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I’d make sure of it.
Chapter Nine
Cadence
Leo still wasn’t answering me, and I was beginning to suspect it was on purpose. No matter how busy he was, he should have had time for a simple phone call. This felt like payback for my response when he’d messaged me.
Sighing, I set my cellphone on my desk. I was technically on lunch, but someone still had to answer the phones while everyone else left to eat, so it had become habit to eat lunch here since it wasn’t like I had the money to go get anything.
My stomach gurgled, reminding me thateatingwas supposed to be the main point of a lunch break, but I hadn’t brought anything. I didn’t get paid until tomorrow, and I’d left the last bit of sandwich stuff for Momma and Michael.
One hand rubbing my complaining stomach, I decided to double check what bills were due before going to make more coffee. I had a detailed list of balances and due dates that I used to plan out payments, but I was so paranoid about missing one that I couldn’t help double and triple checking everything. It was the end of the month, and I couldn’t afford to let anything slip by. Late fees were a bitch.
I knew when the mortgage was due, and I knew how far we were behind. Seeing it would make my stomach more upset, so I resisted the need to obsessively check that one. I went to the second on my list of importance, logging into the electricity account to double check the balance. We had gotten behind on it as well during the winter because the house was so drafty, but I was slowly paying down the past due amount as we kept our use to the minimum while the weather was bearable.
When the screen loaded and showed me a due balance of zero, I frowned. Even without what was past due, it should have showed an amount billed for the previous month, but there was nothing.
Dialing the company, I clicked over to my statements. The last one still showed what I’d expected to see. I knew payments wouldn’t show until the next statement, but I hadn’t made any yet.
After navigating the phone system, I finally got someone on the line and explained the situation.
“We received the full payment over the weekend, and it was processed Monday once we opened. Your account is all caught up,” the chipper voice on the other end of the line responded.
I shook my head even though the woman couldn’t see me.
“But I haven’t made a payment yet. I don’t get paid until tomorrow.”
I could imagine the woman’s shrug as she answered.
“Maybe someone else made the payment for you.”
“No, I’m the one who handles the bills. No one else would be able to log into the account.”
“All they need is the account number to make a payment. Even the address and name on the account would work since they’re paying the bill, not making changes.”
I sucked in a deep breath, panic fluttering to life in my chest. I couldn’t help the feeling that this would come back to bite me.
“What if it was a mistake? Could someone apply a payment to the wrong account? Will I get in trouble for not paying?”
The woman’s tone made it clear what she thought of my questions, but I didn’t care. This was my life, and something wasn’t right. The anxiety wasn’t something I could ignore.
“I assure you, mistakes like that are rare. We’re very careful when handling people’s money. If it turns out there was a mistake on our end, you wouldn’t be penalized for not making a payment when your account shows you don’t owe us anything. We don’t allow overpayment or prepayment on accounts, so there’s no way for you to pay anything until your next bill.”
The phone on my desk rang, interrupting the internal tail-chase going on in my head. Stammering thanks, I hung up my cell and moved a hand to the receiver on my desk. Blowing out a breath to steady myself, I answered the business phone with the usual greeting.
The call only distracted me for a moment before I was back to questioning what could have happened. Even if Momma had called the company to make a payment, it would have bounced since the bank account was empty. The only thing I could think of was that maybe it hadn’t cleared yet, so the company assumed it was covered.
Stomach roiling, I opened the next account on my list. The water bill looked like I expected it to, so I moved on to Momma’s hospital bills.
My jaw dropped, lungs frozen as I stared at the screen.
Between the regular doctor visits, specialists, and testing, we owed over eleven thousand to the hospital. They were working with me on payments, but each month the number only seemed to increase due to Momma’s continued issues.
Zeros stared back at me from the screen. No past due amount, no current due amount. Once again, the bill had been paid in full. This time I could see the payment history showing me that the lump sum had been processed the previous day.
My head was spinning, and my lungs refused to pull in any air. Leaving the tab open, I checked the next bill.
Cell phones were the one ‘extra’ bill that we had since I considered them a necessity for both work, and in case something happened to Michael or Momma while I was gone. We didn’t have cable or internet at home, but Michael and I both had a phone with a basic plan. I’d paid off our past due balance with the extra money I’d received from my auction, and the account showed me the usual monthly charge.
