Page 211 of Obsession

“He’s… something else.”

“No shit. I really hadn’t noticed.” I smiled. “Why didn’t you tell us about him?”

“You talk like you have not answered your phone in the last few days,” I scolded, punching his shoulder.

The guilt on his face surprised me, and I took a moment to look at him properly. He was… exhausted, that’s the only word I could think of as I noticed the bags under his eyes, his pale skin and obvious weight loss.

“Adam, are you okay?” I touched his cheek, and he leaned against my touch, closing his eyes.

I blinked in shock as tears formed in his eyes.

“No, Kath, I’m not fine at all. And it wouldn’t… be … God, what am I doing?”

His head fell back as a deep breath escaped him. He was starting to scare me.

“What does that guy do?”

“I don’t know the details yet.”

He didn’t seem to believe me.

“Does he have enemies? Have you been threatened before?”

I ran my fingers through my hair and went into the kitchen.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Adam, please.”

He followed me without saying anything else.

“Can we do the photo shoot tomorrow, please? I’m not up to it at the moment.”

He bit his lip, then closed his eyes again.

“I’m leaving tonight, I have already bought a plane ticket.”

I didn’t understand why his own words seemed to hurt him.

“So soon?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to bother you too much…”

I took a sip of my Coke, then caved.

“Okay, let’s go. Maybe this way I can take my mind off … everything that’s happened.”

He seemed surprised, shocked even, at my reaction. I looked for my phone, which was still in my backpack, in Harris’ car. Thank God it was still outside my house.

I got it out and took my charger with me. I didn’t want to waste any more time. I just wanted everything done as soon as possible so he could get out of my life drama, because he didn’t seem to be able to carry other people’s problems too.

Even though I had promised Harris I’d stay home, he would be happy to know Adam would soon leave.

We walked out of the house together and I wanted to ask him again what was wrong, but I couldn’t find the strength. Adam was someone who was important to me, I owed him a lot, and not just because of his friendship. He had saved me from death twice, literally, because I had overdosed. Harris’ jealousy was justified, I understood it, because he didn’t know Adam.

I got into his car and we drove off immediately without him saying another word. I didn’t understand whether he was behaving like that because of what he had witnessed in my living room or because he was thinking about his own problems.

“Should I have taken any makeup with me?” I suddenly remembered, because I had left without thinking, with only a charger in my pocket.

He shook his head.

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