Debt
1524 Words
Somewhere in the office building of the Patterson group.
In the sales department, Rachel Hopkinson was going through the papers that she was given to check by her senior.
But, her mind diverted off to the flashbacks of the conversation that she had earlier with her dad in the morning.
“Rachel, I know that you may not believe my words, but please listen to me.”
“What have you done again?” she retorted, staring at her dad with an astonished expression.
Her dad gulped, and turned to her again, wiping away the beads of sweat that had formed over his forehead.
“I have lost a big amount of money in the share market.”
Rachel sighs, sitting down on the couch.
“You always lose that. It’s nothing new,” she chuckled, taking a sip of the water from the glass next to her hand.
“And here I was getting worried for nothing.”
“But, this time, I’ve fallen into so much debt that even this house of ours will cease to exist,” he added, narrowing his eyes at her daughter.
Rachel spit out the water that she had just drank and looked at him with a surprised face.
She got up on her feet right away.
“What did you say again?”.
He nods. “You heard it right.”
“I’ve lost millions of money. That’s why, I even have to sell this house, but it won’t make up for the money that I have lost.”
“This may sound outrageous to you, but this is not a lie.”
“I’m not lying to you.”
Rachel’s eyes widened for a second as she moved to her dad’s side.
She grabbed him by the arms, making him stare deep into her eyes.
“Dad, Dad, you have to be kidding me right?” she retorted.
“You can’t sell this house of ours because of your debt.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Say that this is one of your silly jokes. Say it, please!”.
He adverted his eyes.
“It is not.”
Her hands dropped the next second.
“I received a mail from the bank today in the morning.”
“Unless I’m able to pay the money within 7-10 days they’ll cease whatever property that I own, including this house under my name.”
“I’m at a loss, that’s why I confessed everything to you.”
“But, but, What about your company? And the employees?”.
“Where will they go?”.
He lowered his head in guilt.
“I’ll certainly have to fire them. But, you and I need to worry about ourselves instead of them.”
“My rights from the company will be taken as well, along with this house.”
“Unless I’m able to pay the money that I own.”
“And how will we pay back the money? How much debt are you in?” she yelled in frustration.
He looked up at her face. “Around 10 million.”
Rachel’s eyes widened in shock.
“10 million?” her jaw dropped.
“Even if I work for two years I won’t be able to pay off that debt. But most importantly, where will we live in the meantime?”.
“Rachel, why don’t you go and talk to the CEO of your company? He’s one of the richest and most influential people in this city.”
“Maybe, he can arrange something for you if you beg hard enough. Right?” her dad asked as his eyes lit up with hope.
“Rachel, are you listening?” she snapped back to reality when her co-worker tugged at her arm.
She turned to her colleague, Khloe, and became startled.
“What? Did you say anything?”.
“Yeah.”
“You had been staring at the pages blankly for hours. You need to submit them to your senior, right?”.
She glanced down at the table.
“I was?”.
She got up on her feet. “Yeah, I need to see my senior.”
She headed outside and passed by some people who were whispering something among themselves.
She got into the lift and waited for her floor to arrive.
Behind her back some women were whispering among themselves.
“Yeah, I heard the CEO is coming today to check out the new people that we hired some days ago.”
“But, I heard he has a sharp tongue and fires anyone instantly if he feels like it.”
“I don’t want to face him, so I’ll hide from him as much as possible.”
“You go and hide, I heard that he’s quite handsome.”
“Do you think he’ll propose to me or something?”.
“Yeah, keep dreaming. He has hundreds of people waiting in line for him.”
“So, what? I love dreaming.”
“The CEO is coming today?” Rachel got off the lift later.
“I can talk with him about the money then.”
“Maybe he will give me a generous amount of loan if I beg hard enough.”
“Still, hearing about the rumors regarding him, I don’t want to see him any moment now.”
She heaved a sigh and stood in front of a door.
She knocked before entering, “Senior Ross. May I come in?”.
The man inside heard her voice and got up on his feet.
“Yeah, come in.”
He’s the senior in her department.
She went up to his side. “These are the papers you needed to check.”
“Oh, sure.” He took them from her hands and skimmed through them.
“Yeah, they are good to go,” he said, printing a stamp on them.
She took back the papers but stood there for a few minutes.
Ross gave a puzzled look at her.
“Do you need anything, Rachel?”.
She nodded. “Do you think I can talk with the CEO today?”.
“I heard he’s coming.”
He seemed to be a bit intimidated to hear that.
“Uh….why do you need to see him?” he coughs, clearing his throat.
“Well…I need a big loan. And I think only he can approve it.”
“A loan?” he looked back at her.
“Why do you need that?”.
She explained everything and he listened to her story.
“Hm…I understand the situation, but….you’ll have to grind hard enough to get his approval.”
“Are you ready to face the circumstances?” he asked, his face turning serious.
Rachel held the papers tightly in her hands as she nodded.
“I am.”
“I can’t dare to lose my house, the only memory left behind by my mom.”
He sighs. “Then, go ahead. He’s coming in 10 minutes on the 4th floor, go and talk to him before his meeting starts.”
“I pray for your luck.” He said with a smile.
Rachel smiled and walked out.
She took the lift after giving away the papers back to her department.
Within 10 minutes she reached the 4th floor and stood outside the room he was in.
Two men were standing outside the door.
When she tried to get close, they blocked the way.
“What do you need?” one of them asked.
She showed them her ID which hung in front of her chest.
“I’m a worker in here, and I need to talk with the CEO.” She addressed in a firm tone.
“Go ahead,” the other replied.
She stood in front of the door and placed her hand on the doorknob.
The second she tried to open the door she heard him yelling, “What the f**k are you talking about Jeremy? I need to get married within a week? Is that a sick joke or something?”.
“There’s no way Grandma would leave behind this in her will.”
“Is he talking on the phone?”.
“Does Dad know about it?”.
“Is there no way out?”.
“Damn it!”.
Rachel knocked on the door a few seconds later.
“May I come in?” she asked, clearing her throat.
“Huh? Who’s here at this time? Come in.” he replied in an aggressive tone.
Rachel stepped inside without any thoughts in her head.
Only to see the CEO sitting in the middle of the room with an angry expression on his face.
He can be described as the epitome of beauty. With those brown locks that hung over his face, a neatly trimmed beard, and that perfect jawline.
But one of his most noticeable features was his baby face. Those perfect little blue eyes complimented his looks along with those captivating lips.
He looked like a little furball in anger, but cute.
- Writer
