CURE-ALL // Chapter 1
Honey! I’m home!
He tosses his car keys into a basket on the shoerack by the door. Fido, who’s been jumping excitedly and whimpering from the time the man set foot on the porch, paws at his trouser sleeve. Sit Fido, he says. Fido’s tongue hangs sloppily on his lower jaw, his golden mane is matted with drool. Oh Fido, he says as he kneels. Fido jumps up and licks his face.
She walks into the hallway corridor to greet him.
How was work today, honey?
He smiles. Oh, the usual. Michael was being difficult. The sales figures, you know, it hasn’t been our best year, but we aren’t doing too badly. I really wish he’d make it easier for us, you know? But hey, he’s got an office to run. I understand.
Oh of course you do. She wipes Fido’s drool off his face with a kitchen cloth, chucks it into the bin next to the shoerack, gives him a peck on the cheek. You always do. Anyway, you’re home now, so no more shoptalk.
Whatever you say, you’re the boss. He playfully pats her bum as she walks away. Macaroni and cheese, she says. I felt like going with something simple today. He nods, the classics, they always work.
I love you, she says.
I love you too.