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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t print money!\u201d Irina threw her purse onto the table and tiredly rubbed her temples. The cheap watch with its worn strap showed nearly eleven at night.<\/p>\n
Anatoly didn\u2019t even lift his eyes from his phone. The bluish glow of the screen lit up his stubbly face.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould you at least wash the dishes? I\u2019m dead on my feet after two shifts,\u201d Irina pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll wash them tomorrow,\u201d Anatoly muttered, still scrolling through his endless social\u2011media feed.<\/p>\n
Irina looked around the kitchen. For three days dirty plates had towered in the sink. Empty jars lined the windowsill. Their apartment\u2014once always neat and cozy\u2014now looked like a lair.<\/p>\n
\u201cTolia, we need to talk,\u201d Irina perched on the edge of the sofa.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting again?\u201d her husband grimaced and set the phone aside. \u201cLet\u2019s do it tomorrow, okay? I\u2019ve got a splitting headache.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour head splits every day!\u201d Irina\u2019s voice shook. \u201cSix months have passed\u2014you haven\u2019t even written a r\u00e9sum\u00e9!\u201d<\/p>\n
Anatoly leapt up, his face twisting.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think it\u2019s easy to find a decent job without connections? I\u2019m not becoming a taxi driver or a courier!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody said taxi! But you have to do something,\u201d Irina sighed. \u201cOur savings are vanishing. Yesterday you withdrew five thousand. For what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you spying on me?\u201d Anatoly grabbed his jacket. \u201cI\u2019m a man! I have the right to relax with my friends!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I work two jobs?\u201d Tears welled in Irina\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
Once they had dreamed of a big house, children, travel. Now all their conversations were reproaches and excuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need some air,\u201d Anatoly headed for the door. \u201cDon\u2019t wait up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The door slammed so hard that a cup on the table jumped. Irina collapsed onto the sofa and buried her face in a pillow. It smelled of chips. Once Tolia used to bring her roses for no reason. Now every talk felt like a battlefield.<\/p>\n
She opened her mobile\u2011bank app. A little over twenty thousand remained in their joint account; her salary barely covered rent and food. Soon she would have to dip into the second account\u2014the money she\u2019d been saving for a car.<\/p>\n
Her phone buzzed. A message from her friend Katya: \u201cHow are you? Holding on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Irina gave a bitter smile. Holding on? She was clinging by her fingertips to a marriage falling apart\u2014to a husband who\u2019d turned into a stranger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She glanced at the wedding photo on the wall: Anatoly in a sharp suit, her in a white dress\u2014happy, in love. Where had that time gone? When had Tolia stopped being her support and become a load she carried?<\/p>\n
Irina knew something had to change, or the endless struggle would crush her. But she still loved her husband and still hoped the old Anatoly would return.<\/p>\n
In the morning Irina woke before the alarm. Her eyes were puffy, her head heavy. She tiptoed into the kitchen so as not to wake her husband, who had staggered home at dawn and was now snoring on the sofa.<\/p>\n
After brewing tea she glanced at the calendar: Wednesday\u2014her extra shift at the mall\u2019s accounting office. Eight hours with numbers, then another four in the evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWish I could take a day off,\u201d she muttered, massaging her temples.<\/p>\n
The phone buzzed: her boss unexpectedly said she could leave at noon\u2014reports were in early. She finished her second job quickly, too.<\/p>\n
For the first time in six months fate handed her a gift. The spring sun warmed her face, and she decided to walk home\u2014the stroll was only twenty minutes.<\/p>\n
Near her building she slowed. Their apartment window was wide open and she could hear Anatoly\u2019s voice\u2014loud, almost cheerful. He rarely spoke on the phone.<\/p>\n
Irina unlocked the door quietly. The hallway was dark; Anatoly\u2019s voice came from the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ve thought everything through,\u201d he said, sounding upbeat\u2014tones Irina hadn\u2019t heard in months. \u201cNow\u2019s the perfect time to invest in real estate. That dacha outside town is ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irina froze, pressing against the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll use your savings and ours with Irka\u2014just enough,\u201d he went on. \u201cThe dacha will be in my name, of course. Irka doesn\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her heart pounded. Her husband and mother\u2011in\u2011law were planning to spend their joint money behind her back!<\/p>\n
Irina slipped out, hurried to the bank, and transferred the entire nest egg to her mother. Then she came home, slammed the door as if returning from work, and started packing Anatoly\u2019s clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTolia, I washed your T\u2011shirts\u2014putting them away!\u201d she called. He grunted, glued to football on TV.<\/p>\n
Soon two suitcases stood in the hallway. Irina straightened her blouse and turned off the television.<\/p>\n
\u201cTolia, we need a serious talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey! The game\u2019s on!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s decisive all right,\u201d Irina folded her arms. \u201cI want you out tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed\u2014until he saw her face. \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be crazy to stay with you one more day. I heard everything about the dacha, about spending my savings.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lunged for his phone, checked the balance, raced to the laptop\u2014and screamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIra! Where\u2019s the money? The account\u2019s empty!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in a safe place\u2014at Mom\u2019s,\u201d Irina said calmly. \u201cI earned that money, especially these last six months while you lay on the sofa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re my money too! I\u2019ll call the police!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCall them. We\u2019ll discuss how you\u2019ve lived off me since quitting without telling me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He saw the packed suitcases. \u201cThis is my apartment!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a rental\u2014and I\u2019ve been paying for it. Leave now or I call the police and say you\u2019re threatening me. Who\u2019ll they believe?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anatoly stared at her. The meek Irina was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll regret this,\u201d he muttered, dragging the cases out. \u201cMother won\u2019t forgive you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSay hi to Polina Yevgenyevna,\u201d Irina smiled. \u201cTell her to save for that dacha herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The door slammed; a porcelain figurine\u2014his mother\u2019s gift\u2014shattered on the floor. Irina sat on a chair and wept, not from sorrow but from relief.<\/p>\n
Calls and texts from mother\u2011in\u2011law flooded her phone. She blocked every number. Anatoly alternated between begging and threats. A month later Irina filed for divorce, attaching statements proving her income and his idleness.<\/p>\n
After the divorce she stood in a car showroom, hand on a shiny hood. Not the brand\u2011new model she once dreamed of\u2014but the one she could buy with her savings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take it,\u201d she said firmly.<\/p>\n
Paperwork done, Irina settled into the driver\u2019s seat and switched on the radio. Her wedding song played. She reached to change the station\u2014then realized she felt no pain, only a gentle nostalgia for times past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t print money!\u201d Irina threw her purse onto the table and tiredly rubbed her temples. The cheap watch with its worn strap showed nearly eleven at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n