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Thankfully, Tom had made arrangements so that she could get off work early on the days she needed to go for her sessions, so she didn\'t need to worry about being out of the office for personal business during office hours.

Although she was plagued by many thoughts as she drove, she had her mind set on this therapy.

Amongst the two therapists the doctor had recommended to her, she had decided to settle for the female, or rather, she had decided to begin with her, and if it didn\'t go well, then she would seek the service of the male therapist.

Perhaps Lucy had chosen Julia Andrews because apart from the fact that she was female, she had found out that the lady had experienced sexual abuse and had been the victim of a stalker herself, and so unlike other therapists, she specialized in dealing with patients who were victims of stalkers and sexual abuse.

This made Lucy feel like since they had similar experience, she could relate better.

Lucy had spent some time checking out the website of the therapist and reading a lot of reviews about her before their meeting, and almost all of them had been positive. She would have been worried had she not seen any negative reviews. Seeing those in the magnitude of positive reviews made her feel comfortable.

For the first time in her life she prayed that she had been wrong about therapies and desperately hoped that she would get the help she now so much believed she needed.

"Doctor Julia\'s One O\'clock appointment?" The secretary asked with a polite smile the moment Lucy walked into the psychotherapy section of the hospital, and Lucy gave her a nod.

"Yes, please," Lucy said, as the secretary approached her.

"You\'re welcome, Miss Lucinda Perry. Please come with me," the secretary said as she led Lucy down the hallway that led to the office of the therapist.

The secretary knocked once on the door before turning the knob, "Your one o\'clock is here, ma\'am," She announced and stood aside to let Lucy in.

"Miss Lucinda Perry!" Julia greeted with a bright smile as she rose from her desk, "Would it bother you if I say it\'s nice to meet you?" She asked as she went around her desk to take Lucy\'s hand in a warm handshake.

The secretary shut the door behind her as she excused them, while Lucy couldn\'t help but wonder why the therapist seemed so friendly and sounded like she knew her.

"Do you welcome all your first time clients with that line, doctor?" Lucy asked with a confused smile as she looked at the beautiful plump lady who looked like she was in her late forties.

"Please call me Julia. And no, I don\'t. As a matter of fact I\'ve never said that to any patient of mine. Have you had lunch yet?" Julia asked curiously not bothering to offer Lucy a seat.

"No. I had a late breakfast. Why say that to me then?" Lucy asked, getting back to her question.

"Because I feel like I know you. It\'s not every time you get the opportunity to meet your patient first on TV before meeting them in person, is it?" she asked, still smiling and Lucy nodded as she finally understood.

"You saw my interview," she stated simply.

"As did thousands of people all over the world. Since you\'re not hungry I suppose we can take a walk?" Julia asked, and Lucy arched a brow.

"Are we not supposed to sit here and talk about why I\'m here?" Lucy asked, and Julia shook her head.

"We are not supposed to do anything. There is no one right way to therapy. I prefer to interact with my patients outside the office on our first day. You know, build a friendly rapport that would help us to become intimate," Julia explained as she shrugged out of her white coat.

"I see. Do you mind referring to me as your client instead of a patient?" Lucy asked as she followed Julia out of her office.

"I see you\'re in that class," Julia said with a soft smile as she turned to give Lucy an assessing smile before they got into the elevator.

"What class is that?"

"The class of those who feel insulted by the idea of receiving therapy," Julia said as she pressed the button for the rooftop.

Lucy took a deep breath, "I\'m just not comfortable with being referred to as a patient."

"Alright then, client," Julia said with a friendly smile.

"Thanks. So, if you saw my interview, that means you know why I\'m here, right?" Lucy asked as the elevator door opened, and they stepped out of it.

"I can\'t say I do. I\'d rather you tell me," Julia said as they stepped into the beautiful rooftop garden filled with artificial flowers.

"You\'re not allergic to flowers, are you?" Julia asked and Lucy shook her head.

"No, I\'m not. Why do you ask? Aren\'t these artificial flowers?" Lucy asked as she examined them.

"There is a garden of natural flowers ahead of us. I\'d love us to sit over there," Julia explained as she led Lucy further down.

"So, what do you want, Lucy? I hope you don\'t mind me calling you that? I prefer to be on a first name basis with my clients," Julia said when they got to the end and found a lovers seat.

