Chapter 28: Another Convert

July 4, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

“It’s been a long time since the three of us had two days off together, in a row and it wasn’t vacation,” I said as my wives and I lounged in bed on Tuesday morning.

“You’re going to be in big trouble, Snuggle Bear!” Kara teased.

“Who? A certain pint-size human was waiting for me when I went downstairs to run!”

Kara laughed, “Of COURSE she was. She got her cuddles, so you’re safe.”

“Exactly right! She made her breakfast while I was running.”

“And did she give you any instructions?” Kara asked invitingly.

“When I returned from my run she said I should take a shower because I stank!”

“She’s slipping,” Jessica said mirthfully.

“Nah,” I replied, “she just assumes we make love. It is kind of the default state here! And speaking of that, we didn’t get a chance to talk about Suzanne yesterday because of Stephie’s party, karate, and Al and Belinda staying past midnight.”

“Is there some concern you have?” Kara asked.

“No specific concern,” I said. “In one sense, things have progressed naturally, in another, it’s kind of whirlwind.”

“So was our relationship,” Jessica observed. “Granted, it was almost a year before we actually married, but things moved pretty quickly once we started dating. And if Suzanne is what she appears to be, and I’m not doubting that, we’ve found the long-term third to finally step into Elyse’s shoes. As we discussed, Maria Cristina’s plans have always revolved around her meeting someone with whom she could marry and raise a family. And Liz, as much as you two love each other, needs more than you can give her as well.”

“She was asked on a date last week,” I said. “A guy she did her last summer internship with called her on Thursday.”

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Kara demanded. “What did she say?”

“She agreed to have lunch with him next Saturday. I figured there was no point to saying anything unless something came of it.”

“Do you approve?”

“It’s not really up to me!” I replied.

“Riiiiigggghhhht!” Jessica exclaimed. “Because Liz will marry someone without your approval and blessing? You know better than that, Tiger!”

“I haven’t met the guy, so I have no idea. He’s working in the Public Defender’s office.”

“So we know he’s horribly underpaid,” Jessica observed. “I never asked, and it’s obviously OK for you to not answer or answer vaguely, but how much is Liz being paid?”

“The salary schedules are public within the company,” I said. “So everyone knows, and new hires see them, so it’s not like they’re a state secret. Once she passes the bar next month, she’ll paid the equivalent of a first-year associate at a good law firm. In Chicago, that’s $75,000. That works out to about 300 hours of Jamie’s time, for what it’s worth. And for that we get 2000 hours of Liz’s time. She also qualifies for bonuses and profit sharing on the executive plan.”

“Does she have any debt?”

“Minimal,” I replied. “Her parents paid for college and helped out with law school and living expenses. She’ll easily pay off her student loans within a year. And at that salary, plus her bonuses, she’ll easily be able to afford to buy a townhouse, which she plans to do in the next year. Her roommate has one more year of law school and Liz decided to stay in the apartment to help her out.”

“What about Deborah’s place?” Kara asked.

“Liz isn’t in a position to buy right now, even if Deborah and Krissy didn’t have a signed offer.”

“So what’s your take?” Jessica asked.

“When she has lunch with the guy, I’m sure she’ll tell me which way things are going. Remember, this is her first date since she finished her Bachelor’s degree.”

“And she can be very picky given she has a good job, a good salary, and someone to ‘adult’ with a few times a month!”

“That last one is the key,” Kara said. “It’s what Kimmy would want if she wasn’t married.”

“It’s what Kimmy wants, period,” I replied. “You know her offer stands, with no regard to what it would do to her marriage. It’s one of the situations which reinforces my strict adherence to the ‘no women in committed relationships’ rule.”

“True,” Kara replied. “So, you expect Suzanne to move in and be the permanent third? And I mean that literally.”

“That’s the trajectory,” I replied. “And if that’s not something either of you want, the time to stop it is now.”

“You’re sure at seventeen she’s able to make that decision?” Jessica asked.

