When Loyalty Turns to Greed

ext saying they were overbooked and had to cancel. Frustrated, I called a different

em in without thinking, my mind still on the quarterly projections on my

the middle of my living room, duster in h

ver me. "What in the wo

her expression settled in

clean," she

lowed in my home. How did yo

They said they were in a bind and needed someone for a job i

I could see

r. I am the client. I have the right to refuse service from

d, her eyes

ou're just going to send me home with nothing? That'

tion fee," I said through gritted tee

amed a price. "It's two hundred

dred? This agency quoted

oothly, the lie rolling off her tongue wi

petty, compulsive grifting. The constant testing of bou

ne playi

and confirm that 'premium rate'. I'm sure they'd be interested to hear th

eaction as before. The threat of verification, of

r voice losing its confidence. "It... it must ha

the second time you have tried to defraud me. The first time with the purse, and now this.

he fear replaced by sullen

ins. And I am done with it. You are going to leave my home right now, and if I ever see you again, if you ever contact

The word 'police' had a power t

bbed her things, and practically fled from my apartment. I sla

d fired for cause, and that she had just attempted to defraud me. The manager on the other end was horrified and profusely ap

action. But as I walked through my quiet apartment, the

e hallway, I ran into Mrs. Henderson, one of the neighborho

oice dripping with disapproval. "Mrs. Jenkins was just telling us how you refuse t

od ran

tened. She wasn't just a thief; she was malicious. She was trying to isolate me, to turn my own neighbors