Foreign Correspondence: You've Got Mail
Chapter 5
by
Mo
Disclaimer: The X-Men and Alpha Flight belong to Marvel. The movie belongs to Fox. Hotmail belongs to Microsoft. Belarus is an independent country and belongs to its citizens, mutant and otherwise. Bryn Mawr is a private women's college founded in 1885. It belongs to the women, mutant and otherwise, who have lived and learned there for the past 116 years. The Miami Herald is a real newspaper but AFAIK has never had an Adam Greenfield on staff. I do feel like Scott and Logan are a little bit mine since I've been borrowing them for so long.
From: Northstar@alphaflight.gc.ca
To: Agreenfield@herald.com
Subject: Aleksander Ivanovich Cherevko
Dear Mr. Greenfield:
I'm writing to you in the hope that you can help me to get in touch with Sasha Cherevko. I know that you must be inundated with people trying to contact him, but I do assure you I am not just some sensation-seeker. I knew Sasha well at one time and, although we have not been in contact for the last couple of years, I do think he would want to hear from me.
My name is Jean-Paul Beaubier and I work with a Canadian government agency called Alpha Flight. I am also an amateur skier. Sasha and I met through skiing and became friends during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. I am attaching a photograph of the two of us in Salt Lake City, in case you need further proof of my bona fides before telling Sasha that I have contacted you. I don't know if you knew him before his internment. If not, it may be hard to recognize him. The man on the left is Sasha. I am on the right. The man in the middle is Nikolai Grigorovich Ivankov. Perhaps Sasha has spoken of Kolya.
Alpha Flight is a Canadian paramilitary agency staffed by mutants. We would like to offer, within the boundaries set by our government role, whatever succour we can to the mutants of Belarus. James MacDonald Hudson, Director of Alpha Flight, has authorized me to try to make contact with you and Sasha to find out as much as I can about the current situation inside Belarus so that we can then make a determination of what, if anything, we can do to help. In addition, I was personally distressed and shocked to see Sasha looking so unwell. At the same time I was very relieved to know that he managed to escape to safety.
I am sure you are very busy right now, but hope that you will find the time to read this and respond.
Sincerely,
J-P Beaubier
P.S. The news media have been silent on the subject of just where Sasha is living. I'm assuming that his address is being kept quiet for his safety and privacy. I hope he is comfortably settled somewhere. If not, please tell Sasha that I can arrange for secure accommodations for him with Alpha Flight or our collaborating organization in the U.S.: the X-Men. Both organizations have experience housing mutant refugees and can provide some of the services Sasha might need at this point.
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From: Agreenfield@herald.com
To: Northstar@alphaflight.gc.ca
Subject: Reply to: Aleksander Ivanovich Cherevko
Jean-Paul -
I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to call you "M. Beaubier" to match your "Mr. Greenfield." I have heard so much about you, both from Kolya and from Sasha, that I do feel I know you already. I have also followed your career in the Canadian press. In particular, I read pretty much everything that was published when you came out publicly a couple of years ago. I thought that an act of courage and strength. And, in fact, it is one the factors that led to my deciding to be out at work as well. I am a founder of the Gay and Lesbian Employees Network here at the Herald.
I'm really glad you wrote, Jean-Paul. I did try calling Alpha Flight headquarters but was told that you are away on an extended assignment. I'm hoping that you can take some time off from that and come to New York, where Sasha and I are right now. I think he would find it very helpful to reunite with an old friend.
As to accommodations for Sasha, he and I are currently staying at the Grand Hyatt near Grand Central. Feel free to call him here. The room is registered under the name Mikhael Lermontov, so ask for Mr. Lermontov. As you mentioned, we have been able to keep Sasha's exact location out of the media. OTOH, I will need to go back to Miami shortly and Sasha insists on remaining in New York in anticipation of the on-again, off-again U.N. hearings. Jean-Paul, frankly I'm afraid to leave him. I don't think in his current state he should be alone. Where is the U.S. mutant organization you mentioned located? Is it close enough to New York that he could come back quickly if the hearings are held? I have tried to persuade him to come with me to Florida but he says it is too far. Would you try to convince him? Either to come with me or to go to one of the places you mentioned? I feel sure he would listen to you.
