Chapter 8
1128 Words
“Is there a problem, Mr. Fletcher?” the lawyer asked, glancing at his wristwatch. “I’m sorry to rush you, but I have a few commit—“
“No problem.” Nathan shook his head, although his brow remained furrowed.
The tip of the pen touched the paper.
Several seconds passed in complete silence.
“I need more information about the case.” Nathan sighed and set the pen aside without signing.
Sophia’s affection for the ballet school was obvious. It made no sense that she would have allowed the situation to become this serious. Why hadn’t she looked for a solution in the previous months? She didn’t seem irresponsible. Quite the opposite: she kept everything clean and organized, knew exactly how to handle children, and treated everyone with genuine kindness.
Something must have happened to prevent her from finding a solution in time.
Nathan felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Emma was happier than ever. It had been a long time since she’d been this excited about something. She loved her lessons, her classmates, and, above all, her teacher. Whenever she wasn’t at school or distracted by her drawings, she wouldn’t stop talking about ballet. She spent much of her time repeating the steps she’d recently learned.
“It’s just a commercial lease,” Dr. Lee explained.
“She’s three months behind?” Nathan pressed.
“Precisely. The tenant has received several notices.”
“Was there any attempt at negotiation?”
“On her part? Yes. But the legal department chose to refuse in order to follow the terms of the contract.”
Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.
He didn’t usually question the rules. He knew it was important to avoid any kind of favoritism.
But this situation was different.
Now, behind those rules, there was a sweet smile, a flawless bun, and blue eyes.
“I’ll need the property’s history. Please have it on my desk by the end of the morning.”
The lawyer nodded, though reluctantly, and excused himself.
—- —- —-
For nearly an hour, Nathan tried to focus on his work, but the image of Sophia wouldn’t leave his mind.
There were countless ballet studios in Manhattan. Perhaps the competition was attracting more people. Could her financial situation be the result of having too few enrolments?
There were only six children in Emma’s class.
Or perhaps the tuition was simply too low to cover the expenses. New York was an expensive city.
He was still thinking about it when Jane announced Dr. Lee’s return.
“I’ve gathered all the documentation, Mr. Fletcher,” the lawyer said, placing the folder on his desk.
Nathan thanked him and began going through the paperwork: statements, receipts, email exchanges. He read every page carefully.
He wasn’t surprised to discover that Sophia had never been late with a payment before, and that she had been renting the property for four years.
Her three formal requests for negotiations had all been rejected by the legal department.
“I want more information.” Nathan looked at the lawyer. “Number of students, average water and electricity bills, every rent increase over the years. I need to understand how this ballet school ended up in this situation.”
“I’ll get everything as quickly as possible. Excuse me.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lee.”
Outside, the Empire State Building looked strangely lonely.
—- —- —-
Sophia leaned away from her laptop, her eyes filling with tears.
Her second loan application had been denied because of insufficient income.
And there was only one day left before the deadline.
She began imagining what she would tell the children and their mothers about closing the studio. She would have to make up an excuse rather than admit she didn’t have enough money to keep the business running.
Where would she find a job?
There were other ballet schools in Manhattan, but how many of them were looking for instructors?
Would she have to change careers?
Her phone vibrated on the table.
Hannah.
“Hello,” she said quietly, almost in a whisper.
“Hi, Sophia, how are you?”
“Not very well…”
“Is it about the loan?”
“Both banks turned me down.” Sophia sat on the living room sofa, trying not to cry. “Insufficient income.”
“I can lend you half the amount. You can pay me back whenever you can. There’s no rush.”
Sophia had been expecting the offer.
A sad smiled appeared on her lips.
“That’s very kind of you, Hannah, but I can’t accept it.” She looked at her mother’s portrait on the wall, her face flushing with embarrassment.
“Sophia, don’t be stubborn…”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“Would you rather lose the studio?”
The question hit her like a punch to the stomach.
She felt the first tear slip down her cheek.
“I don’t want to lose the studio. I just don’t want to feel like I’ve failed… again.”
“Are you crying?” Hannah asked, concern evident in her voice.
“I have to go. I’m starving. We’ll talk later.”
As soon as she hung up, Sophia noticed the smell of something burning.
She rushed into the kitchen and knelt in front of the oven. She didn’t even need to open it to know that the chocolate cake she’d made in an attempt to calm her anxiety was ruined.
Still, she hoped she could salvage at least part of it.
She took the cake out of the oven and carried it to the counter. After turning it out of the pan, she poked the dry, darkened cake with a fork.
It didn’t look good.
A weak laugh escaped her throat.
Could anything in her life ever go right?
—- —- —-
Dr. Lee placed the folder on the desk.
“Here is all the information we were able to gather about the ballet school, Mr. Fletcher.”
“Thank you.”
Nathan carefully opened the file.
The first page contained nothing but a photograph of Sophia smiling beside five girls. Nathan recognized some of them as Emma’s classmates.
The caption stated that the Joanne Dashwood Ballet Studio had been operating for four years.
Before he could convince himself otherwise, Nathan picked up the phone connected to the secretary’s office.
“Jane?”
“How can I help?”
“Please schedule an urgent meeting with whoever is in charge of commercial contracts. It needs to happen today.”
“Is everything all right?”
“That’s what I intend to find out.”
With any luck, it wouldn’t be too late.
- Writer
