…was sitting at the kitchen island, a freshly printed spreadsheet laid out perfectly in front of him. Next to it was a thick, black, spiral-bound binder.<\/p>\n
He looked up, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. “Perfect timing, babe. Come sit. We need to go over the onboarding.”<\/p>\n
“Onboarding?” I echoed, setting the coffees down. My stomach did a strange, cold flip.<\/p>\n
He patted the stool next to him. “Since I’m handling the financial burden of the lease, I took the liberty of mapping out the household responsibilities to keep things completely fair. A partnership, right?”<\/p>\n
I opened the binder. The cover page read: Household Management & Domestic Duties.<\/p>\n
I flipped through the pages, my vision blurring as the reality set in. Monday: deep clean bathrooms. Tuesday: grocery shopping and meal prep for his office lunches. Wednesday: iron his work clothes. It was itemized down to the minute. There was even a tab labeled Anticipated Childcare & Maternity Milestones.<\/p>\n
“Matt, I work full-time too,” I reminded him, my voice barely above a whisper. “I work forty hours a week at the clinic. I can’t do all of this.”<\/p>\n
He took a sip of his coffee, his expression shifting from warm to calculating. “You work at a nonprofit, honey. It’s basically a hobby compared to my hours. I’m the provider here,” he said smoothly, echoing his words from yesterday\u2014only now, they didn’t sound romantic. They sounded like a trap. “If you want to live here rent-free, this is your contribution. Think of it as an internship for when you’re a stay-at-home mom.”<\/p>\n
The plush towels I had just lovingly hung in the bathroom suddenly felt like a uniform. I looked at the photos of us smiling on the wall\u2014photos of a girl who thought she was building a life with a partner, not signing a legally binding employment contract to be a live-in maid.<\/p>\n
“The deposit is non-refundable, by the way,” he added, tapping the spreadsheet. “So let’s just get on the same page.”<\/p>\n
I didn’t argue. I didn’t scream. I just walked over to the living room wall, took our framed photos down, and placed them right back into the cardboard box.<\/p>\n
“What are you doing?” he asked, his smug tone finally cracking.<\/p>\n
“I’m resigning,” I said, grabbing my keys. “Find another intern.”<\/p>\n
I was out the door before the coffee even got cold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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