As it happened, Larisa Nikolaevna returned from her business trip two weeks earlier than planned. She managed to resolve all work issues in a short time, effectively twice as fast.
She had already missed the hustle and bustle of the capital after ten days in a provincial town. She was glad that she did not have to stay there any longer.
After the train ride, she wanted to get to her apartment as soon as possible, take a bath with sea salt, and lie down on the sofa in the living room to watch some silly comedy to unwind emotionally.
She would be all alone at home. And that’s exactly what she wanted most.
Her children had grown up and moved out. Her son had graduated, married, and now lived and worked in St. Petersburg. Her daughter had moved abroad almost immediately after her marriage registration. Both she and her son-in-law worked remotely, so they could live wherever they pleased. There were still eight days left until her husband Boris Ivanovich’s shift ended.
Larisa Nikolaevna was met by her personal driver. On the way home, she stopped at a supermarket, bought groceries, and various household items. The driver helped carry the suitcase and bags to the door.
The first thing she wanted to do was take off her high-heeled shoes—her feet were simply buzzing—and her business suit, which had become too hot. But first, she needed to get into the apartment, and the door key was nowhere to be found. Larisa Nikolaevna was about to dump out her entire purse when she finally felt the keychain hanging on her key ring.
She turned the key in the lock but couldn’t open the door. She inserted a second key into a higher lock. Only then did she realize that the door was locked from the inside.
«Could it be that Borya’s shift ended early?» Larisa Nikolaevna thought surprisingly and pressed the doorbell.
When the door opened, she was speechless because, instead of her husband, she saw an unfamiliar elderly woman in a baggy housecoat standing on the threshold of her own apartment.
«What do you want?» the woman asked in a not-so-friendly tone.
«I actually live here!» exclaimed the outraged homeowner.
«Oh, so you’re Laroсhka!» the stranger cheered. «Please come in, my dear! Let me help you!»
The woman stepped back and nearly snatched the grocery bags from Larisa Nikolaevna’s hands. Larisa followed her into the hallway, nearly tripping over a checkered bulky bag, the kind traders in the nineties used to carry goods.
«And who are you?» asked the astonished homeowner, closing the door behind her.
«I’ll tell you everything now!» the woman smiled and promised. «But do take off your heels, your feet are not state property!»
Larisa Nikolaevna had been dreaming of this, but after these words, she was in no hurry to remove her shoes. She stared questioningly at the stranger, holding onto the handle of her suitcase.
«I am Antonina Petrovna, your mother-in-law’s cousin,» the woman introduced herself.
«Did she give you the key?» Larisa Nikolaevna asked, although it was already clear.
«Yes, Masha did. She said no one would be here for a couple more weeks. My nephew Boryenka is on shift…»
At that moment, a slim girl came out of the living room and timidly greeted them.
«My granddaughter Lenochka,» Antonina Petrovna nodded toward her.
«On what grounds did you decide to settle in my apartment?» the daughter-in-law wondered, looking bewildered at her husband’s relatives.
«Well, Lenochka is applying to the architectural university, so we came to Moscow. She’s been preparing so hard! And she did very well on her exams. Almost got a perfect score. Well, she just missed it a bit. And we still hope she gets in on a state-funded spot. We don’t have the money for tuition, and there’s no one else to help…»
«Wait!» interrupted the uninvited guest’s host. «I want to clarify one thing: why did you settle in my apartment and not at my mother-in-law’s?»
«It’s just a stone’s throw from the institute here! And Lenochka is taking her creative exams. The last one is tomorrow. And Masha’s apartment is already full anyway—her daughter Lidochka came with her husband and son. So she offered us to stay at yours.»
Larisa Nikolaevna felt sick. She had known for many years in her marriage to Borya that her mother-in-law, Maria Dmitrievna, had a certain kind of «simplicity,» but she hadn’t thought it was so hypertrophied that she wouldn’t even consider it necessary to ask the apartment owner if it was okay to settle her relatives there.
