His Dark Obsession

Chapter 19: An Unfathomable Mystery

Tara relinquished her position in the crowd to move towards Jake's side as Ian raised his glass in the air.
"To Us!", said Ian and the crowd roared along with him.
The glistening glasses, all raised in the air, glimmered against the hall's stark white background. The gold elixir they carried came dangerously close to spilling over as the exhuberant employee spirits threatened the delicate balance of the champagne glasses. Tara witnessed admiration and respect for Ian in the entire room. She was impressed by his speech and his genuine regard for his employees. In that moment, as Tara saw Ian and Jake hug each other, she realized that their bond seemed more like that of brothers than friends. They both stood next to each other wearing a smile that spoke of their victory and the hardships they had faced along the way. She couldn't help but admire the both of them. She remembered how she had overheard Jake's mother say something about Ian's humble background; he was a self-made man and therefore worthy of all the accolade.
As Tara reached close to Jake, she saw Ian stare at her for a brief moment, the look he had in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly moved to Jake's side acknowledging to herself that Ian's stare would do that to any living, breathing woman. No harm done.
When Tara had intertwined her arm with her boyfriend's, she decided that it seemed appropriate to congratulate Ian, "Congratulations on all your success, Ian. I must say, I have seldom seen employees respect their boss like yours respect you...!"
Tara saw Ian take a sip from his glass of champagne, all the while his eyes appraising her. It made her a little nervous seeing him looking at her like that. "Thank you, Tara. That's kind of you to say. I care for them too."
Tara felt like she ought to add something to what she had already said in order to include Jake in the praise as well, "I think it is a testament to the fact that both of you are great heads of the company!"
Jake gave Tara a side-hug at her statement
And Ian, Tara noticed, said nothing. His intense stare still lingered. The stare was discreet, Tara realized, therefore her boyfriend hadn't noticed a thing. She, however, started feeling a bit uncomfortable and also a little, hot. She wanted to think of something distracting to talk about but nothing came to mind. She was saved by Ian directing his attention towards Jake. "Jake, when you have time I would really like to talk to you about something."
"Talk to me, man. I am all ears." Jake replied to his friend with a smile.
"Nope, not right now. We will talk about it privately." Ian answered definitively.
Tara felt a bit uncomfortable again, she felt like she was intruding in on a private conversation between friends, but before she could excuse herself, Jake replied to Ian jovially, "You know, you can say anything to me in front of Tara!"
Ian looked a little surprised at Jake's reply and then said laughingly, "Tara, I have never known him to be that candid around girls before! Have I been gone too long?"
"A lot has happened in these three weeks, Ian!" Jake gave Ian a confiding smile.
Jake's tone of voice seemed to surprise Ian a little, Tara realized, and when he questioned Jake he seemed a bit agitated, "Really? Anything significant that I ought to know?"
"Does us moving in seem monumental to you?" Jake said smiling from ear to ear.
Tara smiled when she saw Jake looking really happy, and then she looked at Ian, who had a shocked, almost despondent expression on his face which quickly switched to a reserved smile, "It seems...I need to be congratulating the two of you!"
Tara smiled, unsure of what she had witnessed in Ian's expressions, "I am very lucky to have Jake in my life!"
"I am very lucky to have her in my bed..." Tara feigned a look of horror at Jake's remark so he added to it further, "and also in my life!"
Ian smiled in answer. Tara noticed his expression felt more glacial than happy, she realized Ian Blaine was not an easy man to please and his friend's happiness didn't seem to thrill him all that much.