— And what, now I’m supposed to walk around hungry?” Leo exclaimed in indignation, feeling his anger boiling inside him.
“— Of course not,” Anna replied calmly. “You can go to the store, buy some groceries, and make yourself a dinner. Or order delivery. You do have money.”
“— Is this some kind of strike?” he finally asked. “Are you refusing to perform your ‘feminine duties’?”
“I’m tired of being the milking cow in this family! Why should I be the only one carrying all the load?” Leo banged his briefcase onto the table and pointed at the new food processor. “Did you buy something again?”
Anna stared at her husband in surprise. It had been so unexpected that she couldn’t immediately find an answer. Dinner was almost ready, the apartment was clean, and the laundry was done—everything was, as always, in order after a full day of work.
“Leo, I have dreamed of that for a long time. It was on discount, and I paid for it with my salary…”
“With your salary!” he interrupted, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. “And what’s left of it? Pennies! Who pays for our apartment? I do! Who pays for the car? I do! Who covers all the basic expenses? Again, it’s me!”
Anna turned off the stove and wiped her hands on her apron. Steam from the pot rose to the ceiling, filling the kitchen with delightful aromas, but her appetite for dinner had vanished.
“But I work too,” she said quietly. “A full day, by the way. And with my salary, we buy the groceries. And I also cook, clean, and do the laundry…”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re just saintly,” Leo said, slamming the cabinet door as he pulled a mug out to pour himself some water. “You know what? I’m fed up. From now on, everything is going to be fair. We’ll split the expenses fifty-fifty, because you’re hanging on to me too nicely.”
“What do you mean?” Anna crossed her arms.
“That’s exactly what I mean. Since we’re so modern and equal, we’ll pay equally. We’ll chip in equally for the bills, phone, and other shared expenses. That’s fair, instead of dumping everything on me alone!”
Part of her wanted to protest that his proposal wasn’t about fairness at all—it was nothing but a kind of servitude: she would have to give nearly her entire salary to the family budget, while everyday tasks wouldn’t magically disappear. She had something to say, but why speak up when things could be done exactly as he wished?
“Fine, Leo. You want it to be fair—fifty-fifty. Then that’s how it will be.”
Anna had woken up before the alarm. Leo was still asleep, turned away toward the wall. Yesterday’s conversation swirled in her head, relentless and disturbing. Quietly rising from the bed, she went to the kitchen.
After four marriages, they had gradually come to divide responsibilities in a way that now seemed blatantly unfair to her. Yes, Leo earned more. Yes, in their first year together—when she was a senior student—it made sense: he provided materially while she managed the household. But later, Anna started working too! First part-time, then full-time. And the housework? It still fell squarely on her shoulders.
She opened her laptop and began reviewing her card statements. Her salary, utility bills, groceries, daily expenses… Almost everything she earned went toward the family. And what about her contribution—cooked lunches and dinners, washed laundry, cleaned the apartment—was it worth nothing?
The memory of her first meeting with Leo—back when he was just Leo—brought a sad smile. How wonderfully he had courted her! How he had said she was his queen and that he would do anything for her. And now? “Milking cow,” huh… How quickly for some men romance turns into accounting.
Anna took a sip of her tea and thought deeply. If he wanted to split everything evenly, then so be it. But truly, fifty-fifty.
“And you know, Igor, I told her that yesterday—enough is enough. Let’s live like all modern families—fifty-fifty,” Leo said as he leaned back in his office chair, addressing a colleague.
Igor looked up from his monitor and stared at him attentively.
“And how did she react?”
“You wouldn’t believe it—she agreed!” Leo grinned triumphantly. “Immediately, almost without any argument.”
“Seriously?” Igor raised an eyebrow. “Just like that?”
“I’m telling you—she agreed right away. She must have realized that I was right,” Leo clicked his mouse, opening a new file. “What’s the big deal? Fairness is fairness.”
“Everyone has their own idea of fairness,” Igor remarked philosophically as he returned to work. “My aunt always says, ‘Be careful what you wish for—they have a way of coming true.’”
“What does that even mean?” Leo frowned.
“Not a clue,” Igor smiled. “But it sounds smart, don’t you think?”
Leo laughed and turned back to his computer. A strange premonition briefly pierced the depths of his mind, but he brushed it aside. Everything would be fine. Anna was a reasonable woman.
At that very moment, Anna was standing in the store in front of the shelves, thoughtfully examining the price tags. In the past, she would have filled a whole cart—for a week, for the whole family. Today, in her small basket lay only some yogurt, a package of cheese, bread, and one chicken breast. She didn’t even glance at the fish fillet that Leo loved so much.
