Page 9 of Rescue Them

“Thanks, but I’m not really hungry right now,” James said, and they sat on the sofa, the dogs settling down on the floor.After the walk, they seemed a little worn out and ready to rest.

“What do you like to do when you have quiet time?”Lyle asked.

“I don’t have very much of it.I’m usually studying, and quiet time is a little hard to come by with three roommates.Someone is always up or needing something.”

“Do you have things you need to do now?I’ll understand if you have more work to finish.I mean… I know I can’t take up all of your time.”Lyle sighed and leaned slightly against his shoulder.

“I do have some reading to do and work that needs to be finished before classes Wednesday.There is always plenty to do, but I’m definitely ahead of the game at the moment.I have a paper due Friday, and it’s about halfway completed.The rest is outlined, so I just have to write it.”

Lyle chuckled.“I take it that you’re one of those people who gets everything done as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the last minute.”

“I never wait if I can help it.I always get things done as soon as I can.I like to think that gives me a chance to look over my work and make sure that it’s done to the best of my ability.This is my chance to have a different kind of life than my mom had.”

“I guess I have to ask.Is the law a real passion for you, or is law school a stepping-stone to something else?”

James shrugged.“I’m not sure.There are plenty of things I’d like to do in the law, but I’m not sure that I want to spend my time writing wills or going to court.There are plenty of jobs that are open to lawyers, so I just have to decide what it is I want.But I have some time yet.”He had thought about a private practice of some sort, but that was practically impossible right out of law school.“I know I’m going to need experience, and that means I’ll need to work for a law firm at some point.There are a few people in town that I’ve been talking with, and some of them might be interested in me working with them in a year or two.I just don’t know.”

“What would your dream job be?”Lyle asked.

“If I could do anything?”He paused because he had to think about it.“I think I’d like to be an advocate for dogs and pets.We treat them as if they are very important to us, and yet under the law, they’re no more than property, If you want to protect your pets after death, you have to jump through a number of hoops.You can’t leave them your assets directly.Instead, you need a trust and people you know will care for them.It’s a bit of a mess.You can will people your pets, and you can will them money to care for them, but there are no guarantees that they’ll do it.”Sometimes it made his head spin.“What about you?”

“I don’t know.I was never one of those people with grand dreams.Mostly I want to be able to make enough money to be comfortable and not have to worry about every cent.I’d like to be able to travel and to see things.I think that’s more important than the fancy house or a big car.”He seemed almost taken aback by the question.“Honestly, I’ve never really given it a lot of thought, I guess.”

“Me too.I have a lot of things I’d like to do, but sometimes it’s down to the opportunities that come your way.All I can do at this point is make sure I work hard and end up at the top of my class, and that way, more firms will be interested in taking me on.From there I can figure out what it is I really want.”He had some sort of plan, even if it wasn’t all mapped out.But one way or another he’d figure it out.

Chapter 5

MAYBE LYLEwas dumb, and lord knows he didn’t have it all figured out, but at least he knew some things he wanted in life.He had a decent job with a company that could offer him a future.Not many people could say that.He’d been promoted once, and his job responsibilities kept being expanded, so that was good.He didn’t know what James had said that made him nervous, but something definitely had.

Of course, there were times that the price of corn on the open market made him nervous, and that had nothing to do with him.

“Are you okay?You seem really far away.”

“Sorry.It’s just my anxiety.”What he needed to do was take something, but he really didn’t want to.His meds could make him sleepy, and sometimes they did nothing and he just had to wait until he could work through it.

“Does it bother you that I don’t have everything worked out?”James asked.

Lyle shrugged.“Honestly, I don’t know.I figured you were in law school so there was an area of the law that really got you excited.I mean, that’s why most people go into that line of work, isn’t it?Otherwise you wouldn’t need to spend that much money and you could work where I do.Not that I’m saying you should or you had to.I’m just trying to understand.”He blinked.Maybe James was going to get one look at Lyle’s brand of crazy and run for the hills.It had happened before.

“Oh, I love the law… sort of, and I want to make it fairer for people.”He leaned forward.“We examine all these cases in law school, ones that are important for precedent.But a lot of them are cases where the ‘bad guy’ won… if you know what I mean.We learn about people using loopholes to their advantage and the fact that the law isn’t fair.Sometimes it’s all about having the best lawyer who can develop the most compelling argument rather than who should actually win the case.I could give you examples, but they would just make you mad and I don’t want to do that.”

“Okay,” Lyle said.

“Sometimes it’s just hard to know what it is you want to do.There are firms that do nothing but Social Security disability.They take cases of people who have had their claims denied.Those firms are like factories.They take the cases they are likely to win, often hundreds of them at any one time, and see them through the system.They get a percentage of each win… and then move on.I don’t really want to do that, but I’m not sure if I want to be a litigator in court either.”

Lyle took a deep breath and closed his eyes.“You have the right to take your time and decide what’s right for you, and you shouldn’t let my anxiety dictate anything about your life.There are times when it’s just my own head that gets me into trouble.Sometimes I can’t let things go, and that has nothing to do with you.It’s my problem.”

James drew closer.“Hey.You get to be the person you are too.I’ve known other people with issues like yours.My roommate sophomore year was as obsessive as they came.But we got along.Wes was up-front enough to explain his triggers, and we worked around them.It wasn’t always that simple, but one of the things he was obsessive about was his studies, and I learned a lot from him about getting the work done early and making sure I had time to review things before turning them in.He and I were roommates for two years… until he graduated.Right now he’s in a master’s program at MIT.”

Lyle nodded along and smiled.“How about some of that ice cream now?”he asked, figuring it was a good time for them to change the subject.He hadn’t meant for his anxiety issues to drive them into such weighty topics, but at least James hadn’t gone running for the hills.

“That would be great,” James said, and Lyle hurried to the kitchen with the dogs behind him.He made up two bowls and returned, handing one to James.

“I got chocolate.I hope it’s okay.”

“My favorite,” James said.“When it comes to things like this, I’m pretty simple.Though give me a mint chip and I swear I’m in heaven.”

Lyle bounced on the sofa.“Me too.I didn’t know if you’d like it, so I got the chocolate instead.”He took a bite as the dogs all sat at their feet, looking up at them, trying to seem needy and pathetic so they’d take pity on them and give them some.“Chocolate is not good for dogs,” Lyle told them.“I was thinking.I’m off on Saturday and Sunday.I know you sometimes work at the shelter on weekends.Maybe I could volunteer there for a few hours.”