Her: Great – now you're feeling better, you can wash up your own frying pan
Him: I'll have you know I've done trainer loads of washing up lately
Her: Trainer loads?
Him: (chuckling) Yes, I'm so good at it I train people to wash up. And I didn't use a frying pan but I'll wash up and tidy the kitchen.
Her: Great
Him: Who left this plate covered in poster paint in the sink. That's got to be the kids. They should deal with this.
Her: I put it to soak last night. It's left over from when I started to decorate an egg with youngest daughter for her school competition. We never finished it because I worked loads of evenings that week. She cried at school when they awarded the prizes.
Him: Oh. I'll wash it.
He washes it and puts a greasy tray in the sink and fills a pan with soapy water. Then he goes to the toilet with the newspaper. She puts away yesterdays pots from the draining board. He returns. He sits at the table with a coffee.
Her: (concentrating on keeping the accusatory tone out of her voice). Can I just ask something? I just wondered – are you going to do any more or have you finished? What? I'm just asking a question? It's just weird to me that you have stopped to drink coffee. I genuinely don't know if you've finished or not? It's sometimes hard to tell.. (she glances at the crumbs on the surfaces)
Him: I haven't finished. I'm having a cup of coffee now. Then I will wash up, and wipe the surfaces like a normal person.