We’re saved.
I look down at the contract on top of my desk. I’m not sure what angel heard my prayers, pleas and the wild sobbing into my pillow last night but it worked! This one contract to clean a pricy high-rise in Norfolk will be enough to keep my cleaning business, Maid-4-U, afloat.
“We got it?” Daphne, one of my partners, sits on the arm of my chair and peers over my shoulder. Her blue eyes widen and she lets out a shriek.
“Is that how much they’re paying us? Shut the front door!”
I burst into laughter at her exuberance and for once don’t even bother to try to get her to curse like a grownup. In the past six months, I’ve dropped enough curse words for the both of us. Like the time our electricity was shut off and Tara had to take the laptop down to the local coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi to do payroll. With the amount of money we’ll pull in from this one deal, we won’t have to worry about that again for a long time.
“Tara, get over here! You have to see this.”
Although I shake my head, I don’t say anything when my other partner, Tara Petersen, shoves me to the side.
We’re not too formal around here. The three of us have been working together for a few years now, just three broke girls who managed to turn cleaning houses into a thriving business.
Tara picks up the contract and her lips move slightly as she reads it. She’s the stickler for details so I know her analytical mind is searching for potential errors or pitfalls. Her brown hair is sticking up all over the place as usual and with the blue streaks she recently added she looks like a high school kid. It’s funny that she’s the smart one of all three of us since people usually assume that I’m in charge. If Tara wasn’t so abrasive she’d be the one who negotiated with the clients instead of me.
She turns to me and then places a hand on her hip. “I can’t believe you actually pulled this off. You said you’d been bidding on bigger jobs but I had no idea it was this big. How did you convince them to pay so much?”
“I wish I could say it was superior negotiation skills but I really have no idea. This company found us. They were searching for a new cleaning service and asked for a quote. I got a call a few days ago that they’d reviewed my presentation and decided to go with us.”
“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Daphne declares. “Our luck is finally changing!”
Tara looks up from the contract. “I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Did you actually read this, Ris? They made some changes.”
I snatch it back. “I read it. I mean, I sort of read it.” Her pointed look makes me feel like a kid in the principal’s office. “I read the original and that lawyer guy told me what changes he was making. So, that’s good enough. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t read through all that boring blah, blah, blah again. I fell asleep reading it the first time.”
“Well, there’s some weird stuff in here.” Tara picks up the contract, waving it around as she makes her point. “It’s super specific about what time the cleaning has to happen and it's early. It says by eight am everyday. Also, the cleaning for the owner’s penthouse has to happen with him present and here’s the weird part; it has to be the same maid every time. If we send a different maid, that’s considered a material breach of contract. I mean, who the hell is this guy? Is it someone famous?”
I stand up, coffee cup in hand. I’ve always been an early bird but since I’m now required to work such late hours, coffee is a main staple in my diet. There’s no way I could stay awake so long without it.
“I have no idea but I doubt it’s anything that exciting. The name on the contract is some kind of company. I got the impression that most of the units are vacant.”
“Maybe they just need it to be the same person so they can do a background check and be sure the person entering the owner’s place is trustworthy.” Even as she says it Tara doesn't look completely convinced. "Well, either way this is a huge contract for us. I'm not sure how we're going to handle this. We do have a couple of people who have asked for more overtime but we still need someone for the owner's suite."
“I guess I could do it.” Daphne offered. “I usually work that time of day anyway.”
Tara and I must have been wearing identical expressions of skepticism because Daphne crossed her arms and pouted. “What?”
I walk over to the counter and then sigh when I see the coffee pot is empty. “It’s nothing Daphne. It’s just, what if the client is there and he’s a jerk?” Daphne is an absolute sweetheart but she can’t handle conflict. At all. If the client is difficult, Daphne would end up in tears within ten minutes.
Tara doesn’t have any problem laying it all out there. “You don’t handle jerks well, Daph. He’d hurt your feelings and then I’d have to go kick some ass. So that won’t work. I guess I should do it.”
This time, it’s Daphne and I who exchange looks. Finally I speak. “Um, Tara. If he’s a jerk that means you’d have to be nice and hold your tongue every time you see him. I don’t think that’ll work either. I’ll do it.”
Tara shakes her head. “You’re already handing the Johnsons in the afternoon and the Mercer account in the evenings. You’ll be dead on your feet working that many hours.”
“We can switch some things around. The Johnsons don’t care if it’s me cleaning their house or someone else. A couple of the part-time girls have been asking to go full-time anyway and now with this contract, we can finally afford to hire more help.”
Tara narrows her eyes at me. “Okay but I've got my eye on you. You already look dead on your feet. I’m going to tell Gloria if you don't behave.”
That makes me smile. My mom has been there since we started the business and she even worked shifts for us in the beginning. Once the business started to pick up, I made her cut her hours to only part-time. It’s been the greatest gift in my life to be able to help my mother, to take some of the weight off her shoulders. She’s always worked double-shifts to take care of us and for the first time in her life, she’s able to take it easy. Go out with friends and not have to stress over bills. I’ll do anything to keep it that way.
“Gloria is having a ball dating some gentleman she met in line at the grocery store.”
Tara laughs. “Only your mom would find a date while running errands. She can make sweatpants the new sexy.”
“I know. I wish I’d inherited that from her.”