The real crisis hit during their third week without funding. Lennox had been scrambling to find new investors. But legitimate business people ask hard questions. Questions like, “Where was your initial capital coming from?” and can you provide references from previous investors?
Questions Lennox couldn’t answer because she’d never known the money was coming from Harold’s trust. I was washing dishes when I heard her on the phone with someone she thought might save her company. I understand you need documentation, she was saying, her voice tight with forced pleasantness. But our previous investor preferred to remain anonymous.
It was all handled through intermediaries. A pause then, “No, I don’t have contact information for the intermediaries. Everything was arranged through through family connections.” Another pause, longer this time. When she spoke again, her voice had lost all its artificial sweetness.
What do you mean that sounds irregular? This is a legitimate business with real products and real customers. The conversation ended badly. I could tell from the way she slammed the phone down and immediately started dialing another number.
That evening, she cornered Darren in their bedroom. I was in the hallway bathroom, but their voices carried through the thin walls. We need to ask your mother for a loan, Lennox said. A loan?
Mom doesn’t have that kind of money. How do you know? She’s been living in this house for 40 years. Your father worked in construction management.
They must have savings. Lennox. Mom lives on social security and dad’s pension. She clips coupons and shops at thrift stores.
Then we’ll ask her to cosign for a business loan. Banks trust older homeowners. I gripped the bathroom sink, feeling a cold fury settle in my chest. After 3 years of treating me like an unwanted house guest after telling me my voice was irritating after countless small humiliations and dismissals, now they wanted to use my credit, my reputation, my home as collateral for their failing business.
the business that had been thriving on my money all along. I don’t know, Darren said. Mom’s been through a lot since Dad died. I don’t want to stress her out with business problems.
Stress her out? Darren, this is our future. We’re talking about our life together. If Luminous Beauty fails, we lose everything.
Maybe we could move out, get our own place. Take some pressure off mom and reduce our expenses. Move out. Lennox’s voice rose to a near shriek.
This house is perfect for entertaining clients. The address alone opens doors for us. And your mother loves having us here. We’re doing her a favor by keeping her company.
A favor. Living in my house, eating my food, dismissing me from my own dinner table. All favors they were doing for poor, lonely me. I finished in the bathroom and walked quietly to my bedroom.
But I could still hear Lennox working on Darren, wearing down his resistance the way she always did. She owes us this much, Lennox was saying, after everything we’ve sacrificed to take care of her. Do you know how many social events I’ve had to turn down because I couldn’t leave her alone? How many business dinners we’ve hosted here instead of going out because someone needs to keep an eye on her?