The Publicist's Plight (Book I in The Harrison Inc. Series) | ✓

Chapter Forty Eight: Cat's Out of the Bag

**

From what I'm about to say, I hope some of you, at least, can relate to the words that I'm going to express.

Metaphorically speaking, have you ever dug a hole too deep to climb out of? A hole deepened from your own curiosity or ego wielding the shovel? A hole so vast in depth that the only way left to go is down? That is how I feel right now; that is the best explanation for what I feel right now.

I'm not sure whether or not I became this invested due to my curiosity or my ego that claimed it knew how to fix the issue. Maybe it was both. I don't know, but what I do know for sure is that I have dug a hole too deep to climb out of.

When I first met Sebastian Harrison—the self-proclaimed Playboy and the poster child for debauchery —I could not stand him. And when I say that I could not stand him, I do not confess this truth lightly or to poke fun. Sebastian was arrogant, selfish, immature, and lacked any moral compass. Sebastian took nothing seriously; he had no value for the life he lived yet had enough value in his life for hundreds of people to live comfortable, respectable lives. Sebastian managed to ruin every event, every function, every social gathering I could set up for him and I didn't know why.

Maybe he finds entertainment in embarrassing himself and those who work for him, I thought. The only logical reasoning behind his inability to behave like a man who is about to become the president of a multi-billion-dollar company, is that he isn't fit to be a man in the first place.

But to my surprise, I was completely, utterly and blindly wrong.

For the rest of this to make sense, you must completely erase any conceptions you have about Sebastian Harrison. Every single thing that you have read in any magazine—OK! Magazine, People Magazine, Us Weekly, In Touch Weekly, Star, Life & Style—erased. Every single thing you have witnessed on television—TMZ, E! News, Extra, Access Hollywood, The Wendy Show, Dish Nation—gone. And of course, everything you've seen online—Perez Hilton, The Hollywood Life, The Hollywood Gossip, Radar, Pop Sugar—as if it never existed.

None of it, and I mean none of it is true. And I made the dire mistake of believing it was.

Sebastian Harrison isn't arrogant, selfish, immature or immoral. He does not lack seriousness, nor does he lack any value for the fortune in his life. He did not intentionally ruin every event, every function, every social gathering I could set up for him. And he is not incapable of being a man. In fact, he is the complete opposite of all these things—he is modest, selfless, mature and morally correct. He understands when it is time to be serious, and he accounts for the fortunes in his life. In fact, he is one of the few people I know with a bank account with many zeroes, that desires more than money to bring substantial value to their life; he could care less about the money, the cars, or any other material things. What he longs for is worth more than money can buy.

I kept him on the tightest of leashes at every event. He wasn't allowed to be himself without me chiding him, I under the impression that he was only acting out to spite me rather than be who he truly was; I caged him.

He is more than capable of being a man; he's the strongest man I know. Before, I thought my father was the strongest man I knew. And he is a strong man regardless, but not the strongest. I have come to a consensus that Sebastian is the strongest man I know; he carries around enough pain for ten people in his own single heart. He hides the sorrow of his childhood and of his present underneath a smile many see to be a smile of maliciousness and mischief, not a smile of pretend and masquerade. He dwells in his hurt like a blistering-cold bath; the water is cold, painful. But it's too cold to escape; the pain numbs the ability to move, and all one can do is dwell in the ice, the cold, until the eventual familiarity makes it seem like you aren't slowly dying in the water around you.