Lindsey McDonald (oklahomalawyer) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-12-28 01:00:00 |
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Current location: | Wolfram & Hart, the a Dive Bar |
Current mood: | calm |
Entry tags: | lindsey mcdonald, patience kowalski, place: la |
Interesting Drinking Companions
Who: Lindsey and Patience
Where: Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey's Office, then a dive bar down the road
When: Dec. 30, Late Evening
Lindsey was one of those people who worked far too late into the evening. It wasn't that there was something that he had to avoid...where, he was somewhat avoiding talking to Lilah Morgan at the moment, but that was personal matters. He just had a general tendency to get too involved in his own work most evenings, which occasionally had him going home very late into the evening. This was one such evening. One of the firm's clients needed something done TONIGHT, and wasn't the type to take no for an answer, if only because saying no to him caused him to want to EAT you. He rubbed his eyes as he sipped on his coffee and continued to work on some paper work.
Patience had been in Wolfram and Hart's employ for almost a month now, as Lindsey's assistant, which was why she silently made her way into his office and sat in a chair opposite him, looking dressed to kill in pumps, a barely knee-high black skirt and a white, cleavage bearing dress shirt, her hair up in a tight bun. She watched Lindsey for a few moments, silently studying him.
Lindsey had been hesitant to hire Patience. She was connected to Slayers and others. Sure, he was evil, but he had also put in a semi-functional relationship with the Bales again, and wasn't in the mood to immediately ruin it. The only reason he agreed to work with her? She had been the one to come in and apply herself. Why? No freaking telling. The mind readers hadn't found any overt ideas toward sabotaging anything, other than possibly her own life by running away from her husband and kid. He actually let her sit there for a few moments, not looking up, before saying, "Usually people only come in here when they want something." Unless they were Zee, but she didn't work here. "Anything I can do for you, Mrs. McConnell?"
"Nothing at all," she replied with a faint smirk. Yes, Patience had been a busy little bee when people weren't watching, hadn't she? "I like watching you work. Even though it's all you seem to do, Mr. McDonald."
He finally looked away from his work and looked up at her. "I'm fairly certain that this place would explode if I wasn't here," he joked. "Someone has to work, after all." He gave her a slight smile. "And I do plenty of things other than work. Just not here."
"I can't imagine you as a 'beer with the fellas' kind of guy."The image of him drinking with work friends amused her, actually. "Hopefully one day I'll get to see that. If for no other reason than because I think it doesn't happen." She teased. Funnily, while they were all serious business around colleagues and clients, in a private situation, she couldn't help it but let her personality escape, sometimes.
Which was kind of sad, because, off the clock, that's just the type of person he was. If only she saw what he drove when he wasn't coming to work, eh? He simply smirked at her when she said that. "I may have to take you out tonight for a drink just to prove you wrong," he said playfully to her.
She chuckled and crossed one leg over the other, shaking her head at him. "I have an extraordinarily high tolerance for alcohol, so don't say something like that if you aren't willing to back it up." Okay, so it was kind of fun to see him like this. She was interested to see how far he'd go.
He actually knew that she would and why, but what was the fun in admitting to that? "Wouldn't say it if I wasn't willing to back it up," he bantered right back to her. "And I'd be more amazed if you couldn't drink grown men under the table." He had a feeling that she'd use that to her advantage just to mess with people, too.
She couldn't help it but give him a toothy grin then. Even when she was just a vanilla human she could handle alcohol well. Now? With a little demon in her? She was just inhumanly cruel when it came to drinking contests. "I can and have. Although I've received very little complaints."
"I bet you haven't been lacking in any sort of compliments," Lindsey said playfully. Was he hitting on her just a tad? Maybe...but he *was* having problems with Lilah right now. If she could go and hang around other people, then so could he. Besides, SHE had refused his marriage proposal.
"It's a burden that I have to carry, I'm afraid." Patience chuckled, finding that she liked this playful little flirty banter that they had going here. It was nice to have something light and fluffy in a place that was inherently EVIL.
