З життя
«Пощадите меня!»: я просто согласилась…
– Ты куда собрался? – спросила Алина, глядя, как супруг натягивает свежую рубашку.
– Да с пацанами встретиться. Пивка пропустить, потрещать, – ответил Артём, даже не повернув голову.
– А со мной ты вообще когда-нибудь планируешь время проводить? – Алина попыталась улыбнуться, но получилось криво.
– Ты же вечно в делах! Откуда мне знать, что сегодня ты вдруг освободилась?
Вопрос вроде бы резонный. Но таких “резонных” отговорок стало слишком много. А Алина устала. Устала быть той, кто всё терпит, прощает и оплачивает.
Когда-то ей казалось, что он – её судьба. Артём был заботливым, скромным, чуть младше – но разве возраст важен, если есть душевная близость? Их познакомили мамины подруги, сыграли свадьбу, зажили в её просторной московской квартире. Он работал… как придётся. Но ей хватало. На двоих.
Первые тревожные звоночки прозвенели через год. Измена. Потом – вторая, третья. Извинения, слёзы, клятвы. А следом – покупки. Игровая приставка, мощный ноутбук, новейший телефон… Потом – машина.
– Линусь, ну это же удобно! Я буду тебя с работы забирать, детей в садик возить… – мечтал Артём.
– Ты бы сначала домой приходил, – отрезала она. Но привычка прощать брала верх.
А потом был звонок. Ранним воскресным утром.
– Алло, отпустите Артёма! – прозвучал молодой голос.
– Извините, кто это?
– Мы любим друг друга! А вы… вы только мешаете!
Алина молча слушала.
– Уверены, что ваши чувства дороже денег? – наконец спросила она.
– Конечно!
– Проверим?
– Что?
– Забирайте его. Навсегда.
Она положила трубку и спокойно сложила его вещи в чемодан.
Через десять минут вернулся Артём. Замер в дверях, уставившись на багаж.
– Мы… куда-то едем?
– Ты – да. Куда угодно.
– В смысле?
– В самом прямом. Разводимся.
– Из-за какой-то дуры? Я пошутил, Алина! Мы же хотели детей! Машину!
– Да. Теперь я сама куплю машину. Сама получу права. И ребёнка – если решу – тоже без тебя. Спасибо за мотивацию.
Он спорил. Умолял. Давил. Но Алина оставалась холодна.
Год спустя она вышла из своего новенького “Ларгуса” на парковке у ТЦ. Водительские права в кармане, уверенная улыбка. И платье, которое так нравилось её новому мужчине – взрослому, надёжному, без лишних вопросов.
Увидев вдалеке Артёма, Алина на секунду остановила взгляд.
– Ты купила ту модель? Но… я же хотел синюю.
– А я – красную. И купила.
Она прошла мимо, оставив его в тени. Без слов. Без сожалений. Без него.
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Weve sold you the house. Were entitled to stay for a week, declared the former owners. It was 1975, and...
For about a year, my son had been living with Kate, but we’d never met her parents – it struck me as odd, so I decided to investigate I’ve always tried to raise my son to respect women first and foremost – his grandmother, his mother, his wife, his daughter. In my opinion, that’s the greatest quality a man can have: respect for women. My husband and I gave our son a wonderful upbringing and education and made sure he had everything he needed to get through life with ease. We didn’t want to help him with anything else, but we still bought him a two-bedroom flat. He did work to support himself, but he couldn’t quite afford a place of his own. We didn’t give him the flat right away, in fact, we didn’t even tell him we’d bought it. And why? Because our son was living with his girlfriend – that’s why. For about a year, he’d been living with Kate, but we’d never met her parents and I always found that strange. Later, I discovered that Kate’s mum used to be a neighbour of one of my friends. She told me something that really unsettled me. It turned out, Kate’s mother threw her husband out when he started earning less, but the real madness started after… She began seeing a married – but wealthy – man. Kate’s grandmother, just like her daughter, also had a relationship with a married man. She would even force both her daughter and granddaughter to trek out to his country house to help on his farm. Because of this, my son already found himself tangled up in his future mother-in-law’s affairs. But what concerns me most is that Kate’s mother and grandmother are turning her against her father. It’s clear the girl cares for her dad, but these two women have put her relationship with him in jeopardy. And to top it all off, Kate has decided to drop out of university. She believes it’s a man’s job to look after the family. I agree to some extent, and I raised my son for that, but heaven forbid they face any real life problems. What sort of safety net will there be if something goes wrong? How would she support her husband if that happened? By the way, I’ve put the flat back in my own name, because I know I’ve raised a bit of a soft touch, as we say. Yes, property bought before marriage isn’t divided after a divorce, but Kate is such a clever woman, she could very well send my “gentleman” packing with nothing but his socks.
