Almost Right

Almost Right

He was the kind of owner who did everything himself.
At least… that’s what he told himself.

On paper, the house was perfect.
South of France. Sun. Terrace. Pool.
“A dream,” he always said. My dream.

He handled the maintenance himself.
Or rather — almost.

The shutters got a fresh coat of paint every few years.
Just not quite in time.
The silicone in the shower was “still fine for now.”
The dripping tap? It had been dripping for years.

He took care of the pool too.
A test strip every week.
The colour slightly off.
“Good enough,” he thought.
Until guests complained about stinging eyes
and the water suddenly turned green in the middle of August.

Cleaning? He did that himself as well.
Between two stays.
In a rush.
A cloth here. A vacuum there.
The skirting boards? Almost clean.
The fridge? Almost.
The smell? Almost.

And reservations — yes, those too.
Messages answered late at night.
Sometimes forgotten.
Sometimes too short.
Sometimes three days too late.

“Why aren’t they booking?”
“Why do guests ask everything twice?”
“Why are people so difficult these days?”

He often said:

“I don’t need anyone. I save money. I know best what my house needs.”

But slowly, things began to shift.

First, a few weaker reviews.
Then fewer bookings.
Then lower prices — “just to get something in.”

Costs went up.
Maintenance became expensive because things were now really broken.
The pool needed a specialist.
The boiler failed in the middle of the season.

And still, he kept doing everything himself.
More irritated.
More exhausted.
Sleeping worse every night.

Every arrival felt stressful.
Every message felt like a threat.
Every empty week felt like failure.

Asking for help?
No. That would mean admitting
it had all grown beyond him.

Until one evening.
Alone in the house.
The silence louder than ever.
An empty calendar on his laptop.
Bills spread out on the table.

And for the first time, he thought:
Maybe it’s not the market.
Maybe it’s not the guests.
Maybe it’s not even the house.

Maybe it was the fact
that “doing everything yourself”
had been
“almost right”
for far too long.

And almost right
always ends up
costing everything.

HELP!