Ivan met Alena at a volunteer center. However, he wasn’t there to help the disadvantaged, but to look for a girlfriend for a relationship. A friend persuaded him to this odd action.
«If a girl volunteers and carries heavy bags of food for elderly strangers on her own, she will do everything and even more for her husband,» the friend advised Ivan when he complained about his fate.
Ivan’s first marriage ended in divorce: his wife was a blatant lazy person. She didn’t want to work, take care of the household, or help her mother, and responded to all complaints with screams and scandals. That marriage didn’t last even a year: the couple divorced. Ivan was single for a whole five years.
On one hand, he was comfortable with his bachelor status, but on the other, he understood that sooner or later he needed to settle down.
«It’s time for you to marry, son. You’re thirty-nine years old, it’s time to have children, and I need a helper!» Ivan’s mother, Faina Romanovna, insisted.
«Mom, I’m working on it,» Ivan said and went to find the perfect wife, using his friend’s advice.
He noticed Alena right away. She was quite sweet and shy. Her only flaw was a rather large mole on her cheek, which Alena believed spoiled her appearance. At just 22, Alena already dreamed of quickly escaping from her mother, who constantly berated her about her inadequacies, fostering complexes and psychological issues in her, which is why Alena had no serious relationships before. She was embarrassed by her appearance and felt unworthy of having a normal man.
Therefore, when Ivan, an imposing, mature, and wealthy man, started courting her, she was delighted and agreed to a relationship without hesitation.
«Shall we go to the movies, Alena?» Ivan found it convenient to invite the girl to the cinema. Tickets were inexpensive, and he didn’t have to spend on a restaurant. And Alena was comfortable knowing that he couldn’t see her face in the dark theater.
When Ivan came to meet the bride’s mother, the woman bluntly asked:
«What do you want from my daughter? She’s a nobody, couldn’t you find anyone better? What’s wrong with you?»
Alena listened to her mother, and her eyes filled with tears.
«I think your daughter suits me and I want to marry her,» Ivan replied.
«Well, if you want, marry her. But I won’t give you money for the wedding; I’m sure your marriage won’t last long.»
«We don’t need anything from you. We won’t celebrate the wedding,» said Ivan, and Alena cried. She had dreamed of a white dress! But apparently, someone like her didn’t deserve a real fairy tale.
«Stop smearing snot on your cheeks, go wash your face!» her mother commanded, and Alena obediently complied.
«So, as I understand, you agree to our marriage?» Ivan asked.
«Of course, who else would take such a nobody?»
«Okay, glad to meet you. I have to go,» Ivan lied. The mother-in-law made a terrible impression on him. But Alena’s family situation suited him. He found a way to the girl: he bribed her with affection and care, exactly what his ex-wife took for granted. But for Alena, even a simple compliment seemed like real magic.
«I thought that since you want a wedding, there will be one,» he said after a pause.
«Really?» Alena’s eyes sparkled. For that phrase alone, she was ready to love Ivan to the grave.
«Yes. We’ll celebrate at our country house. My mother will bake pies, you’ll make salads, I’ll provide the ‘fuel.’ You don’t have any friends anyway, no one to invite. So we’ll fit at one table.»
«What do you mean? There is. Lena, a friend… From the center. And George, her brother and my friend.»
«Well, okay, Lena then, but we won’t invite your mother. She’s of no use.»
Alena remained silent. The thought of the wedding literally revived the girl. Ivan decided they would celebrate in early September, when the harvest ripens.
To earn money for the dress and makeup, Alena took a part-time job. Volunteering brought her nothing but satisfaction and a sense of necessity. The girl earned a living in a call center, where no one saw her, only heard her beautiful voice.
After a month and a half, Alena had a little savings. She knew she couldn’t afford a luxurious dress and found several budget options. But Ivan did not allow her to spend her savings.
«Better give me the money, it’s very convenient to have everything ready… No, I don’t allow you to make thoughtless expenses!»
«But I can’t without a dress… It’s a wedding! Once and for a lifetime!»
«Why do you need this rag?! I already have one hanging in the closet at the cottage… Worn once, but now it’ll take up space for a lifetime.»
«I don’t understand? Where did you get it from?» Alena widened her eyes.
«My ex-wife spent half the wedding budget on the dress, wore it once and that’s all.»
«Why didn’t she take it?»
«Because I paid for it and didn’t give it to her, now I understand it wasn’t for nothing. So there will be a dress for you,» Ivan laughed. «Actually, I planned that my second wife would wear it. We’ll go to the cottage on the weekend, you’ll help my mother with the garden, and you’ll try on the dress too. You’re not as curvy as Lyudka, but it can be tailored.»
