Sebastian Muchiri had spent years mastering the art of hopping from one woman to the next. His days revolved around work, women and spending time at high-end clubs. Sebastian worked as a journalist for Star times media, a well-known media house. His looks and charm had managed to earn him awards and promotions. Although he was known to seduce and sleep with women at work his superiors never seemed to care.
Sebastian was the only man who was able to get women to do interviews and stories that the media house needed. Despite being a womanizer, he was mainly adored for his ability to do captivating in-depth stories. To Sebastian, his work was the only ticket to him being able to afford his lifestyle and the women he often met.
His life was going great until Jeremy, his co-worker and friend asked him for a favour.
“Please, this is the first time a beautiful woman has agreed to go out with me,”
“She wants to go out with you because she wants her friend to gain recognition for that book of hers,” Sebastian replied.
“The intention doesn’t matter, this is my only chance to prove myself,” Jeremy pleaded.
“Of what exactly?” Sebastian asked.
“That I can get a woman to like me. Not all of us have your special talents. Some of us struggle to find women,” Jeremy responded.
“If I say yes, will you please leave my room so I can go back to sleep?” Sebastian said.
“It’s 9 am, you’re supposed to be at work,” Jeremy said.
“No, you’re supposed to be at work. I’m not that easy to replace, remember?” Sebastian said while laughing.
“Just do the story please,” Jeremy pleaded.
“Fine tell your lady to have this Jeanette call me and I’ll schedule a day with her,” Sebastian said.
Jeremy walked out of the room smiling as Sebastian covered his face and went back to sleep.
Two days later, Sebastian walked into Star Times media and as usual, the women turned their heads to admire him. He smiled and winked at them as he made his way to his workstation. Immediately after he sat down, Jeremy approached him with an eager look on his face.
“I have set up a meeting with Jeanette today evening,” He said.
“Wasn’t she supposed to call me?” Sebastian asked.
“Harriet wanted to meet up today and since Jeanette is going to be with her, I thought it would be better to talk to her today,” Jeremy responded.
“I have plans today with Sasha, our new secretary,” Sebastian said.
“You can devour Sasha anytime. I need you to be at this meeting,” Jeremy said in a serious tone.
“Fine,” Sebastian replied.
“7 pm, Hotel Boulevard, don’t be late!” Jeremy said as he walked away.
Sebastian groaned as he dived into his work for the day. At 5 pm, he switched off his computer, gathered his things and left the office. In the elevator, he bumped into Sasha and realized he had not given her the bad news. “Sasha, unfortunately, we have to postpone our date,”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” She asked as she turned to face him.
He opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it when he noticed the dress she was wearing and how it hugged her curves perfectly.
“Whatever I had planned can wait,” He said as they left the elevator and headed for his car.
At 7:30 pm Jeremy, Harriet and Jeanette were all seated at a booth staring at each other. Jeremy could feel his anxiety build up, so he stepped away to call Sebastian. After countless missed calls he decided to send a text.
“Where are you?”
“Something came up. Please reschedule, sorry,”
“Something or Sasha,”
“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow,”
As he walked back into the restaurant, he felt a wave of anger but decided to remain calm so he could deliver the bad news. Harriet and Jeanette took the news surprisingly well and agreed to meet the following day. Jeremy, who went home relieved, crossed his fingers that Sebastian would get his fill and show up the next day.
Unfortunately, in all the years they had known each other, he still hadn’t figured out who his friend was. The following day, Sebastian gave another excuse and Jeremy had to deliver the bad news again. The cycle went on for a couple of days until Harriet and Jeanette finally had enough of their lies.
*****************************************************************************
“You honestly can’t still be mad,” Sebastian said.
Jeremy, who was busy finishing touches on his story, remained silent.
“Tell you what, I’ll send you a couple of numbers of women who would gladly go out with you,” Sebastian said.
“Have you checked out the news of late?” Jeremy asked, ignoring Sebastian’s statement.
“Is it one of my stories?” Sebastian asked.
“Nope,” Jeremy replied.
“Then I don’t care,” Sebastian said.
“Given the description she gave, that character seems to be just like you,” Jeremy said.
“What are you talking about?” Sebastian asked in a confused tone.
Jeremy handed Sebastian his phone. Jeanette was being interviewed about her book. Sebastian didn’t seem interested until she started describing one of the characters in her book.
“What is this book even about?”
“The title of the book is the playboy handbook. She describes the character traits of men who treat women like trash. The tactics and lies they are fond of telling women. The characters in the book are based on real-life people who have dated women she knows,”
“Okay and how does this concern me?” Sebastian asked in an unbothered tone.
“Marcus, the character she is describing behaves just like you and all these women who worship at your feet are obsessed with her book,” Jeremy replied bluntly.
“That’s impossible,” Sebastian sneered.
“You need to learn to believe in the impossible,” Jeremy said as he grabbed his phone and walked away.
