Page 5 of The Retreat

The moment Talia spotted Imogen standing in the lobby, everything in her body went tight. Imogen looked wild-eyed, flushed, and furious. And she was here. At her work.

Imogen had been fired because of the sort-of accident in the café that morning, and she was clearly here to make that Talia’s problem. Talia hated Imogen and didn’t exactly regret that. But she also didn’t exactly not. But she didn’t have a chance to decide how she felt before the shit truly flew into the fan.

Talia glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of her boss, Celeste, stepping out of the lift. She was heading in their direction, fast.

One little ‘Oh Christ’ escaped from her mouth. She turned to Imogen. ‘We are not doing this in the lobby of my office.’

‘Why not? Embarrassed someone might hear what an unhinged maniac you are?’ Imogen shot back.

Talia winced. ‘You’ve made your point. But you’ve also just said you’ve got no money. So how about this?’ She pulled her phone from her pocket, heart hammering, and opened her banking app. Her thumb hovered for a second. ‘I’ll give you a grand. Right now. Just walk out of here.’

Imogen blinked at her. The fury was still there, but Talia could tell that number was tempting her. One thousand pounds. Not an insignificant amount but a small price to pay to escape this scene.

But before Talia could get confirmation that the deal was acceptable, the clock ran out.

‘Talia!’ Celeste’s voice rang out.

Talia turned and pasted on a smile just as her boss reached them. ‘There you are,’ Celeste said brightly. Her eyes slid to Imogen, curious. ‘And this must be Alex.’

Talia froze. What?

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 introduce this person 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? Because she’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.