Margreet gave the alarm clock a good whack and stretched. The first night had started restlessly. It had been difficult to fall asleep, because everything she'd been through the day before had come up over and over. But eventually she fell asleep.

Now she just had to wake up. To the bathroom to throw a splash of cold water in her face… or wait, she could also do that on the landing. She had found a few towels in her closet, so that was pretty handy!

When she was dressed, jeans with the same sweater from yesterday, she looked around. Where could she hang that towel for so long? It wasn't really wet, but it wasn't completely dry either. For this moment over the chair. She added to her shopping list: rod or hook for the towel.

Downstairs Annerieke was already busy. Busy, but in a relaxed way. How does she manage that, Margreet wondered.

“Good morning Annerieke, that already looks cosy, those bowls,” Margreet pointed to the collection on the dining table.

“Hi Margreet, did you sleep well?”

“Yes, eventually I did, it took me a while to get to sleep, but I expected that.”

“Yes, just processing your impressions, that will happen more often in the near future, I suspect, so many new things. And those bowls, yes, I like to put the sweet spreads in bowls with spoons, and slices of cheese and sausage neatly on those plates, with some sprigs of parsley for decoration. Some people would say that's how it should be, for me it's more that I just like to make it beautiful. I once considered buying such a large cutting machine so that I could cut cheese and sausage myself. But Erik forbade me, my sweetheart, he didn't want me to get any more work. And I know he was right, I can handle my work fine now, but I shouldn't add too much extra. There are only 60 minutes in an hour, I can't change that!"

Margreet laughed: “No, let's not even try that!”

Together they brought everything to the dining room. Margreet saw that Annerieke had a knack in putting everything together nicely, a group of sweet and a group of savory spreads. Annerieke had already put piles of clean plates and a full cutlery tray on the corner of the table. Cups and glasses were on the other table nearby the coffee and teapots, with a jar of spoons, a couple of sugar bowls and milk jugs next to them. In a napkin holder lay a stack of mint green napkins. And, not to mention, a big wide bowl of apples, pears, bananas and oranges. Annerieke saw her watching: “In the summer I also had soft fruit from our garden, and if I had a lot of it, I also added a bowl of it. Many people thought that was a real treat. But most of the soft fruits I used in the desserts and cakes. So fresh and cheerful!” She looked around for a moment. “So, everything is ready, the guests can come. Let’s start having breakfast ourselves in the kitchen.”

.

After breakfast the ladies went upstairs. Annerieke grabbed a laundry basket from a corner behind the stair gate. “In principle, the guests throw in their towels and washcloths here after showering. Sometimes they leave something in the bathroom, we're going to collect that now. If you see personal items of the guests in the bathrooms, you may put them on the shelf next to the stairs. People know that they can find their lost things there.”

This morning there was little to be found in the bathrooms. They went downstairs to the washroom.

“First round, first chances!” Annerieke joked. “It's too much laundry for one machine, a little bit for two… ow, the guest towels from the downstairs toilets, and the towels and tea towels from the kitchen, wait a minute.” While Annerieke collected it and replaced it with clean ones, Margreet already started to distribute the laundry between the two machines. Annerieke added the kitchen utensils a little later.

“The washing machines are not completely full, but that is no different. In any case, the laundry has enough room to roll around.” Annerieke took two liquid detergent balls and showed Margreet how much detergent she put in them. “I don't use fabric softener because some people don't resist that very well. I fill the dispensers for fabric softener with cleaning vinegar so that the towels don't get too rough.”

Margreet paid close attention to which buttons she tapped, so she could do it herself in a few days.

“Okay, our first job’s done,” Annerieke said as they walked upstairs together. “When the guests are having breakfast, they always hang their key on the hook next to the door, so that we can empty their trash cans. There is one guest room, number three, which has been in use for a week. The people of that room know that today we will change their bed linen and clean the room. When people go home, we do that cleaning a bit more thoroughly, now, in between, I vacuum and run a soapy cloth through and over their sink. And if I see stains somewhere, I clean it. Let's go through all the rooms. And the bathrooms and toilets, they also get a turn every morning. We'll do that when we're done with the guest rooms."

The trash cans turned out to have a plastic inner bucket. “Just tip it over in this pedal bin bag and check that the bucket hasn't gotten dirty. When the guests go home, we put a cloth through it anyway.”

They set to work together. Annerieke gave directions, showed how she approached things. She made sure that Margreet could be busy, and she loved that. She had been a little worried that the first day she would have to watch more than work, and that would have made her feel really bad. After an hour of working hard, Annerieke put her hand on Margreets shoulder. "How did go?"

“I liked it! The job is not complicated, somehow you made it easy. When I saw my mother at work, it always seemed complicated. I'd like to do this alone in a few days."

“I'm happy about that, Margreet, especially for yourself. I think we deserved a little break with a cup of coffee. By the way, do you like coffee, or do you prefer tea?”

They walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

“I like both. During the day I mainly drink coffee, in the evening I prefer herbal tea.”

“You can always make them here. There are all kinds of tea bags here, see if your taste is there. And if you prefer something else, just let me know. Anyway, if you ever feel like cooking or baking, just go ahead, or just ask me for what you need.”

To chapter 9. Huib is at loggerheads with himself

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