Walking out of time (Part III)

Emma looked up from the photo of the debtor on her phone. Burton Street was busy, shoppers and professionals milling about, but she knew the debtor when she saw him. She glanced from the photo on her phone to the young man in question, and back again; yes, it was him. Emma thought for a moment- the man wouldn’t know the manager sent her in his place, would he? And he clearly didn’t know what Emma looked like, with the way his eyes were darting here and there, expecting to meet her manager, cautious of his lender’s anger no doubt. But there was no time to wonder about what the young man knew or didn’t know, so Emma half-walked, half-ran to meet up with him on the other side of the street.

William saw someone running towards him. He stopped- did his moneylender send people after him? Wait, did he already know that William couldn’t return his money, and was drowning in debt? Self-preservation took a hold on William, and he turned and began to run. Forget propriety.

Why was he running? Emma thought. She quickened her pace to catch up with the man and caught him by the shoulder. William was faster; he turned around to face this woman and started to explain.

“Excuse me, but I don’t know who you are. Let me be on my way.”

Of course, Emma thought, her manager didn’t tell him he would send her instead.

“If that were true, why would you run? I understand if you were perturbed by my running frantically, but forgive me, my manager sent me to collect his amount of money from you as he had to attend an important family gathering, and I must pick up my children from school in less than five minutes. I’m running out of time.” She explained, holding up her phone with his photo displayed from her manager’s text message.

“And I’m running out of money.” William sighed. He raked his fingers through his hair, and now it was his turn to tap his foot impatiently. Now his notorious money-borrowing habits didn’t just concern him and the moneylender, it also concerned this woman who had her own responsibilities. Money and time were two crucial things William didn’t have, and will probably never have enough of, but he shouldn’t deprive this employee of his lender of those things; his morals, as ever, guiding him.

“I’ll be quick. I don’t have the money. I’m a student, with no stable income, doing odd errands and merely getting by with some money and loans. I borrowed money to aid myself, but now I realise I should stop borrowing money if I can’t pay it back.” William slapped his head in frustration. If he didn’t know better, and there weren’t a lot of people around watching him become dishonoured, he would have started crying.

“And your manager, your manager… I hear his anger isn’t something to reckon with.” William looked at Emma, pleading with her with his eyes. Surely she would understand? She said she had children…

William’s chest began to pain from anxiety. What would the manager do to him? William’s breathing quickened, sweat beaded from his forehead, and his hands were clammy with it.

Emma thought and thought. Neither this man nor she had the time to properly reason this out and make sure they were both let off without any repercussions. She checked her watch. Only two minutes left before she had to dash for school.

“Listen, I completely understand. But my manager won’t- you’ve said yourself how he is. So how about I pay him back on your behalf and say the money was from you? He will not mind as long as he gets the money. How much did you borrow from him?”

William could kick himself. Straight out from one debt and directly into another. Oh, he should just quit university and get a job so he could clear his guilt and conscience, among other things. But he also didn’t have another plan.

William acquiesced, and told her the amount he borrowed. “My money-acquiring and spending habits need to change. I think I might go start looking for a job so I can pay back both my debt and my loans- and still stay in university.” He grinned.

Emma smiled a smile of relief, “My name is Emma.”

William held out his hand to shake hers, “And I am William, who hopes to pay you back one day.”