“Was the seventeen-year-old Jessica able to decide to become a doctor? And a trauma surgeon at that?”

“You don’t want to know my opinion of my teenage self at this point,” Jessica replied grimly. “Let’s just say I made the right decisions, but it wasn’t because I had my head screwed on straight the way Suzanne seems to have. I needed an adult like you when I was thirteen or fourteen. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d decided differently about my dad. But then I see where we are now, and wouldn’t change it, so your ‘What if?’ guidance applies.”

“Neither of us was exactly a model of good decision making as teens,” I replied. “And that’s why we have our approaches to parenting - mine is focused on teaching the kids how to make good decisions, yours is in protecting them from making bad decisions. We both have the same goal, just different approaches.”

“But yours is the right one,” Jessica declared. “It just took me a long time to figure that out. And when I look back at my teen years, that’s what I needed - someone to teach me HOW to make good decisions.”

“But even in my philosophical system, I do reserve the right to step in if I think one of our kids is in serious danger. It’s really just a matter of where to set the boundaries, because you don’t have an issue with the kids making their own decisions about most things, which is the problem we see with so many parents.”

“We’ve never talked, but would you let a kid make a decision about treatment of their disease?”

“I think it depends on the age of the kid, the disease, and the treatment options. At some age, and it would depend on the kid, I’d sure want to hear their thinking and I would take that into account. It’s one of those tough decisions, but we let an eighteen-year-old make that decision, so why not the day before their birthday? It’s why I’m opposed to arbitrary age limits. And obviously, my decision to intervene is on a sliding scale depending on age, maturity, gravity of the decision, and so on.

“And if someone wants to argue that teens are in no position to make those kinds of decisions where you have to take into account the odds of survival, quality of life, and so on, I’d argue that most adults aren’t capable of making those decisions for themselves or for others. We’ve talked about ‘end of life’ care, and how families insist on outrageously expensive procedures to ‘keep Grandma alive’ even if she’s comatose and has little or no hope of recovery, and even if she recovered, would have terrible quality of life.”

“So because adults make bad decisions it’s OK for kids to make them?” Jessica asked.

“Not the way that sounds,” I replied. “But saying that kids aren’t capable of making good decisions so they shouldn’t get to make them is a losing argument when so many adults make equally bad decisions, or sometimes worse decisions than a kid would make. In the end, we each have to decide for ourselves what it is we need and how we want to live our lives, and what the quality of our lives will be.

“The kids need to have input into all areas of life. I insisted Elyse talk to Matthew and Michael before she started house hunting to make sure they were OK with it. That led to some interesting conversations, including how much input Eduardo was going to have into their decisions. You know Matthew only comes to me, but Michael splits the difference, getting both Eduardo’s opinion and my opinion. Fortunately, he and I agree on most things, so the advice is generally consistent.”

“And she wouldn’t have moved if the kids weren’t OK with it?”

“She’d have waited until they finished High School if they were dead-set against it.”

“So, back to Suzanne,” Jessica said. “I think she checks every box.”

“I agree,” Kara said. “I really should have just left everything to you. You solved the long-term third situation AND fulfilled my fantasy!”

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but is there another one?”

“Just the one we three agreed can’t really happen - the movie. Of course, I think Abbie’s movie would be MUCH more fun to watch, but there’s just no way that’s going to happen.”

“I know I’m changing subjects, but Jess, are you absolutely sure you’re OK with Albert’s birthday gift? It basically sets the ball rolling and you won’t be able to stop it.”

Jessica sighed, “I know. Yes, it’s fine. I’ll just worry when he actually starts flying.”

“Me, too,” I replied. “The key, as we discussed, is not letting our fears or worries stop the kids from achieving their goals.”

“What all did you order?” Kara asked.

