When will dinner be ready?
When will dinner be ready? Well, when you cook it, then it will be ready. Mrs. Agnes slipped her glasses off. Michael, does your wife expect me to stand at the stove? Or will she just lie there? Emma, ignoring her, grabbed a few things and headed for the hallway. Her motherinlaw followed.
Whats going on? Where are you off to? On holiday! Goodbye!
Emma set her heavy bags down with a sigh of relief.
Im home!
A low mumble drifted from the next room, and then the source appeared. He was a man in his forties, perhaps a little younger, perhaps a little older, dressed in a tracksuit and slippers.
Emma, why are you shouting? This isnt your village. Behave yourself.
Honestly, you could have met me, you know my salarys come in and I need to buy groceries.
Michael let out a loud sigh.
Good heavens! What groceries?
He turned and walked back into the bedroom. Emma exhaled heavily. She was fed up.
She works two jobs to keep the house running, while her husband, under his mothers encouragement, has been fiddling with a mythical manuscript for a year. The first one was dismissed because nobody understood his art.
She stripped off her coat, carried the bags into the kitchen. From tomorrow she has a week off and plans to wash the whole flat, launder, iron and reorganise everything under Agness watchful eye. She was exhausted.
Mrs. Margarether motherinlawpopped into the kitchen.
Emma, why are you slacking off? Are you going to feed the husband? Hes worked all day and now he must wait!
Earned a lot?
Emma didnt even know how the question slipped out. Once she had admired a fledgling writer with trembling excitement, believing hed become famous.
A single glance from Agnes made her try to please everyone, then she fell silent out of guilt, remembering that while she was on maternity leave it was her motherinlaw who had kept the family afloat.
Margaret, about to leave, snapped round.
What did you say?
I asked if he earned much. Usually when people work they bring money home.
How dare you! Michaels been planning the plot of his new chapter all day! You have no idea what its like to work with your head!
The woman huffed and left. Emma suddenly thought:
What am I doing here? The boy is at his parents farm already, making noise and disturbing Michaels concentration for another pointless masterpiece.
She snapped back to arranging the food from the fridge, this time packing it into a large sack. Shed received her wages and holiday pay, promising to bring home tasty provisions and a present for her son on the road.
She stepped into the hallway, set the sack down and reached for something else. Michael, not looking away from the telly, asked:
When will dinner be ready?
Well, when you make it, then itll be ready.
Mrs. Agnes dropped her glasses.
Michael, does your wife want me to stand at the stove? Or will she just lie there?
Emma, ignoring the comment, took a few items and walked down the stairs, bag in hand, trying to hail a cab. Sixty miles awaywhat a stretchbut one trip was worth it.
Andrew was already in bed when Emma entered the family home. He woke, ran to his mother and hugged her tightly. She missed him so much.
Mother looked closely at Emma.
Whats happened? Why did you leave Michael? Who will look after him?
Her motherinlaw had never taken a soninlaw seriously. After the wedding they visited occasionally, but Agnes quickly put Michael in his place, waking him at six in the morning to work the garden, stripping any hope of leisure.
Thats enough, Mum! Im on holiday for a whole month!
Mum smiled.
Thank heavens youll rest and spend time with your boy.
Emma lay with Andrew, unable to fall asleep as moonlight highlighted how much her little boy had grown. When she finally drifted off, a strange smell of fresh bake drifted in. Andrew was already up, eyes bright.
Grandma baked a whole tray of pies!
After breakfast Emma asked her mother:
So, what should I be doing?
Youre not rested yet?
Im only just beginning, theres another job waiting.
Go to the allotment. The cabbages overgrown, the cucumbers need weedingnothing else gets done.
Around the third row Emma realised she actually enjoyed the garden work. She looked over the neat, weedfree beds and smiled.
Its beautiful.
First time Ive seen someone weed with such a happy face!
She turned to a familiar voice.
Eddie! Where have you been?
He had just come in from the back garden.
I stopped by your fathers, asked for the key, and they said youd arrived. Couldnt leave.
Eddie was a neighbour shed liked since she was ten. Hed been fifteen when she first fancied him, offering sweets and looking after her. Hed gone off to the army, returned to find her grown, both awkwardly shy, then married and moved to the city. Ten years later they met again.
Why are you here?
You wont believe itI came to see my mum. We split a month ago.
Oh, really? Well thats not my business.
That evening Eddie and his mother invited everyone over. They grilled kebabs, chatted, and Emma felt a warmth she couldnt put into words. She realised she didnt need to suppress herself or endure endless complaints; life could simply be lived.
Two weeks later her own mother sat beside her.
Emma, love, what are you thinking? Are you coming back?
I dont know, Mum. How do I liveout? I have work but no home.
Maybe rent somewhere? Or stay here. Well find you a job. And Eddie did you see how he looks at you?
Mum, what does he look at? Its just a echo of childhood.
I dont know Eddies a solid man, a good provider. He has a decent job in town.
Emma stared at her mother, bewildered.
Are you trying to set me up?
The woman blushed.
Whats wrong with that? I see you two could be happy.
Emma laughed. Her mother did what mothers do.
Eddie left for a week on work. Emma missed him so much she even scolded herself, feeling like a child again. Michael kept calling and texting, first accusing her of ingratitude, then warning shed be kicked out of the flat with the boy. She even laughed at his threats.
It was odd that after all those years he still hadnt figured out how to evict her properly. Then Agnes called, saying her blood pressure was rising because of ungrateful Emma, demanding she return immediately or the blame would fall on the daughterinlaw.
The last days grew quiet, oddly soothing. That evening, Eddie arrived with a huge van, invited everyone over again. Mother gave Emma a lingering look, and Emma felt a surge of joy at seeing Eddie.
Just as the kebabs sizzled, a car pulled up. A young woman leapt out and ran toward Eddie.
Love, how long will you hide from me? Enough games. Lets go to town.
Oksana, why are you here?
Emma understood instantlyshe was Eddies exwife, now a nuisance. She grabbed Eddies sons hand and they slipped toward the house, but a taxi screeched to a halt beside them.
Out stepped Michael and his mother.
Look at her! Shes strolling about, and her husband doesnt even care.
Why are you here?
Emma pressed her lips together, finally seeing how unpleasant these people were.
Got a holiday? Get home fast! The husband needs to work, not loaf about!
Did the husband finally get a job?
Agnes fumed, but Michael spoke up.
You know Im writing a book! Its not the same as hammering metal at a factory.
You know what, Michael Ive wanted to tell you for ages youre a failure, you never helped your family. No money, no lesson, just sitting on our porch with your mother. Im taking everything you bought in the last ten years!
Emma walked to her gate and, to her surprise, found Eddie waiting with a grin.
Evenings set. You handled it well.
They watched as Michael and his mother argued with Oksana, flailing their arms.
Emma never stayed in the village. After she and Eddie formalised their relationship, she and Andrew moved to the city with her new husband, who insisted she swap the factory job for office work. At first the low salary embarrassed her, but Eddie was genuinely supportive.
Your salary is yours. Buttons and pins. The man should provide.
Michael soon married Oksana. Now his mother was left supporting two freeloaders, while Emma heard that shed finally convinced her son to quit the manuscript and take a factory job.
In the end, everything fell into place. One thing broke, another was repaired.
Life teaches us that no matter how tangled the threads of duty, ambition, and love become, we must keep untangling them with honesty and compassion, for only then can we weave a future worth living.
