This Is My Timing

Before he could launch into it, the manager from the cleaning company stepped forward with her clipboard.

“Mr. Thomas, this is the invoice for the emergency deep clean of your home today,” she announced, clear across the silent room. “Eight hundred dollars.

I just wanted to confirm the payment’s been rendered in full. Your wife paid it out of her private savings.”

Jason’s mouth opened and closed. “What?”

Then Chef Maria stepped up and opened her folio. She didn’t hold back.

“And here’s the itemized receipt for tonight’s catering, the waitstaff, and the custom cake,” she declared, glaring at him. “Two thousand dollars. Your wife covered all of it upfront, stating that she was medically unable to fulfill your demand to cook, due to her fractured arm.”