Page 9 of Feared

“Roger, we’re not getting married! We’re not even merging!”

“And that’s what I mean.” Roger smiled slightly. “I don’t see things the way you do. I don’t see the labels and divisions. Relationships are relationships. To me, the relationship between client and attorney is no different from the relationship between lovers or corporate entities. It’s about my relationship to myself, ultimately.”

“Oh please.” Bennie groaned, but Judy tilted her head, obviously intrigued. Mary tried not to throw up again, thinking of all the money that was about to go down the tubes because of Machiavelli.

Roger shifted forward. “Bennie, to achieve a successful result, we need to work together. I don’t think we’ll work together well.”

“Of course we will!” Bennie threw up her hands. “We’re adream client!”

“Or a nightmare client.”

“How dare you!” Bennie spat out, and even Mary was taken aback. Only Judy was still listening.

Roger put up a palm. “Bennie, don’t mistake me. It’s not personal. That’s exactly my point. A personal lawsuit means drama. I call plaintiffs like this ‘paintiffs’ because that’s what they want to inflict.”

“That’s cute, but all plaintiffs cause pain and drama.”

“Not like this. I abhor drama. It dissipates energy and squanders clarity.”

“Why won’t you take us,really?” Bennie bore down. “It’s because you don’t think I’ll listen to you, is that it? You think we’ll have a power struggle?”

“No. I don’t seek your obedience, I seek your cooperation. Not everything is binary. Yet that’s how you see the world. You will be unhappy with my representation. Inevitably. As I will be unhappy representing—”

“If I may, Roger?” Judy interrupted. “I understand what you’re saying. I agree that we have a difference in our energies. I know that our philosophies aren’t necessarily compatible.”

“Oh?” Roger tilted his head, and for the first time, Mary thought his blue eyes showed signs of life.

“Yes, and it’s demonstrated in this very meeting. Bennie wants to argue you into taking our case, but she can’t.”

“Exactly.”

Bennie looked over with a frown, but Judy kept talking.

“I’ve done a fair amount of reading on Eastern philosophy, as you have. I own most of these books, too. I’ve studied them.”Judy gestured at the shelves. “After college, I was even thinking about becoming a Buddhist nun.”

“What?” Mary blurted out, incredulous. She thought she knew everything about Judy. She’d even seen her bra drawer, which was a mess. Meanwhile, Mary’s sister was a nun, but a Catholic nun, like normal. Mary didn’t even know that Buddhists had nuns.

Roger beamed at Judy. “So why didn’t you pursue becoming a nun?”

“I felt I could do more good as a lawyer. I handle thepro bonowork that Bennie brings into the firm. I think of that as my reason for being, not the firm, the service. I follow The Way.”

“You do?” Bennie’s eyebrows lifted.

“Which way?” Mary asked, bewildered.

“The Way of the Tao,” Judy answered with an unusually placid expression.

Mary looked at Judy, nonplussed. She knew her best friend had pink hair and minored in woo-woo, but Judy had gotten even wackier since she’d bought a loom. Mary wasn’t sure how these two things were related, but nobody needed to weave things you could buy woven.

Roger folded his slim fingers on the glass desk. “So then, Judy, you understand. Your firm’s way of doing things, and the fact that this lawsuit is so personal, counsels against my involvement.”

“Perhaps,” Judy said, equally calmly. “I see your position.”

Bennie’s eyes flared in anger. “Carrier, whose side are youon?”

Mary was pretty sure that Bennie was proving Vitez’s point. Meanwhile, she’d never heard Judy sayperhapsbefore. Mary didn’t know what was coming over her best friend and prayed it helped the cause. That is, she prayed to the real God, not whoever they were talking about.

Judy nodded. “I do understand, Roger. It’s interesting, though, that one of my favorite lessons from Lao-Tzu is about the Sage and his philosophy of service.”