, do you understand?”
The look on Dominic’s face is dark, and Matthew doesn’t quite like the secrecy that clouds his words, but he finds himself nodding anyway. Idiot. “Of course,” he says, before putting the little vial down on his desk. “I’ll speak to him. We studied together at uni,” he says with a small smile on his face; whether he’s trying to hide his nerves or is smiling at the memory, he can’t quite decide.
Dominic cocks his head. “Which uni?” he asks. He’s never taken an interest in Matthew’s life before, and his stomach does a flip as he blushes.
“Cambridge. I studied Computer Science while Tom studied Chemistry,” he says, looking up at Dominic. He smiles and nods to himself, before turning away to the door.
“Bring them to my office as soon as you get them, Matthew,” he says on his way out.
“Yes sir, I mean, Dominic, I mean...”
The door of his office shuts.
“Fuck.”
~
Matthew pushes his glasses up, a nervous habit he’s adopted over the years as he walks through the maze of offices on one of the top floors of the building, far above where his own little office is. Here, all the seats are leather and the offices are much more spacious. He clutches the brown file closer to his chest as he rounds the corner to Dominic Howard’s office.
“Come in!” the man shouts, and Matthew hurries to enter, before practically pressing himself back up against the door. A deadly combination of butterflies in his stomach over Dominic, and a feeling of being entirely out of his depth roots him to the spot. Dominic smiles up at him from his Macbook. The geek in Matthew rolls his eyes, he should’ve predicted that.
“Are those the results?” Dominic asks with a hint of eagerness in his voice.
Matthew lifts his heavy feet and begins to walk towards the grand desk in the centre of the room. “Yep. Tom promised me that he deleted all the data after making this copy. Except, y’know, he couldn’t actually do anything with his data, as all I know is that it was just given to me under some quite bizarre circumstances...” Dominic glares up at Matthew, who manages a sheepish smile.
Flicking through the folder, Dominic hums at a few of the diagrams and tables as Matthew fiddles with a pen in his hands, anything to keep his nerves in check. Pulling a face, Dominic reaches for his iPhone, calling one of his speed dial contacts and fixing Matthew with a look so he didn’t shy away.
“Chris,” Dominic says. “I’m looking at the results for the sample... yeah. It’s Vertigo plus something else,” he says as he looks up at Matthew. “Meet me there at the usual time,” he finishes before hanging up.
“Vertigo?” Matthew asks. “Isn’t that the drug that was... wait, isn’t that the drug your sister took?” Dominic looks at him silently, with a blank face. Matthew worries that he won’t ever see that laughing, smiling Dominic again. “I’m happy to help you, Mister How-- Dom. I really enjoy helping, you know, it’s nice to have a challenge every once in a while, seeing as there’s not really much happening in the IT department, apart from--“ Matthew laughs, “--that time when Jenny managed to spill coffee in the server room and--”
“Matthew,” Dominic says in a cautionary tone, and Matthew clears his throat as he pushes up his glasses.
“I just mean... these tasks are a bit strange, is all,” he finishes meekly, fiddling with the pen in his hands once more. He looks back up, and a small smile sits on Dominic’s lips.
“I appreciate what you’re doing for me,” Dominic says tightly, and even though Matthew’s sure that he’s choosing his words carefully, he doesn’t say it out loud (for once). He simply smiles.
“Anytime,” he says, before leaving the office. As the door shuts behind him, he allows a sigh to escape his lungs, as if all his worries have cleared off his shoulders. He adjusts his tie, pushes his thick-rimmed glasses up and runs a hand through his brown hair before he begins to make his way back down to his own office.
However, he walks straight into the company executive officer, Dominic’s step-father Jacques Dupont.
“Hello sir,” Matthew giggles nervously, dying of sheer embarrassment on the inside, as he tries to evaporate into thin air. When that doesn’t work, and when he hears his name being called, he’s absolutely sure he died on the spot and is now seeing his short, pitiful life flash before his eyes.
“Matthew!” Jacques says, and Matthew turns around to face the man. He can see why Dominic’s mother married him after all, and although he didn’t quite share Dominic’s good looks he did have that lovely French accent...
“Yes?” he squeaks in reply, nearly snapping the pen in his hands in half. He puts it in his pocket.
“I’d like a word, if you can spare a minute.”
Uh oh. “Yes, sir, of course.”
Matthew silently follows the tall man to his office, worries creeping through his veins faster and faster with each passing second. As Jacques shuts the door behind him and sits down at his desk, Matthew says the first thing he can think of.
“I didn’t mean to steal the stapler,” he says, not noticing Jacque’s quirked eyebrow at the admission. “It was really late and I was tired, I just put everything in my backpack and I didn’t realise until I got home, and then I only brought it back a week later and--”
“Matthew, I’m not firing you,” Jacques says with confusion in his tone. Matthew sighs with relief.
