4

- I'm sorry, Miss but we can not lend you money. Your business is close to bankruptcy, it's too risky for the bank, the banker tells me.

Even if I expected it, I saw this moment as a sentence. My last card just flew away. My despair increases.

- I am a customer with you for years, I have all my insurance with you. On my personal account, I have never been overdrawn. My box works. I just fell on an asshole lined with a crook and I have the right to nothing! All his years of paying exorbitant fees! I could have left and lost less money elsewhere! Basically my loyalty to your shitty bank, it's wind! I yelled, losing my temper.

- I know it's hard to hear, Miss, but you have to keep control of yourself, calmly extorts my banker.

It's the straw that broke the camel's back, I get up, put on my coat and take my bag. I open the door and shout down the hall.

- You want me to calm down! I'm trying to save my business and you're screwing me over! I'm not going to prostitute myself to be able to pay my employees!

- Miss, please, not in the hallway, my adviser tries to contain me.

- Twenty-five thousand euros, that's the amount of my profit in the first half of this year! But no, my business is considered at risk because of an ASSHOLE! If I save my box, you change banks and put a big pile of shit in front of the entrance! Fuck you, shit bank! I yelled before leaving.

I almost ran away without realizing the number of witnesses who attended the scene, between the astonished customers who look at me and the other advisers who opened their doors to find the source of the din. I leave my banker alone in the middle of the corridor, managing the end of my performance. In the street, tears begin to flow down my cheeks. Arrived in the bar of my cousin, I collapse in his arms, shaken by big sobs.

The establishment is still closed, Lucas and Steve were cleaning the tables when I landed. They stopped everything to console me. Sitting on the same seat as the day before, Steve brings me a large glass of water while my cousin tries to calm me down. When the tears stop flowing, I grab the glass and empty the contents all at once.

“Allie, what happened to get you like this? asks my cousin.

— The bank won't lend me money. I lost my temper and screwed up, I tell them, looking down.

They look at each other dumbfounded, I am known to be calm in all circumstances.

- What did you do ? Steve asks me gently.

“I screamed in their hallway and shouted that it was a shitty bank,” I admitted sheepishly.

Their shoulders start shaking and then they openly laugh. Their hilarity increases when I glare at them. My cousin wipes his eyes and regains his composure.

“Allie darling, you did what everyone dreams of doing in life. I think you've earned the respect of some customers.

- But, imagine, if there was one of my customers or one of my suppliers, I'm screwed! I say in a higher tone than usual. As soon as they know my business is having trouble, I won't have any more orders. I will be asked to advance the money to receive my supplies. I only have enough to pay my employees with what he left me and the charges, the taxes with the money that I transferred from my savings accounts! The situation is catastrophic! I gasped.

Steve pushes his hands on my shoulders.

“Calm down Allison. Now is not the time to have a nervous breakdown if you want to save your business. You will find a solution, he told me.

Reassured by her confidence, my back muscles begin to relax.

"Can't you see with the Chamber of Commerce if you can find help with them?" Lucas asks me.

— Help, but in how long? It's not six months that I have ahead of me but two/three maximum if I manage to get paid in advance, but not much more, I tell him defeatist.

- You will find a solution Allie, Steve reassures me. Eat with us before we open. Clean the tables with your cousin, he said, throwing me his sponge and a rag. Tagliatelle carbonara for the dish of the day, he tells me before disappearing into the kitchen.

I am perked up when I come out of the bar, they have given me good spirits. My employees are aware that I have appointments and that I will be absent all day so I go home to rest before my second appointment. I take the folder with the reports that the expert, with whom I work, gives me after each appointment.

I arrive on site and I am greeted by the director of the accounting firm and a person I do not know. Looking serious, he asks me to follow them. I comply and enter the director's office. I sit down at his request and then they do the same on the other side of the desk. He clears his throat.

- Thank you for coming so quickly, I have very bad news for you, he told me immediately.

Which tile will still fall on me? I'm waiting for him to develop.

— This is one of the lawyers we work with, Me Bonnaux. I called him because following your call to inform us that your former companion, we took over all the balance sheets of your accounts to find out how this person could have taken this money from you which was in a professional account. The expert, with whom you worked, was on vacation so we were able to search the various accounts she managed. We noted several inconsistencies.

He hands out sheets that he turns in front of me. Some lines are highlighted in neon pink. All the numbers mean nothing to me, it's gibberish for my brain but it must be important for the presence of a lawyer to be required.

- Miss, we believe that your ex-spouse has benefited from internal assistance. We believe he is associated with the expert who managed your account.

I pale. I feel more betrayed, soiled, fate is hounding me.

— The first year, your accounts are correct, there is no inconsistency, then towards the middle of the second year, small sums, too small to pay attention to, began to disappear. In the past year, larger sums have begun to be collected. We found in the computer of the expert, false reports which were intended for you were discovered. We have no serious lead concerning a possible agreement between them but you are the victim of an embezzlement. Our lawyer can come with you to file a complaint against them.

I look at him dumbfounded, mute with surprise.

— The expert sent in her resignation three days ago and she disappeared. We have initiated dismissal proceedings against her for serious misconduct. We have thought about your situation and unfortunately we cannot advance you all of the misappropriated funds while waiting for the criminals to be found. Seventy-five thousand euros is too much for our structure.

- It's not more like forty thousand euros? I ask him.

- No, Mademoiselle, the amount of money embezzled amounts to more than seventy thousand euros, almost seventy-five thousand. However, we put Me Bonnaux at your disposal for all legal proceedings. We will pay his fees in return and we will provide all the evidence for your defense. I also need to tell you that the amount you thought you had in your business account is lower than the amount you gave us. The account was completely emptied after your call and before we checked our former collaborator's computer. You only have the amount left in your personal account. For security, we have changed all the codes to prevent the scam from starting again.

At that moment, I don't remember anything. I wake up later, lying on a couch. According to the statements of the director, I fainted. He waits until I am visibly better and then tells me to go home to rest. He tells me that the lawyer will contact me to file the complaint with the court.

I go home and go straight to my bed hoping to wake up and hope this is a bad dream. I am apathetic, I no longer feel anything as empty of all emotion. I turn the light off. In the dark, I'm lying on my back and waiting for sleep to come and take me away. The minutes pass, without effect.

Light flashes from my phone and then a ringtone rings. I pick it up on my nightstand and see Lola's name on the screen. I pick up on reflex.

- Lili ? So what happened to your dates? she asks me.

A wave of emotion overwhelms me and I cry again. I tell him everything for better or worse. She listens to me patiently before telling me.

- I'll help you find a solution, she said with determination. On the other hand, go eat before sleeping, you fainted. It's not nothing ! she scolds me.

I end up cutting the conversation short, she realizes that I don't want to say much more so she hangs up recommending me to eat again. The phone back on my bedside table, I turn around and fall asleep.