Phyllis: Part Seven

~ beetleypete

This is the seventh part of a fiction serial, in 780 words.

Sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, Geoffrey was overwhelmed by the situation he found himslef in. He was unable to look at the almost naked man who was talking to him in a very different voice to the one he was used to. How could he not have realised? Now the truth was out, it was all too easy to see. The larger feet and hands, the hair that was now so obviously a wig. He had been taken in completely, and now he felt stupid and broken.

Terence was taking charge.

“Okay, this is what’s going to happen. Tomorrow morning, you ring your daughter and tell her Phyllis is unwell, probably something she ate. You cancel the family gathering, and on no account do you let them come here. Try to be positive, suggest a meeting another time. Tell them I am keen to meet them, that kind of thing. Then you are going to go online, transfer twenty thousand pounds to my bank account, and set up a regular monthly payment of five hundred pounds until further notice. Once you have done that, You will give me your laptop and your phone. You can tell anyone who asks that your laptop stopped working, and you lost your phone somewhere. Are you listening?”

His head was nodding, and he sounded as if he was crying. Terence continued.

“If you tell anyone, all the photos I took will be shared to your contact list, and all your family too. Don’t think about trying to delete them, I have copies on my phone, and they are all stored in The Cloud somewhere. You will not contact the dating site again, and as far as your relationship with Phyllis goes, you can give it a couple of weeks and just say it didn’t work out. On Monday, you can drive me to a station, and on the way stop at your bank and get me five thousand in cash. I doubt they will even blink about someone as rich as you taking out such a sum.”

From behind the hands came a muffled reply. “Alright”. Terence was getting ready for bed as Phyllis, and adopted the feminine voice as he replied.

“In the meantime, we stay civilised. Go and sleep in the spare room you gave me, I’ll sleep here. Don’t even think about any violence. I am fitter and stronger than you, and besides I would call the police, tell them I was being attacked, and answer the door naked. Try explaining that to the next meeting of the Masonic Lodge, Geoffrey dear”.

When he got downstairs after nine the next morning, Terence found Geoffrey slumped in an armchair, staring into space. He looked at least ten years older than he did yesterday, and was unshaved, wearing last night’s clothes. Without turning around, he spoke quietly. “The lunch has been cancelled. Give me your bank details, and I will do as you ask. But please do not stay another night. I will transfer the extra five thousand you requested now, and then order you a taxi. There is cash in the house, around five hundred I think. You can take that with the phone and laptop. But please leave, at least do that for me. I couldn’t stand another twenty-four hours of humiliation”.

The transfer of the funds went through easily, and the monthly payment was set up. Using Geoffrey’s wireless printer, Terence made a hard copy for reference. The laptop and phone would both be destroyed next week, leaving no trail behind. When he had packed his bag upstairs and the taxi had been ordered, Geoffrey gave him the cash, four hundred and fity pounds in fifty pound notes. “I would appreciate you waiting outside for the taxi, it will be here in ten minutes”.

He decided to take the taxi all the way back into London, and straight to the station. There would be time to get something to eat before his afternoon train back to Nottingham. The taxi driver hardly spoke a word all the way, which suited Terence nicely.

There was lots to think about on the two-hour train journey. He could pay off the tax bill they had been hounding him for, hopefully before any bailiffs became involved in debt recovery. The five hundred a month would pay the rent on his flat, with a bit over to help with the electricity bill. For the first time since he had worked in the TV soap opera, Terence had more than five grand in the bank.

When he got home early that evening he was soon on his old laptop, carefully choosing the next target.

44 thoughts on “Phyllis: Part Seven”

  5. I suspect Terrence will get away with this with 3-4 others and then run into someone pulling the same scam who will find a way to blackmail Terrence.

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  7. (1) Overheard:
    Geoffrey: “Have you done this to anyone before?”
    Terence: “No, you were the first. Consider yourself target practice.”
    (2) Terence was almost naked. The only thing he wore was a crooked smile.
    (3) The photos are all stored in The Cloud somewhere. But they can be easily found. Just look for a gathering of giggling angels.
    (4) The naked lunch got cancelled because Geoffrey feared it would be surreal.
    (5) The taxi driver hardly spoke a wo
    (6) Ollie wants to know if you’ve paid off the vet bill the doctor has been hounding you for.
    (7) Nothing in life is free, Geoffrey.

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  12. I do hope that Terence has the decency to never reveal those photos. Of course Geoffrey will keep up his end of the bargain for fear of that happening. I am ready for the next victim. This is outstanding, Pete.

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    1. Thanks very much, Janet. I actually ‘see’ all of my serials in my head as I write them, and picture them as if watching a film or televised drama. I am very happy to hear you get a sense of that.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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