‘How many times do I have to ask you to clean the gutter?’ Judy put her hands on her hips. Mark lifted his hands in protest.
‘I’m busy! I don’t always have time!’
‘You have weekends!’
‘It’s been raining!’
‘You’re afraid of a little rain now?’ she scoffed.
‘Actually, when I’m dangling off the top of a two-storey building by my fingertips, yeah, I can be,’ he rolled his eyes.
‘If you make me call a plumber who does commercial gutter cleaning, I’m going to be furious,’ she seethed, turning around and storming back inside.
Mark sighed, glad that the conversation was over. Slowly, a frown wormed its way back onto his face, and determination set it like stone.
‘Actually,’ he threw the door open, surprising Judy in the laundry. ‘Why is it my job?’
‘What?’
‘Why am I the one who has to climb about on top of the roof every other weekend cleaning out the gutters?’
‘Because it’s your roof! You own this commercial building’
‘So? It’s your roof too.’
‘Yeah, but I’m not…’ she trailed off, a tinge of discomfort entering her voice.
‘A man?’ Mark prompted, eyebrow raised.
‘Yes!’ she spat. ‘It’s one of the things you’re supposed to do!’
‘Oh, well,’ I laughed. ‘In that case, how silly of me for questioning my role in the company!’
‘Forget about it,’ she glared. ‘We’ll just hire those commercial plumbers servicing Melbourne warehouses, if avoiding basic chores is truly that big of deal to you—’
‘Nope!’ Mark shook his head. ‘I don’t want to!’
‘Well, too bad,’ she frowned. ‘I’m going to call them right now.’
‘How will you have time?’ he put his hands on his hips, mocking her.
‘Mark, where are we standing right now?’ she asked coolly.
‘In the laundry?’ he frowned.
‘And what can you smell?’
‘Uh…’ he sniffed the air. ‘I don’t know, is that a roast or something?’