Shower

‘Look at the time,’ said Joe. ‘Probably a bit late to go and talk to Josie now. I vote we  get some sleep and then tomorrow morning we can talk to her. Maybe we could get away with saying he’s visiting from abroad, got a bit jet lagged and had just got out of the shower? Would that cover it, do you think? We’d have to explain he’s from somewhere pretty liberal. It’s not what you call normal behaviour, wandering around in your birthday suit, is it?’ Joe paused, as if a thought had just struck him. ‘Actually, might be best if you spoke to her, instead of me, in case she asks any awkward questions.’ He smiled hopefully at Kim.

‘Why me?’ It always seemed to be her job to have tricky conversations with neighbours. 

‘You’re better at that sort of thing.’

‘You’d improve if you had some practice,’ she said with some asperity and was about to launch a spirited counter offensive when she saw the look on Xavier’s face. She realised he would not have seen a marital spat before and might think there was a real problem. She sighed.

‘Oh okay, I’ll do it tomorrow. Come with me, Xavier, I’ll show you where you can sleep. Joe - can you sort out some PJs for him?’