Still bleary from my alarm, I got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, twisting on the shower and stretching out my back while I waited for it to get warm. After a second, I noticed that no water was coming out at all.
‘Honey?’ I called back into the bedroom. ‘Honey, I think the shower is broken.’
‘I don’t have to get up for an hour,’ she grumbled from beneath a pillow. ‘That makes it your problem.’
Frowning, I tested the shower again, twisting both handles to full. A single drop of water rolled out of the showerhead.
‘Great,’ I sighed.
I twisted the taps back to closed, and stepped out of the shower, mentally making a note to see if my plumber was able to have a look at it.
Another drip out of the showerhead.
I frowned and stepped forward to make sure they were both tightly turned off.
Another drip. And another. Then it was dripping continuously, no matter what I did to the taps.
‘Guess I’m asking him how to repair my leaking shower as well,’ I said, closing the door and trying to ignore the rhythmic thud of the water hitting the floor.
‘The shower isn’t working,’ I mentioned to my wife, hopping back into bed – I figured if I wasn’t having a shower I may as well spend the extra ten minutes in comfort.
‘What’s wrong with it?’ she sighed.
‘It’s leaking, I think.’
‘Fantastic.’
‘This might be a good time to replace it, no?’
‘Replace it?’ she frowned, pulling the pillow away from her face. ‘Won’t that be expensive?’
‘Please,’ I scoffed. ‘How much does a bathroom renovation for Melbourne homes cost?’
‘I don’t know,’ she shrugged. ‘Should we just…’
‘Go on,’ I said, raising a supportive eyebrow.
‘Replace all the tiles?’
‘And that annoying sink?’
‘I’ve always hated the bathtub.’
‘And the mirror? Ridiculously small.’
She smiled at me, then yawned and rolled back over.
‘I’ll make some calls tomorrow.’