Chapter 23

As Tara was on her way to her room, an angry Chad rushed behind her.
"Tara!" He called out her name, and she turned. "If you insist on divorcing me, then be prepared to leave this house," he shouted, and Tara couldn't care less.
"Okay, I'll get my belongings fast and be on my way," Tara said, turning to leave.
"If you're leaving, you're not going with anything." Chad went beside her and grabbed her arm roughly.
"What are you doing?" Chad pulls her to the door and throws her out of the house. 
He stood behind the door, thinking Tara would barge in and beg him to let her in, and she'd agree to not get divorced, but instead, Tara turned her heels and left the door. 
She practically dragged herself to the closest car and asked one of the drivers to drop her off at a nearby club.
The driver took her to her destination, and she asked the driver to leave; she didn't want any more trouble from Chad.
She got stinky gazes from the men at the bar but ignored them as she entered the club, and loud music burst out of the speaker.
Almost everyone here is high, and she could tell she's not going to be any different.
All she wants is to drown her sorrows in alcohol.
"Three bottles of any drink to wash away my pain, please," she ordered, and she was served. She didn't care what she was given as long as she 
She took the bottles and went to a corner to sit and get comfortable. She finished two bottles already, and she's already on her last one. 
She was so drunk. Gaston, who was sitting opposite her, watched her every move, and when he noticed she was drunk, he took the opportunity.
He walked up to her.
"Do you mind if I join you?" He asked, and Tara looked up to see the person, but she was so dizzy.
"Are you Chad?" She asked Gaston.
"No, I'm not," Gaston replied.
"Then sure, you can sit," she said, and Gaston slipped into the chair.
"So, how are you?" Gaston asked. 
"I'm broken glass; can't you see the cracks?" she pointed to her head, and I know she's blabbing nonsense because she's drunk.
"Did your manager leave you here?" Gaston asked, and Tara shook her head.
"Okay, so would you like to book a room, beautiful lady?" Gaston asked, hoping she'd say yes, but instead...
"How dare you?" she snapped. "Just because I'm drunk doesn't mean I'm stupid; I'm not a slut; I'm not one like them; not a prostitute," she starts sobbing.
"I'm a decent girl from a decent family, but my own husband maltreated me, that fool," she starts crying, and Gaston is bemused, wondering why.
"I'm sorry. My apologies. Please stop crying." Gaston went beside her and soothed her back.
"Don't touch me," Tara slaps his hands off. 
"Sorry"
"So what brings you to this place? You claim to be a decent girl," Gaston asked as he sipped his wine.
She rests her head on the table as she speaks."I needed to wash away my sorrows." 
"What are your sorrows?" Gaston asked curiously.
"There are so many; if I start talking about them, I'll get angry."
Before she could say another word, she fell into a deep sleep and murmured something Gaston couldn't understand.
Gaston looked around and saw men staring at her. He knew what they were up to, so he decided to stay with her until she's back to her senses.
He waited a couple of hours, and he was lost in her perfect beauty when her beautiful eyes flickered open. Gaston could see innocence and pain in her eyes. She looks like she has been crying and disheartened.
The first person she saw was Gaston. She was so confused and embarrassed about who the strange, handsome man was. 
"What are you doing here?" she asked quickly. 
"Well, I decided to stay with you since you were drunk and obviously defenceless, not to say you were not in your right sense,"  he said. 
And Tara felt so embarrassed that she let herself out of control.
"Well, you may go," she said, a little too harshly now.
"Yeah, I need to go home. I'll drop you off." Gaston stood up, but Tara didn't move. "What's wrong?" 
Tara said hesitantly "I don't really have anywhere to go. You can go," she said, sniffling.
"Well, I can't leave you here alone," Gaston said, and she looked at him.
"You said earlier you needed to go home, so you should get going," Tara said.
"Yes, I said that, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you here after waiting for you to wake up for a few hours," Gaston said, and she couldn't understand why he was so stubborn. 
And Tara couldn't help but feel like Gaston's voice sounded familiar. 
"How about you follow me to my house?" Gaston asked.
"No! I'll be fine," Tara replied firmly.
"Follow me to my home; you can spend the night there, and then in the morning you can do whatever you want." Gaston insisted, and Tara can't trust him; he's just a stranger she met in the club.
She was worried the man could take advantage of her.
"My mom won't let me do anything to you even if I get the chance," he said, and Tara had no choice but to accept Gaston's offer.
The car trip was mostly quiet, and when they came down from the car, Gaston said.
Tara walked behind Gaston as he walked into the building.
She looked around and saw the man living a life of luxury with all the cars, and his house was bigger than hers. 
When she came into the house, she heard a loud cry from a baby.
A nanny walked up to them with the baby in her hands.
Tara looked at the baby, and something stung her heart to see the baby, as it reminded her of her own baby.
"Welcome, sir, and maam,"  the nanny greeted, and Gaston went to the baby's side.
"Don't you know how to do your job? Why's the baby crying this much?" Gaston snapped at the woman.
"Sorry, sir, he just started crying all of a sudden." 
Tara walked up to see the baby, and the baby's cries died down as he saw Tara. 
Tara smiled, and she used her index finger to play with the baby, and the baby smiled widely.
"How are you doing that?" Gaston was surprised by the scenario.