Page 28 of Total Obsession

Sleep well, pretty girl.

I double-tapped the comment to like it and then clicked my phone off.

I wasn't sure if I was really going to be able to sleep. It already felt like I was in some sort of dream world.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to my phone buzzing on my nightstand.

"Hullo," I said groggily after fumbling to try and pick it up.

"Zoey, it's Sarah, your agent."

"I know who you are," I said with a yawn. "What's up."

"I just wanted to check that you're all set to head to New York and to your new apartment ahead of filming."

"I haven't found an apartment, yet," I said, trying to sound more awake than I actually was.

"Why would you need to find an apartment?" Sarah asked.

"To live in?"

"The studio is going to provide one to you."

My conversation with Axe came to the front of my mind at that point. I was supposed to ask her about this very point. It all seemed a little too good to be true, and the timing was quite the coincidence.

"Has this always been the case?" I asked warily.

"Yes," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Why wouldn't they provide you accommodations? I just assumed you knew."

"Why would I know that?"

I could hear Sarah sigh through the phone. "I guess you are sort of new to all of this. Well, no harm done. You're moving your belongings there in two weeks' time, yes? I'll text you all of the information again."

"Okay, thanks," I said. I didn't have the energy to engage in a long conversation. We both hung up the phone, and I put it back on the nightstand. I laid on my back looking up at the ceiling.

I was pretty sure Sarah never texted me the first time about an apartment or an address. I felt like I would have remembered something like that. Could it really just have been a coincidence that Axe and I were talking about this just last night and now all of a sudden Sarah is calling to tell me that I'm all set?

My mind started to reel with everything that had just happened. Was I being paranoid for thinking that Axe had something to do with the studio? I didn't know what he did for a living, but I wanted to believe that he would tell me if he was involved in my television show somehow.

I tried to shake the worry from my head.

"Everything is fine," I told myself. Axe is just an old friend that was asking the right questions. Sarah's phone call was just a random coincidence. Besides, it would make sense for her to check in with me about everything right after I got back from my trip to New York.

I needed to stop worrying and overthinking so much.

I had a lot to do to prepare for my new life, and I wasn't going to let myself mess it up.

* * *

Two weeks went by in a complete blur. I stared out the plane's window as we landed in New York. It had been a long trip to get here from Milan, and I was thoroughly exhausted.

Conversations between Axe and me over the last two weeks had been pretty constant. I'd almost started checking my phone on a regular basis if I went more than a few minutes without hearing from him. It was weird that he had become an integral part of my life again. It almost made me wonder how I had managed without him for all these years.

Over the same time, Cassie had become increasingly difficult to be around. Our friendship really came to a close on one of the days that I was packing.

Cassie stood at the threshold to my bedroom and watched me stuff my clothing into a suitcase.

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