And what about her future app users? What about all the people out there who lay tossing and turning, lonely and cold, wishing they knew how to convey to their estranged lovers all the things that went unsaid in their hearts? If the bank kicked them out, Annika would never have the chance to help them. She’d never be able to give them their happily-ever-after.

“Did we get anything good in the mail?” June walked in, smoothing her hair back. She’d put on some mascara, too. When she saw Annika’s face, though, she stopped short. “You okay? What’s going on?”

Annika picked up the letter wordlessly, her hand shaking, and handed it to June, who scanned it, her frown deepening as she went.

“Well, this is just bullshit!” she said. “We’re gonna have to talk to a lawyer. They can’t just force us out.”

Annika shook her head slowly. “We’re really overleveraged,” she said, her voice suddenly hoarse. “He warned us when he came.”

“They’re just doing this because they want Gwyneth’s cousin to move in here! That’s gotta be illegal.”

“That might be why they’re doing it, but it doesn’t change the facts. I just…” She looked at June, stricken. “Six weeks, June. And if we can’t pay the back rent by then, we’ll be forced to declare bankruptcy on top of being evicted. That’ll effectively be the end of Make Up.” A wave of panic overcame her; she was afraid she was going to start crying. Did she have to see this letter today, when she’d been on such a high, when she’d felt like things were finally changing for Make Up?

“That’s not going to happen, though,” June said defiantly. “We work our tails off, and that means a lot.”

Blinking hard, Annika walked to the window to look down over the still-quiet city streets, at the glint of sunlight on the steel skyscrapers around her. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “It means a lot to us. But it means nothing to the bank.”

“That’s because they’re a bunch of bloodsucking leeches.” June walked over and put her arm around Annika’s shoulders.

“They’re just doing their jobs,” Annika said, feeling a tremble at the edge of her words.

They stood watching the burgeoning traffic together for a few minutes.

June spoke into the silence, her voice resolute. “You know what? Our big chance to get some capital was to ace the EPIC pitch anyway, right? So that hasn’t changed. The pitch is on June thirteenth. That’s a full two weeks before the bank deadline. If we win that, we can show the bank we’ll be coming into funds and they’ll let us stay.”