Page 84 of Obsession

“Yeah, but it was a little complicated since none of them could stand to be in the same room as my mom.”

As I remembered them, my father’s features became sad. He was cheerful, but sometimes I could see the exhaustion in him, the titanic work he was doing, especially mentally, to keepgoing and keep living. I didn’t want to think about how hard it was for him to be back here, with the family that had pushed him aside for so many years because he had married my mother. If I were him, I would have moved to the other side of the world before coming back here.

I was relieved when my phone buzzed on the table next to my hand. I didn’t want to dwell on these thoughts. My life was already complicated enough.

I was completely torn from my thoughts when I saw the name on the display. I took the rest of my coffee with me and left the kitchen, because this was not a conversation I could have in front of my father.

“Hey, Thor,” I answered with a smile as I climbed the stairs to my room.

Adam started laughing.

“Hey, Sif.”

I laughed too. Keith – a huge comic book lover and the biggest Stan Lee fan out there – gave us the nicknames because we looked too much like the two Asgardians. Thor and Sif were friends and comrades in arms, although the character suited me better when I was a brunette.

I went into my room and closed the door behind me. I’d last spoken to him on Tuesday when he’d scolded me to be careful with the drugs.

“Did you call to make sure I was not over the edge?”

“Can’t someone worry about you without you scolding them for it?”

I snorted and threw myself on the bed.

“Don’t worry about it, even if I wanted drugs, I couldn’t get them anywhere around here.”

“Good.” I rolled my eyes. “Actually, that’s not why I called, I… I need your help,” his voice suddenly changed, seemingly contained.

I stared at the ceiling, frowning. “Has something happened?”

“No, everything’s fine, it’s just that I’m going back to college in a month, and I am having some problems.”

I panicked.

“Your criminal record,” I guessed.

“That too,” he sighed.

I started biting my nails.

Adam had accomplished something that not many could. He’d been accepted to NYU, into one of the most prestigious photography departments in the country, where only forty students were admitted each year. Tuition wasn’t cheap, but Adam was lucky with his stepfather, who was filthy rich. That’s why we got along so well, even though Nicky was the one who introduced me to her group. We both had moms who sought their happiness in the arms of billionaires.

He deserved his spot, the guy could basically turn a leaf into a masterpiece, but his entourage and lifestyle put some obstacles in his way, just like me. With the difference that I was no longer interested in dancing.

After the Decepticon fast food fiasco, he had an ugly stain on his resume. Luckily, he’d gotten rid of the gun before the police caught him – to this day I am not sure how he did it, because no one ever found it – but he’d still been one step away from jail.

“It was a big problem, but I was able to solve it; my mother’s husband put his big name to work. It’s just that I had some projects I was supposed to do over the summer, and I didn’t get to any of them.”

My curiosity got the better of me as Adam talked as if he’d suddenly forgotten how to form words into sentences.

“Okay, Adam, I get the impression you keep beating around the bush,” a light laugh escaped me, and he sighed again.

I knew he dreamed of becoming a professional model photographer, working for Victoria’s Secret and other such perfections, but I didn’t quite understand why he was telling me about it.

Another sigh. I still found his behavior odd, like he didn’t know how to hold back. Adam wasn’t the type to stress over a conversation.

“The project is called ‘Colored Dust Artists’. I need an artist for the photo shoot.”

I blinked a few times because I still didn’t understand what it was about.

---