“Good, okay, that’s good. Sorry, I’ll shut up,” Matthew says, mimicking zipping his lips and throwing away the key. And you wonder why you don’t have a boyfriend yet, you twat.
Jacques holds a small notebook in his hands. “I’d like you to research this for me,” he says, flicking through the pages before handing it to Matthew. Matthew does the same, and they’re all blank, save for a logo on the very first page. He’s never seen it before.
“I’ll try my hardest,” Matthew says with a small smile, deciding to not risk asking questions like he would with Dominic. This is more of a puzzle than his requests from Dominic, anyway, and he hopes to see the results himself. Jacques gestures that he can leave.
“Oh, but Matthew?” Jacques calls. The man in question turns back. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
The smile is wiped from Matthew’s face. He has a funny feeling that secrecy is linked to bad things, although he doesn’t quite know what bad things. He nods and heads back down to his office, the notebook held tightly in his hands.
Author: ashamedbliss
Pairing: Belldom
Ratings: up to NC-17/18
Fic summary: Dominic Howard, billionaire and ex-playboy has just returned from a five year stint on a mysterious island. Matthew is his IT assistant who starts getting some very strange requests...
Feedback: appreciated like Felicity screen time
Disclaimer: much as I and many other ladies would like to own Muse, I don't. This is totally fictional, I'm not making profit, and pretty please don't steal it *bats eyelashes* IRONIC as this is basically stolen from the TV show Arrow haha oops.
Author's Note: BASICALLY I really love the TV show Arrow so I plonked in our favourite frontman and drummer, and voilà what do you mean matt's chara is a girl in the show any questions PLEASE ASK. I have written this with non-watchers in mind so hopefully everyone can enjoy. HUGE THANKS TO Angela for being an absolute babe and watching me write/helping me/being amazing, Shay for my computer/archery type questions and Anita for constantly prodding me to finish and being my Arrow fandom friend. ALSO this fills my 'celebratory kiss' trope later on laughs OKAY IM DONE NOW GO READ IT.
Matthew pushes his glasses up, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrates on a particularly tricky bit of code. He blindly reaches for his can of Pepsi, a skill he mastered so long ago that he doesn’t even have to guess where it is.
As he slurps on his drink, he sits back a little in his chair, looking out over the city skyline for a bit of eye relief. He has to admit, his job has its perks. For example, his swanky modern office at the headquarters of Howard Consolidated. Also, the fact that he was doing something he absolutely adored, as the head of the IT department. Not to mention the brief glimpses he’ll catch of his boss’ son, a certain Dominic Howard...
Dominic Howard, former playboy who mysteriously disappeared five years ago. They’d thought he was dead; Matthew even remembers watching the news that night, and all of the coverage the Howard family got afterwards. Five years. They’d given up hope, until suddenly he was found a few months ago. He rocked up in Starling City once more with such grandeur that it was hard for people not to know he was back. Matthew appreciated it, definitely seeing as he’d somehow got even more handsome on that island than he had been. Matthew hadn’t thought it possible.
Matthew allows himself a quick smile, then looks back at the lines upon lines of code on his screen. He knows it’s stupid to think of Dominic like that. He’s a billionaire, for Christ’s sake. He’d hardly go after some nerdy, weedy IT technician, especially when he’s so ripped himself...
“Shut up,” Matthew whispers to himself, before returning to the task at hand.
~
It’s late evening on a nondescript Tuesday, and Matthew is still sat at his desk. The department is currently halfway through an upgrade of some of the company servers, and a few of them are playing havoc with the system. Matthew’s stomach grumbles but he ignores it as he continues working, illuminated just by the light from his desk lamp.
Someone knocks at his door softly, and his head whips up. “Matthew?”
There, in all his glory, stands Dominic Howard with an easy grin on his face. Matthew remembers to breathe. “That’s me,” he says, pulling his hands on his lap and nervously playing with his fingers. He’s here. In my office.
“Can I ask you a favour?” Dominic asks, entering the office and shutting the door behind him. He approaches the desk as Matthew nods, perhaps a bit too eagerly. “I found this memory stick plugged into my sister’s computer, I was wondering if maybe you could take a look at it?”
Matthew’s brow furrows, but he smiles anyway. “Yes, of course. I don’t see the problem in that.” He reaches for the stick and tries not to shiver as their fingers brushed. He plugs it into his computer, and immediately a password box comes up. “So... do you know the password?”
Dominic sucks in a breath through his teeth, walking around the desk to see the screen. “Sadly, no,” he says on the exhale, leaning against Matthew’s desk, his breath tickling the back of his neck. Or maybe Matthew imagines that. “Can you get in?”
