Author’s Note: This story is a complete work of fiction from the get go and is intended solely for the readers to enjoy. My thanks to EasySpeak for the work of editing this story so that it makes sense and makes it easier to read and understand.

It was my usual practice to arrive at work just before or at 7 o’clock in the morning. Our normal office working hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with an hour for lunch. When I get to work that early in the morning I always have my choice of parking places.

I could normally choose the closest parking place to the office building. Our office is usually very quiet at that time of the morning. There isn’t anyone talking, the phones aren’t ringing yet and I can concentrate and get a lot of my work done during that time.

After I arrive in my office I generally boot my computer and start work for at least an hour or more. Then I go to the break room and get myself a cup of coffee and drink it at my desk as I work.

Sometimes my coffee gets pretty cold by the time I can get it all down. Of course, then it’s time for me to go make a long overdue mid morning urinal deposit and get another cup of coffee and return to my office.

That morning I worked for more than two and a half hours before I first went to get my cup of coffee. For the past several days I have been working on a huge EXCEL file with a number of books and pivot tables.

When I left work the previous night the size of the file was already over 500 MB. And I still had a large amount of work to do before the file would be completed. I estimated that its size would approach one GB by the time I was finished with it.

This EXCEL file was a recent requirement of our company’s customer who insisted that the entire design package be put into the EXCEL file. As the Chief Mechanical Design Engineer and Director of Engineering it was my responsibility to assemble all of the previously approved data for the equipment, correlate it and put it into the EXCEL file. I knew that I couldn’t continue to do this for every customer who wanted it done for them.

Of course, I knew that was ultimately going to happen and I would have to train our QA Department Manager and his employees to do this work. Since I had other work to attend to I would have to hand this work off to them after they had been trained.

It sure would beat having to put all of that paperwork into the huge data books we presently supply to our customers and it would provide them much better access to the data in digital format rather than on paper.

I routinely had to go back and double check it for accuracy and make sure all of the features of the file operated as they were intended to operate. Otherwise our customer would certainly not be happy with us.

And that could result in the loss of future business which certainly wouldn’t make our middle and upper management very happy. And the smart guy always wants to make sure that his middle and upper management are very happy with such important work as this.

The customer had a specific protocol for the development of the EXCEL file which included an index with internal links, a glossary, a list and identification of the abbreviations used and the body of the file.

It included all of the design calculations, the ProE drawings for each major assembly, sub-assembly and individual parts and the FEA plots and the results along with life assessments of the critical equipment using a Fracture Mechanics approach as the starting point.

They also required all the engineering specifications, material specifications, material certifications, QA procedures, NCRs - Non Conformance Reports and many others to be included in the file.

In addition, they also required that the file be accompanied by all of the paper copies of the contents of the file. (Essentially the data book) It was so large and complex I had to get one of the guys from the IT Department to help me quite often. Without their help I would never have been able to put everything together completely in the form that was required by the customer without the help of the IT Department.

Moreover, I had to work on the file using the remote memory (The Cloud) that the company normally used for other purposes. That was because the EXCEL file would have to be made available to the customer on their demand over the internet through their password and outside the company’s firewall.

That way they could access the file from their remote location at any time of the day 24/7. It really helped them further since they wouldn’t have to call us every time they had a problem of one kind or another with the equipment.

Surely, the reader needs to know a little about me and what I’m doing. I work for an Oil Tool Equipment Engineering and Manufacturing Company. The company makes a large number of different parts and assemblies for oil and gas exploration and production.

My name is Patrick Doyle but, most people call me Pat and I prefer to be called by that name. And yeah, I’m used to hearing all of the old remarks about I make women’s hearts go pitty pat.

My parents called me Pat from the time I was born. In fact, if I was called by my full first name I’d think that it was my Mother wanting to discipline me for something I had done or maybe I hadn’t done for her.

That used to set off alarm bells in my head when my Mother called me by my full first name. Or maybe it was just the tone of her voice that sent chills down my spine. Needless to say I loved her very much and I never wanted to have her mad at me if I knew what was good for me.

