The doorbell rang as Olga was hanging the curtains in the living room. Maxim, who was fiddling with the closet, looked at his wife in surprise:
“Are you expecting someone?
Olga shook her head:
- No. Maybe the neighbors?
When Olga opened the door, she saw Vera Nikolayevna, Maxim’s mother, with a huge suitcase.
- Surprise! – exclaimed her mother-in-law, hugging the bewildered Olga. – I thought I’d come and see you. Maxim, my son, where are you?
Maxim looked out of the room:
- Mom? Why didn’t you warn me?
- Oh, how could you warn me about such things? – Vera Nikolayevna laughed, coming into the apartment. – I won’t be here long, just for a couple of days. I’ll see how you’ve settled in.
Olga and Maxim looked at each other. The beginning of their family life in the new apartment was not as they had planned.
The first few days passed quietly. Vera Nikolaevna praised the repairs and the furniture. But soon the remarks began.
- Olechka, why are the towels in the closet? – once asked my mother-in-law. – They need to hang them on a hook, at hand that.
Olga smiled discreetly:
“It’s more convenient for me, Vera Nikolayevna.
- Well, as you like, – shrugged her mother-in-law. – It’s always been different in our family.
Such remarks began to appear more often. That borscht is not so, or the furniture is wrong. Olga tried to ignore them, but it was getting harder and harder.
A week later Maxim asked his mother:
“Mom, when are you going home?
Vera Nikolayevna splashed her hands:
“Oh, son, what’s the hurry? You need help, you’ve just moved in. And I feel good at your place!
Olga’s eye twitched, but she kept silent.
The situation worsened when Maxim lost his job. He was downsized.
- Don’t worry, darling,” Olga reassured him. – You’ll quickly find a new one. In the meantime, I’ll provide for us.
When Vera Nikolaevna heard that, she pressed her lips together:
“How can it be, my son? What are you going to do now, sit on your wife’s neck?
Maxim flared up:
- ‘Mom, don’t start. It’s only temporary.
But Vera Nikolayevna didn’t stop:
- No, how can it be so? A man has to provide for his family. And you what?
Olga couldn’t stand it:
- Vera Nikolayevna, let’s not. Maxim will find a job. In the meantime, we’ll manage.
Her mother-in-law snorted:
- Of course, you’re so independent. All by yourself, all by yourself.
Olga clenched her fists, but kept silent. She saw how upset Maxim was and didn’t want to make things worse.
Time passed. Maxim was looking for a job, Olga went headlong into projects to earn more money. And Vera Nikolayevna seemed to have settled in.
One evening Olga caught her mother-in-law rearranging the living room.
- Vera Nikolayevna, what are you doing? – Olga was surprised.
- Oh, Olechka, I decided to put things in order, – said her mother-in-law. – And then you all somehow wrongly stood.
Olga took a deep breath:
- Thank you, but Maxim and I will decide how to put the furniture ourselves.
Olga did not continue. She sat down tiredly on the sofa and closed her eyes. For the first time she just wanted to run away.
In the evening Olga tried to talk to Maxim.
- Honey, we have to solve something with your mom,” she began cautiously.
Maxim frowned:
-What’s wrong?
Olga sighed:
- Maxim, she’s been living with us for a month already. She’s always meddling in our affairs, criticizing me. I can’t take it anymore.
Maxim shrugged:
- Well, mom just wants to help. Don’t mind her.
Olga felt everything boiling up inside:
- Don’t pay attention? Maxim, this is our house! We have to decide how to live!
- All right, all right,” Maxim said conciliatingly. – I’ll talk to her, okay?
But Maxim put off talking to his mother. And Vera Nikolayevna became more and more insistent in her “advice”.
- Olechka, have you thought of changing jobs? – She asked me once at dinner. – Because your salary is small, and you get tired a lot.
Olga almost choked:
- Vera Nikolayevna, my salary is fine. And I like my work.
- Well, as you like it, – said her mother-in-law. – I just think, maybe you can find something better? How can you survive on one salary?
Olga looked at her husband, but he sat staring at his plate.
The tension was building. Olga felt like a stranger in her apartment. Vera Nikolayevna filled the entire space. Her things were lying everywhere, her voice came from the kitchen and from the living room.
One day Olga returned early and heard Maxim talking to his mother.
- Son, why don’t you sell the apartment? – Vera Nikolayevna was saying. – Buy a bigger one so I can live with you. I’m bored alone.
Olga’s breath caught. She froze outside the door.
- Mother, what are you doing? – Maxim answered uncertainly. – ‘This is Olga’s apartment, she bought it with her own money.
- So what? – Vera Nikolayevna objected. – You’re one family now. So you share everything.
