Chapter 5

Rhea sighed. This was the fourth letter from Chiltern Bank in the last three weeks. They didn't normally write to them so much and she put it by the kettle. She wanted to open it. She deliberated. It was addressed to both of them but Simon dealt with the financial stuff.

There was a knock at the door and Rhea strode towards it. If she didn't leave soon she would be late for work and bars didn't open themselves. "Miss Williams?" A tall suited gentleman with short hair and fashionable stubble asked and Rhea nodded, staring at him.

"Who are you?"

"Can I come in please?" The gentleman asked with an effortless smile. "It really is very important."

Rhea thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The smart gentleman took a deep breath; it was not unusual for his clients to be defensive but, in his industry he preferred for them to be subservient and compliant as well. He gave a false chuckle and his eyebrows rose. With a charming smile he produced a letter on headed notepaper. "I am Mr Chambers, I represent Terrence and Co, and I am collecting a substantial amount of arrears from the Chiltern for a mortgage..."

Rhea gasped as she took the letter. "What?"

Mr Chambers normally liked it when the occupant was not aware of the arrears, and always imagined the row that would happen when the debtor arrived home and saw a spark of anger in Rhea as she scanned the document. She was a fighter, definitely and didn't fancy being in her partner's shoes when he returned home. " ... for a mortgage on this property. This currently stands at over five thousand pounds in arrears and I am authorised to start removing goods to repay the debt."

Rhea's eyes sparkled dangerously. "You will do no such thing," she snapped and gave him the letter back. "There must be some mistake, we pay the mortgage every month on time. Now kindly leave my property and don't come back."

Rhea was clearly shaken, and he saw her think. He smiled as she wondered whether Simon had forgotten to pay the mortgage? How could they be five grand in debt on their joint mortgage? That was eleven months of mortgage repayments, and if they hadn't paid the money why didn't she know previously?

Mr Chambers eyed the young mother, she had gone pensive and was distracted. "There is no mistake. If you refuse to let me in, I am entitled to break in..." he lied. He thought that it was clear that she would unlikely know that he was unable to do this, unless he had already gained access to the property previously and hoped that this would make Rhea more co-operative. It didn't.

"If you break into my home, I will break your legs," she replied venomously and Mr Chambers recoiled. "Now get the fuck off my property before I start breaking fingers."

Mr Chambers thought. If only he could get one foot over the front door, he could break in. Legally. Whenever he wanted. In his experience this always made the occupants of the property more co-operative. He sucked in a breath for a moment and took a step forward, intending to barge Rhea out of the way. She was at least six or seven inches shorter than him and her slight frame suggested weakness.

Rhea reacted quickly. In a lightning-quick move, she raised her foot and propelled it towards him. Towards his waist. And it connected firmly with his genitals. Rhea swelled up angrily and dropped the paper onto the floor, and as the bailiff took a step back, howling in agony Rhea's right fist smashed into his face.

"Now get the fuck off my property," she shouted fiercely and with the gentleman bent lay prostrate on her path, blood streaming from his face. She slammed the door wildly and sank to the floor, her head in her hands.

The letters sat by the kettle and she stared at them. What would they say and was it important? She had noticed a stack of letters from financial companies coming for them every week but she never thought too much of it. Her mind whirred with possibilities.

Was Simon paying the mortgage? He said he was, and he said it came direct from his bank account. Surely he would have told her if he was struggling, and not pay anything for eleven months; she didn't believe it. It was impossible, he was just too sensible. She chastised herself for having such undeserving thoughts of her partner. She had been dating him for ten years in two months and it was his sensibleness that had riled her so much when they first starting dating.

She got her coat and brushed her hair in the mirror. She glanced through the front door and the bailiff had left her path. She wondered for a moment and went back to the letters and opened them. She wished she hadn't.

The bank had "regrettably started eviction proceedings" for non-payment of the mortgage for twelve months. This could be avoided if they were to pay off the outstanding debt, plus a 10% handling fee within seven days otherwise the bank "would seize control of the property and market it for sale to recoup the loan amount plus any charges incurred."

Rhea collapsed against the kitchen worktop open-mouthed before bursting into tears. This flat was her home, her daughter's home and was Simon and her first foot on the housing ladder. How can they be twelve months in arrears?

She felt sick and ran to the bathroom.

As she came out of their small bathroom, without hesitating she walked into her bedroom and pulled open Simon's drawers. He kept all the financial documents in his bottom drawer and there was loads of correspondence from a number of financial institutions.

Rhea sniffed back the tears and emptied the drawer on the bed. There were a number of letters from the mortgage provider about the arrears, and more about a sizeable debt on a credit card. Simon didn't have any credit cards, she thought. There were letters from two debt collection agencies chasing him for cash accrued, another from his current account holder asking him to repay his overdraft.

Then she found a stack of bank statements and she scanned them. Sure enough, his wages were paid in and then were withdrawn in cash almost immediately. Just what was going on? How did he "max out" his ten thousand pounds credit card in just four months? And how did he spend a six thousand pound unsecured loan?

Rhea sat back on her haunches and wiped her eyes. Her boyfriend was in debt to over twenty thousand pounds, and most of this owed from joint accounts. She shook her head and tears flooded her face again. She had never been so much in debt before.

Rhea composed herself and reached for the phone. She dialled work to tell them that she was unwell and could not come in, and then rang Zoe. She might have been Simon's brother, but she had been a good, calm friend to Andy and her over the years; at that particular point in time, she needed someone.

Zoe shrieked as the vibration of her phone rattled against the garden chair. Andy grinned. "Something from Ann Summers," he teased and Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Hello?" Zoe asked nervously, not checking the Caller ID and a tearful Rhea greeted her.

"What's up?" Zoe asked, sensing that Rhea was upset.

"We are being evicted," Rhea blurted out and burst into tears. "Si's not paid the mortgage for twelve months. And I have bailiffs at the door. All sorts."

Zoe froze. "What?"

Rhea sobbed. "We've lost everything and I don't know why."

"OK. I am coming over," she said, putting the phone down and turned to Andy.

"You're sister is going to be evicted. I'll need you to take us."

"Evicted? Why?"

"I don't know," Zoe lied and Andy paused for a moment.

"OK. But you need to drive."

"It's eleven o'clock. Please tell me you've not been drinking this morning."

Andy groaned. "No, of course I haven't. I just had a bit of a heavy night last night."

"And you are still drunk?"

"No. I think I am fine. But I don't want to take any chances."

"I'm not insured," she wailed and Andy rolled his eyes.