This place was evil, but that didn't mean you couldn't have a good time here. She should attend the Halloween parties. "And I'm sure it's a terrible one to carry," Lindsey said, finally pushing his papers aside. He was completely sick of looking at it. Besides, beautiful woman sitting in front of him. Why look at papers?
"You have no idea," she replied with a chuckle. Well, one thing could be said about Patience. She never seemed to lack in self worth. She tilted her head to the side and studied him for a moment. "I get the impression that if it weren't for... outside influences," Zee, for example, although she didn't mention the other woman's name, "you'd just get swallowed up in your work. And all joking aside, I still expect that drink from you." Plus, it'd be kinda fun to see Drunk!Lindsey.
Depending on his mood, Drunk!Lindsey was either a little maudlin or incredibly mischievous: when he was a teenager, he had stolen a cop car and the cop's hat in the process. "More than likely, most of the time," he admitted. He used his work to not think about his life ninety percent of the time. It tended to work. "And how about we get that drink tonight then?" he suggested.
"I guess that really depends now, doesn't it?" She tilted her head to the side again, a mischievous little grin playing on her lips before she elaborated: "Are you done with work for the night?"
"There's nothing that I can't get back to in the morning," Lindsey said to her with a slight smile. He was certainly ready to get out of here, after all. How could one concentrate when you had a Patience McConnell in the room.
"Alright." She set her hands on her knees and stood, taking her time doing it, as well. A girl knew her assets, okay? "Do you know anywhere nearby?"
"Plenty of places," he said, standing up and reaching to grab his jacket. "Depends on what you want to see. Would you rather a classy place or a dive bar?"
Patience arched an eyebrow and smirked. Spoiled for choice, wasn't she? "As long as they serve a decent drink, I don't care."
He chuckled. "I was checking to see where you'd feel more comfortable," he said, sliding his jacket on. "Dive bar also has good hot wings, though."
"I am a sucker for hot wings..." Patience chuckled, belatedly realizing that, really, Lindsey had never seen her drink. Was he about to see her... well, less restrained?
"Then I know exactly where we're going," he said to her as he started to head for the door. Soon enough, the two of them were downstairs and out of the building and getting into his Lincoln.
"Wow, this is a pretty car..." Patience murmured as she slipped on her seatbelt. Because, really, that's what one said when they were in an expensive car. Sigh. "I have to make do with public transport." She laughed, though, knowing who's fault that was. Silly girl.
"You should see my other car." he joked. Of course, it was the rust bucket of a truck, but what made life unpredictable was, well, unpredictability. "Then hopefully the firm will give you a raise soon," he said as he buckled his seat belt and started the car. If only she knew that the only reason he had this car was because Wolfram & Hart said he had to keep up appearances while actually at work. Soon enough, he was pulling up to a decent looking but still very obviously 'dive' bar. He managed to get out of the car and hold her door open for her before she could get out.
"Eh, it doesn't bother me too much. It just means that I have to work more to earn it, which... strangely, I prefer," she replied, before stepping out of the car, silently surprised by the small gentlemanly action. It seems our Lindsey was raised a certain way, huh? "Thanks. So. What's your poison? I'm buying the first round."
He couldn't help but smile at the idea that she preferred to actually earn her money. Impressive. After they walked inside, he sat down at the bar. "Whatever beer they have on tap will be good for starters," he said with a slight grin.
"Oh, 'for starters'?" She repeated with a teasing lilt to her voice. "I like the sound of that." She ordered them each a beer and had a large mouthful of hers, before setting it down on the bar.
While he didn't take quite a huge gulp, his was sizable, too. He was just glad to be the hell away from the office right now. "I never come to a bar to just drink one beer," he teased.
"True. Plus, being a Texan, you have a reputation to uphold," she teased right back. The cheeky thing. She needed this. A feeling of a ... sense of normalcy, despite the fact that their lives were far from normal.
He sighed. "I'm actually from Oklahoma," he pointed out to her. "Right beside each other, but definitely not the same." He gave her a slight smile. "Besides, Oklahoma does it WAY better than Texas."