“It’s invading her privacy a bit. I mean. If I’m allowed to say that,” Matthew says, turning around to look at Dominic and holy crap he’s close. “I’m probably not allowed to say that. Please don’t fire me,” he mumbles weakly, turning back to his computer and quickly bringing up a program he hadn’t used in quite a while. “But, yes, I should be able to get in... there. I got in through the back end... Well I don’t mean...” Matthew sighs. “Just look, there. See?”
Dominic blinks at the screen, which to him resembles something from the Matrix. Matthew smirks a little at his confused expression, as he clicks through the files on the memory stick.
“Maps, weapons invoices, police reports... Mister Howard, I don’t think this belongs to your sister,” Matthew says, before he turns to see Dominic glaring at him. “Oh, yep, paid to do, not think, gotcha,” he stutters as he turns back to the screen, ejecting the device safely and putting it into Dominic’s expectant palm. “Is this illegal? Am I going to get arrested? Because I’m an only child and it would really break my mum’s heart to see me in prison.”
“Matthew?”
“Yessir,” Matthew replies instantly, looking up at Dominic standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even noticed he’d moved.
“Thank you,” he says, flashing him that smile again. Matthew fiddles with the knot of his tie as he tries not to let his face split in half with a dumb grin. “And please, call me Dominic.”
Matthew nods eagerly once more, before the blond leaves the room, the door shutting quietly behind him.
~
“Starling City’s vigilante has struck again.”
Matthew normally works with Starling City News playing in a tab on his computer, as he likes the background noise and it’s not as distracting for him as music is. However, his ears prick up at the mention of the Hood. This is the first news of him in a week, whereas sometimes he is mentioned every day.
“Last night three men were arrested in connection to an arms deal, with two more found dead at the scene after the Hood had taken them down with his trademark bow and arrow. Sources believe that if the deal had taken place, hundreds of illegal and highly powerful assault rifles would’ve been on the streets of the Glades within the week.”
Matthew raises his eyebrows. Didn’t Dominic bring him a USB with files about weapons on it? He shakes his head. Don’t be stupid.
“Starling City Police Department wishes to remind citizens that the Hood remains highly dangerous and should not be approached.”
Matthew mutes the audio, deciding he actually prefers the silence.
~
The second time Dominic Howard visits Matthew Bellamy’s office, it’s with a can of Pepsi in his hand. Matthew smiles, reminding himself not to say anything dumb like he did the first time which was now a few weeks ago. He quite enjoyed exchanging words with the blond, even though he was thousands of millions of miles out of his league. Even if Dominic was gay, he still wouldn’t have a chance.
“You sure know the way to a man’s heart,” Matthew says as a way of greeting, before shutting his eyes and pulling a face. “Oh God, I really need to work on my brain to mouth filter.”
To his surprise, Dominic laughs. Matthew opens his eyes again and can’t help the warmth flooding his chest at the sight of true laughter from Dominic Howard. He’d seemed so moody since his return from the island, and it was nice to see him smiling for once. Dominic hands Matthew the can, which he places on his empty coaster. “I know you’re not just here to give me a can of Pepsi, appreciated as it is,” Matthew says with a smile.
Dominic hands Matthew a small vial of a bright green liquid. “Could you run this through a mass spectrometer for me?”
Matthew holds the vial up, watching the liquid shift around in the tube. “I’m not a scientist. I could be a scientist for you though, if you’d like...” Matthew says without thinking about what, exactly, he is saying. “I mean... I’ve got a friend who works at some research labs. I could ask him to put it through, or something... I can’t be much more help than that though, I’m afraid.”
He looks up to Dominic for approval. “That would work,” he says, before leaning closer. “But your friend gets those results, you get me a copy, and he destroys the originals. None of his colleagues must know about this, do you understand?”
The look on Dominic’s face is dark, and Matthew doesn’t quite like the secrecy that clouds his words, but he finds himself nodding anyway. Idiot. “Of course,” he says, before putting the little vial down on his desk. “I’ll speak to him. We studied together at uni,” he says with a small smile on his face; whether he’s trying to hide his nerves or is smiling at the memory, he can’t quite decide.
Dominic cocks his head. “Which uni?” he asks. He’s never taken an interest in Matthew’s life before, and his stomach does a flip as he blushes.
“Cambridge. I studied Computer Science while Tom studied Chemistry,” he says, looking up at Dominic. He smiles and nods to himself, before turning away to the door.
“Bring them to my office as soon as you get them, Matthew,” he says on his way out.
“Yes sir, I mean, Dominic, I mean...”
The door of his office shuts.
“Fuck.”
~
Matthew pushes his glasses up, a nervous habit he’s adopted over the years as he walks through the maze of offices on one of the top floors of the building, far above where his own little office is. Here, all the seats are leather and the offices are much more spacious. He clutches the brown file closer to his chest as he rounds the corner to Dominic Howard’s office.
