The click of a lightswitch, the dull hiss of the faucet; these were the sounds that ushered his morning to a proper start. He reached for the toothpaste, only to find the tube missing. He glanced over at the waste bin and sighed heavily.

“Really, babe? I told you two days ago we were almost out of toothpaste, and you still didn’t stop to get any?” He fumbled around in the cabinet under the sink for his travel case, and produced a travel-sized toothpaste from within. ‘Can’t believe she forgot,’ he thought as he began the tedium of his morning routine.

A wave of dark curls against mocha skin and green eyes peered past the bathroom doorway. “Sorry, Matt. I meant to stop and get some, but things got so busy at work that I forgot. I’ll get some after work today, promise.”

His girlfriend ducked away and he could hear her padding back down the hall. ‘Sure she will,’ he thought as he spat and rinsed, moving on to the next step of his routine.

==========

Back in the kitchen, Ashley rattled around trying to get breakfast together. She’d never been any good with a stove, but Matt insisted that since he cooked dinner, the least she could do was make breakfast for them. It was hard to disagree with him, so every weekday morning she was up at five a.m. to get herself ready and presentable for work, and then make breakfast.

Today wasn’t off to the best start. The french toast was burning, the bacon wasn’t crisping fast enough, and the toaster didn’t seem to actually be toasting at all. On top of all that, she’d forgotten to stop for toothpaste the other day. ‘I’ve just got so much on my plate,’ she sighed, drifting through the checklist of tasks waiting for her at the office. Several reports were due by the end of business today, and she had an important conference call at eleven which would probably run long. No lunch again today, then.

“Ash, what the hell?!” Matt sputtered around a cough.

‘Huh?’ Something smelled like… ‘Oh shit!’ She quickly grabbed the pan and evacuated it from the stove, thrusting it into the sink and running water over the singed bread to quell the smoke. Too late. The smoke alarm began beeping furiously, filling the kitchen with its blaring noise.

“Seriously, Ash? You have one job in the morning,” Matt mumbled angrily. “Whatever. I’ll just stop on the way to work and grab something.” He looked around the counter, waving the smoke from his face and hoping it wouldn’t cause his suit to reek of burnt food. ‘Where’s my coffee?’ he wondered, not seeing his usual thermos anywhere.

“Ash… Where’s my coffee?”

‘Shit.’ Ashley turned, looking at the coffee maker, which sat cold and empty. “I’m so sorry hon, I was trying to get everything else ready and--”

“It’s fine,” Matt said coolly, grabbing his briefcase and keys on the way to the door. There was no ‘love you’ or ‘see you tonight,’ no, just a door opening and then closing with more force than was likely necessary.

Ash let out a long sigh, leaning back against the counter. A fresh wave of smoke filled the kitchen as the bacon that had previously refused to crisp was now blackening in the pan. Tears began to well up, and she fought them back. She’d just have to redo her makeup if she cried, and there wasn’t time for that.

His words stuck with her, ‘you have one job in the morning.’ ‘One job, hah! I have so much more going on. I don’t get to just jump in the shower, in-and-out in five minutes, towel off and go. I’d like to see him try to do everything I have to do to get ready, and still manage to make breakfast every day.’ She sighed as she tossed the bacon in the trash, threw the pan in the sink, then grabbed a kitchen chair to climb up and quiet the smoke alarm.

Her phone chirped at her, letting her know that she needed to get going now if she wanted to be on time, so she hurried to grab her bag, pull on her heels, and get out the door without suffering yet another catastrophic event for the morning.

‘This is ridiculous. I earn way more than him, I should be the one getting to relax and take it easy while mister-no-effort-mornings uses that spare time to make breakfast. Maybe then I wouldn’t be trying to finish my makeup while I cook.’

She was so consumed in her thoughts that she barely noticed the morning commute passing, nor the approaching older woman until they had collided. 

“Ooof! I’m so sor-- Ack, Ms. Dean,” the older woman gasped.

“Brenda, good morning. No need to apologize, I wasn’t paying attention,” Ashley said, forcing a smile.

Brenda looked her over quickly, then tutted softly. “Another rough morning, ma’am?” 

