Keating still feels bad for his old classmate Roark and gets Francon's permission to offer the man a job. Roark, having anticipated the overture, accepts on condition that he not be asked to design; put him in engineering or building inspection. (Some day he will be a great architect, but right now he needs a job.) Pleased, Keating asks Roark to unbend a little and go out for a drink, but Roark isn't interested.
One day at the firm, Keating privately asks Roark for a little help with a design, which Roark provides. To let a Keating-designed building go up without aiding its design would be like refusing a lifeline to a drowning man. As Keating asks for more help, from time to time Roark sees small improvements in Keating's drawings.
Outside of these private conferences, Keating puts up a critical, demanding front with Roark. He halfway hopes for an explosive response, but Roark submits to the brow-beating.
Inspecting a hotel going up near Central Park, Roark meets an itinerant builder who calls himself Mike. (Real name: Sean Xavier Donnigan.) Mike is impressed with Roark's skill with an acetylene torch. He's met lots of fancy-pants architects in his day, says Mike, but the only one worth a damn was a fellow named Henry Cameron, probably dead by now. Howard: Hey, I used to work for Cameron, and he's still alive! Mike: For reals? Howard: For reals! Mike: Wow! Hey, Red (on account of Roark's hair), let's be buds and have a drink! Howard: You're on!
Woo-hoo! Roark has a friend!
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