— Irina, all your attempts are in vain,” said Tamara Petrovna, watching as the young woman braided her hair before the start of the workday.
“— What exactly are you talking about?” Irina turned to the elderly nurse who had been working in the hospital for several decades.
“— About your hopes for something serious.”
“— Are you talking about Viktor now?” Irina turned to her interlocutor.
“— About him, of course.”
“— Nothing will come of you two.”
Irina frowned:
“— You know, Tamara Petrovna, I thought that at least you wouldn’t be jealous of my happiness. On the contrary, you could have been happy for me.”
“Oh, you are still so young and naive. You will find no joy with him; it won’t work out – he isn’t the right match for you.”
Irina laughed merrily:
“— What nonsense are you saying? These aren’t the times for such talk. What rubbish – match or no match. We live in the modern world, not in the Middle Ages.”
“Oh, it’s impossible with you, Irina,” Tamara Petrovna continued. “I’ll tell you something else: Vitenka and I are expecting a baby.”
“— And how did Viktor react to the news of your pregnancy?”
“— He doesn’t know yet. I’ll tell him today.”
“— Well, well, but don’t come crying later.”
Irina looked at the woman with huge, astonished eyes filled with tears.
“— And where is Viktor?”
“— That is completely unimportant.”
“— Where is my foolish son, who doesn’t understand that with women like you, one must take precautions?”
“— Oh, what are you…” Irina was at a loss. “— Viktor clearly told you that you chose different paths, so stop asking pointless questions; your train is about to depart.”
“— I’ll get there on my own.”
“Oh no, dear, I’ve seen too many like you. You show them the door and they climb out the window. I want you to understand – there is no place here for someone like you. You are a village girl who will never achieve anything significant in life, and remember this well: if I ever find out that you have returned, you won’t get a dime.”
Irina barely managed to comprehend what was happening. Yesterday she had told Viktor everything, and instead of joy, he had jumped up and started shouting at her:
“— Are you insane? What baby? Who needs one?”
Irina blinked in confusion:
“— Vitya, we planned to get married…”
“— Silly, no one was planning to marry you. If you don’t understand that such words are spoken solely to get a girl to agree to a meeting, that’s your problem.”
“— But this is your baby.”
“— I knew it. There’s no getting around needing a mother’s help. You are all the same. You just don’t listen to words.”
And Viktor left. He simply turned and went away without saying another word. Irina was left standing in the middle of the street, completely bewildered by what had happened.
In the morning, when she arrived at work, she learned that she had been fired. They sent her to the accounting office to receive her final payment. No one explained anything. She went to the room she was renting. There, the landlady was waiting for her, telling her to leave immediately. Irina pleaded, sobbed, and insisted that she always paid on time and that there was no reason to kick her out onto the street. And then the woman appeared – Viktor’s mother.
Irina immediately understood that it was her; she sensed it as if by a sixth sense.
“— Irina, for your own good, it’s best that you return home as soon as possible and forget everything that happened here, as if it were a terrible dream. I’ll give you money for an abortion, although, frankly, you don’t deserve it. You are just one of many who try to sneak undeservedly into a better life using, excuse me, their feminine charms. And if there are any doubts – by getting pregnant.”
Irina silently packed her things. She did not doubt it; Viktor would come to his senses. Soon everything would become clear because they truly had strong, genuine feelings.
The train began to move, and Irina finally realized – this was no joke, no accident. In one day, all her dreams of a happy family life fell apart like a house of cards. She pitied herself immensely.
Two years ago, she had come to this city to enroll in school. It turned out she was late for the exams. She wasn’t hired for any job either. First, she got a job as a cleaner, but the salary was meager. Then she found a position as a nurse’s aide. On one hand, the pay was low, but the patients always needed something – sometimes a trip to the store, sometimes help with hygiene procedures. They paid a little for every minor task, and Irina barely managed to make ends meet by taking extra shifts. What difference did it make? There was nothing to do at home anyway; there wasn’t even a television in her room.
The train tapped along steadily while Irina quietly wept, gazing out the window. She longed for her fate to change. She so wished that her life would turn out differently from her mother’s. Her mother had raised her alone. Who was Irina’s father? She had never known.