“A complete, top-of-the-line Pentium III PC with a top-end graphics card, flight controls, including rudder pedals, wheel, and throttles, a headset and microphone, and an appropriate monitor and chair so he can use Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. It’s basically a state-of-the-art simulator for him to learn in. Aimee gave me some recommendations, and the new software includes over 20,000 airports, which is basically every one which he could ever possibly use, a new weather system, 3D terrain, GPS, and a way to practice ILS.”

“And that won’t interfere with learning to fly for real?” Jessica asked.

“Not according to Aimee. The one downside is there isn’t any simulation of Air Traffic Control, but supposedly that’s going to be in the next version. Anyway, I’ll pick it all up tomorrow on the way home from work.”

“Do you plan any extracurricular activities tonight at the party?” Kara asked.

“No,” I replied. “Right now, I have no interest in any new girls, and given where I am at the moment, and where we are, I think we’ve hit «lagom».”

“A hiatus?”

“Of undetermined length. You both know something eventually will come up!”

“Well, if you don’t want to get out of bed,” Kara offered impishly, “we could get you up!”

“Go for it!”

July 6, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

Stephanie called Deborah, Liz, and me to her office late on Thursday morning.

“Doctor Al confirmed with the medical director that the woman is a religious nut and she hands those tracts to everyone she can,” she said. “I had never seen one, so I went online. Holy crap! Seriously?”

“Yeah,” I replied, shaking my head. “Did you look at the one on Islam?”

“I did.”

“What does it say?” Liz asked.

“It basically tries to tie Islam to the desert religions, and claims Allah is the ‘moon god’. The thing is, I could make the same arguments about Yahweh in the Old Testament being the ‘storm god’ or ‘mountain god’ because of terms used for him in the Jewish scriptures. Fundamentally, if you apply the type of silly, unscholarly, ‘ad hoc’ criticism to Christianity that they apply to Islam or worse, to Roman Catholicism, Chick ends up in equal amounts of trouble. His group gets around it by handwaving and simply declaring by fiat that what they teach is true and authoritative, and as such, the only measure of truth and authority.”

“A nice circular argument,” Deborah said, shaking her head.

“How did you leave it, Stephanie?” I asked.

“The medical director is going to remind his employee that she is not to proselytize in the office, which apparently she’s been told before. We asked him not to take any more specific disciplinary action this time, based on your promise to Aisyah that nobody would get in trouble. I suspect, though, that the billing clerk is going to be upset either way. I was thinking of asking Andy to handle that client.”

“It’s your call, but that’s not how I would approach it,” I replied.

“You’d send her there to make a point.”

“I would.”

“And you aren’t in charge of anything operationally.”

“No, I’m not. What I will say is that how you respond to this will directly affect the kami of NIKA. Do we bend the knee to anyone who claims to be offended, even when we are sure the alleged offence isn’t real? I’d also ask you to consider how Aisyah will feel if she’s taken off the account.”

“Why ask for trouble?”

“Why allow a person like the billing clerk to pull your strings?”

“Let me talk with Barbara and Cèlia,” Stephanie said. “I’ll make a decision once I do. Do you need to follow up with Aisyah?”

“No,” I replied. “But because I called her, she might call me if you take her off the account.”

“And?” Stephanie asked with a skeptical look on her face.

“Your decision is final; it has to be. I’ll hear her out and encourage her to continue to do a good job and not let this bother her. Nothing will go in her file, right?”

“Right. It’s unfounded, so Barbara will put it in the client file with an appropriate notation.”

“Then let me know how you decide.”

“Thanks.”

Deborah, Liz, and I left Stephanie’s office and I wasn’t surprised when Liz followed me back to my office. Penny was there, so Liz and I moved to the «yōshitsu» room and closed the door.

“I’m curious what you’ll do if your sister decides the wrong way. Well, what you consider to be the wrong way.”

“Nothing more than I said,” I replied. “She knows how I feel, and I strongly suspect Barbara will agree with me, though I don’t know the client well enough to know for sure. Cèlia will agree with me, for sure, as we dealt with some issues like this before Stephanie took over. In the end, the correct action for my sister to take is whatever Barbara decides.”

