Saving You, Saving Me by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online

here. If you want to dress up you can or if you want to come in wearing shorts and a t-shirt, that’s fine, too. We’re not open to the public, and we don’t answer to a corporation so there are no dress codes.” 
                For the next few minutes, she led me from her office to the lunch/break room, and to the call center where there were volunteers in cubicles wearing headsets. “I take it, this is where all the action takes place,” I said drily.
                “Yes,” Gail said, nodding at one of the volunteers who made eye contact with her. “Everyone you see here had been in your shoes. Now look at them, handling each call like a pro.”
                “I’d like to get to that point,” I said, feeling Gail’s enthusiasm rub off on me.
                “Hey Gail,” a friendly male voice said from behind me.
                I turned around to see a tall lanky young man with curly brown hair approach us. He was wearing jeans and a plaid blue and white shirt and looked to be around 19 or 20.
                “Hi Derek,” Gail said. “Come meet Samantha.”
                Derek reached us and he was tall, as tall as Collins McGregor, Serious Susan whispered into my head. Scruffy in a cute way, he looked like a college student. “Hey, Samantha,” he said, extending a hand. “Nice to have you here.” He looked over at Gail. “Is she replacing Joanne?”
                Gail nodded and turned to me. “Joanne was the peer counselor who worked nights. She had to go back to school out on the East Coast. She’s a psychology major at New York University.”
                “Gonna miss her,” Derek said wistfully, but then he smiled at me. “But I’m glad you’re here!” His boyish smile was contagious. I smiled back.
                “Are you a peer counselor, too?” I asked.
                Gail patted Derek on the shoulders and laughed. “Derek started as one two years ago, but he’s climbed his way to training peer counselors now. He’s one of the youngest ones we’ve had, but he’s good.”
                “So are you in high school still?” I asked.
                “Nah, graduated two years ago,” Derek said. “I’m a sophomore at UC Irvine where I’m majoring in Psychology.”
                “This fits right in then,” I said.
                “Yeah, it’s a good place for me to apply what I’m learning in college to real experience.”
                Gail touched my shoulder. “I have to get back to the Office and fill out some paperwork, but I’ll leave you in Derek’s capable hands. If you haven’t figured it out yet, he’ll be the one showing you the ropes around here. Just remember to drop by my office when you get ready to leave tonight.”
                “Thanks,” I said, already feeling at ease at Sawyer House.
                “Gail’s really down-to-earth,” Derek said when Gail was out of earshot. “You wouldn’t believe she used to be a high-powered psych to the stars. Charged more than a top firm lawyer per hour for a consultation.”
                “Why is she here? Why did she give that up?” I asked, trying to picture Gail in a swanky office in Beverly Hills, sitting behind a desk while some famous celebrity actress sat on a leather chaise telling her all her problems.
                “She wanted to help teens and young adults deal with problems they can’t tell their parents or anyone else,” Derek said.
                “Did she start Sawyer House?” I asked.
                “She’s one of the founders. It’s a personal passion of hers.”
                “Personal? Why?” I couldn’t help asking.
                “The Center is named after her son Sawyer,” Derek said. “Who killed himself.”