Perfect Obsession

They said working with family was a blessing.

They lied.

At 22, Cassy owned a company so powerful even men twice her age spoke to her with trembling voices. She didn’t smile. She didn’t explain. She ruled like silence was a language and fear was a business tool.

And now, thanks to my mother, I was her personal assistant.

“Just try, Anna,” Mom said as she tightened the buttons on my blouse that morning. “You need direction. And Cassy… she’ll help you find it.”

What she meant was: I’m scared you’ll end up like me. Depressed. Dependent. Lost.

So off I went-fresh-faced, unprepared, and already two minutes late.

I stepped into the building and immediately felt the air shift. Phones clicked. People avoided eye contact. A woman with a coffee stain on her shirt sat frozen, eyes wide, whispering, “She’s here."

Cassy.

The elevator doors opened like a scene from a horror movie, and there she was: black heels, crisp white blouse, hair tied in a bun sharp enough to cut.

She didn’t even glance at me as she walked past. “My office. Now.”

No hug. No “hi.”

Only venom disguised as professionalism.

Working for Cassy wasn’t going to be difficult.

It was going to be hell.

By noon, I’d already:

Caught three flies with my bare hands (don’t ask)

Tried to “stop the wind” by standing still in the courtyard

Googled whether coffee could be infused with lavender and guilt

I thought I was being hazed.

Turns out, this was Cassy being “gentle.”

At 3:30PM, she called me into her glass office.

“You’re going to interview fifty people,” she said without looking up from her screen.

“For what?” I asked, my voice cracked and dry from skipping lunch.

“A photographer. I need one.”

“For… a campaign?”

She finally looked at me, her face the definition of unbothered cruelty.

“For my standards, Anna. That’s what I need them for.”

“But… I knock off at five.”

“Then I suggest you learn how to move like you have a spine.”

She pushed a stack of files toward me.

No names. Just resumes. Fifty of them.

“And if you pick someone at random,” she added, “and they fail my standards, you’re fired. And you’ll pack your things and leave the house.”

I stood frozen.

“You said I’d be safe here.”

“No,” she said, calmly. “Mom said that. I said you could earn your space. Big difference.”

Rains ,ruins and family

By 17:30 , I had interviewed twenty-five people.

Some were flat-out weird. A few were cute.

But none of them were what Cassy wanted.

Then again-how was I supposed to know what she wanted?

She didn’t even know what she wanted.

She just wanted to punish me.

After the last interview, my stomach growled louder than my thoughts. I hadn’t eaten all day. My brain was foggy. My hands shook from holding in too many emotions. So I stepped out to grab something to eat.

Then I heard it.

Click. Click-click.

Camera sounds.

At first, my imagination went crazy.

Was Cassy watching me?

Had she sent someone to test me?

Would she count this as “slacking off” too?

I turned quickly, ready to fight whatever fresh hell was waiting.

And then-I saw him.

Jake.

I froze.

Then I ran straight into his arms like time had never passed.

“JAKE!” I almost shouted, wrapping my arms around him before I even realized what I was doing.

He laughed as he caught me, spinning me once. “Still loud, I see.”

He hadn’t changed much. Taller, yes. Broader shoulders, a sharper jaw, grown-man energy… but the same warm smile I remembered. Still him. Still my Jake.

Jake and I had been best friends once. The only real friend I had growing up. He knew the version of me before Cassy’s bitterness and Dad’s silence turned everything in our house cold.

He had moved away, and we lost contact. Life happened.

Phones changed. People changed.

But when I looked at him now, it didn’t feel like a stranger had come back.

It felt like home returned.

He told me he was into photography now. Said he’d been doing it for years.

And before I could even think about it, I asked,

“Wanna take a few pictures of me?”

He said yes.

We stayed outside the building, moving under the gray sky.

He shot in the drizzle, no lighting, no setup-just raw, natural moments.

And somehow… they felt real.

Every click made me feel seen, like I wasn’t just some forgotten extra in my sister’s perfect movie.

Then we walked. No plan. Just two wet kids in grown-up clothes trying to outrun the past.

But time caught up anyway.

I glanced at my phone.

7:47 PM.

Panic hit. I was in so much trouble. Cassy would lose it.

Not only had I failed to find someone by 5, I hadn’t even told her I hired Jake.

“I’m in trouble,” I whispered.

Jake looked at me with concern. “You okay?"

“No,” I admitted. “But I’ll fix it.”

We stopped at the corner. He brushed a wet strand of hair from my cheek, and we exchanged numbers and social handles.

“I’ll meet you tomorrow,” he said. “At your office space.”

“Don’t ghost me,” I teased, trying to keep it light.

He smirked. “Not on you.”

Then I turned and ran.

Jake watched me until I disappeared.

Rain dripped from his sleeves.

But his heart felt warm.

She’s still my Anna, he thought. And he smiled.

When I got home, I braced myself for war.

I expected Cassy with a loaded glare.

Expected Mom crying, asking where I’d been.

Instead…

I found them sitting together. Talking. Laughing.

Weird.

They were never like this. Cassy couldn’t stand Mom’s presence. And Mom-on a good day-could barely look Cassy in the eye.

There was even a time Cassy let Mom skip her meds for fun. Another time, she let her take a walk alone, knowing her mental state was fragile.

Who does that?

Now they were sipping tea like a healthy, functioning family?

I wasn’t buying it.

I dropped my bag, gave Mom a soft hug, and stared Cassy down.

She raised an eyebrow, unbothered as always.

I didn’t say a word.

Just walked to my room.

Meanwhile, Jake’s world was the complete opposite.

He walked into the scent of beef stew and the sound of joy.

Their apartment was small-but alive.

“Jake!” little Vee yelled, running into his arms.

“Jake, come taste this!” his sister Kristener called from the kitchen.

His brother Kelvin peeked over his game, grinning. “You’re wet, bro.”

And then there was Georgina-his mom.

Widowed. Strong. Still full of warmth.

She raised four kids on her own and loved them like nothing was missing.

Jake sat on the couch, pulled out his phone, and opened Anna’s Instagram.

He didn’t like the filters she used.

But he liked her.

He scrolled through every post-old ones too-and smiled.

“I saw Anna today,” he said casually, eyes still on his screen.

The room fell silent for half a second-then exploded.

“ANNA?!”

“No way!”

“Did she move back?”

“She’s the one you used to sneak drawings to, right?”

Georgina even peeked out of the kitchen. “Anna? That sweet girl with the dimples?”

Jake just nodded, still smiling. “Yeah. She’s back.”

And just like that, the whole house lit up with memories of her.They had loved her, even when life separated them.

Even after years, her name still felt like magic. Jake leaned back, letting the warmth settle into his chest.

He didn’t say it out loud,

But deep down he already knew-

This time, he wouldn’t lose her again.