The evening fell unusually calm. At home, Anna quickly prepared baked chicken breast with vegetables, had her dinner, cleaned up, started a load of laundry, and settled comfortably on the couch with her tablet—she had three series queued up that she was eager to watch, but never seemed to have the time. Her phone rang with a message from Leo: “I’ll be there in half an hour. What’s for dinner?”
Anna smiled and put the phone aside without replying.
The key turned in the lock, and Leo walked into the apartment. His day had been exhausting, and he couldn’t wait to sit down for dinner. Usually, at this hour, delicious smells already wafted from the kitchen…
“Hey, Anyut, I’m home!” Leo shouted as he removed his coat.
There was no reply. Leo went into the kitchen and found it empty and clean, with no signs of cooking. Opening the refrigerator, he saw its half-empty shelves—yogurt, cheese, and a few vegetables.
“Anna!” he called out again as he headed into the living room.
His wife was sitting on the couch, absorbed in something on her tablet, wearing headphones. Upon noticing her husband, she pulled out one of the earbuds.
“Oh, hi. You’re home already?”
“Yes, I’m home. And where’s dinner?” Leo looked around as if expecting the food to be hiding in a corner of the living room.
Anna looked at him with mild astonishment.
“What dinner?” she asked. “Did you give me money for dinner? No! So what am I supposed to do?”
Leo froze, not believing his ears.
“Are you serious?” his voice nearly rose to a shout. “I come home after a hard day at work, and you didn’t even prepare dinner?”
“You didn’t give me money for your half of dinner,” Anna calmly removed the second earbud. “You said yesterday—fifty-fifty. I bought food for myself with my own money. I prepared my own dinner. Just as agreed.”
“But…,” Leo stuttered, looking at his wife in confusion. “I didn’t mean it like that! I meant the common expenses…”
“Exactly. The common expenses—split in half. Dinner is not just for me but for you too. These are shared expenses, so I bought groceries only for myself,” she shrugged. “And I prepared dinner only for myself.”
“And now what am I supposed to do, go hungry?” Leo fumed, feeling his inner anger boil over.
“Of course not,” Anna replied calmly. “You can go to the store, buy yourself some groceries, and prepare dinner. Or order delivery. You do have money.”
Leo stared at her, not understanding where his always caring, patient wife had gone. Who was this woman with the cold, calm gaze?
“Is this some kind of strike?” he finally asked. “Are you refusing to fulfill your feminine duties?”
Anna slowly set aside her tablet and turned to her husband, her whole body facing him.
“Feminine duties?” she repeated, her voice hardening. “I used to perform them dutifully until yesterday. But yesterday you proposed that we split the money fifty-fifty, and it made me wonder: why are you treating me so unfairly?”
“Me?!” Leo sputtered in indignation. “I—I…”
“Yes, you,” Anna interrupted. “Before, we used to pay the big bills with your money, and with mine, we bought groceries and a few things. And on top of that, I cooked, cleaned, and did the laundry. Every evening, after work. And on weekends—I did full cleaning, cooked meals for several days so that we could at least free up some time after work. Do you remember last Sunday when I spent three hours in the kitchen preparing food? And then three hours cleaning the apartment. That’s six hours of work, almost a full workday. On my day off.”
Leo was silent, trying to process her words.
“And now you say—fifty-fifty,” Anna continued. “Fine, fair enough. But let’s really do it fifty-fifty. Not only with money, but with the household duties. Cooking should be done alternately or each for oneself. Cleaning—let’s divide who does what. Laundry—everyone handles their own. What do you say?”
Leo shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.
“Listen, this is… I don’t even know how to operate the washing machine…”
“I’ll show you,” Anna smiled. “It’s nothing complicated.”
“And besides, if you’re not going to cook or clean, then why do I even need you?” Leo blurted out, immediately regretting his words.
Anna looked at him intently for a long moment, then slowly got up from the couch.
“Providing for the family is the man’s duty,” she said quietly. “But for some reason I never ask why I need you, even though you’ve always done a rather half-hearted job, since I had to work. And now you’re completely refusing your masculine duty.” She tilted her head. “But see, I don’t ask that question. Because we’re a family. At least, that’s what I always believed.”
A heavy silence ensued. Leo stared at the floor, feeling his righteous anger slowly turning into shame. Anna stood tall, shoulders back, waiting for his response.
“Sorry,” he finally said. “I got carried away. Let’s go back to how things were, okay?”
He expected Anna to be overjoyed, to rush into his arms, to immediately start cooking dinner… But she only shook her head.
