She sat near the front window looking out, missing him.
He was a great guy really. He had his faults, of course, but he was kind and caring, and… and she had blown it. It had all fallen in a heap because she was… what? She was careful about things. No, more than that, she was a stickler for the rules. She was pedantic about doing the right things, the right way, the responsible way. It was this that had come between them. She saw it now. The reason he had stormed out a week ago, probably never to come back. She just hadn’t seen it coming. It was such a shock! But, she could hear him now. “Everything has to be perfect with you, doesn’t it?” He was right of course. That was a fair summing up.
She went through to the kitchen and switched the kettle on. She brooded while it boiled. She sat wondering. Maybe he was right. If I made the effort, maybe I could let down my hair a little. Why not? If I could change. She sat stirring her tea, deep in thought. Maybe I could win him back. Show him that I really have listened. But how would you start to do that? How do you go about breaking the habits of a lifetime? Where would you begin? She looked around her neatly ordered kitchen. Her eyes came to rest on the empty milk bottle. She closed her eyes and shuddered. She slowly got up, pulse racing as she whispered, “To hell with it.” She looked at the bottle. She could do this!
She could feel a fire burning through her whole body as she went to the recycling bin and dropped it in.
Without rinsing it!