The following morning, Nora called the bank before she went down to the patisserie. A strange sense of relief flooded through her when it went to voice mail. Thank goodness she didn’t have to deal with her overdraft situation just yet.
Filming was much less dramatic today. They continued to talk about bread and various sandwich combinations. Henrik was critical as always, but unusually sympathetic. Nora thought everyone was behaving as if she were a ticking time bomb.
When the team had left, her sense of calm returned. She was about to get a full week away from filming, and she just wanted to be left in peace, pretend that nothing had changed. The renovations were due to start the day after tomorrow, but for now she could go back to business as usual.
She told Hassan and Emil that they could go home. Then she refilled the coffee machine, tidied up the display counter, and served a few late-afternoon customers—enjoying these tasks without a camera in her face, without Henrik observing every move she made.
There were only a couple of people left in the café, so Nora poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down in the kitchen.
She sipped her coffee, which tasted excellent. Henrik must have gotten a bad batch.
She knew she ought to call the bank again.
The phone rang for a while, and someone finally answered.
“Göran Fredriksson.”
“Oh, hi, my name is Nora Jansson. I wanted to speak to Anna Bäckström—isn’t this her number?”
“It is, but Anna has just had a baby, so all her calls are being forwarded to me.”
“Okay. So the thing is, my overdraft protection doesn’t seem to be working—I don’t understand what’s happened.”
“If I can just ask you a couple of security questions to confirm your identity, I’ll look into it right away.”
“No problem.”
She did as he asked, and she heard him tapping away on his keyboard. “Let’s see ... Ah.” Silence on the other end of the line. An alarming silence. “You’re ... the Nora Jansson who owns Nymans. I was going to contact you this week, ask you to come in for a meeting.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t like to do this over the phone, but I’ve looked at your overdraft situation. None of the overages have been paid back, and in fact the amount has increased significantly over the last month. That’s why the protection has been withdrawn.”
“But ... when I spoke to Anna recently, she agreed to raise the limit, because I’m taking part in a TV show that will significantly boost my income.”
“A TV show?”
“Yes—Let’s Get Baking. It’s already brought in more customers.”
“So Anna said you could delay repaying your debt because of this ... TV show?”
“Exactly.”
“I see. I’m sure it’s because she was pregnant, not thinking straight. She needs approval from the board to increase your limit in a case like this, and as far as I can see, the figures don’t add up. So unfortunately I’ve had to lower your overdraft limit, and stop any further withdrawals until you can make the necessary repayments.”
“You mean I have no credit? You can’t do that ... I have salaries to pay and invoices for all my pre-Christmas orders. I won’t have anything left.”
“If you can’t cover your expenses, you won’t be able to continue to run your business. I suggest you close the patisserie before you incur further debts.”
She was sure he was smiling.
“We’re turning things around. I’ve already noticed an uptick in sales.”
“I’m afraid there’s not a thing I can do for you right now. Not until you come back to me with a financial projection that makes sense, or repay seventy-five percent of your overdraft debt.”
“Seventy-five percent! But that’s impossible, where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
Göran sighed loudly. “I’m afraid you’ll have to discuss that with your accountant.” He paused, sighed again. “It’s after five, I have to go. Get in touch when you have a solution.”
