Chapter 7

Pris led the way up some stairs and down another long hall towards her office.

"How many people work here?" Leonard asked her.

"Right now, we're seven."

"This place is huge!" Leonard looked up and saw a bridge-like hallway above them and when he looked down, saw that they were also walking on a bridge. There were railings between the carpet and the gap in the wall. He could see through to the bottom floor. They reached her office and were intercepted by Arena.

"Embry called." She held up a cell phone.

"Oh crap. I'll call him back." Pris opened the door and motioned for her guests to walk in. "Food?"

"On it's way." Pris smiled and stepped into the office. She had a casual couch area with a coffee machine and a wide selection of coffee flavor pods stuck against the wall in a beautiful wave of color.

"This is your office?" Leonard asked with a wide grin. It looked more like Picasso's living room with all the colors splashed around.

"Office is through there." Pris pointed to a wardrobe in the back corner of the room. Leonard walked to the wardrobe and opened the door, finding an open archway to a more clinical office area.

"This is so cool." Leonard returned to the couches.

Penny checked out the coffee collection while Beverley searched for the best seat. Leonard stood curious of what to expect next.

"Anyone want some coffee?" Penny asked over her shoulder. "I'm sorry Pris, but I just have to, this is too cool."

"Go ahead please. Food will be here soon."

Beverley sat down and shifted her seat a few times, trying to get comfortable. Pris sat down across from Beverley and Leonard finally settled on the seat next to his mother. Penny went ahead and made coffee to her hearts content.

"So. Persephone." Beverley started, pushing her glassed up her nose. She said Persephone like it was a dirty word.

Pris waited for a question or a comment while she spent the silence studying Beverley.

"Is your mother a self centered person?" she finally asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Pris asked, curious rather than offended.

"Because she named you after herself." Beverley said. "She too is Persephone Prior, isn't she?"

Pris smiled. "Actually she's Persephone Ryan. But yes. She was hopped up on drugs when she had me, and so happy to have survived labor. Besides, there's nothing wrong with naming your children after yourself. That is how the surname business got started. It's very self-affirming to give your child your name. Self-worth is a good thing to pass on to your kids."

Leonard raised his eyebrows. Pris score one, Beverley zero, he thought to himself.

Penny handed everyone a drink and sat down at the only empty chair, enjoying her coffee.

"Persephone, would you describe your mother as selfish?" Beverley asked next.

"Well, Yes. She has more shoes than the national library has books."

Score: Pris one, Beverley one.

"Is your mother a home wrecker?" Beverley asked blatantly.

"Mother!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Stay out of this Leonard," Pris said without taking her eyes off Beverley. She thought for a few seconds and bit her lip.

"No she isn't." Pris thought through her answer before she continued. "I don't know what happened between you and my dad, but my mom had nothing to do with your divorce. It wasn't like a life long affair or anything. They never even slept together. Not once. I was cooked in a lab, they never even touched. Whenever my dad came to visit once a year, he spent six out of the seven days, putting me through tests and asking me questions as if he didn't know me. Because technically he didn't. I got one day a year of a dad who took me to get ice cream, or who bought me the ridiculously large dictionary I wanted. When you got divorced, he didn't come running to my mother. He never loved her. And it didn't stunt me emotionally. I'm fine with the way things turned out. I hate old movies, I got good grades and I have amazing friends and I'm happily married."

Leonard stared at her, first of all, he didn't know she was married, and secondly, her whole speech left them all dumbstruck.

Score: Pris two, Beverley one.

"If you have problems, don't blame others. The shared co-efficient is usually yourself." Pris added.

"How do you know all this… stuff?" Beverley asked, completely thrown.

"I have a doctorate in Behavioral Psychology with an emphasis on Micro expressions, I can read you like a book. When we met, I could tell that you're not a hand shaker by the simple fact that you kept your right hand closed at your side and the fact that your right foot was slightly further back than your left, making you turn oblique and arch away from me."

Score: Pris three, Beverley one.

"Pris, please explain what you do for a living?" Penny asked and broke the tension. "I mean, you were hanging like Vampira from the ceiling and you have this whole abandoned theatre to yourself."

"Installation art." Pris smiled. "It is works of art that spans the entire size of a room. I was painting the hooks we had installed today. I'm a stickler for detail. The hooks were silver and reflective and would change the light in the room. I just added a matte coat of the ceiling paint. Tomorrow someone is coming in to install the hammocks. Every room will become some art display."

"Do you make money doing this?" Penny wondered.

"No not really."

"One more question, Pris." Beverley had trouble saying Pris so causally but she tried it anyway. "Is your mother proud of you?"

Pris smiled. "Yes, yes she is."