Douglas Dorow - The Ninth District

“Well, what do you think? Can’t you see yourself living here, close to work, low maintenance, and impressive architecture, one of the places to live in the Twin Cities?” The Governor asked. The balcony of the condominium offered a great view of the river. At this time of day, there were shadow outlines of the buildings across the ground, extending across the river as the sun traveled across the sky to the west.

“It’s nice. I thought it’d be noisier.”

“We’re too high. Once in a while you hear the locks bell ring or a tug horn signaling, but all the other sounds pretty much stay down below.” The Governor pulled a leather case from the inside breast pocket of his jacket and removed two cigars. He handed the cigar and cutter to the man leaning on the balcony railing. “Here, try one of these. I think you’ll like it.”

The man pulled the cigar along his upper lip, below his nose, and smelled it. “Nice.” He snipped the end of the cigar and put the freshly cut end in his mouth like a lollipop, wetting the rolled leaves prepping for a light. “Tastes good too.”

The Governor struck a wooden match on the side of the matchbox in his hand and held the flame under the end as the man rolled the cigar between his fingers for an even burn. The man inhaled and exhaled a few times until the end glowed, the smoke rolling around above their heads before the breeze carried it out towards the river.

Leaning against the railing, the Governor lit his own cigar. “Listen, James. You can’t afford not to buy this place. The view is great. Besides the location, the elegance, the area, the history, it’s a great investment. Development will be going on all around you. You’ll be one of the first ones in. Stay here two years. You don’t like it, sell it. You’ll make a killing.”

James laughed. “Hey, I think this is great.” He swung the cigar in his hand from the condominium balcony windows out towards St. Anthony across the river. “I’d love to live here. But, what did the sign downstairs say, from two hundred fifty thousand to a million? I’m sure this place isn’t at the lower end.”

“It’s not at the upper end either. You can afford it.” The Governor sat in one of the chairs on the balcony. “What’s this talk about money? You work at the Fed. You just walk in and print yourself up some money, right?”

“Right. I just walk in and say, I’ll take a million today, Charlie.” James joined the Governor and sat in the other chair on the balcony. “It’s amazing. Millions of dollars flying around on wires from this bank to that, but what do I get? My paycheck from Mr. Fed Chairman. I do all right. But, with the divorce, she took me to the cleaners and still gets more than her share every month. I don’t know how I could afford it.”

The Governor listened to James ramble as he enjoyed his cigar. He knew more about James than James did. He knew about the bank accounts James kept hidden from his wife, about the affair James’ wife was having with the neighbor in their suburban Burnsville home while James was at work and their daughter was in school. He knew how much James and his wife owed on the house they used to share and he knew why James’ wife asked for a divorce. In fact, he had sent the photos. The photos of James with his administrative assistant after work, and with her in the hotel room over lunch.

“Take another look at this view. It won’t be your last. Do you have any plans for the Fourth of July? We’re having an open house for special guests that night. Good food, beverages, a view of the fireworks over the river. Plenty of beautiful women.”

“I don’t know.”

“Think about it. It’ll be a great night.” The Governor stood. “Let’s go get some dinner and we can talk about financing options, I know some people. We’ll get this done for you and then we’ll celebrate at Sheiks and see if your favorite red-head is dancing tonight.”

The reflection of the candle flames dancing in Julie’s eyes mesmerized Jack. Julie sat across from him, eating her garden salad and bread with garlic and olive oil. He missed this; eating with her, talking with her, her smile, her laugh. She looked up and caught him staring. She looked to see if she had spilled something down her front. He tipped his wine glass to her and swirled the merlot before taking a drink. Julie started to say something but the waiter interrupted her when he stopped by to scrape the breadcrumbs from the tablecloth.

“Jack, when you asked me out for dinner I didn’t expect something so nice. A sports bar or that Mexican restaurant you like would have been fine.”

“I know, but I thought you might like someplace a little quieter for a night away from the kids. Plus, I wanted to be able to talk to you.” Jack put his wine glass down and leaned forward. He wanted to reach across and take Julie’s hand, but he wouldn’t push it yet. First, a nice dinner, a conversation about their situation, what he might be able to do to get things back to normal, then he could push it a little. “I miss you, Jules, and the kids. Any thoughts about coming back yet?”

Julie raised her eyebrows. “Yet?” She settled back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Jack, it’s not like the kids and I went on a little vacation and we’re coming back next week. We left for a reason.”

“Yeah, I know. Well, I think I know.” How was he going to get this out of this rut? Trying to find something to do with his hands, he fiddled with the silverware and then grabbed the wine glass again. He tilted the glass from side to side and watched the wine slowly flow down the sides of the glass. “It’s the job. I’ve tried to spend more time with you and the kids and give the cases the time they need.” He looked up at her for some sort of acknowledgement. Getting none, he continued. “If it’s not that, you need to tell me. I’m trying, but I don’t know what’s not working.”

Julie uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. “I was so happy when you got assigned to Minneapolis, Jack. I know what your job is, what it means to you, why it’s important. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

Jack stopped swirling the wine at the L-word.

“Yes, Jack Miller. I love many things about you. But when you came home with the offer from the SAC to move to New York and said you had to think about it…” Julie looked away and gathered a thought. “I had to do something. I thought you got it, that I wanted us to stay here with the kids. No more moves. But, when you said you had to think about it? It just showed me we weren’t on the same page about where we’re at with our lives, what we want. I had to do something. I had to give you something else to think about.”

Jack knew Julie well enough not to say anything. It was best if he just paid attention and let her talk. They sat at the table looking at each other. Jack took another drink of his wine. Julie shifted in her seat. When the awkward silence became painful Jack decided he better say something. “Jules…”

The waiter interrupted him as he swooped in and placed their dinners in front of them. Jack rolled his eyes and glared at the waiter, and Julie giggled. The waiter stepped back and put his hands together. “Will either of you be needing anything else right now? Some more wine, water?”

“No, thanks,” Jack said. Julie held her napkin to her mouth to cover her smile and shook her head.

After the waiter left, Julie put her napkin in her lap. “Did you pay him to come then?” she asked.

“Good timing, huh?”

“Changed the mood, that’s for sure.” Julie held up her wine glass and reached across the table. “Happy birthday, Jack.”

Jack touched his glass to hers and looked into her eyes. “Thanks, Jules. Thanks for coming to an early dinner with me tonight; thanks for being such a great mom to our kids, and thanks for loving some things about me.”