So, what is it? What are you going to treat me to today, wife? Oh man, I’m starving! I could eat a whole bull right now!” Mikhail burst noisily into the apartment, back from work.
He was sure his wife—who always came home earlier than he did—was already there, as usual, cooking in the kitchen while she waited for him. That’s how it had always been, and nothing was supposed to change today.
But when Mikhail walked into the kitchen and saw Nadezhda’s face, he understood he wasn’t getting any dinner tonight. And there was no avoiding a scandal, either.
“Where’s dinner, Nadya? What happened? Why is the table empty?” he asked, still not quite believing that something serious had occurred.
Nadezhda sat at the kitchen table, gloomier than a storm cloud. She was still wearing the same clothes she’d left for work in that morning—a business suit in an ochre shade and a light blouse. For some strange reason, still unknown to her husband, she hadn’t changed into her comfortable house robe like she always did when she got home—one that suited her so well.
On the nearly bare table there was only a bottle of dry red wine, the one Nadezhda had bought a couple of months earlier at the supermarket when they’d gone shopping together for New Year’s.
“I’ve got some bubbly, I’ve got liqueur too, but there’s no wine. What if one day, after a hard day at work, I want to have a glass, huh?” Nadezhda had reasoned, putting the bottle into the cart.
“Buy five if you want! Am I against it? You know I don’t care either way. I respect beer,” her husband had replied.
The bottle was uncorked, and the wine had been poured into a glass—one she had apparently refilled more than once.
But what surprised Mikhail even more was the smell of cigarette smoke in the kitchen. And this after Nadezhda had quit that bad habit five years ago—completely and for good.
Mikhail looked at his wife warily, afraid of what would follow his questions.
Nadezhda slowly turned her head toward her husband and, giving him a contemptuous look, said:
“Dinner is in the same place as your money, dear.”
“Nadya, did something happen?” Mikhail decided to try a different approach. Forgetting about dinner, he tried to understand the reason for this strange behavior from his usually friendly wife.
“Something happened?” she echoed as if surprised by his words. “Nothing happened to me, but something probably happened to you. Because starting tomorrow you’re not living here anymore. And you’ll start getting used to your new status—a divorced man.”
“Nadya! I get it—you’re upset and you don’t realize what you’re saying. But please, be serious. Especially since you’ve been drinking and you don’t understand you’re talking nonsense. What happened that you suddenly can’t stand me?”
Mikhail tried to sit down beside her, but immediately heard a sharp shout:
“Stand there! Don’t you dare sit next to me. This isn’t a cafeteria and not some cheap diner. And nobody is going to feed you anymore!” Nadezhda astonished him even more.
“Nadya! What is going on?” Mikhail shouted too—his nerves were giving out.
“Nothing, except that it’s time for you to pack your things.”
Nadezhda refilled her empty glass, looked regretfully at the emptying bottle, and kept drinking as if no one else was in the room.
“What the hell is this? I’m the husband, I have the right to know what’s going on in our house! Why is my wife, instead of treating her husband to a well-earned dinner, sitting here getting demonstratively drunk out of her mind?”
“Yes, I’m drinking. And it’s none of your business anymore!”
“If you don’t explain right now what this is about, I’ll call Alyonka and bring her here. Let her leave her husband and little child and take a look at her mother.”
“Oh, so you remembered your daughter! Imagine that! So you are a father—loving and caring. And a grandpa too! I hope you remember that part well, too?” Nadezhda snapped emotionally.
“Yes, I remember. Our daughter, our granddaughter. And you, my dear, too. I think about you all every minute.”
“Don’t lie! He thinks about us! You think about your brother. And his slick little wife. That’s your family now, not us! Go pack and go live with Petya and Lizka. Let them feed you dinner and entertain you! And drive you around in the new car!”
“Ah, so that’s what this is about!” Mikhail said calmly, looking at her. “So you put on this show because Pyotr bought a car? I have nothing to do with it!”
“How is it ‘nothing to do with it’?! Don’t you dare! I know everything! Lizka called me today, bragged about the new car, and told me to thank you. I think it’s crystal clear!” Nadezhda even slammed her fist on the table to make sure he understood how furious she was.
“You misunderstood, honestly!” Mikhail was already smiling.
Nadezhda considered her marriage happy. In more than twenty years together, her husband had never truly hurt or upset her. They did everything together, as a team, and consulted each other on every decision. She sincerely believed it would always be that way.
When they were young, Nadezhda and Mikhail had agreed on one important principle: never lend money. And, of course, rely only on their own means. If things got truly tight, they’d take out a loan—but they never pulled money from relatives. They knew how easy it was to lose good relationships because of debts. They’d seen plenty of stories where close family stopped speaking because of some “little loan” that became the cause of a major rift.
So when, a week ago, Pyotr and Liza came over and started asking to borrow money, Nadezhda was even taken aback.
“Misha, help us out. We’ve got the car lined up, but Liza and I are short. We went to the bank, tried to take another loan, but they won’t give us any more. We asked relatives too, but everyone refused,” his brother began.
