HELL’S COFFEE SHOP ──── round of shots
notes : after your shift, you find a quaint bar down the road. the regulars there seem to be very friendly, and one of them looks familiar. the low lighting allows you to form new connections with friends of a late friend
warnings : reader is implied to have a bit of depression, drinking, josies’s (canonical) sticky floors, foggy nelson being a wingman, flirty karen page and matt murdock, mrs cardenas mentioned (rip), actually happy chapter
A long sigh left your mouth as you draped yourself over your couch, reluctant to allow yourself to sleep, knowing you would only wake up sad and warmer than you would like. Your eyes were restless, tracing every inch of your apartment. It was small, but homely. Every piece of your life was stuck in four small rooms, family photos, old art projects you never finished, posters of your favorite movies, and decorations you thought would look nice when you moved in but seemed to have lost their appeal now.
Dim light came through the window, the sun now setting on another day wasted. You were sick of feeling so tired all the time. You needed something else, a buzz of some kind. Going outside could help. You hadn’t seen the city in a while, anyway, and you were missing it. A walk would do you some good, you decided.
Before you knew it, you were on your feet. Your pajama shirt came up over your head and was exchanged for a thin sweater that complimented your complexion, your plaid pants traded in for shorts that would allow you to feel the cool night air on your legs. In the mirror near your door, you looked far more casual than you felt, trying not to care too much about what your makeup looked like.
It was around 8 pm when you left your apartment. The streetlights were shining down on you in a way that seemed like it knew you needed it. You smiled a bit looking around your building, trying to take in the scenery, the observer that you were.
Not many people were around your building. There were the regulars, ones you didn’t particularly like, but you were happy to see familiar faces all the same. It made living here somewhat easier, though you brushed off the idea of seeing the drunk older man on the sidewalk being comforting.
You placed your headphones in your ears, turning on some song you knew from your childhood, an old comforting tune. It was still warm outside, that was definitely true. You felt sweat collect on the back of your neck about two minutes into your walk and tried not to let it deter you.
You wandered, letting the night wind blow you in whatever direction it pleased. As you walked by, the cafe’s ‘closed’ sign taunted you, warning you of the early shift tomorrow. You let out a huff of breath, coming to a stop in front of the coffee shop, wondering if you should just go back home and go to bed. It would surely be easier than whatever it is you were doing now.
But then, you saw it. A neon sign in the window of a bar further down the road that read ‘Josie’s’. You weren’t sure what called you to it exactly, maybe just that you saw it right when you were about to turn around, but you headed straight for it.
As you approached, you saw a few drunk people leaving, coming to the conclusion that it must be a bar. You paused again, toying with your hair, unsure if you wanted to be there on a Saturday night. Fuck it. You took off your headphones and opened the door.
Immediately, you noticed that the floor was sticky. Your shoes made a strange sound you could barely hear over the drunken noise of a room that people were able to breathe in. The bar felt like a home, and it clearly was that to a lot of the people lounging around on tables and chairs. There was barely anyone at the counter, so you knew where your ideal spot was.
You settled in after a moment, your elbows resting on the bar top, allowing your chin to rest on your hands. For the first time in a while, you felt truly relaxed, allowing your eyelids to flutter shut.
“Hey sweetheart, don’t you go fallin’ asleep, that’s the regulars’ job and you just got here.” A deep feminine voice came in front of you, behind the bar. There was an older woman, probably old enough to be your mother, staring down at you with a rag draped over her shoulder and a name tag that read ‘Josie.’ “What can I get for you tonight?”
You shot her an apologetic smile, “sorry, I think I might need a moment to figure that out.”
“Lemme know when you do, I’ll be here all night,” she said as she walked away, going to chat with a particularly flirtatious man around her age at the corner of the bar.
You turned around in your chair, allowing the top to swivel with you, facing out against the room. Your eyes darted around, starting to examine people at the door, as well as their drinks, letting you visually sample the options here. Two birds with one stone.
After a few moments, you heard someone clear their throat next to you. You jumped slightly, not expecting a person right there, but were relieved immediately when your gaze landed on the woman from the cafe earlier. Karen Page. You’d like to pretend you just remembered her name but she had stuck with you all day, and you tried to ignore how creepy that felt.
“Hi, I didn't want to startle you. You’re the barista from earlier, right?” She smiled softly, already resting on the stool next to you.
Your mouth opened and closed like a fish, “yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s me,” you stuttered. You mentally face-palmed at that, trying not to cringe in front of her.
“Thought I recognized you.” She looked up and down, her gaze lingering on the bare skin of your legs longer than what would be deemed appropriate. “Your coffee was good, I have to admit, better than any other one I’ve gotten there.” You flushed under her attention as she leaned in closer conspiratorially. “How’d you do it?”
Your face blanched, “oh, it was nothing special really. I just made it,” your voice made the sentence sound like a question and she chuckled, leaning a bit more into you, her hand resting near where your arm was on the bar. You laughed along with her, trying to ease your own awkwardness.
