We Got Some Kittens

We worked in a company that was like a halfway house: halfway between hanging out and having a real job. Everyone in the place was in his or twenties, except for a few older ladies from the neighborhood who had worked there since the dawn of time. Half of us were gay and half were straight. We went out to the Octagon and Joe's Bar on Broadway after work. We dated one another: aspiring actors, artists, poets and punkers. It paid less than tending bar or waitressing but we got health insurance, and we got to see each other every day.

I would never have dated someone at work. I was the HR manager. But I had a party at my house, and Michael stayed there until 4 am, telling me stories. He had just moved to the North Side and was having trouble switching allegiance from the White Sox to the Cubs. He played on the company softball team. When his manager, Lee, was interviewing him for the job, Lee asked him, "Can you play shortstop?" Yes, Michael could play shortstop: he got the job.

We went to lunch. We went to lunch a few times and then I invited him to come see me sing at Medusa, the after-hours club. I told him to be there at 2 a.m, when I was going to sing operatic arias. But we got cancelled and I forgot to tell Michael about it, and he waited in line for an hour while a teenage skinhead bouncer checked IDs and threw surly looks around. Then I wasn't in there; that was almost the end of the whole deal.

 I made amends. I went to see "Liquid Sky" with him and we walked all over the neighborhood. I took him to the marionette opera on the far northwest side, where I was singing. He came to pick me up after class at Mundelein college. He didn't like to go dancing, so we walked around and talked instead. He said, "I'm having a good Spring, mainly because of dating you." I was startled and said, "Good." That was almost it, right there.

We went to New York for the big centennial in 1986. It was fun being tourguide to a New York newbie. We went to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and watched the Tall Ships on the Hudson. We went to the pier on Christopher Street and saw the blimp races. He loved New York It was 110 degrees and I almost fainted crossing the street. He said "I love you." He said "You are a blanket hog."

He came to my graduation and sat with my parents. He wore a blazer to cover his tattoo. He said, "Your parents are going to know about it, sooner or later." He came to see me in "The Mikado" and he said "You glow onstage." It was because of him. My friends said "You are acting like really strangely." He wanted a bigger apartment and moved to Ravenswood. I moved there too. He said, "I like your apartment better than mine." I said, "I agree with you."
I braved the parental wrath for him. He braved the maternal hysteria for me. We got some kittens.