— It’s just a bunch of trash!» — Nina Ivanovna threw the spoon onto the table.
Her daughter-in-law, Nastya, blushed and ran out from behind the table.
«— And under what fence did you find this silly girl?!» — Nina Ivanovna looked at her son, Sergey.
«— She’s not silly, she’s my wife,» Sergey calmly replied.
At every meeting with his daughter-in-law, Nina Ivanovna simply burned with hatred! Everything was wrong! The food — trash! The house was a mess! Nastya herself was always unkempt and dressed like something from a second-hand store!
Sergey tried to explain that by insulting his wife, his mother was also insulting him. But Nina Ivanovna wanted to hear nothing of it!
«— I will make sure that my son has a worthy wife! Not this rude, uneducated bumpkin!» Nina Ivanovna shouted.
Sergey, by nature, was a non-confrontational person and always tried to resolve disputes peacefully. And now, once again, he was trying to calm his mother down.
«— Mom, this is my life and I chose my wife myself! I love Nastya.»
«— What do you know about love?!» Nina Ivanovna interrupted. «What do you know about family?! Before the wedding, you were supposed to introduce her to me! That’s the custom! I was chosen for you by your father’s parents, because as the eldest in the family, they knew best what kind of wife a son needed, after all, they raised him!» Nina gasped with anger, «And you! You found this… on some patch and then married her! Without family and heritage! Without a dowry! I raised you, spared no effort! If your father were still alive, he would have given you a good talking-to!»
Sergey grimaced. He remembered well how he used to stand in the corner for the slightest misdeed and get his «just desserts» for any misbehavior. And sometimes his mother even hit him.
Such an upbringing did not embitter or crush him. Sergey endured, but even as a child, he decided that his family would be different.
He did not resent his parents and respected them, but he believed that the modern family should operate differently.
Since his childhood, his mother had tried to instill in him the idea that he should marry a very high-status and preferably wealthy girl with influential parents. And she constantly meddled in his personal life, advising him on girls who were ambitious, who knew the value of everything, and who were ready to climb the ladder of husbands to the very highest rung.
But Sergey was searching for that warm and tender feeling. He was looking for mutual love. He needed a cozy family, not a doll with only money on her mind.
He met Nastya at college, and they kept their relationship hidden for a long time. Nastya had come to the city from the countryside, where among her relatives she had only an older brother.
A simple and calm girl, unspoiled by a life of luxury, captivated Sergey with her openness and her lack of mercenary attitudes towards men.
«— You still don’t listen to me!» his mother continued to scold. «I’d go to extremes, but you won’t live with that hopeless orphan!»
«— Mom… stop. Enough!» Sergey couldn’t take it anymore, motioning her toward the door.
Nina Ivanovna began to gather her things.
«— In short, I give you a week to get a divorce. I’ve said everything!» she concluded and, slamming the door, left.
Sergey was very upset and hurt by Nina Ivanovna. He entered the room and saw Nastya packing her things.
«— What are you doing?!» he froze.
«— I’m leaving, Sergey,» his wife replied in a flat tone. «Nina Ivanovna won’t let us live. I can’t stand listening to her anymore. I’m going back to the village; I’ll live by my status. Please, sleep in another room. Thank you.»
Nastya slammed the door right in front of him and locked it. No matter how hard Sergey tried, she wouldn’t let him in. In despair, Sergey went to the guest sofa and fell asleep there, hoping that his wife would cool down and change her mind.
An alarm clock woke him up. Sergey rarely woke to it, since every morning started differently. His wife used to wake him with a tender kiss and an invitation to a delicious breakfast.
«— My love?!» Sergey shouted. But there was no answer. He got up and looked around. The dirty dishes still sat on the table. Nastya had indeed left.
«— It’s okay,» Sergey consoled himself, «After work, I’ll pick her up at her job with flowers. We’ll have a romantic dinner and make up. And I’ll deal with mom somehow.»
Leaving the mess in the kitchen, Sergey put on his rumpled shirt and went to work. All day he tried calling his wife, but to no avail. Sergey left work early and went to Nastya.
«— She worked until noon and then left, on vacation, they say,» replied the guard at the entrance. Sergey scratched his head with his free hand; in the other, he held a bouquet of roses. Although the shop asked him which flowers his wife liked, he couldn’t remember. So he chose the universal ones — roses.
Nastya didn’t answer his calls or messages.
When he returned home, Sergey looked around the apartment. Without Nastya, the place was dark, stuffy, and unbearably gloomy. And it still wasn’t cleaned up…
Taking out his phone, he called his boss.
«— Sorry, family matters! I need to leave urgently.»
After hanging up, Sergey removed his tie, rolled up his sleeves, and began washing the dishes. After cleaning the apartment and changing his clothes, he set out to search for his wife.
«— I’m telling you one last time!» Sergey slammed his hand on the table where Nina Ivanovna was sitting. «Give me her address!»
«If she left, it means she doesn’t love you!» his mother said, poorly concealing her glee as she tried to reason with him. She worked in the authorities and had the means to find out the address of Nastya’s brother, but she was firmly unwilling to do so.
«And why did I come to her again?» Sergey thought. «She really has me tied down.»
He wanted to shout many loud and rude phrases, but suddenly he felt a sense of relief.
Sergey handed his mother the bouquet of roses he had bought for his wife and quietly said:
«— Thank you, Mom, for everything. Goodbye. Forget and forgive us.»
«— What do you mean, goodbye?! Sergey dear?!» Nina shouted, but it was too late. Irritated, she threw the bouquet away and decided that she would never forgive her son for such an act.
Sergey didn’t sleep all night, and the next morning, the first thing he did was set out searching.
Apart from the name of the village, Sergey had no information. He drove around the village for three hours, searching for the house of Nastya’s brother by her maiden name, asking everyone he met.
«— Excuse me, aren’t you Alexey, by any chance?» he asked a man chopping firewood on the street.
«— Alexey,» the man replied sternly.
«— And I’m Sergey. Your sister’s husband.»
«You’d better leave here peacefully, Sergey!»
«I’m not leaving without my wife,» Sergey said confidently.
«We’ll see about that…» Alexey began waving his axe.
At that moment, Nastya came out of the house and, upon seeing Sergey, froze.
«— Alex, stop!» she shouted to her brother. He waved his hand and walked away.
«— Sort it out yourself, sister.»
«— Please forgive me, Nastya!» Sergey extended to her a bouquet of wildflowers, which he had bought from his grandmother along the way. «I still don’t know what your favorite flowers are…»
«— These are the ones I love the most…» she said as she took the flowers. «By the way, your mother called.»
Sergey tensed.
«— Why?»
«— She said she’s cutting off all contact with you, and if her son is still of any interest to me, then I can take him for myself!»
«— And am I of interest?» Sergey asked with a smile.
«— Well, I don’t know,» Nastya replied playfully, smiling as she took her now only man by the arm.
