Read Online The View from Suite 2100 by Tess Allen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tess Allen
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Just last year the bank actually nominated me for a small business award. Both my banker Delmar Cade and Arnold Bates attended the awards banquet when I received the award. Surely Bates couldn’t be aware of this nonsense! Apparently Carolyn had gotten it right! Something really crazy was going on
Elsa answered again. I didn’t bother with formalities.
“Arnold Bates.”
“I can’t connect you, Ms. Wilkes.”
“What do you mean, ‘you can’t connect me’ Elsa, what is this foolishness?”
I heard Elsa sigh. She lowered her voice, and I remembered that all conversations going into and out of a bank are recorded. “I don’t know nothin’ else. I just can’t.”
I nodded as if she could see me. “Thank you, Elsa,” I said, letting her off the hook. She was trying to let me know that whatever was afoot she couldn’t tell me.
I wasn’t one of D.C.’s billionaires by a long shot, but I sure run my own share of millions through Connect One Business Bank. Afri-Trade had already grossed nearly $7 million this year by itself, and the booking agency and realty company were not far behind. It didn’t make sense for them to be jeopardizing a good solid relationship like ours.
“ What kinda crap is this ?” I asked aloud again and slammed my fist down on my desk.
I must have flung my door open with great force when I bolted through it because Carolyn jumped and spun around. I’d slung my Prada handbag over one shoulder and my Fendi briefcase over the other.
“I’ve got to make a run to the bank,” I said, my voice a pitch too high. It reminded me of Carolyn’s.
She just looked at me and nodded. “Don’t let them push you around, Ms. Wilkes. I told you this was insane, but I know you can handle it.”
Connect One Business Bank was located close to 2-of-A Kind, Inc.’s offices. It was only a block further down on K Street. All during the drive through the Loop my mind raced from one thing to another trying to pinpoint some possible reason this confusion might have been triggered. Absolutely nothing came to mind.
I thought about the loan itself. It was a revolving line of credit and had fortunately been the only thing I’d needed as each of the companies had been self-sustaining almost from their inceptions. The line was for a million, six hundred thousand dollars, and its main purpose was to allow me to operate with a ready cash flow for things like receivable short falls, or being in a position to take advantage of new opportunities as they arose, as I’d done with 2-of-A Kind, Inc. just nine months ago.
I was required to retire the line once every 18 months, based on the terms of the loan, but that was only for one day and then it would rollover again. I always prepared for the rollover, making sure the line was at its lowest point, so that payoff wasn’t a hassle. I just did that two month ago, so this definitely had nothing to do with anything like that.
Keep calm! I whispered. It isn’t that you can’t pay off the stupid loan if you have to!
That was true enough, if I did have to pay off the loan I could, but wow, what an imposition and a strain that would be for a while. I didn’t keep $1.6 million dollars just lying around in a checking account or up under my mattress. I’d have to shift all sorts of things around, draw down financial instruments and take a major hit on early withdrawal fees, even need to turn some assets, maybe even refinance my house to pay the line off, but, that would take at least a couple of weeks. I chided myself for even considering that. That’s never going to happen, I vowed!
I was a nervous wreck when I reached the bank. Elsa saw me come through the door and leaped up, leaving her desk quickly. I saw her disappearing through a door that I knew led to the bank’s employee break room. For a moment, while I stood there, no one was aware of my presence. I glanced around at the open seating arrangement, something new the bank had recently adopted in
Elsa answered again. I didn’t bother with formalities.
“Arnold Bates.”
“I can’t connect you, Ms. Wilkes.”
“What do you mean, ‘you can’t connect me’ Elsa, what is this foolishness?”
I heard Elsa sigh. She lowered her voice, and I remembered that all conversations going into and out of a bank are recorded. “I don’t know nothin’ else. I just can’t.”
I nodded as if she could see me. “Thank you, Elsa,” I said, letting her off the hook. She was trying to let me know that whatever was afoot she couldn’t tell me.
I wasn’t one of D.C.’s billionaires by a long shot, but I sure run my own share of millions through Connect One Business Bank. Afri-Trade had already grossed nearly $7 million this year by itself, and the booking agency and realty company were not far behind. It didn’t make sense for them to be jeopardizing a good solid relationship like ours.
“ What kinda crap is this ?” I asked aloud again and slammed my fist down on my desk.
I must have flung my door open with great force when I bolted through it because Carolyn jumped and spun around. I’d slung my Prada handbag over one shoulder and my Fendi briefcase over the other.
“I’ve got to make a run to the bank,” I said, my voice a pitch too high. It reminded me of Carolyn’s.
She just looked at me and nodded. “Don’t let them push you around, Ms. Wilkes. I told you this was insane, but I know you can handle it.”
Connect One Business Bank was located close to 2-of-A Kind, Inc.’s offices. It was only a block further down on K Street. All during the drive through the Loop my mind raced from one thing to another trying to pinpoint some possible reason this confusion might have been triggered. Absolutely nothing came to mind.
I thought about the loan itself. It was a revolving line of credit and had fortunately been the only thing I’d needed as each of the companies had been self-sustaining almost from their inceptions. The line was for a million, six hundred thousand dollars, and its main purpose was to allow me to operate with a ready cash flow for things like receivable short falls, or being in a position to take advantage of new opportunities as they arose, as I’d done with 2-of-A Kind, Inc. just nine months ago.
I was required to retire the line once every 18 months, based on the terms of the loan, but that was only for one day and then it would rollover again. I always prepared for the rollover, making sure the line was at its lowest point, so that payoff wasn’t a hassle. I just did that two month ago, so this definitely had nothing to do with anything like that.
Keep calm! I whispered. It isn’t that you can’t pay off the stupid loan if you have to!
That was true enough, if I did have to pay off the loan I could, but wow, what an imposition and a strain that would be for a while. I didn’t keep $1.6 million dollars just lying around in a checking account or up under my mattress. I’d have to shift all sorts of things around, draw down financial instruments and take a major hit on early withdrawal fees, even need to turn some assets, maybe even refinance my house to pay the line off, but, that would take at least a couple of weeks. I chided myself for even considering that. That’s never going to happen, I vowed!
I was a nervous wreck when I reached the bank. Elsa saw me come through the door and leaped up, leaving her desk quickly. I saw her disappearing through a door that I knew led to the bank’s employee break room. For a moment, while I stood there, no one was aware of my presence. I glanced around at the open seating arrangement, something new the bank had recently adopted in
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