His Dark Obsession

Chapter 26: Guilty as Sin

Ian punched in the security code to enter his penthouse in a building on the East 57th street, famously referred to as the Billionaire's Row. Lights from adjoining buildings made their way inside his large living area and hues of grey were all he saw before regimen made him switch on a dusky, yellow light which lit up a corner of the massive lounge.
He had been drinking, heavily. When Mabel had come to his office today and had asked him about Tara, he had not known what to say to her. On his way back from work, he had gone to a bar and stayed there till he could numb and obliterate himself with drink.
Ian sat himself down in one of the wing chairs lit up in the corner of the room. His head was throbbing and he hadn't had anything to eat. His mind was blank except for the thoughts of her; painful, agonizing, delicious -- erotic. And when he finally slept in that lonely corner of his lonely apartment, he voluntarily shut himself off to her.
Ian woke up at 5 in the morning. His neck had become stiff as his head lay at an angle against the back of the chair. He slowly raised his head and found remenants of previous day's headache still present in him. He rubbed his hand on the side of his forhead in order to soothe his nerves. His stomach lurched painfully due to effects of all the alcohol consumption, and he felt terribly nauseous. He stood up imbalanced; rubbing his forehead entirely with his single hand and headed to the bathroom. He put his head in the toilet and vomitted his guts out. He still had an insane ache in his belly, it felt like he had been set fire to. His physical discomfort was the least of his concerns, emotionally he was completely upheavalled. He puked some more and then brought himself up for air. As some of the nausea passed, he went up to the sink washed his face and rinsed his mouth. He took himself out of the three piece suit he had worn to his office yesterday and only left his trunks on. He then went to his bedroom and dropped to his bed like a ton of bricks and closed his eyes immediately.
Ian heard the doorbell through his drowsy, hellish state and thought not to answer it because he felt too sick to move. The doorbell, however, kept ringing after momentary pauses. Ian knew that whoever was at the door was planning on staying there until he went to them. Ian got up from his bed and realized that his head and stomach still ached like crazy and he still felt awfully nauseous, he hadn't been this sick in a very long time. He managed to reach the door and opened it.
Tara stood in front of him dwarfed by the size of him even though she was in heels.
She looked at him and registered confusion and then she looked at him from the top of his head right down to his feet. At any other time, this would have aroused him - right now, he felt like he was going to fall down; and how was that going to look to Tara, to see a man, the size of him, not being able to stand on his two feet.
"Ian, are you ok? You don't look so good."
Tara asked her expressions switching from confusion to genuine worry.
"No, I am fine. What are you doing here?"
"I came here to discuss something with you. Are you sure you are fine, Ian? Because you look terrible!"
Ian staggered a little to the side, "Sure! Would you like to come in?"
Tara hesitantly made her way into his apartment and he felt a resurgence of nausea at the same time. As Tara was settling herself down on one of his sofas Ian blurted out an 'excuse me' in grave rush and made his way to the bathroom. He vomitted again and again. His belly tightened into painful knots as he hurled into the toilet. When he finally found his stomach settle, he lifted his head up for some air and saw Tara standing at the door of the bathroom, "You aren't well."
"No." Ian said through the pain.
"I will drive you to the hospital. It seems you have food poisoning."
"More like alcohol poisoning!"
"You've been drinking?"
"Guilty."
Tara immediately came to his side, "Ok. Com'on big guy put your weight on me, that's it, here you are."
Ian slung his arm over Tara and began walking with her. He carried his weight himself but her supporting him strengthened him a little. He sluggishly walked to her Prius and got in the passenger seat. Tara drove swiftly to the nearest hospital and got him into Emergency in record time.
The doctor looked Ian over and gave him an injection and advised that he be given a glucose drip so that he could regain strength. Ian accepted the injection but refused the drip saying that he felt fine and relieved after just the injection.
"Now, now Ian. Getting a drip doesn't make you any less masculine! I assume you have been hurling your guts out all night! This will speed up your recovery."
"Tara, believe me, I feel fine."
Tara gently pushed Ian down on the hospital bed as he made an attempt to sit in an upright position and signalled the doctor to give Ian the drip.
Ian didn't know how to say no to her so he lay there quietly and awakwardly as the doctor put a branula in his vein.
Tara sat on a chair next to the bed and began looking at her phone.
"You can leave now, Tara, and thanks a lot! I will take a cab home once I am done."
"Absolutely not. I will drop you home myself once the drip's done."
"Tara, I am obliged to you for all you did for me today but I will be fine, I am feeling a lot better now."
"Ian, I won't hear another word, I am staying!"
Ian saw the expression on her face and realized that arguing with her would be futile so he decided to silently rest. The medicine the doctor had injected in him calmed him to a sleep like state and he decided to close his eyes for a little while. He felt serenely calm with all the drugs in his system.
"Why did you drink like that?" Tara asked all of a sudden.
"It just happened."
"You hadn't had anything to eat before?"
"Not really."
"Did you have a death wish?"
"It would seem like it..." Ian laughed a little.
"I am glad you are all better now, Ian. You looked awful when you opened the door." Tara closed her hand over Ian's. Ian saw her expression change a little as their hands touched, she quickly retrieved her hand and stood up.
"Ian, I am going to get a coffee. Do you need anything?"
"No, I don't think so." Ian knew what had startled her when their hands touched. It was the same electricity that had pumped through his veins yesterday when he had chosen to kiss her and then touch her. Did she feel it like he did? Or was it revulsion on her part? He knew he had to let her know.
Ian left the hospital an hour later in Tara's car. He felt considerably better than before, he also felt warm affection for Tara that stemmed from gratitude. He didn't know what had compelled her to take care of him today. He was pretty sure she knew it was him who had kissed her.
Why, after knowing all that, had she chosen to do this today? He had crossed a boundary, he knew that perfectly well and no amount of explanation could make it alright and yet, she was here, driving him home. When they reached outside his apartment building, Ian turned to her, "Come inside for a bit, Tara?"
"No, you must be tired, you should go in and rest."
"But you came to talk."
"Yes. We can do that some other time, Ian."
"I'd rather prefer it if we do this today."
Tara tensed a little as she looked at Ian, "Why?"
"I think...you know why." Ian replied with solemn finality.