The Work by Bri Lee

Author:Bri Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2024-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Pat wasn’t any less perturbed by the penis-lily photograph outside Josephine’s office. He thought maybe he was making it worse, psyching himself out about it every time he was called to that end of the building. Her door was open. Good sign.

‘Patrick, come in,’ she said, not looking up. ‘And close the door.’

Bad sign.

‘Good afternoon, Josephine,’ he said.

She handed him a large dossier. ‘Finalisation documents for the Bauer account.’

‘Ah, wonderful.’

‘Indeed. We’ve ended up with almost twice as many pieces as anticipated. Well done.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’ve been on the phone to Sophie, and she’s delighted with your performance.’

‘Thank—’

‘I thought perhaps you could take the rest of the day off and deliver these to her in person. Every separate transfer of title page needs to be initialled so it’s probably best we send someone to make sure it’s done correctly.’

‘Oh, sure,’ Pat replied and stood, holding the folder, waiting.

‘Is there anything else?’ Josephine asked him.

‘No.’

‘Good afternoon then,’ she said with a nod.

‘Right. Thank you.’

He closed the door behind him and stood staring at the lily, challenging it. Nothing was the matter. He was killing it. He was handling this account and that real work contract was on the horizon.

Daft Punk was playing in the cab on the way to the Bauer house and it was the cherry on top of Pat’s excellent mood. Sophie opened the door dressed in a kaleidoscopic caftan with rhinestones lining the deep v-neck. The house was warm inside, and Fleetwood Mac emanated from somewhere within.

‘Pat!’ She gave him an enthusiastic kiss on each cheek. ‘Come in, come in.’

‘Hi, Sophie. I’ve got all the finalisation documents for initials and signatures.’ He tapped his briefcase as he set it down on the counter.

‘Good boy,’ she said. ‘Let’s do business first.’

He let the word ‘first’ go by without comment and pulled a pen from his shirt pocket, handing it to her. Her fingers brushed his and she smiled at him.

‘Forty-one initials needed altogether.’

‘Sheesh!’

‘I know, sorry.’

‘Let’s burn through it, hey?’

He laid out the pages and pointed to where she should sign, replacing each sheet in the file as it was done.

‘Phew,’ she said as he clicked his briefcase shut. ‘Now, how would you feel about a little celebratory spliff?’

Pat laughed, both from surprise and because it had been years since he’d heard anyone use the word ‘spliff’. ‘Sure!’ he replied, and took off his jacket.

‘Yes!’ she shouted joyously, then reached for a Tupperware container on top of the fridge and trotted out of the room, her crazy dress billowing behind her.

Pat followed her to the media room, the source of the Fleetwood Mac, closing the door behind him. He felt alarmed that they were going to smoke inside, then he remembered that people who owned their own homes could do whatever the fuck they wanted inside them, and also that he was a man now, not a boy, so he dimmed the lights with the little dial on the wall and kicked his shoes off. There were giant cushions scattered across the floor, and Sophie kneeled down and smacked the cushion beside her.

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