Mickey - 21. Chapter 21

“Thanks a lot for coming, Mickey. I know it’s a long way here from school,” Brad said as he offered Mickey a seat at the small conference table in the corner of his office. Overnight the storm had quieted and had left the landscape entirely covered in a blanket of powdery snow. With the beautiful clear skies that often trail these events, the reflection from the continuous white surface cast a glow onto the painted concrete beams of the former 1920s automobile plant.

“No worries, I grew up here and I’m used to the drive, although I can’t say that I’ve seen weather like this very often.”

“And you still want to come back?” Brad asked smiling, looking out the window.

“In spite of it all,” Mickey replied, “Yes, I want to come back.”

The interview agenda wasn’t much different from his visits to the other firms, with time spent talking to partners, meeting other young associates and getting tours of the various features and spaces of the office, from the break room to the accounting department. A law firm is first a business and has to address ‘the bottom line,’ and this firm, in that sense, could be no different.

“Feeding the machine,” Brad said as they walked past a glass wall that looked into the accounting department, with spreadsheets displayed prominently on every one of the screens.

In spite of that particular view, he really did feel that there was something unique about this place. Besides the absence of the stage-set corporate feel of the other offices, those pictures on the walls, in Brad’s office and others, said something different to him. Lots of kids and families and spouses. Even in the accounting department.

The only areas where it seemed ‘corporate’ were the most public spaces like the entry lobby and main conference rooms. Those rooms and corridors were furnished with low-key pieces by local artists, not by Warhol prints nor the life-size paintings of company founders lining the walls of some of the other firms. In the less accessible areas, the places where employees would spend most of their time, it was a more intimate world.

The firm’s location itself was not like the others, either. Rather than being downtown in the middle of the corporate jungle, the office was in a funky old warehouse district of mostly low-rise, renovated old industrial buildings. There were a lot more cool looking coffee shops and restaurants and art galleries and fewer chain stores and windswept plazas.

Besides the usual amenities such as the break room and employee lounge, each employee even had a key to roof where there was a little terrace patio next to the parapet wall. Because of the weather, they were only able to peek out the access door before the cold wind blew them back in. Somewhere under the snow were tables and chairs that told Mickey this was a pleasant place to spend a summer break. It also had a great view towards the west side of town where his mom's house was located.

After the full day of introductions, interviews and tours, Mickey found himself again back in Brad’s office.

“So, are there any other questions that I could answer for you?” Brad asked. “I know this process is kind of whirlwind and it’s not easy to digest everything at once. And I don’t expect you to remember anyone’s name but mine,” he said as they both laughed.

As he sat back down in the same sleek black leather chair that he had started the day in, Mickey glanced at the pictures on the wall, then looked at Brad. “Um, yeah. This is a little more personal, but…I…uh…have to ask you, if it’s not too much, I mean, if you wouldn’t mind…could you tell me about some of these pictures,” he asked, turning again toward the wall.

Brad had always been engaging and friendly whenever Mickey had seen him during the day as he managed the transition from one group or activity to another. But at the mention of the pictures he brightened considerably.

“Sure, Mickey! They’re there for me of course, they aren’t about the business. But I love to talk about my family to anyone who will listen,” he said, beaming. In spite of his graying temples, he still seemed to have a lot of a young person’s enthusiasm, another distinction from the senior lawyers of his earlier tours.

Mickey was enthralled as Brad went through the images. There was his partner, Mike, an architect (He was gay!), and his sons Benedict, Robert and Peter, and their spouses Laura, Rhonda and Marty (and he has a gay son, too!) and then there was his sister-in-law and her husband, his parents and parents-in-law who were both deceased, and some other special friends. Not to mention grandchildren.

“And while we’re at it, let me show you some from the on-deck circle,” Brad joked as he opened the bottom draw of his desk and carefully removed a small pencil sketch. He explained that while a few images, like the Half Dome shot, were in the ‘permanent collection’ and always on the wall, he liked to rotate others.

Letting the image gently slip off his fingers and onto the glass desk surface, Mickey could see that it was a small pencil sketch the three boys forming a pyramid in front of a house, their own he guessed.

“I think that Mike is as talented an artist as he is an Architect,” Brad proclaimed. “But I do admit that I’m prejudiced. He doesn’t have as much time to draw like this as he would like, so I save the few that I get.”

“Wow, I can’t draw at all, so being able to do that so well always impresses me.” Mickey said, admiring the picture

Finally seeing someone who seemed likely understand his situation, Mickey turned to Brad.

“Mr. Kovar, I have a question. Ummm…one of the things that I’m really concerned about is how to make sure that I have time for my family. Drew and I want to have kids, and I want my mom to live with us and family life is important to us, to Drew and me.” he said. “I know that the job needs to get done, I just…wanted to ask you how you did it. I mean being gay and all and having a work life and a family and all and making it work.”

