The Bond Between Us novel Chapter 14

Anastasia headed down to the local grocery store, while Herman had been bumming around the whole day. His assistant had called him several times, there were documents waiting for his review and approval. Herman hit the study to get down to business and called a video meeting with some of the top dogs.

An hour flew by before Herman knew it. He walked out of his study, two dishes were already on the table, and Anastasia was bustling around the kitchen. Seeing Anastasia’s busy figure and the piping hot food on the table, Herman felt a hint of homey warmth. That was life for the average couple. The wife took care of the house chores, cooked, kept everything shipshape at home, while the hubby brought home the bacon, each fulfilling their roles.

“You’re finally done.” Anastasia came out with soup, smiling. “Everything is ready now. You must be starving.”

Anastasia had just gotten back from grocery shopping when she heard Herman holding an online video meeting in his study. She didn’t want to bother him. Working at a company like that must have had him swamped. He had spent the whole day with her; thinking of this, she felt a bit guilty.

Anastasia served the food, and they sat down to have dinner. Herman looked at the meat dish, veggie dish, and soup on the table, and complimented, “Not bad.”

“You must be busy with work, I’ll take care of the meals at home. Do you need a packed lunch for tomorrow? I’ll make it in the morning, then you can take it to work,” Anastasia said. “I see many people bring their own lunch. It’s clean and saves money.”

Herman didn’t want Anastasia to work so hard. He said, “No need, we have a cafeteria at work, we don’t pay for meals.”

“Oh, I see.” Anastasia nodded, took out the bank card Herman gave her earlier and said, “Here, you should keep this. It’s your money.”

Anastasia had accepted the card in front of Salma to avoid hurting Herman’s feelings. This was the money Herman had earned through hard work. They had only known each other for a short time, and she felt a bit embarrassed to accept it.

Herman didn’t expect Anastasia to give it back, he said, “This is the family fund; there are many expenses in the future. You just bought a car, you probably don’t have much money left. A husband providing for his family is a given. Keep it, you need money to buy groceries and daily necessities. I’ll have my salary deposited into this account every month.”

Anastasia was indeed running low on cash, but she wasn’t used to spending the money of others. “Then I’ll keep a record of our expenditures every day. I have a budgeting app, so we can see what every penny is spent on. We agreed on splitting costs 50/50 before, whatever we spend each month, I’ll pay half, and I’ll deduct the other half from this card.” Anastasia was principled, she insisted on sticking to the 50/50 cost-splitting agreement they had set before.

Herman sighed helplessly, “Whatever you say.”

Only by splitting costs could Anastasia alleviate some of the pressure she felt.

Anastasia felt relieved. “Then it’s settled. By the way, how much is the rent here each month?”

Herman wasn’t quite sure, he estimated. “About 8500 a month.”

A three-bedroom apartment in Riverdale for a little over 8500 a month, that’s not too bad.