There is a man I like. I first met him 13 years ago in a swimming pool at Serena Beach Resort. He was with his toddler daughter, and the only reason I noticed him was that he had a very 'hot' nanny watching over her. I told my friend on the phone, "It is structurally and spiritually impossible to have such an attractive woman as a nanny for your daughter."
"Unless, of course, you are gay," my friend pointed out.
He wasn't gay. He was shamelessly seducing a lady in the pool - my client, as it happened. When he told her he wanted to buy her dinner, she rebuffed him, telling him she was with a team. "I will also buy your team dinner," he said.
So he bought eight people - strangers really - dinner at an exorbitant seafood restaurant, introduced himself as a “prominent farmer”, and held court at the head of the table - charming, funny, eyes on her. Suffice it to say, he wore her down and won her over time.
Somehow we formed a friendship from that Mombasa encounter. Once or twice a year we drink at The Wine Shop in Loresho, his favourite haunt. Never a dull moment with him.
We had a drink recently at The Wine Shop - he was accompanied by a beauty he had his eye on. Young, successful, the type who rises fast because of brains, beauty and a quick turn of phrase. He's turning 55, she is 32.
He was telling her, “You need to decide, darling, if you’re looking for enthusiasm or experience." Or. "Let me take you to the Safari Rally. We will stay at Lord Delamere's house. The rally will come to us." It is a thing of beauty to watch him deploy his silver tongue. The lady, surely, is on the ropes.
The Wine Shop is the kind of place this level of seduction would happen; no loud music, no loud people. Good wine, good food - I have always only ordered the Bok Choy Chicken. Some places you go for food. Some you go for the people. The Wine Shop, on a good evening, gives you both.