"Ah. A slip of the tongue. I'm sorry," she blushed faintly. It seems that was a word that Patience had heard of only recently, huh? 'Sorry'. Anyway... "And HOW exactly is Oklahoma better than Texas? Inquiring minds want to know."
"Let me get a couple more drinks in you and maybe you'll get to find out," he joked, laughing a little. He took another gulp of his beer. Wasn't he feeling interesting tonight?
She couldn't help it but laugh then, actually going as far as to nudge him gently in his seat. "I'm kinda liking the cheeky side of you," she admitted. It seemed that Wolfram and Hart employed ALL kinds of people, huh?
They really did. "And you were worried that I couldn't loosen up," he said, turning and looking over at her. "Shows just what you can learn just in an office, huh?"
"I guess so," she replied, taking a sip of her beer. Whoever would have guessed that Patience and Lindsey would have gotten along, let alone WORKED together?
He ended up finishing off his beer and flagging the bartender for another one, ordering a plate of hot wings as well. "So, what do you do when you're not either at work or convincing coworkers to come out drinking with you?" he asked her.
She did the same. Amazingly, they seemed to be going at the same pace at the moment. At his question, she wondered if it would be wise to be honest, but then... he likely would have looked into her history before hiring her. He was smart enough to do that. "I've had ... a lot of anger issues lately, so I've been working on that. You'd be stunned to find out how many of your clients that I've thought about putting through a table, but... I like this job and want to keep it. It turns out breathing exercises aren't a bunch of crap, after all."
He couldn't help but chuckle when she mentioned that she'd like to put a few clients through a table. When he got his next beer, he took a sip of it. It would take a few minutes on their hot wings. He had looked into her history, although it wasn't her anger issues that had made him reticent to hire her in the first place. "We take on all sorts of clients. Not all of them are worth the oxygen they breathe...if all of them breathe oxygen. I'm sure there's at least some species of demon who breaths CO2." He wouldn't be shocked. "We do keep shrinks on call if you want to see any of them."
She actually shuddered a bit when he mentioned that some demons could live on CO2, getting a good mental picture as well. "It cool. I've got my own shrink. Admittedly, I haven't seen her in a while..." she added with a thoughtful pout, before brushing it off. "But enough about me. I'd rather talk about YOU." She teased.
He rolled his eyes. "There really isn't too much to tell about myself," he pointed out to her. "I'm far less interesting than my job may make me out to be."
"Well, I respectfully disagree." Well, she was talking to her boss. It wasn't like she was going to say... "I think you're talking out of your ass." ... Nevermind. "You're plenty interesting. Otherwise all the women in accounting wouldn't be so interested in you."
"That's because ninety percent of the men who work at this firm are older than most of the buildings in LA," Lindsey pointed out with a laugh. Not that he'd ever say that *in* the building. Of course, half of the staff wasn't human, either.
She couldn't help it but snort with laughter then. "Okay, okay. That part's true. Still, I don't think that you should sell yourself short. You're good looking, got a great fucking sense of humor." Oops, was that the first time she swore in front of him? She pressed on, however, "and I'll bet dollars to donuts that you've got a good singing voice, too. So, I won't hear anymore of THAT."
He actually didn't mind the swearing. He did it a fair amount himself. As a lawyer, he was just in the habit of being choosier with his words more often than not. "And just how can you guess that I've got a good singing voice." He had a great one, but that was besides the point.
"I've been around enough musicians in the past year to be able to tell," she pointed out to him. "Tell me that I'm wrong," she added in a challenging voice. It looks like PK was starting to come out of her shell a little bit, huh?
"Never said you were," he said simply to her, taking another sip of his beer. Since he was drinking so quickly, he was starting to get a decent warm buzz. Despite his job, he was still human, after all. "Just curious how you guessed. It's not exactly something I share with too many people from work."
She took another swig of her beer, just starting to feel slightly tingly. It'd take more to get her on her ass, what with the part-demon of it all. She grinned at him. "You have a smooth voice. It makes sense... or it'd be a waste." GOD, despite everything, she'd picked up some stuff from Pat, hadn't she?
