2: Debts

When is all these going to end?

"Mr Donovan, take pity on us. We will pay up our rent soon." Her sister, Anna, was on her knees, rubbing her palms together in a pleady gesture. She knelt in front of the house, poking her head to get a view of the landlord inside the house.

Aria stood next to her, careful not to draw her attention. She immersed herself in deep thoughts. What was she going to do? She was tired of the whole situation. Now that she had just finished college, she had started thinking about how to go about paying her student loans but she couldn't even pay her house rent. The money she had been saving to repay her student loan was what she used to pay her mother's last hospital bills. Since then, any money she had tried to gather up in order to replace it was used to settle another bill or the other.

"Oh you're back." Anna stated, drawing Aria from her thoughts. Just then, Mr Donovan emerged from the house with this thug, carrying their refrigerator. The hefty thug marched outside, not sparing a glance to Anna at the sideways whom the refrigerator had slightly hit.

"Get out of there!" He shouted at her.

"And you would not speak to her like that," Aria fired back at him and held her sister, wiping her tears.

"And what makes you think you have the right to talk to him like that when you haven't paid your rent?" Mr Donovan snapped. "Infact go inside and bring their TV." The thug immediately heed to his command.

Aria's gaze softened. "Mr Donovan please pardon us. I know I promised to pay."

"That's what you keep saying. Do you think I run a charity organization?" He asked. "This is business! And in business, you can either make profit or loss. If all my tenants were like you, I won't make a dime."

"I know. It's not my intention to make you run at loss, it's just that things haven't been easy on us eversince my father died and my mother has been sick."

"Then you have to work harder than every other person."

"I promise to pay up soon. I'm trying my best."

"For the sake of your situation, I'll give you just two weeks to pay up your rent." He said firmly, and Anna could already predict the threat that would follow.

"Thank you so much, sir." The sisters appreciated in unison.

"Don't thank me yet," he interrupted them. "If in two weeks' time you don't pay up, you'll leave me with no option but to throw you out."

Anna heart dropped to her stomach when she heard that. Mr Donovan and his thug walked away from them with their television and refrigerator. Just few days ago, a loan shark had come to seize some of their furnitures due to their inability to pay up her father's debts. As much as she loved her father, she hated him sometimes because of the way he died without paying up his debts. He successfully transferred a heavy burden to her and her mother. And since the sickness had crippled her mother, she couldn't help with money. She had sold all her most priced possessions and her employer had laid her off because of her health condition. He even advised her to take proper treatment before going back into the workforce. It was not even fair to recruit Anna into paying off debts. It was all her responsibility. Since she just graduated from college, she hoped she could secure a high paying job at a firm. Then, she would resign from the shifts she ran at the eatry and hotel.

"So how was your graduation night?" Anna asked with a small smile, her curls bouncing on her face.

"It was okay." Aria responded with the fakest smile she could offer. She knew the sixteen year old had observed her mood and was trying to stop her from thinking.

"Tell me about it." Anna probed, excitement written on her face. An image of the marriage certificate flashed through her mind, her heart started to thump faster. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. No, that wasn't real, she said to herself. It was all a sick joke and she would never see him again.

"Are you fine?" Anna asked.

Aria sighed, a lie at the tip of her tongue to tell. "I'm just here thinking about the way things are. I really just want things to be better."

Anna walked over to her, sat on the sofa and hugged her tightly. "It will get better and by the way, I used my salary to shop for groceries. Yesterday when I came back from work, I noticed we had nothing at home."

Aria exhaled tiredly. "You were not supposed to do that. That's my responsibility."

"Don't say that. We're in this together. It's not fair to leave everything to you. You deserve help."

Aria felt guilty. She felt like she wasn't doing enough.

"We need to go over to the hospital today so we can see mom." Aria said.

"That's right," Anna spoke, standing up. "Let me quickly go and make some food for mom and there's little pasta for you."

Aria's phone vibrated inside her bag. It was just another call from Lily. She had received numerous texts and calls from her but she hadn't responded. She was still in place of confusion as she tried to comprehend what had happened to her. She didn't know if it was a good idea to tell Lily about her marriage with this strange man. She might never see him again, she told herself again. Holding on to the prospect of never seeing him again seemed safer but what if she bumped into him again?

The phone rang again, but this time it wasn't a call from Lily but a call from her boss at work.

"Good evening, Mr Mark."

From the other end of his phone, he cleared his throat. "How are you doing?"

Why was he calling her today? On Saturdays was usually her break from her work at the hotel.

"I'm fine sir. I'm a bit surprised you placed a call to me, is there a problem?" She asked, hoping for a favourable answer.

"Yes. Actually I need you to make a late delivery."

"I don't work on Saturdays and I'm sure there are other people there."

"I'll add it to your pay."

She had discussed her financial problems with him before so it was no surprise that he quickly offered to add more money. He knew she wouldn't be able to refuse.

"I'll be there soon."