Proposition

My house-cleaning clients preferred to make appointments as close as possible to Shabbat, to have their houses clean for the weekly festivity. As a result I often had Sunday and even Monday free, time that I used for my sewing projects, but from Tuesday and on I usually cleaned houses for as many as 8 hours a day.

Usually on Wednesday morning both the husband and wife were there to greet me, their children having already departed for school, but this time it was the husband alone. While I worked I had the uncomfortable feeling that he was following and watching me throughout the house, but I tried to ignore it. That became impossible when I was scrubbing the counters in the kitchen. He approached me then, standing far too close for comfort.