When Natalia returned home, she found her husband Nikita in a very anxious state. He was pacing nervously from one corner to the other, constantly dialing a number on his phone.
“Hi, dear,” Natalia said casually, pretending not to notice her husband’s agitation. “What’s for dinner?”
Nikita seemed not to hear his wife, continuing his call. Natalia shrugged and headed to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and inspected its contents. Shortly after, Nikita followed.
“Nata, I can’t get through to my parents…”
“You could have cooked something if you had been home all day,” Natalia said irritably, ignoring his comment.
“Are you listening? My parents haven’t answered for over an hour,” Nikita said nervously.
“Well, sometimes that happens,” Natalia replied. “Mobile reception isn’t good everywhere.”
“But they went to pick up stuff from that apartment,” Nikita noted gloomily. “Is it completely empty in that regard?”
“How should I know, dear?” Natalia said calmly. “I haven’t lived there even a day. I only recently bought it. So I’m totally unaware of the situation.”
Throughout their conversation, Natalia continued rummaging through the fridge, figuring out what she could quickly eat for dinner. Finally, she chose eggs, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and milk, and began making a cheese omelet. While the main dish sizzled in the pan, she quickly chopped a salad. Nikita’s nervousness didn’t affect her at all. Meanwhile, he got absorbed in an electronic map.
“Could you repeat the address of that apartment of yours?” he asked.
Natalia recited it while continuing to cook. Nikita sat down at the table, completely engrossed in searching for the geolocation. Natalia calmly set her omelet down, placed a plate of salad beside it, and began eating with gusto while watching funny videos on her phone.
“I don’t understand anything,” Nikita said in amazement. “It looks like a well-developed neighborhood. We need to look into it more closely.”
Finally, he looked at his wife, who continued dining alone.
“Listen, you’ve been there at least once, haven’t you?” he said. “What’s that apartment like? What is the neighborhood’s infrastructure? How far is the subway, and overall…”
“How timely you decided to ask those questions,” Natalia smirked. “I think your parents will tell you everything themselves.”
Natalia finished her dinner without leaving her husband any of the prepared food, got up from the table, and headed toward the kitchen exit.
“Wash the dishes, dear,” she ordered, leaving the kitchen.
From another room, she heard Nikita’s phone ring, followed by his loud exclamation.
“Mom, finally! Thank God! What’s going on over there?”
Natalia sat down on the couch and switched on the TV with the remote, anticipating a cheerful reality show performance. She wasn’t really interested in what was happening on the screen; she was completely absorbed in her anticipation. Just a little longer… And…
“Whaaaat?????” came from the kitchen.
A second later, Nikita practically burst into the room.
“Nata, you…”
But his words were drowned out by the loud, uncontrollable laughter of his wife.
“The husband works, the wife is beautiful” — this rather popular family scheme is known to almost everyone. Why not, if both spouses are content? The husband takes on the role of the classic provider, and the wife adorns his life.
In Natalia and Nikita’s family, however, everything was the opposite.
The girl was born distinctly unattractive, and from the very beginning, instead of evoking tenderness, she evoked, to put it mildly, astonishment. Her mother, Olga Georgievna, was far from a supermodel herself, having once fallen for the attentions of an enormous, kind-hearted, generous, and strong man… Although, outwardly, the man resembled the now well-known character named Shrek.
Wrapped in care and overprotection, Olga Georgievna initially didn’t even notice her husband’s lack of conventional looks. In fact, such things were forgivable in men. Besides, she felt very cozy under his strong wing.
But then a daughter was born… One look at the baby was enough to understand that the girl had entirely inherited her father’s roughly chiseled features. And instead of the joy of new life, Olga Georgievna shed bitter tears, already imagining the mockery and ridicule her daughter would face.
“Don’t worry, she’ll grow out of it,” the nurse tried to comfort her.
But years went by, Natalia grew up, and the situation only worsened.
However, over time the girl learned to view her appearance philosophically. She was smart, lively, brave, and dependable. For that reason, she felt perfectly at ease among the boys, as she only befriended them.
The boys considered her one of the “bros.” Natalia tried to rid her mind of romantic notions back in her teenage years. Yet, Olga Georgievna knew that sooner or later, nature might take its toll.
“Nata, by all means, try to have a child with someone handsome,” her mother pleaded.
“Mom, I’m not planning on getting married at all,” Natalia snapped. “What did I ever miss? I have other interests.”
The girl directed all her energy toward education and a career. She said that she dreamed of saving a ton of money for her old age, so that immediately after retiring she could set off on a round-the-world trip.
But Natalia was not being entirely truthful. Deep down, she longed for plastic surgery. That obsessive idea emerged after the complete collapse of her first love, which happened when she was 16. The object of her affection was Kostya, a guy from her group. At some point, Natalia realized that she began to feel terribly anxious whenever he appeared. She stopped eating and couldn’t sleep at night, constantly daydreaming.