Apparently. "Well, even so, kind of doubt you're into what I usually sing," he said. "You seem to be more of a rocker type girl, or is that me just doing the stereotyping thing?" Another amusing thing about Lindsey loosening up: his natural Oklahoma twang came out more.
"It's not ... inaccurate," she admitted, before pointing a finger at him, "but that's not to say that I don't like other music, as well, dammit. I bet you wouldn't guess that I love The Beatles." She was amused by the accent thing, so much so that she couldn't hide her smile whenever he started talking.
"Interesting, but most people have at least a healthy respect for The Beatles," Lindsey pointed out. "Now, do you like country music at all? Then you might actually like something that I write."
"I like some country music, but not all. I'm NOT a fan of The Dixie Chicks, but that's just me..." She chuckled as the hot wings finally arrived and ordered them two more beers while she was at it, starting to feel pleasantly buzzed.
"Well, I can promise you that you'll never catch me singing The Dixie Chicks," he said with a slight laugh, finishing off his second beer as well, just in time for his third. If this kept up, he'd be calling for a taxi for himself and Patience when they left.
"OhmyGOD, that would be the most hilarious thing ever, though." Patience giggled. She couldn't help it. It really WAS an amusing image. Personally, she wasn't too worried about how she was getting home (which was, admittedly, a small apartment that she'd just rented recently... before that, a hotel). "But yeah. I *must* hear you sing, sometime."
"Actually...there is this place that I sing at from time to time," he told her. "A bunch of people from work go there occasionally." When they had more than a few hours to themselves, anyway. "It's called Caritas. It's a karaoke bar. Ever heard of it?"
"That... actually sounds vaguely familiar, yeah." She frowned lightly, trying to figure out where she'd heard the name from. Maybe Neely had mentioned something? Anyway... "You're just full of surprises tonight, aren't you, Lindsey?"
"It's fairly well known in our circles," Lindsey said to her. For being a human, he had way more knowledge about the supernatural than he had any business having, job aside. "And I'm not the only one full of surprises," he said to her with a smile.
She tongued one of her molars thoughtfully, before breaking into a wide grin. "Then I think it's settled. Next time we go out? We're going to Caritas, so I can hear you sing." She nodded decisively.
He nodded. "Fine by me. Will I get to hear you sing as well, or are you one of those who refuses to sing in public?"
"I can sing," she replied, before taking a good swig of her beer. "It might be an idea to get a few of these in me first." She laughed.
"There are drinks at this place that you've never even heard of, so getting a few in you shouldn't be a problem," Lindsey told her. "I wouldn't recommend anything with the word 'yak' in it, though. That's only kept around for a certain clientele."
Patience just laughed. "Sage advice. I'll.... take it into consideration." She finished the last of her beer and quietly considered another one, before looking to him. "You think you're up for one more, or should we do the smart thing and leave while we're ahead?" Since she knew that he'd go to work early tomorrow, she didn't want him to suffer because of it. Funnily enough.
"I think I'll be fine with one more," Lindsey said to her. Honestly, he'd be fine with several more, but he didn't want to come off like a raging alcoholic or anything like that. "Never said I was a smart one all the time."
Patience just rolled her eyes and ordered two more beers. "Preachin' to the choir, baby. But the pity party already has a leader, thank you very much." She lifted her beer in a small salute.
He gave a snort and went after his beer as soon as it came over. "Pity party?" he asked, looking at her and arching an eyebrow at her.
"Sounded like you were putting yourself down, or something. I'll admit... the alcohol might be starting to have an effect," she added, before taking another gulp of her beer with a snarky grin.
He laughed. "I'm not always as smart as I should be, but I'm not being down on myself," Lindsey said and took another sip of his beer. "That's just realism there. No one's perfect." He looked her over. "Well, most of us, anyway."
"Most of us?" She asked with an arched eyebrow and the hint of a teasing lilt to her voice. She felt that, for the first time, she was actually starting to see him as a real person. Alcohol, wasn't it wonderful?
"You know you're gorgeous, Patience. Don't even joke," Lindsey pointed out to her simply. Lindsey actually did have a real personality. He just kept it under wraps at work. Made life easier.
