2. Sebastian

CHAPTER 2

SEBASTIAN

It had been a productive week for Sebastian, CEO of Steele Property Holdings. The decision to open an office in his home city was paying off. He still needed to recruit a general manager to run the London office, but for now he was happy to hop back and forth from New York. It had to be the right person. He'd built the company from scratch with his twin sister, Bex, and having the wrong leadership in place could undo all their hard work in an instant.

He was now on the wrong side of forty, had more money in the bank than he would ever need and a lifestyle he could never have dreamed of. When Sebastian and Bex were whisked off to New York in the middle of the night when they were twelve, they had nothing. Their mum was finally away from their abusive father, but he cut them off. Sebastian's grandfather didn't have much, but he gave them a roof over their head in his small Brooklyn apartment. Their mum did whatever she could to make money, but it had been a struggle growing up. Thankfully, Sebastian and Bex had both been natural athletes at school, which had won them college scholarships. Both of them studied business and dropped sport as soon as they graduated. They had enjoyed it, but it wasn't a career for them; it was a means of getting into college. The Steele siblings had been taught by their grandfather to do whatever it took to succeed, as long as nobody got hurt.

Their grandfather had died just after they graduated, so had never seen their success, but their mum had, and she'd always said how proud she was of them. Even with all the money he had, Sebastian couldn't save her from a sudden heart attack five years ago. Their father had shown up at the funeral, but they hadn't wanted to cause a scene, so ignored him. When he'd reached out afterwards, they'd made it clear the Steele twins now considered themselves orphans.

Sebastian had just turned forty-two, and despite everything he had, he was lonely. He had his sister and nieces, but his friends had mostly paired off and were married with kids, or they had opted for cats and more holidays. The single ones were out all the time, or focused on their careers. He knew if he called one of them up, they'd make time for him, but it had gotten to the point where he didn't want to be an inconvenience.

He was heading back to the States this weekend and their most pressing matter was finding a partner to create and execute their marketing strategy. Word of mouth had helped them get a foothold in the UK, but the market was saturated and they needed to stand out. They'd received a fantastic proposal, so Sebastian was hopeful.

In the boardroom was his leadership team. Candice, chief customer officer; she'd worked for Sebastian in New York and then moved back to the UK with her husband to start a family. As soon as he set up in London, she was the first person he offered a job. She hadn't wanted to take the general manager role, as it would involve too much travel once they expanded into Europe, but she bit his hand off when he offered her this role. Colin, chief financial officer, was a rare breed, an accountant with a personality. Trent, chief operating officer, was a brash New Yorker, but he got shit done and Sebastian trusted him implicitly.

"Candice, how did the meeting go with Sumptua?"

"I don't think they're going to be the right fit for us."

"Why? Their proposal exceeded the others by a mile."

"What was the standout from their proposal?"

"The social media strategy, without question. It was brilliant."

"Exactly, but when I asked some questions about it, Nathaniel Klein couldn't answer them. It was obvious someone else in his team had done the work."

"And?"

"He took the pitch solo, and said he'd put the proposal together personally ."

"Fuck!"

Sebastian hated that culture in companies. Leaders who were too threatened by their talent, and never gave credit. Whoever had put that social media strategy together should have been the one to pitch it. Sebastian knew that, whoever it was, it would be junior talent, deliberately being held back by someone like Nathaniel Klein.

"Go back to them and say we want to speak to the person who put the social media strategy together, and we want a guarantee that they will be on the project team, or no deal."

"I'll leave it until Wednesday. Make him sweat a bit."

Sebastian laughed. "And we want the next meeting here."

"Do you want to be there?"

"Don't let me hold things up. If we can't schedule them in before I'm back I'll attend, otherwise just get on with it. We need to get moving on this. Colin, how's the budget?"

"We're running around twenty per cent over, but I'm not concerned."

They all looked at him, dumbfounded. He laughed.

"What? I know we're gonna run in the red for a while before things properly kick off."

"Where did you find this guy, boss man?" said Trent. "You sure he's an accountant? I thought you Brits were tight as assholes."

They all laughed before Candice reminded Trent he was outnumbered. Sebastian had lived in New York for thirty years. It was home, but he'd been born in London and spent his formative years here. He even still had a hint of a British accent, unlike his sister, who you'd think had been born in the Bronx.

"Trent, how's the tech recruitment going?"

"Great. We've made two offers and have three options for the last role. I wanna think about it over the weekend."

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Sebastian. "You're taking time to reflect?"

"What can I say, boss man? You must have taught me something in the last two months."

They all laughed. It was amazing how they'd come together as a leadership team so quickly, having only opened the London office three months ago. That was why it was essential he got the general manager hire right. He couldn't have someone come in and disrupt things. Startups were tough and often failed. The UK and Europe enterprise had the backing of a billion-dollar business behind it, but it had to stand on its own. If it wasn't turning a profit within two years, Sebastian would pull the plug. He would make tough decisions if he had to.

The meeting carried on for the next forty minutes as they went through other hiring matters, operational issues and the clients they already had on board due to them having prior relationships in the US. It was new business, which was what the marketing campaign would support, and that social media strategy was one of the most creative things Sebastian had ever seen. If they had to find another marketing consultancy, it would set them back weeks, but Sebastian wouldn't work with a company which exploited their staff. It went against everything he stood for.

