Goes Home

"Thank you, no. I have to think where I go from here."

Stefan walked out and thought, " I have been laid off, I live in a dump of an apartment, totally in debt and have only $100 in cash.

As he entered the hallway to get to his basement apartment the door to the apartment in the main floor opened. Mrs. Hudson, his landlady looked out at him.

"Oh Stephan, I wanted to speak with you. Come in, have some tea."

Stefan walked into the room and saw an attractive tall slim elegant well dressed lady.

"Stefan" Mrs. Hudson said "this is my daughter Bobbi."

"Call me Miss Hudson" the young lady said.

She was wearing a very tailored business suit, the skirt was mid calf, the jacket looked expensive and beside her was an elegant briefcase. Her hair was perfect.

She look at him, unsmiling and said, "I want to talk to you about your arrears of rent. This has put Mom offside on her mortgage loans and is costing her significant amounts. Even if we evict you, which I can do in an hour, we will still be offside. I checked your credit, which is terrible, and if you are evicted it will be worse. I can help you if you are willing to work with me."

Stefan looked at his feet and said in an unsure voice, "I don't think it is that bad. I will get caught up shortly. It will have no effect on your mortgage."

Miss Hudson interrupted him and sternly said, "I am a banker. I do bad debt workouts. I know what I am talking about and know how to solve this for both of us."

"Of course I will do anything to help."

She softened her voice and said "It will more of us helping you. You obviously can not manage money or your life. I will convert the arrears of rent into a loan which will immediately bring us into good standing with the mortgage lender. I will make sure you do not fail to make your payments. That will require control over your finances. Once you have paid the arrears, you may go your own way."

"I don't know if I can accept someone controlling my finances."

She stiffened. "Don't try to negotiate with me. You are not good at it. The choice is simple, Immediate eviction and your stuff will be sent to storage. You will not be able to pay for storage and will lose everything. Where you will live I don't care. Probably on the street. Homeless, hungry and unemployed. I know you have been fired.. I can get you work and have your problems fixed. Your choice."

Stefan, unable to speak, tried to think of a response and failed. He though of sleeping on Serge's couch. The only other option. That would be humiliating, he thought. He looked at Miss Hudson and thought she could be a dominatrix.