The Decoy Date

Chapter Four

Imogen sat frozen to the spot, her mind had gone blank; the only thing floating around in there was his proposal, bouncing off the insides of her head like that screensaver everyone used to have. Charlie Ramsey, her fake boyfriend. There was no chance of that happening, but then she remembered her mother's warning and the way he'd spoken to her on the phone and how he'd changed and apologised to her, being genuinely sorry. Then she revisited that kiss again and the way it had made her feel and the way she forgot the world around her. She wasn't seriously considering this was she, how could she, the way he treated her; but here was seriously thinking about taking up the offer.

"You don't have to, I know I hurt you before. I just thought this could make your life that little bit easier." He was backpedalling quickly but the cogs were whirring in her brain going through all the possibilities; was it some elaborate prank to degrade her further or was he really offering himself up on the sacrificial altar in front of her and in front of her mother.

"I need to think about it, I want my mother off my back, but you and I have a history that I'd rather forget. I . . . I just need time to think about it." She sipped at her coffee trying to get her head around what he was proposing, she needed to think it through properly, write down all the pros and cons and weigh it up. "Let's talk about something else for now. Like how did you become a maths teacher? You never worked in school."

"I worked, I just didn't let on to other people that I worked. College made me realise I couldn't just sit back and expect to walk into a job, I needed to knuckle down and make it happen myself. I started my A-Levels just as my sister went off to uni, my parents were so proud of her, I just wanted them to feel proud about me just once. As you know I wasn't the best behaved kid at school." He smiled over his coffee cup, his eyes twinkling. "I've always been good at maths and I had a really great teacher at college, he worked with me and helped me get into university."

"I hated maths, I had sweaty smith every year, I don't know why they kept employing him he couldn't teach pigs to roll in shit!" Smiling ruefully, she recalled sitting in a dark, cold classroom being forced to do sums from a dank, musky textbook while the pupils behind her kicked her chair and called her names.

"All the maths teachers at school were crap, they didn't want to be there and they didn't want to teach us." Both she and Charlie finished their coffees and continued chatting about his job; she found out he graduated from the University of Leicester along with Adam Brent, who was another of her tormentor's from school. He then moved back to London and completed his PGCE.

"I better get back to the shop, Jess will be wondering where I am." She stood up and pushed her chair in, he mirrored her actions putting his jacket on before moving around the table towards her. Imogen flinched as he held out his hand for her to shake, after some hesitation she took it and felt the heat from yesterday return where they held contact.

"If you come to a decision about the fake dating thing, I'm at home alone tomorrow. You can pop round if you want, I'll either be watching the football or cooking for myself. I live on Chalcot Road." He walked her back to the shop without pushing the subject further, respecting her desire to think it through by herself. Imogen went into the shop without him and was immediately faced with a disgruntled Jess, she stood arms crossed and a single eyebrow raised waiting for some sort of explanation.

When one wasn't forthcoming the interrogation began. "You kissed Charlie Ramsey, the same Charlie Ramsey who tortured you and tormented you, gave you countless hours of anguish and suffering. What the hell were you doing?" Imogen stood speechless, her mouth opening and closing like her three goldfish at home, no words coming out. "It's like you'd forgotten everything he did to you and you came back all loved up having kissed him and then today you go and have coffee with him, accepting his meagre apology like it was the most sincere thing in the world." She was breathing hard, her nostrils flaring; all she needed was the fire coming from her mouth to look like a dragon.