CRASH!!
"Oh, No-oooo!"
The sound of something fragile hitting the floor followed by the wail of a female voice interrupted my concentration. I sighed and looked away from my computer screen towards the direction of the sound, apparently originating from the living room.
I should say that I'm a consultant and work from home, while my wife, June, is a financial executive and commuters to work in the city. Although I'm not exactly a 'house husband,' it usually falls to me to take care of most of the household issues as I'm the one who is generally on the spot.
I got up and left my office and went into the living room. There was Kim, holding the handle of the vacuum cleaner and staring in shock at a large vase that lay at her feet on the tiled floor, shattered into pieces.
Kim was our latest "cleaning service" as they are now called. My wife is quite fussy (not a word she'd use) about how the home gets cleaned and had been dissatisfied with the previous two services we had used. It was always up to me to tell them that their services were no longer required and to find a replacement.
We had decided not to retain another of the national chains of 'maid' services and thought we would try an individual on the grounds that a self-employed person should have more interest in doing a good job than an employee of a big organization. I had placed a help wanted ad in the newspaper and Kim had answered the ad. In fact, she was the only respondent and so naturally she got the job. We agreed on terms and decided she would come to our home every Wednesday afternoon.
This was her first day and things didn't seem to be going well.
As I walked into the living room, Kim looked up at me and said, "I was just moving the vacuum over to the other rug and the cord must have knocked that vase off the coffee table."
I nodded. "So it would seem."
"I am SO sorry, sir, I really am," said Kim with a forlorn look on her face. I simply shook my head slowly and continued to look down at the shards.
"Was it... was it very... valuable?"
I sighed. "It was a very old piece. A family heirloom, in fact."
"Oh no!" she wailed. "I'm so very sorry."
I shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. At least your insurance can pay for it."
She started and her hand flew up to her mouth. "Insurance?" she whispered. "I... oh, uh, insurance..." her voice trailed off.
"Yes," I said, looking at her with some concern. "Insurance. When I hired you, I asked you if you were bonded and insured and you said yes."
Kim squirmed and twisted her hands together. "Well, yes I did say that, but you're my first client and I didn't have enough money yet, and... and I'm going to, I promise!"
"Going to?" I said. "But that means that right now you are NOT insured, right?"
"Uh, I guess so..."
"So you'll have to pay for it yourself," I pointed out to her.
"Oh!" she looked at me in shock. "I will? But...you said it was old, so it would be a lot of money, and I.... oh!"
I took a moment to look at Kim. She was probably in her mid twenties, around five foot four, with blue eyes and wavy blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing white sneakers and a sleeveless blue denim dress with buttons down the front from neck to hem. From what I could see, the dress concealed a fairly nice figure with a slim waist and curves around her hips and bust.
I shook my head sadly. "My wife is very particular about breakages. In fact, we had to fire the last two cleaning services because of their carelessness."
"So... I'll have to pay for the breakage?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "And I'll get fired?"
Again I shrugged. "Such a pity."
Tears were running down Kim's face. "I... I don't know where I'd find the money. And I really, really need this job." She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
I folded my arms and looked down at the broken vase, my head on one side as if considering something.
Finally, I murmured, "Of course, right now, only you and I know what has happened here. Only you and I know it was you who broke the vase..."
Kim looked up at me warily. "What?"