“You seem nervous, why’s that,” Karen teased, knowing exactly what she was doing. Her smile sharpened and you shifted your body a bit away from her, your anxiety taking over and allowing your mouth to open unfiltered.
You forced a laugh out, “my nerves seem to get the better of me around beautiful women.” Your eyes widened as you realized what you said, immediately covering your mouth. She only grinned wider and took your hand away from your face and into hers.
“Are you flirting with me?”
Luckily for you, you didn’t have to answer her bait of a question, because a blond man appeared in front of the two of you. He wore a suit and tie, his long hair pushed back away from his face, allowing you to see the smirk he donned, his confidence making up for his stature.
“Karen, I see you’re making new friends.”
“Always nice to do, Foggy,” she took her hand away from yours, putting both of hers on her lap as she looked up at him, a bit annoyed. “Especially in tough times like these, am I right?” She glanced at you as you fiddled with your hair, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. You gave her a quick nod in response, earning a sly wink from her.
“This is the barista that made our coffees earlier,” she presented you to him, gesturing to you theatrically.
Foggy’s smile widened and he relaxed, “that latte was amazing. Truly made my day.” You managed to hold back a laugh at your earlier assumption about the latte being for Karen being wrong. You muttered a thanks and he sidled up to counter on the other side of Karen. “Josie,” he called out, “can I get a round of shots, and one for my friend here?” He waved to you with his hand.
Josie nodded, dutifully pouring liquor into each shot glass, four to be exact. Foggy grabbed two, as did Karen.
“Are you here with anyone?” Karen watched the way your face changed at that, “I’ll take that as a no. Would you like to join us?”
“Good.” Karen bumped you with her elbow and you allowed her and Foggy to lead you to a small table near the back. There was already a man sitting there with dark red glasses perched on his nose.
You gathered with those tinted glasses in a dark room and the cane resting near his chair that he was blind. That didn’t mean that your body caught up, so you waved and sheepishly tried to hide it behind your back. Karen saw you though, and giggled, before placing the glasses down and reassuringly rubbing your arm.
“Hey Matt, we brought a guest,” Foggy patted his friend on the back before sitting next to him. “The person who made that coffee you loved this morning. Isn’t your cafe right across from us?”
You tilted your head, sitting down next to Karen and across from Matt. “Where is it that you work?”
“797 9th Avenue. Right across from the laundromat. It’s a really glamorous spot.” Matt chuckled at his friend’s words.
“Yeah, we’re right next to that laundromat.” You squinted at the two of them, both in suits. You then glanced at Karen, who had been holding folders in the coffee shop earlier. You remembered a few customers raving about the law firm across the street.
“You two are Nelson and Murdock, right?” The two men perked up, waiting with bated breath to see if your reaction would be good or bad. “I’ve heard about you guys. One of my regulars hired you, I think. Before she,” you trailed off, your eyes glazing over as you stared at the table.
Matt pursed his lips, wondering whether he should ask more. “What was her name?”
“Mrs. Cardenas. She was the sweetest older woman. Even when she didn’t want a coffee, she would just come in to sit and chat.” You paused, “I read in the newspaper what happened and she had told me that she hired the two of you. She said you helped a lot.” You met Foggy’s eyes, “thank you so much for that.”
The silence became a bit more tense and you blinked away the tears that were starting to form in your eyes. A slight smile fell across Matt’s face, “she was very nice. I remember one time,” he laughed, “Foggy told me that she had set him and Karen up on a date. She cooked them both dinner, and just left.” Both Foggy and Karen huffed their own reminiscent laughs.
You grinned, “she tried to do that with me once. Saw my coworker and I talking and insisted that we help her bring in a delivery she had gotten at her apartment that night, only for her to tell us the address of a restaurant.” Matt loosened up then, his arms coming to rest on the table as he leaned forward, intrigued by you.
“I just realized I didn’t introduce myself. Matt Murdock,” he held out his hand for you to shake and you did, telling him your own name. He repeated your first name softly, under his breath, before withdrawing his hand from yours. “I swear she had mentioned you to me at some point.” He took a moment, thinking. “She did! She brought up that nice girl across the street who had made her the coffee she brought me. And that was her name.”
Foggy looked between the two of you, wrapped up in your own conversation. He shared a look with Karen, rolling his eyes playfully as a way to signal his exasperation. Matt had found yet another pretty girl that he couldn’t see. At least this time, Foggy had Marci and had no reason to be jealous. The same could not be said about Karen, who focused on the way Matt’s fingers came dangerously close to your hand.
“Well, these shots aren’t going to drink themselves,” Foggy took the glass in front of him in his hand, waiting for everyone else to do the same. The corners of your lips turned upwards at the way Matt fumbled a little patting the table to look for his. You handed it to him, your fingers brushing.
The four of you all downed your shots, your nose crinkling at the reminder that you would have an early shift tomorrow, but you put that thought behind you. Foggy got two beers for each of you from the bar and you found yourself smiling as you all talked. You managed to keep the conversation off of yourself and onto them for the next few minutes, asking little questions to get to know the three people sitting with you.
