The tone in Maria’s voice made the tall woman realize just how she sounded. “No, I’ll use the one upstairs. Let me know when lunch is ready.” She turned and raced up the stairs.
Once inside her room, Ronnie flipped on the switch of her computer and sulked over to her bed. She looked around the room, realizing, as if for the first time, how quiet and empty it was. The thick carpets and solid wood floors kept the sounds from below from filtering up to her. “This is stupid,” she scowled, returning to her computer desk and sitting down. “I have work to do.”
The folder she clicked on however, was not a work folder. It was to her solitaire game. She followed by reviewing her appointment book and noting that Christmas was only seventeen days away. Well, it would not hurt anything if she looked around the Internet for a while. Browsing the Macy’s site gave Ronnie no ideas at all about a gift to get for her mother. She had seen several items she thought Rose would like though. By quarter of twelve, Ronnie still had no presents for the members of her family. “The gift that always fits,” she decided, clicking on the gift certificate form. That problem solved, she shut the computer off and trotted downstairs to have lunch with Rose and watch Judge Judy together.
When Ronnie entered Rose’s room, she was pleased to see Karen was finishing up. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t forget to do those exercises I showed you. You have to keep those muscles active as much as possible or it will only slow your recovery.”
“I will, thank you,” the young woman replied.
“Fine.” The nurse turned her attention to Ronnie, correctly assuming she was the one in charge.
“I’ll be back tomorrow around nine.”
Lunch was a simple fare of soup and sandwiches, eaten while listening to the feisty judge reprimand someone for thinking she would believe they had repaid a loan but just could not find their receipt. By the time the credits rolled, both women were looking at empty plates. “Maria can make anything taste good.”
“Oh, she’s a wonderful cook,” Rose agreed. “Has she always worked for you and your family?”
“As long as I can remember. Her mother worked for us too, but she retired shortly after I was born. Maria’s been everything from housekeeper to baby-sitter to referee ever since.” The high pitched chirp of the phone interrupted her. “Probably another telemarketer,” she grumbled.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“No. Maria screens my calls for me.” As if on cue, Maria knocked on the door. “Okay,” Ronnie called while reaching for the phone. “This is Veronica Cartwright.”
“Um…yes, Miss Cartwright, this is Jonathan Barker from First Albany Savings and Trust. How are you today?” Recognizing the name of the bank’s senior vice-president, Ronnie’s posture stiffened and she pushed her chair over to the desk.
“Yes, Mister Barker. What can I do for you today?”
“Well…I don’t mean to bother you at home but I felt this matter required your immediate attention.” She did not miss the touch of nervousness in his voice. “Mister Cartwright hasn’t returned any of my calls and I am afraid at this point I have to seek recourse somewhere else.”
Ronnie rolled her eyes and picked up her pencil, lightly tapping it on the desk. “What’s this about?”
“Well…as you know, when a loan is defaulted, we are obligated to go to the guarantor in order to recover our losses and since you are the cosigner on Mr. Cartwright’s personal loan….”
“I cosigned a loan?” The pencil stopped moving. “When was this?”
“Oh, I um…” She heard papers shuffling about on Barker’s desk. “Yes, here it is. I have your signature dated April fifth as a cosigner for Mr. Thomas Cartwright’s personal loan.” A touch of nervousness crept into his voice. “You did cosign a personal loan for him, didn’t you, Miss Cartwright?”
The pencil began tapping rapidly. “I guess I must have forgotten about it, Mister Barker.”
“Well, I’m sure it was just a simple oversight on Mister Cartwright’s part but I am afraid that we haven’t received a payment in over five months. I really can not let this go on much longer.”
“No, of course not.” The pencil moved with more force. “You can transfer the overdue amount from my personal savings account.”
“Well, I appreciate that Miss Cartwright but I am afraid at this point the loan is considered to be in default and we have to ask for full repayment.”
“Fine. You can take whatever is owed from my account.” She nestled the phone between her ear and shoulder, freeing up her hand to grab a piece of paper. “Can you please tell me the exact repayment amount so I can mark my records?”
The pencil dropped to the desk and clattered onto the floor. “What?”
“I said the total with interest and late fees comes to seventeen thousand six hundred forty-two dollars and twenty three cents. I’ll have that withdrawn from your account immediately.”
“Mister Barker?”
“Yes?”
” In the future, make certain you check with me personally before approving any more loans for any member of my family.”
“Certainly, Miss Cartwright.”
There was a pause before Ronnie realized that he had said something else. “Excuse me, I’m afraid I didn’t hear you.”
“I asked if there was anything the bank could do for you today.” the banker repeated.
“No. I think you’ve done enough, thank you.”
“Have a good day, Miss Cartwright,” he said, but she had already hung up.
From her seat only a few feet away, Rose heard every word of the executive’s side of the conversation. It was not hard to piece together what happened. “Ronnie?” All she got was a view of the back of the brown leather chair and the furious clacking of the keyboard. “Ronnie?”
“Do you need something, Rose?” Her tone sounded much harsher than she intended. The typing stopped. “You know, there are times when I wish I wasn’t the oldest,” she sighed, turning her chair around to face the young woman.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Ronnie’s first reaction was to say no, that family problems are always settled privately, but then she looked up into soft green eyes and realized she did want to talk about it, she did want to share her frustrations and feelings with Rose. “Tommy took out a personal loan and forged my name on it as cosigner.”
“Oh, that’s terrible,” the young woman gasped. “But, why did you pay it?”
“Because that’s what I’m expected to do,” she sighed. “If I didn’t, Susan or Mother would have.”
“But you’re only making it easier for him to do it again.”
“I know, but I don’t have a choice.” She pushed her chair closer to the bed. “Even though I’m considered the head of the family now, there are still some things I have to do whether I like them or not.”
“It’s a lot of pressure sometimes, isn’t it?” Rose reached out and placed a gentle hand on the older woman’s forearm. “It must be very stressful to have to keep everything inside.”