The meeting happened like in a movie. Dima was rushing in his car when suddenly he almost hit a girl — she was hurrying to catch a bus, stumbled, and fell right in front of the car. Fortunately, good brakes and the driver’s quick reaction prevented a disaster.
Dima immediately jumped out of the car and ran to her. Meanwhile, Marina was gathering her scattered things.
“Hey, guy! Are you colorblind? You ran the red light!” she exclaimed angrily.
She stood up to her full height, and then Dima noticed her face framed by a short haircut.
“Oh, sorry… I thought you were a guy,” he mumbled embarrassedly. “How can you risk crossing on a red light like that?”
“Sorry, I really need to catch a train,” the stranger replied.
“I’ll drive you to the station,” Dima offered.
He quickly grabbed her bags and put them in the trunk. The girl was indeed in a hurry and agreed without further words.
“Let’s get acquainted. My name is Dmitry Berezhnoi.”
“Marina. And where are you headed?”
“On vacation. Only one year of studies left. I wanted to leave tomorrow, but the dorm supervisor ordered otherwise.”
“Do you live in the dorm? And where do you study?”
“At the pedagogical college. I’m training to be a primary school teacher.”
“A teacher!” Dima sang in a bass voice. “Have you dreamed of teaching little kids since childhood?”
“Usually girls dream of being princesses,” Marina smiled.
“Princesses are from fairy tales. My mom and grandmother were also teachers. They explained early on that there are no fairy tales in life.”
“You shouldn’t think like that! If you really believe in a dream, it will definitely come true. For example, I dreamed of getting a driver’s license and driving a car — and here I am!”
Marina laughed:
“Okay, you just said that. But usually people switch to ‘you’ first and then joke.”
“Shall we switch then?” Dima asked.
“Alright,” she agreed, then suddenly exclaimed, “We’re here!”
The electric train was leaving from the fourth platform, heading to Orekhovka. They ran to the carriage. Dima placed the bags in the vestibule, helped Marina get inside, and jumped in himself.
“What are you doing?! It’s about to move!” she shouted.
But the doors had already closed, and the train slowly started moving.
“It already did,” Dima stated calmly, smiling.
“How long is your trip?”
“About an hour and a half to the final station.”
“Alright,” Dima settled comfortably into the seat. “Rest, you can lie down if you want.”
Marina took a seat opposite, slightly leaning her head against the window. A conductor came by, and they paid for the tickets.
“Can you believe it, this is my first experience riding an electric train!”
“Really? Never been out of town before?”
“Why yes. We have a summer house in the forest. My father likes hunting, and I prefer fishing. We go there by car.”
“I see,” Marina replied a bit sleepily, still resting her cheek on the glass.
When the train reached the final station, the carriage was almost empty. Dima took Marina’s bags:
“How were you going to carry all this alone?”
“I’m used to it.”
They walked through a grove and ended up on a village street. Marina stopped at the gate of a cozy house and pressed the doorbell. A loud bark came from a dog.
“Zhuchka!” Marina called, jumping over the fence.
“Barbos, stop it!” she shouted at another dog.
A woman came out of the house:
“Marinochka! Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I didn’t know I’d be coming today, mom.”
The woman took Barbos deeper into the yard and put him on a chain.
“Good guard,” Dima approved.
“You can’t live in the village without dogs.”
Mom came back and let them into the yard. She looked questioningly at the new acquaintance.
“This is my mother, Natalya Sergeyevna. And this is Dima. He almost hit me on the road, then barely managed to jump off the electric train.”
“Crazy people! One throws herself under wheels, another jumps from a train. Tell me later. Now let’s have dinner.”
They showed Dima to the washbasin and gave him a towel. He washed up and looked cheerfully at Marina:
“Quite an interesting evening.”
“Indeed,” she agreed.
After dinner, Marina took a flashlight and led Dima to the attic, where a summer bedroom was arranged with a window overlooking the garden. She carefully made the cot with clean linen and showed him where the toilet was.
“Hope you won’t get lost. Good night.”
“Thank you, hospitable hostess. Will you visit me?”
“Why would I? We didn’t discuss that,” Marina smirked and started down the stairs.
