His Dark Obsession

Chapter 28: Coaxing a Confession

When Ian had opened the door to his apartment, the last person he expected to see standing in front of him was Brooke. But there she was, all 5 feet 6 inches of her, adorned in figure-hugging, strapless, black leather top and bottom. Her sunflower blonde hair were ironed straight and her most prominent facial feature, a surgically enhanced lip, was covered in deep red tint. She looked like a glorified stripper, ready to take her clothes off at the least amount of provocation.
As she stood in front of Ian, lasciviously smiling, Ian realized, she expected him to invite her in.
"Brooke! What a surprise! Didn't expect to see you today!"
She smiled at him, eyeing him lustfully, "Yes, you won't leave me standing at the door now, will you?!"
Ian sure as hell wasn't going to invite her in, with Tara being in his apartment and all, but he was curious about Brooke's sudden visit. It seemed like she had only one thing on her mind.
"Brooke, we shouldn't do this!"
"What are we doing, Ian? As far as I can understand we are having a conversation -- a polite conversation between two platonic friends! And if one of those friends were to invite the other one in for a drink..." Brooke paused to rethink her choice of beverage, "coffee then the other friend would be obliged and feel that they have not overstepped by coming all the way to their friend's apartment just to see them! Oh, and also, after all this time!"
"Brooke...I have eyes. You aren't here to catch up with me."
"Well, what do you think I am here for then?" Brooke asked Ian coyly.
"I am not going to spell it out for you!" Ian replied in a no-nonsense tone.
Exasperated, Brooke began to plead to him, "Ian, I hate Erik. I don't know why I married him in the first place. Him and I, we were never meant to be. I shouldn't have left you."
"Brooke, it was a long time ago. I moved on, you moved on. Why are we rehashing this?"
"I have realized I made a huge mistake!" She hesitated and then continued, "Let me in, Ian. There's so much I need to tell you. You were the only one who truly understood me!"
Ian saw her forlorn; she seemed desperate for comfort. He felt sorry for her. Although Jake hadn't told him much about how bad things were between Brooke and Erik, Ian had surmised that the marriage was on rocks.
Ian wished he could let her in, but only to sit and talk. He knew he wasn't going to be able to console her today; Tara was in his apartment and Brooke was more interested in sex than a chat. He tried to appear cavalier to her so that she would leave, "Brooke, I am not your therapist! Have you talked about any of this with Jake? What does he say?"
"I don't want you to be my therapist, Ian. I want sex! I want to heal. No strings attached!"
"Brooke, no! I am not going to have sex with you. And it is probably best that you don't come in either. You seem upset. I will come to see you in a day or two when you are in a better position to talk and don't consider sex with me an answer to your problems!"
"Ian, you have comforted me before, why not do it for me right now? I am in a lot of pain."
"Brooke, you are Jake's baby sister! How can you expect me to betray him like this. And you are married. We are not sleeping together."
"But..."
Ian could see that she had already lost all the fight in her. He felt truly sorry for her as he prepared to send her away, "I promise, I will come see you. You know, I was at the hospital because of food poisoning."
Brooke immediately grew concerned, "Really? I didn't know. How are you feeling now?"
"Better but I really need to rest."
She looked him over with affection and conceded, "I better get going then. I would like it if you come see me, Ian."
"I'll come." He promised.
She caressed one of Ian's cheeks and planted a kiss on the other and slowly made her way down the hall, disappearing into the corner which led to the elevator.
Once Ian was assured of the fact that Brooke was nowhere in sight, he closed his apartment door anxious to get back to Tara while he still worried about Brooke's state of mind.

Ian came to Tara who was sitting on his sofa deep in thought, "So you and Brooke are close?!"
Ian detected a note of resentment in her tone which surprised him, "Yes, I am sorry about that. She wanted to come in but I had to keep her at the door. Didn't want her to see you here."
"Yeah, I heard...apparently she wanted a whole lot more..."
Ian smirked, "We had a fling a couple of years ago."
"Before she was married?"
"Yes, she actually met Erik when we were 'hanging' out."
"Oh."
"She broke off things with me then and well, four months later, they had tied the knot."
"That was quick!"
"Back then both Jake and I were against their match...for different reasons of course. I was jealous of the guy."
"Did she know about it?"
"Yes, I had let her know that I wanted a relationship with her. She wasn't interested though."
"Why?"
Ian felt amused by her question, "You ask 'why' like she did something wrong. Am I that desirable that to not be interested in me is a crime?"
Ian felt Tara blush intensely, "I mean, I want to know why she felt it was a bad idea back then when now she was practically throwing herself at you!"
"I don't know. Only Brooke can answer that question."
"Did she hurt you? When she chose Erik?" Ian was thankful she didn't add an 'over you' at the end of her question, "A little."
They both went quiet.
Ian appraised her in silence. It was so damn easy to talk to her, to let her know all that was in his heart. He wouldn't admit half of what he had casually said to her to anyone else. What was it about her? He felt like he could unload all the crazy, nasty parts of himself for her to hear and she would take it all in, soak it up, close to her heart and never use any of the information against him. His trust in her was blind.
"Tara, you didn't ask me why it happened."
She had been staring at the floor from the time he had begun his pleasurable inspection of her but his statement made her look up at him; her eyes were a beautiful question- in sea green.
"We are not talking about you and Brooke anymore?"
"No, that subject got closed two years ago."
"Ok, then...why did it happen?"
He had let her ask him the question. The question that was going to result in him betraying his best friend. His mind had stopped function when she had looked at him- innocent and beautiful. He couldn't stop himself anymore, he didn't even want to. To hell with it all, he thought. To hell with the fact the she was another man's woman. To hell with the fact that the other man was his best friend. To hell with the fact that she didn't feel the same way. To hell with it all.
He just wanted her to know. And he was pretty sure she was going to hate him afterwards.
"I like you."
He realized he had stunned her because her wide, hypnotic gaze was transfixed on him - coaxing admissions from his very soul, and he, lost as he was, was giving into it, willingly.
"I like you. A little too much, Tara!"