Mr. Melamed walked out with him and escorted him to the reception area, where he turned Dan over to the receptionist after once again shaking his hand and patting him affectionately on the shoulder. Dan was then escorted to Howard’s office, where Howard was busily reviewing some papers on his desk as the assistant knocked gently on his half-open door. “Dan,” he exclaimed looking up from his work. “Come on in. That took a lot longer than anticipated. Did they make you wait that long before seeing you?”
“A bit,” Dan lied, not wanting to give Howard any reason to feel threatened at the generous amount of time granted to what was supposed to be a courtesy meeting lasting only a few minutes.
“What did they talk about?” Howard pressed.
“Oh, small talk mostly, and a bit about my idea for a short course.”
“That must have gone as well as the average lead balloon, eh?” Howard retorted with a wry smile.”
“Well, they did not dismiss it off hand and asked me to send them a proposal.” Dan said.
“Yeah, well, don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed.”
“Good advice,” Dan agreed smiling.
“So, what else can I tell you today about your duties, about PEMTI, or anything else?” Howard asked, reclining again back on his chair with fingers interlocked behind his head.
“Actually I don’t have any questions at this point. You’ve been very kind and generous with your time and gracious enough to give me your card with your number earlier, so I know I can call you if something comes up that I can’t handle or need guidance on. And I really appreciate that.”
“Any time, Dan. I’m happy to help with anything I can.”
“I’ve taken up enough of your time, so, unless there’s anything else you think I should know, I think I’ll leave you to your work as I know I’ve kept you from it today.”
“Not at all, Dan. It was nice to have a break and I know we’ll get along just fine. Just call me if there is anything I can help with. I’ve been doing this for a while, so it’s unlikely that I would not be able to answer any question you may have at any time.”
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“I’m grateful for your support, Howard. I don’t have any cards yet from PEMTI, but here’s my home number for now. If there is anything I can do for you at any time to return the favor, please let me know.” Reaching into his pocket, Dan pulled out a silver business card case with his initials and pulled out a card with his name and title of Attorney and Counselor at Law along with his current address and phone number.
“Are you practicing?” Howard asked after looking at the card.
“Not at present, but I have done some legal and consulting work for clients since being admitted and have these mostly for friends and family. Actually, my girlfriend had these made for me when I was admitted to practice and also gave me this card case. I carry it around more because they remind me of her than anything else.” He then thanked Howard, shook his hand and headed out. Overall it had been a good day despite some low spots. And he was again looking forward to starting work the next day.
Dan retraced his steps and walked the four long blocks to the subway station thinking about the days ahead. In due course, he transferred from the E to the G train at Queens Plaza, and rode it to the Northern Boulevard station, then walked five blocks East to his girlfriend’s Woodside home where she lived with her parents, eager to tell her about his day.
He arrived at Linda’s home around 4:00 p.m. and found her sitting outside on a lawn chair wearing a pink halter top and denim shorts, trying to get some sun on her long, beautiful, milk-white legs. He smiled at that. He’d gotten to calling her his little lobster during the summer, as she would easily burn under the sun’s rays like a luckless lobster cruelly thrown into a pot of boiling water. But she could never quite achieve much of a tan—unlike Dan, who could get a tan by moonlight much to her chagrin.
“So how’s my little lobster today,” she scrounged her nose and gave him a mock look of anger through beautiful hazel eyes whose color changed from mostly brown when she was in a fiery bad mood to green with just some specs of brown and a deep blue outer rim of her iris when she was happy, playful or in a romantic mood. They were mostly bluish-green at the moment—a good sign.
“How’d it go, Dan?” she asked getting up to give him a quick hug and a lingering kiss.
“Very well, for the most part.” He answered, through a wry smile. I can’t wait to tell you about it. Let’s go in so I can say hi to your folks and have a soda or a cold beer before you burn to a crisp and I’ll tell you all about it.
“Can’t wait to hear it, but my folks are out visiting. They’ll be sorry they missed you.” She said, taking him by the hand and leading him inside through the back door that led to her kitchen. He followed and, as usual, they chatted about the highlight of their day over a beer.
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