Dima looked at the cot. He had never slept in such a bed, nor in such an unusual place. He went to the window, inhaled the fresh night air. He had completely different plans for the evening! His parents were waiting for him at home. Looking at the phone — there was almost no signal — he still sent a message to his mother and fell asleep soundly.
The morning woke him with a rooster. First, he heard wings flapping, then a loud prolonged crowing. Dima jumped out of bed and looked out the window. Below, a colorful rooster was strutting importantly, watching the hens pecking grass.
Dima quietly whistled. The rooster turned its head, looked at him with a yellow eye, flapped wings again, and proudly crowed — as if to say, “I’m the boss here!”
Marina’s mother noticed him:
“Good morning! Up early.”
“Thanks, I slept great! Haven’t felt so energetic in a long time.”
“Great! Want coffee? Turkish.”
“With pleasure. Just let me change.”
Dima put on jeans, went to the window, and looked outside. The window looked out onto a garden, then a meadow descending to a river. The water sparkled in the sun with many reflections.
“I’m not leaving this place!” he thought confidently.
Going downstairs, Dima smelled the exquisite aroma of Eastern coffee. Natalya Sergeyevna was standing by a sand-colored cezve, carefully watching so the drink didn’t boil over. As soon as the foam began to rise, she quickly took the pot off the heat and poured coffee into elegant cups.
“Where did you get such a beautiful cezve?”
“Brought it from Batumi. My husband and I lived in Georgia for many years. Marina was even born there. Every year we vacationed in Batumi, bought this cezve — the whole family loves coffee. Come inside, you can take a shower.”
After the shower, Dima looked into a spacious room with three windows. Instead of usual village carpets and dishes on the shelves, there was a real library!
“Who is the book lover here?”
“All of us,” Natalya Sergeyevna laughed.
She brought cream and fresh homemade cookies to the veranda. Dima looked for Marina and noticed her behind the fence — she was picking cucumbers.
“How did you sleep?” the girl asked.
“Just wonderful! Seems I’ve never slept so well. Listen, let’s get married and live here!”
“Already arrived — and a proposal? What about the courtship? Dates? Decided to save time?” Marina joked.
“I’m serious! Why all the formalities? But if it’s important to you — I agree to romance. I’ll take you to a restaurant. But right now I don’t want to go anywhere!”
“That’s just emotions. Keep in mind that spring and autumn here aren’t so cozy. And I still have a whole year of studies.”
As much as Dima wanted to stay in this picturesque village forever, he had to return home. Marina saw him off to the platform. He got on the train in a gloomy mood. He wanted to kiss her goodbye, but Marina only lightly touched his lips with hers and hugged him like a friend. No passion.
On the train, his iPhone buzzed nonstop with messages. He decided not to read them until he got to the car. The most worried was his mother: “Dimochka, where are you? Come back immediately!”
After rereading all the messages, Dima concluded — his parents wanted to pick a bride for him. No way! He was not going to be an obedient child. He had his own plans.
Arriving home, he parked the car in the garage and went up to the apartment. A few minutes later his mother knocked on the door:
“What are you doing to us, son? What kind of situation have you put us in front of people? You don’t think about us or your future at all!”
“On the contrary, mom, I do think about the future. And about you too.”
Actually, the last words were not quite true. Lost in thoughts about Marina, he hadn’t even considered how his parents would perceive his choice. She was from a completely different world — one that simply did not exist for them. Despite Marina being smart, educated, and beautiful, they would definitely not want to see her as a daughter-in-law.
Vadim Dmitrievich Berezhnoi considered himself a successful person not only because of his big business. He was convinced he had made it as a person, knew what he wanted in life and how to achieve it. He had long lost faith in feelings, considering love the lot of the poor. In his opinion, serious people should keep emotions in the background and put business interests first.
He believed in this philosophy as if born into the Rothschild family! Although he himself once married for love, not for gain. But now he thought differently: then he was young and inexperienced, and such views were long outdated.
That’s why Vadim Dmitrievich decided to apply new principles to his son. Yesterday was supposed to be Dima’s meeting with his future wife. But the whole plan was ruined by a reckless playboy!
