What You Need

Lila knocked on Patrice’s office door before quietly walking in. He had been in on a phone conference for the past half hour and he was desperately trying to wrap things up. He glanced up from his desk and smiled to himself as he watched her strut over to his desk. She sat across from him and patiently waited for the phone conference to end.

He covered the mouth piece of the phone and groaned softly in annoyance. She laughed quietly at how he was annoyed yet still trying to be polite.

“Alright, thanks again Steve,” Patrice sighed as he hung up the office phone. “Something funny?” He loosened up his blue tie with an exhausted expression on his face.

She cleared her throat but a smile was still on her face. “Nothing funny at all, sir. I just need you to sign off on these vacation request forms,” she handed him the small stack of papers.

He took the papers out of her hand and scribbled his signature at the bottom of the paper. “Don’t call me sir, it makes me feel old.”

“It was a habit because of Brian. Won’t happen again,” she apologized. “Ooh, so how far did you get with Game of Thrones?”

He relaxed his body into his comfortable office chair but before he could give her an answer his office phone rang again. He couldn’t wait for the day to end because that work day was just driving him crazy.

“Hello?” His tone was stressed and angry and it frightened Lila a bit since he was always so calm.

Once he realized that it was his mother on the phone, his face softened before he began apologizing to her. Lila raised her eyebrows, impressed but not surprised at the fact that he spoke another language. She took that as her cue to leave.

She leaned over and reached for the papers that he had just signed and left his office to give him some privacy. While she worked at her desk, she wondered what other surprises he had up his sleeves. He was always so secretive and kept his conversations short, even with her. Some people at the office thought he was nice but stuck up and Lila knew that that wasn’t the case.

She just figured that since he was still new to the work office, Patrice was just trying to prove that he was worth hiring. The following Thursday was Tax Day and after that she hoped that he would learn to relax a little. They would no longer have to work late until next April and things would finally be getting back to normal. With the less stressful work environment she would try to get him to open up a little more.

Ten minutes later Patrice exited his office with a white binder in hand. He was getting prepared for another meeting. “Sorry about that. My mother was on the line,” he apologized.

“Oh don’t worry about it,” she waved it off. “Are you headed to your lunch meeting with Daniel now? You left your suit jacket on the back of your chair again.”

Looking down at his chest, he huffed he saw that she was right. “God damn it,” he cursed, placing the binder on her desk before running back in his office.

She watched him walk away from the corner of her eye and couldn’t help it when she smiled. He would literally lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his body. She opened the binder to make sure he had all the papers that he needed for his big meeting. When she noticed that there wasn’t a pen clipped to the binder, she took one of her own pens and clipped it on herself. It was a habit she had picked up on with Brian because he too was very forgetful.

When Patrice’s office door opened back up, Lila picked up the binder to hand it over to him. Only when she saw his appearance she simply shook her head and put the binder back on her desk.

“Come here,” she said with a shake of the head. She couldn’t watch him struggle as he tried to fix himself up. He began to button the cuffs of his shirt as she began to fix his tie and collar. “Calm down, okay? This is just a meeting to see how our department has been handling the tax work. It’s not a life or death situation.”

“I know, I’m just nervous because this is the first huge meeting that I have to deal with and I don’t want to let him down.”

She gave him a confident smile. “You won’t. Just relax and make them realize why they even hired you in the first place. Ooh wait, you forgot the binder!”

Lila handed him the binder and he thanked her on his way out. She even called out the room number of which conference room he had to attend to in case he also had forgotten about it. As he continued to walk towards the elevator, he gave her a little wave, saying thanks. While she was busy putting her office phone on hold, she didn’t notice that Rachel was approaching her desk.

“So, what was that all about?” Rachel asked. The blonde giggled as Lila placed a hand over her fast beating heart.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Lila scolded as she slapped Rachel’s arm. “And it was nothing. Patrice was just nervous because he has that big meeting with Daniel and the other directors. It was just a little pep talk.”