«I knew I shouldn’t have left the key with my mother-in-law!» Larisa Nikolaevna thought. «But Borya insisted—just in case something happens in our multi-story building while we’re away! And look what happened—relatives moved in!»
«You know what,» Larisa Nikolaevna snapped with anger. «I think you better go to your sister Masha, who’s my mother-in-law!»
«Larochka, how can you say that?» Antonina Petrovna was confused. «You have three rooms. And Masha has two, plus there’s Lidochka with Seryozha and Vanechka. Surely we’re not that much in your way?»
«You already are!» Larisa Nikolaevna declared in a threatening tone. «Pack your things and leave quickly!»
She strode into the kitchen, clicking her heels, and stared out the window. Inside, a volcano of indignation and anger was erupting due to such a treacherous invasion of her apartment by her husband’s relatives, whom she had never seen before and would prefer to continue avoiding.
A few minutes later, the front door slammed. Larisa Nikolaevna breathed out. Fortunately, the uninvited guests left very quickly, and the aunt-in-law decided to do without farewell words. And that was thanks enough!
The homeowner walked into the hallway—the checkered bag was gone, and the apartment keys were on the dresser. Perfect! She finally took off her shoes and felt a huge relief.
In the living room, only the unfolded sofa testified to the recent presence of the guests. Otherwise, everything was as it was before Larisa Nikolaevna’s departure. The door to the master bedroom was closed. Apparently, no one had entered there, just as in her daughter’s former room.
Larisa Nikolaevna didn’t find any bed linen, even checked the washing machine just in case. So they must have used their own. The bathroom was clean, and no foreign items or hygiene products were present.
The anger somewhat subsided. Larisa Nikolaevna turned on the water to fill the bathtub and generously sprinkled it with sea salt scented with lavender and patchouli. She glanced at the large mirror and touched the wrinkle between her brows, which seemed to have become a bit more noticeable. A mask would have to be applied.
But what she wanted most was something to drink to relieve the stress.
Larisa Nikolaevna took off her jacket, blouse, and tight skirt and headed to the kitchen in her underwear, took a bottle from the cabinet, and a corkscrew from the drawer, took a glass from the shelf, and filled it a third full.
She had only taken one sip when her mobile rang. Her mother-in-law! It seemed the relatives had already managed to complain! But Larisa Nikolaevna had no intention of answering that call. She rejected the call, turned off the sound, and placed the mobile on the kitchen table face down. She took a few more sips and reached for the grocery bags.
In the fridge, she found a pot of borscht and an open jar of pickled cucumbers. And what was she to do with this food supply? It was a shame that the departing relatives hadn’t taken it with them.
She felt like throwing it all out right there. But Larisa Nikolaevna didn’t want to go anywhere. So she placed her purchases on another shelf, leaving her favorite cheese, almonds, and nuts on the table.
Still, the homeowner noted that the kitchen was quite clean, only a flower-patterned rag «decorated» the edge of the sink. And she immediately tossed it into the trash bin.
Larisa Nikolaevna drained her glass and headed to the bathroom. She immersed her tired body in the warm water, inhaled the pleasant scent of lavender and patchouli, and blissfully closed her eyes, trying to relax.
But it was not to be! All sorts of unpleasant thoughts crept into her head. She thought she had been too harsh in kicking out her husband’s relatives from her apartment. There could have been another way to handle the situation. But what was done was done.
And yet, one cannot just barge into someone else’s territory without asking! They were to blame! But for some reason, it felt absolutely awful that Larisa Nikolaevna had behaved so inhospitably.
On the other hand, she didn’t owe anything to these unfamiliar, and as it turned out, not-so-close relatives. The husband’s second cousin was already too distant!
And what about the mother-in-law! No sense of what can and cannot be done regarding someone else’s living space. She could have at least called to warn. Although, in that case, the daughter-in-law would surely have refused to let strangers live in her apartment.
