Page 53 of The Retreat

Talia woke to the flat grey of early morning seeping through the hotel curtains. For a second, she couldn’t remember where she was or why she felt so fucking good. Until she turned her head and saw Imogen asleep beside her. And then last night came rushing back. The absolute best sex of Talia’s entire life. It wasn’t even close.

Imogen lay on her side, her blonde hair good and sex-tousled, her full lips parted slightly. Her face was relaxed in sleep. She was farcically beautiful in repose. But Talia would have expected nothing less.

She lay still for as long as she could justify, trying to burn the image of Imogen into her memory. She wanted to live in this moment.

Then she saw the clock. ‘Oh fuck.’

Imogen stirred and opened her eyes. ‘No, I can’t put in a catheter!’ she cried.

Talia laughed. ‘You’re having a nightmare. But it’s over.’

Imogen’s eyes brightened as she came back to the world. ‘Oh my god. Patrick Dempsey was screaming at me to help a clown give birth to a balloon animal,’ she said, pressing a hand to her forehead.

Talia chuckled, propping herself up on one elbow to look at her. ‘Well, Patrick Dempsey can deal with that by himself. Your medical career is over.’

‘Thank god,’ Imogen muttered, eyes still half-closed. ‘I think my subconscious is trying to report me to the General Medical Council.’

Talia smiled, the affection blooming before she could stop it. She reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Imogen’s ear. ‘You’re safe now. No more catheters.’

Imogen smiled.

‘One last little crisis, though. It’s ten to nine and we’re supposed to check out at nine,’ Talia told her reluctantly.

Imogen’s smile dropped. ‘Christ.’ She jumped out of bed and started packing. She turned to Talia. ‘What are you still doing lying there? Come on!’ she cried.

Talia chuckled and got out of bed. ‘I like this bossy side of you. It’s hot.’

‘Stop flirting, start packing,’ Imogen commanded, trying not to grin and failing.

They dressed and packed without further conversation. Talia tried not to think of what waited for her beyond the room. She didn’t want to go out there. Didn’t want to see Jade’s smirk or the look of disgust on Marcus’s face. And she certainly didn’t want to see victory on Daniel’s mug.

She glanced at Imogen once more before zipping her case. Imogen met her gaze steadily. And she felt a little better, a little braver.

It was on the dot of nine when they finally left the room, dragging their cases along the corridor carpet. Maybe everyone had already gone?

But as they walked down the staircase, Talia knew she’d been crazy to think she could have been so lucky. There was a bit more humiliation waiting for her.

Celeste. Jade. Marcus. Daniel. Rebecca. All gathered in the lobby with coats on and luggage in hand. The last of the Monroe party.

Everyone looked up at once.

Talia stopped walking. Imogen, just behind her, faltered. For a second, no one spoke. The silence was so heavy it made Talia’s ears ring.

Celeste’s mouth flattened. Jade raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. Marcus glanced down at the floor. Rebecca smiled nervously, then looked away.

Imogen was the one who moved first, stepping up beside her. She didn’t say a word, but her presence steadied Talia.

‘Keep walking,’ Talia murmured.

Imogen gave a tiny nod, eyes flicking warily across the group as they walked down the stairs, which were now roughly ten miles long.

But before they could reach the door, the sound of tyres on gravel made everyone turn. A cab had just pulled up outside. They watched through the window as the driver got out, opened the back door, and out stepped Rhona.

The driver pushed open the double doors to allow her through, and she said, ‘Thank you, Steve. Could someone pay him, please? I don’t have my purse.’

Rebecca trotted over. Steve had a card machine ready, and she tapped it. ‘I’ll need a receipt,’ she warned him.

‘Are you OK?’ Celeste asked as the driver left.

Rhona looked paler than usual, her hospital bracelet just visible under the cuff of her jumper. ‘I’m fine. I was just dehydrated, as it turned out. Not that those quacks would let me go. I slept terribly in that hospital.’

Celeste let out a sigh of relief. But Rhona didn’t notice. She was too busy picking up the weird vibe in the lobby.

‘Well, what did I miss?’ she asked, blinking at the frozen tableau before her.

Nobody answered right away. Then Jade, always willing to take centre stage, stepped forward, arms crossed, and delivered the story in short, sharp bursts, getting right down to brass tacks. Talia was a fraud who’d made up a girlfriend and had gotten some random to play the part of the hot doctor.

‘And she doesn’t even know basic first aid!’ Jade exclaimed as a dramatic denouement. As the least shocking part of the story, Talia felt it fell a bit flat.

Rhona absorbed it all in silence, her gaze moving between them. When Jade finished, she looked at Talia, then at Imogen. Her mouth twisted, not in disgust but in weary resignation.

‘Right. Well. I’ve got to say... I’m not surprised.’

Celeste bristled. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Am I supposed to be?’ Rhona asked.

Jade, Rebecca, and Celeste said, ‘YES!’ all at once.

‘Come on, Celeste.’ Rhona turned to her, voice low and steady. ‘You’re just like your father. You want the company to look perfect. You want us to look perfect. You’d burn the whole house down before you let anyone see a crack in the walls.’

Celeste flushed. ‘That’s not true.’

Rhona didn’t blink. ‘It is. That’s why people lie. Why they hide things. You make it impossible to be anything other than spotless.’ She gestured toward Talia. ‘I don’t blame her. We’ve all played the game. Eighty-hour weeks. No sick days. Smiling at clients while your relationship crumbles, or your sister’s in hospital, or your life’s coming apart at the seams. No wonder she cracked.’

Celeste’s eyes had gone glassy, but she said nothing. No one responded at all.

Marcus cleared his throat. ‘You’ll need help packing,’ he said to Rhona. She nodded, and they went up the stairs.

Jade muttered something about needing to be somewhere.

One by one, they left.

Celeste was the last one left, besides Talia and Imogen.

She lingered a moment longer than the rest, opened her mouth, then seemed to think better of it.

She turned and followed the others out, heels clicking like punctuation marks on the polished floor.

It was over.

Imogen and Talia stood side by side in the empty lobby, the hum of the lift behind them, the scent of cold coffee in the air.

‘Well,’ Imogen said after a long silence, her voice dry. ‘That could’ve gone worse.’

Talia let out a short laugh. ‘Could it?’

Imogen turned to her and took her hand. Her fingers were warm and firm. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘It really could’ve. Rhona had your back. Even though I almost killed her.’

Talia smiled at Imogen. ‘Don’t be a drama queen. She was just overly thirsty.’

But it had been nice to have Rhona understand. It wouldn’t change anything. Rhona was a partner, but she didn’t call the shots. Talia’s career was still buggered. But still.

‘So… My place or yours?’ Imogen asked.

Talia grinned.

They walked out together and got into Talia’s car.