Olga set two heavy bags of groceries on the floor and leaned her back against the front door, catching her breath. Climbing to the fifth floor without an elevator was always difficult, especially with such a load. She kicked off her shoes, wincing from the aching pain in her feet, and reached for the bags to unpack the groceries, but then Igor walked out of the room.
He stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, looking at her as if she had just committed a crime. In his hand was his phone, the screen glowing with a notification from a banking app.
“Four thousand?” he said in an even, cold voice. “Four thousand on some rags?”
Olga slowly straightened up, feeling the habitual fatigue after a workday beginning to mix with irritation.
“Here we go again. Again with these showdowns over every penny spent. Igor, they aren’t rags,” she replied quietly, pulling off her light raincoat. “I needed a blouse for work. The one I was wearing was completely worn out.”
“For work?” He sneered, and there was not a drop of warmth in that sneer. “Who looks at you in your library? Pensioners who come to read newspapers? What difference does it make to them what you’re wearing?”
Olga pressed her lips together, trying not to show how much it hurt to hear that. Igor never used to speak about her work with such disdain. He used to be different: attentive, caring. But that was three months ago, before the day he was appointed head of sales.
“I still need to look tidy,” she said, bending down to the bags. “Igor, let’s not talk about this right now. I’m tired, I need to cook dinner.”
“Tired?” He stepped closer, his voice rising. “And you think I don’t get tired? I slave away from morning till night, carry the whole department, solve problems, and here you are spending my money on some blouses.”
“Your money?” Olga straightened up, feeling something snap inside. “Igor, I work too. Maybe I earn less, but I contribute my share to the family budget.”
“Your share?” He laughed, but the laugh was mean and hurtful. “Your pathetic twenty-five thousand? That doesn’t even cover utilities. I pay for this apartment, I pay for your food, for your clothes. You live on my money, Olya. And it would be good to remember that.”
She looked at him silently, at this man she had lived with for ten years. Where had the Igor gone who brought her flowers for no reason on his way home from work? Who cooked breakfasts on Sundays and said her work in the library was important because she helped people find their way to knowledge? When did he turn into this smug, cold stranger?
“I don’t ask you for a report on every penny,” Olga said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Why do you demand it from me?”
“Because it’s my apartment!” Igor raised his voice, and Olga flinched. “I bought it. With my money. Before we got married. You live here by my grace, understand?”
In the kitchen, water dripped from a faulty tap: rhythmic, persistent, drip-drip-drip. Usually, this sound annoyed Olga, but now she hardly heard it over the pounding of her own heart. Her hands were shaking, and she clasped her fingers together so it wouldn’t be so noticeable.
“I don’t understand what’s happening to you,” she whispered. “You’ve become completely different after this promotion. It’s like it went to your head.”
“Nothing went to my head,” Igor snapped. “I just finally realized what I’m worth. And you? You stayed at the same level. A librarian with a student’s salary.”
Olga felt tears rising to her throat but forced herself not to cry. Not now. Not in front of him. She bent down to the bags and started taking out the groceries: a carton of milk, bread, vegetables for a salad.
“What is this?” Igor pointed to a small bundle in her hands.
“Cheese,” Olga answered. “Dorblu. You love it.”
“How much?”
“How much what?”
“How much did this cheese cost?”
“Six hundred. Igor, it’s your favorite kind, I wanted to do something nice for you.”
He snatched the bundle from her hands and threw it back into the bag. Olga recoiled, pressing her palm to her chest.
“Six hundred for a piece of mold?” he hissed through his teeth. “Have you completely lost it? Spending money right and left as if it grows on trees.”
“I just wanted…”
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