Thorough

He looked at his face in the mirror, staring for a moment into himself, maybe there's some clue to discover. Then, looking down into the basin, he began washing his hands. The water, sanitizing hot  Disinfecting hot. As hot as he could stand it. Carefully, intertwined fingers slippery with soap, he thoroughly covered every inch of skin. If he was anything, it was thorough, some might say meticulous. Then, more washing, full minute now. He was determined to rinse off every speck and molecule of the last hour. He chuckled softly to himself. Wow. One hour, start to perfect finish. That's all it took to complete the whole task. He thought about what he had done. Did he have to do it? Was there an easier way? Too late to know. Actually, he pondered, it wasn't hard at all. The preparation was simple. The materials needed were all at hand. No extra purchases, no time wasted. The timing, in fact, turned out precisely well. Was it all worth it? He thought so.

Now, his wife will have three dozen delicious, freshly baked oatmeal cookies for her friends at their monthly poker parlor. They came out so dangerously good.