I have worked for the company for over 10 years and have risen from an entry level Mechanical Engineer to Mechanical Design Engineer to Chief Mechanical Design Engineer and now Director of Engineering. I’m in charge of the Mechanical Design Engineering Group and I have ten Mechanical Design Engineers in my group reporting to me.

My job requires my group to work closely with the Metallurgical Engineering Group, the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Group, the Fracture Mechanics Group and the QA Group of the company.

As anyone can see the job at hand is extremely large and complex. However, this EXCEL file project may end up being more than I could handle as it is just a little bit out of my dog house. I began to wonder if I was saddled with this job because I was in someone’s dog house but, that’s a story for another day.

Many of the people I work with are always telling me, “That’s why you’re paid the big bucks, Pat.” After two and a half hours of working on the file that morning I felt like I had been working on it for several days without a break.

So I just had to get away from my slave driving computer for a while, stretch my legs, rest my eyes and get my senses back. I needed to rejoin the real world and see if I could work the kinks out of my neck, my back and out of my hands which were beginning to cramp.

First I went to the men’s room and made my usual deposit and then to the break room where several of the married office lovelies were sitting around and gossiping. One of them looked at me and said, “Holy cow, Pat, did someone remove the tombstone from your grave so you could get out of your office and leave your computer? We’re all very happy to know you have risen from the grave this morning, Pat.”

That drew a big loud giggle from the rest of the office lovelies.” I had long ago learned not to take offense at what they said. I knew that it was all good natured ribbing. I also knew that they all loved to needle me and to respond negatively could turn off their cooperation when I really needed something from them. I sure wasn’t going to jeopardize their good will by being mean to any of them. That way when I really needed their help I knew I could always rely on any one of them.

I quickly responded with a little dry humor, “Yeah, I feel like Lazarus and I have just been raised from the dead. The problem is that I’m going to have to go back to my sarcophagus in a little bit. The other problem is getting someone to roll that big tombstone back over my sarcophagus again.”

They all had a good giggle at that and they all got up and left for their individual work stations. I don’t think they wanted me to hear them talk about changing diapers, diaper rash and nursing babies so, they cut their morning gossip session short.

After drinking my cup of coffee and stretching my neck and legs I went back to my “man cave” stalagmites, stalactites, vampire bats and all that gobeldy gook. I quickly became a slave to my computer again.

I started back to work on that beast of a file again. After two plus more hours of work on the file I got up to go visit the men’s room again. Coffee goes through me and out like there was a direct tube from my mouth to my manhood.

And when nature calls I found out that I had best answer the call otherwise I’d really give the office lovelies something to rib me about then. They would all likely offer to bring me diapers from their diaper bags.

Looking at the time it was ten minutes to noon so I went back to my desk and told my computer to go hibernate somewhere and have a good sleep. I got up from my computer and started to leave the office to go find my lunch. As I got up, one of my Design Engineers asked, “Are you going out to eat, Pat? If so, I’d like to tag along with you”

“Nah, Jim, I’m just going to go down to the sandwich shop down on the first floor and get a soup and sandwich down there. Then I’m going to come back up here put my feet up, catch a few “Z’s”. And then I’m going to let my computer watch me for a change until lunch time is over. You’re welcome to tag along with me if you like.”

Jim immediately shot back, “Nah, Pat, I ate there yesterday while you had your nose plastered all over your computer screen and I really can’t handle that two days in a row. A cup of broccoli soup and a tuna salad sandwich once a month is enough for me to suffer.” I thought, ‘Well he’ll just have to go find his lunch wherever he chooses.’ I was later glad he decided to beg off going with me which you’ll learn more about shortly.

“Ok, man, suit yourself. I’ll catch you after lunch then.” With that I headed out the door and took the elevator to the ground floor of the eight story building where our company offices were located.

