Falling for my boss ✔️

Chapter 31 - Mentally damaged

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Michael's POV

"I have to go."

Gone was the feeling of Sara's soft skin, her even breathing and the hotel's cheap blanket, replaced by the feeling of scalding hot sand underneath my feet.

As I glanced down to check, everything around me got brighter. As if somebody had turned up the brightness, and with it, the temperature. I instantly started sweating. My skin felt hot.

My feet were smaller, much smaller than to what I was used to.

This scent ... salty, hot, fresh, full of life. Music sounded in the distance. A soft breeze cooled my skin from the scalding rays of the sun. I curled my toes and the sand moved along. I felt it tickle between my feet, raising one after the other to shake the sand off.

Waves hit my feet, cold, so cold, the moment I heard it again.

"I have to go."

There it was again.

His voice.

Frantically, I jerked my head up and my breath got caught in my lungs aggressively, making my gasp short and cruel.

Sébastien.

In front of me.

In his beaming frog green swimwear, round, colourful stones in his little hands. And he frowned.

The hair that was neither blonde or brown was tussled, a bang covering his forehead while another part of his hair stuck up messily. His eyes, almost as bright as his swimwear, glistened. Full of life. Just like when I had last seen him. The dimple on his right cheek was there because he had his lips curled in denial.

He always did that. When he hated something, he curled his lips. When he disliked something, he curled his lips. When he was disappointed, he curled his lips. When he was sad, he curled his lips.

There he was. In the middle of the beach. Between the sand and the water. On his own. Nobody around us. My 4-year-old brother, his eyes as bright as always, his lips curled into a small pout, his hands clutching the stones he had found moments prior.

Adrien was nothing like him. They were nothing alike.

Sébastien's face was fuller. His eyes were rounder. His stature was more impressive, even for a little boy. He took after the strong build my father had gifted us. In some way, I did see my father in him.

Just like Adrien mirrored Léon.

Adrien was totally different than him. Even the tussled hair tussled in another way and direction, both unique to each little boy.

It hurt. It felt like a sharp jab as I could clearly make out my brother as a small boy.

Not in his last few days. Hanging, loose clothing. Grey skin. Drooping eyes. Greyish, pale skin. Glazy eyes. But they still had beamed.

He would have become such a handsome little man. He would have had the world in his hands, just by the pure naivety Sébastien radiated. Basti had always possessed a charm unlike any other family member.

"I have to go."

Even his voice was just like I remembered it to be. As bright as the sun. As clear as the sky.

Full of life.

"Where to?", I asked, my heart dropping to my stomach. My feet moved forward to him. "Don't go. Wait for us."