by Allen, Tess
The fact I don’t think she does in this instance is irrelevant, I mumbled as I dialed.
Carolyn was surely right more often than wrong about most things, I valued her opinions, and I didn’t want to offend her. It was much easier to simply make this call behind a closed door.
“Good morning, Elsa,” I said when the bank’s receptionist answered. I knew just about everyone at Connect One Business Bank by first name and they always recognized my voice. Elsa, a petite young Hispanic girl, sat at the first desk just as you entered the bank, and she covered their switchboard. “May I speak to Delmar?”
“No, he’s unavailable.” Elsa responded a little too quickly, plus she didn’t acknowledge my greeting with one of her own. That was odd.
“Okay, then connect me to Annette, please?”
“She’s unavailable too.” Elsa sounded like she was talking to a stranger. There was no hint of familiarity in her voice, although she did sound uneasy.
“Elsa,” I laughed, sure we must have a poor connection. “this is Rowena Wilkes.”
“I know…”
My surprise showed in my voice, but I tried to make it light. “You know? Well, since when don’t you say hello…”
“They are not available, Ms. Wilkes.”
I continued, “And since when don’t you ask me if what I’m calling about is important so you can page either Delmar or Annette?”
Elsa didn’t respond at all. Her silence was distressing, but distress was quickly turning to anger. I felt like trying to reach into the phone and pull her through it by her neck. “Elsa?”
“Yes, I’m here, but that’s all I can tell you. They are not available.”
I heard the click of the phone on the other end and my mouth dropped open. Elsa had hung up on me. Elsa, the receptionist, who normally couldn’t stop giggling about her boyfriend Pedro on any other occasion, had hung up on me!
“What is going on with this?” I asked myself aloud.
I could feel my blood start to boil. I dialed back thinking that I’d ask for Arnold Bates, the bank’s President. I certainly was one of the bank’s best customers. 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 order to appear more approachable to its customers; to be more ‘customer friendly’ is how it had been explained to me during an earlier visit. Well, you can wash that down the drain, I thought.
I noticed Annette, Delmar Bates’ secretary, who had called and talked to Carolyn, wasn’t at her desk, but I spied her a little further back, laughing and talking to an older woman who I knew was a bank officer. I wasn’t going to wait for anyone to give me permission to approach the two of them. I was just going to do what I had to do.
The older woman, I suddenly remembered her name was Evelyn, saw me coming. She cleared her throat loudly causing Annette to look around. Annette stepped back defensively as I came nearer and I thought, how ridiculous. What did she think I was going to do?
“Annette,” I said, trying to pretend I wasn’t the least bit upset. “I’m so glad you’re here. I called earlier and was told you were unavailable. I came on down in person because there is some type of misunderstanding that I need to get straightened out.”
Annette swallowed and looked towards Evelyn for support. “I can’t help you, Rowena. Sorry,” she turned towards me and threw out the palms of her hands. “This is way, way over my head.”
Evelyn nodded. “Mine too.”
I noticed a number of the people working at nearby desks had paused and their attention was now trained on us. I shook my head to clear it. This couldn’t be happening to me again, I thought. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was in a public place with people staring at me like I was green or something? I fought desperately to keep my composure, but it was becoming a losing battle.
“Well I can appreciate that, Annette, and you too Evelyn, but I assure you I’d be able to appreciate it a hell of a lot better if I knew what in the hell was going on here!”
I hadn’t raised my voice. I’d spoken through clenched teeth, but I had not raised my voice.
Evelyn attempted to take charge. She stood up and came around to where I was. I saw her tilt her head slightly and something made me glance around. The tilt was a summons for the sec
urity guard to come to where we were. It was clear she intended for him to escort me from the bank.
Annette looked at me miserably. “Why don’t you just leave, Rowena. Don’t embarrass your self by having to be escorted out,” she whispered. “I am really very, very sorry about this. Believe me.”
