A LADY WAS EMERGING FROM THE SHOWER WHEN THE CHIME SOUNDED. Her husband was preparing to bathe, so she rapidly swathed herself in a towel and responded to the door. The caller was Bob, their neighbor. Without hesitation, Bob declared, “I propose to give you $800 to relinquish the towel.” Following a brief contemplation, the lady concluded $800 was sufficient. She released the towel, accepted the funds, and shut the door. When she ascended the stairs, her husband inquired, “Who presented themselves at the door?” She responded:“Bob,” she stated plainly.
Her husband, wrapping a towel around his own waist, paused. “Bob? Bob from next door? What did he want?” He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of curiosity mixed with slight suspicion in his gaze.
She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, though a faint blush was creeping up her neck. “Oh, just neighborly things.” She attempted to walk past him towards their bedroom, but he gently caught her arm.
“Neighborly things that involve you answering the door in just a towel?” he pressed, his tone becoming a touch more inquisitive. He wasn’t accusatory, but there was a definite question mark hanging in the air.
She sighed internally. She knew she couldn’t simply brush it off. Her husband wasn’t easily fooled, and honesty was usually the best policy, even if it meant revealing a slightly bizarre encounter. She turned to face him, a small, slightly sheepish smile playing on her lips.
“Well,” she began, taking a breath, “it was a little… unusual.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “He offered me money for the towel.”
Her husband blinked, a slow, deliberate blink that spoke volumes of his confusion. “He… offered you money for your towel? Like, to buy it?”
“No, not exactly,” she clarified, feeling the need to explain before his imagination ran wild. “He offered me $800 to… relinquish the towel.” She watched his face for his reaction, bracing herself for anything from laughter to disbelief to anger.
He remained silent for a moment, his expression a mixture of bewilderment and dawning amusement. Then, a chuckle escaped his lips, which quickly grew into a full-blown laugh. He threw his head back, the sound echoing through the hallway.
“$800 to… relinquish the towel?” he repeated between gasps of laughter. “Bob offered you that? Seriously?”
She nodded, a smile now spreading across her own face as his reaction eased her own slight discomfort. “Seriously. And I took it.”
His laughter subsided into chuckles, and he wiped a tear from his eye. “You… you actually did it? You just… dropped the towel for Bob for $800?”
“Well, yes,” she admitted, feeling a little foolish now, but also strangely liberated by the absurdity of it all. “It seemed like a good deal at the time. $800 is $800.”
He shook his head, still chuckling. “Bob is a strange man. But… $800 is indeed $800. So, what did he do then? Just… stand there looking awkward?”
“No, he just took a quick look, said ‘thank you,’ and left,” she explained. “It was all very… efficient.”
They both stood in silence for a moment, processing the bizarre encounter. Then, her husband spoke again, a thoughtful look on his face. “You know,” he said, “maybe Bob is starting a nudist colony and needed a… recruit incentive?”
She burst out laughing this time. “A nudist colony? Bob? I can’t picture it.”
“Or maybe,” he continued, his eyes twinkling, “maybe he’s lost a bet. Imagine the dare: ‘I bet you $800 you can’t get our neighbor to drop her towel at the door.’ And poor Bob had to go through with it.”
They both considered this possibility, finding it hilariously plausible. “That actually makes a lot of sense,” she agreed. “It would explain the abruptness and the specific amount.”
“Well,” her husband said, clapping his hands together, the laughter fading into amusement. “Whatever the reason, we’re $800 richer. And Bob is probably going to be very embarrassed at the next neighborhood barbecue.” He grinned. “But hey, maybe we should keep a towel handy by the door from now on. Who knows what other offers might come knocking?”
They both laughed again, the tension of the unusual encounter dissolving into shared amusement. As they walked into their bedroom, the sound of running water filling the bathroom, the lady couldn’t help but smile. It was certainly the most unexpected and profitable shower she’d ever had. And it was definitely a story they would be telling for years to come, always with a good laugh and a shake of the head at the strange, unpredictable nature of their neighbor, Bob, and the even stranger, more unpredictable opportunities life sometimes presented.