Eros: The Obsession

Chapter Six

They publish an expose titled the 'Vrede Dairy Farm Scandal', wherein their company exposes Henry Vrede's meth lab and his ties to the city's drug ring. Tara heads it, supported by Jun's footage and Eric's back-story on the farmer. It leaves Jun with a growing sense of unease but he doesn't regret it, not when Tara positively beams with pride after having published it.

He still feels a little bad about ignoring her after the episode where her blood drove him insane he's kept enough of a close eye on her to know that she's okay. He also knows that she's been following him around, hiding behind buildings and watching him from afar.

It makes Jun warm with the knowledge that she's more affected by his supposed cold shoulder than she lets on, a bloom of hope unsettling his stomach and making him think all sorts of crazy things. Like when one of their co-workers had tried to flirt with him, Jun could have sworn that Tara had glared at the woman like she'd wanted to kill. That kind of deranged anger looked so foreign on her otherwise gentle face that Jun had almost dropped his facade to see what had caused it. He had gotten up to check on her when he'd seen her rush out of the mess hall in a flurry of movement, his heart dropping at the thought that she'd somehow hurt herself. When Tara had stepped out of the bathroom with not a scratch marring her pretty cocoa coloured skin, he'd felt like a fool.

And then they'd worked on the article together.

At first, Jun was apprehensive, knowing full well who Henry Vrede worked for. But Tara only had to bat her eyelashes and run a hand across his shoulder for him to cave. He'd spent hours alone with her, pouring over video footage and trying to piece together information from a few minutes worth of evidence. They'd produced something that ran on the front covers of their newspapers, and that featured everywhere on the publication's website. And they'd also grown closer in that time.

Jun had discovered that Tara isn't as much of a push-over as he'd anticipated, getting rather bossy and stubborn in her efforts to perfect her story. She gets almost crazy with obsession, the need to create something worthwhile driving her to stay long nights at the publications building, nestled in the editing room alone with Jun.

He learns that her favorite foods are Chinese and Italian, and that she's slightly lactose intolerant so she prefers creamer in her coffee rather than milk. He also learns that there's a tiny mole on the left of her collarbone, the size of a mustard seed, dark and inviting. He imagines kissing it, biting into the flesh around it and sucking a pretty bruise into the skin to hear her whine. He's so overcome with want for her, that his previous apprehension melts away, replaced by that familiar sense of longing that has long since rooted its place within his heart, blooming with an all-encompassing need to see her smile, to make her happy.

Which is why, when she asks him – with her eyes brimming with unshed tears, eyelashes wet and glistening beneath the low light – why he's been avoiding her, Jun feels like killing himself. It physically hurts to see her in pain and to know that he's caused it. Regret festers within his chest, its ugly claws dragging across his throat and making it difficult to speak.

"Was it something I did?" she asks in a pitiful whimper, "Do you not like me?"

"No! It's nothing like that!" Jun exclaims because he never wants her to think that she's anything less than treasured to him, even if he can't have her. He lifts a trembling hand to cup her face, thumb brushing against the lone tear that has slid its way down her cheek. "But I'm afraid you won't like the answer," he tells her in a muttered breath, softer than a whisper.

"Please," she urges him on. "Please, tell me."

"I'm in love with you," Jun breathes out hesitantly. Tara is silent for a moment, her head tilted to the side in thought. She doesn't pull away though and he takes that as somewhat of a win.

"You didn't want to make me uncomfortable," she clarifies and Jun nods his head. It's not the truth, but it's also not a lie, not technically. "Okay," she nods like she's made up her mind. "You don't have to do that. It doesn't make me uncomfortable."

"You don't think it's risky working close together, knowing my feelings for you?"

"We're both adults," she brushes off his concerns. "And as long as we keep our boundaries, there's no reason why we shouldn't be close friends."

Jun wants to add that they may be breaking some boundaries with her nuzzling into his palm, but he keeps his mouth shut, not wanting to scare her off. "And your fiance won't get upset?"

She frowns like she dislikes the thought of him and pulls away to lean back against her chair. "That word makes me uncomfortable."

"What word?"

"Fiance," she elaborates with a displeased pull of her lips.

"Why does it make you uncomfortable?" Jun asks, trying not to reveal how his heart skips at the information.

"I don't know," she shrugs. "It just feels...wrong somehow."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

She's quiet for a moment, chewing on her lip in thought. Jun watches the way her eyes go unfocused, the way she seems like she's in an entirely different world to his. With her feet curled beneath her and her hair in a bit of a messy bun atop her head, she looks like she belongs in a romance novel, one that involves big declarations of love and happily ever afters.

"Maybe," she says at last, quiet and subdued. "It's just scary, not knowing for sure whether he's the one, you know?"

