Page 8 of The Retreat
Celeste turned to Imogen, beaming. ‘We’ve heard so much about you. It’s lovely to finally meet you.’ She grabbed hold of Imogen’s hand and started shaking it. Talia waited for her to say something, but she didn’t say a word. She just let her hand be shaken. She looked confused, putting it lightly.
Talia wanted to correct her. She opened her mouth to do so, but then she thought,Yes, OK, you can say this isn’t Alex, but then what? How would you explain or introducethisperson to your boss?
So she, like Imogen, ended up saying nothing.
Celeste was not one to let a silence occur. ‘You know, we wondered if you really existed,’ she chuckled.
Oh god.
‘But here you are. Did you get a day off at last?’
Imogen pursed her lips, the start of a word coming out, possibly a string of words of the type that could ruin a rep in seconds. Talia had to do something quickly.
‘We were just heading out,’ Talia said firmly, already guiding Imogen by the elbow.
Imogen glanced at her with narrowed eyes, clearly confused, but for once, she didn’t protest.
Talia got them through the glass doors and out onto the pavement, her heart still pounding. She let go of Imogen’s arm and turned to her.
Imogen crossed her arms. ‘What the hell was that?’
‘That,’ Talia said, opening her phone again and pulling up the transfer, ‘was none of your business.’
She held out the screen. ‘One thousand pounds. Right now. You walk away.’
Imogen stared at it, then at her. ‘Why does she think my name is—’
‘Not your problem. Put your bank details in.’
They stood there for a long second. The sound of traffic, the low thrum of the city, the absurdity of the entire thing pressing in around them.
Imogen gave her a long, unreadable look. Then, finally, she said, ‘Fine.’ She took Talia’s phone, tapped in her details, and handed it back.
Talia hit the button.
It only took a second for the confirmation to appear. Payment sent.
Imogen’s phone buzzed a moment later. She checked it, then looked up again. ‘You’re unbelievable, you know that?’
‘Just take my money and fuck off,’ Talia said flatly.
Imogen gave her a final, livid look, then turned and did just that.
Talia stood there, alone on the pavement, watching her go, heart still pounding with something that wasn’t quite relief. She’d bought herself a solution to a problem. For now. But what the hell was she going to do when ‘Alex’ came up again? Becauseshe’d never actually said that Imogen wasn’t Alex, had she? So now, Alex had a face, and that was… good?
Or maybe not. Because that face was Imogen’s face.
Six
Imogen stood at the bus stop with her hands in her pockets, shoulders hunched. Two minutes to wait for her ride home.
She took out her phone again and opened her banking app. It was still there; it wasn’t an illusion. One thousand pounds. Enough to cover the rent for this month. After the way she’d barely scraped by last month, it was good to know she wouldn’t sweat the next rent day.
Still, given what she’d lost, it wasn’t much. Because now she had no job, no backup plan. What would happen after that?
The bus picked her up, and she sat on the top deck, staring as the streets blurred by. Shops, buses, faceless people.
She looked at her phone once more. And the number had already shrunk. A debit for her phone contract had been taken. Not a lot, but a reminder of the clock already running out. Not that she needed it.
