Chapter 1

Chrissa squinted up at the clock on the far wall. She had only been sitting there a few minutes, but it already felt like an eternity. How was it possible to be this excited and this scared, all at the same time. It didn't really make sense. She let out a shaky breath as she squeezed her eyes closed. As she did, she felt a hand cover her own under the table. It squeezed gently, a silent reminder that she was not alone. Her eyes opened to look over at her best friend Nellie, who sat across from her at the narrow wooden table.

"We're in this together." Nellie smiled. "I know it's scary, but it's also our dream come true. Trust me, this is the hardest part. Once we're done with the lawyers, banks and paperwork, it will all be worth it."

Chrissa couldn't help but smile at her friend. Nellie was the eternal optimist. No matter what the situation, she always believed everything would work out just fine. Though, fine for one was not always fine for another, and Chrissa had become used to needed to look at different perspectives to find the silver lining in some cases.

"I don't know how you can be so calm right now. Yes, this is our dream, but if we fail, it becomes a nightmare. We will never be able to pay back this loan if everything doesn't go to plan." The worry in Chrissa's expression forced a frown to cross Nellie's face.

"Then we don't fail." She said it so matter of factly that Chrissa felt a tinge of annoyance begin to surface. Chrissa was about to object when the door of the small office swung open and a young man in a suit entered. He held a stack of papers in his hand and smiled politely at the two girls as he entered.

"Well, we have just about everything in order except for some signatures from the two of you."

"Really?" Nelly jumped up out of her chair, her voice sounding more surprised than it should have for someone who thought everything was going to be just fine.

"Yeah." The young man flipped through some of the paperwork. "You guys really did your homework. It made my job a lot easier that you did so much of the heavy lifting before coming in. All the permits, insurance and deed are in order. You both have excellent credit, a sound business plan and the collateral appraised higher than we expected, so I had no problems getting the loan approved.

Chrissa suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of her. "Collateral? What collateral?" Her eyes grew wide as she felt a panic attack raising in her chest. Her gaze shifted to Nellie, demanding answers.

The air in the tiny office grew heavy as the man clenched his teeth, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, maybe I should give you two a few minutes to talk." He dropped the stack of papers on the desk between the two girls. "Don't overthink it too much. This is a really good plan. The business has excellent potential. Heck, I'd invest in it if I had the money." With that, he walked out, closing the door silently behind him.

"Alright, spill it. What was he talking about?" Chrissa clenched her fists as she locked her eyes with Nellie's. "We already talked about this. We don't have anything to use as collateral."

Nellie looked down at her hands, "Actually, we do. I didn't want to say anything, because I knew you would react like this."

"So, you thought it was a better idea to go behind my back, to try to sneak it past me in the pile of paperwork?" Chrissa was trying to hold in her temper, but sometimes Nellie's good intentions were more than she could stand. "I thought we agreed than we wouldn't get anyone else involved? So who offered to support us and what are they using for collateral?"

"No one else is involved." Nellie's words came out more like a squeak than a sentence. I put up the collateral myself."