Taken by Andrew Grey

Author:Andrew Grey [Grey, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

MALIK made himself some lunch and then spent much of the afternoon setting up his computers and trying to work. He didn’t get much done, but the effort was at least a show of normalcy that did his spirits good. Roman called later in the afternoon to tell him he would be home soon. Victor was apparently bringing him home. Malik shut down his computer and turned on the television. He’d just settled in to wait when the door buzzer sounded.

“Who is it?”

“Is this Malik? It’s your cousin, Nigel.”

Malik smiled and buzzed him in, then waited at the top of the stairs for him.

“I haven’t seen you since we were boys,” Nigel said with the same slightly crooked smile Malik remembered. They’d been children, and Nigel’s family had come to visit. They’d had a family reunion, of sorts. He and Nigel, being the same age, had played for hours.

“It’s been a long time,” Malik said, and they shook hands. Then he motioned Nigel inside and closed the door.

“Nearly twenty years, I think,” Nigel told him in his crisp English accent. “I almost didn’t receive your wedding invitation in time. I responded, and your Roman said of course I should attend. He wanted it to be a surprise for you.” He smiled.

“Well, the surprise was on all of us,” Malik said and motioned toward the chairs. “There’s some wine, if you’d like a glass.” He went into the kitchen and got two glasses. He found an open bottle and uncorked it, poured the glasses, then returned to the living room. He handed one to Nigel and then sat down himself.

“It must have been quite an ordeal,” Nigel said. “What did they want?”

Malik shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. No one ever spoke to me, and I saw no one. They didn’t ask for anything, or at least they hadn’t gotten around to it before I was able to signal the outside world and get away.” Malik sipped from his glass. “Now there’s a policeman who keeps an eye on things, and of course I have Roman and friends who watch out for me.” He checked his watch. “Roman should be home anytime.”

“Excellent. We talked a bit that day,” Nigel began, but then he seemed uncomfortable. “He seemed like a good chap.”

“Roman is the best person I’ve ever met,” Malik said with a smile.

And on cue, the door opened and Roman bounded inside. He paused when he saw Nigel and then closed the door. Nigel stood and Roman shook his hand. Then Roman gave Malik a light kiss and got a glass of wine before settling on the sofa.

“Sorry. The rehearsals ran a little over. Crystal is a glorious singer, but she’s a klutz when it comes to dancing, and we had to break everything down into baby steps.” Roman gulped from his glass. “I’m glad that’s over. Poor Victor.” Roman turned to Nigel. “I’m a choreographer and I needed to help save one of the shows I worked on.” He took another sip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.