Page 135 of The Reboot
Loretta took a deep breath. ‘About five thousand altogether. I sent him the money for the flight, and I paid some of his daughter’s hospital bills. At least, that’s what I thought I was paying for.’
‘Well, you should go to the police,’ Ella said.
Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Because my boyfriend dumped me? Hardly a matter for the police, is it?’
‘He’s not your boyfriend,’ Ella said softly. ‘He was never your boyfriend.’
‘Oh yeah. I keep forgetting that.’
‘It’s a crime, and it should be reported. You won’t be the only one. They get cases like this all the time.’
‘God, I’m such an idiot.’ She shook her head.
‘No, you’re not. You trusted someone, you took him at his word. There’s no shame in that. You didn’t do anything wrong. He’s the shitbag. He’s the one who should be ashamed.’ He’s the one who should have his balls cut off, she thought to herself.
‘I was an easy target, I suppose. I was just a bit lonely.’
‘That’s nothing to be ashamed of.’ So why was it so hard to admit it, to say it out loud? Loneliness: it was like the last taboo.
‘How did you know?’ Loretta asked Roly as he came back into the room.
‘That picture you sent me. I did a search for it online and it came up on lots of profiles under different names. But I found the real man who owns the photo on Facebook. Do you want to see?’
Loretta nodded, and Roly hunkered down in front of her and took out his phone. He turned it to face her and Ella, and showed them a Facebook page. The profile photo was Loretta’s ‘Mike’. The man’s real name was Neil Miller. Loretta took the phone from Roly and Ella looked at it over her shoulder as she scrolled. There were other photos on his page, family pictures with a smiling wife, three teenage boys and a little girl.
So … he’s married,’ Loretta said, frowning. ‘I should have known. He seemed too good to be true.’
Ella shook her head. ‘That’s not him at all. Mike doesn’t exist, remember? This is just someone who’s had their identity stolen.’
‘Oh, the poor man,’ Loretta said. ‘Do you think he knows?’
Ella shrugged. ‘Probably. His picture has been used so often, I reckon he’s bound to have been made aware of it at some stage.’
‘Do you think I should contact him and tell him? They look like such a nice family.’ She smiled, fingering the screen of Ella’s phone.
‘I don’t know. I guess see what the police say?’
Loretta nodded. ‘Yeah. I’ll do that.’
‘This is really good, Mum,’ Roly said later as they sat around the table, eating a complicated prawn and salmon roulade starter. They were all studiously ignoring the romantic setting. ‘Mikedoesn’t know what he’s missing.’
Loretta took the gift-wrapped parcel from in front of her plate and slid it across the table to Roly. ‘You might as well have this.’
He picked it up. ‘Are you sure? You could return it?’
‘No, I’d like you to have it. You’re the most important man in my life.’
Roly smiled and opened the gift tentatively. Inside was a Cartier box containing a pair of gold cufflinks.
‘Lucky I didn’t get them engraved,’ Loretta said as he lifted them out.
‘They’re lovely, Mum. Thanks. If you’re sure you don’t want to return them?’
‘No, I want you to have them. I know cufflinks aren’t really your thing—’
‘I’ll definitely wear these. I love them.’
Loretta gave a hollow, bitter laugh. ‘Your money paid for them anyway,’ she said. ‘Not much of a present.’