He wrapped up the meeting and said he'd see them in a couple of weeks, even though there'd be Zoom calls during the week. It wasn't the same. When they were together, they could share things as they came up, not at a prearranged time. Sebastian was all in favour of hybrid working, but found with startups it could be a hinderance. The rest of the team headed home, and he made his way back to his office to pack up.

His phone rang with a video call from Bex. He sat down on the sofa in his office before answering. The screen filled with the excited faces of his two nieces, Hayley and Jessica. Twins ran in the family.

"Hello, my angels."

"Uncle Sebastian!" they cried in unison.

"When you coming home?" asked Jessica.

"I'll be home on Sunday."

"Will you come and see us?"

"Of course."

"Have you got us a present?"

"Jessica!" scolded Bex, as she took the phone from them and appeared on screen. "How's it going, baby brother?"

He rolled his eyes. She was twenty minutes older than him and there hadn't been a day in his life when she hadn't reminded him. Unlike Sebastian, who had bulked up in school by playing American football, his sister had been a swimmer and maintained a lean figure.

"I'm looking forward to getting home. It's been an eventful week, but in a good way. I'm getting too old for all this travelling. We need that GM, so I don't need to keep doing all this back-and-forth."

"Well, we don't want another situation like what happened with the LA office, do we?"

Sebastian groaned, running his hand over his face. He didn't want to be reminded of the disaster they'd had with the LA office. He'd had to spend months there fixing it.

"What are you up to tonight?" she asked.

"I'm meeting Patrick tomorrow, so I'll take it easy at the hotel. Indulge in some room service. I've had enough dinners out this week."

"When did you last get laid?"

"Rebecca!" he whispered, horrified.

"Relax, they aren't in the room. So, answer the question."

Sebastian thought for a second.

"If you're thinking about it," she said, "it's been too long. Be old-fashioned and head to a bar tonight. See if you can pick up a treat. It'll relax you for the flight. We don't want grumpy Sebastian here for Sunday dinner."

"Why are you so obsessed with my sex life?"

"Well, we can talk about mine if you prefer? Martin did just buy a new –"

"Absolutely not. Please do not finish that sentence."

"This is why you're still a Brit at heart. You're a massive prude."

"I'm not a prude."

"Great, so go out tonight and find some twink to brutalise."

"Please stop talking. And I'm done with younger guys, especially after Henry."

"That was a year ago, Sebastian. I know he hurt you, but you can't tar all younger guys with the same brush. You need someone to care for and spoil."

"I have my nieces for that."

"Not the same, and you know that. I just worry about you."

"So how is getting laid, in a country I don't even live in, going to lead to happily ever after?"

"It's just to release some tension, not find the one ."

"Look, I'll think about it."

"Which means you won't do anything. Fine, I'll just have to take matters into my own hands."

"What does that mean?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Just wear something nice for dinner on Sunday," she laughed.

"Do not set me up with one of Martin's friends again."

"Let me know you've scratched the itch and I'll ask Martin to stand down."

"You know, your husband has a lot of gay friends for a straight guy."

"You never heard of an ally?"

Sebastian laughed. They chatted about the business, and some urgent meetings he needed to handle in New York next week. When he ended the call, he played over her suggestion to go out and get laid, but he wasn't sure he could be bothered with the effort. On the apps, you never knew what you were getting until it had arrived. In a bar, he'd be surrounded by drunk people, who were irritating at the best of times. No, he'd head back to the hotel. He just had a couple of hours to get through and he could be eating steak and chips in the comfort of his hotel suite.

Back at the hotel, he ordered his dinner and took a shower. He was feeling restless. Damn Bex for getting in his head. He knew he was lonely, which sounded like the First World problem of a privileged white guy, but he wanted a partner to share his life with, despite reassuring his sister otherwise. He just didn't want to be burnt again.

Henry had crashed into his life at a fundraiser. He came from one of those upper-class families who found titles to be more important than basic human decency.

They'd been together for almost a year when things took a nasty turn. Sebastian had got to a point where he wanted to ask Henry to move in with him. He loved the guy, but Henry had other motives. Even though Sebastian was wealthier than Henry, he came from new money, so didn't command the same level of respect. Henry's family weren't overly thrilled about him being gay, but when they found out that he was in a relationship with someone who had actually earned their money, rather than inherited it, they were appalled. Sebastian cringed remembering the family dinner. Henry's father had researched Sebastian's background and thought it appropriate to speak highly of his successful father; the same man who had abused their mother.

Sebastian hadn't been able to hold back and told them what he thought before leaving. Henry hadn't followed him, which he understood. It was his family, and he was in a difficult position, but then Henry had ghosted him for a month before Sebastian learned he was engaged to some high-society toff. Whether he'd used Sebastian to annoy his family, or rolled over under a bit of pressure, he wasn't sure. They'd never spoken again. Sebastian had vowed then he wouldn't go for younger guys. He needed someone with maturity, who actually gave a shit about other people.

Since things had ended with Henry, he'd just found it easier to have hookups, even a couple of repeats, but he was bored with that now and craved something more. The big problem was his wealth. It intimidated guys, or that's all they were interested in. There was no in-between, or at least he had met no one yet.

Henry had been his first serious relationship in a decade. And now he was thinking about Brandon. Absolutely not. No way was he going to let him take anything more from him. Fuck, he couldn't sit here now thinking about the most painful time of his life. Maybe he would take Bex's advice. He'd at least go out for one drink and see if anyone caught his eye.