“I canceled the hotel booking, Tanya. And I returned the tickets.”
Tanya froze with the blue swimsuit in her hands. There were less than forty-eight hours left before their flight. A half-packed suitcase lay open on the bed.
“What do you mean, canceled?” she asked, slowly placing the swimsuit on top of a stack of T-shirts.
“I mean exactly that. The money has already been refunded to the card. Minus the penalties, of course, but they didn’t take much.”
Victor stood in the bedroom doorway, leaning his shoulder against the frame. He was wearing old sweatpants with stretched-out knees. In one hand, he held a half-eaten apple. His face was calm, ordinary, casual. Not even a trace of embarrassment.
“Vitya, we haven’t gone anywhere for three years,” Tanya said evenly, though inside everything tightened into a painful knot. “My vacation starts on Monday. I’ve already handed over all my work.”
“Tanya, it’s an emergency. My mother’s kitchen pipe burst. Everything flooded, the linoleum swelled up, the lower cabinets soaked through and fell apart. I went there yesterday after work to check it out. It needs a full renovation. The walls have to dry, the floor has to be opened up, and she needs a new kitchen set. I already paid the workers an advance. Tomorrow we’re going to buy materials.”
“With our vacation money?”
“What other money?” He took another bite of the apple. “We don’t have anything extra. Part of it is still set aside for the banquet. She’s my mother, Tanya. Family has to help family. Your sea isn’t going anywhere. We’ll go next year. Or you can rest at the dacha. They’re promising good weather.”
He said it so simply, as if he were talking about a movie night they had decided to postpone.
Tanya looked at the suitcase. Their passports were already in the side pocket, along with printed insurance documents and hotel vouchers. She had spent two weeks choosing the hotel, reading reviews, and calculating the budget.
“You didn’t even discuss it with me.”
“What was there to discuss?” Victor shrugged. “I told you, the pipe burst. The woman has nowhere to cook. Would you really have said, ‘No, let your mother sit in mold while we go lie in the sun’? I just saved us time arguing. That’s it. I’m going to shower.”
He turned and walked down the hallway. Tanya heard the bathroom lock click, and then the sound of running water.
She stood by the bed for several more minutes. Then, silently, she took the passports and put them in the dresser drawer. She began unpacking. She folded the shorts and T-shirts carefully and put them back on the shelves. Then she zipped up the empty suitcase and slid it under the bed.
The next day, her mother-in-law called. Alevtina Pavlovna spoke loudly; in the background, a hammer drill roared.
“Tanechka, hello. Vitya told you already, didn’t he? Oh, the workers are wonderful, they removed the old tiles so quickly. My Vitenka is such a good son. He bought Italian tiles, and he even managed to get them on sale. Don’t be upset about the vacation, dear. You’re still young, you’ll travel plenty. But at my age, I’d like to live with a clean kitchen at least once. Vitya said you weren’t upset.”
“Yes, Alevtina Pavlovna. I’m not upset. Goodbye.”
Tanya ended the call and placed the phone on the table.
At work, her colleagues asked in surprise why she wasn’t at the airport. She simply answered that their plans had changed, then took on extra estimates to review so she would not have to sit at home.
Victor behaved as usual. In the evenings, he ate dinner, talked about the progress of his mother’s renovation, and complained about the price of building materials. Tanya listened, nodded, and served him seconds.
She had no strength for a scandal. She already knew how any argument would end: she would be accused of being heartless, selfish, and not loving his mother. In ten years of marriage, that script had been rehearsed down to the smallest detail. Tanya’s wishes had always come last.
A week later, the renovation in her mother-in-law’s kitchen was finished. Victor walked around pleased with himself. A couple of days after that, he began actively discussing his upcoming birthday. He was turning thirty-five.
They had started planning it back in spring. They had booked a hall at the restaurant “Old Pier.” They had made a guest list of thirty people: relatives, colleagues, and old friends. They had paid a deposit of fifty thousand rubles. The remaining amount — about one hundred and fifty thousand more — had to be paid three days before the banquet, when the final menu and alcohol list would be approved. The birthday money had been saved separately.