“I’m sorry, I guess that’s a lot of questions. And if it’s too personal, let me know. It's just...…”

“No worries, Mickey,” Brad quickly replied. “I wish that I had been able to ask someone those questions myself when Mike and I were starting out.”

Relaxing back down in his chair, Brad looked up at the pictures.

“Mickey, it’s not really easy now, and it especially wasn’t back then when people didn’t understand that gay guys would want to have a family, too. Originally, I wasn’t going to work much at all and really wanted to raise the kids. Mike loved what he did as an architect more than I liked being lawyer. He was meant to be the bread winner and I’d be the stay-at-home parent, maybe work part-time as the kids got older. That was the plan.

“But Peter, the youngest, was born prematurely and had a lot of health issues. And the only way we could pay for what we really needed to do for him was for me to work full time as a well-paid corporate lawyer.”

“It took me a long time to find the right firm that would support what I needed to do for my family, but it’s actually worked out about as well as it could. Now, like 20 years or so later, I’m a fixture around here.

“When it comes to doing what you have to do for your family, then you sometimes have to make sacrifices,” he added. “Fortunately, I’ve really enjoyed it here. I wish the circumstances had been different, but I’ve always tried as hard as I could to make the best of it.”

There was a pause, but before Mickey could speak, Brad continued. “I first have to say, Mickey, that Mike and I haven't had to put up with all the media attention that you and Drew have had to endure. It must have been really tough on you both.”

“We’ve had some interesting moments, and more than a few…challenges,” he responded, knowing that he didn’t need to elaborate. “But all that we want to do now is to get out there and start our lives. And having a family is the center of that.”

                                    ***

“How did it go?” Drew asked as soon as they made the connection on the computer screen. He saw Mickey look away, out the window, the way that he did when he was daydreaming.

“I hope that they offer me a job,” he responded.

“One of the partner’s is gay, and he even has a gay son just a little older than us who is starting a family. It was hard to ask about the son, I mean, it’s pretty personal stuff. But he was really helpful about how to get this whole family-work balance thing figured out.”

“Gosh, Drew, I have to tell you,” he continued, “I think that I saw more personal pictures in his office alone that than I did at two or three of the other firms combined. It made everything that we want to do seem so much more possible.”

“That sounds great! Did it go well? Do you think that they’ll make an offer? I mean, you’ve got great credentials and all.”

“I want to think so, but I can’t be sure of anything. There might be some people who think that I’ll be a snob because of my fancy schools, or they reject me first, thinking that I’ll reject them for one of the big corporate firms. I don’t think these guys are like that, especially since Brad went to the same ‘fancy’ law school,” he said. “’But even though it’s the so called ‘hiring season,’ maybe they don’t have enough work. I don’t know, I guess I just don’t want to get my hopes too high.”

But Drew could see that the hopes were already there.

                                    ***

Like many of his classmates, the first few weeks of the semester were spent in anxious anticipation. Not that they would want job offers. But, in most cases, they each had circumstances that made one place special. And almost no one more than Mickey.

The more he thought about it the more he liked Brad’s firm. He imagined getting to know people, introducing Drew to his coworkers, taking him to firm events. Not Drew the billionaires’ son but Drew the warm, funny, handsome guy he got to sleep with every night. He imagined telling him about what he did that day, and then asking what Drew did during his day. It was stuff worth talking about. And a life worth dreaming about. But he had to catch himself before his imagination got too far.

Nothing was assured.

For any unknown call that came to his phone, he quickly screened it for the 216 Cleveland area code, hoping that was coming from his hometown. Of course, it could have been any of the firms that he interviewed with, but at least it was a one out of six chance.

And the calls did come in. Four of the five original firms on his list called on the same day, all of them offering positions. It was usually a person from human resources who could recite the salary and benefits package backwards and forwards. The formal offer letter, they all said, would follow. But they each wanted to give a ‘personal’ invitation to him to join their firm. And a deadline to respond, usually two weeks. None of the partners called.

The next day, the fifth firm called, again an offer and again an HR person. It was nice to have the options, and he tried to figure out which might be the best for him and Drew if those were the only choices. But none of it was appetizing.

“Five for five is pretty good!” Drew said as they washed the dishes together after dinner.

“I guess it is,” Mickey replied, “I mean, I know it is. A lot of people graduate from law school and struggle to get a job, especially at firms like these. I mean, I’m really, really lucky and should just be grateful. And I am. But…I guess that I don’t look forward to working at any of them. Not like at the last one.”

“You know, they never brought up anything about being gay friendly, or what their outreach programs were. They just did it. I was never even sure that he was gay until I asked him about the pictures on his wall. He mentioned his partner, and the fact that he even has a gay son who is about to be a dad. I thought that was so cool!”

