His Dark Obsession

Chapter 36: The Young and the Restless

Ian Blaine entered his office building thinking of his friend. They had known each other for such a long time, Jake had stood by him through his worst moments, Jake had helped Ian face his darkest fears. They weren't just friends. They were brothers. Their's was a bond, unshakeable - till Tara.
Ian hadn't always been as level-headed as he appeared now. In college, he had experimented with drugs and often hung out with the wrong kind of crowd. His parents and sister were unaware of this side of him because they were in London and he was attending college across the ocean. To them, he was an exemplary young man, with an upright character and good grades. But the darkness in Ian would always beckon him to let it be free -- free of the voluntary shackles that held it imprisoned in a remote, inky-black corner of his mind.
Ian had always possessed a brilliant mind. It was always easy for him to be on top at school and then also at NYU. He was also athletic, hence he was good at most sports. The dilemma of a human being who is able to excel at most things is that, sometimes, such a person gets disenchanted with ease. They are blessed with a mind so sharp and a body so fit that they don't struggle for much and become easily dissatisfied. The disenchantment becomes a force, wreaking havoc inside, always pushing one to put one's self in peril just to see how they fare in a dangerous situation.
Ian's peril was drugs and the dangerous crowd. At nights, when he felt lonely and unsure of what to challenge himself with, he found refuge in sniffing some cocaine and letting the world slip away. And when he felt adventurous and seeked thrill, he went looking for biker gangs and hanging out with friends who had familial or friendly connections with them. It was unsurprising for him that he still maintained a 4.0 GPA, was on the Dean's List and managed to uphold his sparkling reputation (a farce that it was). Through all this, there was only one person who knew the real Ian Blaine and that person was Jake Cada. He would often lecture Ian about not going down the dark path. Although Jake occasionally did drugs, his vice was and had always been women. Ian's habits were far worse.
One summer night, as Ian hung out with his biker friends at a bar in New Jersey, a rival gang entered their territory. Ian took one look at their faces and knew they had come for blood...and he also knew why.
"Danny, come out, Danny!" One of the leaders yelled as he entered through the croaking wooden doors.
An elderly biker with a black bandana and a long white beard replied quietly but firmly, "He isn't here!"
"You shut your mouth, old man! I know he is!"
Ian still remembered the rage in Axe's eyes. Danny, a young boy from their gang, had started secretly romancing Axe's daughter. It seemed he had finally found out.
"Axe, watch your mouth! We won't have you insultin' Joe! I don't need to remind...you are on our territory!" One of the seniors warned Axe in a menacing tone.
"Fuck territory! If I don't get Danny boy, nobody's leavin' here alive!"
What happened next could only be described as a blood bath. As both sides drew out weapons, Ian ran for cover behind the bar. It wasn't that he was scared for his life but he knew that if he got out of this alive there would be too many questions to answer and he didn't want that. So he hid, shielding himself against shards of flying glass and vile smoke.
It felt like the hell dragged on for hours before the police arrived at the scene. Two people died in the crossfire and several got injured. Ian got arrested.
There's is an age old, almost mundane, but never false, saying, that goes something like this -- "a friend in need, is a friend indeed." And for Ian, Jake was that friend, at that time. The Cada's influence kept Ian out of jail and out of the police report. But after the incident and Jake's stern lecture, Ian finally decided to give up the chequered path to a little town Jake referred to as Darkville.
Jake was that friend. And what was Ian? An asshole.
And now, after being brothers, business partners -- friends -- was coming a turning point in their relationship and it was all because of Ian and his selfishness.
Ian recalled what he and Tara had discussed but an hour ago - she had told him that she was going to talk to Jake first. "Damn! I wish I could get this over with! Hell, I wanna go talk to Jake right now!" Ian muttered to himself under breath as he entered the offices at Blaine Advertising.
Since Ian had decided to tell his friend about his transgression, he suddenly felt uneasy about the waiting part. He also didn't want Tara to face Jake's wrath alone. He would have much preferred had he been present when Tara did finally tell Jake. She had, however, told him that she was going to tell Jake in the evening. He couldn't believe that evening was still 5 hours away!
Ian worked at a grinding pace till the lunch hour. He wanted to finish the day's tasks earlier. His assistant walked in with his meal at 1 pm sharp. Ian waved his hand to her silently, ordering her to take the food away. He still had paperwork on his table that needed his attention. He opened a bulky blue file to look at contractual documents that they had signed with an up and coming space exploration company called SpaceGen. This was the exact moment when Ian's office door swung open and Jake stalked in.
The moment Jake stepped in, was the moment he frosted the glass walls of the office by switching on a button. The transparent glass became opaque the moment he switched the button on. He then turned around to look at Ian.
Ian witnessed something glacial in the eyes that used to look upon him with warmth, "Why the need for privacy?"
Jake's breathing became viciously hard and what he said next was ominous, "I didn't want to do this here, Ian."
The expression on Jake's face told everything -- he knew.
Ian stood up from his seat then and went around his desk to Jake. "Yes, we shouldn't do this here...it would be a disaster if the word got out!"
Ian's clinical statement seemed to piss Jake off even more, "You have to be some real low-level piece of shit!" Saying this Jake started to pace around the office like a mad jungle cat, shouting. "After all that we have been through, after all I have done for you...you fuck my girlfriend?!"
He got close to Ian then, "Who the hell do you think you are?...Huh?...Did you guys think you could keep on fooling me? Do all this, behind my back?! I could have expected this from Tara, she hasn't known me for long. But you...you are my brother!" And with a look of absolute derision on his face he continued, "...or atleast I thought you were."
"I am." Ian assured him.
Jake looked at Ian with murder in his eyes, "Not anymore."
Ian tensed. "You don't mean that!...I will come by your place in the evening and let's discuss this. I know I am an asshole, I take full responsibility...but I want you to hear me out before you say anything else!"
"Do you think you can justify your bullshit to me?!" Jake challenged Ian.
"Jake, you know me! You know...I screw up!"
"Don't give me that crap!"
"Ok...ok! I won't. Let's leave here together, after work. I am coming to your place with you and we will discuss this."
"I don't wanna hear anything!"
Ian was reminded of the fact that Jake's sister was probably still staying with him. "How about we meet at my place instead? You sister's staying..."
"No, she took a flight home yesterday. They have decided to work on it."
"Good for her."
Jake shrugged in anger, an angry beast trying to calm itself down, he paced back and forth still.
"We will go to your place after work. And you can yell at me all you want."
"I won't just yell!"
"I know."
"You know why I am not breaking your jaw right now, don't you?"
"Yeah...I know!"
Jake then stormed out of Ian's office and Ian's mind took him spiralling down the path of darkness - the darkness that was his youth.