Millionaire Mocks Poor Window Cleaner, Learns He Is a Single Father of Two Girls
Nicholas, a window cleaner, had to bring his young daughters to work one day. He was entertaining them from a certain height when one of the girls spilled their juice cup on a shoe of a millionaire businessman. The big boss found out and something shocking happened next.
“Hey Charlotte, look at daddy!” Nicholas called out to his tiny daughter. He was swinging between the second and third floor of the office building where he worked as a window cleaner. Both his daughters, Jane and Charlotte, were watching him from the safety of the ground floor, and they were always fascinated with the height. Nicholas was trying to make them laugh while the rope was moving him up and down. Charlotte, the youngest of the two, always laughed at his antics, which made his heart soar. Their mother died two years ago and they were both too little to remember her well. Becoming a single father had been the most challenging part of Nicholas’s life, but it was so worth it. His sister tried to help, but she had a career and her own kids who needed her, so sometimes Nicholas was forced to bring the girls with him to work, hoping everything would be all right. Luckily, he had been doing this for months and no one had a problem with it because his girls were pretty well-behaved.
This time, however, he should have paid more attention. Tiny giggles erupted from Charlotte’s mouth and she started clapping while holding a juice cup in her hands. “Careful with your juice, hunting,” he warned her gently. He didn’t want her to cry if it spilled, but something even worse happened. His three-year-old kept laughing and moving her arms around, which made the juice cup fly out of her hands. This wouldn’t be a problem, except it fell on the expensive-looking shoes of a businessman who had been busy on his cell phone and was about to enter the building.
“What the…!” he yelled, looking at his shoes. His face rose in the direction of the little girl who had spilled her juice cup, and they turned red in anger. Nicholas saw how Jane hugged her little sister and radioed his buddy who was controlling the bosun chair. He lowered Nicholas quickly to the ground floor. When he reached his daughters, he stepped in front of them. “Sir, I’m so sorry. My daughter wasn’t looking; she didn’t mean any harm,” he apologized, leaning slightly to explain better.
“Saying sorry fix my shoes? These are testimonies! Are you gonna buy me a new pair? Of course not, you couldn’t afford them even if you worked a billion years without eating,” the businessman spat, and Nicholas was taken aback by the insult. Nicholas took his daughter’s bag and retrieved some tissues. “Let me help you clean them,” he offered, although the man certainly didn’t deserve it, but he had to do something or he might get fired.
“Don’t touch me! You and your filthy daughters need to get out of my sight!”
“Sir, that’s not fair. They’re just little girls,” he defended, frowning at the rude man. No matter how much money he had, he needed not be this harsh.
“You work here?” the businessman spat again, and when Nicholas nodded, he smiled evilly. “You won’t be working here for long. I have a meeting with Mr. Albrecht, and I’ll be sure to tell him about this situation.” Nicholas’s eyes widened in shock. Mr. Albrecht wasn’t only the owner of the company but the entire building and several more around that area in New York.
Suddenly, Nicholas’s direct boss, Mr. Rogers, came out in a run. “Mr. Anderson, are you alright? What’s going on?”
“I’m gonna tell Mr. Albrecht that your workers are careless, useless, and completely rude,” the businessman said to the other man and entered the building, stomping angrily. Mr. Rogers looked back and forth between them and Nicholas could only shrug, but his eyes showed all the remorse in the world. His boss followed the businessman, and after several minutes, he returned.
“Nicholas, you have to go back to the big boss’s office.”
“What? Mr. Albrecht wants to see me? From getting fired, they can just tell you,” he said, starting to sweat.
“He wants to see you and your daughters up there. Go quick before he gets madder. Apparently, that man was gonna sign an important deal today with the big boss. He’s another millionaire, and he explicitly told the big boss they have to be fired beforehand,” Mr. Rogers said, his eyes sad and defeated. “Sorry, man. There’s nothing I can do for you. I know neither you nor your daughters meant any harm, but some of these people are just not that nice.”
Nicholas nodded and gestured for his girls to follow him. “Don’t worry, sir. I understand. I’ll just try to plead my case.”
During the elevator ride, Jane broke up. “Dad, are we in trouble?” Both daughters stared at him with wide eyes, and Nicholas couldn’t tell them the truth. No, girls, we’re gonna meet the big boss and explain everything. “It’ll be all right,” he assured them with a fake smile.
Finally, he reached Mr. Albrecht’s office. The businessman, Mr. Anderson, was standing there with his arms crossed and an arrogant smile. The big boss was sitting at his desk. He suddenly put his reading glasses on and picked up a paper from his desk. “Nicholas Harper?”
“Yes, sir. That’s me,” he said, adjusting his shirt slightly to look better.
“Tell me what happened,” Mr. Albrecht demanded, taking off his glasses and staring at him sternly. Nicholas did his best to explain the situation, how he was swinging while working to entertain the girls and how Charlotte spilled her juice accidentally.
“Why are your daughters here? Where’s the mother? This is a workplace,” Mr. Albrecht inquired, and the window cleaner hung his head, having to explain his home situation. When he finished, the big boss stared at him blankly and looked outside at the view of New York from his high-rise window. Nicholas waited for the dreaded words: “You’re fired.” He was sweating through his uniform and thinking about the 156 dollars in his account that would have to get him through the month, and that’s if he found a new job. The office was too quiet, and Nicholas could still feel the arrogance of the businessman who probably had enough money to replace those shoes easily. Still, he was going to deprive his daughters of basic needs because of a simple mistake.
Finally, Mr. Albrecht sighed heavily and stood from his desk. The suspense was killing Nicholas and he was about to just quit when suddenly he felt the older man’s hand patting his shoulder. “It’s fine, boy. You’re not getting fired. You’re working hard to raise your family and that’s a quality I admire dearly,” the big boss stated, making Nicholas’s eyes widen in shock.
Then he saw Mr. Albrecht approaching Mr. Anderson, whose hands had fallen to his sides in surprise. “Mr. Anderson, you think a pair of shoes is more important than a man trying to earn a living for his family?” the big boss asked rhetorically.
“But… but…” the businessman stuttered.
“But what? You walked into this office with a huge attitude, demanding I fire a solid, loyal employee over something so stupid, and you thought I’d listen? I came from nothing. I built this empire with sweat, tears, and blood. I did it for my family, all of it, and you did it for what? Bragging rights over overpriced clothes? Our deal is off. My company will never work with people like you. Please see yourself out.”
Mr. Albrecht’s daughter was shocking. Then Mr. Albrecht turned to Nicholas. “Hey, if you ever need to, your daughters can stay up here so you can work safely without worries. I have granddaughters so I keep coloring books here, and they can watch TV or sleep here too,” the big boss assured him. “Now you can go back to work.”
Nicholas almost bounded toward the big boss, thanking him for his understanding, and he exited his office with the girls to continue the workday. But from then on, he would go up and leave them in Mr. Albrecht’s office and they loved it, especially when Nicholas cleaned the windows right outside and they could finally see him up close from such a great height. He waved and made funny faces at them, and every once in a while, he saw the big boss smiling too.
