I woke up in a cold sweat for the third time that evening.

I looked at the clock by the side of my bed. 02.57 am. Last time I woke up it had been nearly one, and I remembered hearing a time check for quarter to two on the radio, so I must of drifted off some time after that. I can't have been asleep much more than an hour.

I couldn't get rid of the image in my head. He was just lying there in the middle of the desert, dying.

I cursed myself for searching his name on Google, and then I cursed him for making me curious. Why did he have to look at me like that?

He could have died. And those guys, they'd still be after him. Hunting him down. They could strike at any time.Maybe in a month, maybe tomorrow, even right now. I was genuinely worried, more than worried. Terrified!

'Maria, don't be stupid. He's a multi millionaire. He'll have body guards, security systems that even a fly couldn't get through,' said the voice in my head. I knew it was right but I was still terrified though.

'I can't stay up all night worrying about this,' I thought to myself. Absentmindedly I picked up my cell phone. Who could I call at this time?

I scrolled through my contacts. Lilly. Lilly and Poppy. They'd be awake now. They always seemed to be awake. I pressed the call button on my phone. It rang twice before Lilly picked up.

'Hey girl!What are you doing up at this time?' said Lilly.

'So you're allowed to be up and I'm not?' I joked.

'I haven't got work tomorrow,' she explained.

'I can't sleep,' I said, answering her question. 'And I just...I guess I just wanted someone to talk to, but if you're busy...'

She laughed 'Poppy's doing most of the work.'

'I need a hand with this!' I heard Poppy shout.

'One second, let me just put this on speaker phone' Lilly called back. 'OK done.'

'Who is it?' asked Poppy.

'Ria'

'Hi Ria!'

'Hi Poppy,' I replied, 'What are you guys doing?'

'We're decorating,'

'No. I'm decorating, you're just watching me' said Poppy.

'I'm supervising'

'Oh right,' said Poppy sarcastically 'Do you mind if I supervise for a while?'

'On come on. I got my nails done this morning. You know I'd never make you do this if you'd just spent 200 dollars on a manicure'

I shook my head. 200? On a manicure?

'You're decorating?' I asked.

'Uh huh'

'I mean, you're decorating?'

'Yeah, y'know, like DIY, ' said Poppy. Lilly and Poppy and DIY ? An unlikely mix, I'd always thought...

'And you're doing this at 3 in the morning because...?'

'What's wrong with decorating at 3 in the morning?' asked Lilly.

'Nothing,I guess,' I replied, laughing.

'Lilly, what do I do with this?'

'I dunno. What is it? Like paint or something?'

'Um, I dunno. It says base coat'

I laughed to myself, listening to their conversation.

'It's probably not important. I mean, I've never heard of it.'

I laughed again.

'What?' asked Lilly.

'Nothing,' I replied, 'But maybe next time you feel like doing any DIY you should get someone to help you.'

'It's not hard Maria, trust me.'

I thought about pointing out that I'd decorated my whole apartment by myself, but instead I simply replied 'OK'.

'Anyway what's up?' Lilly asked.

'Huh?'

'You said you couldn't sleep.' The image of Tony flashed into my mind and my heart started beating faster again.

'Oh. That.'

'This guy told me once, that if you're stressed it can like stop you from sleeping. Like the tension or something,' said Poppy.

'Did that doctor guy tell you that?' asked Lilly.

'Yeah. He was like totally hot wasn't he?'

'Oh my God. Totally. Shame he was married.'

'He was married? Ah, that explains.'

Their conversation faded into the background as I tried to shake the image of Tony out of my minds eye.

'Maria? Maria, you still there?'

'Huh? Yeah!' I knew I sounded kind of panicky. I don't know why I was worried. Tony was fine. I'd seen him earlier at the party, but that had been hours ago.

'Are you OK?' asked the twins simultaneously.

'It's just this image, this dream...' Dream? It was a nightmare.

'Yeah, carry on,' said Lilly.

'I keep seeing Tony...'

Poppy cut me off. 'Tony Stark?' she asked

'Yeah.'

'How many dreams have you had about Tony?' Poppy asked Lilly.

'Like a million,' replied Lilly 'But I'll tell you something, none of them compare to the real thing,'

I shook my head. I'd forgotten for a moment that they'd slept with him. 'OK ,I don't want to know' I said. But they carried on anyway.

'He is like, so good in bed,' said Poppy.

'So good,there were a few seconds when I actually thought I had died and gone to heaven.'

'Yeah,tell me about it.'

'Please! Don't!' I said. Why did I think it was a good idea to call Lilly and Poppy?

'I don't dream about Tony Stark OK?' I said, which wasn't entirely true. 'I have nightmares about him. I close my eyes and I see him dying, alone in a desert.And it bloody terrifies me...' I trailed off. I was shaking. What if I was having this nightmare for a reason ? What if he wasn't OK?

Neither of the twins said anything for a little while.

'I'm worried about him,' I said quietly, more to myself than anyone else.

'I don't get it. What are you worried about?' asked Lilly.

'I...I don't know,' I'm just being an idiot I added silently.'I know, it's stupid, but it's stopping me from sleeping.'

'Well if you're worried about him, and that's whats keeping you awake, you could just call him,' suggested Poppy. 'I think Lilly has his number.'

'That's a point,' I said. 'Tony somehow managed to get my number.'

'Well I didn't give to him,' said Lilly. 'Did you?' she asked her twin.

'No,' replied Poppy. They weren't lying. I could tell by the way they said it.

'Well, never mind. I know you probably think I'm totally crazy now but thanks for listening.'

'It's cool Ria,' said Lilly.

'Try and get some sleep, yeah?' said Poppy.

'OK' I said, knowing full well that I wouldn't. 'Bye'

'Bye,' they said in unison.It got on some peoples nerves, but I was used to it. I put the phone down and looked at the time. 03.07. Poppy was right, I really should try to get some sleep. I heated up a mug of milk. It's supposed to help you sleep. I hated milk. It reminded me of my mother. She used to force me and my sisters to drink it, when she wanted us to go to sleep. It was only later on that I found out that she put a significant amount of whiskey in the milk. And people wondered why I loved alcohol so much... I drank my milk without whiskey, as slowly as I could, meaning I had to heat it up twice (It's worse luke warm, trust me). I washed up the mug, even though I own a fully functional dishwasher, and finally made my way back to my bedroom.

I lay down and looked at the clock.

03.27

I rolled over and then rolled back again so I could see the clock.

03.30.

03.33.

03.35.

I didn't want to close my eyes.

03.36.

03.37.

03.38

I sat up. 'I can't do this,' I thought aloud.

I fumbled around for my phone in the darkness and for the first time in my life I took Poppy's advice. I looked through my call register until I found '3 missed calls, caller unknown' and pressed the call button.