Electric Shock

"Wife ?" he said, and laughed. " I'm not married. I live alone. See you
Saturday "
He rang off, and I went back to work. I was puzzled, as I had come across
vatious items of female underwear as I moved about the house. Nothing
obvious, like piles of lingerie ready for washing; just a pair of nylons
hanging on the shower rail, some frilly panties almost hidden under the
bed, stuff like that.
I am not in the habit of snooping; I don't go rooting through peoples'
private drawers and things. Privacy is everything when you go into
peoples' homes, and I respect that.
Anyway I finished about 5.30pm, locked up as requested, and went home.
I returned the following day, used my key, and entered the house.
Charlie had left me a note on the hallway table, to say he was happy with
the work so far, and he would see me on Saturday "about noon", he said.
As I worked, I noticed the female stuff from the day before had gone, but
a Marshall Ward catalogue on the table was open at the lingerie pages 1 I
began to hope that maybe I was onto something, and began to look forward
to Saturday noon!
I finished the job mid-afternoon, cleaned up my mess, left and locked up.
I left the spare key on the hallway table, with my bill. I put it in a
perfumed envelope ( bought specially around the corner ), and wrote "To
Carlie, from Jim" The miss-spelling was deliberate , easily explained,
but as big a hint as he'd given me, I thought !
I rang Charlie's bell spot on 12.00noon, and he let me in.
"First things first" he said. " Let me settle up, then we can have a
drink and a chat about the work"
" Fine by me," I said, and sat down where Charlie indicated, on the sofa.
"Here's your money, and well worth it, " he said, and handed me a sheaf
of notes. "It's all there, with a bit extra for a good job," he said.
"Now how about a drink ? "
" Sure ", I said "How about a whisky and soda ?"
" Coming right up," he said. Whilst he was mixing the drinks, I did a
quick check of the money, noticed a very generous tip, and slid the cash
into my jacket pocket.