After hearing the name Paul Allen come out of Beatrice's mouth, Patrick had froze as he picked what face mask he would be doing today. "What..?" He mumbled — not loud enough for Beatrice to hear though — she got up and grabbed her bag, "See you at work Patrick." She called from the front door. Patrick didn't say goodbye as Beatrice already shut the door — he was alone again. Paul Allen was Patrick's enemy — not that Paul knew that but Patrick didn't care — Paul had the Fisher account (which was once originally Rothschilds before he got it). The Fisher account was one of the most important things in the world... and Patrick needed to know how and why Paul had gotten it instead of him.
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Heading into work that day, Patrick was wearing a pair of Oliver Peoples O'Malley glasses along with a Valentino suit he had randomly grabbed that morning. He hoped to not see Beatrice that morning so he instantly went to the conference room where mostly everyone was — including Luis Carruthers, the soon to be husband to Courtney — a woman that Patrick was having an affair with. "Patrick!" Luis exclaimed with a smile that Patrick tried to return as he sat down next to him — the floor to ceiling windows behind the two of them were just aching for Patrick to break Luis through them. "I heard you went to Dorsia last night, how'd you pull that off?" Luis questioned making Patrick shrug, "Lucky I guess." He would never tell the truth that he didn't actually go to Dorsia.
"That's a wonderful jacket." Luis complimented — Patrick didn't pay him any attention, he was mostly looking to see if Paul Allen was there at P&P. "Let me guess, Valentino Couture?" Luis asked as he stared. Patrick nodded, "Uh huh." He really wasn't paying attention to him. Luis began to reach out to touch Patrick's jacket, "It looks so soft." He mumbled — Patrick instantly caught his hand — he looks at Luis, disgusted, "Your compliment was sufficient Luis." The red head nods and straightens his tie — Patrick looks away and watches as Paul Allen walks in — he's carrying the Wall Street Journal under his arm.
He looks like the better version of Patrick — confident, charismatic, humane. Paul greets other men that look similar to Patrick and himself. He walks over to Patrick and sighs with a grin, "Hello, Halberstram. Nice tie. How the hell are you?" Patrick's jaw clenches as he looks at Paul, "I've been great. And you?" Paul has mistaken Patrick for Marcus Halberstram who also works at P&P and also does the same thing Patrick does — he also has a penchant for Valentino suits and Oliver Peoples glasses — they even go to the same barber, (but I have the slightly better haircut). Speaking of Marcus, he's in the same room speaking to other coworkers, he shares a superficial resemblance to Patrick.
"How's the Ransom account going Marcus?" Paul asks and Patrick gulps, "It's... it's alright." Paul's brows raise, "Really? That's interesting." He stares at Patrick with a smile, "Not great?" Patrick shrugs before the two chuckle — a forced and awkward sound coming out of Patrick's mouth — "Oh, well, you know." Paul nods, "And how's Cecilia? She's a very lucky girl." Patrick grins, "Oh, yes, I'm very lucky." Paul straightens up, "I'm actually seeing someone myself, Beatrice Kruger, she's the best hardbody a guy could fuck." Paul laughs loudly at his words while Patrick is frozen — the mere mention of Beatrice's name makes him tense up. McDermott and Bryce — Patricks "friends" — walk in.
"Hey, Allen! Congratulations on the Fisher account." McDermott compliments as he sits down across from Luis. "Thank you, Baxter." Paul Allen mistakes. "Listen, Paul, Squash?" Bryce asks as he sits down and Paul pulls out his card — "Call me." Bryce takes it, "How about Friday?" Paul shakes his head, "No can do. Got a res at eight-thirty at Dorsia. Great sea urchin ceviche." Everyone is stunned as he walks away — Patrick looks at him with hatred knowing that, that would be the dinner that Beatrice would be with him. Paul walks out of the room, "Jesus, Dorsia? On a Friday night? How'd he swing that?" Bryce asks the others and McDermott shakes his head, "I think he's lying." He whispers. Suddenly, Patrick takes out his new business card.
"What's that, a gram?" Bryce asks, enthused. "New card. What do you think?" Patrick asks and McDermott lifts it up — examining the lettering carefully — "Whoa, very nice. Take a look." He hands it to Van Patten. "Picked them up from the printers yesterday." Van Patten hands it back, "Good coloring." Patrick is beaming, "That's bone. And the lettering is something called Silian Rail." McDermott quirks his brow, "Silian Rail?" He's envious. Van Patten pulls out his own card, "It is very cool Bateman. But that's nothing." He puts it on the table. "Look at this." They all lean forward to inspect it. "That's really nice." Bryce compliments. Patrick is clenching his fist under the table — trying to control his anxiety. "Eggshell with Romalian type." Van Patten informs as he looks to Patrick, "What do you think?" Patrick nods, it feels like he can't breathe, "Nice."
Bryce grabs Van Pattens card and holds it up to the light, "Jesus. This is really super. How'd a nitwit like you get so tasteful?" Patrick stares at his own card before looking enviously at Van Pattens. He's in disbelief at the fact that Bryce prefers Van Pattens card over his. "But wait, you ain't seen nothin' yet." Bryce holds up his own card, "Raised lettering, pale nimbus white..." Patrick is practically choking, "Impressive, very nice." He puts his hands together as he leans forward, "Let's see Paul Allen's card." Bryce pulls Paul's card out of his pocket and slides it on the table for them all to see.
PAUL ALLEN, PIERCE & PIERCE, MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS.
Patrick swallows the spit built up in his mouth, he's speechless. All he can hear is his heart in his ears as he grabs the card and looks at it — it's a magnificent card — (look at that subtle off white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my god... it even has a watermark). Patrick's hand is shaking as he stares at the card, he lets it fall, he's frozen. Luis looks at Patrick with concern, "Is there something wrong Patrick? You're sweating..."
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