“Nadyush, we know you have money,” Elizaveta joined in. “You told me once that you and Mikhail planned to fly to the sea this year. So you’ve saved up a certain amount, right?”
“Liza, you know our principle. It doesn’t change. Why are you talking to me about vacation money? It’s going to be spent for its purpose. In fact, in the next few days I’m planning to start choosing a summer tour—and I’ll buy it right away, so it’s cheaper,” Nadezhda replied calmly to her husband’s brother’s cunning wife.
“Oh, you can wait a little, it’s not a big deal. We’ll pay you back. Petya’s supposed to get a bonus next quarter. Right, Petya? You’ll buy later. It’s not hard to get tickets these days. Maybe you’ll even catch a last-minute deal—cheaper,” the brazen relative kept sweet-talking.
“I don’t want to argue with you, and certainly not fight, but our answer is no,” Nadya said evenly.
“And you, brother, why are you silent?” Pyotr looked at Mikhail, surprised. “Are you really not going to help? Or is it all Nadezhda who decides?”
“My wife already said it,” Mikhail replied. “I have nothing to add. We’re spending the money on what we planned. If we give it to you, we probably won’t see it again by vacation time—that’s for sure.”
“What? Wow. Some family! You really won’t help us?” Liza exclaimed loudly. “Well, well. I didn’t expect this from you, Nadya and Misha!”
“Liza, don’t make a scene. Please. You’ve known us for years. Nothing has changed. My husband and I never borrow and never lend. So you came to the wrong place with this. And getting offended, in my opinion, is silly.”
“We thought you’d make an exception at least once for close relatives,” Pyotr said, hurt and barely holding back. “But apparently the idea of family means nothing to you. Aren’t you afraid, little brother, that one day you’ll have to come to me for help?”
“I hope I’ll solve my own problems myself,” Mikhail said firmly.
“Let’s go, honey! If that’s how they treat us, there’s no point sitting here,” Liza said with indignation.
After that, Nadezhda and Mikhail discussed the issue only once and decided they had done the right thing. Knowing Pyotr’s character, it was safe to say they wouldn’t see their money for a very long time. Mikhail’s brother wasn’t responsible and didn’t keep his word.
But apparently something went wrong, and Mikhail changed his mind. Because today Liza called Nadezhda at work herself and bragged about the expensive purchase. She sent several photos of the new car. And then she asked Nadezhda to pass along her greetings and heartfelt thanks to Mikhail for his help.
Nadezhda was beside herself with rage.
“How could my husband do that? Why did he fall for his brother’s persuasion and ignore my opinion? And our principle that we’ve followed for years? What kind of stunt is this? And is it even worth keeping a marriage with such an unreliable man?” she fumed, waiting for the workday to end.
Her first impulse was to call Mikhail and say everything, without holding back. But then Nadezhda realized this wasn’t a phone conversation and saved the showdown for the evening.
She thought bitterly that now they wouldn’t be able to fly to the sea. They had promised Alyonka they’d take her and three-year-old Masha with them. Their son-in-law worked a lot and couldn’t take his wife and daughter on vacation yet. And now it turned out everything was down the drain? And with one action, Mikhail had crossed out all their plans.
“So what have you decided to imagine?” Mikhail continued kindly, looking at his furious wife.
“There’s nothing to imagine! You gave our money to Pyotr—have the guts to admit it. And stop wriggling. And tell our daughter too why she and Masha won’t see the sea this year.”
“And why wouldn’t they? They will! And you will too, my dear. All together, just like we planned, we’ll go to the warm sea in summer. Nothing has changed.”
“Then why did Lizka tell me to thank you? And where did they get the money for the car?” Nadezhda still didn’t believe him.
“From money they borrowed at interest from someone I know. I simply put him in touch with my brother and told Pyotr he could use that man’s services. Zakhar has been making money for years by lending people large sums at a certain interest rate. For those the bank refuses to give credit for one reason or another, it’s an option. The rate is the same, but the money comes not from a bank, but from a private person. That’s all.”
“Is that true?” Nadezhda asked doubtfully.
“Absolutely true! And all our money, down to the last kopeck, is right where it is. And you, my dear, can buy all of us vacation packages soon, so you stop thinking and worrying.”
Then Mikhail showed his wife the full amount in his account so she wouldn’t doubt him.
Nadezhda cheered up. She went to the bedroom to change into her favorite robe, and then quickly cooked the long-awaited dinner. It was time to feed her rehabilitated husband.
“Forgive me for thinking badly of you. That’s the first time I’ve ever been like that. I never doubted you, and then—bam! I even wanted to divorce you,” Nadezhda said warmly as she sat at the table next to Mikhail.
“It happens,” he replied. “Oh, and your dumplings are delicious, dear!” he praised the dinner Nadezhda had thrown together from emergency supplies pulled from the freezer.
“Just ordinary—homemade with my own hands,” she answered.
All’s well that ends well. Like in this story.
