This need not happen. There is room for manoeuvre from the first. A few simple
precautions should be enough to avert the worst-case scenario.
She needs only to be called back into the house by her daughter in school
uniform, who can’t remember where she left her history textbook.
He needs only to linger for fifty extra seconds, unlocking the bike her car will
shortly strike.
She needs only to be delayed by the arrival of the postman with the dreaded
credit card bill.
He needs only to check his watch and see there’s still time for a hot top-up of
coffee.
What’s needed therefore is a compromise acceptable to both sides. A change of
pace that keeps their paths from crossing, that leaves her nothing more to cope
with than her clients’ whims.
That lets him have the average day he needs: no more stale or stimulating than
the rest. That lets him live to tell the tale.