She rented her back room out.
It went well for a couple of days. Then, she began to notice things; small things at first. They seemed to build up. After a couple of weeks all these little annoyances began to escalate. Things like taking really long showers and leaving wet towels on the floor. Like leaving hair in the sink. Like leaving the sink blocked. Like stealing her food and leaving his food rotting in the fridge. Like leaving his dirty dishes for her to clean. Like him not doing any cleaning. Like not putting appliances away. Like leaving his clothes lying about the house. Like leaving lights on in empty rooms. Like his playing loud music late at night. Like not changing the toilet roll, and of course his really annoying habit of continually leaving the toilet seat up!
He did it once too often and she snapped.
She stood in the laundry room looking into the toilet when he came passed.
“Look, you’ve done it again!”
“Done what?”
“Oh! For God’s sake, man. Time and time again, I’ve asked you very politely to put the toilet seat down when you’ve finished in there. I mean, it’s really not a lot to ask, is it?
“Wow! Get a grip, honey. It’s just a toilet seat.”
She glared at him. “OK!” she shouted, “I give up!”
She roughly pushed him out of the way, causing him to step back and trip on a shoe he’d left lying around. As he fell back, his head hit the sharp edge of the metal laundry basin. He lay on the floor, not moving.
She just stared down at him for a few moments. She was still visibly shaken by the whole incident. Bracing herself, she went down on one knee and felt for a pulse. Nothing!
In the kitchen she found a list of essential numbers stuck to the fridge. She found one for an ambulance. Back in the laundry, she checked his pulse again; still nothing. Returning to the kitchen she put the kettle on. She’d make herself a cup of tea first.
Nothing like making sure.