I turned away from the door after closing it behind me. "Yeah, I remember something about it. Why?"
"Did you know the average amount of happiness and worker satisfaction in his company actually went down after that? Seemed a lot of people started worrying about if they were really earning their keep, and then there was jealousy and a lot of other issues cropping up. He actually had to rent out a room in his house to make ends meet for a while, because he had so much turnover and problems that he couldn't get work done and was losing money. I guess what I'm saying is, I know you feel bad about the money you're making. But it doesn't help to spread it around so much. That is, unless of course, you want to buy a very expensive gift for Secretary's Day. I hear that gold is nice, but platinum is all the rage this season for the well-respected executive assistant."
I turned and looked at Vanessa with a smirk. "Okay, okay, point taken, joke noted, and comment filed away for April. Just don't be surprised when you get something that is platinum coated. Now all I'm missing is a City Councilman to share this food with."
"Just remember the General Tso's chicken set is mine," Vanessa said as I heard footsteps on the stairs leading up to the third floor. I was slightly surprised, I'd expected him to use the freight elevator. It was very old school, and you had to pull the security gate down, but it had that sort of retro feel that I personally loved using, especially when my legs were tired. "Your cute date is here."
Rolling my eyes, I took a moment to admit to myself that yes, Patrick McCaffery was cute, and yes, I'd had much worse-looking lunch meetings. I went over to Vanessa's desk and pretended to be at least not looking like I was waiting for the door to open when he came in. "Sorry, I know I'm a minute or two late, I didn't realize that you had a gym downstairs. I got caught up in watching someone do some pretty impressive stuff with the kettlebells. Well, that and I ran into the delivery kid coming down the stairs."
"Then you're right on time it seems," I replied. I opened the bag and took out Vanessa's lunch. "Vanessa, while I set up the table in the other room, can you give Councilman McCaffery those hints on how to find someone like you to help him out? I'm afraid if you don't, we're going to be failing in our civic duty."
"Of course," Vanessa replied, taking out a three page document from her desk drawer. "Councilman, I typed this up for you this morning actually."
"First off, it's Patrick. The only time someone calls me Councilman is when I'm usually not looking forward to the rest of the conversation. As for the document....." I heard, before going into my office and setting up the table. It was the same table, I noted that Bishop Traylor and I had our meeting at. I considered shifting to the conference table, but decided against it. The chairs there were too uncomfortable for anything other than straight business meetings, and I didn't want that.
As I arranged the Styrofoam containers, I pondered to myself if I was really meeting with Patrick because he was a member of the City Council, or because of his looks. I had to admit, since Scott Pressman fucked up my head pretty well, I hadn't been on any dates at all, a record for me since I was fourteen or so. Hell, even when getting ready to defend my thesis I was seeing a guy.
But Patrick ticked a lot of the marks on what I like in guys. Tall, fit, and yes, he had a bad boy vibe about him, and it was more than just the tattoos on his right arm. At the same time though, he wasn't exactly the same as some of the guys I'd dated. For one, he actually had a job.
I was trying to decide whether to offer Patrick the plastic cutlery or if he could use chopsticks when there was a knock on my office door, and Patrick came in with a laugh. "Thanks Vanessa, I'll give them a call this afternoon. You've got my unabated thanks."
"I'll remember that next time my property taxes come due," Vanessa replied deadpan, causing Patrick to laugh. He shut the door and came over, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Seriously, she's going to make my life about a thousand percent easier," he said as he sat down. The paper Vanessa had given him was already covered in blue and red pen, and there were a few sections circled. "I'm going to call these people as soon as I can."