Metamorphosis

(This is purely a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any living or dead person, or place, is purely coincidental)

So here I am. A human. A sexual addict. A playboy and a pervert.

All I see is women everywhere. And not just women. But everything about them. From the seductiveness of their eyes, to the lust of their lips. Right from the tenderness of their necks, to the voluptuousness of their navels. From the firmness of their thighs to the ticklish nature of the soles of their feet. Everything. I am a pervert. And everything I think about women turns to pure and wretched perverseness.

One day I meet this woman in my office. She is probably half a decade older than me. Yeah, so big deal, I think to myself. I can rope her into my web of lust and into my world of sexcapades. So I start talking to her to court her, charm her, and entice her. All with the objective of getting her into my bed. But all this did not seem to work. For a second, I was agonized. I thought I could never possess her. But then she started opening up to me. For an instant there, I thought my plan worked.

But then I realised what was truly happening. I was falling in love with her. Yeah, she was married. So what? Yeah, she was older than me. So what? Yeah, the whole office sleazily dreamt about her and while in consciousness, criticized her. So what?

I was in love. The real one. Not just a fake feeling.  But the one that made me euphoric and sent me into raptures every time I saw her. Every day I waited for her to come to office, and I used to stare at the door, just so that I would be the first person to see her, and relish her, and preserve her in my mind forever.

Then things started to unfold. She was one half of an unhappy marriage, she told me. Her husband was an animal who would come home every night only to molest her, and fall asleep while doing so. He would beat her up if she refused to fall prey to his carnal desires. Life, in general, was shit to her.

Her only respite was office, where she could take her minds off things.

So I started supporting her. I was the shoulder she would cry on. Sometimes, I was scared. “Dude, this is an older, married woman.” I thought to myself. “You cannot help her.”

But sometimes I was glad. Maybe, in giving her strength and support, I was pulling myself away from the world of lechery and self-indulgence. I started to rise above petty thoughts and distractions.

In time, she started falling for me too. I realised this, and for a second, the devilish side in me rose up and wanted to devour her. But then, I came back to my senses. And I realised, that I did not have to do it. I could be her friend for life, and she could be mine. And I would never for one second regret any part of my relationship with her.

So I told her what I felt. I told her that I'd rather be friends with her. She understood. And she was glad. She said, “You are definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I would not want to change this. I am really grateful that I met you, and I really will always pray for you from the bottom of my heart. You have changed me.”

Till today we are friends, and will continue to be. I just hope that everyone gets a chance in life to experience what I have. True, unadulterated, untainted love and friendship.

I still remember what she said. “You have changed me.” The truth is, she changed me. I was a deplorable, despicable wretch earlier. She, made me a man.

(Acknowledgements to a friend for the story (you know who you are), and to Old Monk, for the impetus provided. :-))