– Alin, don’t plan anything for Saturday… – the husband, Ivan Petrovich, pushed his plate away and, without looking at his wife, added: – I invited my colleagues. We’ll show them the new house. We’ll have a housewarming party.
Alina, who was standing at the stove, turned around and looked at her husband in surprise.
— Colleagues? To us? Did you decide this now? Or are you presenting it as a fait accompli?
– What are you starting… I’ve already told everyone at work. Since we’ve already bought a house, let them take a look. Let them see how we live. We’re simple people, they’ll be interested. We’re no worse than others now, right? Now we won’t be ashamed to invite guests. Don’t let us down: organize everything to the highest standard. So that I’m in good standing at work, so that my colleagues respect me.
Alina shook her head. Her husband was soon to be 50 years old, and he still believed that respect could be earned with expensive things.
Ivan Petrovich’s mother-in-law got him a job at the new company. Through connections. The team received him coldly: a “brother-in-law” had arrived. Relations with his colleagues were strained, and Ivan suffered greatly from this. Perhaps that is why he wanted to do everything he could to improve relations. To appear better than he was.
Despite his strained relationships with his colleagues, Ivan felt like an important person at work. And he got even more cocky when someone asked him about moving.
“They say you and your wife bought a house?” a colleague, an acquaintance of the wife’s family, asked one day at lunch.
“Yes, that’s true,” Ivan grinned contentedly. The cleaning lady overheard the conversation, and an hour later the entire office was congratulating Ivan on his new acquisition.
Now Ivan began to feel like a news star and happily shared how the renovation was going and what kind of clumsy builders they had.
Every day he added something to the story about the house. Sometimes about a stained glass window, sometimes about a built-in fireplace, which, he said, he personally chose. He bragged that he insisted on a lawn instead of beds: “There are about ten hundred square meters! The lawn is like in Europe, automatic watering, he thought of everything!”
The colleagues listened. The men were silently envious. The women cast appraising glances. Especially Paulina, the new girl from the marketing department. Slender, tanned, young. She laughed at every joke Ivan made, even if they weren’t funny. She touched his hand when she “accidentally” walked by. She often stayed in his office “to clarify some business.”
Ivan felt like an alpha male.
—————————————————-
“Finally, life is good,” he thought. “I should probably change the car, otherwise it’s embarrassing to give this doll a ride home in such an old car…”
But Ivan didn’t have money for a new car, he was thinking about taking out a loan, but his wife didn’t approve:
— First, let’s finish the house renovation. There’s no money. Your car is running, and not that old, 2018. So drive it, — Alina snapped.
“Well, you’ve become such a bore,” Ivan muttered. For some reason, at that moment he thought that a young colleague would look better at the stove with a pipistrel in her hands. In a short apron, or maybe even in a maid’s costume.
– Ivan! What are you dreaming about?!” Alina stood in the middle of the kitchen, her fists on her hips. “I’m asking, who’s going to take Mom to the MRI?”
– Oh, I don’t know. I’m in a rush. Take her yourself. Or have her call a taxi.
“I’ll tell her that her son has shifted his responsibilities onto others.
– So it’s my mother who needs to be taken for an MRI?
– Yes! Yours! She’s been barely walking for a week now! Vanya, what’s wrong with you?! Can you even hear me?
“Okay, I’ll cancel the meeting tomorrow. And take you,” he muttered, thinking that he would have to postpone his business lunch with Paulina. And she really wanted to try Spanish latte…
With his mother-in-law’s illness, Ivan became even more twitchy and tense. And only one thing made him happy – thoughts about his young colleague.
“I wonder if Paulina would appreciate this chandelier? And the Jacuzzi bath?” he thought as he arrived with his wife to their new home.
Alina made adjustments to the repairmen’s work, supervised everything from start to finish. And Ivan dreamed, not forgetting to brag to his “friends” at work.
“I planted trees, built a house… Now I just need to give birth to a son… And now I only have a daughter,” he winked at Paulina, leaning his elbows on the table.
– Ivan Petrovich, maybe we should drop in and visit you? When will your long-term renovation be finished? – Paulina drawled playfully, when Ivan once again began to sing like a nightingale about the wonderful fir trees that had been planted in front of the house. – I’d like to see how real men with good taste live.