“Why not say that?”

“Because I’m not the boss! All I can do is give my opinion. She didn’t have to include me in this, by the way. She could have handled it with Barbara and you or Deborah. She’s struggling, as she has from her first day, with differences from my way and the standard, accepted way. There’s a balance, and she has to find it. The LAST thing I want is to be running things again. I like what I’m doing and I’m happier now than I’ve been in a long time.”

“But Deborah said you basically got off on beating Dante to a pulp.”

I chuckled, “I did, but Dante is too busy screwing his latest hot girlfriend to worry about screwing with me! He’s actually going to be in town in September and we’re going to have dinner. But back on this topic, talk more with Deborah about how things have been handled since Stephanie started.”

“Whose opinion am I supposed to represent?”

“Your own,” I replied firmly. “You come to the ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ meetings, so you know what I mean by kami and what I want the culture here to be. Filter that through a legal lens and give your advice to me. When Stephanie asks you for an opinion, synthesize something from everything you know about NIKA, taking into account how it will affect the culture here, and how we should respond, based on our ethos, which is informed by the kami. What I don’t want is you parroting my views.”

“I’ll speak with Deborah, but I should probably talk with the other members of your ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ as well to pick their brains.”

“Something you should do regularly. I will rely on you for legal advice, and the more you know about how NIKA functions, the better the advice you’ll provide. The kami has to be learned, but you’ve been around me enough the last three years that I think you have a pretty good feel for it. I trust you.”

Liz smiled, “Thanks. I take it you had these conversations with Deborah when she started?”

“Yes, and when Stephanie came on board we had nearly identical conversations to the one we just had. You’re doing fine and asking the right questions! It hasn’t even been a month yet, and I assumed there would be a learning curve as well as a transition period.”

“As long as you’re happy with my progress.”

“I am. I need to head to lunch, but I’ll be here this afternoon if you need me.”

Liz smiled and left, I went back to the main part of our office and said ‘goodbye’ to Penny, let Kimmy know I’d be back in just over an hour, then headed to Takumi to meet Leigh for lunch.

“How were the last two weeks?” I asked after we greeted each other.

“Good. I read both books you suggested. VERY heavy reading.”

“Yes, for sure.”

The hostess came and led us to one of the low tables and the waitress brought green tea and provided menus.

“I’ve never eaten at a Japanese restaurant before,” Leigh said. “I’m not sure what to order.”

“Your Sensei is Japanese, and you’ve never eaten in a Japanese restaurant?” I asked with a silly smile.

“Sensei Ichirou likes pizza and cheeseburgers! He says he gets plenty of Japanese food at home!”

I chuckled, “I suppose that makes sense. Do you know how to use chopsticks?”

“No. When we have Chinese I use a fork. So, what’s good?”

“Everything! They have what amounts to a sampler - it has sushi, tempura, udon noodles, and a dumpling. The other option is a «Bento», which amounts to the same thing, but has teriyaki beef plus rice instead of noodles and a dumpling. It also comes with miso soup.”

“What are you having?”

“Sushi. It’ll run right to my carb limit, but it’s worth it!”

“What can you eat?”

“Anything that isn’t carbohydrates,” I replied. “But I do watch my total protein intake as well because my body likes to create sugar on its own if I eat too much protein.”

“How long have you had this problem?”

“Probably since I was a teenager.”

“Does it cause any other health problems?”

“Not if I follow the diet, exercise, and sleep guidelines my doctors have set. And to answer your next question, no, they don’t know for sure what’s wrong and have no idea how to fix it, or even if it can be fixed.”

The kimono-clad waitress came and took our orders, and Leigh ordered «Bento» while I ordered my usual sushi.

“May I ask the symptoms if you don’t do that?”

“You may ask,” I replied.

She rolled her eyes, “What are the symptoms?”