Eighteen years later, Jack was waiting at a café for an interview. He had since retired from NBC, but was now spending his time volunteering for Princeton Alumni Association, which was why he was in that café. The young man whom Jack was to meet with walked in the door. He was a tall young man with thick, brown curly hair. When he asked if Jack was whom he was to be meeting with, Jack realized he knew those eyes from anywhere. "Daniel Snipes?" he asked.
Daniel Snipes nodded. "Thank you for meeting with me, Mr.…"
"Jack Donaghy," Jack finished.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Donaghy. I didn't get the phone call until this morning, so I'm afraid I wasn't able to research you as much as I would have hoped," Daniel apologized as he took off his pea coat and sat down.
"No worries. Don't think of this as an interview, just think of this as a question and answer session," Jack told the young man.
"Okay. Well, let's get on with this question and answer session. I don't want to keep you for longer than necessary, Mr. Donaghy."
The interview went on well. Daniel was a bright young man with curiosities that Jack felt made him a good candidate for admission to his alma mater. Daniel kept thinking that he'd heard Jack Donaghy's name before, though he didn't know where until about half an hour into the interview. "Mr. Donaghy, did you know my mother, Elizabeth Lemon?" he asked abruptly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'm almost certain I've heard your name before."
"Elizabeth Lemon? Liz? I knew her well."
"I thought so."
"How is she?" Jack asked eagerly.
"She's doing well. She just finished writing her third book."
"The third in the series?" Jack asked.
Daniel nodded. "It's taken her a few years, but she's finally finished."
"And how are your siblings?"
"Lucy is about to graduate from Stanford with a degree in Organic Chemistry and Charlie is a sophomore at Brown."
"Your father?"
"He's retired now, but has taken up genealogy."
"Oh, that's interesting," Jack replied.
"It really isn't, but he likes it, so we put up with it," Daniel replied quietly.
The conversation turned from Princeton and Daniel's education to Daniel's family. Jack found himself recounting stories about Liz to Daniel, laughing at the ridiculous memories. "Did your mother ever tell you that we were married?" Jack asked as he had finished telling Daniel about the time he had accompanied Liz to her class reunion.
"She did. Sounds like it was a great party," Daniel remarked.
"It was. She was wearing a white tennis shirt and mosquito netting. Shoes on a beach… does she still have a thing about hiding her feet?"
"No, she had surgery to fix the problem," Daniel explained.
"What was the problem?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. She instructed us never to tell."
"Okay," Jack agreed.
The conversation continued, and before either of them knew it, it was nearly dark. "Mr. Donaghy, this has been very enjoyable, but I promised I would be home for dinner. I should be getting going," Daniel told Jack.
Jack stood up as Daniel did so, and stuck his hand out for a handshake. "You're a good man, Daniel Snipes. Your mother raised you well."
"Thank you; she'd appreciate you saying that."
"Why do you think I said it?"
They shook hands and then bid each other farewell. Daniel walked out of the café and turned toward the subway station. Jack followed him out of the café, but turned the opposite direction. He wasn't planning on saying anything else, but realized there was something he hadn't said. "And Daniel," Jack called out to the young man.
"Yes, Mr. Donaghy?" Daniel asked as he spun around.
"Call me Jack."
"Okay… yes, Jack?"
"Say hello to your mother for me. Tell her that Jack says hello and that he's sorry."
"For anything in particular?" Daniel called back.
Jack thought for a moment. "Tell her that Jack Donaghy is sorry for being an idiot who didn't see what he had until it was gone. Will you do that?"
"Of course, Jack. I'll tell her that."
"And one last thing Daniel."
"Yes?"
"Do great things. Can you do that?"
"Of course Jack."
"Good. Now, get home and get to doing great things."
Daniel smiled and nodded before turning back to walk to the subway station, leaving Jack to stand in the brisk December afternoon. Jack knew that Daniel would uphold his end of the deal, and that in a few hours Daniel would find the business card Jack had slipped in his coat while Daniel had been paying for his coffee and muffin. Jack knew that in a few days, at most, he'd be hearing from Liz Lemon.
And maybe this time, Jack would do things properly. After all, Elizabeth Lemon was the first and only woman who had shown Jack Donaghy that he'd been doing things wrong all along.