“I’m broke,” she admitted. “That’s it in a nutshell. I made a bunch of dumb moves while trying to find new clients, and now I can’t pay my rent.”

“What kind of dumb moves?” Samiah asked.

“And exactly how broke are you?” London added.

After weighing each question, she determined Samiah’s was the least demoralizing of the two. Addressing that one first, Taylor told them about the discount coupon site she’d signed up for in an attempt to drum up business for Taylor’d Conditioning.

“I use those websites all the time,” London said. “It’s how I discovered my favorite bakery.”

“Yeah, well, those deals work just fine for bakeries because people like cupcakes and scones. They’re more likely to become repeat customers. Most of the people who bought my coupon were the same people who join a gym on New Year’s Day and stop going by the second week of January.”

“Guilty,” Samiah said with a shrug.

“I’d hoped to keep at least a few on as clients.” She shook her head. “Instead, I’ve been working my ass off for seventy-five percent less than my normal fee, and I haven’t been able to make a dent in the mountain of debt I’ve been sitting on.”

“I’ll ask again, how broke are you?” London said.

“If I say it out loud, I’m going to throw up.”

“Come on, Taylor,” Samiah said. “I have some money put away. I can make you a loan.”

“No. No way.” She shook her head. “I knew you would say that. I am not borrowing money from you. From either of you.”

“I didn’t offer any,” London said. She put both hands up. “Not that I wouldn’t. I just have to make my student loan payment first.”

“It doesn’t matter, because there will be no loans,” Taylor said. “Seriously, who goes around offering to loan someone they met just a few months ago twenty thousand dollars?”

She clamped a hand over her mouth. Shit.

“Um, wow,” London said. “Twenty thousand, huh?”

“I’m not sure I can send that much through Apple Pay,” Samiah said, not missing a beat. “But maybe I can send half through Apple and the other half through Cash App? I’ll do that once we end the call.”

“Stop it! I’m not taking any more money from you!” She still owed Samiah the eighty-dollar booking fee from her stint in the city jail. Taylor dropped her head back and sighed up at her apartment’s water-stained ceiling. “Look, I appreciate the offer, but I got myself into this mess. I’ll figure a way out of it.”

“Will you figure it out before or after you get a crick in your neck from sleeping in your car?”

“If you angle your head just right, you won’t get a crick in your neck,” she retorted.

“This isn’t funny, Taylor,” Samiah warned.