because of my hours, things are a little tighter at home.” I could’ve sworn I heard the edge of strain in her voice. “I think I’m going to look for a smaller place.”
Alarms went off in the back of my head.
“But this place is perfect! We’ve—I mean you’ve—been here for years.” Mom had bought the place when I was in high school. Before then we’d rented.
She smiled. “It’s fine, sweetie. I don’t need this much space.”
“Mom. This says they could foreclose in three months. Did you try refinancing?”
She nodded. “I had to take so much time off work being sick. And then insurance paid for only some of the medications…”
“How much do we need to come up with?”
“We don’t need to, Paybear. This is on me.”
My mom loved this place. It was where I’d lived through school. Where we’d had all our memories when she’d gone through our hardest times.
I scanned the letter to find the payment amounts. Sweat broke out on the back of my neck.
I couldn’t believe there was so much I hadn’t known. I’d done everything I could to help but hadn’t realized the extent of the hardship on her, the burden she’d been carrying, and that despite our attempts to make ends meet, they were still hopelessly far apart.
“I have some extra cash coming to me with the promotion,” I heard myself say. “I don’t have anything to spend it on. I won’t have it right away, though.” It was true that I’d gotten a bit of a raise, but the promotion wouldn’t cover this. But my mom never asked for help. She never asked for anything.
Her gaze moved back and forth on mine. “Sweetie, you don’t need to do that.”
“I know. But I want to.”
The hallways of the tenth and eleventh floors of Max’s building looked identical, I realized as I emerged from the elevator. Two suites, one on each side.
My heart thudded like I was about to jump off a cliff as I stared at the door of suite 1001.
You’re in way over your head. You don’t know anything about gaming. And you don’t have time for this .
Yesterday after brunch, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about how I could bring in enough money for my mom to keep her house. My list was short.
When the monthly new business report had hit my email inbox this morning, I’d been shocked to see my name at the top of the list of associates.
With the loan I’d signed with Max, I was leading new business. Not client satisfaction. New business .
I’d never led new business, even as a junior associate.
Sure, it was early in the quarter. But something occurred to me that hadn’t before.
Not only could I keep pace with the other associates, using my people skills to work my way up while I paid my bills and helped my mom where I could.
I could actually win the dev award.
Which came with a big, fat, mortgage-paying bonus check.
I just had to stay ahead of Avery for six weeks.
It also meant there was no way in hell I could report Max about the loan documents.
Hope and guilt warred inside me. Bending the rules a little didn’t bother me, but it was the principle of it all. Doing my job meant protecting Alliance’s interests and making sure the Phoenix launched and the loan got repaid.
There is a way to do that , a tiny voice said. Just because Alliance couldn’t authorize another ten million for Titan didn’t mean someone else couldn’t. If I was involved, not only could I make sure the project moved forward, but I could keep an eye on Max and Riley—who seemed like they had a world of brains and zero sense between them.
I knocked on the door.
Nothing.
I turned the handle, stepping inside as it gave way. My jaw dropped as I entered another world.
This suite had a similar layout to Max’s, but a few walls had been knocked down. Beyond the foyer, where the living room should’ve been, was a massive open space. Computer workstations ran the length of two walls. A glassed-in meeting room with whiteboards claimed
Alarms went off in the back of my head.
“But this place is perfect! We’ve—I mean you’ve—been here for years.” Mom had bought the place when I was in high school. Before then we’d rented.
She smiled. “It’s fine, sweetie. I don’t need this much space.”
“Mom. This says they could foreclose in three months. Did you try refinancing?”
She nodded. “I had to take so much time off work being sick. And then insurance paid for only some of the medications…”
“How much do we need to come up with?”
“We don’t need to, Paybear. This is on me.”
My mom loved this place. It was where I’d lived through school. Where we’d had all our memories when she’d gone through our hardest times.
I scanned the letter to find the payment amounts. Sweat broke out on the back of my neck.
I couldn’t believe there was so much I hadn’t known. I’d done everything I could to help but hadn’t realized the extent of the hardship on her, the burden she’d been carrying, and that despite our attempts to make ends meet, they were still hopelessly far apart.
“I have some extra cash coming to me with the promotion,” I heard myself say. “I don’t have anything to spend it on. I won’t have it right away, though.” It was true that I’d gotten a bit of a raise, but the promotion wouldn’t cover this. But my mom never asked for help. She never asked for anything.
Her gaze moved back and forth on mine. “Sweetie, you don’t need to do that.”
“I know. But I want to.”
The hallways of the tenth and eleventh floors of Max’s building looked identical, I realized as I emerged from the elevator. Two suites, one on each side.
My heart thudded like I was about to jump off a cliff as I stared at the door of suite 1001.
You’re in way over your head. You don’t know anything about gaming. And you don’t have time for this .
Yesterday after brunch, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about how I could bring in enough money for my mom to keep her house. My list was short.
When the monthly new business report had hit my email inbox this morning, I’d been shocked to see my name at the top of the list of associates.
With the loan I’d signed with Max, I was leading new business. Not client satisfaction. New business .
I’d never led new business, even as a junior associate.
Sure, it was early in the quarter. But something occurred to me that hadn’t before.
Not only could I keep pace with the other associates, using my people skills to work my way up while I paid my bills and helped my mom where I could.
I could actually win the dev award.
Which came with a big, fat, mortgage-paying bonus check.
I just had to stay ahead of Avery for six weeks.
It also meant there was no way in hell I could report Max about the loan documents.
Hope and guilt warred inside me. Bending the rules a little didn’t bother me, but it was the principle of it all. Doing my job meant protecting Alliance’s interests and making sure the Phoenix launched and the loan got repaid.
There is a way to do that , a tiny voice said. Just because Alliance couldn’t authorize another ten million for Titan didn’t mean someone else couldn’t. If I was involved, not only could I make sure the project moved forward, but I could keep an eye on Max and Riley—who seemed like they had a world of brains and zero sense between them.
I knocked on the door.
Nothing.
I turned the handle, stepping inside as it gave way. My jaw dropped as I entered another world.
This suite had a similar layout to Max’s, but a few walls had been knocked down. Beyond the foyer, where the living room should’ve been, was a massive open space. Computer workstations ran the length of two walls. A glassed-in meeting room with whiteboards claimed
Similar Books