It was then that Natalia spent long periods staring at herself in the mirror, searching for even a single flaw in her appearance that might catch a guy’s eye. But she found nothing. Eventually, she decided to confess her feelings to Kostya, and he responded with laughter.
“Nata, have you lost your mind or something?” he said in amazement. “I never thought you’d suffer over such nonsense. You’re one of us.”
Then the girl quickly turned the conversation into a joke, even though her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She never revisited that conversation, but soon she had to end her friendship with Kostya. Seeing him with the local beauty Marina was unbearable for her.
Natalia graduated from college with honors in “Engineering in the Oil and Gas Sector” — a rare, valuable, and highly sought-after profession. She effortlessly secured a job at a major company and became one of the highest-paid young professionals.
At first, her job involved constant business trips, which didn’t bother the young woman; in fact, it made life even more interesting. Soon she bought a two-room apartment—not on mortgage, but with actual cash. And she could afford much more, unlike her peers.
Natalia’s parents were sincerely proud of their daughter and always supported her. However, her mother never ceased lamenting over her failed love life.
By that time, Natalia had managed to save enough money for plastic surgery to correct her nose, chin line, and eyebrow arches. But she changed her mind. Natalia bought the apartment for her parents, who lived in a one-room flat on the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, she came across an advertisement for a new modern residential complex. The offer was very attractive, and she decided to give her parents a gift…
Barely had the deal been finalized when Natalia met Nikita. They were the same age; both were 27 at the time. Nikita was objectively handsome. And Natalia found it very strange that such a man would pay attention to her.
She fell in love, and soon she didn’t care about the reasons behind it. The words of her mother—“Have a child with someone handsome!”—echoed persistently in her memory. Natalia knew full well that the results of plastic surgery are not hereditary.
The young couple settled in her apartment.
Nikita quickly grasped Natalia’s financial situation. Barely a week after their wedding, Nikita’s parents, who lived in the countryside, began to face pressing needs that Natalia paid for.
“Sweetheart, you know I’m in a serious situation at work,” Nikita told her. “As soon as I sort things out, I’ll take that burden on myself.”
However, Nikita’s work problems didn’t end there. And Natalia realized that she was being strung along…
“Oh, it’s not hard to deceive me; I’m happy to be deceived,” as the classic saying goes. Natalia found herself in exactly the same situation. She was willing to pay, as long as she didn’t lose that long-awaited pleasure of being close to a man—a handsome and beloved man…
The in-laws’ appetites grew… And one day, Nikita completely stunned his wife.
“My parents sold their house in the countryside and decided to move to the city,” he announced.
“So they decided to live with us?” Natalia exclaimed. “But there’s too little space for four people here.”
“I have a better idea,” her husband declared. “I’ll house your parents in your second apartment. One room they can rent out, so we won’t be a financial burden.”
“What do you mean, rent out a room?” Natalia didn’t understand. “They want to live with tenants?”
“Why not?” Nikita replied carelessly. “There are three rooms, if I’m not mistaken. Two will be for living, one for renting. Housing and extra income — isn’t that great?”
“Wait a minute, I bought it for my parents,” Natalia objected. “I worked hard for it…”
“Stop!” Nikita’s tone became sharper. “Your relatives have an apartment, and mine are now homeless.”
“But they sold their house, so they have money. Why don’t they buy…”
“That money is their savings for a rainy day. You don’t want them to be left penniless, do you? Nata, come on, don’t argue!” Nikita concluded sternly. “My parents will live in your second apartment, which you’ll register under their names. Don’t forget that we are a family! Or do you want to change that?”
Natalia paused for a moment. Nikita didn’t notice the flash of discontent in her eyes.
“Alright, dear, as you say,” Natalia smiled.
“Smart girl,” Nikita snapped harshly. “Tomorrow they’ll be here.”
Nikita did not know that Natalia had overheard his phone conversation with his mother the day before…
On the day the parents arrived, Nikita was urgently called to work, so he was forced to simply send them the address of the new apartment, having the keys couriered directly to the train station.
“This ugly woman will do everything at my first snap of the fingers! Let her pay dearly for the time I had to lie with her and entertain other women just to avoid looking at her face,” was exactly the conversation Natalia recalled while sitting on the couch, waiting for an explosion from the once beloved husband.
Seeing his wife laughing, Nikita lost it and rushed to the indicated address to check things out. The fact was that the apartment intended for the parents was in a rough finish, lacking even basic utilities, making it uninhabitable. Natalia was only saving money to eventually invest in it seriously.
When the enraged family returned, their luggage awaited them on the stairwell, and new locks had been installed on the doors. Neither Nikita’s pleading nor his attempts to persuade Natalia had any effect. And she didn’t care where the cunning family would go now.
Natalia firmly decided that as soon as she finished dealing with the apartment for her parents, she would resume saving for a round-the-world trip in her old age. After all, by the time she retired, her child would have reached adulthood.
Yes, yes, for Natalia, the marriage to Nikita turned out to be beneficial. Much more beneficial than for the handsome but stingy husband.
