Page 11 of Cloud Storm

“Well, I really do live in Market Station and I’m asking for just fifty thousand. Is there a rule that states I have to ask for more?” I applied for just the amount I needed. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Look at you, standing there with your badly colored hair and your ridiculous clothes that you probably got from a second-hand store.”

I looked down at my outfit which seemed perfectly respectable to me. Not everyone has a big budget to go shopping with.

“Take a long hard look at yourself, Miss Ariel Wilkinson. You must have a head full of birds if you honestly expect me to give you a loan for a business that is nothing short of ridiculous.”

Low blow, Suit.

But I have a voice and I know how to use it to justify my cause.

“You cannot judge the kind of person I am just by looking at the clothes I’m wearing, and whether or not you like it, I fulfill every requirement that the bank has requested. I am perfectly eligible for the loan.”

“Look,” he sighed, frowning as he scratched his forehead. “Impersonation is a federal crime. If you persist with this charade, by the end of today you can expect a visit from a lawyer and likely a three foot cell. I’m trying to be compassionate here by not calling the police.”

“Please, go ahead and call the police. All the information I’ve supplied is one hundred percent verifiable,” I challenged him. “Or call Mr. Hatz, the owner of the property, he’ll vouch for me.”

“Ma’am, we reserve the right of admission in this bank, so please be so kind as to leave my office,” he said without taking his eyes off me. “Now!”

I got up and left without another word. I was furious, really furious.

With him.

With myself.

But mostly with the illusions that I had allowed myself to believe in until then.

The dream was broken. Shattered in little pieces.

If I’d been treated me like this in a bank that was reputed to accept new entrepreneurs, I didn’t want to imagine how things would go in the others.

Goodbye to my bakery, at least formally via this route.

But I would still find a way to make it work, even if I had to knock on all the doors around my block selling cupcakes and cookies until I’d saved enough money to open it.

I went into the first bar I came across, ready to drown my sorrows in tequila.

Punishing myself.

Punishing my feelings and my weakness. If only I’d handled things differently.

No doubt the Suit wouldn’t be losing any sleep over any of this, he couldn’t wait to see the back of me.

If only my appointment hadn’t been with him.

???

That night, more drunk than I had ever been in my entire life, I almost broke my teeth on my living room floor. Until, helped by my roommate, I fell on the couch.

In tears, I told Roselynn what had happened, without omitting a single detail. In fact, I couldn’t shut up about that moron.

What I did not understand at that point was that although things had not gone according to plan, in some mysterious way the sun had begun to appear over my horizon.

My friend took the logistic reins of my company as she declared that she was going to provide the money I needed to move on.

I had avenged him without even trying.

I was going to succeed.

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