Wounded Beast by Carre Georgia le

Author:Carre, Georgia le [Carre, Georgia le]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Adult
ISBN: 9781910575178
Amazon: B015SQ4ZHY
Goodreads: 26813411
Publisher: Georgia Le Carre
Published: 2015-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

I return home the next day, still enchanted by the feel of deer eating directly from my outstretched palm, to find my answering machine blinking. One message at twelve thirty a.m. Who the hell left a message after midnight?

I press play and the message is blank. Well, it’s not exactly blank—I can hear someone breathing. Frowning, I replay it. Yes, for at least thirty seconds someone held a phone to their ear and breathed into it. A chill runs up my spine. I dial 1471 and an automated voice says, ‘Caller withheld their number.’

‘Fuck you, Michael,’ I whisper into the stillness of my flat.

I stand for a few moments looking at the phone. Then I pick up the receiver and call my mother.

‘Hi, Mum,’ I say brightly.

‘Ella,’ she says. ‘Guess who I saw?’

‘Who?’

‘Your ex, Michael.’

I grip the phone harder. My mum doesn’t know how much trouble I had with Michael. I never told her how crazy it all got because I didn’t want to worry her. She only knows that he had become a pest and she was instructed to entertain neither phone calls nor any attempts from him to make contact.

I feel my heart rate increase. ‘Oh?’ I say as casually as I can. ‘Where did you see him then?’

‘I bumped into him at the supermarket.’

I frown. ‘Which supermarket?’

‘Morrisons.’

‘You mean the small one near you?’

‘Mmm.’

‘Why was he shopping there? He doesn’t live nearby,’ I say, thinking aloud.

‘I have no idea. He never said.’

‘What did he say, then?’

‘Not much. He was very friendly, though. He invited your dad and me for dinner. Obviously I said no. And then he went on his way.’ My mother pauses. ‘He didn’t ask about you or anything like that.’

‘When was this?’

‘Day before yesterday. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I forgot. I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? I couldn’t be rude.’

‘Of course you didn’t do anything wrong, Mum. But if you see him again, even accidentally, let me know, OK?’

‘OK. When are you coming over?’

‘This weekend?’

‘That’ll be nice. Why don’t you stay the night?’

‘Um … I probably won’t. But I’ll definitely come over on Saturday. We can do some shopping and then I’ll take you and Dad out for lunch.’

‘All right, love. Do you want to speak to your dad?’

‘What’s he doing?’

‘What do you think he’s doing?’

‘Oh, if he’s watching TV don’t bother him. I’ll see you both at the weekend,’ I say quickly.

‘Goodbye, love.’

‘Speak later, Mum.’

I put the phone down and call Anna’s office number.

‘How was it last night?’ she says with barely suppressed curiosity.

‘Er … it was great.’

‘Great?’ she explodes dramatically. ‘That’s all I get?’

‘I’ll tell you all about it in one minute. Anna, has Michael tried to contact you?’

‘Michael? I’m the last person that spineless, useless pig will call after the ear bashing I gave him the last time he tried to get me to pity him.’

‘Right,’ I say distractedly. Just the thought of having Michael in my life at this moment when everything is so wonderful and dreamlike gives me the shivers.

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