Suddenly I knew I didn’t want them treating me like I was a common criminal, and I knew that anything was subject to happen if he actually put his hands on me. This has got to be a nightmare, I thought. I have obviously entered the Twilight Zone and I need to go!
With all eyes on me I turned around and slowly exited the bank.
Chapter Thirteen
I opened my door and was about to step into my car when I heard it.
“Psst! Psst! Ms.Wilkes!”
I couldn’t see her, but I knew who it was calling me. I finally spotted her sitting in a car parked three over from where mine was parked. A dark complexed, good looking Latino man was behind the wheel and Elsa was in the passenger’s seat beside him. She beckoned to me.
There was a slight smile on her face as I approached. “Ms. Wilkes, this is my boyfriend, Pedro.”
Pedro nodded but didn’t say anything. What an odd time to be introducing me to your boyfriend, I thought. My world is falling apart and you’ve played at least a small part in it. She quickly started to explain.
“I was just telling Pedro about what they was doing to you and he said it wasn’t fair. That I should let you know what was going on.” She looked down at her long, beautifully manicured red nails before looking back up at me. “I just told him I could lose my job, but he said right is right, he’s got a job if they do fire me.”
I glanced gratefully at the young man, but he kept his attention focused on Elsa. You’ve got you something here, young lady, I thought, but I didn’t want Elsa to risk her job for my sake.
“Thanks Elsa for being brave enough to be willing to tell me, but I don’t want you to get in trouble. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” I shook my head. “This is totally ridiculous.”
“I’ve gotta tell you. You’ve always been nice to me.” She glanced over and winked at Pedro. “Maybe if I don’t have no job, he’ll really marry me!”
He nodded.
“They said it has to do with a “morals” clause issue? I don’t know just what that means, but that’s what I heard Mr. Cade telling Annette. Mr. Cade don’t like it! He is very, very upset, but it came from someplace higher than him.”
“Morals?” The word fell out of my mouth. “They are going to call my loan because of a ‘morals issue’?”
She nodded fiercely. Her sudden accent surprised me. It was unnoticeable when she was at work, but now it was thick. “I don’t know no more I could tell you, but it don’t seem right. Nobody at the bank is supposed to talk to you.” She reached out and touched my arm. “I ain’t gonna work here no more.”
Chapter Fourteen
I thought about the line item, Sandra, the accountant, and the senseless hours I’d spent in front of the computer gambling away the frustrations I had allowed to mount in my life as I maneuvered carefully through traffic the short distance from the bank back to 2-of-A Kind. Could that be it? The ‘morals’ issue Elsa had alluded to? Had Sandra somehow contacted the bank and put a question in someone’s mind about my financial stability, implying I had a vice that might be compromising my judgment and their security?
That’s when it dawned on me that she probably did know what I was doing with the money. The firm prepared my personal taxes annually as well, and had done this year’s just a few weeks before! I’d provided them with copies of my personal bank statements and the transaction sums going back and forth to Nassau were definitely on those. Even though my personal taxes were handled in a different department at Sandra’s firm, it wouldn’t have taken much to put it all together if someone was looking! How stupid of me, I thought!
I needed to reach my lawyer immediately to find out what steps I should take to start protecting myself. Clearly whatever this was what it was not was a simple mistake. Whether it was Sandra or not, somebody somewhere was after my jugular and they were demanding it on Friday, before the close of business.
I reached for my cell phone to call Alexia but thought better of it. As nervous as I was when I’d pulled out of the bank’s parking lot, I needed to stay focused on the road even for such a short distance. I had a numbing thought, what would my girls think about me after Friday if I didn’t make that payment on time, and if the bank decided to try to smear my name all over town. My friends knew nothing of my gambling vice. No one did! What would that do to our friendship? What would they think of me? The thoughts terrified me.
Someone was in my reserved spot in the parking garage, but I found another stall quickly. I went into the stairwell, and took the steps up to nine two at a time. I’d call my lawyer from my office at 2-of-A Kind so I could at least get the ball rolling, and then I’d run back over to Suite 2100 to determine how to start pulling down the cash I needed if this didn’t go the way I wanted it to.