Olga felt a lump in her throat. She went quietly into the bathroom, turned on the water and burst into tears. How had it come to this? She dreamed of a happy family, and fell into a trap.
In the evening Olga talked to Maxim again.
- Maxim, I heard your conversation with mom,” she began.
Maxim tensed up:
- What conversation?
- About selling the apartment, – Olga looked her husband in the eyes. – You realize it’s impossible, don’t you?
Maxim looked away:
- Well, my mom just suggested it. I didn’t promise her anything.
Olga felt everything boiling inside:
- Maxim, that’s not the point! Why are you discussing this at all? Why do you let her interfere in our lives?
- Olga, why are you so worried? – Maxim tried to hug his wife, but she pulled away. – Mom is just worried about us.
- Worried? – Olga raised her voice
- What’s all the noise and no fight? – she tried to joke.
Olga turned sharply to her mother-in-law:
-Vera Nikolayevna, we need to talk.
- About what, my dear? – Vera Nikolayevna asked innocently.
- About the fact that it’s time for you to go home,” Olga said firmly.
Vera Nikolayevna turned pale:
“Are you throwing me out?
- No, I’m just saying that it’s time for you to live your own life and for us to live ours,” Olga replied.
- Maxim!” exclaimed Vera Nikolayevna. – Do you hear what your wife is saying?
Maksim looked from his mother to his wife in confusion:
“Maybe we should all calm down and talk normally? – Maxim suggested, trying to defuse the situation.
Olga took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together.
- All right, let’s talk. At dinner,” she said and went into the kitchen.
Vera Nikolayevna followed her daughter-in-law, glancing at her unhappily.
They dined in tense silence. Olga chewed, unable to taste. Maxim tapped his fork nervously. Then Vera Nikolayevna broke the silence:
“Olechka, I’ve been thinking… I’d like to go to a sanatorium, to get better. Maybe you’ll pay for my trip? After all, I am now your second mother.
Olga froze with a fork in her hand. Slowly raised her eyes at her mother-in-law:
- Excuse me?
- Well, a trip to the sanatorium, – repeated Vera Nikolaevna. – You earn good money, it won’t be difficult for you.
Olga felt everything boiling inside. Abruptly she pushed her plate away:
- Vera Nikolayevna, are you out of your mind? What voucher? What second mom? You’ve been living in my apartment for two months, eating my food, and now you want me to pay for your vacation?
- Olga, what are you doing? – Maxim jumped in. – Mom didn’t mean it.
- Shut up! – Olga cut him off. – I can’t stand it any longer. Vera Nikolayevna, I’m not a cash cow for your family. I work from morning till night to provide for us, while your son can’t find a job. And I’m not going to support you either!
Vera Nikolayevna turned pale:
- How dare you talk to me like that? I am your husband’s mother!
- So what of it? – Olga did not hold back any longer. – That doesn’t give you the right to dispose of my money and my life!
- Maxim! – Vera Nikolayevna exclaimed. – Say something to her!
But Maxim remained silent, looking at his mother and his wife in confusion.
- You know what,” Olga continued, ”I think it’s time for you to go home. You have your own apartment, live there.
- I’m being kicked out of my son’s house? – Vera Nikolayevna theatrically splashed her hands. – No, did you hear that?
- ‘Mom, Olya’s right,’ Maxim said quietly. – You really should go home.
Vera Nikolayevna stared dumbfounded at her son:
- What? And you’re going there too? What about your sister? Who will help her?
- What does Lena have to do with it? – Olga was surprised.
Maxim suddenly turned pale:
- Mom, don’t–
- Don’t what? – Olga intervened. – Maxim, what is she talking about?
Vera Nikolayevna grinned maliciously:
- ‘Oh, so you didn’t tell her? Well, well, well.
- Maxim? – Olga looked intently at her husband.
Maxim sighed heavily:
- ‘I… I help Lena financially. She lives in Italy, it’s hard for her there alone.
- What? – Olga couldn’t believe her ears. – How much do you send her?
- About a third of your salary, – Maxim answered quietly.
Olga felt the ground slipping from under her feet.
- So while I’m working two jobs to provide for us, you send money to your sister? And kept silent about it?
- Olga, I wanted to say, but…
- But what? – Olga interrupted him. – Were you afraid that I wouldn’t approve? You were right to be afraid!
- You see, Maxim,” Vera Nikolayevna put in, ”I told you she wouldn’t understand. She only thinks of herself.
- Shut up! – Olga shouted. – You… you both just used me. I’m just a purse to you, aren’t I?
- Olga, don’t say that,” Maxim tried to calm her down.
