He arrived home late from work.
There had been a lot of overtime over the previous month, and although his girlfriend wasn’t all that keen on spending the early part of the evening on her own, he hoped she would understand. When he got in, there was only one light on in the lounge. There was no smell of food being cooked, which was unusual. One of the things he appreciated most about her was that she liked cooking and just about always had a hot meal waiting for him whatever time he got home. Although he called out a couple of times, he felt sure she’d gone out for some reason. He wandered into the kitchen and switched the light on. That’s when he found the note.
He picked it up and read: ‘I’ve left a couple of chores for you. Be a sweetie, I was in a hurry and felt I had to leave the washing up for you. While you’re at it, could you empty the washing machine and hang the things up on the back line. It looks as though it’s going to be a nice day tomorrow. The kitchen rubbish bin is beginning to smell. You could empty that into the outside bin. It is the night for putting the bin out, anyway. If you could vacuum through the lounge that would be good. The carpet looks as though it could do with it. In the basket by the sink you’ll find a load of dry clothes. These need to be ironed, folded and put away where you keep them.
Oh! Yes; about the wash. I didn’t do the shirt. You could clean the collar with the bottle of stain remover you’ll find at the back of the sink. Leave it for about fifteen minutes, then give it a good wash in hot soapy water. It’s very good at removing lipstick stains, and it will probably get rid of that strong perfume that I didn’t recognise, at the same time.’