Zoe’s Troubles Finally End!

Zoe was worried. Her nephew John needed to be enrolled for pre-school classes. Ever since Zoe’s parents, brother and his wife had passed away in a car accident, she had single-handedly looked after John. She loved him and cared for him just like his parents would have. Zoe made sure John had the best of everything. And when it came to selecting the best toddler classes in Kingston for him, Zoe would leave no stone unturned. She had to pay the fees soon and she was short of cash at the moment. Her payday seemed a long way ahead… What was she going to do? She shared a good rapport with her boss. Should she ask him for a loan? “I think I’ll ask him” Zoe thought aloud. With this in mind, there was a noticeable spring in her steps. She quickly grabbed all that she wanted from the supermarket’s shelves and steel racking. Had she taken John’s nappy wipes? Check. Baby food? Check.

She would willingly forget to buy things for herself but check the trolley ten times to make sure everything that John needed was there. Once in the car, she sped up and tried to make it home in half an hour. John didn’t like to be left alone with other people. She had asked her neighbour’s teenage daughter to watch over him while he was taking his afternoon nap. She reached her apartment and rang the bell. Sally answered the door promptly and smiled at Zoe. “Hope there wasn’t any trouble”, Zoe said. “None at all! I’ll leave now. See you…” Sally said and left. John was still asleep. Zoe settled down and rang up her boss. After a long wait, he finally answered the phone. “Oh Zoe, it’s you! How are you dear?” Zoe couldn’t exactly make up her mind how to go about asking him for the loan. After exchanging pleasantries, she just shot at it. “Umm… Mr. Spence, I uh… needed your help…” She was expecting her boss to say yes but he said “Zoe, I’m so sorry… I had the cash but you know we’re getting bespoke office furniture. I paid the designers some cash yesterday and right now there’s nothing I can do for you…” Zoe said it was all right and that she’d manage. Once the phone was disconnected, she was again in despair. How was she going to manage?

Her eyes had now become dewy… She missed her mum. She thought of the time when mum and she had booked a cab in Kingston to travel all the way to her grandparents’ place in Surrey. They were short of cash at that time too! Zoe’s mum and her grandparents didn’t talk. Mum had married against their wishes and that hadn’t gone down well with them. As a last resort, mum had decided to ask them for a small loan. Zoe and her mum reached their place and were thrown out instantly. They didn’t even listen to Zoe’s mum’s pleas. They had all the money in the world to hire fencing services to install a high grade security fence around the huge property but no time at all to just listen to Zoe and her mum. Zoe and her mum had left in the cab in tears. At that time too, all they could think of was nothing. Zoe’s dad had been sick and needed an operation urgently. Zoe’s mum had then gone on to selling all her jewellery at a local store. Whatever cash she got was used to treat Zoe’s dad.

And here was Zoe, once again wondering how to come out of the financial trouble she was facing. Unlike her mum, she hadn’t been able to invest in gold or precious metals. All she had was a gold bracelet… It always reminded her of her loving mother. She could never sell that. Zoe’s mum had worn the bracelet every day. Zoe’s dad had gifted the bracelet to her. While all of Zoe’s mum’s body had become a mangled mess in the accident, all that was recognizable was her hand and the bracelet on her wrist. Zoe just couldn’t part with it. But John was already getting late for preschool. He should have been enrolled last year. Financial troubles never left Zoe alone...

Zoe finally decided to sell the gold jewellery for cash. She found a reliable website where she could sell it in the comfort of her own home and get the best value too. She liked the quote and waited for the company to mail her a package in which to send the bracelet. Once the bracelet would get evaluated, Zoe would be paid the amount. Zoe couldn’t bear the thought of having to split with her mum’s only personal belonging that she had held so close to her heart for four years. When the package arrived, she reluctantly placed the bracelet in it. Just as she was about to seal it, her phone rang. It was her boss! What could Mr. Spence want now? She picked up the call and they exchanged pleasantries as usual. “Were you able to manage?” asked her boss. Zoe could take it no more and burst out crying. She told her boss everything. Her boss had called to say that he was able to loan some money to her and that she needn’t sell her mum’s bracelet. Zoe couldn’t thank him enough! With the cash, Zoe was able to enroll John into a preschool. And within a few months, she even paid back all the cash to Mr. Spence. Want to know a secret? Mr. Spence and Zoe are now happily married and very much in love!