“I invite you!” he said without thinking.
– Really? I’ll come.
The cleaning lady heard the words of the promise. And within 10 minutes, gossip had spread around the office that Ivan Petrovich had invited Paulina to a housewarming party.
– So, you and your wife are inviting us all, right? – one of his colleagues asked with a sly wink. Petrovich had no choice but to nod. If Alina had found out about Paulina, nothing good would have come of it. But this way… It seemed no one would suspect anything.
– I’m inviting everyone to the housewarming, – he nodded. – You’ll see how I’ve settled in. The house is a sight to behold! My wife, of course, is also involved, but the whole concept is mine. I said: and we did it.
— Does your wife mind that you invite us?
Ivan grinned:
– She doesn’t mind. She likes it when people admire me.
Ivan thought for a long time whether to tell his wife that his colleagues were invited to visit. But then he decided that he couldn’t handle it alone, and the tables had to be set.
On the eve of the weekend, he casually mentioned his plans.
– Guests will arrive. You arrange everything properly. So as not to embarrass yourself.
His wife’s answer shocked Ivan.
– Darling, your guests are yours to host.
– Well, I’m a complete zero in this… What about me? You’re my wife.
– Since you decided to invite guests without my knowledge, it means you are able to decide something about how to greet them. I already have plans for Saturday. I need to visit your mother in the hospital.
– So that’s it… I’ll go on Friday.
– She has an operation on Friday. She doesn’t need you there. But on Saturday you’ll be very useful.
— I can’t cancel the guests.
– In that case, organize everything yourself.
Alina went into the bedroom and thought.
She understood that her husband would not change his mind, but her upbringing did not allow her to leave everything to him. Of course, she scared him, but the day before she had been busy around the house: she had tidied up, put the newly bought blanket on the sofa, arranged vases with flowers, in general, like an artist, she had added touches to their interior.
– Alin, listen… You there, if anything, well, don’t go into details, okay? About the paperwork, about how we bought it. Let’s just say that the house is shared. Well, we decided together, we chose together.
Alina raised an eyebrow:
– Why such a request all of a sudden?
– I don’t want people to talk about me being a burden on you. You know what these men are like… and women too. Envious. Let them think that I’m a man with a dowry, you understand?
– With a dowry? – Alina looked at him long and hard. – Are you, my dear, getting married? The dowry is not yours. Go and check the grill. Make sure there are coals there.
When her husband left, Alina sat on the sofa and looked out the window.
“Maybe I shouldn’t go to the hospital tomorrow? Maybe I should stay home and see what kind of colleagues my husband has?”
The mother-in-law’s operation was postponed. There was no need to go, and Alina stayed home with a clear conscience.
Since Saturday morning, Alina had been fidgeting like a squirrel: salads, meat, drinks, dishes. Ivan, in his dressing gown, lazily shifted from foot to foot, glancing at his wife. Only in the evening, having already changed, did he begin to walk around the house with an air of “look, now everything is done properly for us.”
The guests arrived closer to five. The ladies from the accounting department, the men from the sales and purchasing department, several comrades from the sales department, the deputy director and the bosses, all decided to honor Ivan Petrovich with a visit. Well, and… of course, that same Paulina.
In heels, in a tight dress. With red lipstick on her fish-shaped lips.
Alina immediately noted that this guest was clearly not one of the “just colleagues.” Her stride was too confident, her dress too revealing, and her attention to the interior details was too close. She asked for wine only from the most expensive bottle. Food – only the tastiest one. Her eyes darted around the house, like a realtor at a showing.
Laughter, conversations, the clinking of glasses. Colleagues praised the house, the food, praised Ivan for his “taste” and “scope”. And he only gave orders:
– Alinka, bring more wine! Alinka, run and see how the meat is. Alinka, bring some napkins!
And Alinka was running around. Running around and thinking that one more request and she would throw these “napkins” in her husband’s face.
“What a swimming pool you have!” Paulina admired. “Just like on the cover.”
– Yes, yes, I approved the layout myself, – Ivan lied without batting an eyelid. – Let’s go, I’ll show you everything.
