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Back Walking on Sunshine Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By the same author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. Three Months Later
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. Epilogue – Five Years Later
  44. Acknowledgements
  45. An extra note from me …
  46. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

It’s stupid.

I know he’s allowed to be upset, just as I am, but I don’t know why I feel the need to sweep his feelings away as though he’s overreacting when I act in certain ways that push him away and spark a tension between us. We both know that if it were the other way round I’d be fuming and telling him to change the dates of the trip straight away. I’d certainly let it be known how pissed off I was. I wouldn’t let it lie.

Fifteen minutes later I’m sitting at the kitchen table, my bowl still untouched due to my loss of appetite, when I hear Liam rush down the stairs and head straight out the front door. He doesn’t even shout out goodbye.

Three Months Later

Penguin walking logo

15

Mike

‘Do you mind if I grab the aisle seat?’ calls Vicky as we’re walking towards our allocated seats on the crowded plane, squeezing past other passengers who have reached their spots and are now faffing about retrieving bits and bobs from their hand luggage rather than moving in a bit to let others through. No matter how much I’ve travelled this has always been and will always be a continuous bugbear of mine.

‘I have longer legs!’ I say, remembering how relieved I was at having a little space to stretch out when I was allocated the aisle seat.

‘But I’m a nervous flyer. I’ll be needing the loo every five minutes. I’m worse now I’ve had kids,’ she rambles, completely oblivious to people looking over and listening to her overshare. ‘Honestly, I was meant to go and see someone about it but you know how it is, I always end up at the bottom of the priority list. I’ve had to start wearing pads.’

‘Stop, stop, stop!’ I say, laughing as I place my hand on her shoulder. ‘It’s all yours, but thanks for sharing.’

‘Sweet friend,’ she says, patting my hand before stepping aside to let me into my new seat, which is sandwiched between her and Zaza who has already made herself comfy by the window. I place my rucksack in the overhead luggage compartment and squeeze in next to her. Taking a deep breath I wiggle my body into a satisfying position I think I can bear for the next few hours until I need to get up and stretch.