Her mother had tried many times to start a family, but each time disappointment awaited her. One man beat her, another was an alcoholic, a third paid more attention to Irina than to her mother. All this was accompanied by constant money shortages, worn-out clothes, and furniture that looked more like junk.
Yet, Irina was not foolish. She had nearly excelled in school – only receiving two failing grades. She hoped that she could…
“Dubrovka!” announced the conductor.
Irina got up, gripping her suitcase tightly. It was her station. If only she could find someone to travel another fifteen kilometers, and she’d be home.
A ride was found surprisingly quickly. It turned out that some grand construction had begun in the village, and every minute trucks were heading there.
“— Are you local?” the driver asked.
“— Yes.”
“— You made the right decision to return. Now your village will be cooler than any city.”
Irina looked at the elderly driver in surprise. What could have happened in two years for the abandoned village of Dubrovka to turn into the center of the universe?
“— Well, not the center, of course, but there is a grand construction project there. They are building new roads on both sides. Some rich man fancied your place – or rather, your spots – and decided to create a modern leisure zone there. They are buying up old houses at such prices that you couldn’t buy an apartment for that much in any city.”
Irina continued riding in silence. She had never imagined that changes could occur in her and her mother’s lives. Why did Irina suddenly leave? It was because her mother had lately been constantly drunk – in the morning, in the evening, and during the day. Irina had tried both gentle and stern methods, but her mother refused to listen. As she herself said, she was simply tired.
Her mother turned out to be at home – and sober. This greatly surprised Irina.
“— Oh, Irinochka! Irina has arrived!” her mother exclaimed.
And Irina burst into tears – bitter, wailing tears. Her mother patted her on the shoulder.
“— There’s no need to cry, dear. I, too, once rushed to conquer the city, and I didn’t succeed. But at least I have you. Everything will work out, you’ll see. Prospects are abundant here. Life can be good.”
Irina sighed and looked at her mother:
“— Mom, I didn’t come back alone. I’m going to have a baby.”
“— Then why are you crying? A baby is a blessing! My goodness! Together, we’ll manage! I’ll take care of you, and you can continue your studies. Do you know how many job vacancies there are now?”
Ten years passed.
“— Sasha, I told you not to wander too far, didn’t I?” Irina called to her son.
Alexander looked at his mother seriously:
“— I know, Mom. No need to repeat it several times.”
Irina blushed. Her son was growing up too quickly. Of course, she didn’t give him as much attention as she’d like, but she also had a hotel and a wellness center. Irina simply couldn’t split herself in two. It seemed that everything was well arranged and going its own way, yet little issues still cropped up.
Pavel would tease her:
“— Ir, you’ll never achieve absolute success. That’s just impossible.”
And Irina would stubbornly shake her head:
“— I will. I’m determined to achieve it.”
Throughout his life, Pavel had met many determined women, but never anyone like her.
Irina went to speak with the young owner of the resort. She candidly expressed her desire to change her life, her aspiration to get an education, and explained her interesting situation. He did not turn her away. He listened, helped her enroll in school, and even provided temporary work.
And afterward? In time, Irina adapted to the new reality. She optimized processes here and made adjustments there. Her endeavors became increasingly successful. Pavel watched her progress with interest. Three years later, she held a far-from-insignificant position in all of Pavel’s hotel-tourism business. He even joked that if Irina had come to him sooner, he’d have been a billionaire by now.
And then… then Sasha fell ill. Perhaps he caught a chill with friends, or maybe something else happened. At night, a worrying fever spiked. Irina was so distressed that her grandmother forbade her from driving to take six-year-old Sasha to the city. She called her supervisor, and within a minute he was at the entrance.
That trip brought them closer, so much so that Irina was frightened – the same feelings as when she was with Viktor. But now she wasn’t willing to destroy her life. Whereas before she was responsible only for herself, now she was responsible for Sasha too.
It took Pavel two years to show that he was not Viktor. With him, everything was different. And Irina gave in.
She arrived here for the second time. Irina was very fond of both this shore and the hotel. Pavel sighed:
“— I have a feeling that soon our hotel will see a novelty reminiscent of something from this very vacation spot.”
Irina smiled:
“— Is that so bad?”
He answered seriously:
“— No, it’s wonderful. Besides, everything you do is wonderful.”
