Leap Of Faith

Twenty Four

“You alright?” Spencer asked.

They were both stood outside of the Lux building, looking up at the many storeys, Spencer marveling at how tall it was.

Persephone was feeling emotional and nervy, the calm she’d felt after leaving Dr Draper’s office disappearing as soon as the Lux sign came into sight. The sign that she’d designed, the only thing that she’d put into that business that she felt any pride for.

Dr Draper had been easy to talk to. Seph had been over the same ground that she’d already discussed with Dr White, surprised at how easy she was finding it to talk about her problems with these complete strangers. She hadn’t cried as much this time so her make up had only taken a few moments to fix.

The therapist had explained how she was going to teach Persephone some techniques over the next few sessions, how to break down the things she perceived as problems and how to cope with them. She’d explained how it sounded like Seph had suffered from mild depression her whole life but that she’d been using Alex as a coping mechanism in the past. Seph’s best friend being her rock, her support. With Alex gone, that’s what had triggered the spiral into further depression, a black hole that she couldn’t get out of. Persephone needed a strong support network, but she also needed to learn to help herself, rather than relying on others to do it for her. The doctor was also getting Seph started on a dose of antidepressant. She’d picked them up from the pharmacy but she was going to start those after her birthday, wanting to be able to enjoy a drink at least, certain she’d need it.

Now they were stood staring up at one of Seph’s biggest perceived problems. The family business, the obligation, the fear of having her family disown her.

Time to get this over with.

“No. I’m not alright. But I’m more alright with this than I was three weeks ago. So let’s do this.”

Seph reached out for Spencer’s hand, needing to feel him close as she walked into the building.

The receptionist waved at Persephone and she waved back, heading straight for the coded door to the side of the reception desk. Punching in her security code that all employees had, she heard the click and pushed the door open. They entered into the main service corridor, heading for the elevator.

Seph’s mother had messaged to say that they were in their private quarters rather than the office. The top few floors of the hotel were used for the business head quarters, and the very top floor was her parents home.

Searching in her bag Seph pulled out her key chain, finding the fob that gave her unrestricted access to that floor and inserted it into the slot on the side of the key pad. The pair shot up, Seph taking deep breaths to try and calm the butterflies that were playing chase in her tummy. When the elevator came to a stop she felt sick.

The doors slid open and they exited, Seph pulling Spencer along and finding another door to the right of the lift, using her key fob to gain access again.

Opening this door led into a hallway, the decor totally different from the rest of the building. They made their way along the hallway, stopping at the final door. The final barrier between Seph and her parents. She raised her fist to knock, hesitating slightly.

“You’ve got this Seph. Remember, no matter what happens I’m here for you.”

She knocked three times and waited, releasing Spencer’s hand from her own and wiping her now sweaty palms on her coat.