I don't know just what Alpha Flight could do for the mutants in Belarus. The current situation is very bleak but I'm hoping that the publicity Sasha's story is generating will result in a groundswell of protest against their treatment. The response of the United Nations and of private humanitarian groups has so far been disappointing, but I haven't given up hope. I will continue to try to tell, as realistically and vividly as I can, what is going on in Belarus. I can only hope that people of good conscience everywhere will respond. I do look forward to discussing with you what your agency might be able to do to aid in this effort.
Please write back here or call me. If I'm not at the hotel, I can be reached care of the Herald (phone number in sig line). I look forward to meeting you. I've wanted to meet you for a long time. I wish only that the circumstances leading up to this were not so horrific.
Adam
P.S. Thanks for sending the picture although it was, in some respects, difficult to look at. It is indeed shocking to see what Sasha looked like before his internment. No, I hadn't known him before. Kolya looks pretty much as he does now. It's a wonderful portrait of three young, very attractive men. So full of joy and life! And of triumph - I don't think I've ever seen an Olympic medal other than on television and there you and Sasha are both wearing yours. That radiant smile is something else I have never seen on Sasha. We can only hope that he will be able to regain some of what he has lost.
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From: Northstar@alphaflight.gc.ca
To: Agreenfield@herald.com
Subject: Reply to: Aleksander Ivanovich Cherevko
You said, in part:
>I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to call you "M. Beaubier" ,
>to match your "Mr. Greenfield."
Don't be sorry :-). I am quite happy to progress to first names! Particularly when you tell me that you have heard about me from Sasha. And from Kolya! Good things, I hope, although I'm afraid that he and I parted badly. I have thought of him during this crisis. Can you tell me: was he the N.I. who helped you to rescue Sasha? And, if so, where is he now? Is he safe?
I'm afraid you have the advantage of me, if you have indeed heard so much about me. I know about you only what I've gleaned from the news reports and your note. So, I know that you are a crusading reporter. I greatly admire your courage in this whole affair. And I admire your courage in being out at work, as well.
I'm afraid I didn't come out until my closeted position became completely untenable. In the wake of my daughter's death from AIDS-related complications, I became somewhat of a public spokesman for AIDS research. It was a good thing to do and I got a lot of publicity for some important initiatives. Unfortunately, some of the press coverage took a turn for the homophobic, identifying my little Joanne as one of the "innocent victims" by contrast with the many gay men who have succumbed to this awful disease. I didn't feel I could counter that vile argument effectively or honestly without coming out.
Now I wish I had done it earlier. I hear from young people who tell me how important it is to them to have openly gay role models. I wish I had had some when I was in my teens. If so, I might have had an easier time all around. I applaud people such as you who are forthright enough to even found gay employee groups. OTOH, if I were to do so at Alpha Flight, I would be the sole member. The meetings might get a little boring. And the annual gay employees' picnic would be a miserable affair. So, perhaps I won't follow your lead.
I don't know if Sasha or Kolya has told you this, but I really had no idea that Sasha was a mutant. And I'm quite sure that Kolya did not know, either, when I first knew them.
I called the Grand Hyatt upon receiving your message. They informed me that Mr. Lermontov was out, as was Mr. Pushkin. LOL! So, Sasha's tastes in literature haven't changed? He and Kolya used to think me quite ignorant for not knowing either Pushkin or Lermontov. I'm afraid that education in Quebec does not stress 19th century Russian poetry. I left a message, but I unfortunately cannot leave the phone number of the place where I am on assignment. I did leave the number of Alpha Flight headquarters. They will get a message to me.
You suggested that it might be helpful for me to come to New York to see Sasha. I think that can be arranged. The X-Men are based in a private boarding school in a New York City suburb, in Westchester County. That's where I usually stay when I come to New York. So, when Sasha and I connect I will arrange things with him. He can come and see the school and decide whether he wants to stay there. I think it would be helpful for him to be in a supportive environment and it is very close to New York City. I will try to convince him to stay in Westchester, although my mutant powers are limited to flight and super-speed. I fear you are crediting me with powers of persuasion beyond my ability.
