One // Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Chapter Seventeen

True to her word, Leigh made an appointment to see a psychologist. However, she made complete sure she did her homework on the person she was going to trust with her private business.

She sat on the couch in her living room, legs outstretched and crossed in front of her, laptop situated comfortably on her thighs.

She scrolled through multiple webpages looking at various psychologists in the area. Any signs of red flags, no matter how insignificant, she switched to another site.

After hours of through searching, she finally found someone. A woman of African descent named Dr. Aisha Sunderland. She had a PhD in Psychology and amazing feedback from all her clients. She had top of the line security although her office was situated in a safe neighbourhood not to far from her home. She was also very pretty, not that that mattered.

She scrolled through the comments paying close attention for anything that would turn her off. She got no results.

"I guess that's a good thing." She sighed internally.

She called and set the appointment for the 3rd of May which was exactly a week later.

She texted Andre letting him know about the appointment. Andre kindly offered to go with her for moral support. At least that's what he told her and himself. He felt still felt guilty about what happened and was trying to make up for it. Even if he hadn't offered, Leigh was going to drag his sorry backside with her whether he liked it or not. After all, he was the reason she was gonna talk to a shrink in the first damn place; he might as well be there to keep her company.

...

The big day came faster than Leigh desired. She sat in the waiting room, Andre beside her. They were the only two people in the room, other than the receptionist. Andre held her hand tracing circles at the back of her hand.
She stared straight at the wall not saying a word. Her face held no expression. Her body rigid as she tried to remember to breathe.

"You can do this." He said kissing her cheek.

"Shut up." She snapped, wiping her cheek.

Hormones mixed with anxiety weren't a good combination. Usually she made a great effort to keep herself in check but at that point she couldn't give a damn. Unfortunately for Andre he got the brunt of it.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever."

Andre internally chuckled. She was giving him hella attitude but she dare not to let go of of his hand. How ironic.

Shortly after another patient came from the back. She went up to the receptionist to pay. Leigh looked closely at her. She had tear stains on her cheeks and her eyes were red. This freaked Leigh out even more.

"Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Dr. Sunderland will see you now." The receptionist said.

Leigh's gaze switched between Andre, the lady and the receptionist. Her anxiety levels shot sky high. Blood pumped through her veins with great force. Her breath got caught in her throat; her mouth agape. The more she wiped her palms in her jeans the more sweaty they got. She felt trapped in her own skin. Andre gently nudged her. Her head snapped towards him. She stared at him.

"I can't do this." She breathed getting up.

She made a dash for the door but Andre grabbed her arm. He placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes.

"Don't make me do this please!"

"It's gonna be fine." He said.

"Let me go." She said squirming to get out of his grip.