Getting a slight nudge from Drew, Mickey let out a deep breath.

“None of them seem right on the surface, but maybe you can find a niche, or you can really learn a certain thing there that makes it worthwhile in the long run,” Drew said as he finished drying the dishes.

“And you can still go in-house right now, too. I know you don’t feel like it’s the best training.” As he put down the dish towel and turned to Mickey, Drew said, “You need to enjoy what you’re doing. And we’ll always manage financially, you know that.”

Mickey looked at him. Here was this guy who grew up with every material possession that a person could ever want and yet he didn’t need any of it. Mickey leaned over and bumped their foreheads together. It was times like these when he really felt a lump in his throat.

“Besides,” Drew continued as Mickey stepped back and started to drain the sink, “you haven’t yet heard back from the one you want, and for sure they won’t just forget to call. So, there’s still a chance.”

Mickey sighed. “I’ll be glad when this….’ he started. Then he heard his phone vibrate on the kitchen countertop. It was a hard stone-like surface that gave an irritating amplification to the vibration, which was why he usually avoided putting his phone there. In this case, however, he had almost unconsciously done it for just that reason.

The area code matched. That was a good sign. But no name came up, and it was not one of those corporate phone numbers with a lot of repetitive digits. Mickey looked at Drew, who pointed and smiled. “Answer it! The ‘No Calls During Dinner Rule’ is waived,” he said, gently elbowing Mickey toward the phone as it started to dance across the countertop.

He picked it up. “Hi, this is Mickey.” He unconsciously bit his lip.

“Mickey, this is Brad Kovar, we met a couple weeks ago at my firm. I’m sorry I’m calling so late, especially during dinner time. Is this an OK time to talk?”

“Yes, sure…I was..uh…looking forward to hearing from you.”

“Oh great, thanks for being accommodating. I meant to call yesterday, but our son Peter, who I think I mentioned to you, his surrogate mother had a complication, so I got distracted. I’m so sorry I couldn’t call earlier.”

“No worries, Mr. Kovar, please! I hope that everything is OK.”

“Fortunately, yes,” he replied. Mickey could sense the relief in his voice. He seemed to pause for a moment, almost like he was trying to focus himself, then continued.

“In the end, I think it was just a minor problem, but we’ve…been through this kind of thing before, so I guess I tend to get anxious quicker than most people.”

“Like I said, no worries, sir. I just hope that everything is OK.”

“Thanks, Mickey,” he answered. “So, if you’ve got a couple minutes, I’d like to talk to you about your visit to the firm and possible next steps in your career.”

“Sure, I’d like to do that, too,” he replied. He moved the phone close to Drew as they stood next to the now-empty sink.

“Well, to ‘cut to the chase,’ as they say, we’d like to make you an offer to join our firm.”

Drew’s arm quickly made its way around Mickey’s waist, where he hooked his finger into a belt loop and pulled him tight.

At the same time, Mickey was trying to think of how to reply without sounding too excited or giving away the fact that Drew was eavesdropping on the call. But before he could say anything, Brad started speaking again.

Mickey could barely process what he was talking about as Brad described the compensation and benefits, along with other details of the offer. With all his excitement Mickey’s normal highly tuned mental operations seemed overwhelmed. He was most concerned with making sure that Drew, and their future family, got health benefits, The salary just had to be in the ballpark of the other firms, that would be enough. Under the guise of a bad connection, he asked Brad to repeat himself several times just to make sure that he understood.

Brad then continued about how excited everyone was to meet him and how much they all enjoyed their discussions and the whole interview experience. Mickey didn’t ask any more questions, as it all sounded great to him. But oddly, Brad’s voice seemed to get just slightly nervous as he got to the final part.

“Mickey, we know that we’re a smaller firm and can’t match the money and benefits of some of the big guys, not to mention international offices and some pretty sexy clients. It’s tempting, and I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to go along that path. But I would like to think that we offer other qualities, too, that are unique to us that I hope you sensed when you visited. So, when you weigh all the other offers that I’m sure you’ve gotten, maybe think about some of the intangibles, too,” he said.

“Well, that’s my sales pitch,” he chuckled. “I have to admit, I also can’t promise you good weather if you come here,” he joked, alluding to the snowstorm that buried the city during Micky’s last visit. “But call me anytime if there are other questions that I can answer and I’ll try to help.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” he continued, “we typically ask candidates to give us an answer in three weeks, that gives them a bit more time, we believe, to really think things through and make sure that we’re a good fit for them, if they choose to join us. This will all be in the letter that I’ll email to you tomorrow.”

There was quiet on both sides for a moment.

Mickey looked at Drew, who nodded back.

“First of all, thanks, for calling. I enjoyed the visit as well, and none of the other firms has promised better weather, either,” Mickey joked.

