His Dark Obsession

Chapter 37: A Day in the Life of Jake Cada

Jake Cada was born into privilege. The Cadas came from old money. The family were fourth generation multi-millionaires; they had made their wealth in the cotton business. At the pinnacle of their success, Jake's great-grandfather owned a sizeable chunk of New York.
When Jake's grandfather took over the family business, Great Depression hit, during this time the family lost quite a big part of their fortune. Jake's father did his best to restore the Cada name to it's long, lost glory but to no avail.
Jake's mother was a prominent socialite which meant that for most part of his childhood, he was raised by nannies.
From a very early age, Jake was being trained to take over the family business. He was educated at a top private school on the Upper East Side, was a member of prestigious New York country clubs, his social circle included kids whose fathers were prominent members of the community and he vacationed with the ultra-rich in the Hamptons.
Jake had friends...but none were close or sincere. Most of them had too frivolous a lifestyle, they had too much money and found it fun to party it away. Their profligate ways had led to activites that Jake found no joy in -- most of them were into drugs and alcohol, they enjoyed cutting school and at times even breaking the law. Jake always knew he was different; he was neither a party animal nor a reckless, unruly teenager. He brought home good grades and always felt passionately about studies and work. He had bigger ideas and goals for himself and his family. His family had their hopes pinned on him to secure the future of the Cada name.
When Jake expressed a wish to have a more normal high school experience, his wish was granted with him being 'allowed' to go to a public highschool. The family considered him astute enough to make such decisions about his future, given his past record.
Jake Cada met Ian Blaine on their first day of highschool. Back then he was a tall and lanky boy with very little muscle on him. He was quiet and shy and was minding his own business, shoving books in his locker, when a boy approached him, "Hello, I am Ian, may I know your name?"
The boy, Ian, spoke with thick British accent and was tall and broad with a boyish charm about him.
"Hi, I am Jake. How come you are British?" Jake inquired in quirky manner.
"I am from England. We moved here a few weeks ago."
"Cool!" Jake extended his hand to him and Ian took it in his firm grip. "Do you like it here?"
"Yes! Very much! You are from here?"
"Yes, lived here my whole life." And after a pause Jake curiously inquired, "So why did you move?"
"My father's an engineer, he's on a three year contract with a Birtish firm building a housing project in New York."
"So you are here for three years only?"
"No, I told my father when we landed that when his contract finishes, I will stay here and attend college!"
Jake and Ian spent that day together. They sat at the same table in the cafeteria. Brooded over joining the basketball and football team. Met kids from different clubs and signed up for the same ones, and told each other about the girls in their class they had set their hearts on! Thus formed a bond of brotherhood that had, up till now, been unshakeable.
The boys then attended college together. After college, when Ian came up with the idea of starting an Advertising firm, Jake was his biggest financial and emotional support. It was around this time that Jake received his trust fund, which was a mere three milllion dollars (owing to the delapidating state of their cotton empire). Jake invested some his money into Blaine Advertising, making him 20% partner in the startup.
The family were extremely disappointed with his chosen career because none of them had ever anticipated that he'd want to do anything other than join the famiĺy business. His mother's dislike of Ian stemmed from her son's close relationship with him. She was jealous of the boy who had the power to swerve Jake's entire career plan. Jake's father didn't approve either.
But since life has the quality of being unpredictable at the most unprecedented moments, Jake's father was diagnosed with lung cancer and it was a hard two years before he peacefully passed away in his home on an early May morning. During this time Ian was with Jake every step of the way, assisting his friend by even taking his father to chemo when he was unable to do so himself due to work emergencies. Jake had recalled this time when he hadn't broken Ian's jaw after discovering about his affair with Tara.
And now, after all these years, Ian and Jake were at a turbulent juncture in the course of their friendship....

When Jake came back from Ian's office after confronting him about his affair with Tara. He was fuming. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Ian, of all people, could betray him like this. He wasn't even thinking about the fact that his girlfriend had cheated on him; he was just finding it extremely hard to come to terms with the fact the his best friend, his brother, had stabbed him in the back. He came to the painful realization that their friendship meant more to him than it did to Ian. He remembered the time when they were together in college. The day their friendship didn't just remain that but became a bond of brotherhood.
It was a month after Jake's father had gotten Ian out of trouble after the biker's bar incident. They were on a road trip to Chicago where they were planning on spending a good part of the summer interning at a Marketing firm. As their car sped down the highway and it was past midnight, Ian suggested that they stop over at a motel because they were both too sleepy to drive. Jake ignored his advice and suggested they keep on driving so that they could reach Chicago sooner.
Jake was behind the wheel when he suddenly became intensely drowsy, Ian was asleep on the passenger seat, the car sped at 85 mph on a dark road and before Jake could fathom what was happening, their car colided head-on into a truck in front of them. Upon impact, Jake's father's BMW somersaulted in the air, rolled several times and landed on its roof. The last thing Jake remembered before losing consciousness was Ian strapped upside down in his seat, unconscious.
When Jake opened his eyes again, he was in a hospital and the first name he called out was that of Ian. The doctor later told him that Ian had broken his arm and received a minor head injury but since Jake had lost a lot of blood because of his bruises, Ian had stepped in to give him blood and save his life. This was the day that had reinforced Jake's belief that Ian was not just a friend but a brother he could depend on in the worst of circumstances.
Had all of that been false? Jake wondered as he stood in his office now. No. It couldn't be. He had to give Ian a chance to explain himself. He called Ian when he was about to leave his office for home. Ian told Jake he'd come see him at his home because he seemed to be running late.
Jake reached his apartment a little after 4 and waited for Ian. He felt agitated and sullen. He kept thinking about Ian, his mind also wandered to Tara.
The door bell rang and Jake trudged towards it. He opened the door and looked at the person in front of him.
"Come in." Jake motioned. His face, expressionless.
He was followed inside and the door -- silently closed.

Ian Blaine stood over Jake Cada as he lay in a pool of blood.
Ian heard the click of heels through the foggy haze that was his mind.