Bitter & Sweet
The Part 11
"Do you have a personal appointment?" ask Chloe, confused.
"Yes ... I don't want to have lunch alone. So, you're with me!" matthew sahut.
"I'm sorry, Sir ... But, I still have work to finish soon."
Chloe tries to reason that she does not need to have lunch with Matthew, because Chloe wants to have time alone, even though she has to work, and delays her lunch which is already too late.
However, Matthew was not one who could easily be denied his wish, as Matthew later said,
"One of your duties is to obey my orders."
Chloe could only snort softly, and not argue with Matthew anymore, immediately contacting the restaurant and changing the reservation there.
***
A restaurant located not too far from McLean property headquarters, with a travel time of approximately twenty minutes, Chloe and Matthew can already arrive there.
Chloe then mentions her order to the waiter who immediately approaches her desk, shortly after Chloe and Matthew take their seats.
So does Matthew, who does the same thing as Chloe, before the waitress passes away from their table.
"I'm taking you to lunch with me, because I want to make a deal with you."
Matthew opens the conversation, interrupting Chloe's concentration of checking the agenda for notes from Matthew's work schedule.
"I'll let you work to your standards, until you hand in your resignation....
... On condition, you should continue to be by my side. So that I can monitor, and make sure that you will not betray" Matthew continued.
Slowly, Chloe shook her head, in disbelief at what she had just heard.
"It's up to you, sir," said Chloe. "But, can I still have a little time to myself?"
"Yes ... You can get it, when we're done," Matthew said.
"Good, sir." Chloe then looked back at the agenda that she still held.
After their order is delivered, Chloe puts the agenda in her bag, and enjoys the lunch that has been served on the table.
"What's my schedule after this?" Matthew then put a piece of broccoli in his mouth.
"You'll have a meeting with a representative from the mayor's office, at 15:00" Chloe replied, after swallowing the crushed food.
"Is that all?" ask Matthew, again.
"Yes ... Supposedly, you had a meeting with one of the supply companies right now," Chloe replied.
Chloe gulped a little water, to help push the food in her throat, so it could be swallowed into her stomach immediately.
"But, due to the meeting with JT Corp earlier, it has taken you more time than previously thought, so I canceled it and rearranged it into tomorrow's schedule" Chloe continued.
"What's tonight, so you visit your parents' residence?" ask Chloe.
Although Chloe said she had spoken carefully, Matthew still seemed troubled by the question.
"Why are you asking?"
"There's a place I have to go for personal matters. So, I can't accompany you," Chloe replied.
"It shouldn't be long, and I'll try that before you return, I'll be in the pavilion." Chloe tries to convince Matthew to give him permission to go outside.
"Do you need a vehicle to drive you?" ask Matthew.
"No, Sir ... I'll take a taxi" Chloe replied.
***
After returning from the office, after all of Matthew's work schedule had been finalized, Chloe was getting ready to go to meet the leech.
In a hurry, after confirming that all previous payment notes were not left behind, Chloe entered a taxi that was waiting outside the gate of Matthew's fence.
Inwardly, Chloe was hopeful that the debt in the leech could be paid off by her, even though she had to spend all the money she had right now.
Upon arrival at a building that looked like an old barn and was on the outskirts of town, Chloe was greeted by two large, well-built and muscular men, with their fierce faces.
Chloe was used to seeing the appearance of people who worked as a member of the loan shark, because they often met him, if he was late to make debt repayments.
So that Chloe no longer felt afraid, as at first she was visited by them, in the studio apartment where Chloe had lived before.
"Please add the remaining debt that I still have to pay!" chloe said, after meeting the boss of the leech.
The potbellied man looked to be about fifty years old wearing a suit, and the necklace around his neck that was almost as big as the newborn's arm, scratched his almost bald head.
"Have you been able to clear everything?" ask the leech.
"I don't know. That's why I want the total to be counted" Chloe replied.
"Okay, okay!" said the leech, then gave a sign to one of his men who accompanied them there.
Chloe felt like she wanted to cough, when her throat suddenly became dry and itchy, because of the cigarette smoke that blew out of the mouth and nose of the boss of the leeches, who sat opposite her.
Until repeatedly Chloe cleared her throat, to clean her disturbed respiratory tract, with impatience, so that the calculation of the amount of debt she could get immediately.
Not long after, one of the men from the leech who had come out of the room, then looked back, and handed a sheet of paper to his boss.
"The amount is still 5,500 dollars again. Are you willing to pay it off?" said the leech.
"Is that amount already cut with flowers?" ask Chloe, panic.
Despite having spent the new salary in her account this morning, coupled with Nathan's paycheck to keep an eye on Matthew, Chloe's money was still less than 500 dollars.
Chloe can't stand the interest-bearing debt that's pressuring her life, so she has to figure out how to negotiate with the leech, so she can settle her debt there.
"Nrt! ... I assume that your money is not enough to pay it off. Right so?" The loan lender stared fixedly at Chloe.
"I beg you, please give me a little piece. The money from that debt, I'm not even wearing it," Chloe said.
"Unfortunately, I don't want to know what my money is for. All I know is that my money is spent and you're the guarantor."
The seemingly percentile will not want to be harmed even if only a little, then turn off the cigarette, by crushing it in the ashtray.
"If you delay repayment again, the debt will return to interest. You already know that, right?" continue the leech.
Chloe's almost out of her mind.
Because if he stops working at the end of this month, then the salary he can receive will not be left, if he has to pay the remaining debt and interest.
The only way, Chloe must find a loan of money that does not use interest for repayment.
"Wait a minute! I have to go to the restroom" Chloe said.
"That's over there!" The tenant pointed at the door that was located at 11 o'clock from where Chloe was sitting.
In a hurry, Chloe walks away and enters the bathroom, which is behind the door, and immediately contacts Agatha, trying to get a loan of money from her.
But Chloe's efforts are in vain, because Agatha has not been able to help her, arguing that she has just sent money to her college sister.
David ... Chloe might be able to ask for help from him, but Chloe felt very embarrassed, if without wind or rain, then suddenly she had to borrow money from the man.
But there seems to be no other way, Chloe ventured to contact David's contact.
"Hello, Chloe!" david from across the phone.
"Hello, Sir! ... Im sorry. But I really need your help" Chloe said.