As Dasha stepped into the apartment, she froze. She expected her husband to greet her after her long business trip, but the hallway was empty.
“Maksim? Are you home?” Daria called out into the darkness as she reached for the light switch, but suddenly, someone touched her hand.
“Don’t. Don’t turn on the lights,” her husband’s voice said out of the darkness.
“Oh, you scared me!” Dasha flinched. “Why not? It’s pitch black. I can’t see a thing.”
“I’ll help,” her husband replied playfully, taking her bags. “Don’t ruin the romantic atmosphere.”
“A romantic atmosphere?” Dasha asked, intrigued. “Are you preparing a candlelit dinner or something?”
“And if I am, what of it? Am I not allowed to make my beloved wife happy?”
“Of course you are, but I don’t smell any food coming from the kitchen,” Dasha replied, sniffing the air.
“You don’t smell it because it’s not quite ready yet. Why don’t you go freshen up in the bathroom while I finish dinner?”
“Okay,” she replied with a smile. In the dim light, she made her way to wash her hands, but when she opened the bathroom door, she was even more surprised. There were lit candles on the sink and shelves, and Maksim’s phone was playing quiet jazz music on the washing machine. “Wow, what is all this?”
“It’s the start of a romantic evening. I wanted you to relax before dinner,” Maksim said, kissing his wife. “Enjoy for now—I’ll finish up in the kitchen.”
“Alright,” Dasha agreed, winking at her husband. Happily, she sank into the hot water and thought what a wonderful surprise her husband had prepared.
Daria and Maksim had been married for five years. Until today, he had never arranged a romantic evening for his wife. Normally, when she returned from a business trip, Daria herself cooked dinner and then cleaned the house late into the night. But today was completely different.
Relaxing in the bath, Dasha closed her eyes and began to wonder what had pushed Maksim to plan such a surprise. Maybe he was getting her ready for a visit from his mother. That was the first thing that crossed Dasha’s mind. She hadn’t spoken to Tamara Vladimirovna in years.
Her husband’s mother lived in a village thirty kilometers from the city. She was quite rude and intrusive. In the past, her mother-in-law would constantly push her advice on them. At first, Dasha tolerated it, but after one particular incident, she told Tamara Vladimirovna not to visit them anymore.
One time, Tamara Vladimirovna showed up at the newlyweds’ home without warning. Maksim and Daria were on vacation at the time. When they returned, they immediately noticed that someone had been taking charge in their apartment. Later, they found out that the mother-in-law had made a copy of the keys and handed them to her daughter, who was studying at university and living in a dorm.
“Why did you let Marina into my apartment?!” Dasha exclaimed after learning the truth.
“What’s the big deal? You weren’t home anyway. She only stayed there for a week. Why are you so upset?”
“What gave you the right to make a copy of the keys to someone else’s property?”
“Someone else’s? My son lives there, you know!”
“So what? That apartment is mine! My parents gave it to me. Only I have the right to decide who lives or stays there!”
Darya was furious with her mother-in-law’s actions. That day, Maxim’s wife had a serious fight with his mom, and things got heated with his sister too. Darya and Marina almost got into a physical fight over it. Darya demanded that Marina return the apartment key, but Marina refused. In the end, Darya had no choice but to change the locks on the house.
Maxim was shocked by the whole situation too, but unlike his wife, he didn’t break off all contact with his mother and sister. On the contrary, he wished Darya would reconcile with his relatives. But Darya refused to forgive her mother-in-law and sister-in-law—she was convinced that if she did, Tamara Vladimirovna and Marina would just try to walk all over her again.
Lying in the bathtub after returning from a business trip, Darya had a sudden thought: maybe Maxim had arranged this surprise because he wanted her to make up with his mother and sister. To get to the bottom of it, she decided to ask her husband directly:
“I hope Tamara Vladimirovna and Marina aren’t planning to visit us?”
“Why would you think that?” Maxim replied, surprised as he sat down on the edge of the tub. “I know how you feel about them. You can’t force people to get along. If you don’t want to talk to them, then don’t. I’m not going to make you do it anymore.”
“Well, that’s good!” Darya glanced at Max and answered.
“Just relax for now,” Maxim nodded. “The fish will be ready soon and we’ll have dinner.” © Stella Chiarri
“Great! I wish you’d always welcome me back from a business trip like this,” Darya said dreamily.
“Maybe I will,” her husband smiled and walked out of the bathroom.
Darya still couldn’t figure out what had inspired Maxim to be so attentive and caring. Maybe he really had changed and decided his wife deserved more attention. But the next moment, those happy thoughts vanished. As Darya looked up, her eyes fell on the shelf with shampoos. Her heart suddenly began to race.
“What’s this?” she muttered, pulling out a box of cosmetics. “How did this get here?”