“Oh, Rowena! You just had a call!” Lila, the receptionist greeted me as I came through the door. She held out a pink message slip to me. “It was the guy from the DNA laboratory. I told him you didn’t come here everyday, but he left a message anyway.”
How are you going to be telling anyone about my movements? I thought as I took the message. Just putting all my business in the street. I glanced at Martin Charleston’s name and number and wondered briefly why he was calling back so soon, but I stuffed the message in my pocket.
“Lila,” she looked up at me and smiled. She was clearly on her best behavior. “I’m going to be on an important call for a bit, so don’t put through any other calls.”
“Of course, Rowena.”
I sat at my desk a moment trying to gather my thoughts. My attorney, Lincoln Collier, was profound when it came to business and tax matters, but I didn’t know how he’d feel or fare dealing with an issue like this. My integrity was at stake! The full impact of that statement hit me with a ton of bricks. Even now, even as I contemplated contacting my own attorney I was worried about how he was going to perceive me now that my ‘morals’ were being called into question.
“Who did this to me?” I cried out softly. I tried to ignore the little voice that was saying: Maybe you did it to yourself.
I reached for the leather bound calendar I kept on my desk to flip to the back where I maintained a private directory of phone numbers. My calendar wasn’t there.
That’s odd, I thought. I haven’t moved it, at least I didn’t remember moving it. I glanced over the rest of my desktop. It wasn’t there. I checked the credenza behind me and it wasn’t on it either.
A chill raced up my spine. I’m a creature of habit, putting things in the same place all the time, and that particular calendar stayed in this office on this desk in this spot. It was gone. My mind raced. I tried to remember what all I’d recorded in it? Not much. Just appointments, contact names, phone numbers, a few notes, but nothing of any real significance. But it was mine and it was gone.
Oh my goodness! Am I losing it? My mind started racing and I didn’t want to be there anymore. Someone had been in my space, had taken my calendar. I thought about Lila.
I tried to calm myself as I approached the reception area. There would be no percentage in antagonizing Lila if she knew nothing about my missing calendar, but something in my gut was telling me she did.
“Lila, do you know if anyone has been in my office?”
She smiled. “You mean today?”
I cocked my head to the left. Today?
“Actually anytime when I haven’t been here?”
It appeared to dawn on her that maybe all wasn’t well. Her expression sobered. She paused, thinking, calculating. “I went in there last night to get your calendar. My sister called and said you wanted me to drop it off to her when I got off of work.”
“Your sister?” I couldn’t believe my ears, but even before i
t came out of her mouth I knew who here sister was, I recognized it now as I looked at her gray eyes.
“Yes, Sandra Durante. Didn’t you know she was my sister? She’s the one who told me about this job?”
My heart was pounding and although it wasn’t yet clear, the clouds were starting to part. Sandra Durante had it in for me. But why? I thought about her reaction when I had mentioned Drew. What had she said when I asked her if she knew him? Something about ‘not well, but she knew the family.’ Wasn’t that what she’d said?
“Thanks, Lila. I didn’t realize you were related to Sandra. You have different last names.” I needed to be cool. The next question was important. “So, you know Drew Ardmore?”
Lila smirked. “We have different fathers. Drew? Not really. He used to date my sister a few years ago, but I was so young then he doesn’t remember me. I started to remind him when he was here yesterday, but he didn’t look like he was in such a good mood.”
I closed my eyes slightly and nodded. “Okay. I just wondered.”
Chapter Fifteen
I took the elevator down to the garage. Walked to my car and slid in. I’d spoken to Lincoln briefly, just to get a feel for my position. I didn’t mention the morals issue, instead I just inquired if the bank could in fact call the loan. He told me that within the language of the contract there was no doubt a clause that gave them that arbitrary right. If they insisted I would be required to meet their demand. He’d been furiously curious, but I’d stalled, promising him I’d get back with him in a few hours.