Lucy shrugged, "It\'s fine. My loved ones believe I need therapy…."

"But you don\'t think you do?" Julia cut in curiously.

"I\'m beginning to think so. For the first time in my life I\'m doubting a lot of things, and then two days ago I reacted in a disturbing manner to a statement that shouldn\'t ordinarily have warranted such a response. I honestly do not see how talking about my life will make anything better, but if they say it works, I\'m willing to give it my best shot to see if there is even the slightest chance that I might gain more clarity and feel better," Lucy explained, and Julia nodded.

"Interesting. What sort of games do you like? Favorite Sports?" Julia asked, and Lucy frowned.

"How is that in any way related to all I just said?"

"Calm down, Lucy. Do not get ahead of yourself. You can\'t breeze in and out of therapy. As I told you earlier, this first appointment is to build a rapport…."

"You are charging me to build a rapport," Lucy cut in.

"Yes, I am. There are hundreds of therapists in the country. I believe someone capable referred me to you, and you decided to come to me for a reason. If you don\'t like my method, you are free to go somewhere else where you can dictate to your doctor how best to treat you. But if you are going to be my patient…."

"Client," Lucy corrected.

"If you\'re going to be my PATIENT, you will let me do my job how best I know to do it. That\'s the only way your mind can be cured from whatever ails it," Julia said sternly, but her eyes remained warm as they held Lucy\'s gaze.

"I\'m not much into games or sports. I do more of solo activities. Reading novels mostly," Lucy said after a short while and Julia smiled.

Julia took Lucy\'s hand and squeezed softly, "I understand that this must not be easy for you. But I will like it very much if you could put aside your reservations concerning therapy and trust me. While money is important and takes care of my bills, my job is every bit as important and personal to me. I consider my clients family," Julia said, and then pointed to a peony.

"That\'s my granddaughter\'s favorite flower," Julia said with a bright smile as she took out her phone to take a picture.

"You have a granddaughter?" Lucy asked, and Julia bobbed her head as she opened her phone\'s gallery and showed Lucy pictures of her granddaughter.

"Yeah. I have four kids. A girl and three boys. I had my daughter when I was eighteen. She is married now with two kids of her own," Julia said as she showed her a picture of all her kids and grandkids together at her last son\'s high school graduation.

"What about you?" Julia asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"I don\'t have grandkids," Lucy said with a small smile, and Julia laughed softly.

"Of course, you don\'t. Would you love to have kids?" Julia asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"No. I\'m not sure about that. Why do you ask?"

"Well, usually when I show young ladies pictures of my grandkids, they usually have this dreamy look on their face, as though they\'re picturing their kids, but you don\'t have that look," she observed, and Lucy shrugged.

"Is it weird that I don\'t have it?" Lucy asked, and Julia shook her head.

love and lose out on career? Or why settle for your career and lose out on love when you can have it 17:11

all? I don\'t want to settle for one and lose out on the other. I want to live a balanced out life. I want "Of course not. We all want different things for ourselves. While some desire a family, some want a good career, and there are others who want to find a balance between both and just be happy," Julia said easily.

"Like you?" Lucy asked, and Julia laughed softly.

"Yes, like me. I believe there is so much worth having in life, so why settle for less? Why settle for love and lose out on career? Or why settle for your career and lose out on love when you can have it all? I don\'t want to settle for one and lose out on the other. I want to live a balanced out life. I want to live doing what I love and having the people I love with me to cheer me on both in good days and bad days," Julia said, and Lucy sighed.

"That sounds nice," Lucy said, and Julia nodded.

"It is nice. I can imagine nothing better than going home to my husband at the end of a very fulfilling day at work and sharing with him my high and low moments while listening to our boys squabble," Julia said with a grin.

A balanced out life. Lucy mused, "You make it sound so easy," Lucy said, and Julia laughed.

"Really? That was not my intention, believe me. It\'s anything but easy. But what I can tell you, is that I find fulfillment in all of it. It\'s all worth it for me," Julia said with a sigh of contentment.

"So, how is Sonia doing? What does she think about your receiving therapy?" Julia asked curiously and Lucy raised a brow.

"You know Sonia?" She asked, and Julia laughed.

"Of course, I do. I watched your interview, remember? I had to rewatch it a couple of times after I saw you were going to be my client. So, I can say I know your best friend. I know you have a twin brother. I know your boyfriend too," Julia said, and Lucy nodded.

