Page 40 of The Holiday Cottage

It wasn’t a normal day for Imogen. It was going to be her last day.

Today was the day she was going to be fired. And there was no one to blame but herself. She’d dropped the ball. Let everyone down. She’d loved this job more than anything and she’d blown it. The one good thing in her life, and she’d destroyed it.

If she’d been the one sitting in Rosalind’s chair, she would have fired herself, which was why her letter of resignation was typed and ready in her bag. She was here not to try and persuade them to change their minds, but because she always owned her mistakes. She didn’t make excuses. When she was in the wrong, she said so. She was honest about that, even though she hadn’t been exactly honest about anything else in her life. But what was she going to say?I wanted to fit in. I wanted to seem normal so that you’d all like me, so I made up a few things about my life and then it got complicated.

Complicatedwas an understatement.

Maybe leaving would be a good thing. The way she felt right now she didn’t have the energy for work. The fire and enthusiasm that had driven her this far had gone. She felt exposed and vulnerable. Too much like her real self, and nothing like the persona she’d invented. She wasn’t Imogen the events management genius. She was Imogen the unloved. Imogen the fake.

She wanted to crawl under her bed and stay there until she could work out what to do next. She didn’t want to be here.

Coming into the office was the toughest thing she’d ever had to do.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped onto the floor that was taken up by RPQ.

A few people gave her a sympathetic glance, but most just kept their heads down, studiously avoiding eye contact, which told her everything she needed to know.

There was no sign of Sophie, and she felt a pang of guilt and concern as she looked at the empty desk. The knowledge that she’d let down a colleague hurt more than anything. Sophie was probably off sick. And then a worse thought flashed into her head. What if they’d fired Sophie?

“Imogen?” Rosalind’s voice came from her office. “I’m taking a call from Evelyn Barker and then I want to see you.”

Of course she did.

Rosalind wanted an explanation and Imogen didn’t have one.

But in the meantime she might as well clear her desk. Once her conversation with Rosalind was done, she’d want to be out of here as fast as possible. She was going to have to find another job. But who would employ her? Rosalind would give her a terrible reference.

Angus Fitzgerald had virtually offered her a job so she could potentially contact him, but he probably wouldn’t want her either once he found out the reason she was job hunting.

She reached her desk and saw a large box of chocolates with a note attached.

She picked up the note.

We’re here for you, Imogen. Anya and Janie. xx

The tears she’d been holding back threatened to spill over. Oh God, they were such great people and she’d been telling them nothing but lies. They deserved better.

Anya was on the phone, but she gave Imogen a smile and a thumbs-up as Imogen sat down.

That was when she noticed the stack of leaflets on her desk.

Each bore a large photo of Midas copied from the one on her desk, and above it in bold lettering STOLEN—HAVE YOU SEEN THIS DOG?

What the—?

Confused, she turned to look at Janie. “What is this?”

“We’re going to find him for you, Imogen. Whatever it takes.” Janie’s eyes glistened with tears of sympathy. “We’ve put them everywhere. All over social media. Stuck them on lampposts, handed them in at office buildings and hotels. The whole team helped.”

Wait. What?

“The whole team has been out looking for my dog?”

“Yes.”

All over social media?

Could this get any worse?

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