“Good, I knew that was something that we could match,” Brad responded.

“I think that I just have one question,” Mickey said.

“Go ahead.”

“Um…I graduate the first week of June. If Drew and I can have a week to pack, let’s see…I need to study for the Bar Exam…” he said, calculating in his head as he inventoried the different tasks. He had scolded himself earlier for working out the dates to start a job that he didn’t even have. But now it came in handy.

“It looks like I can start maybe the week of June 28.”

“um, does that mean that you want to join us, Mickey?” Brad asked.

“Oh, jeeze, sorry! I got, ahead of myself. Yes! The answer is yes. I’d like to join your firm! I’m usually better organized than this, Mr. Kovar. My heart was set on joining your firm and I am really excited about the opportunity. I promise that I’ll do the best I can,” Mickey said, unable to mask his excitement.

Drew reached down and scratched his stomach.

“That’s fantastic!” Brad replied, sounding almost as excited as Mickey. “We are, too. I’m being selfish, of course, but I’d like to think that you made the right choice. And I have no doubt that you’ll do a great job.”

“By the way, I’ll need to call Bill Hadid and thank him. I hope that he doesn’t demand a finder’s fee,” he replied.

They talked for a few more minutes about the logistics of the summer and got into more detail about some of the firm’s other benefits, including the fund helping young associates with buying a house. That was something that both Mickey and Drew felt was out of reach for at least a year, maybe longer.

But now, he quickly calculated, they might be able to swing it sooner than they thought. Seeing Drew do a silent fist pump, he could tell that he had figured out the same thing.

“Before I let you go and get back to your evening, Mickey, there is one more thing,” Brad said. “I thought that it would be great for you to meet my son Peter when you get back town, if you’re interested. He and Marty are starting out, too, and you all would have a lot in common with each other.”

“For sure, Mr. Kovar. That would be great. I don’t have lot of school friends left back there, just family. I’d like that, and I think that Drew would, too.,” he said, glancing at Drew who shook his head up and down. “We might be back once more before the end of school, so I’ll let you know.”

“Great, we’ll get together. Oh, and one more thing. You can call me Brad, OK?”

“Sure. Will do, Brad. And thanks again,”

Quickly hitting the ‘end call’ button, he laid the phone back down on the countertop and turned to Drew.

But before he could speak, Mickey felt two very strong arms put him in a tight squeeze.

“I feel like I dodged a bullet there,” Mickey said, stroking Drew’s back as his head rested on the hard shoulder.

“It won’t be the last one,” Drew replied as his fingers ran through Mickey’s hair. “But if we just go step-by-step we’ll be OK.”

It was almost as if all his weight was loaded onto Drew as they stood in the middle of the kitchen. While he wanted to savor the moment, one thought after another started crossing his mind.

Suddenly his head snapped back. “Hey! We can look for a house now, right?” he asked.

“I think so,” Drew replied. “We’ll need to crunch the numbers, but if they can advance some money, and we have collateral in the land at the lake, we might be able to do it.”

With housing prices low in the old inner ring suburbs of the industrial Midwest, getting the kind of house they wanted didn’t seem out of reach in the long term, but it did seem like it could be years off. However, with this potential new resource, it got Mickey thinking again about getting a big house right away, where his mom could join them and they could start their family. And, after moving around so much for school he couldn’t wait to put down roots.

And never move again.

He knew just the right area, the neighborhood of broad east-west streets populated with stately, large, two-level homes. They didn’t need to be near the fancy streets facing Lake Erie; Drew’s lake property gave them the only waterfront that they needed. Many large bedrooms and a backyard for the kids were the only things that really mattered.

“Let’s go back in a couple weeks and at least start looking, OK?” Mickey asked.

“Don’t we need to finish school?” Drew responded, smiling.

Mickey sighed. “Third year of law school, especially the spring semester, is a real drag. No one does anything much except think of the summer and their new job. Even the profs slack off. I think that I can do it.”

“But does that work for you, I mean, to take a house-hunting trip back here?” Mickey asked. “You really like that business class that you’re taking, and you’re doing really well in it. Would you be OK missing a couple classes?” he asked.

“I don’t plan on grad school, so the grade doesn’t matter. But it really is fun, maybe I’ve got some of my family’s business genes in me after all,” he replied.

“Anyway, let’s do it. We’ll treat the search like a Case Study,” Drew continued, entertaining the thought of recording and analyzing the search.

He paused for a moment and heaved a sigh. “My Dad loves this stuff. If he was around he’d put together a business plan, even for something like a house.”

Tapping the knuckles of his right hand into Drew’s forehead, he said, “then you’ll need to put together the best plan ever,” before kissing him.”

“I wish he could see how happy I am,” Drew said as looked at Mickey.

“Me, too.” Mickey replied, sighing inside.