My unexpected night with Nell, Mike and Karen pretty much destroyed my reputation with Nell and killed any chance we might have had of a relationship or hook up. For a week afterwards, Mike, Karen and I kept things cordial and friendly but no more than that. I was still looking for work and away from the house as often as I could be, just in case.
A week later and I had to start conserving money. The final pay from my last contract came through, so I had money in the bank but really needed to not spend it until more work came my way. I started hanging out at the house more often. I made myself useful, kept the place straight and did assorted chores. This went a long way to clearing up any lingering atmosphere from Mike, who had been basically polite for too long.
I was sitting on the sofa watching TV one afternoon when I heard a key in the door. I went to see who it was to find Karen hanging her coat up, a look of complete annoyance on her face. She stormed off into her bedroom so I went back to the sofa and waited to see what she'd do next.