An Unexpected Kitchen

‘Margie,’ I called out into the house, stepping past a small crew of workers carrying what looked like… a wall?

         That couldn’t be right.

         ‘Margie!’

         ‘Yeah, Steve?’ Margie appeared from behind a corner, out of breath and with a small trace of plaster dusting her cheek.

         ‘What’s going on?’

         ‘What do you mean?’

         ‘The renovation,’ I said, mouth hanging wide as I glanced around at the carnage of our home. ‘It wasn’t like this when I went to work!’

         ‘Oh, you mean the walls?’ she asked, quizzically. ‘Yeah, we need new ones.’

         ‘New ones? What was wrong with our old ones?’

         ‘The vibes,’ she said, nodding her head like it was enough of an answer. ‘Bad vibes.’

         ‘Bad…’ I trailed off, gaping slightly. ‘Sweetheart – what the hell are you talking about?’

         ‘Shoshanna came around for tea,’ Margie started, and I let out a monumental groan. Margie frowned. ‘What?’

         ‘I might have known,’ I chuckled. ‘One visit from your cuckoo whack-a-doodle friend and suddenly all of my walls are in the garden!’

         ‘Not all of them,’ she pouted. ‘There were some structural ones that the contractor told me he couldn’t get rid of.’

         ‘For crying out—’

         ‘But,’ she interrupted me with a smile, ‘I think you’re going to like the changes!’

         ‘Like what?’ I grumbled, incredibly unconvinced.

         ‘Like the new kitchens – haven’t you always wanted a custom kitchen! Installation is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself,’ she beamed.

         ‘Kitchens?’ I frowned. ‘Plural?’

         ‘Yep,’ she nodded. ‘Haven’t you always felt stifled by only having one kitchen?’

         ‘Literally never,’ I shook my head. ‘Not once.’

         ‘Well, now you definitely never will.’ She dismissed me, wandering deeper into the house.

         ‘Where’s the new one going?’ I called after her. ‘Did you get rid of my theatre room?!’

         ‘The new house doesn’t like labels,’ she said without turning around. ‘Besides, the home kitchen designers from Melbourne won’t get here until tomorrow afternoon, and I don’t think we should make that decision without them. Do you?’

         I glanced around at the construction site that had once been my house and felt the fight just… leave my body.

         ‘I guess two kitchens could be handy.’ I sighed.

         ‘Yay!’