Dima understood he was guilty before his parents. He decided not to invent silly stories and tell everything as it was. He arrived at the office, raised an eyebrow to the secretary to ask if his father was free. Knocked on the door.
Vadim Dmitrievich sat at his desk, gloomy as a thundercloud. At the sight of his son, his face softened a bit — they always had a strong bond and looked alike.
“Where have you been, dear Dmitry Vadimovich?” the father said sarcastically.
“Dad, I’ll tell you everything. I think as a man, you will understand me.”
The father raised his eyebrows.
“Dad, I fell in love.”
Vadim Dmitrievich looked at his son with surprise and anger:
“What did you say?”
“I’m twenty-four, she’s twenty-one. The perfect age for love, isn’t it?”
“Planning to marry? Who is this lady?”
While Dima told about the chance meeting, the father’s face changed color several times — from dark green to crimson. When he confessed he dreamed of marrying and moving to the village, Vadim Dmitrievich couldn’t stand it:
“Are you even listening to yourself? What village?! What will you do there — be a pensioner? A public servant? Or have you lost your mind because of love?”
Dima realized the conversation wouldn’t be equal.
“Alright, dad. We’ll talk later.”
“No other time! Do you even know who you were supposed to meet yesterday? Lena Rozhkova! Her family owns a huge restaurant business in Dubai. This fall she’s moving there as general manager. If not for your romantic adventures, you’d be going with her — to check out the market for our projects. Then your mother and I would have moved there. Do you understand what you’ve done?”
“No, dad, I don’t,” Dima replied sadly and left.
Dima wandered the city for a long time, thinking. Especially about Marina. He imagined her laughing when she found out what he does. How much he wanted to be with her… He needed to find a way to convince his father to send him on a business trip, and from there he could detour to Orekhovka.
Inspired by the idea, he went back into his father’s office:
“Dad, you said we need to visit the supplier. Let me go, I’m tired of sitting in the office.”
“Alright, son! They called, asking when we’re coming. Take the documents and the blue envelope from the safe. Everything’s ready, you can go. Andrey Vladimirovich is waiting for you.”
Dima almost ran to the car, smiling on the go. Turned on the navigator, studied routes. To the supplier — 150 km northeast, to Orekhovka — only 50 km east. The best option was to make a detour on the way back!
Andrey Vladimirovich was pleased with the cash, praised Dima like a little boy for helping his father and even suggested going to the sauna. But Dima refused — his mind was on Orekhovka.
The detour was quite large. Orekhovka was far from the main highway; the navigator got confused with directions. But soon familiar meadows descending to the river appeared in the distance.
“Found it!” Dima breathed happily.
He drove to the familiar gate, honked the horn. Barbos immediately started barking; Marina appeared at the door. She opened the gate and gestured to enter the yard. Dima parked and opened his arms.
Suddenly Marina pressed close to him and kissed him as passionately as never before. Dima noticed tears on her eyelashes but closed his eyes to remember only pleasant sensations.
“I missed you so much,” she admitted. “I even scolded myself that we parted so coldly.”
Dima floated in bliss. He had girlfriends but never felt anything like this. He even forgot to ask where Natalya Sergeyevna was when Marina pulled him to the attic.
Everything felt like a wonderful dream. Dima woke to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee — Marina brewed it as skillfully as his mother. They sat on the veranda, drank the drink, and silently enjoyed the quiet and each other’s closeness.
Natalya Sergeyevna came to the gate:
“We have guests! Why didn’t you feed the man after his trip, Marina?”
“How is grandma?” the daughter switched topics.
“Everything’s fine.”
Marina heated lunch and called everyone to the table. Meanwhile, Dima managed to befriend Barbos and even got into a little fight with the rooster. Sensing a possible rival, the rooster sneaked up and pecked Dima’s ankle. Trying to push it away with his foot, the young man got a counterattack: the rooster spread its wings and rushed into battle. Only thanks to Marina’s timely intervention did they catch the daring leader of the chicken yard and lock him in the shed.
“You have quite the temperament here!” Dima smiled, rubbing the bitten spot.
