Miserably Loving You

“Zack! You never do anything around the house!” I was greeted by accusations flying at me.

“Ashley, what are you talking about?” I asked confused looking at my girlfriend.

“You never do anything, All you do is go to work and then you go to work.” she went on.

“Listen Ashley, I go to work and the last time I went out with friends was a couple weeks ago for Jack’s Birthday. Other than that, I come home and stay inside working on work related things and doing stuff around the house.” I shot back. These fights have been getting more and more constant and it was all bullshit.

“Right, I’m so sure that you do stuff around this dumpy apartment.” Ashley rolled her eyes.

“Dumpy Apartment? Excuse me? This apartment is anything but dumpy. And maybe if you cleaned up once in a while, and not left it to me, it would be “dumpy”” I air quoted annoyed at her use of the adjective.

“Are you saying I don’t do anything in this house?” Ashley screeched.

“You stay at home, you invite your friends over and you do shit.” I replied.

“Zach, you’re fucking blind. I clean, I cook, I do laundry...” she started to name off the chores she “does”.

“Sorry Ash, But if you did any of those things, you wouldn’t be call this apartment dumpy, nor would you be making food from cans every night.” Ashley looked dumbfounded as I spat those words at her. Okay, so that may have been too harsh, but it’s the truth. Ashley glared at me. I grabbed my messenger bag, still unpacked from work and my camera bag, and left. I needed to get out. I walked to the park, it was getting dark and the stars were coming out. I sat down on a bench and took out my camera. I focused and snapped photo after photo. I packed my camera and walked down to the house that was familiar. i knocked on the door.

“Hey Zack,” A young woman greeted me.

“Hi Lisa, sorry to disturb you, but is Alex home?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s just marking some papers.” Lisa smiled and let me into their house. “Sorry to ask, but what brings you here?” she asked.

“Thanks, and just stuff with Ashley. She thinks I don’t do anything,” I sighed.

“Hey Zachary!” Alex’s voice rang through his house, as he came out of what he called his “office”.

“Hey Alex,” I replied.

“What brings you here bud?” he asked

“Ashley’s behaviour,” I shook my head.

“Well I’ll leave you boys to your manly business,” Lisa laughed as she left.

“What did she do again?” Alex asked when we sat down in his living room.

“She just accuses me of not doing anything around the house. I have my own business, I try and make time for her but clearly it’s not good enough for her,” I spilled all my feelings.

“Don’t worry, she’ll get over it. Maybe she just had a bad day,” Alex suggested.

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t think I love her anymore. And I’m starting to regret my proposal to her. Just thinking about living with her for the rest of my life, just kinda scares me. You know?” I explained. Alex nodded taking in all the information.

“I don’t know man, you kind of dug yourself into this hole, but don’t worry. I’ll help you out.” he patted my shoulder and reassured me.