Rachel rolled her eyes as Lila grabbed her purse so the girls could grab some lunch together. “I bet you wanted to do something else besides giving him a little pep talk.” Rachel said, giving her a sly look.

Lila elbowed Rachel in the ribs as they entered the elevator. She regretted the fact that she told her friend that she thought her boss was handsome. Within the span of 15 minutes, the girls made it to the cafeteria and ordered their food. Since it was a nice spring day out, the girls decided to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather.

“So what’s it like working for Patrice?”

“Better than working for Brian, that’s for sure. Patrice doesn’t forget things as often as Brian did, which is easier for me at the end of the day,” Lila explained before biting into her sandwich. “But he’s a bit of a perfectionist so he always has me going over documents which can get tiring at times because I know all the information is correct.”

“Can’t blame the guy. He’s the youngest payroll director we’ve ever had. It’s a big roll, making sure all of the business we work for get paid. He’ll get the hang of things soon.”

Lila sighed, “Let’s hope so.”

Rachel poked her pasta with her plastic fork as the girls fell silent. “So is he seeing anyone?”

“Why? Interested in him?”

“Ha! Like a low key guy like Patrice would ever date a girl like me. I’m asking because I’m curious. I know everything about everybody except him.”

“He speaks French,” Lila offered. “I don’t know anything else about his personal life, honestly. He keeps that stuff wrapped up. Does it really bother you that you don’t know anything about him?”

“You don’t know me at all!” Rachel feigned her hurt emotion. Lila rolled her eyes, as Rachel continued to speak. Ever since the girls became friends she felt like all she ever did was roll her eyes. “Maybe I’ll invite him out to drinks one day.”

Putting down her sandwich, Lila held back her annoyed tone. “Are you really that desperate to know more about his personal life? Just because you’re the office gossip doesn’t mean you have to know everything about everybody.”

“Actually, yes it does. And come on, you can’t tell me that you’re not curious! Brian was an open book and there’s nothing about Patrice that we know.”

Rachel did have a point. It did bother Lila at times that she knew absolutely nothing about Patrice and his personal life. She knew that as being co-works, she didn’t necessarily need to know anything about him. But it was normal for people to talk about their friends or family and Patrice didn’t do any of those things. She knew two things about him, which was his favorite television show and his birthday. And the only reason why she knew his birthday was because she had to pick up his work ID.

“Maybe I’ll invite him out to drinks one day. Usually the quiet ones have a lot to say when they’re drunk,” Rachel said with a devious smile.


Patrice and his friend Milan entered the sports bar on a Friday night. He had a half day off from work and he couldn’t wait to relax and have fun with his friend that night. There wasn’t a game on that night so they took the opportunity to enjoy some good food and catch up on some old games.

After the men we’re seated and situated, they ordered themselves a couple of beers and a huge order of wings as they watched the Red Sox game that aired a few nights ago. While the game was in its second inning, he heard a woman’s laugh from the other side of the bar. He recognized whose laughter it was before he even turned around.

Looking over, he could see Lila and Rachel sitting at one of the high top tables. Milan was busy talking about work and quickly noticed that his friend wasn’t paying attention to him at all. His eyes scanned across the room to see what, or rather who Patrice was looking at. A smile spread across his lips as he nudged his friend.

“Why don’t you go introduce yourself?” Milan teased.

Patrice chuckled, “I already know them. The brunette is my secretary and the blonde works in another department.”

Milan let out a low whistle, “Wow, that’s your secretary? I can see why you took the job.”

“I took the job before I even knew who she was,” Patrice shook his head.

“If I was guaranteed to have a secretary like her I would’ve gone to college like you did,” Milan joked as he picked up his beer from the table. “Either of them single?”

Patrice thought for a moment as he gripped his beer. “I have no idea, actually. I don’t know anything about their personal lives,” he said, sipping his beer.

