Page 42 of Agony

“Hello?”

“I guess I should’ve told you that I’m an insomniac,” he said with a laugh.

Well that answered that question.

“What’s up?” I asked softly.

Jareth was quiet for a moment.

“Why are you whispering?” he asked in a loud whisper of his own. “Ohhh. Never mind. I know why.”

“Why?” I asked curiously.

“Pseudo boyfriend is there, isn’t he?” he asked. By the tone of his voice, I knew that damn lopsided grin was plastered across his face.

“Yeah. So what?” I replied.

“Did you do him yet? You can tell me, it’ll stay between us girls,” he said changing the pitch to his voice.

“No,I didn’t do him,” I replied laughing.

I jumped when I heard the door open behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at Arsen who was giving me a groggy smile.

Addie? he mouthed.

I lied and nodded.

Arsen stretched his arms over his head, his shirt rising slightly to reveal his lower abs, and he yawned loudly.

Jareth immediately started to laugh. I used my thumb to push a button on the phone while it was still next to my ear to get him to stop.

“Sorry, but that’s the universal sound of ‘there’s a man here in case that’s really a man on the phone.’ I’ve used that sound before.”

“I’ll see you later,” I grumbled into the phone as I hung it up, said good-bye to Arsen and went back inside.

ChapterTen

Iwoke up about six weeks later and rolled flat onto my back, my arms and legs spread out. I hadn’t heard from Addie lately and I had done my best to avoid Arsen and Jareth so far. I was honestly just trying to get my head back together. I was pretty sure from all the missed phone calls that I had probably lost my job at Golden Hills Media, but it was for the best. I was sick and tired of watching people fuck all day and night, and considering that he and Max were high school buddies, I was sure there would be sex in his film. Real or not, I was sick of it.

I spent the time trying to get ahold of Adesynne to no avail, and decided that it really was nice just to sit down near my kitchen window and look out into the city streets.

I was honestly tired of Arsen’s jealousy and Jareth’s constant come-ons, so I hid myself as best as I could and hoped for the best. So far, it seemed to be working.

I was happy that I had decided to take some me time finally and skipped out on the new job with Jareth. I wasn’t sure what the production was, but after spending so much time at Devil’s Den, I didn’t really feel like being the director’s bitch anymore. I hoped he would understand and not hold it against me, but if he had to let me go, then I would understand.

I got up and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, before heading into the kitchen, grabbing an energy drink out of the fridge, and sitting down on the window sill, my feet propped up onto the chair in front of me.

Addie’s silence was making me wonder about her. I hadn’t heard from her for the past few weeks and I just assumed that she was busy with work or with a new guy. Addie usually holed herself up too and hid from the world for a while when she wanted to.

I cracked open the can and took a healthy swig before glancing down to the street below. That’s when I saw a familiar car and sighed heavily.

“We’re closed!” I shouted down when Jareth stepped out of his car. He looked up, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, and grinned.

“Open the door, I’m coming up!” he called back as he disappeared into the building. I rolled my eyes and left my chair near the window to unlock the front door, before I went back to my spot and sat down again.

A few moments later, there was a soft knock on the door, before Jareth pushed it open and walked in. I didn’t turn to look at him. I was too busy watching the world go by outside again.

“You know I had to fire you, don’t you?” he asked as he came over. He gently swatted my legs off the sill and sat down across from me in the window.

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