The next week, it was Gabriel’s turn to give his first progress report to the board about the legal outreach program. He overprepared and overdressed, naturally, as he always did, but there had been no need. He ran through the numbers of clients he'd worked with, types of cases, and outcomes. He used Jaiden's story, name redacted, to illustrate successful collaboration between the clinic and legal office, and outlined his plans for future collaboration.
There were no rotten tomatoes thrown at him and although Gabriel actually had been expecting the Spanish Inquisition, they did not show up. Instead, he got a round of polite applause and encouraging smiles, and then they moved on to the next item on the agenda. Afterwards, he and the Board members mingled and chatted and talked about how awful Thad Daniels was and what to do about him. Victoria, resplendent in a timeless hot pink sheath dress and pearls, came over to congratulate him on being finished with the Bar exam.
“How do you feel the exam went? It's supposed to be very difficult, but I’m sure you did wonderfully, you’re so bright.” Victoria smiled kindly and patted his arm.
Gabriel gave a little shrug of uncertainty. “That's sweet of you to say! I think it went well. I’m hoping for a one-and-done. But they said results can take anywhere from one to three months, so the earliest I’ll hear back is another two and a half weeks, and the latest could be two months from now. I hope not, though. I’m on pins and needles.”
Victoria's delicate eyebrows climbed. “Three months? That doesn’t sound reasonable at all. I think I know someone at the Bar Association. I’ll make a phone call.” Despite her benign words and casual tone, the hair on the back of Gabriel's neck stood up. He was glad he wasn't the one who had earned her mild displeasure. Thoughts and prayers for the Maryland Bar Association.
Seventeen days later, to his amazement, a registered letter was delivered to Gabriel’s office. He’d passed. He was officially qualified to practice law in Maryland. And he knew exactly why he’d gotten his results so quickly.
He called Victoria to let her know he'd gotten his results and that he'd passed, and to thank her for whatever magic she had worked to get his exam moved to the top of the stack. Of course she politely declined his appreciation, because “it was just a phone call. Besides, we have a lot of work to do, and I didn’t see any reason you should be kept waiting because of red tape. Not with people out there whipping up problems as fast as we can solve them.”
Gabriel wondered what it was like to live in a world where red tape vanished into thin air in your presence.
After a slight pause, Victoria continued. "Gabriel, I do have a favor to ask of you, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Gabriel was not a stupid Omega. Whether she wanted a kidney or his firstborn child, he was down. “Anything. Literally anything. What can I do?” he asked.
“Well, Leo, my husband, and I are going to be out of the country for a couple of weeks. We were invited to a wedding taking place next weekend. It’s for the son of some very dear friends who have been very loyal supporters of the Foundation. Unfortunately, the wedding date coincides with our trip. I’m disappointed, because there will be several people there who I think have the potential to help the Foundation, and I was hoping to speak with them."
Gabriel mmm-hmmm'ed and oh dear-ed at appropriate intervals.
Victoria continued. "Alex has graciously agreed to go in our stead to represent the family and the Foundation and network a bit, but of course he knows more about the clinical side of things. With the Daniels situation, I think it’s actually our legal team that will be able to attract the most support. I was wondering if you would be willing to attend with Alex and pitch in. It’s in Shenandoah, at a beautiful resort in the mountains– it's a two-day affair. If you'd be willing to go, you and Alex could ride over together, and the Foundation will, of course, cover all of your incidental travel expenses and a room for you at the resort. And since you'll work through the weekend, you should take Monday and Tuesday off, if you'd like. I know it’s a bother, and I hate to ask, but I’d be so grateful and I think you’d represent us so well.”
Taken aback momentarily, Gabriel paused. He wasn’t sure what he’d thought she was going to ask for, but it wasn’t a luxury wedding weekend. Networking and fundraising were a part of working with any nonprofit, though, so it wasn't really an odd request. And he'd never been to Shenandoah, so, bonus! “Of course, of course. I’d be happy to help.”
He could hear her smiling through the phone. His offering had pleased the goddess. “That’s wonderful, thank you so much! I’ll send you the details. You have a lovely evening, and congratulations again on passing the Bar. There was never a doubt in my mind.” And then she was gone, and Gabriel couldn’t help feeling that he’d just been deftly managed, but couldn’t find a single reason to complain about it.
He called Alex to discuss, which he’d gotten into the habit of doing. Alex was a good sounding board.
“Gabriel!” Alex picked up on the second ring, as he usually did. Gabriel aspired to that level of phone efficiency, but half the time he didn't know exactly where his phone was, or he spent four rings looking through his bag trying to find it.
“Hey. So your mom just glamoured me into going to Shenandoah to shmooze at the wedding of two people I’ve never met," he explained to Alex.
Alex paused for a moment. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Did she? That absolutely sounds like something she would do. Did she tell you I’m going, too?”
Breezily, Gabriel responded. “She did. In fact, I think you’re about to be volun-told to drive me. But if you want to split the driving, I'd be happy to. I may be too crunchy to actually buy a car, but I do have a license.”
“Well, it’s no hardship for me to drive you-- I’ll be glad to have the company. Shmoozing is like hanging drywall – tedious, messy, and you can do it by yourself, but it goes much more smoothly when done in pairs. I'm sure Victoria will send you the details, but in short, the post-rehearsal, pre-wedding cocktail party is Friday night, and the actual wedding is Saturday night. So we’ll have to spend two nights over there. We can drive down after lunch on Friday and come back Sunday morning. Late, if we have shmooze hangovers. Does that work for you?”
Gabriel walked circles in his apartment as they talked, full of nervous energy. He tidied a bit. Phone call tidying was the best tidying, because you barely noticed you were doing it. “Sure. Oh! And I got my results today. You’re officially talking to the newest about-to-be member of the Maryland Bar! Just have to do the swearing-in now.”
“Are you kidding me!? You should've led with that! Congratulations! That's amazing! Never a doubt in my mind,” Alex was practically yelling, but Gabriel appreciated how invested he was in the outcome.
“Ha! That’s the same thing Victoria said when I told her…” and then they talked for two hours about nothing, just because Gabriel's evenings were free now, and he wasn't sure what to do with himself, and he was getting some cleaning done and because Alex was easy to talk to. Only because of that.
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