Relaxing in the sea-salt water just didn’t happen. Larisa Nikolaevna got up, reluctantly put on a terrycloth robe, and left the bathroom.
«I need to call Borya!» she thought, a good idea coming to her mind. It was worth telling him about his mother’s antics.
Incidentally, there were five missed calls from Maria Dmitrievna. How persistently she had tried to reach her!
Larisa Nikolaevna herself did not manage to connect with her husband on the first try. There were always some problems with the connection—Borya was always at remote sites, so sometimes he was completely out of the network’s range. But this time, she finally managed to tell him about the incident in their apartment.
«Well, you shouldn’t have treated Aunt Tanya like that!» her husband was upset. «She may be simple, but she’s a very kind and open woman. I stayed at their house a couple of times as a child in their small town in Primorsky Krai.»
«They came all the way from there to Moscow?» Larisa Nikolaevna was surprised. «And why haven’t I heard about these relatives of yours before?»
«Maybe because you weren’t interested. And you let it go in one ear and out the other. Aunt Tanya’s daughter died of cancer two years ago. And her granddaughter became an orphan—her son-in-law died when the girl was just a baby.»
«Sad, of course,» sighed Larisa Nikolaevna. «But that’s no reason to barge into someone else’s apartment in their absence,» she added irritably.
«Yes, it’s a pity mom didn’t warn,» her husband agreed.
After the conversation with Boris Ivanovich, Larisa Nikolaevna’s mood only worsened. Now she regretted her actions even more. She should have at least talked to these relatives before kicking them out of the apartment.
Larisa Nikolaevna resolutely reassembled the disassembled sofa in the living room and discovered a book and a large folder underneath it, labeled «Drafting Paper,» and in the corner—»Elena Izotova.» The girl’s forgotten things!—realized the homeowner.
She curiously opened the folder. All the sheets were filled with drawings of heads of antique statues and capitals. Larisa Nikolaevna did not consider herself a professional in graphics, but in her opinion, these drawings looked very clear, harmonious, and beautiful.
After the graphic drawings in the folder were watercolors, executed on special smaller-format paper—old houses and streets, obviously of the town from which the husband’s relatives had come. And on the very last sheet of paper was a portrait of a very sweet young woman with long curly hair, resembling the girl Lena.
Larisa Nikolaevna closed the folder and picked up the book. «Erich Maria Remarque? She was surprised. «Who among the youth reads such things now?»
But be that as it may, both the folder and the book had to be returned to the owner. Meaning, she would have to call her mother-in-law.
Larisa Nikolaevna picked up her mobile phone.
«Larochka, how good that you called back!» her mother-in-law immediately began chattering. «I wanted to apologize to you for not asking your permission before settling my relatives in your apartment! I didn’t want to bother you. And honestly, I was hoping they would leave before you and Borya came back. They are tidy people…»
«There’s a folder with drawings and a book left here.»
«Lena forgot them in a hurry! She has her last creative exam tomorrow. The folder isn’t needed for now. Can she pick it up this evening, after the exam? What time will you be home?»
«After seven, she can come by.»
«Thank you, Larochka! Don’t be mad at me!»
Larisa Nikolaevna slept poorly all night, mentally returning to how she had unfairly treated her husband’s relatives. After her mother-in-law’s apologies, cats were scratching at her soul.
At work, she managed to distract herself. After the business trip, she needed to prepare a detailed report. That’s what she was doing. And in the evening, returning home, Larisa Nikolaevna stopped at her favorite confectionery and picked up some pastries for tea.
When she got out of her service car, she noticed Lena Izotova sitting on a bench near the house.
«Have you been sitting here long?» she asked the girl friendly.
«No, maybe an hour and a half,» Lena replied shyly.
«Well, let’s go!» Larisa Nikolaevna let her husband’s relative go ahead. «How did the exam go?»
«I don’t even know what to say,» the girl confessed. «I tried. But it’s up to the committee to decide. Although they say I have every chance of getting in.»