Top management had their offices up on the top floor. That figures. It became abundantly clear that the old saying ‘Shit always rolls downhill’ is accurate.’ We had the top five floors of the building and there were commercial stores on the ground floor and some small companies had their offices on the next two floors.

It was a couple of minutes after noon when I walked into the sandwich shop. I got my broccoli soup and tuna salad sandwich along with a large iced tea. No wonder Jim said he couldn’t handle it two days in a row. I figured I couldn’t handle it two days in a row, either.

The food was good but, just how many tuna salad sandwiches and broccoli soups can anyone eat in a given week? I figured you’d really have to be a masochist to eat there more than once a week or probably once a month.

The sandwich shop had nearly filled up already, mostly with women some of them good looking women from the offices in the building. That figures. Women seen to have an unlimited capacity for broccoli soup and tuna salad sandwiches. And I was lucky to find the last vacant table in the shop to eat my lunch. I sat down facing the door and began to inhale my broccoli soup and tuna salad sandwich lunch.

I had just started eating and a very pretty and shapely lady walked by my table with a tray in her hands toward the back of the shop looking for a place to sit and eat her lunch. I thought she is going to have a tough time trying to find a place to sit to eat her lunch.

She was very stylishly but conservatively dressed with the length of her skirt descending very modestly down to just above her knees. I thought to myself, ‘God, she is good looking and I’d love to share my lunch and other unnamed items with her.’

She turned around and started back towards me and I heard her mutter to herself, “Oh, dear. There is no place to sit and eat my lunch.” Her voice had a tone of distress as she spoke.

When she stepped closer to me I said, “Miss, you’re welcome to sit here with me if you would like. I’m not expecting anyone else to join me.”

Her pretty face brightened up and she said, “Oh, yes, sir. That would be so nice of you to let me sit at your table with you, Sir.” She quickly sat her tray on the table across from me, pulled out the chair and sat down.

She said, “My name is Sarah Jameson. Thank you for allowing me to sit here with you.” She looked directly into my eyes and reached her hand out to me very warmly and very self-assuredly.

I took her hand, shook it and responded, “Hello, Sarah. It’s nice to meet you. And no thanks are necessary. I just couldn’t see you not having a place to sit while you ate your lunch when there was a place here at my table available for you.

My name is Patrick Doyle and my friends and family all call me, Pat. And they all jokingly tell me, “That’s according to Doyle.” I said with a big smile on my face at my unabashed play on words or names as the case may be.

“Ok, Pat. Do you eat here often?” she asked ignoring the obvious attempt at levity on my part.

“No. No I don’t stop in here all that often. I stop down here once or sometimes twice a month at most. The rest of the time some of the guys I work with go out to eat. And many times I just sit at my desk, put my feet up and relax and let my computer watch me for a change. The nice thing is that I don’t lose my good parking place near the office building. Do you eat here very often, Sarah?”

“Yes, I do. My office is up on the second floor. And it is very convenient for me to zip down here and I can be back to my office without having to spend time getting into my car to go out to eat. Do you work in the building, Pat? I don’t recall having seen you here before.”

That told me just how many broccoli soups and tuna salad sandwiches she could choke down each week. Women seem to have an infinite tolerance for that kind of luscious cuisine.

“Yeah, I work up on the seventh floor and I’m usually at my desk at 7 o’clock and many times I don’t leave the office until after 6 o’clock and sometimes even later than that. That’s probably why we have not seen each other before now. You must like their delicious broccoli soup and their very sumptuous tuna salad sandwiches, Sarah.”

She simply ignored my somewhat snide crack about the broccoli soup. “Oh. Then you work for that oil equipment company that makes some kind of funny looking thingys some people call Christmas trees for the oil industry?

Some of them look like big fat round thingies, BFRTs, some people call them, with big parts coming off of each side of them and another funny looking thingy coming out the top of the round thingy and what looks like a clock on top.”

I was amused at her description of the equipment we manufacture but, I kept my amusement to myself. It didn’t make any sense to make her feel uncomfortable about her description of the production trees. I just smiled broadly at her description of our equipment.

