The World Behind Her Eyelids: Inescapable Escapism by Alexa Lee

Author:Alexa Lee [Lee, Alexa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riverfolk Books
Published: 2023-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

The walk back to our villa was wonderful. The warm, gentle breeze blowing off the ocean was tinged with salt and welcome. It pushed the hair back from my face and caressed my skin.

We could have chosen to use one of the golf carts that waited by the front of the restaurant, which would have gotten us back quicker, but we’d silently agreed to walk.

I was glad. We were walking in silence, partially because of the constant fear that someone would be eavesdropping but also because it was comfortable. I didn’t mind it at all.

It felt a little strange though. The silence wasn’t strained or filled with anxiety like it was when I was with my mom, it was just… nice. The soft whisper of the water somewhere nearby filled the air, disturbed only by the occasional buzz of the golf carts and susurration of the trees that had been planted around the resort.

Reluctantly, I blinked back into reality, focusing for just long enough to look around. The roads were still windy and surrounded by greenery, which was enough for me to realise we were getting closer to my grandparent’s house but still had a little while to go.

With a smile, I blinked back into Mitch’s world, time barely passing since I’d been there last.

That was one thing I noticed. Time moved weirdly in my fantasies. Sometimes, it seemed to rush by. A whole day in the fantasy could be gone in an hour but other times, it moved so slowly. I didn’t mind it, not really. I wasn’t missing anything good, but it was still weird.

“How was your dinner?” Mitch asked after a while, his tone a little too enthusiastic.

I wasn’t sure, but it felt like he was still being the person he’d been pretending to be before which meant I needed to pretend to be Alice.

“Fine,” I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket and staring down at it blankly.

“Oh yeah? Did you enjoy dessert? That was real good, right?” he asked in a hopeful tone.

“I said it was fine,” I said sharply. “How long is this walk anyway? I thought it was meant to be short.”

Mitch looked around as if he were trying to work out where we were.

“I think…” He trailed off before pointing at a sign and exclaiming, “Ah, ha! Right there! Just down this path and we’ll be at our house!”

“Villa,” I muttered under my breath as if it mattered.

Mitch resolutely ignored me, but I noticed that he sped up.

Guilt spiked within me and I fought not to wince. Was he trying to get back to our villa quicker so that I’d stop acting like such a brat because, honestly? I understood that.

But at the same time, I felt bad. I had to keep acting that way, people might be listening in. Mitch had said that Sterlings people were everywhere so… I needed to keep up the facade, no matter how much I hated it.

Even so, I was relieved when we got back into our rooms.

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.