Karen used to be a journalist, but stopped a few years ago, not exactly detailing why, but it was clear it made her uncomfortable. Now she worked as an office manager for Nelson and Murdock and loved it there.
Matt and Foggy met in college and vowed to each other that they would become rich and famous lawyers one day. They were lawyers, but they certainly were not rich or famous, Foggy joked. Nelson and Murdock was doing better than it had been a year ago, business catching up and while they were happy about it, it had been stressful, hence the more frequent visits to the cafe.
Today was actually the first time one of them had seen you there. Somehow, you weren’t clocked in, were on your break, or were in the back whenever they, usually Karen, had come in. Matt took a mental note that you would be working early tomorrow, despite none of them going into the office. It would be nice to see you again.
“So, that coworker that you went to dinner with, did it end up working out,” Matt asked. You laughed loudly, quickly covering your hand with your mouth, embarrassed.
“Oh, no. Absolutely not. Sorry,” you tried to form words around your giggles, the beer having loosened you up. “No, we both just went home. Thankfully. Don’t get me wrong, I love her but I cannot imagine seeing her outside of work again.” The idea of Sandy and you on a date was hilarious and you kept laughing. Both Matt and Karen listened to you with fond smiles as you covered your face with both of your hands, trying to cool yourself down.
“Are you seeing anyone right now?” Foggy had a mischievous look in his eyes, trying not to glance at either Karen or Matt to give away his plan. Although it was very obvious to the two of them, having known him so long.
“Clearly, that’s a choice, though. I mean, you’re nice and pretty, if you don’t mind me saying,” he tried to word his sentence as politely as possible, not wanting to give you the wrong idea.
“Thank you, yeah, uhm, it is. But I don’t really get out that much anyway, so it’s hard to meet people.” You thought about Josh then, the way he looked at you and lingered behind you as you tried to work. A chill ran up your spine and you rolled your shoulders as an attempt to get more comfortable.
“You should come out with us sometime,” Matt turned his head towards you. “We come here quite often. Josie’s is always nice to meet a few new people.”
“I can see that.” You quirked your lip upwards, biting it slightly. Karen placed a hand on your arm and learned towards you.
“Meeting up with us would be a great idea. You said you work tomorrow, what time do you get off?” You responded quickly that you clock out at two, working a longer shift than usual and you left when you started to close. “Perfect. We could all go get lunch.”
“As long as it’s not secretly a plan to set me up with someone, I’m free.”
You ended up spending about an hour longer at the bar, laughing over yet another drink with Matt and Karen. Foggy left earlier with a blonde woman in a gorgeous outfit, wrapping his arms around her as they walked out the door.
“Do you want one of us to walk you home?” Karen drained the rest of her beer and began to stand up.
“No, I’m alright. I don’t live far, it’s about like ten minutes that way,” you pointed the way you entered the bar from. “Sorry,” you apologized to Matt, “down the street to the left.”
“Even more of a reason to walk you, I live that way anyway. Plus it’s getting dark, and I couldn’t in good faith let you walk alone.”
“I’ll come with you two. It’ll be nice to get some fresh air after being in here,” Karen shot a look at Josie, cringing as she hoped she didn’t hear.
The three of you left your glasses and you paused, about to pay for your drinks. “I’ve got it,” Matt said from behind you, pulling out his wallet. He left a few bills on the counter, ones that covered the cost and more, and guided you away with a hand on your back.
The two of them were very nice, you thought to yourself as the bar’s door closed behind you. You ended up saying the compliment out loud, both looking a bit bashful.
“Oh, shit, sorry, that was an inside thought,” you giggled, stumbling a bit. Matt caught you, his hand steadying your arm as Karen walked on the other side of you. “This was a nice night. I haven’t had a lot of those recently,” you pouted, unaware that you would regret the things you were saying later on.
Karen’s eyes fell on Matt at that moment, studying the way he furrowed his eyebrows at that. She knew then that he was wondering the same thing she was - how could they fix that? Making this night better would be enough, she supposed.
Your trio walked down the street, you holding Matt’s sleeve to ensure he didn’t bump into anything, not trusting his cane enough, while Karen had a hand hovering behind your back just in case your legs decided they didn’t want to work anymore.
The quiet night air was filled with laughter and the kind of conversation that could only be had between people that felt like they knew each other longer than they truly did. Ten minutes passed by quickly and before you knew it, you were at the door to your apartment building.
You looked back at Matt and Karen and smiled wide, “thank you so much. For walking me home, for tonight,” your voice dripped with sincerity, making both of them flustered. Karen rubbed her arms and avoided your gaze while Matt fiddled with his cane. “You guys have a good night.”
They both responded in kind, Karen telling you she was excited for tomorrow. And you were too.
When you went to bed in your apartment, you felt something that you hadn’t in a long time. You were excited to wake up tomorrow.
sorry for the wait I’ve been on a trip!! super happy to get more into this! hope you guys are ready to meet a new character next chapter (also I’ve been writing some scenes ahead of time and I’m kicking my feet over how I’m writing dex rn)
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