“Yeah, I do. I’m the Chief Mechanical Design Engineer and Director of Engineering. We manufacture exploration and production equipment for several different companies in our industry. The equipment you just described is what a lot of people continue to call a Christmas Tree. It is really just a production tree or more simply a ‘Tree’.”

I really don’t know where the Christmas Tree name came from. Some of the old hands used to tell me that the rig hands jokingly called it that because its configuration does somewhat or remotely resemble a tree if you let your imagination run wild enough. And those names continue to hold on and be applied to the equipment and it has gotten into general usage and industry lexicon.”

“You also make a great big thingy called a BOP which is nearly twice as tall as a man and has four other thingys coming out of the sides of it.”

“Yes, we do. That is what is called a Subsea Duel Ram type Blow Out Preventer, BOP. It’s used with one or two other BOPs and another type of BOP. All used in a subsea BOP stack all stacked on up top of each other. The BOP stack can be as tall as 40 feet high and weigh nearly a million pounds. How does a pretty lady like you know about production trees and Blow Out Preventers and Blow Out Preventer stacks and other exploration and production equipment?”

“Well, Pat, my Uncle Ted was a drilling supervisor on an offshore platform and I used to hear him talking with my Daddy about it. I used to ask him about that and he’d tell me ‘Girl you don’t want to know anything about that. They don’t let pretty girls like you out there on those platforms’. And Daddy would tell me, Go on back into the kitchen and help your Mother fix supper for us, Sarah.”

“Yeah, Sarah, it’s pretty much of a man’s world out there on those offshore platforms. And most women don’t have the physical strength to do the heavy work necessary on those rigs. Even some men can’t do that heavy work either. If you ever see some of those rig hands they have arms the size of my leg and they are pretty stout hombres. I suppose there are some women who can do that kind of work but, I don’t know of any. What do you do, Sarah?”

“I’m a beauty consultant and I have a line of cosmetics I sell to women as well. Women come to me and I help them with their facial makeup and cosmetics and that gives me an opportunity to sell my line of cosmetics to them at the same time.”

While she was telling me about her work I was admiring just how pretty she was and how flawless her complexion looked. ‘Good God, I not only liked how she looked but, she was very smart, too.’

She looked just absolutely gorgeous to me. I wasn’t much of a judge of women’s age but I figured she was probably between 30 and 35 and not far from my age of 35. It would be great if I could get to see her again but, I didn’t know if she was married or if she had a boyfriend or not.

“Well, Sarah, your skills as a beauty consultant seem to show in your own make up today. She kind of wiggled in her seat and blushed. Then she said, “Thank you for your very kind compliment, Pat.”

I glanced at my watch and I had five minutes to get back to my office. I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of my cards to give her. I said to her, “I have really enjoyed having you here to talk to during our lunch, Sarah. And I’d love to do it again sometime. If you would like to have lunch with me again I would love to meet you here or take you out to a local restaurant for lunch.

I don’t have anyone at home to cook for me and I’m not much of a cook so, I end up eating out most of the time. It’s a real treat for me to go out to eat with such a pretty lady like you, Sarah.”

I could see her continue to blush as she reached into her purse and pulled out one of her own cards and handed it to me. She said, “I’d love to have lunch with you again, Pat. Give me a call when you would like to meet me here or if you would like to go out to eat somewhere close.”

“Ok, Sarah. When I have time I’ll give you a call and see if you are free for lunch.” About a week later I called Sarah and asked, “Are you free for lunch today, Sarah?”

She quickly responded, “Oh, Pat, I’d love to have lunch with you today but, I have a client in my office right now and I can’t really get away from my office today. If we can make it tomorrow I don’t have any clients or anything else on my schedule then.”

“Sure, that will be even better because I can take extra time for lunch tomorrow. Would you like to go somewhere for some Mexican food tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that would be great. I’d love that, Pat. I’ll meet you on the ground floor at noon tomorrow and we can leave from there.”