“Come in!” the man shouts, and Matthew hurries to enter, before practically pressing himself back up against the door. A deadly combination of butterflies in his stomach over Dominic, and a feeling of being entirely out of his depth roots him to the spot. Dominic smiles up at him from his Macbook. The geek in Matthew rolls his eyes, he should’ve predicted that.
“Are those the results?” Dominic asks with a hint of eagerness in his voice.
Matthew lifts his heavy feet and begins to walk towards the grand desk in the centre of the room. “Yep. Tom promised me that he deleted all the data after making this copy. Except, y’know, he couldn’t actually do anything with his data, as all I know is that it was just given to me under some quite bizarre circumstances...” Dominic glares up at Matthew, who manages a sheepish smile.
Flicking through the folder, Dominic hums at a few of the diagrams and tables as Matthew fiddles with a pen in his hands, anything to keep his nerves in check. Pulling a face, Dominic reaches for his iPhone, calling one of his speed dial contacts and fixing Matthew with a look so he didn’t shy away.
“Chris,” Dominic says. “I’m looking at the results for the sample... yeah. It’s Vertigo plus something else,” he says as he looks up at Matthew. “Meet me there at the usual time,” he finishes before hanging up.
“Vertigo?” Matthew asks. “Isn’t that the drug that was... wait, isn’t that the drug your sister took?” Dominic looks at him silently, with a blank face. Matthew worries that he won’t ever see that laughing, smiling Dominic again. “I’m happy to help you, Mister How-- Dom. I really enjoy helping, you know, it’s nice to have a challenge every once in a while, seeing as there’s not really much happening in the IT department, apart from--“ Matthew laughs, “--that time when Jenny managed to spill coffee in the server room and--”
“Matthew,” Dominic says in a cautionary tone, and Matthew clears his throat as he pushes up his glasses.
“I just mean... these tasks are a bit strange, is all,” he finishes meekly, fiddling with the pen in his hands once more. He looks back up, and a small smile sits on Dominic’s lips.
“I appreciate what you’re doing for me,” Dominic says tightly, and even though Matthew’s sure that he’s choosing his words carefully, he doesn’t say it out loud (for once). He simply smiles.
“Anytime,” he says, before leaving the office. As the door shuts behind him, he allows a sigh to escape his lungs, as if all his worries have cleared off his shoulders. He adjusts his tie, pushes his thick-rimmed glasses up and runs a hand through his brown hair before he begins to make his way back down to his own office.
However, he walks straight into the company executive officer, Dominic’s step-father Jacques Dupont.
“Hello sir,” Matthew giggles nervously, dying of sheer embarrassment on the inside, as he tries to evaporate into thin air. When that doesn’t work, and when he hears his name being called, he’s absolutely sure he died on the spot and is now seeing his short, pitiful life flash before his eyes.
“Matthew!” Jacques says, and Matthew turns around to face the man. He can see why Dominic’s mother married him after all, and although he didn’t quite share Dominic’s good looks he did have that lovely French accent...
“Yes?” he squeaks in reply, nearly snapping the pen in his hands in half. He puts it in his pocket.
“I’d like a word, if you can spare a minute.”
Uh oh. “Yes, sir, of course.”
Matthew silently follows the tall man to his office, worries creeping through his veins faster and faster with each passing second. As Jacques shuts the door behind him and sits down at his desk, Matthew says the first thing he can think of.
“I didn’t mean to steal the stapler,” he says, not noticing Jacque’s quirked eyebrow at the admission. “It was really late and I was tired, I just put everything in my backpack and I didn’t realise until I got home, and then I only brought it back a week later and--”
“Matthew, I’m not firing you,” Jacques says with confusion in his tone. Matthew sighs with relief.
“Good, okay, that’s good. Sorry, I’ll shut up,” Matthew says, mimicking zipping his lips and throwing away the key. And you wonder why you don’t have a boyfriend yet, you twat.
Jacques holds a small notebook in his hands. “I’d like you to research this for me,” he says, flicking through the pages before handing it to Matthew. Matthew does the same, and they’re all blank, save for a logo on the very first page. He’s never seen it before.
“I’ll try my hardest,” Matthew says with a small smile, deciding to not risk asking questions like he would with Dominic. This is more of a puzzle than his requests from Dominic, anyway, and he hopes to see the results himself. Jacques gestures that he can leave.
“Oh, but Matthew?” Jacques calls. The man in question turns back. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
The smile is wiped from Matthew’s face. He has a funny feeling that secrecy is linked to bad things, although he doesn’t quite know what bad things. He nods and heads back down to his office, the notebook held tightly in his hands.