The guys relax into their chairs and began enjoying their beers and waited for their wings to arrive. It had been a while since they had last seen each other because Patrice was so busy with work. Milan was busy as well since he was the owner of his own car garage, which was how the two men met in the first place.

As they ate their platter of wings they knocked backed a few beers and found themselves not paying any attention to the game. But every once and a while, Patrice found himself glancing over at Lila’s direction.

It was weird to see her out of her normal work attire because he was so used to seeing her in it. She looked so relaxed and casual yet it looked like she made an effort into how she looked that evening. He wasn’t going to lie, he thought that she and Rachel were both beautiful but because they all worked together he knew that a relationship could never blossom. If he didn’t know her, Milan would talk him into walking up to the girls to say hello.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that the girls were standing up from their table to leave for the evening. He focused his eyes over at the television to make it seem like he didn’t know that they were there. He and Milan knew that it was a big fat lie.

“Patrice!” Rachel’s peppy voice shouted. She grabbed Lila’s wrist and dragged her over to the side of the restaurant where he was seated. He quickly wiped his mouth, hoping he got rid of all of the sauce on his lips. “How are you?” She asked with a cute smile.

“I’m good, thanks.” Milan kicked his leg from underneath the table, making him flinch. “Oh, this is my friend Milan. This is Rachel and my secretary Lila,” he said pointing to each girl.

Milan gave each girl a friendly smile and handshake as the waitress walked back over. He quickly grabbed the check and began to pull out his wallet. “So, what are you ladies up to this evening?”

“We’re actually on our way out for some drinks at The Capital over on Chestnut. My brother owns the bar so I get drinks half off. You guys interested?”

Milan looked over at Patrice, like he was asking for permission. He knew how Patrice was when it came to hanging out with people from work. Patrice gave Milan a little nod, making him smile almost as big as Rachel.
“We’d love to join you ladies.”

Milan paid the check and left the waitress a tip as Patrice made sure he had his keys, phone, and wallet. He followed everyone out of the bar where they decided to walk to the bar since it was seven blocks away. There was no way that they would be able to find any parking spots in the city on a Friday night.

Patrice soon found himself walking alone with Lila as the other two walked ahead of them. He felt uncomfortable being around her out of the office. He didn’t always hang out with people from the office, with the exception of a few guys. He especially didn’t hang out with them if they were of the opposite sex. A lot of companies were against their employees dating and it was just easier to avoid his co-workers all together.

“So is this what you usually do when you’re not at the office?” He asked, trying to make some small talk. If he was going to be walking with her for seven blocks, he might as well enjoy it.

“Only once and a while. Honestly if I wasn’t here I’d probably be watching TV or something.” She said, glancing up at him every so often. It was weird for her to see him out of the office as well. “What would you be doing?”

“I’d be doing the exact same thing. I’m the biggest TV junkie ever,” he said with a laugh.

When they stopped at a red light, she gasped in excitement. “I am too! Rachel thinks it’s weird that I can watch shows on Netflix all day and not think there’s anything wrong with it.”

“Trust me there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said confidently. “It’s how I spend my free time when I’m not busy working.”

For the next five blocks they took their time walking to the bar as they chatted about their favorite television shows. He was glad that he found another television junkie like him because most of the people he was friends with watched shows like Family Guy or reality TV. She was just happy to find out something personal about him. She hoped that if she told Rachel she wouldn’t try to get her boss drunk.

Being the gentleman that he was, Patrice held the door open for Lila as they entered the bar. The crowd wasn’t too bad for a Friday night but that was mostly because a lot of crazy college kids didn’t attend the bar. Since Patrice was taller and could see over most of the crowd, he found Milan and Rachel sitting next to each other at one of the booths in the back of the bar.

Lila and Patrice sat next to each other as Rachel slid their beers across the tabletop. Rachel glanced over at Lila, wondering what had taken her so long just to walk seven blocks.