"I don't know," Jun shrugs and when she looks at him for an explanation, he adds "I kind of already know who 'the one' is. At least for me." He doesn't say anything more but he thinks Tara has probably caught onto his train of thought. "Anyway," Jun quips to change the subject, "You know about my dirty secret, not tell me something about you."

"What do you want to know?" she asks, a playful lilt to her tone.

"What did the guys mean, when they spoke about you, uh, getting someone killed?" Tara grimaces, ducking her head to hide her face from him. "I'm sorry," Jun quickly backtracks, "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay," she heaves a loud sigh. "You'll probably hear about it sooner or later." It takes a moment for her to work up the courage to tell him, and Jun remains patient, silently waiting for her to continue. "I used to be on the investigative team. It was my first big story covering this club downtown that was rumored to be a front for a Montesi illegal weapons trade," she says and Jun tries not to let it show that he knows exactly what club it was and that he knows exactly what happened to the supposed nosy journalist who went snooping. "We were working in pairs, me and one of the senior journalists, Jillian. She headed most of the investigation but I thought she was going in the wrong direction with her sources. So I went ahead with my own search and I guess Montesi caught wind of it. He threatened us but I was young and stubborn and I desperate to prove that I wasn't easily scared off." Her voice breaks at the end as she scrubs at the corners of her eyes with a frustrated scrape of her hands. "I made some stupid decisions, got us caught and Jillian had to pay the price for my mistakes. She's blind now and lives with her parents upstate."

Jun is silent for a long time, unable to find the words to comfort Tara.

"Is this the part where you tell me you're rethinking being in love with me because I'm a selfish child who needs to get her way?" she chuckles bitterly. 

"Why did you change the direction of the investigation?" Jun asks but he suspects he already knows the answer.

"I met a dancer during one of the interviews. She told me that she might have known about a child trafficking ring run by the club's higher-ups. I couldn't sit by and let that go, not with what I knew."

"You posted the information online, right?" Jun asks. "Anonymously?"

"How did you know?"

"I read somewhere that the ring had been exposed because of a leaked internet thread." Jun had heard so from Aldo Montesi himself.

"You can't tell anyone-"

"I won't," Jun chuckles, stretching out a hand to take her trembling fingers in his. "I'd die before hurting you like that."

"Really?" she asks with a small smile and the urge to lean forward and kiss her is overwhelming.

He makes to pull away but is surprised when Tara leans forward and brushes her lips against his cheek, an innocent peck near his cheekbones. Her lips are soft, plump and like everything he had imagined but better.

"What was that for?" he asks in a scratchy voice.

"For being a good friend," Tara says.

They spend the rest of that night talking quietly, knees brushing against each other and the video footage forgotten.

When Jun walks her home that night, it feels different, the air lighter than it's been in weeks but heavy with a strange sense of comfort that comes with intimately getting to know someone. He's so engrossed by the way her lips curve around words, by the way she exaggeratedly gesticulates when she's trying to describe something, that he almost misses the woman standing near his door.

"Hello, Jun," he hears in that familiar drawl of his hometown. His head flits up in surprise as he takes in the woman who shares the same small but puffy eyes as him, the same thick pair of plump lips.

"Mom," he begins hesitantly. "What're you doing here?"

"Who's your friend?" his mother asks instead, ignoring him entirely. Her eyes narrow in on Tara, gaze sharp and penetrative.

The other woman doesn't seem to notice his mother's open hostility. She walks up to Jun's mother, bowing lightly before holding out her hand. "My name is Tara Morrigan, I'm Jun's neighbor."

"I see," his mother ignores Tara's hand, eyes flitting back up to Jun. "So this is the reason you won't come home."

"Mom," Jun hisses in warning. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see what's made you ignore all your responsibilities," his mother quips in a casual tone. "I'm a little disappointed though. She's not as pretty as the last one."

"Alright, enough," Jun barks out. "Get inside before I change my mind and call security for you."

He pushes passed the woman to unlock the door to his apartment, swinging it open and stepping aside to let her through. His eyes are apologetic when they land on Tara but she gives him a brave smile, trying to hide how hurt she is.

"I'm sorry," Jun sighs. "My mother's not the politest of people."

"It's okay," Tara chuckles awkwardly. "Will you be okay?"

Jun melts at the worry in her tone, fondness blooming within his chest. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," she mumbles. "Goodnight."

He waits until Tara has closed the door behind her before storming into his apartment, eyes narrowed in rage. "What the f**k are you doing here?" Jun hisses when he sees his mother, casually leaning against the kitchen cabinet.

She doesn't answer for a moment, eyes analyzing his every movement before she finally sighs.

"Mr. Montesi wants to speak to you."