Alena really didn’t want to wear someone else’s dress. It was dusty in the closet, smelled unpleasant, and had a certain melancholy about it…
But Ivan insisted, Alena dressed up… And looked like a doll. The very one that was once put on a teapot to keep it from cooling.
«Wow! It even looks better on you!» he evaluated her, flattering and pressing the right «buttons» in her chosen one’s heart. «You are my beauty.»
Alena looked at herself in the dress again, and it no longer seemed so old-fashioned and silly.
«Okay, but let’s take it to the dry cleaners?»
«If you want, take it. I don’t care,» Ivan shrugged.
He couldn’t fit into his wedding suit, so he decided he would be in shorts and a T-shirt.
«You need a dress, and I’ll be casual,» he waved it off.
«Well… as you wish,» Alena was disappointed. «I’ll be with a bouquet. And you in flip-flops…»
«Your mother will pick a bouquet from the garden flowers. My friend will bring a camera, he will take photos, we’ll buy a ready-made cake at the country store…» as if not noticing the reproach in the bride’s voice, continued Ivan. «You’ll do the makeup and hairstyle yourself, it’s not hard. No need to waste money. Enough talking! Go to the garden, we need to weed the carrots.»
Alena remained silent. She wanted to be beautiful on her holiday, so she saved some cash for a hairstyle and makeup, despite Ivan making her give her salary for the table food.
Encouraged by the upcoming wedding, Alena didn’t notice the flaws in her fiancé. She considered his thriftiness a virtue and his desire to command and push her around as care. She tried to please his mother, and Faina Romanovna willingly loaded the future daughter-in-law at her country house so much that she barely had the strength to return to the city before collapsing into sleep.
When the wedding was just around the corner, Alena was visiting Ivan, and a documentary about Saint Petersburg was on TV.
«What a beautiful city! I’ve never been there, but I’d love to visit…» Alena said dreamily.
«What would you do there?»
«Walk, contemplate… It’s living history!»
«You’re the living history.»
«Look, an ad for a bus tour! Not as expensive as you might think… I could earn for this tour…» Alena said quietly. «Maybe we’ll go after the wedding? You said you’d take a few days off, for a honeymoon…»
«What St. Petersburg do you need, Alena? I’ve already decided: we’ll spend our honeymoon at my mother’s garden beds,» Ivan cut her off. «You’re now part of our family, you have to help mom! Or do you want to be like Lyudka, sitting on the couch and growing fat?! Mother is slaving away, and you decided to chill?!»
Ivan, as if replaced, grabbed Alena by the shoulders and started shaking her. The girl lost her speech from fear.
«Why are you silent?! Thought you found a groom and will sit on his neck? You’ll make my mother clean up after the wedding while you run off to St. Petersburg? No, darling! You will do what I tell you, got it?!»
«Yes…» Alena managed to say.
«Louder!»
«Yes!» Tears squirted from her eyes. She didn’t think Ivan could be so… terrifying.
«Go wash yourself. And no more hints of foolishness!»
Barely breaking free, Alena ran to the door. She had one desire — to escape from this house, far away from Ivan and his crazy black eyes.
She didn’t want to go home, so Alena had no better idea than to call her only friend, Lena.
«Come over, granny went to the nursing home, and we’re watching a movie with Zhora,» the siblings rented a room from their grandmother, they were brother and sister and treated Alenka well. Zhor was by nature as quiet and reserved as Alena, his glasses—old-fashioned, in a large frame, and with thick lenses were to blame. Lena was just an ordinary girl: simple, kind, and responsive.
Alena arrived, her hands shaking, and her friends immediately understood that something had happened to the girl. Lena made tea, and Alena told them everything.
«Well, that’s something… And you kept quiet?» Lena looked at her friend and stroked her hand, trying to calm her.
«What can you say? Ivan loves me…»
«Really loves! He needs a maid, not a wife! What normal man, loving his woman, would make her walk down the aisle in the dress of his hated ex-wife?! And the wedding table? Why should you set it yourself on your wedding day? That’s mockery! There are plenty of cafes now with discounts on mini-banquets. It’ll be cheaper than cooking yourself!» Lena persuaded. «This Ivan is just an abuser! He’s torturing you! Look at your hands, as if you plowed a field without a shovel! You owe them nothing, why are you slaving away at that country house? What kind of honeymoon can there be with a mother-in-law at the garden beds? Wake up, Alena!»
