Fracking for Tact

"Well, you've finally got the Yorkshire puddings right. Well done!" Neil was pleased with his compliment, hoping that it would get the response it warranted. He was, after all, praising for a change instead of criticising. He was making an effort and he felt sure that it would be noticed.

He smiled at Emma, who glared back at him with a scowl.

"What?" he said, before putting a big mouthful of the delicious roast dinner which Emma had cooked into his mouth.

Emma was watching him and getting increasingly irritated with the smirk that was still on his face despite his energetic chewing. His comment about the Yorkshire puddings was sitting while she formulated a reply that would convey her full disdain for it.

"I can't believe you just said that," she ventured as her opening gambit.

Neil's chewing slowed. He swallowed and said, "I thought you'd be pleased that I'd noticed the extra effort."

Emma bristled again but Neil failed to notice her hackles rising and continued.

"Every other time, we had those piddling little ones which were disappointing, weren't they? You said so yourself. And we know now it's not the oven, because you've had the new one, so it must have been something you did."

Emma listened, teeth grinding as Neil happily regaled her with her failings in the Yorkshire pudding department, thinking that this chump she was married to wouldn't have the first idea of how to cook a meal like this, never mind the Yorkshires, and he had the gall, the gall, to sit there and criticise her past Yorkshire puddings!

Everyone knew Yorkshire puddings were notoriously difficult to get right. Except Neil, it would seem.

"Do you know how patronising you sound?" Emma parried.

Neil blinked as the frostiness with which his comments were met made its way to him.

"I thought I was paying you a compliment," he said, completely flummoxed at her response. "They've not been great before and now they are."

Emma shook her head and blurted:

"Talking to you, Neil, is like fracking for tact!"

Neil still wasn't sure what he'd said wrong but he was very wary around Yorkshire puddings from that day onwards.

***

365 words

I love writing these little exchanges between people, the ins-and-outs of a marriage or a relationship that show the misunderstandings that exist and how these chinks can become bigger and wider until, like drifting icebergs, a couple is no longer a thing and the two are now miles apart.

Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please do drop a comment as I love to interact with my readers.

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