The next day I left my office and took the elevator to the ground floor to wait for Sarah to meet me. I had been there only a matter of a few moments and when I looked up, I saw Sarah walking from the elevators toward me.

She had a bright smile on her face and she was again walking in that self-assured manner. She was wearing a pair of tailored, black form fitting slacks and a satin pull over blouse. Good God, I couldn’t get over how good she looked.

She looked just drop dead gorgeous. The color of her blouse really complimented her light brown shoulder length hair which perfectly framed her pretty face. As she got closer I could see her sparkling dark eyes which looked like they were full of laughter and they were looking directly at me like two gun barrels. I thought her eyes could burn a hole right through me.

Sarah greeted me very warmly saying, “Hello, Pat, it’s really good to see you again.”

“Hi, Sarah. I’m very glad to see you again, too. I was wondering to myself, ‘Who is that gorgeous looking young woman walking down the hall toward me.’ And I was really elated to see it was you, Sarah.” It looked like she had just freshly applied her make up for me.

She just kind of blushed and said, “Oh, Patrick, all you Irish are so full of the blarney. I look just like I did the last time we had lunch together.”

“Well, I’m not the only Irish in this large group of two who is full of the blarney and that’s according to Doyle.” She just kind of giggled at my play on words again. Her giggle was so cute, so fresh and so genuine I just wanted to take her in my arms and tell her just how cute her giggle was and how gorgeous she was.

She just put her arm in mine and said, “Don’t you worry about it O’Shaughnessy. Let this large group of two Irish go find some Mexican food. I’m famished.” I was happy to see that she had a good sense of humor and wasn’t afraid to show it when she took my arm with her response as we walked out of the building.

It was a real pleasure to feel her arm in mine and her warm soft body jostling next to mine as we walked out to my car. And “Little Pat” began to stand up and take notice of her walking beside me, too.

When we got to my car she said, “Oh, you’re the guy who always parks in that first parking space every day?”

“Well, Sarah, when I’m here at a quarter to seven every day that space is almost always open to me and I don’t see any reason to drive to the last space in the lot. I’ll certainly let you have it if you get here at 6:30 each morning. And then I’ll park right beside you.” I said with a broad grin on my face.

“No thank you, Pat. That’s way too early for me. I’ll just have to put up with parking in the last space in the parking lot when I get here an hour or more after you do, when it’s bright daylight and the sun is high in the sky. I like to see the sunlight at the start of the day and at the end of the day if possible. I guess I’m just a sunshine type of girl.”

I thought, ‘She sure can bring some sunshine into my life at any time of the day.’ “Well, I think you can bring the sunshine wherever you go, Sarah.” She just looked at me with a bright smile on her face and mirth in her eyes.

We had a marvelous lunch together as I started out saying, “Sarah, I really didn’t think that you might have a husband and I may be intruding on your personal relationship by asking you out to lunch.”

“Oh, No. You don’t have to worry about that, Pat. I was married but, I lost my husband, Nigel, in combat in the Middle East some time ago and I have been alone ever since.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that. I certainly wasn’t trying to pry into your personal life. I just didn’t want to tread on someone else’s turf. Do you have any children?”

“No. I don’t. But, what about you, Pat? Don’t you have a wife or a girl friend?”

“I had a relationship with a lady a few years ago. But, she said she couldn’t continue to put up with me leaving the house before 6 o’clock in the morning and not getting home until 7 or 8 o’clock in the evening. So she said she was out of here and she split for parts unknown. I still miss her a lot but, she just wouldn’t put up with the hours I was working.

That’s why I have to do all of my own cooking. I’m pretty good at designing oil tool equipment and supervising my group. But, when it comes to boiling water I generally burn it nearly every time I try. And if I don’t burn it, it all boils away. At least I can boil eggs but, if I had to make my living at being a cook I’d starve inside a week or have to eat boiled eggs the rest of my life.”

