Excerpt from Taschen
Disbelief shrouded Sephie’s mind. Her pulse rapped against the sides of her veins as she pillaged the article with her gaze over and over.
Pippa was dead.
Tears wept from the corners of her eyes as she sat curled on her couch. The Oregon sun sank low on the horizon through her open patio doors. The warm, evening breeze stirred the drapes, making them dance.
Suicide .
The simple word painted a gruesome image. Sephie choked out a sob and dropped her phone to the couch cushion, covering her mouth.
Pippa, no.
It’d been weeks since she’d spoken with her best friend and old co-star. Sephie had been eighteen when she’d left the show and walked away from the entertainment industry. Pippa, however, had went on to star in lead roles left and right. They’d stayed close over the years, but the last time she’d seen Pippa her good friend seemed to turn deeper within herself. No longer the happy-go-lucky kid she’d been ten years ago when Sephie had left the hit teen sitcom.
Pippa’s bright brown eyes and freckled face flashed in her brain, causing another gut-wrenching twist. Sephie got to her feet and paced her living room. Kevin lifted his head from the floor by the balcony, his cutely cropped French bulldog ears quirking with interest as if he anticipated another evening walk.
A slideshow of memories played through her mind at lightning speed. Growing up on the set of TV shows and movies, she was no stranger to the dark side of show business. Her skin crawled, sending goosebumps up and down her arms as the reason—among many—she’d left that world came crashing back.
She’d tried to forget. She’d gone to therapy. Pushed it all away. Refused to focus her attention on an industry that’d never change but would always haunt her.
Now, a beautiful young woman was dead. What had gone on in Pippa’s life that’d caused her to inflict such harm to herself?
Sephie pressed her knuckles to her lips and sat on the couch again. She closed her eyes against the tremors of guilt that took over her.
You know exactly what went wrong . . .
She and Pippa had been in many uncomfortable situations. Ones a child should never experience. They’d only spoken about their encounters a handful of times over the years, both of them too terrified to give life to the horrific implications.
She should have done something sooner. Never should have tried to sweep things under the rug. She’d escaped, but Pippa hadn’t. The tears burning her eyes turned to fire in her core. She hadn’t spoken up then. But she could speak up now.
Grabbing her cellphone from the couch, she went to the second bedroom of her house that served as an office space. She needed to do this now and quickly before people created lies and assumptions about Pippa.
Rolling out her desk chair, she sat and switched on her computer. As soon as the desktop screen powered to life, notifications came through. Her relationship with Pippa was well known and everyone expected a reaction from her.
Well, they’d sure as hell get one.
She opened her public social media account and sucked in a deep breath. 1.2 million followers were about to get a story of their life. Wiping her tears from her cheeks, she didn’t bother to check her makeup. Didn’t give a damn about her appearance. But she had to regain composure if she wanted to get through this without falling apart.
Dragging in one more long, slow breath of oxygenated courage, she hit the LIVE button. A red circle popped up, confirming the broadcast.
“Hello, everyone. I’m coming to you this evening with my deepest regret after hearing the news regarding Pippa Ventura’s—” her voice broke. She swallowed the lump pressing on her vocal cords. “—passing.”
She paused, sniffing. And her gaze fell to the number of views… over three hundred thousand and the shares climbing by the second.
“I don’t know what’s true or not. All I know is Pippa was a beautiful person. Her spirit could light the darkest room. Our time together on Sera and Me was some of the best days of my childhood.” She lowered her gaze as her eyes filled with tears again. “But that’s not all I want to share with you tonight. As many of you know, I left the show when I turned 18. I’ve never spoken about this publicly, but here I am.”
She turned down the volume of her computer as the dinging of notifications interfered with her concentration. The part of her she’d kept silenced for so long wanted to break free and scream. But the rational part of her mind, the part that held the lock and key, wanted to shut herself up.
A picture sat on her desk of her and Pippa, laughing and smiling when they’d wrapped up season five of the show. She had to do this for Pippa. She had to squash any rumors, had to shine the light on the evil that had permeated her and Pippa’s childhood. Because at the very least, what she suspected had contributed to Pippa’s downward spiral.