Page 37 of Convenient Rivals

His phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was his mother and was tempted not to answer, but she would only keep calling.

“Hello Mother.”

“Oscar, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days.”

He’d had no missed calls, texts, or emails. His mother liked to email him lengthy prose, usually about how she’d never be a grandmother. He didn’t have time to challenge her comment, as she didn’t even pause for him to respond.

“Daniel will meet you outside the venue tonight. You’re going to love him. He’s built his own legal practice from scratch, and is now one of the top corporate lawyers in the city. I know that self-made thing gets your motor running.”

What the fuck!

“And he’s middle class, dear. Isn’t that awfully quaint andreal? That’s the word, isn’t it? And he is drop dead gorgeous. Tall, but not as tall as you, because who is?” She tittered and kept going. “Nice muscles. Lots of strength. I know you like to be... what is the term...”

Please stop talking!

“Flung around the bedroom. That’s it.”

Please Lord, take me now.

“I don’t know. You kids and your strange quirks in the bedroom. Your father has only ever done one?—”

“Please stop talking, Mother, before I need a new therapist.”

“I’m just really excited, dear. I’ve been listening, you know. Everything you said about the other men not being your type. There was always something which was not right, rather than everything. If I had one of those cloning machines and could put all your needs into the computer, you know what it would create?”

“That’s not what a cloning machine does.”

“Really? Oh well, you get my point. Guess what it would make. Go on, guess.”

“Daniel,” he said dryly.

“Yes. Daniel. Oh, you wait until you see him. You’ll be on your knees before you know it.”

“Mother!”

“What? Oh... Oscar. Don’t be so crude. I meant one knee. You’ll be proposing.”

Oh, I’ll be proposing tonight alright, but it won’t be to Daniel.

“He’s going to meet you at seven o’clock, so you’ve got some time to get acquainted before the ball starts at eight. Ooh, I’m so excited.”

“Mother, I already have a date for tonight. You know this.”

“I’m sorry dear, I need to go. I’ll see you at the partywith Daniel.”

She hung up before he could say anything, and he spent a good thirty seconds staring at his phone, dumbfounded. Then he called her back. No answer.

Ugh, she was infuriating. Now this poor guy, who knew nothing about the situation his mother had put him in, was going to be stood up on New Year’s Eve. Oscar didn’t even know this guy and felt awful. That was all on his mother. Perhaps he could get there early, meet Daniel, explain the situation, apologise, and then meet Gregory as planned. That would work. His mother had gone too far this time.

His mother might have crossed a line, but her taste in men had vastly improved. Daniel was gorgeous. He had to be six feet four, and he was built, but he had a leaner build than Oscar. He looked good in his tuxedo. His handsome face had a layer of perfectly groomed stubble, and his eyes were like sapphires. Geeks might be at the top of his list, but a handsome older guy with experience did it for him sometimes as well. Not too much older, but old enough to bring experience to the bedroom.

A few weeks ago, Oscar would have been up for this date, but the only eyes he wanted looking at him now were emerald green and full of rage and heat whenever he looked at them. Now he was getting hard whilst sitting across from Daniel.

“I have to apologise, Daniel. My mother doesn’t want to accept that I have another date.”

“It’s okay. She explained the situation.”

“She did?”

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