The Mosquito (Obsession collection) by B. A. Paris

Author:B. A. Paris [Paris, B. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2023-07-24T23:00:00+00:00

“Mikey! Mikey! We’re waiting for you!”

Michael slowly opened his eyes. He thought for a moment that he was back at school, not the school where he taught but the school he had gone to as a child, because that was the last time anyone had called him Mikey. But no, he was here, in the South of France, and remembering that he was meant to be playing golf with Simon and Nathan, he pushed the sheet away and stumbled to the window, worried he had kept them waiting. Pushing the shutter open, he squinted at the person calling him. Rupert. He tried to prevent himself from scowling; he should have known that neither Simon nor Nathan would call him Mikey.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Nine o’clock!” Rupert called up. “Breakfast time, remember.”

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

By the time he’d showered and dressed, only Kate and Saskia remained on the terrace.

“Sorry,” Kate said, handing him a mug of coffee and a croissant. “Your game is booked for ten, so you need to leave.”

“I overslept.” He took a sip of coffee. “Don’t you get bothered by mosquitoes during the night?”

Kate shook her head, then squinted at him. “There must have been a plague of them in your room. Have you seen your face?”

“Briefly.” He didn’t want to think about the dozen or so bites he’d seen in the mirror, nor the ones that seemed to cover every inch of his body. “I’m going to buy six of those antimosquito plugs and stick them into every socket in my bedroom.”

“Good idea,” Saskia said, giving him a smile.

Michael put his cup down and held up the croissant. “I’ll take this with me, eat it in the car. Is Simon driving?”

Kate nodded, a little uneasily, he thought. Michael frowned. “Is something the matter?”

His sister looked at him apologetically. “Rupert has decided to go with you.”

“What?” He felt a surge of anger, and instead of suppressing it, as he had since Julie had left him, he embraced it, glad to be able to direct it at Rupert. “Why? He said yesterday that he doesn’t play golf!”

“Apparently, he wants to walk the course with you.”

Michael cursed under his breath. He couldn’t back out now.

Footsteps approached. “Mikey! Where are you?”

“Here.” Michael’s voice was curt. “And it’s Michael, not Mikey,” he added, as Rupert appeared on the terrace.

“Just trying to be friendly.” Rupert stopped dead. “Oh my, have you seen your face?”

“Have you seen yours?” Michael countered.

Rupert frowned. “Why, what’s wrong with it?”

“It’s like a tomato. You really should use sunscreen.”

“Oh.” A blush made Rupert’s skin even redder than it already was. “It was Angelica who always thought about things like that.” He turned to Saskia. “Do you have some you can lend me?”

“I’ll get it for you.” She turned and left the terrace, but not before Michael had seen the reproach in her eyes. He cursed inwardly. Every time he tried to have a dig at Rupert, Rupert managed to bring it back to Angelica and made Michael feel mean.

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