Henry was the maintenance man at the Luxe Inn. It was his job to keep everything in order, fix broken plumbing and maintain a functioning air conditioning and heating system. One morning, as he was walking down the breezeway on the first floor, he overheard a woman on the second floor breezeway on the phone. She was speaking loudly and seemed to be arguing with her boyfriend.
Henry was a private man, and he did not want to eavesdrop, but he could not help but overhear the conversation. He listened carefully, trying to make out what the woman was saying. He realized that she was breaking up with her boyfriend.
"I don't respect you anymore," she said, her voice filled with confidence. "I don't want to be with you. She continued, “I’m through with you and I have a new man, and he knows just how to treat me."
Henry felt a pang of sympathy for whoever was on the phone. Henry had been through a break-up before, and he knew how painful it could be. He continued to work in silence, but he kept listening to the conversation.
The woman continued to speak to her boyfriend, telling him that she was with her new man at the hotel. She also told him that her mother called her and said that he had been by her house looking for her, she says “I told my mother to tell you I found another man and don’t be going by by my parents house either.”
After she hung up the phone, Henry walked up the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the lady door that was on the phone with her boyfriend. When she answered, Henry introduced himself as maintenance man of the hotel and said he had work order for this room. The woman, who was clearly upset, appreciated his kindness. They talked for a while, and Henry found himself sharing stories about his own break-ups.
Before he left, Henry slid her his number while her boyfriend was in the bathroom and told her he made sure that everything was working properly in the room. As he walked away, Henry sees his boss and asked Henry to come see him for a minute.