"No. That's what is most frustrating," I replied. I was able to talk while I lifted, although the words came in between little grunts. "I know I'm not as good as Mark."
I was surprised as Sophie started laughing. "Patrick, you probably never will be,” she said, not unkindly. "But there are things that you can do better than Mark. In case you forgot, you're a city councilman. He's a groundskeeper. You really don’t need to be on the streets to do good. You can do things that he can’t.”
I had to laugh at Sophie describing her husband as merely a groundskeeper, considering everything the man could do. Sophie saw my improving mood and smiled herself. "See, you do have talents, Patrick. The whole point of this team, this family, is that we each bring something unique to the table. There will come a time for you to use your unique position and skills to help out."
"That could be very soon," Mark said, coming into the gym. "I just got a message on a blind e-mail that Pressman has some information for me. He said it was something to do with another member of the city council."
"Sounds good. Any name?"
"Not on the e-mail. We'll see what develops."
* * *
I didn't have many colleagues on the council. First off, as an independent, I didn't have a party affiliation that lent power to one side or the other. I didn't even vote consistently with one side or the other, instead going with my conscience and what I thought would do the best for the city as a whole.
Because of that, I'd pissed off a lot of people. Still, there was one member of the council that I could consider at least a colleague. Shawn Northrup was the second youngest member of the council. At thirty six, he was also considered one of the rising stars of city politics. He was a conservative Democrat, which allowed him to pull votes from both sides of the ideological divide during elections. He'd been on the council for six years.
Politically, he and I aligned more often than we disagreed. He was big on increasing education and social services, while at the same time we didn't endear ourselves with the social justice warriors either. I don't remember who got more flack when the two of us both were caught laughing our asses off during a Halloween party when Tabby and I dressed up as Belle and Beast from Disney fame, with Tabby making sure that her dress more than showed off her amazing figure. The trouble happened when Tabby and I danced, and my tighter pants showed off a bit too much when photos were posted online. Combined with the angle of the shot, which showed off a very impressive amount of Tabby's creamy, silky smooth cleavage in her yellow dress, both of us had laughed. That we were doing so while a group of radical feminists wasn't helpful.
Shawn topped me though the time he had gone off on a religious group, who’d come before the city council to make a proposal that we pass a resolution asking for God's forgiveness due to the recent court decisions on marriage and health care. Shawn had gone off on a ten minute rant against them, even telling another member of the council to shut up as he lit into the group. He was gaining friends and pissing off people on both sides of the aisle.
In fact, the only area he and I seriously disagreed on was the Union. Despite his normal position of being strongly anti-corruption, he'd always been strongly for the Union, stymieing me every time I tried to put a knock into the armor of the Union. He had plenty of reasons why, but I still didn't like it. I kind of liked him, though. He was an okay guy.
That said, it pained me when I knocked on Shawn's office door, late at night. I had waited until most of the staff was gone, because while I wanted to put pressure on Shawn, I didn't want to humiliate the man. It wasn't time for it then.
"Patrick? Come on in," Shawn said, setting his paperwork aside. "Just finishing up a letter to a Lion's Club that had me in to speak to them last week. What can I do for you?"
"Just wanted to see how you're doing, and to talk about a proposal I wanted to bring before the council tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Damn, can't it wait until after the New Year?" Shawn said, his face breaking out into a grim. "It's not the sort of time to make big proposals. Everyone's trying to get home or to the airport to go see family."
I shook my head, setting my face. "Can't wait. I know it's going to create some headaches, but this is the best time to do it."
Shawn chuckled good naturedly and leaned back in his office chair. "I was a crusader like you, about six years ago. So I guess it's unavoidable. All right, what's your proposal?"
I handed him the proposal over. Two pages long, it was simple enough. "I want to open up the city contracts again."