«So, was my mother right when she said that no one could love a nobody like me?» Alena cried even harder. «I’m such an ugly freak!»
«Why do you think you’re a freak?» Zhora looked at the girl in surprise. He and Lena exchanged glances.
«I have an ugly face! And a mole, horrible, huge, that spoils everything! If I had money… I’d remove it right now!»
«Alen, it’s very dangerous. And you’re exaggerating. I know at least one man who likes you just as you are,» Zhora said quietly.
«To Ivan?» Alena looked up.
«Get away from him!» Lena couldn’t stand it. «Obviously, he’s using you!»
«Then who needs me?..»
The room tensed, but Zhora still didn’t muster the courage to confess that he was in love with Alena, and the news of her wedding was a big blow to him. But he was too shy and timid to tell her about it.
«Alright, I need to go home. Mother will be angry…»
«Zhora will walk you,» said Lena, nudging her brother.
«Ah? Yes… Of course…» he jumped up and handed the girl her jacket.
Alena didn’t sleep all night. She didn’t know if she wanted to continue communicating with Ivan, let alone marry him.
Meanwhile, Lena was trying to reach her brother.
«Why did you keep quiet? You obviously can’t take your eyes off her! Don’t lie to me, at least admit it!»
«I’m afraid she’ll think badly of me.»
«And that she’ll marry someone else? Aren’t you afraid of that?! You know the saying: if you look at a girl for too long, you can see her getting married!» Lena snapped.
Zhora was silent. The next day he bought a small bouquet and went to Alena’s work. When the girl came out, he approached her and handed her the flowers.
«What’s this?» she was surprised. «Did you forget my birthday is next week?»
«No… I remember… Alen, listen…»
«What’s going on here?!» Ivan appeared like thunder from clear skies. «You haven’t even married yet, and you’re already putting horns on me?! Come on, quickly into the car,» he pushed Alena toward the vehicle. But she didn’t move.
«Go, I said!»
He painfully grabbed her wrist. Alena looked pleadingly at Zhora, and for the first time in his life, he gathered the courage to stand up for the girl he loved: he grabbed Ivan by the shirt edge.
Ivan wasn’t expecting that, so he released Alena’s hand.
She jumped back and hid behind her friend’s back, from which Zhora took a good beating. Ivan swung and hit Zhora. Fortunately, the boy was lucky: his teeth remained intact. Security came out during the scuffle, and Ivan had to flee to avoid problems.
«How are you?» Zhora received first aid.
«Everything’s fine.»
«There’s a recording of the attack on the cameras,» reported the guard. He knew Alena and wanted to help.
«Thank you, it will come in handy…» Alena said quietly.
Lena met her brother with a smile:
«Scars adorn a man. You did well. And you, Alena, should break up with Ivan before he cripples you or your loved ones.»
Alena agreed. That evening, she finally took off her rose-colored glasses.
«I want to give you a gift a bit earlier, I saved up for your birthday,» confessed Zhora, pulling out a small envelope.
«Seriously? You shouldn’t have…» she was embarrassed.
«Here, it’s enough for you to remove the mole. If that makes you feel more confident and better,» Zhora looked away.
Alena couldn’t help it and hugged him.
«Thank you! I… don’t even know how to thank you.»
«Just don’t get involved with any more abusers. There are many other men who will appreciate your soul, not your appearance.»
Alena looked at Zhora and understood everything.
Breaking up with Ivan was very difficult. The man only backed off when Alena and Zhora filed a police report.
After that, Ivan disappeared from Alena’s life, deciding to find a new wife (or victim).
A few days later, Alena nervously walked to the clinic to remove the hated mole and start a new life. As she walked, she finally felt happy. Zhora confessed his feelings, and they decided to live together. Her mother got a new job, and she was no longer nagging, and a promotion finally loomed at work.
The sun gently warmed, birds sang, and her heart felt good. Walking past a showcase, Alena looked at her reflection and suddenly realized that beauty is inside, and happiness does not depend on the location of moles.
«Hello, this is Alena Savelyeva. I want to cancel the appointment. Yes, I changed my mind. I decided to leave everything as it is,» she called the clinic and hung up. Her heart felt even happier. And from Zhora’s reaction to staying herself, butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
«I’m glad, Alena! Glad that you are as you are. And I love you.»
«And I love you!» she smiled. «You know, let’s spend this money on a trip?»
«Let’s! How about St. Petersburg?»
«I’ve been dreaming of visiting there for a long time,» Alena agreed. She realized that Zhora was the perfect, wonderful guy. And how had she not realized earlier that they were halves of a whole?