Ash sighed heavily. “You can tell?”

Brenda nodded, “You’ve got some soot on your blouse, ma’am. Just there.”

A noticeable black smudge over her left boob. Great. She threw her free hand up, cursing her luck under her breath.

“It happens to the best of us, Ms. Dean,” Brenda said with a smile, offering her a wet wipe to try to get the worst of the smudge out. 

“Thank you, Brenda,” she replied, ‘Thank God for good personal assistants,’ she added in her head. “I wouldn’t have this problem if I could just get Matt to take over cooking in the morning, too. He knows I’m worthless in the kitchen.”

Brenda tutted loudly again. “If you forgive me being so forward ma’am, I don’t see why you let him treat you that way.”

Ashley grimaced. “I do love him, and he’s really not a bad person. He was just raised to think that it was a woman’s place to tend to the household while the man works hard to earn money. He’s under a lot of stress at work lately too, so I can’t fault him for being a bit more on edge.”

“Well, dare I say, if he thinks he has it tough, he should try walking a mile in a working woman’s heels,” Brenda laughed warmly, and Ashley found herself joining in, her morning brightened a bit by the cheerful woman.

‘If only,’ she thought, ‘maybe then he’d understand just how much I go through in a day, and see how the little details can get lost in the exhausting shuffle!’ She proceeded to her office, met with the menacing sight of her inbox. ‘If he had to deal with half of what I do, he’d probably forget the stupid toothpaste too. I wish he knew how hard it is for a woman to make it in business. Maybe then he’d cut me some slack.’

==========

‘How can she just not understand something as simple as making breakfast? It’s not exactly rocket science.’ Matt fumed as he waited in traffic, angrily giving the horn a few blasts just to express his displeasure at the general lack of movement.

‘My mom never had any problem having breakfast ready every morning, and she had way more mouths to feed. If Ash can’t even handle breakfast for the two of us, how is she going to manage if we ever have kids?’

His phone chimed with a notification; since traffic wasn’t going anywhere fast, he pulled his phone out to check it. 

[Wishr: Granted!]

‘What a weird text. Must be a scam.’ He swiped the message to delete it, and put it out of his mind. His offramp was finally approaching, so he shoved the phone back into his jacket pocket and refocused on the work day ahead.

==========

“I’m home, babe,” Matt grumbled as he closed the door, trudging over to the counter to unload the chinese takeout. He was completely wiped out so there was no way he felt up to making dinner.

“Welcome home, hon,” Ash smiled as she stepped out to join him in the kitchen. ‘Wow, must have been a rough day,’ she thought, considering his run-down appearance. “Tough day at the office?”

“Not really. Just tired. A lot going on. I have a new assistant starting tomorrow and I had to get her packet of training information together since my old assistant didn’t print one off before she left. I hope this new girl is better than the last. On top of that hassle, my boss invited me out to lunch so I had to deal with that for a few hours in the middle of my day, cutting into my time to get that packet done. I’m just glad I got it done in time to finish up the rest of my work so I don’t have anything looming for tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a tough day,” Ash said with well hidden sarcasm. ‘If only I could have a day that easy. Make up a single packet of training info? Get a free lunch from the boss? Hah… Even if I did get offered a free lunch, there’s no such thing. I’d be paying for it in the scandal from all the other office women.’

Ashley helped herself to a container of pork fried rice and stir-fry veggies before puttering back to the living room to settle in front of the TV.

Matt joined her a few minutes later, and barely made it to his armchair before he was asleep, forgotten fast food container resting in his lap. 

‘Poor baby,’ Ash thought sarcastically, ‘such a tough day, couldn’t even make it through dinner without falling asleep. He’d definitely never cut it if he had to deal with what I do.’

Her phone buzzed in her hand as she went to plug it in to charge overnight.

[Wishr: Granted!]

The notification looked weird, and was timestamped from this morning. ‘What’s this? Must have missed it earlier. I don’t remember installing anything called Wishr. Must be spam. I’ll check it out in the morning.’ She swiped the notification away and headed to the bathroom to get comfortable for bed. Matt could sleep on the chair, for all she cared right now. It’s not like she was capable of dragging him anywhere, anyway.