Lisa smiled. “Much better. Rick even got a bonus,” she said but mentioned nothing about the loan.
Another year passed with excuses, delays, and vague promises. Finally, after Thanksgiving, I confronted Rick.
He looked shocked, as though I wasn’t asking for anything that was mine. “Maybe next year. You’re fine, Ivy. You can afford to wait.”
In that moment I realized they never saw it as a loan. In fact, they believed I just needed to give them the money because I was all by myself. They probably believed I didn’t need money since I had no family on my own.
