My brother slept beside the drying rack.

My brother was arriving at nine. At half past eight I was carrying a drying rack sideways through a doorway that had already declined it twice.

The rack usually lived in the sitting room, which was where Tomas would sleep. I had decided that a guest should not have to look at my socks. The bedroom had no space for the rack, so my current plan involved making both rooms difficult to use.

I put it back against the far wall, where it left the doorway and the route to the sofa clear. Then I answered his message. He wanted to know whether we had anything to eat.

I checked the things he would use.

The sofa bed was made up. There was a clean towel, somewhere for his bag and an outlet he could reach without trailing a cable across the room. I explained the bathroom lock, which required lifting the handle, and that I would need the kitchen before leaving for work.

I also told him the room had no blackout curtain. He said he would bring his eye mask. This was a more useful exchange than moving the socks.

When he arrived, I pointed out the rack as though it were a feature requiring an apology. He said he had seen washing before. He asked again about food. Tomas is very good at maintaining an agenda.

We ate at the small table while he told me about his train. I offered to put everything away before he went to sleep. He asked whether that would involve the scraping noise he could imagine the rack making. I said probably. We agreed it could remain where it was.

We left each other a workable morning.

Before bed we checked departure times. I put the breakfast things where I could find them without searching beside his pillow. He moved his bag out of the route and showed me where he had put his shoes.

In the morning he folded the dry tea towels while I made coffee. He folded them differently from me. I briefly considered demonstrating the correct way, then remembered that I had invited my brother to stay, not recruited him to the linen department.

After he left, I found his eye mask under the sofa cushion. I sent a photograph. He replied that I should keep it for the next time he had to endure the terrible conditions.