º Losses º
The shrill noise of their home phone ringing snapped Collien out of her static state. Her mother just texted that she was still at the office.
Who could be calling?
Collien wiped her face dry of futile tears. Her sigh was loud as she reclined. It was their old living room couch, the one her dad used to enjoy lounging on while watching the news. Rest his soul. “We miss you, Daddy.”
It had been weeks of grieving and crying. Why wouldn't her tears run out?
Granted, her family and friends often called her a crybaby. She would also find herself just spacing out at work sometimes, just trying to deal with her new reality. New job. New responsibilities. No more Daddy Cole to run to for advice.
Perhaps it was time she got used to it. It would take her a while, but, at least her mom no longer cried every day. Or maybe her mother just got better at hiding it.
Collien used tissues to wipe her runny nose. Odd how her tears just kept coming today; it's probably her brain reminding her how she didn't cry during her dad's funeral, so now she had to let it all out. Maybe she just had a delayed grieving stage.
The shrill noise went on. Curious, Collien grabbed the cordless phone. "Raish residence. Good afternoon?"
"Miss Clau. It's Mark," replied the guy over the phone. Mark was her late dad's assistant. "Sorry I had to call late."
"It's okay, Mark. What's up?" Collien knew he had news to share, so she made guesses in her head.
Just a week ago she'd told him to dig out the decades-old hard copies of bank statements from Han Financing, Corp. out of her Daddy Cole's office file cabinets. Her Mommy Lenna, now the acting company President, just didn't have the time and staff to do it all. Being a certified accountant and now their company's new CFO, Collien knew it was now her job to sort through all financial reports.
Back when her dad was still healthy and busy as the head of the company, her mom didn't quite focus on the finance aspect. Her mom only had interest in managing the Marketing Department of Raish Trading, Inc. (RTI). But that changed when Cole Raish kept going in and out of the hospital due to lung cancer and other health problems.
"They submitted the wrong worksheets to Accounting this morning. Sorry, Miss Clau." Mark sighed over the phone after saying her nickname again. "There were just a lot of files on Sir Cole's computer. The identical file names confused me."
Oh dear. Wrong spreadsheets. Collien held her breath. Did that mean the total amount they discussed in the last meeting wasn't close to the actual amount? "It's fine, Mark. So you finished the re-computation just now? How much is the total amount? There's a discrepancy?"
"Unfortunately." Mark fell silent for a moment. "It might exceed 20M next quarter."
"What? Twenty?" Collien almost shouted.
"If we'll add the interest for this quarter, it definitely will."
"Right," Collien sighed. Something heavy just stabbed her in the chest. Her heartbeat raced as if she'd just sprinted half a mile. Her legs felt wobbly all of a sudden, so she sat on their old coffee table to ponder the shocking news. So they owed that international finance corporation more than twenty million? The thought made her swear under her breath.
"Sorry, Miss Clau." A moment of awkward silence stretched. "For not having verified the report sooner."
"Why didn't he submit the files to Accounting long before?" she asked, confusion doubling. Didn't her father trust his highly paid accountants and associates?
"I...really don't have an explanation, Miss Clau. Sorry." Her late father's assistant sounded sincerely apologetic. "I haven't come across most of the files until yesterday. Sir Cole did all the calculations himself. They were encrypted, if that makes sense. Some of them, anyway."
"It's fine." Collien massaged her temple. "I understand." Good heavens. Twenty freaking million? RTI had to pay off debts amounting to more than 20 million?
"After the third lay-off, he told me to personally hand the files to you, with the passwords listed. I didn't even...realize until now that these were the files he was talking about."
"Yeah. Me neither." Collien bit on her upper lip. Uninspiring thoughts started spinning in her mind. Why would her father keep the matter top secret? "I'll check the files tomorrow. My headache's killing me. Thanks, Mark." Collien hung up and then shut her eyes.
In her head, she tried to see her father's logic for being particularly secretive the past couple of months. It's okay. Maybe her dad just didn't want his wife to be burdened by more problems. What with his hospitalization, worsening health issues, et cetera. But why would her dad keep very important information from them?
The first time they'd learned about their debts to the banks, not one of them could believe the outrageous amount. What happened over the past couple of years? Had they been spending that much money they didn't even own all this time? And why would her dad try so hard to keep it from them?
Their future was at stake, regrettably so. Their family business hadn't been gaining enough profits the past few years. What's more depressing was the fact that their financial investments were dropping like flies, just to pay off other outstanding balances from business loans their company had borrowed from local banks. She and her mom also had to sell two vehicles and their beloved rest house in Davao. Truth be told, they no longer had properties to surrender as collateral.
How and where on earth would she get her hands on 20 million cash? She might have to rob a bank for that to happen.
“Oh dear Lord…”
She was screwed beyond measure. After making up a short prayer in her head, Collien took a deep breath. It seemed impossible, but she still had to try. Her family depended on her. She owed it to them to at least try.
Fighting the urge to cry, she grabbed her cellphone and hastily opened a chat. The guy sent a simple greeting. Work matters and anxiety made her ignore his message all morning. But she badly needed someone to talk to right now, so she would have to reply to start another conversation.
He wasn't a boyfriend, or anything. Their online interaction started on a measly business forum website some weeks ago. He'd sent her a direct message and they started chatting via a social app. Mostly just friendly banter and not a lot of personal questions...
He was practically a stranger. She knew he lived in the same city but at least they didn't know each other in person. The anonymity gave her a sense of relief and security. She had a close-knit group of friends, of course. However, she found herself talking to him too often lately. She just appreciated the guy's straightforward but non-judgmental pep talks more than anything else.
Message
- Recipient - ArchJ
"You home? Ok to chat for a bit?"
- Send -
She leaned against the wall, pressing her phone to her chest. She would get a reply from him if he wasn’t too busy. Hopefully.