“So Milan, are you into that nerdy show that those two like?” Rachel asked, resting her head on her palm.

He scoffed, “you mean that show with the dwarf and dragon? Hell no.”

“There’s more to the show than that! Right Patrice?” She asked, nudging his arm lightly.

“Right,” he agreed as they clinked their beer bottles together. “They’re just jealous that they don’t have good taste in TV shows like how we do.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, “You know it’s a miracle that the two of you even have friends.”

Patrice leaned his body into Lila’s like he was about to whisper, but spoke loudly enough so Rachel could hear him. “Is she always this rude?”

At the office, Patrice never spoke more than two or three words to Rachel. And even though she knew he was just joking with her, she was surprised when he had called her rude. But what didn’t surprise her was the fact that Lila was laughing.

“Believe it or not, this is her playing nice. Is Milan any better?”

Patrice barked out a laugh. “Let’s just say that I wouldn’t repeat some of the names he’s called me over the years.”

Milan kicked Patrice underneath the table again, making him jump in his seat from the sudden pain. “You two love birds can move away from each other now. Let’s go play pool!”

Patrice and Lila quickly pulled away from each other as everyone exited the booth. He cleared his throat awkwardly before he followed the girls to where the pool tables were. He and Milan set the game up as Lila walked up to the bar to order a few more beers.

He was glad that she walked away, even if it was for a few minutes. He needed to relax a little after that comment Milan had made. He didn’t think that he and Lila were sitting that close to each other, at least they weren’t sitting close enough for them to be called love birds. He quickly regretted his decision to go out with Lila and Rachel. The last thing he needed was to get involved with another girl from the office.

As the night went on, Patrice found himself constantly bumping into Lila. His chest would bump into hers or he would accidentally step on her toes. At one point he even accidentally hit her back with his pool stick. It didn’t help that Milan was laughing at him every time he apologized to her. He decided to stop drinking because if he was bumping into her after three beers, he couldn’t imagine what would happen if he had more.

They even played a few rounds of darts where Rachel lost miserably. She hit the wall more than she hit the dart board. Milan didn’t mind because he got to teach her how to properly throw the dart and even made a profit from a bet they had made. And unlike the walk over to the bar, they waked back to their cars as a group.

“Are you going to be okay to drive home?” Patrice asked, taking his keys out of his pockets.

Lila didn’t know why, but it felt nice that he was so concern with her safety. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

He raised his eyebrow, unsure if he should believe her or not. “Are you sure about that? You seemed pretty drunk earlier, I mean that’s the only explanation to why you sucked at pool earlier,” he added with a smile.

That only made Milan groan and roll his eyes.

“Hey I told you that I never played before!” She laughed, “Would you like me to walk in a straight line and recite my ABC’s backwards for you?”

“Enough with the smart mouth. I’m just making sure you’ll be okay. You had five beers to drink tonight.”

She gave him a comforting smile. It reminded him of the smile that she gave him the other day when he was nervous for his big meeting. “I promise I’ll be perfectly fine to drive home. I’ll see you Monday morning.”

“Goodnight Lila,” he called out as she and Rachel began walking towards her car in the parking lot.

She turned around and wiggled her fingers to give him a little wave. He really hoped that she was okay to drive home that evening. When he could no longer see Lila walking to her car, he turned around to drive Milan home for the evening.

Milan had a big smirk on his face as Patrice unlocked the door. He wouldn’t stop staring at Patrice as they settled into the car.

“What are you looking at?” Patrice asked, although he really didn’t want to know why his friend was smiling so much.

“You so have a crush on your secretary!” He teased loudly. Patrice shook his head as he pulled out of his parking spot. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you talk to a girl so much before! God you were so awkward too.”

Patrice shook his head, “I don’t have a crush on her.”

“Oh really? Then why didn’t you say goodnight to Rachel?”

“You’re such an asshole,” Patrice laughed. “I’m gonna remember this next time you ask to hang out.”