AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She laughs. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“Yeah, okay.” I get to my feet. “Any news from Craig?”
“I’m afraid not. He called in sick again. Claire tried to ask what’s going on, but he made some excuse and ended the call.”
I sigh. I let it go yesterday, hoping he’d come in after he cooled down, but that didn’t work, so I’m going to have to deal with it today.
“What’s my schedule like?” I ask.
“Not too bad today. Nothing until the meeting with TalkTech at ten, and then you’re over at the hospital at two.”
“Okay, thanks.” I pick up my coffee and go into my office.
I put the wrap and post on my desk, then go over and stand by the window. It’s a beautiful day, a bit blustery, but then it often is in Wellington. It’s nice and clear for Alice’s drive back to Gisborne. Even so, she probably won’t get there much before six p.m., especially if she stops a few times. I doubt I’ll hear from her before then.
I sip my coffee, thinking about last night. About going down on Alice, and her surprised cries of pleasure when she came. About sliding inside her, and the stab of realization I felt when I saw she was bleeding. It wasn’t that I thought she was lying about being a virgin, I was just so surprised that she could get to the age of twenty-five and not have had sex. She’s so beautiful and sexy. It’s an absolute crime.
But it’s not as if it was her choice. Her commitment to her family has been amazing. I have nothing but admiration for the fact that she’s looked after her mother and sent her sister to university. It’s rare for a person to make such sacrifices in this day and age without expecting something in return.
Turning, I pull out my big leather chair, sit down, and roll up to my desk. I study my post for a moment. Then I open my laptop.
I don’t even know her surname. She wanted to remain anonymous, and I should respect that.
Yeah, right. This was always going to happen.
I pull up Google and type “Alice Gisborne.”
At the top of the search is a dentist called Alice Monroe who works in the city. I click on the profile—she’s a brunette around forty, so I know it’s not her. Second is an Alice Beecham who’s a realtor. A click brings up a Gisborne real estate agency. A second click on staff reveals that Alice Beecham is in her fifties with gray curly hair.
The third search result is a Facebook entry for someone called Alice Liddell. I click on it, and it takes me to the Facebook page. It’s set to private, so the rest of the information is hidden. But the profile picture is of a beagle lying on its back. Hmm.
I type in “Alice Liddell.”
At the top of the search results is a series of black-and-white photographs of a young girl, maybe ten years old, clearly taken a long time ago. I click on the Wikipedia entry—yeah, it’s not her. This woman was, in her childhood, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’sAlice’s Adventures in Wonderlandin the 1850s.
I type in “Alice Liddell Gisborne”.
Once again, the Facebook profile pops up, but nothing else. The beagle picture still suggests it’s her, though.
I decide to change tack. This time, I type “Alice Liddell science fiction fantasy reviews.”
The first entry of the search results is of a website called Wonderland.
I stare at the screen. Oh shit. Surely not.
I click on the Wonderland link, which brings up the website of a podcast that reviews science fiction and fantasy novels, run by a woman called Alice. I click on the About section of the website. It says, “Alice Liddell has been a fan of Lewis Carroll’s bookAlice’s Adventures in Wonderlandsince her mother named her after the character when she was born. Alice loves gaming, music, and chocolate truffles, and lives in Middle-Earth.”
There’s a photo of her. It’s the one she used on Tinder where she’s obviously sitting at her recording desk with her headphones around her neck, smiling at the camera.
I sit back with a short laugh. Holy shit.
I listen to the podcast every week, often while I’m working out at the gym. No wonder I recognized her husky voice. I just didn’t put two and two together because it was out of context. She’s huge in the New Zealand literary community. She publishes regular episodes on YouTube and Spotify and Apple in which she interviews famous sci-fi and fantasy authors from both New Zealand and across the world, as well as reviewing new books. On TikTok she does daily videos where she talks about her favorite novels. She’s also active on Twitter, where she chats all the time to readers and writers. Jesus, I even follow her on there. In fact, I’m sure I’ve replied to a couple of her tweets over the last few years when she’s been discussing books. She’s appeared at several Kiwi fantasy conventions where she’s done live podcasts interviewing movie stars and authors. She’s really well known.
The reason I didn’t make the connection is that I hadn’t seen a photo of her. I’ve never looked at the About page of the website. The avatar she uses on the Wonderland social media sites isn’t a photo of herself or her beagle but a cartoon of a rabbit with a pocket watch and waistcoat, an adaptation of one of the original wood-engraved illustrations done for the book. Otherwise, online she doesn’t tend to show her face. Her podcasts are audio only. And her photos on Facebook and Instagram only include pictures of books.
Suddenly everything falls into place. The pendant she wears of a playing card with the Queen of Hearts. The keyring with a red heart and book, and her statement, “I like flamingos.” They use flamingos as mallets in the story, don’t they? I pull up the Wikipedia page of the book and read through it. Jesus! How many references did she make when we were together? I know she mentioned her ‘curious appetite’. She called her fries ‘pommes de terre’—I knew it was French for potatoes, but I didn’t realize it was part of a language pun used in the book, ‘digging for apples’. She jokingly asked me if I played croquet. And when I gave her half of the truffle, as she ate it, she said, “Off down the rabbit hole.” Christ. She gave me all those clues, and I didn’t get one of them! Now I know why she said, “How did you know?” when I said, “Come on. Let’s go down the rabbit hole together, and see if we end up in Wonderland.”
I sit back, thinking about her podcast. Dammit, I knew I recognized her. I listen to her because I love her husky voice and her quirky sense of humor. She never fails to make the people she’s interviewing laugh. She’s also really smart at analyzing books and movies, and I enjoy her critical mind. I think about some of the episodes I’ve enjoyed, and I’m filled with a sense of wonder. I already thought she was amazing, but now I’ve filled in the gaps, it’s only amplified my admiration for her.