Near the apartment door, Lena stopped. And didn’t move, even when the homeowner entered.
«Come in!» Larisa Nikolaevna invited.
«No, I’ll wait here,» the girl refused. «Just bring out my things, and I’ll go to Grandma Masha’s.»
«Alright, forgive me for yesterday,» the homeowner finally managed to say. «And as a gesture of reconciliation, let’s have some tea,» she offered. «But you’re probably hungry? There’s your borscht left in the fridge, and I don’t know what to do with it.»
«Grandma cooks well,» Lena simply said and entered the hallway, «so the borscht can definitely be eaten.»
«Then put the pot on the stove,» smiled Larisa Nikolaevna and went to the bedroom to change.
When she returned, the girl had already cut the bread and set the plates.
«The borscht is actually tasty!» the homeowner noted. «I peeked into your folder—couldn’t help myself,» she confessed. «You have talent!»
«Thank you,» Lena blushed. «Vasiliy Evgenievich also said that. He’s a drawing teacher at the architectural university I’m applying to. He’s originally from our town, studied in the same class as my mom. Two years ago, he came on vacation to his parents. And he attended her funeral…»
«I’m sorry,» Larisa Nikolaevna looked sympathetically at the guest.
«Thank you… Vasiliy Evgenievich then saw my drawings and said that I could apply to the architectural university, but I would need to prepare well. Last year, he brought a whole suitcase of antique heads!» Lena laughed. «So I’ve been drawing them all year, sending him photos of the drawings, he pointed out where to refine. He really helped me with the preparation. I finished art school, but that doesn’t matter for admission. Other skills are needed.»
«You’re a straight-A student? Grandma said you almost scored a hundred on your exams.»
«No, I got B’s in physics and chemistry. It’s impossible to keep up with everything. But I actually managed to score high on Russian and math.»
«You did well!» Larisa Nikolaevna praised the girl. «The kettle’s boiling. And I bought pastries. Do you like ‘Anna Pavlova’?»
«The ballerina?» the girl was surprised.
«No, the pastry!» Larisa Nikolaevna laughed. «Meringue with fresh fruits.»
«I’ve never tried it,» Lena admitted.
«You’ll like it now!»
While the homeowner brewed the tea, the girl collected the plates and immediately washed them. Larisa Nikolaevna liked her more and more—she ate neatly, spoke correctly, tried to help. A good girl!—she concluded.
Lena was utterly delighted with the dessert, which also pleased the hostess.
After dinner, they moved to the living room. The girl talked about her watercolor paintings, about the history of the houses she had depicted.
«Is this your mom?» Larisa Nikolaevna asked, picking up the portrait of a young woman.
«Yes, but I drew it from a photograph after mom was gone…»
«Very beautiful!»
«And this is her favorite book. For me, it’s like a talisman.»
«I also loved Remarque in my youth. Now I hardly have time to read.»
Larisa Nikolaevna found out that her sister-in-law with her husband and son had gone south the day before. So there was plenty of room in her mother-in-law’s apartment last night to accommodate the guests she had kicked out. From this, it felt a bit easier. She learned that if admitted to the institute, Lena planned to live in the dormitory.
But when the girl left, an unexpected thought occurred to Larisa Nikolaevna. And she immediately called her husband.
«Borya, I’ve reconsidered my views on your relatives,» she confessed.
«I’m glad, Larochka! Aunt Tanya was very close to mom. They spent their childhood and youth together. Mom was originally from the town from which the aunt and niece came. She later married dad and moved to the capital. After that, they could rarely meet, but they maintained family ties.
«I’m ashamed of how I treated your relatives,» sighed Larisa Nikolaevna. «I want to invite them over and apologize.»
«Nice to hear that!» her husband was pleased.
Larisa Nikolaevna hung up and decisively dialed her mother-in-law’s number. She was sure she was doing the right thing.