So, listen, for about a year now my sons been living with this girl, Emily, but wed never met her...
– Needless to Say, This Is All My Fault! – My Boyfriend’s Sister Sobs. – I Never Imagined Something Like This Could Happen! And Now I Have No Idea What to Do Next. I Don’t Even Know How to Handle This Without Losing Face. My Boyfriend’s Sister Got Married a Few Years Ago. After the Wedding, It Was Decided the Newlyweds Would Live with the Husband’s Mother. His Parents Have a Spacious Three-Bedroom Flat and Only One Son. – I’ll Keep One Room, and the Rest Is Yours! – Promised the Mother-in-Law. – We’re All Well-Mannered People, So I’m Sure We’ll Get Along Just Fine. – We Can Always Move Out! – The Husband Assured His Wife. – I Don’t See Anything Wrong in Trying to Live with My Mum. If It Doesn’t Work, We Can Always Get Our Own Place…. That’s Exactly What Happened. As It Turned Out, Living Together Was Quite the Challenge. Both Daughter-in-Law and Mother-in-Law Tried, but Things Got Worse Each Day. Resentments Built Up and Arguments Became More Frequent. – You Said If We Couldn’t Get Along, We’d Move Out! – Cried the Wife. – Well, Haven’t We Managed So Far? – His Mother Smiled Condescendingly. – These Are Little Things, and It’s Not Worth Packing Up and Leaving Over Them. Exactly a Year After the Wedding, His Wife Became Pregnant and Gave Birth to a Healthy Son. The Arrival of the Grandchild Coincided with the Mother-in-Law Quitting Her Old Job and Struggling to Find New Work, as Employers Hesitated to Hire Someone Approaching Retirement. The Daughter-in-Law and Mother-in-Law Had to Spend All Day Together, Neither Having Anywhere Else to Go, and Tensions at Home Only Grew. Her Husband Simply Shrugged and Listened to Their Complaints, as He Was the Sole Breadwinner. – We Can’t Just Leave Mum Right Now—She Has No Income. I Can’t Leave Her on Her Own, and I Can’t Afford to Support Her and Rent a Flat for Us. Once She Finds Something, We’ll Move Out! But the Young Woman’s Patience Wore Thin. She Packed Up Her Things, and Her Son’s, and Moved Back in with Her Own Mum. She Told Her Husband She’d Never Set Foot in His Mother’s House Again, and If He Cared About Family, He’d Have to Sort Something Out. She Was Sure Her Beloved Would Try Everything to Bring Them Back Together. But She’d Judged Wrong. It’s Been Over Three Months Since She Moved Out, and Her Husband Hasn’t Tried to Win Her Back. He Still Lives with His Mum, Talks to His Wife and Child on Video after Work, and Visits Them on Weekends at His Mother-in-Law’s House. He Gets the Care and Attention of Two Women at Once; the Parent Gets Sympathy for Her Son, Left with an Angry Wife, and Doesn’t Have to Deal with the Child at All. The Husband Has It Made! And the Mother-in-Law Hasn’t Really Lost Anything, Either! The Young Woman Is Far from Happy with This Situation. She Loves Her Husband Very Much, Though She Knows He’s Not Doing the Right Thing. – What Did You Expect When You Left? – He Asks. – You Can Always Come Back If You Want. It’s Unlikely the Wife Plans to Leave Her Own Mum or Rent a Flat. The Woman, Now on Maternity Leave, Just Can’t Afford It. Is This Really the End of the Family? Do You Think She Still Has Any Chance of Going Back to Her Mother-in-Law’s House Without Losing Her Dignity?
Needless to say, this is all my fault! my mates sister sobbed. I could never have imagined things would turn...
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Honestly, Im still a bit staggered that my niece actually found herself a bloke, especially considering the way her mum...
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