Break The Cycle

You sit for a second, thinking.
"Hold on a sec." You turn to your computer, taking a minute to pull up your stock portfolio.
After a minute or two of looking at the numbers, you turn back to Kayla.
"Okay...here's what I can do. I can't give you anything out of the company itself right now, though I will sit down with Mary-Anne next week and work out a reasonable raise for you. As to any advance...I can stake you a personal loan from my portfolio. I can't swing $5000, but I can probably swing about $3,500. Will that help?"
Kayla puts a hand to her throat, her mouth falling open... "You'd....you'd do that?"
"I wish I could do more, but there's no way I could pull money from my personal bank accounts without raising all kinds of hell with Jenna. My stock portfolio is my own, though. She doesn't have access to it."
Kayla's eyes well up. "James...that's incredibly generous of you to do with your personal money, I don't know if I could accept it..."
"It's not a gift, Kayla. You'd pay me back, monthly, but an amount you can afford, and without interest." You turn back toward her. "What do you say?"
"Of course! Thank you!" she suddenly plops herself on your lap, giving you a tight hug. "I should have come talk to you sooner. I...was afraid... I've always worried that you...deep down...that you hated me.."
This is... a little unprofessional.
"No...I've never hated you." You push her back, looking into her face. "I know I was never friendly to you, and after dad died, I said some stuff that I regret." You certainly had; you had come very close to blaming her for his **** at the funeral reception.
"You're a lot like him in a lot of ways, James. The best parts of him, I think." She's looking into your eyes now, with her lips parted. You start to squirm a little. High time for her to stand up off you now.