Tragedy is when your wife laughs at your penis. Comedy is when she laughs at someone else's.
Since no one gets tied up here we're in the Humour & Satire section this time.
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There was a lot of stuff that needed to be fixed around the house. June had complained about leaking taps, a rattling ceiling fan, cracks in the pergola and a skirting board that had come away from a wall in the kitchen. Then she wanted some nails in the walls so she could hang her new prints. One hung in the living room and one in the bedroom. I told her I would look at the other chores, but I had a go straight away at nailing in the new hooks for June's artwork. Which was not a success. The hooks came away leave a couple of large holes in the walls and the prints yet to be hung.
I was thinking about what I could do next, sitting at the kitchen table with the music up loud.
June burst in on me. "What's that noise?" she demanded, "I can't stand it."
"That's The Pixies classic Doolittle," I informed her.
"Yeah," June sneered, "Do little." She went to slam the door on her way out but it stuck before it closed so she had to pull it hard which made the hinges screech. June poked her head back around before she got the door fully closed. "And fix this," she snarked. And she was gone.
I had a look at the internet for videos of how to do the chores and figured that I could at least fix the holes in the walls. I made another trip to Bunnings to buy the materials and tools I would need. I splayed the polyfiller into the holes I had made. I trusted the promise on the pack that it would set overnight, and I could put the hooks in the next morning. But the next morning I found that both plugs had fallen right out. Frustration, I had done everything by the instructions. It was hard as promised, but it just did not stick in the wall. Which after all was the aim. Needless to say, June was not impressed and coolly suggested that further attempts should be handled by a professional. So I found a company called Hire A Handyman, and they promised to send someone out on the Friday.
The predictable white van pulled into our driveway about nine o'clock on Friday morning. I was working on my laptop in the front room, there to keep an eye out for the promised domestic assistance.
A man got out of the van. And what a man. I first noticed his solid black workboots. Then his black leather bib overalls. He wore a white singlet underneath which revealed in the best way a pair of solid biceps that just yelled 'I can pull tractors'. The strong features of his face and his piercing gaze, visible even from my vantage, were offset by a luscious mane of lanky brown hair with blond highlights that actually shone in the sun like he was some sort of man-god.
When he knocked on my front door, the windows in the front room shook.
I was somewhat concerned as I went to open the door for him. The handyman stood a little taller than me. I stared for a moment then noticed that he had reached out with his solid right hand to shake mine. He held a large bag with tools and materials in his left hand. In a deep, warm voice he said "Hello, I'm Fabio. I believe I am required here to help you." As indeed he was.
After an excruciating moment I worked my hand free from his vicelike grip and invited him into my home.
He followed me inside, silent after the initial greeting, so I tried to make small-talk with him. "I was starting to wonder if there were any male tradesmen left," I smiled over at my imposing visitor as I led him into the front room to show him the first of the holes that I had created in the walls trying to get the hooks in.
Fabio nodded agreement. "We're in a minority since the women came into the industry," he agreed. "They have taken over and get the good jobs, probably because they are better at this work than we men are."
I laughed at his solemn pronouncement. "Well, I'm useless," I admitted, "but you're a professional so I hope you know how to get the job done."
"I hope so too," he answered without any shred of irony that I could detect.
I looked up into his vivid blue eyes and smiled. He smiled back for a brief moment, realising it was time for a joke. "Don't worry," he said without relaxing a muscle in his again bold face, "I can fix things."
"That's good," I agreed.
"But I want you with me so you will know how to do the job next time it needs to be done."
"But doesn't that put you out of a job?"
Fabio rolled back his shoulders and his biceps flexed just a little. "I have more work than I can handle. I have succeeded if you don't have to call for me next time something falls out of your wall." We were right near the mess I had made, so it was obvious what he was talking about. Fabio put down his work bag and rummaged through it. He held up a caulking gun and a small trowel. "You need these items," he informed me. "Do you own them?" I shook my head. "I will leave them here for you afterwards so you can use them yourself next time. Now let me explain what needs to be done."
Fabio led me through the process. He insisted I hold the caulking gun and talked me through how to apply the filler so that it bonded with the plaster and the wall. To my surprise, he told me to leave it to dry for at least a day or two before trying to fit the hook. Well, at least that explained that.
"There are other holes like this?" he asked.
"Sure are," I replied, "in the bedroom." And I led him there.
As I opened the bedroom door, I realised that June was in our bed, apparently still asleep.
"What are you doing, June?" I exploded at her without thinking.
She groaned and rolled over to avoid the light coming into our bedroom from behind me. "I told you," she mumbled, "I'm taking the day off."
"No, you didn't," I started.
Fabio marched up next to me and nudged me in the side. "This is not how you deal with this situation," he told me with that handyman assurance he had already shown me in the front room. "Let me demonstrate." And before I could say anything he moved past me and squatting, his face near where June was hiding hers.
"Darling," he cooed, "is there anything you want me to do?"
"You could leave me alone," she murmured, still mostly asleep.
Fabio ignored that and ran his fingers gently through her hair, running them down the back of her neck.
"Mmm," she moaned, "do that again."
So he did.
He ran his huge hand surprisingly lightly through her hair, down the nape of her neck, and finished by holding the hand she drooped out of the blankets. Fabio gently stroked it from the ends of her fingers up to her elbows to the appreciative moans of my wife. Fabio let June's hand fall back and free of her, he stood up and beckoned me over to replace him by her face. 'Do what I just did,' he mouthed at me while miming to me what I had just watched him do. I felt a little put out by that but I settled near my wife's face and whispered "Darling, is there anything you want me to do?"
This time, she mumbled something appreciative to herself, no doubt hoping for a repeat of the nice stuff that Fabio had just done to her. He stood close behind me and nudged me to run my fingers through her hair which I did to June's appreciative gurgles. I did it again and found that this was clearly something that my wife enjoyed. Fabio nudged me again to rub the back of her hand. So I reached across and did as I saw him do. But this time June grunted sharply and yanked her hand away. I was worried that she would wake to find two men standing near her. But no worries, she was still sleeping. I turned and shrugged to Fabio, hoping that we could get back to the easier task of fixing the rest of the house up. But Fabio shook his head with the look of a patient teacher. Admittedly when Fabio shook his head, his outstanding locks followed like the rippling of a gentle lake, highlighted by his highlights. He took my hand in his and guided it down to where June had rested hers. I gave myself up to his strong grasp as Fabio gently placed my fingers back down on June's arm as he stroked them up and down for me. I would swear that the two of us were doing the same thing that June had just rejected from me. But this time June did not move her hand but groaned in evident pleasure at what was being done to her.
Fabio lifted his hand off mine and gestured it was time to leave her. So we retreated to deal with the next repair item on my list.
We quickly oiled the hinges in the kitchen door and I swung it back and forth a few times, happy that it was now loose, easy to close and silent like it should be.
"Let's have a look at that skirting board," Fabio suggested.
So there we were facing the wall, bums in the air as Fabio explained to me what had gone wrong for the wood to disengage from the wall.
"Quite a sight," came an unmistakable female voice from behind us. I turned around in time to witness June wrapped in a light silk robe step forward to caress both our bottoms.