Sebastian continued to watch the interview on his phone as he pondered what his friend had said. In his view, he knew that even though some women might listen to her, the ones he went for would never. Although he hadn’t read her book, he knew it was filled with bitter nonsense. Sebastian decided to forget about Jeanette and her book altogether. His lifestyle remained the same which confirmed that his opinion was right. The problem started when Jeanette’s book started gaining recognition countrywide. The women Sebastian was used to flirting with would sneer whenever he approached them. The ones whose contacts he still had would ignore his calls and texts.
In weeks Sebastian had gone from the most eligible bachelor in town to the most hated playboy. This not only affected his personal life but his work life as well. The charm he was so fond of using on women to get stories or interviews had faded. Sebastian knew that if he was to let things be he would end up struggling at work. Therefore, he decided it was time to seek revenge. Like any good journalist, he knew that the best way to hatch a plan would be to find out who exactly Jeanette was. He dived into his research but couldn’t find anything substantial about her.
“How is this even possible!” He yelled as he slammed his hands on his desk.
After a short while, he decided to get up and go get a drink from a bar near his place. As he sat alone drinking his whiskey, a woman approached and sat beside him. Normally he would turn and strike up a conversation but given what he was feeling he didn’t care.
“Penny for your thoughts?” The lady asked.
He turned his head to respond and was shocked to see who it was.
“Let me guess, you’re a fan of my book?”
“You’re very beautiful in person,” He blurted.
Sebastian couldn’t believe that the woman who was stressing him was there in the flesh, talking to him. Just then two thoughts popped into his head. One, if Jeremy had mentioned how beautiful she was he wouldn’t have stood her up. Two, he realized that the best way to deal with his problem was to make her fall in love with him. That way he would be able to show the world that playboys are capable of change. Additionally, the women who hated him so much would change their perspective of him.
The two had a casual conversation which was so intriguing that they ended up being the last ones leaving the bar. As they said their goodbyes, Sebastian wondered how he would be able to convince her to see him again. Luckily, she offered him her number. At first, he was suspicious of how easy things were going but he convinced himself that his charm had worked in his favor. Given their conversation, he knew that she had no idea of who he was. This made it easier for him to create a false identity and roll with it.
Sebastian and Jeanette spent weekends going on dates to different places. During their time together, Sebastian had managed to gather small information about her. After countless dates, however, he started to feel like his plan was taking too long to yield results. He knew that she had feelings for him but the best way to find out was to sleep with her. He had heard once that women form strong bonds after sex.
During one of the weekends, instead of going out, he offered to cook for her. Which meant ordering from his favourite Swahili restaurant and throwing the bags away. The two ate as they talked and to make things easier Sebastian offered her wine. One glass turned to three and the minute he was sure it was going to happen he asked her if they could go upstairs.
To his shock, Jeanette refused and informed him that it was time to head home. Although he was disappointed, he knew that he had to keep pushing. On the next three dates, he offered to cook for her. In the first two, she ended up rejecting his offer to go upstairs. On the third date, however, he was surprised when she grabbed his hand and took him to bed. Sebastian was excited that his plan had finally worked and that after a long time, he was going to release his urges.
The following morning, he woke up in a happy mood. His reputation was going to change, and his life was going to go back to normal. He turned to greet Jeanette and was shocked to find that she wasn’t there, and her belongings were missing. As he looked for his phone to call her, he noticed a note on her side of the bed.
“At least now you will get to understand what it feels like. It was a pleasure meeting you again Sebastian,”
He read the note again but couldn’t understand what she meant. Her phone was off which frustrated him even more. He quickly showered and drove to her place. The house was empty which raised more questions in his mind. To make matters worse, the watchman couldn’t even help. Sebastian spent days trying to figure out where she had gone but it was like she had disappeared from the face of the earth. Although Jeremy was still mad at Sebastian for what he had done to him, he decided to help. He also knew that it would be a great excuse to talk to Harriet again and try to make amends.
“Here,” Jeremy said as he handed Sebastian a folder.
Sebastian grabbed the folder and opened it. The first photo he saw was of Jeanette or a lady that looked somehow like her. As he went through the documents, he realized it was her, actually a younger version of her. By the time he was done, tears started rolling down his cheeks.
Jeanette had worked at Star times media as an intern but used the name Rachel which was her first name. Sebastian, who was her supervisor then, had offered to help her with tips on writing good stories. In the process, they ended up being romantically involved and after a few nights together he left her. She ended up struggling to finish her internship and was given a pity letter of recommendation. The worst part was she became the topic of gossip around the office and was labelled the office whore.
Although Sebastian was fond of seducing women, his co-workers had taken note of his type and according to them, she wasn’t his taste. Which then led people to believe she was trying to sleep her way to the top. She left the media scene and went back to her rural home for two years. Later, she came back but with a whole new look. Her outfit choices, hair and body shape had changed.
Sebastian sat down on the floor and sobbed. Jeremy assumed that the pain he felt was because his plan had failed and his reputation at work was tarnished. However, Sebastian didn’t care about all that. He had fallen for Jeanette and given his past actions he could never be with her. That was worse than rebuilding his status and the thought of having to live with that pain was too much to deal with.
“I never dreamed of a day when the Casanova would meet an equal match,” Jeremy said but instantly regretted his words.
Normally, Sebastian would react, but Jeremy was right, and he knew he would have to live with the consequences of his choices.
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