The next morning Sophie was woken up by the rising sun, it cast a bright yellow glow over the bed through the window. She squinted and rubbed her eyes at the brightness of the sun oh how she wished there was curtains, she guessed it was only early as the sun was only just rising. Mick was lying next to her in deep sleep snoring loudly; sounding very much like the pigs he shoots for a living. Carefully she peeled his arm away from around her body and slipped out of the covers and put on her shoes. The door gave a tiny squeak as she opened it as she left the bedroom and wondered through the house.

Not that she planned on escaping and wondering into the back of beyond on her own but she thought she would just try the doors and windows, just in case. But her look around just confirmed her thoughts, all the doors were locked and the windows were nailed down. Sophie thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that if she was going to end up being boarded up in this house for a month she might as well make the most of it. The house was filthy; she didn't want to touch anything, didn't know what job to do first, everything needed cleaning. In fact Sophie thought it would probably be easier and quicker to knock the shit heap down to the ground and start again.

She was happy to see that there was a fully functioning kitchen with an oven and kettle which was a godsend even though it would need a major clean before she would even think about using it. She hummed and sang to herself to try and block out the fact that she was trapped there, but she got so engrossed in the cleaning she completely forgot all about the situation she was in, it almost felt like she was cleaning her own kitchen at home.

Sophie went to look out through the kitchen window; it was covered with that much dust and grime it looked just like frosted glass. "Jeezz really?" she thought to herself. Getting a cloth she wiped away the dust and cleaned it up the best she could. Time must have flown by as she could see through the now clean window that the sun was now high in the crystal blue cloudless sky. She must have been cleaning for hours and the kitchen was still only half decent.

"Like a proper little wifey now ain't ya" Sophie jumped and screamed. She had got so involved in cleaning she hadn't noticed Mike stood in the door way watching her. Hand on her heart she whizzed round "God Mick you made me jump" He gave a loud chuckled.
"God you're always so bloody jumpy" he gave another laugh "Like I'm gonna bloody kill the girl who's cleaning me kitchen" He looks around the room "Well you're doing a good job aye never seen the place look so fucking clean" Sophie couldn't help but smile, it was nice to know that he was pleased with what she had done so far.

Her cleaning must have put him in a good mood because he sat in his arm chair and started whistling while watched her carry on cleaning.

"Get me a drink will ya girlie, rums in the cupboard bloody parched over here" Sophie raised an eyebrow at him sat there in his white vest and denim trousers.

"Bit early for that ain't it?" She asked.
"Oi watch it girlie, never tell a man when he can drink" She rolled her eyes and started opening kitchen cupboards aimlessly for the bottle and glasses. Soon she found them and poured him a small measure of the foul smelling liquor and gave it to him.

"Bloody hell what we in some kinda drought or something? Give us the bottle" Giving the glass a disapproving look. She rolled her eyes and passed him the bottle, it was only just the beginning of the afternoon and he was starting to drink.

Sophie carried on with the housework while the rum in the bottle slowly disappeared.

"Hay, hay Wifey come here" he said beckoning with his finger. She gave a sigh and went closer. "Bet ya never had a drink before have ya?" He asked Sophie, she shook her head. She had been raised in a very religious house with a strict upbringing. Alcohol had been strictly forbidden and although she was old enough and had left home the rule had stuck to her.

"Well" he said "Since you're my wifey now, I think it's only fair that I share with you so go on have a glass" he said waving the glass at her, Sophie shook her head. "What you too stuck up to have a drink out of my cup?" She shook her head.

"No, no not at all it's not that it's well, I've been brought up against it, I come from a very religious family" Mick threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh God worshipper are you?" He laughed again "Well tell you what then, just so that the lord almighty up there don't strike me down" He said mockingly "I'll do ya a favour, you drink this and I'll let you keep your precious clothes on in bed for another night, I can't say fairer than that can I?" Sophie thought about it. It hadn't surprised Sophie in the slightest that Mick didn't believe in God or that he would take the piss out of her religion but he had taken it into account and for that she was grateful, he had known that breaking a religious rule would be hard for her and she was appreciative that he had given her a good reward if she did, after all he could have just ordered her to drink it with no reward at all and it was a good deal she had to admit it.

"O, Ok deal" she stuttered she was worried about breaking her religious upbringing but the thought of sleeping next to Mike naked scared the hell out of her.

Slowly she took the glass out of his hand and took a sip. The burning fluid made her cough and choke, she gasped as she felt the fluid burn the back of her throat. Mick threw his head back and laughed at her. She went to give him the cup back.

"Ah, ah girlie I said all of it" Sophie grimaced and closed her eyes as she gulped down the last disgusting drops. Sophie coughed and heaved at the last drops she could feel the hot warmth slowly slide down her throat and chest.

"I know right, tastes like a kangaroo's jockstrap but it does give you a hell of a buzz"

Sophie carried on cleaning as Mick got more rowdy as the rum bottle got more and more empty. She was sure she had heard all of "The complete collection of Mick Taylors encyclopaedia of sexual remarks" Some of them she had to admit did make her laugh.

She liked it when he was in a good mood he joked with her more; he had a dark sense of humour. The kind of humour that made you burst out laughing but also makes you feel bad and guilty for laughing. He had told her the story about the man he had told he would let go if he got five questions right but then had told him he was 'letting him go' to the next room when the man had got the five questions right. It had made her laugh how he had played with words and how dirty he had played the game but she also felt guilty for laughing as the joke had been harsh and cruel, getting a man's hopes up only to smash them by telling him he was going to die anyway.

By the time the rum bottle had been emptied Mick was 'dancing' if that's what you would call it. It was more like jumping around, kicking the ground and stumbling with no particular rhythm. He was singing "tie me Kangaroo down" very loudly and very out of tune. Sophie rolled her eyes he couldn't have picked a more stereotypical song if he'd tried.

Eventually Mick ended up in a passed out crumpled heap in the arm chair, Sophie gave a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure she could take any more out of tune famous Australian hits. Sophie exhaustedly collapsed into a chair and gave a sigh of relief, looking around triumphantly at the now totally clean house. The cleaning was easy that was the easiest part of her day but turning into Mick's baby sitter had been a nightmare; it had been like looking after a toddler. Cleaning up the spilt rum, picking up knocked over furniture he had knocked over while dancing, making sure he didn't injure himself. It had been exhausting.

Still that was day two ticked off her month long calendar, although anymore drunken days like today and she just might feel like taking her chances with the snakes and spiders.