Pavel went off to get some drinks. Sasha was building something out of sand by the water. Irina closed her eyes. Perhaps she had achieved her goal – not just her objective, but exceeded it two or three hundred percent. She had only wanted to live a little better. And does she? She lives in a way she could never have dreamed of. Sasha – her little star; Pavel – her everything.
Loving her work and enjoying prosperity, she couldn’t help but compare her with her mother. Irina had long since built a spacious, beautiful house for her mother. And very recently, she learned that her mother was having an affair with some former military man, who had frequently been visiting their boarding house lately.
“— Mom, look, there’s something going on with Auntie,” Sasha said.
Irina opened her eyes, sat up, and looked in the direction her son pointed. There, indeed, a woman was moving – moving strangely, as if extremely drunk. But Irina had never seen any drunken guests at that vacation spot.
Then the woman fell. Irina jumped up and rushed to her. Presumably, she had just arrived, wasn’t yet accustomed to the hot sun, and had decided to take a walk.
“— Sasha, water, quickly – I have it in my bag!” Irina shouted.
She bent over the woman, splashed some water on her, and the stranger opened her eyes.
“— Oh, forgive me, I suddenly felt unwell… Irina?”
She recoiled. Before her lay the one she had despised for so long – Viktor’s mother.
The woman looked at her too intently and couldn’t understand where she had gone wrong. She had chosen brides, yet her son never married. As he had said himself, he didn’t need marriage. Lately, he had completely neglected work, leaving her to handle everything herself.
And here she was – a nurse from the village. Although now she hardly resembled a rural worker. Well-groomed, attractive, enjoying a stay at an expensive place. Yelizaveta glanced at the little boy – most likely a grandson – with a clever face. He even looked like Viktor. Could it be that she had a grandson? She had nagged Viktor endlessly about the need to start a family.
“— Irinochka, is this… is this my grandson?” she asked.
Irina’s eyes turned icy.
“— Yours, who?”
“— As far as I remember…”
“— You and your son adamantly advised getting rid of your grandson.”
Yelizaveta sat down, then got up again. Her head was still spinning, but now more important matters were at hand.
“— Irinochka, those who dwell on the past will have their eyes gouged out. Does the boy look like my Vitenka?”
“— No one looks like your Vitenka. Heaven forbid anyone resemble someone from your family.”
“— And you have changed.”
“— How so? There are reasons. Sasha, let’s go. Auntie is feeling better now.”
Irina turned, took her son’s hand, and they headed toward Pavel. He asked worriedly:
“— Where did you disappear to? Did something happen?”
“— Dad, Mom saved Auntie. Auntie felt unwell, and Mom saved her,” Sasha reported.
Pavel smiled:
“— Not surprised. Still, there’s no sign of joy in a saved life.”
Irina smiled sadly:
“— Sasha, go finish building your castle.”
Then she turned to Pavel:
“— You wouldn’t believe it, but I just helped Viktor’s mother.”
“— Viktor?”
“— Yes, Viktor – Sasha’s father.”
Pavel’s eyes widened, then he exhaled:
“— Ir, I’ve always admired your ability to end up exactly where you are least expected.”
“— So, how did the meeting go?”
Irina smiled:
“— On the highest level. The unwed mother-in-law remarked that Sasha looked very much like her son.”
Pavel whistled and then smiled:
“— Listen, I know a fantastic vacation spot not far from here. They have an interesting method of reserving rooms. I think you’d be interested in their approach. Besides, we haven’t been there yet. And I know the owner well. Shall we go?”
Irina looked at her husband and smiled:
“— No one has ever understood me better than you. I love you very much.”
Pavel smiled:
“— And I love you. Oh, if you only knew how much I had to endure, hiding my feelings so as not to scare you. Let’s go pack our things.”
Irina placed her hand in her husband’s, took Sasha’s hand with her other, and they, chatting happily, headed toward the hotel.
Yelizaveta, watching them leave, shouted into the phone:
“— And you should come too. First love, it never disappears. You know what she’s like now? And again, a baby ready. Hello, hello!”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Viktor hung up after the second call. Yelizaveta even stamped her foot in annoyance. But it didn’t matter. She would devise a plan on her own. After all, she was capable of something.
However, by evening, she learned that Irina had left. This, of course, was a blow. Viktor stopped answering the phone after the second call. He had to pour his heart out to his girlfriends, who for some reason showed him no compassion.
