It was 5:46 on Thursday evening. I’d managed to take some of the holiday allowance that I was owed, so I finished work at lunch time to get the room finished on time. I’d worked flat-out all afternoon and managed to get the carpet down, the blind up and the bedding on. The room looked very smart and I was feeling rather pleased with my handy work. I was now in the living-room relaxing in my chair with a cup of coffee waiting for the doorbell to ring. At 5.57 the phone rang. I got up quickly and went to the hall to answer it.
‘Hello,’ I said in a bright, optimistic voice.
‘Hello,’ said a confident sounding woman's voice. ‘I am calling on behalf of Mr Reed. I have to inform you that regrettably he will not be able to make his 6 ‘o’ clock appointment this evening. He no longer wishes to pursue the vacancy and would like to apologise for wasting your time. Goodbye.’
The phone went down sharply. I paused for a second, then moved the receiver from my ear to in front of my face, and stared at it with a bemused frown, whilst making a strange noise of disbelief at what I had just heard. It was just about the strangest phone call I’d ever had. It was so odd the way she had spoken to me — and who the heck was she anyway! She didn’t even give me time to respond, and the number was...