Before leaving on business trips, Darya would always take some of her cosmetics with her and leave the rest in her bedside table. This box only had lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara, and some foundation and powder. Maxim had no reason to move her makeup pouch to the bathroom. That meant someone else—a different woman—must have taken it out of the bedside table…
“Max! Maxim!” Darya called as she hurriedly put on her robe and went to find her husband. He was in the kitchen, setting the table for dinner.
“Oh, you’re done already? The fish is almost ready,” her husband said cheerfully.
“What is going on?! Why was my makeup box moved from my bedside table to the bathroom?”
“What?” Maxim was confused. He glanced at the box and shrugged. “I didn’t touch anything. Maybe you just forgot you left it here.”
“I remember perfectly that I left the box in the bedroom! Don’t lie to me! Who was here while I was away?”
“Um… Honey…” Maxim began to stammer. “My friend and his girlfriend came over once. Maybe she needed something from the cosmetics box. That’s probably why it was taken out.”
“From my bedside table?!” Darya exclaimed, not believing a single word Max said. “So how long were they here?”
— It was just one day. They arrived in the evening, and left the very next morning, — the man tried to explain.
— Do you really expect me to believe that fairy tale?! ©Stella Chiari. Just admit it, did you bring some mistress home? Is this what you do while I’m away on business?!
— Are you serious?! That’s ridiculous! — Max was taken aback. — I’m telling you, my friend came by with his girlfriend. She must’ve gone through the nightstand while Sanek and I were in the kitchen.
— And they left the next morning? — Daria asked, with a suspicious tone.
— Yeah, — Max nodded uncertainly. — They were heading to her parents’ in another city, and just stopped by here on the way. Sasha and I went to school together…
— Liar! You’re lying about everything! — Dasha shouted as she started pulling makeup out of the box. — Just look at this! So you’re saying your friend’s girlfriend used up my concealer in one night? There’s barely any lip gloss left, and the eyeshadow jar is broken! It doesn’t look like they were here for just one day! It literally feels like they stayed an entire week! And that girl used my makeup without even asking!
— Honey… — the man whimpered like a scolded puppy.
— What, honey?! — Dasha yelled again. — Just admit it already! Are you cheating on me? What’s her name? How long have you been together?!
— I swear, I have never cheated on you! — the man kept insisting.
This made Daria so angry that she spun around and marched decisively into the bedroom. Shocked, Maxim ran after her.
— What are you doing?! What are you up to?! — he shouted desperately.
— I won’t tolerate betrayal! We’re getting divorced! — Dasha declared. She grabbed a suitcase from the closet and started stuffing her husband’s things into it.
— Stop it, honey! I swear, there’s no one else! I swear on my mother!
— Yeah, right! Like I’d believe you! — Dasha turned away and kept packing. — How could you, Max? I always trusted you! I never thought you’d do something so low to me!
— That’s it! Enough! — seeing tears in his wife’s eyes, the man exclaimed. — Fine, I’ll tell the truth! Just please stop packing. I don’t want a divorce! I love you, do you understand?
Seeing the desperation in her husband’s eyes, Dasha calmed down a bit. She sat down on the bed and started to listen to him carefully.
— While you were gone, it wasn’t my friend who came, it was Marina… — the man admitted, lowering his eyes. — I just thought you’d get angry, so I didn’t say anything.
— And what was she doing here?! — Daria asked, still angry.
— She stayed here. Almost a week. She has exams at her college, so she decided to stay here instead of at the dorm. My mom basically begged me to let her. If I’d known my little sister would go through your things and use your makeup, I never would’ve let her in.
— And how am I supposed to believe that? What if you’re lying again? Like with Sasha and his girlfriend.
— I’m not lying. If you want, I’ll call Marina right in front of you and ask if she used your makeup.
— I do want that! Call her!
That phone call cleared up all of Daria’s doubts. Her sister-in-law immediately confessed to her brother that she’d taken the concealer, lip gloss, and eyeshadow from his wife without asking, and had been using Dasha’s makeup all week. Dasha couldn’t hold her anger in and shouted at her sister-in-law again. This time, even Maxim got angry with his little sister. He scolded her and told her he’d never do her any more favors.
Dasha stayed upset with her husband for a while, but eventually, they made up. She still felt hurt that Maxim had let his relative into their home when she couldn’t stand her. But what hurt her even more was that her husband lied. Still, this was better than having a complete stranger living in their apartment.
“I hope you won’t ever let strangers into our home while I’m on a business trip—or lie to me again?” Daria asked before her next trip.
“Never! Now I’ll plan romantic dinners just because I want to, not out of guilt,” her husband replied, truly sorry.
After that incident, Maxim really did start surprising his wife more often. Dasha even caught herself feeling thankful for Marina at times. If her sister-in-law hadn’t acted so brazenly, their relationship might have stayed the same. But now, their love felt refreshed. They became closer and happier than ever before.
