She returned to the apartment. The early morning lit the living room in a pale blue light. She looked into the Belinda’s room to see her sleeping soundly in bed. Alice felt better just seeing her peaceful sleeping face. She went into her room and put another white blouse on. She went into the living room and realized it was freezing. The fireplace was out. She didn’t like lighting any fires after seeing Belinda’s hands, but at the moment she let herself light the fire.She dropped herself on the couch, and fell asleep. The sound of a door creaking open woke Alice up. She turned to see Belinda.

“Alice, where were you all night?” She sneered.

“At the theatre. Where else?” Alice sat back down

“You had me worried.” She sat next to Alice, slapping her on the forearm. “You’re never out this late.”

“It was more paperwork than usual, and to add on to the stress there was a man screaming outside all through the night.”

“You didn’t look to see who it was. Did you?”

“No, of course not. Could have been some lunatic.”

Alice rested her head on Belinda’s shoulder, taking her hand.

“Belinda, what would you say if I told you we should leave everything behind and go somewhere quiet?”

“Leave?”

“Not for long, only for a week or two. I don’t think I can stand staying in this city any longer.”

“I think that would do you some good. You’ve been putting too much pressure on yourself lately and I haven’t been helping with that. If you want to leave, we’ll leave.”

“Now, where’s the best place to get away from the daily life of work, parties, unwanted suitors?”

“My family has a summer house in Marseilles.”

“In France? Well, better start packing.” Alice jumped from the couch and made her way to her room.

“Now?”

“Yes. Let’s be off for Marseilles as soon as we can, or do you have other plans this week?”

“No, I can cancel, but do you already have someone to manage things while we’re gone?”

“Jeffery can handle things.”

“You said Jeffery is incompetent.”

‘“That was a year ago, he’s made amazing progress. Besides, I can’t stand Harold.”

Three days had past since that horrific night and there was still no news of a body, but Alice couldn’t care less. They were off to France. Away from infested streets of the people’s noise, suffocating crowds, and the gloom of London. Alice’s nerves settled a bit during the train ride. There was no word of his disappearance yet. On the way, Alice never left the train during stops. Belinda asked if she was alright and if they need to go back.

“The further we’re away the better I’m off.” She said.

Marseilles was so much nicer than Alice could have imagined and everything was much clearer; the sky, the ocean, even the streets were less coward. The summer home was right on the beach, it was still cold out, so no one was there. The house was beautiful all white marble and weave furniture with blue cushions. Belinda wore a comfortable white dress that day, with white gloves. Alice let herself wear a pair of light blue trousers, with a white button shirt under her black waistcoat. They headed into town and took a long stroll through streets. That’s all they did that day, walk for hours with no worry of anything. They only stopped after the sun had began to set and went back to the house for dinner and tea. They sat on the porch facing the beach. The sun had deep down the horizon, leaving only the little shades of orange and purple. They sat silently, listening to the waves, Belinda’s head resting on her shoulder. It all seemed to perfect.

“Let’s never leave.”

“Oh, I wish we couldn’t.”

“But we can.” “Belinda, let’s stay here.”

“But the theatre.”

“I never cared for it.”

“I thought

“There was only one reason I stayed for so long.” She looked Belinda in the eyes and turned back to ocean. From what we could buy it for, we’d be able to live off it for the rest of our lives.”

“Just the two of us? Runaway, never go back to the lives we knew? Another cliche for the world.”

“At least you know how it will end.”

“In a story, but for our lives. Tell me, Alice, why runaway now? We could have been here years ago when we saw each other again. I thought of it myself, but with you, I’m happy.”

Alice tensed up.

“Belinda. Can we go inside?”

“Of course.”

She shut the glass doors behind her and sat down with Belinda on the weave couch. Alice took her gently by the hands. She didn't know why she had to spoil that perfect day with what she had done, but she felt that she should know what had happened and why they were there.

“Belinda, I need to tell you something important and I’ll understand if you never want to see, but do know that I only did it for you.”