He saw that his wife was busy talking with one of the guests, and he took the opportunity to show Paulina luxury as it was.
– With pleasure, show me everything, Ivan Petrovich! I’m ready! – Paulina stuck out her chest and went towards the bedroom.
– Are you going straight there? – Ivan Petrovich was even taken aback by such a statement.
– But you suggested…
– Well, let’s go… – at that moment the Doberman, Peach, came out of the bedroom. He showed his big fangs and growled, frightening Paulina.
– Oh!
– Don’t be afraid… He’s… almost harmless. But let’s go, I’ll show you the living room.
Ivan himself didn’t know what to expect from the dog. Alina brought him a couple of months ago, taking him from a friend for temporary care. She tearfully asked because there was no one to leave him with for the long trip.
Alina had just gone to show one of the guests the restroom when she heard their voices and Peach’s growling. She went out into the corridor and found her husband and Paulina at the book area.
— We have a library there. And a reading area. I planned it myself — so that, you know, I could relax after work. With a book. There will be a winter garden, large windows for reading under the moon.
– Wow! – Paulina giggled. – Ivan Petrovich, you are a romantic! And what was the last thing you read?
Alina entered the room just as Ivan opened his mouth to answer. She stood on the threshold, her hands on her hips.
– He read the composition of the toilet paper. From the latest. But in general, I made this zone for myself. And for Persik, – she pointed to the Doberman, who came for her and happily showed his fangs again. – He doesn’t like strangers. The previous owner brought his mistress – then we put in stitches.
Paulina turned pale.
– I think I’ll go to the others. I think they’re waiting for dessert.
– The right decision. And Vanya will help me now. I’m tired of running around, chasing flies… away from my dessert! – Alina added and nodded to her husband to leave.
Suddenly everything became clear to her, everything fell into place. The request not to talk about the house decoration. The sudden desire to throw a housewarming party. The particular behavior of one guest. All the looks, intonations. Everything lined up into a harmonious and unpleasant picture.
In the kitchen, Alina closed the door and, turning around, calmly asked:
– What, you decided to bring a lover home?
– Are you crazy? Just a colleague. And what are you doing? – Ivan hissed. – I build relationships with people, and you are like a bazaar!
– And who are you building relationships with, Vanya? With colleagues or… with someone specific?
– Are you jealous? Nonsense!
– No, Vanya. I’m not jealous. I’m just reminding you that this house you’re bragging about is registered in my name. Entirely. And it was I who provided you with the status of “owner”. But if you continue inviting all sorts of Paulines here, be kind enough to warn them. And even better – don’t forget who’s the boss here. Otherwise it will be like with my friend’s husband. Persik doesn’t accept strangers here.
— I just wanted to be respected at work!
– Respect is not earned by posing, but by honesty. And while you respond to this Paulina’s flirtations while your wife is still alive, you are not a man, Vanya. You are an actor in a cheap show.
After that evening, the colleagues exchanged glances. Paulina was one of the first to leave. The others sat for a while, but they felt that the atmosphere had become tense. Soon the guests began to leave, and everyone said “thank you” to the hostess of this house. And only a few thanked Ivan. Everyone understood who was the boss in the house without further ado.
Since Monday, the office has treated Ivan differently. The same way they treated him when he first arrived. With mistrust and prejudice. Someone even said:
– You know, Ivan Petrovich, your wife is great. She’ll give all the young wives a run for their money.
Ivan just silently looked at the monitor, repeating one of Alina’s phrases in his head:
– This house is mine. And you created your own status in it. And if you want a divorce, leave. But don’t count on the property. Everything is mine.
And it’s true. Alina bought the house with the money from the sale of her grandmother’s house, which she inherited, and added to it the proceeds from the sale of her share of the business. All the paperwork was handled by Alina’s lawyer, and at her insistence, the property was first registered to her mother, and only then was the deed of gift issued to Alina. Ivan didn’t even show up at the notary’s office, citing a rush job. He didn’t know how exactly the deal went, believing that the house was simply “registered to both of them,” as premarital property. But soon Ivan realized who was boss. He began to behave more respectfully toward his wife and forgot about all the Paulinas.
“Better with an old wife in a new house than with a young wife in a hut,” he decided after that very housewarming.