“Tanya, we’ll need to stop by the restaurant tomorrow,” Victor said over dinner, twirling spaghetti around his fork. “Mikhalych and his wife are coming after all, so I added two more seats. And we need to decide on the main course. Let’s do pork steaks and fish as an option. Will the money on the card be enough?”
“It will,” Tanya answered, looking down at her plate.
“Great. I’ll pick up my suit from the dry cleaner tomorrow.”
That weekend, Tanya went to visit her mother. Nina Vasilyevna lived in an old private neighborhood on the edge of town. The house was sturdy, but it constantly needed maintenance. Over the past few days, there had been heavy rains.
When Tanya entered the hallway, a damp, musty smell hit her immediately. In the kitchen, right in the middle of the linoleum floor, stood a plastic basin. Water slowly ran down the yellowed wallpaper from the ceiling. Drops fell into the basin with a dull, irritating sound.
“Mom, what is this?” Tanya stopped in the doorway.
Nina Vasilyevna wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and smiled guiltily.
“Well, Tanyusha, the roof started leaking. The roofing felt is completely old. Last week the wind tore off one section, and then the rains came. I spread rags in the attic, but it didn’t help.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Oh, why bother you? Vitya’s mother has renovations, and you have your own problems. Yesterday I asked our neighbor, Uncle Kolya, to climb up and take a look. He said the rafters are rotten. The roof needs to be redone. I went to the bank and tried to get a loan for the repairs, but they refused me with my pension. It’s all right. I’ll save little by little. We’ll patch it somehow before winter.”
Tanya walked to the window. She ran her finger over the damp wallpaper. The paper peeled away from the wall easily.
“How much did Uncle Kolya say it would cost? If it’s done properly, with good metal roofing and a crew?”
“It’s expensive, Tanyusha. He estimated around two hundred thousand for materials and labor. Where would I get that kind of money all at once? I’ll keep changing the basins. It’s no trouble.”
Tanya looked at the drops falling into the plastic basin. Her mind was suddenly empty and quiet.
She took out her phone and opened her banking app. In the savings account linked to her card was the money set aside for Victor’s anniversary. One hundred and sixty thousand rubles. Plus her own salary, which had arrived the day before.
“Mom, put the kettle on. The workers will come tomorrow.”
On Monday, Tanya took a day off. In the morning, she met with a roofing foreman. The man inspected the attic and prepared an estimate. The total came to two hundred and ten thousand rubles, including materials.
“When can you start?” Tanya asked.
“We can deliver the materials tomorrow morning and begin right away. The weather looks like it’s clearing up. Seventy percent advance, the rest after the work is done.”
“Agreed.”
From her mother’s house, Tanya drove to the restaurant “Old Pier.” The administrator, a young woman with a name tag that read “Alina,” greeted her with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Tatyana. Are you here about the banquet on Saturday? Shall we approve the menu?”
“Good afternoon. No. I want to cancel the reservation.”
Alina blinked in surprise.
“Cancel? But your banquet is in five days. According to the contract, in that case the deposit is returned with a ten percent deduction.”
“I know. Please process the refund.”
Tanya signed the cancellation form. They promised to return the money to her card within twenty-four hours, minus the five-thousand-ruble penalty.
She left the restaurant and stepped out onto the sunlit street. She got into her car, started the engine, and transferred one hundred and fifty thousand rubles to the roofers as an advance from her phone. Then she put the phone into her bag and drove home.
Victor’s birthday was two days away.
On Thursday evening, Victor came home from work in a cheerful mood. He had brought his suit back from the dry cleaner and hung the cover on the wardrobe door.
“Tanya, I brought the alcohol in the trunk. Tomorrow evening we’ll need to take it to the restaurant. They said we can bring our own. Did you approve the menu? What did you choose for the main course?”
Tanya was sitting on the sofa, folding dry laundry from the basket. She picked up a towel and carefully lined up its corners.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing?” Victor froze while taking off his watch. “Did you forget to go? Tanya, I asked you. Tomorrow is Friday. They need to buy the food. Fine, I’ll call them myself in the morning.”
“Don’t call,” Tanya said, placing the folded towel onto the stack. “I canceled the reservation.”
