The darkness

IVAN
~•~
I
thought of asking her to leave, to find something better to do with her time, energy and resources, but immediately decided against it.
An idea flashed through my mind as I thought quitely.
It would be nice to waste her time for a month and let her go with absolutely nothing.
She wanted to play ball right? We would play then.
"It's a deal." I spat out. I could see the glaring relief on her face, the joy, the esctacy.
How did someone offer to work for free for a month? I had more money than I could spend in my life time, but I could never work for free, unless it was for charity.
Was I a charity case to her?
I scoffed instantly. Not at all. She did not even have the funds to be charitable to herself.
So, what was in it for her?
"Thank you so much mister Holloway, you would not regret this!"
By God, she was bubbling with so much excitement, I could almost pity her.
"We would start tomorrow. I would…"
"We start today." I spoke again. I noticed the brightness in her eyes dim slowly. I was going to make this the worst one month of her entire life.
She would know better than to taunt me next time.
I watched as her eyes traveled to the door. I turned my head in response and found Antonio standing there, as stiff and irrelevant as a statue.
"You can leave now Antonio. I am sure our next session is private…"
My gaze traveled back to her.
"...or am I wrong?"
Her brown orbs landed on me in that instant. I found her physical features very…appealing. Dark hair and sharp brown eyes? That was something I didn't see everyday.
I heard the door close, before she settled into her seat. I watched as she rubbed her palms against each other, her cheeks evolved into a shade of crimson red.
I was making her nervous, but I wasn't surprised.
I made all women nervous.
"Mister Holloway, I…"
"Call me Ivan." I cut in. Her eyes swept across the room and landed on me again.
"I could not possibly do that sir, I…"
"Do you want this job or not?" I broke in again, silencing her. My eyes did not leave her for a second, not even when she adjusted her posture and slipped her phone out from her front pocket.
"I am supposed to use a note pad and a pen, for your confidentiality sake. I would want you to trust that whatever is being said here is between us. I would not be recording any of your statements, visual or audio. And I would need you to trust that whatever you say or do would not leave this room with me."
"Where would it go?"
I did not know why I asked the question. Her words sounded rehearsed, like a routine. She did not speak as though she were speaking to me, but as she did to every patient. I could tell that at some point in her life, she had repeated this statement over three times in a day.
Her brown eyes narrowed into a thin line.
"What?"
"You said whatever I say or do would not leave this room with you. So, where would it go?"
Amusement flickered in her eyes like daindy fireflies in the night time. She smiled curtly, it was a beautiful smile.
"It would remain in this four walls, with nowhere to go."
I nodded curtly. That was fair enough.
"So, introductions first. My name is Camilla Theodore and I would be your trusted therapist and confidant in the next thirty days. And you are?"
Wait. Was I really expected to…? Her keen eyes rested on me.
Never mind.
"I am Ivan Holloway." I spat out.
Her fingers typed away on her screen, before she looked back up at me.
"Alright, Ivan. Who are you?"
"Pardon?"
"If you were stopped by a complete stranger, who would you say you are?"
First of all, my security guards would never allow me to be stopped by a random stranger, no matter who the person was. But, I still had to "cooperate" did I not?
"I would say I am Ivan Holloway. Chief executive officer of Holloway Empire. The third richest man in America and the first in the state of California."
"Is that all you can define yourself with? Your wealth? Your status? Your fame? Is that all you really are, mister Ivan?"
Something in me sparked up, and it was not a good spark. My jaw hardened and I found myself looking a way from her. Her eyes probed me too much, I was beginning to get uncomfortable, and that was not a normal thing.
"That is all the person would need to know." I bit back. I was not going to let her get into my head, never.
"Were you always just a rich man, Ivan? Was there never a time when you were something more? To someone? To people? Let's say…" She paused for a while.
"Family?"
My fists rolled into tight balls beside me. I clenched my jaw hard, to stop my teeth from gritting in my mouth.
She was pushing buttons I did not need to be pushed.
Family?
Tina's eyes flashed through my mind. Her loud laughter echoed in my ears. I could see her hands stretched out, I could hear her calling out to me. Her cute ponytail, the one she always made me tie for her when I got back from work. I could see everything, right in front of me as though she were really there.
But, she wasn't. She might never be.
I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat.
"No. I…I was once more."
"What was your turning point? Where did it all change?"
Even though I did not want to, my mind wandered back to the night I found the note… The night I searched all of Los Angeles to no avail.
My heart beat quickened in my chest. My hands began to vibrate on their own accord. The ache in my chest was severe, I could feel a sharp blade go through my skin, aiming for my core.
The room around me began to spin. I sought for air, but could not take in any.
In front of me, my vision grew hazy, and the image of the woman in front of me blurred out by the second.
"Mister Ivan?"
I could not hear her, her voice was too distant.
"Mister Ivan?!"
Where was I? Why did everywhere seem so... dark?