The Quiet Commission.

Jonny asked me to sell his house while he was away ' a favour between old friends. He was in Spain on business, and I'd returned from there for a month myself, so it made sense. The place wasn't worth much, and he expected maybe '65,000 at best. I set the asking price higher because I thought I might as well try. Within a day I had three offers: '75,000, '78,000, and one for '81,000. When the sale went through, the buyer transferred the full amount into my account first. A simple mistake. A tempting one. I stared at the numbers for a long time, then sent him '70,000 and kept the rest. He was thrilled. Grateful. And I've never told him. The commission feels heavier every year.