Victor looked at her. Confusion crossed his face, as if she had spoken in a language he did not understand.
“What reservation?”
“The banquet. At the restaurant. I took back the deposit. We’re not celebrating.”
Silence fell over the room. The only sound was the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.
“You’re joking,” Victor said, his voice suddenly higher. “Tanya, that’s not funny. I have thirty people invited for the day after tomorrow. Relatives are coming from out of town.”
“I’m not joking, Vitya. I’ve already spent the money.”
Victor took a step toward the sofa. His face began turning red.
“What did you spend it on?! There were two hundred thousand there!”
“My mother’s roof started leaking. The roofing felt rotted, the rafters need replacing. I went there yesterday and saw it myself. The roof needs major repairs. Water was pouring straight into the kitchen, and the wallpaper was coming off. I hired a crew and transferred them money for the materials and work.”
She spoke calmly. With the same words, in the same even tone, that he had used while standing in their bedroom doorway two weeks earlier.
Victor opened his mouth, then closed it. His breathing grew heavy.
“Have you lost your mind?” he almost whispered. “You took my birthday money? Two days before the party?”
“What other money was I supposed to use?” Tanya looked him in the eye. “We don’t have anything extra. She’s my mother, Vitya. Family has to help family. And a birthday is just a date. It isn’t going anywhere. You can celebrate next year. Or we can sit at the dacha and grill some shashlik. They’re promising good weather.”
Victor grabbed his head. He paced around the room, then snatched his phone from his pocket. His fingers shook as he searched for the restaurant’s number.
“Hello! This is Victor. The banquet on Saturday. My wife canceled it… Yes, by mistake! I want to restore it… What do you mean it’s booked? By whom?”
He listened, and blotches slowly appeared across his face. Then he ended the call and threw the phone onto an armchair.
“They gave away our hall. Some company booked it for a corporate party.”
Tanya silently continued folding laundry.
“How am I supposed to look people in the eye?” Victor’s voice broke into a shout. “Mikhalych? My relatives? I already told everyone the time and place! What am I supposed to say? That my wife secretly stole the money and canceled everything?”
“Tell them the truth,” Tanya replied evenly. “That there was a family emergency. That we urgently had to save your mother-in-law’s house from falling apart. I’m sure your friends will understand. After all, you said yourself there’s no choice in situations like this. Or do you think your mother deserves help, but mine should sit under a leaking roof with basins catching the rain?”
Victor stared at her with anger and despair.
He was used to Tanya being compliant. Used to her swallowing her hurt, crying in the bathroom, and then going to heat up his dinner. He had never seen her like this — completely cold, unshakable, and calm.
“You did this on purpose. Because of the vacation. You got revenge on me.”
“I simply saved us time arguing.”
Tanya stood up, took the stack of folded laundry, and walked past him to the wardrobe. She opened the door and placed the clothes on the shelf.
“Decide for yourself how you’ll handle it,” she said without turning around. “You can order pizza at home. You can call everyone and say you got sick. It has nothing to do with me. On Saturday morning, I’m going to my mother’s house to inspect the roofing work.”
Victor sank heavily into the armchair, right on top of his phone. He sat hunched over, staring at one spot on the carpet. All his confidence had disappeared.
He suddenly understood that this was not a tantrum he could wait out. It was a calculated, precise strike at the most painful place — his pride and his reputation in front of his friends. And he had no answer. His own words had pinned him to the chair.
On Saturday morning, Tanya drank coffee in the kitchen. Victor sat across from her at the table, his eyes red from a sleepless night. The evening before, he had spent half the night calling guests, inventing ridiculous excuses about a burst pipe at the restaurant and sudden food poisoning. In the end, only two of his closest friends were supposed to come that evening, to sit in the kitchen with store-bought salads.
Tanya finished her coffee, rinsed the cup under the tap, and placed it in the drying rack. Then she picked up her car keys from the cabinet.
“Happy birthday, Vitya,” she said calmly. “I’m going.”
She closed the door behind her, went down the stairs, and stepped outside. The morning was clear and sunny. Tanya got into her car and lowered the window, letting in the fresh air.
For the first time in a very long time, she felt as if she could breathe fully again.