“Why do I need that?” she asked with genuine curiosity. “I used to cook you dinner, iron your shirts, wash the dishes. But now I’ve already eaten, done everything, and was just about to watch a new episode. It’s even more convenient for me this way, you know.”
With those words, she returned to the couch, put her headphones back in, and switched on her tablet, leaving Leo standing in the middle of the room with his mouth agape.
“Mom, you wouldn’t believe what she pulled off,” Leo said into the phone, holding it close to his ear, repeatedly checking the nearly empty refrigerator as if hoping food would magically appear there. “I believe it, I believe it,” his mother’s voice chuckled. “And she did the right thing. You’ve really grown cheeky, son.” “What?!?” Leo nearly dropped the phone. “Whose side are you even on?” “On the side of fairness, Leo. Do you think your father used to just bring money home? He cooked, too, when I was working, and spent time with you. And now he practically does everything himself ever since I got sick. That’s what a real man is.” Leo fell silent. He had never noticed this side of his parental relationships.
“But that’s not how we’ve always done it,” he muttered. “I always provided for the family, and Anna took care of the house.” “But now she works and runs the household too,” his mother remarked gently. “And what’s fair about that?” Leo found no rebuttal. After speaking with his mother, he ordered food delivery, dined alone in the kitchen, and for the first time seriously considered how much Anna did every day.
The first few days without dinner, clean shirts, and a cozy home felt like a cold shower to Leo. By the end of the week, he was cursing that ridiculous idea of “fifty-fifty.” Who would have thought that keeping up with the household could be so troublesome? The whole fridge was filled with semi-prepared foods, on the stove there was burnt scrambled eggs (his third attempt!), and the delivery prices made his eyes bulge.
He tried to roast meat three times the way Anna used to do it. And all three times he failed spectacularly. The first time, he hadn’t thawed it properly; the second time, he over-salted it so much that it was inedible; and the third time, he somehow managed to forget it in the oven. Fortunately, there was no fire alarm, but he had to air out the kitchen for two hours.
Meanwhile, Anna felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. No more rushing from work to the store, no more “what’s for dinner?” and “where are the clean socks?” A simple dinner for herself, a peaceful evening with a book, and her favorite series. On Wednesday, instead of doing her regular laundry, she even allowed herself to meet Mashka at a cafe after work—imagine that! On the weekends, while Leo was struggling with the vacuum, she just lounged on the couch with a book. Bliss…
Leo watched all of this with gritted teeth, but he had to admit that his wife was right. On Friday, he couldn’t take it any longer. He left work early, dashed to the supermarket, bought a bunch of “a thousand little things,” and rushed home determined to fix everything. He went all out like in the early days of their courtship: candles, a bottle of that same semi-sweet red wine that Anna secretly adored (even though she always claimed to prefer dry wine), and most importantly—a chicken roasted in the oven. It wasn’t a culinary masterpiece, of course, but it was made with all his heart.
When the key turned in the lock, Leo nearly jumped with excitement. Anna stood at the doorway, inhaling the homey scents that she had long since forgotten.
“What’s this?” she asked suspiciously, nodding toward the set table and the flickering candles. “Dinner,” Leo replied simply. “For both of us. I made it.” They sat down at the table, and Leo poured wine into their glasses.
“I’ve thought a lot over these past few days,” he began. “And I realized that I was wrong. You’ve always done so much more than I noticed or appreciated.” Anna listened attentively, not interrupting.
“I propose a new agreement,” Leo continued. “We both work full-time, and we both should take care of our home. I’m ready to take on part of the household chores—grocery shopping, dishes, taking out the trash, maybe something else. I’m not very good at this yet, but just tell me what you need. And regarding finances… let’s contribute to the household budget according to our salaries. I’ll contribute sixty-five percent, and you thirty-five. Isn’t that fair?”
Anna turned her wine glass thoughtfully in her hand.
“You know,” she finally said, “I agree. But on one condition. We really divide the household duties, and not just in a way where I constantly have to remind and oversee everything.”
“I promise,” Leo said firmly, nodding. “I even made a list and a schedule. Here, take a look,” he said, handing her his phone with an open file. “I planned everything out.”
Anna scanned the list and smiled.
“You know, you might just turn into a pretty decent husband,” she said with a sly smile.
Leo laughed and raised his glass.
“Here’s to a new beginning?” he offered.
“To partnership,” Anna corrected as they clinked glasses.
They sat in the kitchen for a long while, talking and making plans. And despite its slight dryness and saltiness, that roasted chicken seemed the most delicious dish in the world that evening.