Chapter 4

Quinn squinted through the blaring light that streamed across her face. Slowly her sleepy brain registered her mother's presence and she realized it had been Helen that had opened the heavy curtains to let the offensive morning sun into the room.

"...Spend all day in bed, I expect you downstairs for breakfast in two minutes," Helen crossed the room and pulled Quinn's duvet from the bed. "If my day has to be interrupted so does yours."

Quinn groaned groggily in response and curled away from her mother.

"UP, NOW!" Helen asserted as she left.

Quinn stood and looked around the room for her dressing gown, found it then slowly made her way to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry if I am impeding on your precious work schedule, but I think the health of our family is more important than the Sloanes." Quinn heard her father's voice as she reached the first landing on the staircase.

'It's not going to be a good day,' she paused while she waited for her mother's response.

"Jake, you know how important that case is to my career. Couldn't you have arranged the appointment for a later date?" Helen said in a frustrated tone.

Quinn's head tilted up to the ceiling. 'Take me now, let the earth part and swallow me whole.'

"Quinn, down here now. Your father has arranged a family outing." Helen called.

A moment passed and Quinn surmised the ground was not going to swallow her and she was in fact going to have to spend the morning with her disgruntled parents. Quickly she crossed the living room and entered the kitchen.

"About time, hurry up and eat your breakfast." Helen said, her tone had softened somewhat but it was quite obvious that where ever they were going, Helen didn't want to be.

"What's so important that we all had to get up at six a.m?" Quinn asked as she approached the coffee machine and poured a cup.

Helen eyed her youngest daughter with suspicion. "Your father has arranged for us to meet with a psychologist that deals with families that have experienced loss...Quinn why are you drinking coffee, isn't it against the Fashion Club's bylaws?"

Quinn sat and took a large mouthful; over the past week whilst hanging out with Jane she had come to appreciate the taste. "It doesn't matter." she replied quietly as she reached for a copy of Waif.

Helen and Jake's featured softened as they looked at each other and exchanged concerned glances. "Quinn honey, what's up?" Jake feigned an upbeat manner as he studied Quinn.

"Nothing. How long do I have, I need to wash my hair before we go anywhere."

Jake's brow furrowed as he exhaled heavily then glanced at Helen. "An hour."

"'K, I better get ready." Quinn replied quietly and left the kitchen.

As she padded through the living room she heard the hushed whispers of her squabbling parents.

"That's why we need to go, haven't you noticed anything?" Jake said.

"Jake, that's normal. She's a teenager."

"Jeez Helen, is it hard?"

"Is what hard?" Helen's voice had risen to a normal speaking level.

"Convincing yourself there isn't a problem, being so ignorant to your family's emotional state that you think this behavior is normal."

Quinn shook her head and ascended the stairs. Helen and Jake's verbal battle was cut short by the reverberating shudder of the bathroom door.

***

The loud slam of the passenger car door pulled Quinn back from the brink of her daydreams.

"That's really mature Jake. Jumping out of the car in the middle of traffic," Helen yelled.

"Mom, he can't hear you," Quinn said quietly as she watched her father walk across the intersection, onto the footpath and continue in the opposite direction.

"He should have done it when the car was moving instead of when we were stopped at a traffic light, could have saved me a whole lot of trouble. Honestly what did he-" Helen started, her rant was cut short by the ringing of her cell-phone.

Quinn shook her head and turned her attention to Helen and watched as she located her phone.

"Hello, Helen Morgendorffer... Richard, Hi... Of course you weren't, he at least had the decency to book the appointment before hours... I'll be right in... No, no problem at all... Alright then, I'll be there soon."

Helen put the car into gear and began to drive. "Quinn honey, I have to go into work. Can I drop you at home? Just remember you start your new job this evening."

"Sure." Quinn shrugged and rested her head against the window.

As she let the blur of passing scenery dull her mind she let it wander back to the therapy session. It had been the longest hour of her life, Mr O'Neil's English classes notwithstanding. The councillor had been useless, although to give her her due, she was used to dealing with adults and Helen and Jake had acted like a couple of children...

***

The three Morgendorffers were seated in a moderately sized room with a minimalist modern decor. They sat side-by-side in surprisingly comfortable slick leather chairs, in front of a large glass desk that housed very few personal effects; the large computer chair on the opposite side was empty.

To Quinn's left, Helen tapped her foot on the cream carpet. A dull thump echoed through the office each time her sole connected with the ground. "Honestly Jake, who on earth recommended this doctor? You could have at least found someone that was punctual," Helen sighed.