She just looked at me with a bright smile on her face and a twinkle in her sparkling eyes. Then she said, “Oh, the blarney just keeps rolling out of you doesn’t it, O’Shaughnessy.” It was clear that she was a daughter of the Emerald Isle and she could recognize the blarney as well as shoot the blarney herself, too.

Just like our previous lunch, Sarah was a real joy to talk to and an even greater joy to look at as she sat across the table from me. She was witty and flirted with me all during our lunch.

I thought I’m going to have to take her out to supper some night after work or on a weekend. I looked at my watch and saw it was 1 o’clock and I asked her, “How soon do you need to be back to your office, Sarah?”

“I don’t have any clients due into my office until after 2 o’clock so I have plenty of time to get back. I like for them to make an appointment but, I do take walk in clients anytime without question if I don’t have a client in my office. Don’t you have to be back at 1 o’clock today, Pat?”

“Yeah, normally I do but, my team and I have a big meeting with higher management at 2 o’clock to review the progress of the projects we’re all working on. They will also want to hear about the progress of that huge EXCEL file I have been working on, too. And I don’t plan on going back until about that time.”

“But, won’t they notice you’re not back in your office on time?”

“Sarah, do you suppose they ever notice I’m at my desk an hour early every day and often times I work through my lunch and I work until 6 and 7 o’clock many nights, too?”

She just looked at me with a broad smile on her face with the laughter in her pretty eyes again and said, “And I just had to ask an Engineer who uses algebra and much higher math to justify being 45 minutes to an hour late in getting back from lunch.

Did you calculate that on your computer or did you use a slide rule.” We stayed at our table and talked about ourselves with more banter and flirting going back and forth between the two of us.

“Sarah, it’s such a pleasure being with you and talking with you I’d like to take you out to supper and to a movie or out to a club for dancing and some drinks this weekend. Would you like to go out to supper with me this Saturday night?”

“I’ve really enjoyed having lunch with you, twice now, Pat, and I’d really like to go with you this Saturday night. What time would you want us to go to supper?”

“Would 6 o’clock be convenient for you?”

“Sure, that’ll be great. I’m looking forward to going with you then, Pat.”

We went back to our building and got on the elevator. At the second floor where she got off the elevator to go to her office I told her, “I’ll see you Saturday evening, Sarah.”

“Ok, Honey. I’ll be ready when you get there.” Just before she turned to leave the elevator she impishly blew me a kiss. I couldn’t help but return her air kiss. Of course, her little gesture made my belly do a little flip flop like I was an 18 year old high school boy again.

Her use of the term, “honey” and her air kiss caught me by surprise but, it was a pleasant surprise to hear her say that. I had to think that her feelings for me were the same as I had for her. I continued to think about her every day until Saturday evening when I went to pick her up.

I knocked on her door and a vision of loveliness in a black sheath dress met me at her door. She greeted me saying, “Good evening, Pat. My goodness you sure look handsome tonight.”

“Hello, Sarah, I thought you were so pretty the other day when we went to lunch but, tonight you’re just drop dead gorgeous.” She looked so pretty in her black dress where the skirt came down to about two inches above her knees.

It was so well fitted to her fabulous form it had to have been tailored specifically to fit her. I really had to wonder just how she was able to get into it and how she was going to get out of it.

Her modest dress tastefully and prominently accentuated her gorgeous, ample breasts, her beautiful rounded hips and her very slim waist. I had a hell of a time trying to keep from staring at her beautiful breasts. And little Pat quickly reached the same opinion I had already come to.

Beneath her beautiful make up, she just blushed like she did the other day. “Just give me a moment to get my purse and we can leave for the restaurant, Pat.” As she walked into the bedroom my eyes followed her every step of the way until she disappeared through the door of her bedroom.

I couldn’t get over how gracefully and sinuously her body moved as she walked into the bedroom especially her hip movement. There was no exaggerated movement of her hips but, she really didn’t need to exaggerate her hip movement to capture my undivided attention to her body as she walked into her bedroom.