Chapter 8 - The Desperate Office Visit
Two weeks before Christmas, Melissa showed up at my agency.
My office is on the fourth floor of a brick-and-glass commercial building in Plano. She bypassed the building directory and marched right up to our reception area. My office manager, a no-nonsense woman named Brenda who had worked with me since I founded the company, buzzed my intercom.
"Daniel, your sister is in the lobby. She doesn't have an appointment, and she’s... agitated."
"Send her in, Brenda. Keep the door open."
Melissa walked into my corner office looking noticeably different from Thanksgiving. The manicured composure was gone. Her hair was pulled back into a hasty ponytail, and she wasn't wearing makeup. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes.
She sat down in the leather armchair across from my desk without waiting for an invitation.
"We received an acceleration notice from the lender," she said, her voice completely stripped of its usual venom.
"An acceleration notice means you’re more than thirty days delinquent," I replied, folding my hands over a client brief. "December was only missed two weeks ago."
She looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were red.
"We... we didn't pay November either," she admitted in a tiny voice. "We used November’s money to pay off the Visa card so the kids could have Christmas gifts."
"I sent you November's transfer on November 1st," I reminded her. "Where did my $1,525 go?"
"Greg had a truck repair! The transmission blew on the work vehicle!"
"So you took the mortgage money I gave you, spent it on a truck, failed to pay the bank, and then let your son sit at Thanksgiving dinner while you told mine he wasn't family?"
"I am sorry!" she broke down, burying her face in her hands. The tears were real this time, driven by genuine, cornered terror. "I’m sorry, Daniel! Okay? I was stressed! I was jealous! You have this easy life, you sit in an office, you have all this savings, and Greg and I are drowning every single week trying to keep up appearances! I took it out on Evan because... because seeing you give him everything made me feel like garbage!"
I listened to her sob for a full minute.
There was a time when her tears would have melted my resolve in five seconds. I was the protective older brother; that role had been conditioned into me since we were eight and six.
"Jealousy explains your behavior, Melissa," I said gently. "It doesn't excuse it. And it certainly doesn't obligate me to pay your debts."
"They’re going to foreclose," she wept. "They gave us until January 15th to bring the entire balance current, including penalties and back fees. It’s four thousand six hundred dollars. If we don't pay it, they start the auction proceedings."
She leaned across my desk, her eyes wide, desperate.
May you like
"Just this one last time, Daniel. A loan. A real loan. Draw up a contract. Greg will sign it. Mom and Dad will sign as guarantors. Please. Don't let my children lose their home for Christmas."
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