Quinn glanced to her right and saw Jake's knuckles turn white as he gripped the arm rests of the chair. "She is a client and we're early Helen, Dr. Worthington isn't late."

As if on cue the office door swung open and a short middle-aged woman entered the room. "Jake, Helen and you must be Quinn. Hi I'm Dr. Worthington, but you can call me Sally," she smiled warmly as she took her seat. "Now, you're here for some family grievance counselling, to help you deal with the death of..." she flicked through the top few sheets of a manila folder. "Daria, who has passed recently."

"Thanks right." Jake replied.

"It takes a lot to admit that you need help, most men don't admit they find it difficult to cope with grief. Most have to be dragged in here by their wives," Sally smiled and paused; her attempt at a joke had fallen flat. "Okay then, what this initial session will deal with is me getting to know each of you and how you work as a family. Also the ways in which you have been coping with the loss of your loved one,"

"She's not lost, we didn't misplace her. We're not going to find her under the bed or behind the sofa- she's dead." Quinn scoffed.

Sally smiled and looked down at the file. She retrieved a pen from one of her drawers and scribbled a note on the paper. 'Quinn- Sarcasm'

"Of course not Quinn, I just need to know the way you all deal with grief so I have a better understanding of how to help you. Now have you found yourself acting differently, doing or saying things you normally wouldn't?"

"I quit the fashion club." she shrugged.

"You what, when was this?" Helen asked.

"At Tom's funeral."

"The Fashion Club? What's this?" Sally clasped her fingers together and looked at Quinn.

"A club from school," Quinn answered.

"They were your friends?"

"Yeah, I guess," Quinn replied.

"So you actively shut yourself off from your friends so they didn't have a chance to leave you." Sally stated and wrote on the paper again.

"No. I quit because Daria's death made me realise there's more important things in life,"

"Things more important than friends?" Sally interjected.

"NO," Quinn inhaled deeply. "Listen, these girls weren't, aren't nice people. They bring out the worst in me,"

"Looking at your file, these girls seemed to be good for you. You're quite popular, you have an impressive amount of credits from the extracurricular activities this club is involved in, and your test scores are good, not in the same ball park as your sister,"

"That's the thing, I could be so much better at school than I am, they aren't good for me. I disowned my sister on a daily basis to fit in with them..."

"Honey, why didn't you tell me you quit the Fashion Club?" Helen said.

"How could I? I never had a chance. You were that busy brown nosing Mr. Sloane I'm surprise you didn't walk away with a trail of his excrement down your face."

The doctor glanced down at her previous note and underlined 'sarcasm' several times.

"Honey, you knew I was talking business-"

"You're always talking business; you haven't stopped working since the day we found out about Daria. Helen you have to take a break and realise that we need you here- with us." Jake turned to Helen.

"I don't need to take a break, I'm fine. I've dealt with Daria's passing and now I'm doing my part for the family- who do you think has been earning the money to pay for this stupid appointment? Your bereavement leave ran out two weeks ago Jake, are you planning on returning to work?" as Helen spoke her voice began to rise above a socially acceptable level.

"Helen, we all--" Sally begun.

"You see, no compassion or empathy," Jake spoke to Sally. He stood and pointed at Helen. "You're an emotionally flaccid husk of the woman I once knew. What happened to the woman who dreamt of working toward a better future, righting the wrongs of the nation's leaders? That's the woman I fell in love with, not this empty corporate shell."

"Jake," Sally cautioned.

"I grew up Jake. We can't all live in the past, blaming all of our short comings on others," Helen shot back as she stood and matched Jake's stance.

"You didn't grow up you sold out." Jake replied bitterly.

"Helen Jake, this isn't how..." Sally began and quickly realised her words were going unheeded as the couple continued to exchange nasty words.

Quinn leaned forward in her seat closer to Sally. "Do you have any magazines like Waif? I'd get comfortable if I were you, they can go on like this for hours."

Sally ran her fingers through her shoulder-length red hair and opened and closed her mouth as she tried to reply but was cut off before she found her voice.

"I want a DIVORCE!" Jake yelled.

Helen clutched her chest as an expression of shock flashed quickly across her face. It was replaced soon after by one of fury. "Divorce? FINE, I'll give you a divorce- you better get yourself a damned good lawyer 'cause I'm going to take you for everything your worth!" she replied triumphantly.

"Helen, Jake." Sally yelled. "This is not the time to do this; you don't have to resort to such drastic measures."

"Oh this is the perfect time for this, things have been bad for a long time. I'm just sorry it took Daria's death for them to realise it," Quinn replied as she stood and walked to the door. "I'll be in the car when you're done."