Jean-Paul
P.S. Perhaps after Sasha is settled in Westchester - if I do manage to persuade him - you and I could have dinner one evening? I don't want to press Sasha for information but there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge. I have read all of your stories but my questions are of a more personal nature. I also know New York quite well and would be glad to show you around if you're interested.
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From: Agreenfield@herald.com
To: Northstar@alphaflight.gc.ca
Subject: Reply to: Aleksander Ivanovich Cherevko
I don't have much time but wanted to dash off an answer to you before I leave.
I'm off to Miami tonight. I will be there for at most a day and then on assignment overseas again. Like the sailor in Lermontov's "The Sail", it's my fate to seek I know not what in foreign lands. So, I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check on that dinner. I'd love to have the chance to get to know you in person. As to showing me New York, I grew up in Brooklyn. I imagine I could show you a thing or two, no matter how well you think you know the City.
The school in Westchester sounds perfect. I'm sure you will succeed with Sasha. Don't sell yourself short. You're a very persuasive man - you've already convinced me to have dinner with you, after all.
Kolya was indeed my Belarussian confederate (among other things). He is in hiding, living under an assumed name. We knew that the Minsk government would look first to him when Sasha escaped. I believe he is safe, at least for now. I can't contact him without compromising his safety, though, so I don't really know how he is doing.
I don't know everything that happened between you and Kolya, but I have some sense of why you may have parted badly. I can tell you that he has come a long way since you knew him. The mutant crisis in Belarus has made lots of people rethink assumptions and prejudices. Certainly finding that his best friend is a mutant made Kolya think and grow. I think finding that an ex-lover of his is a mutant also helped him. I know that he has behaved with great courage throughout this crisis and is a leader in the underground rescue movement.
I can access this account from anywhere in the world and hope to hear from you while I'm on assignment. I'm enjoying our correspondence, Jean-Paul. Words are the tools of my trade, but they are also a fine way to get to know someone. I feel like I'm getting to know you, like we are becoming friends, although it seems a strange thing to say of someone I've never met. Write back if you don't think me too strange. You can also leave messages on my voice mail at any time.
Adam
P.S. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I am entrusting you with information about Kolya that must be kept secret. I figure a man who doesn't even give out his phone number understands the need for discretion.
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From: Northstar@alphaflight.gc.ca
To: Agreenfield@herald.com
Subject: Dashed hopes
I was so disappointed to hear that you will not be in New York when I come. Please be careful, wherever you are. I hope you aren't back in Belarus. Given what the government in Minsk now knows of your role in smuggling Sasha out that would be a most dangerous location for you.
I was looking forward to meeting you in person, Adam. I feel, too, like we are fast becoming friends. I felt so drawn to you the first time I saw you on television, at the press conference with Sasha. And then this correspondence has been just a whole new experience for me. I've rarely clicked like this with someone even upon meeting more conventionally. I'm eager to go from being email pen pals to real life acquaintances. I will hold you to that rain check as soon as you return. I'm quite sure you can show me "a thing or two". I look forward with feverish anticipation to being shown such things. My friends in Westchester have only the suburban view, after all. I can only imagine what a real New Yorker might be able to show me.
Sasha and I have agreed to meet in New York tomorrow, so you needn't worry about him being alone for long. We will go straight to the Westchester School. It is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Salem Center. Feel free to call Sasha or me there at 914/555-6745. I do think Sasha will end up staying there. I am flushed with confidence in my powers of persuasion now that you have agreed to have dinner with me. And there are other people there who can also prevail upon Sasha, help him to understand the advantages of being in a supportive mutant community.
I appreciate what you told me about Kolya. I'm intrigued by your comment that he was your confederate "among other things". Am I jumping to conclusions in thinking he may have been your lover as well? And dare I say that I hope, if he was, that that chapter is over? I am finding you a most compelling correspondent and hoping that there is at least the possibility that our friendship might progress to something more. Having said that, I'm not sure I'll have the courage to press "send".
Jean-Paul
P.S. Please, Adam, do take care of yourself. Let me know that you are okay. Call me if you need me. I can be anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes.
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