"Well, all three of them you mentioned seem to be in agreement that I should get therapy."

"You never received one before now, right?" Julia asked, and Lucy nodded.

"And I take it your boyfriend is the major reason you\'re more willing to get help now?" Julia asked, and Lucy looked at her questioningly.

"Why do you assume so?"

"Because your twin brother and best friend have been in your life all these years, yet you never bothered with getting help. Your boyfriend is the new person in the picture," Julia said with a shrug as though it was obvious.

"You could say that," Lucy said with a nod.

"You must love him a lot," Julia said with a knowing smile, and this time she noticed that Lucy\'s smile was different.

"I do. I read about your trauma…."

"Ah! I see. I suppose that\'s why you chose to come to me," Julia said with a small smile.

"Yeah. That was part of it. I thought you could relate better to what happened to me," Lucy said, and Julia nodded.

"Can you tell me about it? I mean, since you know my story, would you mind sharing yours?" Lucy asked curiously.

"It was different from yours. I knew I was being stalked. He didn\'t make it a secret. I accosted him twice, and he said he loved following me. He loved watching me. I couldn\'t report him to the police because I had no way to prove it. And then one night on my way back from a friend\'s birthday party, he attacked me. Raped me. And that was the last time I ever saw him," Julia said with a shrug.

"He raped you? Did you receive therapy? How did what happen to you affect or change your life?" Lucy asked with interest.

"Not at first. How was I supposed to afford therapy when we barely had enough to feed?" Julia asked, and Lucy blinked at her in surprise.

"I guess you missed the part of my story that talked about being from a humble background. As a matter of fact it was a miracle that we were able to keep a roof over our heads. My parents were as poor as could be. So, to answer your question, no. I didn\'t receive therapy. Not that I even knew what it was at the time. All I knew was that life hit me hard at eighteen. I was raped and ended up pregnant, and I needed to find a way to survive for both myself and my baby. That is how it changed that just after an hour with Julia she felt she had made the right decision in agreeing to receive 17:12

therapy.

my life. It made me more responsible," Julia said with a shrug.

"My parents were very supportive even though they had no money. I had to work as hard as I could. I worked several jobs at the same time. Saved away what little I could while sharing the rest with my family and taking care of my little girl. When my girl was four, I met my husband, Tim. We fell in love and he married me. It was thanks to his support that I was able to go to college. And today we have three handsome boys together," Julia finished, and smiled when she noticed Lucy brushing off tears.

"Although, you make it sound like it was easy, but I know you must have had a hard time," Lucy said with a sniffle.

"I didn\'t have the time to have a hard time, Lucy. I was too busy working my ass off to have a hard time, and when I was opportune to lay my head on the floor, I sleep was that of an exhausted man. Dreamless," Julia said with an assuring smile.

"So, it never bothered you? The memories?" Lucy asked with a frown.

"Make no mistake, Lucy. It did. When I met Tim, it all came back to haunt me. In fact that was how we met. My wallet had fallen off my pocket and I had no idea. Tim was trying to get my attention but I had a earphone on and couldn\'t hear him. So, he touched me, and I attacked him involuntarily. Gave him a bloody nose," She said with a rueful smile.

"Eventually, I had to receive therapy after much encouragement from Tim. And it was while receiving therapy I decided I wanted to be a therapist myself. I wanted to be able to offer help to girls like myself who might not be able to afford it because they\'re too easy trying to survive. So, I render pro bono services to such girls over the weekends," Julia explained as she glanced at her wristwatch.

"It\'s safe to say as bad as it was, what happened to me helped me find my purpose. Our time is up, Lucy. I need to meet my next client now," Julia said as she rose, and Lucy rose as well.

"Thanks for sharing your story with me," Lucy said, and Julia smiled.

"I hope I see you again, Lucy. I really like you a lot, and I would love nothing more than to be able to help you heal your mind," Julia said as they returned inside.

As Lucy got into her car, she felt more optimistic now than she had felt earlier. It was nice to know that just after an hour with Julia she felt she had made the right decision in agreeing to receive therapy.

Lucy decided that therapy might really not be as bad as she had thought. Or perhaps it was Julia that she liked. She couldn\'t wait to see how their next session would go.