Page 48 of You and Me, For Real
Luke made himself scarce earlier, making some excuse about needing to catch up on some PA paperwork—which he absolutely doesn’t have. However, I appreciate him allowing us some privacy.
I sit in the armchair again, watching Roxy settle into her bed. “You know, you’re really good at this. You’re a natural with dogs.”
“Thank you.”
“How many have you trained?”
“At the shelter? About thirty. You’re my first paid client outside work.” She wedges her hands between her legs.
“Well, I’m impressed. You’ve done a great job. I can’t wait to see what you do with your own rescue center.”
She pets Teddy who is sitting at her feet. “Thank you for being an easy client.”
“I’ve learned to take direction really well over the years. Besides, you make learning fun.” Hoping she’ll stay a little longer, I ask, “Would you like something to drink?”
“Um, sure. I’ll take a water. Thanks.” She brushes her hands up and down the front of her denim shorts and then clasps them together in her lap.
Before she clams up again, I ask about the one thing I know she likes to talk about. “Tell me more about your rescue.” I grab some water bottles from the fridge and twist open the caps.
“I don’t know how much you know about the animal community, but it’s becoming extremely overpopulated at an alarming rate. As you saw at the shelter, we’re at max capacity. We need more shelters, which requires more federal and state funding. The rescue I want to start will be for dogs that may not be good candidates for the shelter.” She looks over at Roxy. “Some animals come from traumatic situations. If they have even a hint of violent behavior, they’re usually the first to be euthanized.” She swallows hard. “It’s not fair to the dogs to be punished for their owners’ poor care.”
I walk into the open living room and sit next to her on the couch. Close, but not too close. I don’t want to spook her, and yet, selfishly, I’m not ready to give up the easy closeness we’ve had the past couple of hours.
I hand her a water bottle. “I’m sure that’s really hard.”
“The hardest.” She takes the bottle but doesn’t open it, placing it on her lap—only to fidget with it.
I take a sip of my water. “So, you recruit volunteers to foster to help alleviate the overcrowding?”
“Yes. We have a list in our system, but just like shelters, our foster volunteers are overworked too, often taking multiple animals at once and for long periods of time until the animals can become adopted. It’s difficult finding new people.”
“Do you like recruiting volunteers?”
She cracks a small smile. “Not particularly.” She takes a sip of water. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to help…it’s just…me and people, well, we don’t always work out well. I’m more of an animal person, in case you couldn’t tell.” She pets Teddy’s head.
I admire her pushing past such discomforts to do something she’s so passionate about. I may not love Hollywood politics, but I love my work. I guess we all have aspects we don’t enjoy about our jobs.
“Why would you think you’re not a people person? You’ve done great with both of us today.”
She bites her lip. “Animals are just easier.”
I laugh. “I beg to differ.”
She turns to me and smiles. “Animals are kind, loyal, forgiving, affectionate, and easy to get along with. They love you for just being you.”
The softness and vulnerability of her statement tells me there’s a deeper story there, but she’s barely opened up. I’m not about to force her to go deeper. Not yet at least. “I guess that’s true. But it’s sure hard to understand how they’re feeling.”
She gestures toward Roxy. “Not really. They want all the same things we do. Love, affection, friendship, acceptance.”
Her face has that soft, dreamy look again—peaceful, happy.
“You and Teddy seem to have a pretty special relationship. How long has he been with you? How’d you come across him?”
Her smile falls. She clings to her water bottle, crackling it. “I got him when I was nearly eighteen, so five years now. He foundme at pretty much the perfect time, actually. He’s been with me ever since. My one constant in life.”
The sadness in her expression has me aching to sit near her, to comfort her. I open my mouth, unsure of what to say, but she stands abruptly.
“Today was a great session. You and Roxy made tremendous progress. I can’t imagine we’ll need many more lessons.”