“Things happen. Last year a hawk started grabbing chickens, then foxes came. So we let Barbos out at night — he guards.”
“Isn’t it scary living without a man in the house?”
“At first, when dad passed, it was very hard — scary and lonely. We wanted to move to the city but got used to it over time.”
Dima looked around the tidy homestead. In all the buildings, paths, and neat fences, one could feel a caring male hand. Most of the plot was covered with alfalfa for bird feed; the remaining fifteen sotkas (thousand square meters) were for the vegetable garden. There was work enough for a whole farm!
In the evening, Marina turned on the well pump and began watering the beds. Dima helped carry hoses, form furrows so the water wouldn’t spread.
“How do you know how to do this?” she wondered.
“I don’t understand myself. Never held a hoe in my life.”
After dinner of village cottage cheese with cream and honey, Dima began preparing for the return trip. They said goodbye in the yard for a long time, then through the car window.
Finally, they parted. Marina waved at the departing car until it disappeared from view, then went back into the house.
Meanwhile, in the city, Dima’s father was beside himself:
“Can you explain where you were? I called Andrey Vladimirovich — he said you left a long time ago, didn’t even stay for the sauna!”
“I was in Orekhovka,” the son honestly admitted.
“I knew it! You think I’ll tolerate this? Choose — either Emirates or…”
“Or what?”
“If you go to that peasant girl again, don’t expect any inheritance!” Vadim Dmitrievich slammed his fist on the table.
He threw the car keys at his son and stormed out of the office.
“Why is he like that? Completely forgot how he was in his youth. Surely he was in love too. Well, I have my plans, I know the way. We’ll make it!” Dima thought as he left the office.
Vadim Dmitrievich felt unwell. Tried to check his pulse, but his heart was beating too fast. He called his wife:
“Galia, I’m not well! Call an ambulance!”
He was hospitalized with a diagnosis of hypertensive crisis and tachycardia. His wife took care to get him a separate room and the best doctor. The cardiologist reassured — the condition was not dangerous, he would be discharged soon. But Galina Ivanovna wrote to her son: “Father is dying!”
In fact, at that moment, Dima was already approaching the station with a backpack and his phone off. His mother’s manipulation did not work.
The parents felt real orphanhood. Their only son had left, trading them for a girl from the countryside, without giving up either his feelings or freedom for the family.
Vadim Dmitrievich pondered long why his son disobeyed. Finally concluded: this is his way of asserting himself. Well, his right! I too once ran away from home to Galya’s dorm room.
Senior Berezhnoi even wanted to go to Orekhovka to find Marina, but pride and resentment prevented him from taking the first step toward reconciliation.
So the year passed in doubts and resentments. The mother secretly corresponded with her son, but at every mention of his name, the husband forbade her to talk about Dima.
And then, when longing for the son became stronger than pride, Vadim Dmitrievich told his wife:
“I’m going to Orekhovka. Don’t write him anything. I want to come unexpectedly. You haven’t given him the address?”
Orekhovka immediately appealed to the Berezhnois. There was something familiar, like a picture from an old children’s book.
They drove up to Marina’s house. At that moment, a truck pulled up, and a short-haired guy jumped out of the cab:
“Mom, dad! What a surprise!”
Dima rushed to his parents. Vadim Dmitrievich nearly lost his speech — he barely recognized his son! Where were the chestnut curls, well-groomed nails? Before him stood a tanned, strong man in simple clothes, with calloused hands and shining eyes.
“Dimochka, is that you?” exclaimed Galina Ivanovna. “Who have you become!”
“A real man, mom. A man! Come, I want to introduce you to someone.”
He invited his parents inside:
“This is Marina Berezhnaya, my wife. She’s currently on academic leave. And this is your grandson — Vadim Dmitrievich Berezhnoi. He’s three months old; we call him Dimych, like in that cartoon.”
Galina Ivanovna gently took the baby in her arms:
“My God, how much he looks like little Dima! Exactly the same!”
Vadim Berezhnoi looked at the baby’s pink face, chestnut curls, and silently cried.
“Old fool,” he thought. “How much time I wasted on grievances, principles, pride. But here she is — the true family joy! For her, life is worth living.”