"Gorgeous... well, that I know," she joked. "But I'm far from perfect, Lindsey." Of course, it was only recently that she'd started to learn her faults. "You're such a charmer."
"Well...I try," he said simply. Being a lawyer for so long had basically ingrained in him to be charming. It was actually hard to turn it off. "Still...look pretty damn perfect." He chuckled. "Anyways...no one's completely perfect, or so I'm told."
She studied him for a moment, idly wondering what it was about him that made him so interesting to her. Surely, there had to be one thing that stood out. "Everyone has something dirty in their closet. If they didn't, they wouldn't be human. Or... mostly human, in my case."
"Work for Wolfram & Hart long enough and you'll have plenty of dirty items in your closet," he said. While he didn't say that while making a face, he didn't smile while saying it, either. Still, he was someone that believed that, if you were going to do a job, then do it well. So far, that had worked. If something came up that crossed whatever line he may have, though, that may change. He shook his head. "Tonight's supposed to be fun, though."
"Then we won't talk about work anymore," she said decisively. "I think I'm tipsy enough to sing you a song. Maybe 'piano man' or something equally worthy and... moderately festive." Okay, so she was in a good mood, sue her.
"Then sing me a song, piano lady," he joked, proving that he knew more music than just country, even if it was his favorite.
Oooh, did something come to mind then. "Do you know 'Fairytale of New York?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. For whatever reason, that song had put her in a good mood more often than not recently.
"Actually, I have heard it a few times," he told her. It wasn't something that, like, he knew by heart, but he'd at least heard it before.
"Then I think we should do a duet... a very hushed duet," she added with that maddening cheeky grin of hers. "What better song to get in the holiday spirit, hmm?" Sure, Christmas was over, but New Years was but a breath away.
He laughed. "You know what? Sure. Let's do that then." If he could remember all the words, anyway. If not, he'd blame the beers.
She laughed as well, and let him start the song. He knew most of the words, from the sound of it, although she'd fumbled on a few as well, so it wasn't like she was going to make fun of him for it. "Knew you had a good singing voice," she joked, giving him a good shoulder bump.
Her voice was actually pretty decent as well. Of course, her husband (or soon to be ex, more than likely) was a bonafide rock star, so you'd think that some of it would have rubbed off. "You're not so bad yourself," he said right back to her.
"Well, I try," she joked, batting her eyelashes like a diva. "I'd make a joke about us making beautiful music together, but that'd be highly inappropriate." Oh, look. Devilish Patience was still in there somewhere!
"So, aren't you basically making the joke anyway? He asked her playfully. Of course, he'd been hitting on her all night, so appropriateness went right out the window. Now, did he mean any of it? Well...he honestly wasn't sure. Not that anything would come of it. Even if she had been the one to leave her husband, he was still pretty sure she was hung up on him.
"Well, I never said that I was subtle," she joked right back. Even she wasn't sure if she was still hung up on Pat, to be honest. She'd only really know when she saw him, or heard his voice. She'd be naive to think that he hadn't been with other women in her absence, that was for sure.
"Subtlety is best left for work, anyway," he said to her with a grin. Sometimes he got tired of only saying half truths or having to keep what he really thought either completely out of his head or at least constantly remembering not to say it out loud.
Patience laughed. "I learned that very quickly. The last thing I want is to be fired. ...Which, I wouldn't be surprised was a literal thing there."
"It's actually the 'sacking' that's completely literal," Lindsey said. While that *could* be taken as a joke...it wasn't. Wolfram & Hart could be intense. "I wouldn't be surprised if they used fire, too, though." He took a long sip of his beer. "But damn the money's good."
"It is," she agreed, taking a long sip of her drink as well. "And I'd frankly rather a job that was interesting and that I liked more than anything... Well, mundane, anyway."
He chuckled. "Well, Wolfram & Hart is definitely interesting and not mundane," he said with a grin. "Just make sure to stay on your toes. I'd hate to see someone like you burn out there."
"Don't worry about me, Lindsey." She gave him one of her devilish smirks that somehow turned more sincere. "I know how to take care of myself."
"I bet you do," he said in a tone that showed that he truly meant it.