- How should I say it? – Olga felt the tears coming. – I thought we were a family. I give him money without even asking what for. But it turns out I’m just a sponsor for your relatives.
That’s when the doorbell rang. Everyone froze.
- Who can it be? – Maxim asked.
Olga went to open the door. An elderly man, whom she had never seen before, stood on the threshold.
- Hello,” he said. – I’m Viktor Sergeyevich, Maxim’s father. May I come in?
Olga stepped back silently, letting him into the apartment.
- Dad?” Maxim exclaimed in surprise. – How did you get here?
- Hello, my son, – Viktor Sergeevich answered. – I called you, but you didn’t answer the phone. I decided to stop by and see if everything was all right.
- Vitya? – Vera Nikolayevna’s voice sounded. – What are you doing here?
- Hello to you too, Vera, – Victor Sergeevich answered calmly. – I see you have a family council here. Maybe I should take part?
- Mind your own business! – Vera Nikolayevna snapped at him.
- ‘I’m afraid it is my business,’ said Viktor Sergeyevich firmly. – I know about your conversations, Maxim told me. And I think it’s time to make it clear.
He turned to Olga:
- ‘My girl, I’m sorry I didn’t intervene sooner. I should have warned you.
- About what? – Olga asked quietly.
- About the fact that Vera and Lena have been manipulating Maxim for many years, swindling money from him, – Viktor Sergeyevich answered. – That’s why I left Vera at one time.
- What kind of nonsense are you talking about? – Vera Nikolayevna was indignant.
- The truth, Vera, – replied Victor Sergeevich calmly. – Lena is not poor in Italy at all. She has her own business there. And she spends Maxim’s money on entertainment.
- Dad, how do you know? – Maxim asked confusedly.
- I visited her last year,” answered his father. – I saw how she lived. Maxim, she’s just taking advantage of your kindness.
Olga sank down in her chair, feeling completely devastated.
- And now what? – she asked quietly.
- ‘Now,’ said Viktor Sergeyevich, ‘you have to decide how to go on living. Maxim, my son, you must make a choice. Either you indulge your mother and sister, or you build your family with Olga.
Maxim looked completely lost:
- I… I don’t know. I need to think about it.
- No, Maxim, – Olga said firmly. – You should have thought about it before. Now you have to decide. Here and now.
- Don’t listen to her, son! – Vera Nikolayevna intervened. – We’re your family!
- Shut up! – Maxim suddenly shouted. Everyone looked at him in surprise. – I… I can’t go on. Dad’s right. I have to make a choice.
He turned to Olga:
- I’m sorry. I was weak and stupid. I let my mother and sister manipulate me. But I love you and I want to be with you. If you can forgive me…
Olga was silent, looking at her husband. In her head she was thinking about the past months, about what she had to go through.
- I don’t know, Maxim,” she said at last. – You betrayed my trust. How can I be sure it won’t happen again?
- I’ll prove it to you,” Maxim said hotly. – I’ll get a job, I won’t send money to Lena anymore. And Mom… Mom will come home.
- What?” exclaimed Vera Nikolayevna. – Are you kicking me out?
- ‘No, mom,’ Maxim said firmly. – ‘I’m asking you to leave. You have your own apartment. And your own life.
Vera Nikolayevna pressed her lips together:
- ‘Well, I see you’ve made your choice. Don’t expect me to help you when she leaves you.
She got up and headed for the exit. She turned around at the door:
- “And don’t call me again.
The door slammed shut behind her. There was silence in the apartment.
- Well,” said Viktor Sergeyevich, ”I think I’ll go too. You have a lot to discuss.
He hugged his son, shook Olga’s hand and left.
Maxim and Olga were left alone. They were silent for a long time, not knowing where to start talking.
- What now? – Maxim finally asked.
Olga took a deep breath:
- I don’t know, Maxim. I really don’t know. I need time to think it over.
- I understand,” Maxim nodded. – I’m ready to wait as long as necessary. And I’ll do everything I can to regain your trust.
Olga looked at her husband. She saw sincere remorse in his eyes. But the wound was too fresh.
- Let’s just go to bed, – she said. – And tomorrow we’ll start from scratch. We’ll make new rules.
Maxim nodded:
- Whatever you say. I’ll agree to anything.
They went to their separate rooms. Olga couldn’t sleep for a long time, replaying the events of that evening in her head. She didn’t know whether she could forgive Maxim, whether she could trust him again. But she knew one thing for sure: she would not allow anyone else to sit on her neck. Not her mother-in-law, not her husband, not anyone. She was stronger now. And she would not lose that strength again.
In the morning Olga woke up with a feeling that a new chapter of her life was beginning. What it would be like – time would tell. But now she knew for sure: this life would be what she herself would make it.