All three of the girls were more than a little misty-eyed at what he'd said; even I felt a little lump in my throat at the sincerity he'd expressed. When he stood up, the three of them quickly stood up too, each giving him a solid hug and kiss. I stood up with them, and when they'd finished, solemnly shook hands with him, telling him "Tom, I felt better knowing that you and the others were there; it helped put my mind at ease, and let me concentrate on what*I* needed to do. Make sure your people know that I respect them, and appreciate their time and efforts on my behalf."
He nodded solemnly, and took his leave of us.
When he'd gone, the four of us sat around for a little while, thinking about what he'd said, before we started discussing going home. Robyn and Sandra both smiled broadly when Lucy said she'd make the arrangements for all four of us to fly back. Even I felt a little relief at the prospect of having something resembling a life again – though I knew that it wouldn't be completely normal until all of this had finally blown over.
Looking at my watch, I realized that I needed to get going to collect Mark and get him to Jules' offices. All three of them gave me another hug and kiss before I left. As I left the pool, I heard Robyn challenge the agents to a rematch; it made me want to stay around to see how things turned out.
At the park, I found Mark anxiously waiting on one of the benches near where we'd agreed to meet. When I got close, he saw me, and stood up, saying "I was starting to worry that something had happened to you, or that you'd changed your mind or something."
I smiled in reassurance, and told him "No, just had something important come up."
I could see that he'd done everything he could to make as good an impression as possible. He was clean and shaven; his pants and shirt were simple work clothes, but clean and pressed. His boots were worn, but he'd taken the time to clean them up thoroughly, and even tried to put a shine on them. Yeah, I figured, he wants this; he's going to turn out just fine.
He saw me looking him over, and started to get nervous. I reassured him, telling him "It's okay, Mark. The guy I'm taking you to, he knows you've had some hard times – he's not expecting you to show up in a suit. Just be honest with him about what you know, and don't know, and everything will be fine."
He nodded his understanding, and we talked as we headed for the car, then to Jules' offices. As I was parking the car, Mark looked at the sign for Jules' office, and said "I've heard of that guy. Mob family, but word is, he's not in it, that he goes his own way. From what I've seen, he'd pretty damn good."
We got out of the car, and when I headed for Jules' door, Mark suddenly got nervous, saying "Here? You're gonna get me a job HERE? I don't know anything about this stuff!"
I laughed, and told him "I'll bet you know more than you think.
Besides, that's what you're here for – to learn. Remember I told you you'd have to learn a new job, but that it would still involve construction? Well, this is it."
He looked at me skeptically, but followed me in. When I introduced myself to the receptionist, she brightened considerably, and told us Jules would be right with us. Then she got on the phone and let him know we were there. In just a minute or so, Jules came out. He shook hands with me, then when I introduced Mark, shook with him, too. He led us back to his office, and when we'd sat down, asked if we wanted anything. I was ready for a cup of coffee, and Mark followed my lead.
Jules told one of his people to bring us three cups, then sat behind his desk. He looked Mark over, and finally said "I understand you had a run of bad luck, and that you're looking for work. What did you do before?"
Hesitantly at first, Mark told him what he'd done up until his accident, and mentioned some of the people that he'd worked for.
Jules listened patiently, and asked Mark to elaborate on a few points. When Mark was done, Jules asked him what he'd done since the accident, and how he'd gotten by. Mark didn't hesitate to tell him after I gave him a nod of encouragement. Again, Jules listened patiently, nodding and asking a few more questions.
When he'd finished, Jules told him "Sounds like you've had your share of bad luck, and then some. But you didn't give up like a lot would.
Tell me what you think about architects and builders – and remember, I know bullshit when I hear it. Tell me straight, okay?"
Mark looked at me again, I again nodded to him to go ahead. He took a deep breath, and started out "Most builders are crooks. Not that they'll actually*cheat* anybody; they'll just do as little as they can get away with. Once something meets Code, they don't care if it would only cost a nickel to do the job better and make the place last five, ten years longer. Architects, they're pretty smart with book learning, but most of them have never actually built anything – not with their own hands and sweat, I mean. Usually, they give us these drawings for stuff and tell us to build something a certain way. Then they won't listen when somebody that actually does the work for living tries to tell them there's a cheaper, faster way of doing the same thing. They trust contractors and builders too much, and the worker bees not enough."
Visibly nervous when he was finished, Mark took a sip of his coffee before Jules replied by saying "That's about what I figured. You DO know more than you think you do, at least, about the stuff that matters to*me*. I can use you, to start, as general office help.
That means that you'll spend a lot of time filling out forms and learning the trade from THIS end of things. But I expect you to learn the rest of it too – why us architects do what we do, and what all is involved in creating the plans that you guys work from. And you'll be going out on jobs with me. You'll be the only one in here that's seen this stuff from the other side, so you know what we*really* need to watch for. You're going to be spending a lot of time getting 'book learning'; but with what you already know, I don't think you'll have much trouble with it. I can start you at fifteen hundred a month; you'll go up from there as fast as you can learn, okay?"
Mark could only sit there staring for a few moments before remembering to nod his head in agreement.
Jules asked him "When can you start? You got a place to stay? You need wheels or anything?"
Mark opened his mouth to answer, but I was ready for the questions, telling Jules "Yeah, he's got a place to stay. He'll be picking up his wheels this afternoon. He can start whenever it's convenient for you."
Jules laughed, and said "Convenient for me was three months ago, but tomorrow will do."
Looking over at Mark, who was staring at me, Jules asked "You didn't know, did you? That you had a place to stay, or a car?"
Mark just shook his head, his eyes never leaving me.
Jules laughed again, and said "It's okay. He does shit like that.
I'll bet he didn't tell you that I pretty much owe him my life, did he?"
That got Marks attention, and he turned back to listen as Jules told him "I used to drive helicopters. One of 'em decided 'fuck it, I don't wanna fly no more', and down she goes in a place where the folks on the ground aren't too friendly. I'm thinking, okay, now I'm seriously fucked; what I didn't know that Uncle Sam, he sent this son of a bitch to bail me out. It got some kinda interesting, but this guy and some of his buddies, they brought me back, all safe and sound – not even a*scratch* on me. If it wasn't for them – HIM – I'd probably be worm chow someplace."