Cash Cow

God, I was stupid.
I don’t know how I got into it and I know it’s easy to blame things on people but you know what boyfriends are like.
One thing leads to another and then you’re hooked.
We went out for ten years and everything was perfect, but then they found out what I’d been doing.
He’s been sent down for four years but my lawyer friend reckons he could be out in one and a half if I play my cards right.
Theoretically, I’m not supposed to see him ever again, but I’m not sure I could do that because I still love him, I think.
In a nutshell, Darren was sent to prison and I was unanimously cleared of any wrongdoing. The thing that saved me, apart from the fact that both my parents are doctors, was that I said I had a disorder called ‘Beaten Woman Syndrome’. It was all a big con, really, but it worked.
Darren always told me that if they found out, and I was sure it was only a matter of when, I had to say that I was being beaten up by him, otherwise I’d go down with him.
I started stealing from the bank as a cashier, just small amounts, but then they promoted me to manager. I was only twenty-two. For five years, I had access to internal accounts and took anything from five to twenty five thousand. After a while, it seemed perfectly natural.
Darren used to buy me things and we took holidays to all the best places. We had cars and a nice flat, but then they caught me red-handed.
The judge said that I’d stolen a million pounds overall.
On the day Darren was taken into custody, I was coming down off coke, so it wasn’t that difficult for me to lie to the police when they took me in for questioning. Darren always said I was a bloody good liar.
One thing I can say about him; he stuck to his word. I suppose he knew he’d be sent down but I don’t think he realised he’d get four years, even if it was a million pounds.
When we first got together, we were so in love. We were only sixteen.
Almost every night, we used to meet at the same park bench and just sit there.
My Mum and Dad couldn’t complain. It was right outside the house.
Darren was training to be a fitness-instructor at the gym across the common and lived just up the road.
My sister and brother would watch to see if we were kissing, and when we got close they used to scream to Mum and Dad to come and have a look. I had to keep one eye on the house. It was such a buzz.
Darren always knew how to talk to me. He had that ‘something’. I can’t put a finger on it.
It’s just his way.
He’s been in jail for two weeks now.
I’m in Honolulu. The court was advised by my bank's lawyer to allow me as much time as I needed before returning to work, so I thought I’d travel for a while.