Olesya and Vyacheslav got married recently. After finishing college, Olesya got a job as a hairdresser, but she planned to take clients at home to earn more. At that time, Vyacheslav was working in a factory and, after his shifts, he also worked part-time as a welder in an advertising company. The couple lived without excessive luxury but were not in need.
While Vyacheslav’s job satisfied everyone, his mother had questions about Olesya’s job.
«You need to get a formal job,» she instructed.
«The boss doesn’t want to hire too many people.»
«What does she want? Think about the family. You have no social guarantees, you work without any rights! And who will pay your pension?»
«I’m far from retirement. I’ll start my own business later and register as self-employed. For now, I need to build a client base,» Olesya replied.
«Later, always later!» mocked the mother-in-law. «Before you know it, time will have passed. And if you don’t want to think about the pension, at least think about maternity benefits. A child must be protected by law!»
«Okay,» under the pressure of Nina Ignatyevna, Olesya gave in. It was hard for her to explain to her mother-in-law that the boss had her own way of living, and she could fire her even from a formal job. But eventually, Olesya persuaded her boss to hire her officially, and the next time her mother-in-law brought up the old tune, Olesya waved her work book in front of her nose.
«Are you satisfied?» she asked.
«And why is the salary so small?!» gasped Nina Ignatyevna.
«What did you expect? It’s the minimum wage, nothing else is considered here.»
«This is unacceptable! There’s no one to check on your boss!»
Nina Ignatyevna was outraged for a long time, and a doubt crept into her head that her daughter-in-law was just deceiving her and actually earning pennies, fully depending on her son. So she decided to ask Vyacheslav about it.
«Mom, why do you care how much my wife earns?!» he brushed it off.
«I insist that Olesya gets a proper job! It’s not right that you’re working double shifts to support her while she collects ‘clients’ for pennies. Even a cleaner at our bakery earns more!» Nina Ignatyevna remembered her job.
«We have enough. Let’s not bring this up again. I’m the man in the house, and I should provide for the family. Olesya works, and that’s enough.»
«You found yourself a burden… You should have married a proper woman, not this one…»
«Mom, stop it. The conversation is over.»
Nina Ignatyevna usually got offended by her son after such talks and didn’t visit him for some time. But realizing that her «offenses» didn’t work, she stopped being offended and visited her daughter-in-law and son as if nothing had happened.
Olesya tried not to provoke Nina Ignatyevna. She understood that her mother-in-law didn’t like her much, and she kept her distance, but that only irritated her mother-in-law more.
«Why does Olesya avoid me? Every time I come, she always leaves… sits in the bedroom like a mouse in a hole…»
«She’s tired from work. She wants to be alone,» explained Vyacheslav.
«Tired… think of that, what a… she didn’t unload wagons all day! And what kind of schedule is this, two days on, two days off? She better work like everyone else from 9 to 6. Then there will be time for the family, and she won’t be lying around.»
«Mom… Olesya isn’t idle. She now takes some clients at home.»
«What, she brings strangers into my house?!» the mother-in-law blushed.
«So what?»
«And brings men?!»
«No. Only women.»
«I didn’t give permission to turn the apartment into a hair salon! Olesya! Come here!» shouted Nina Ignatyevna.
The daughter-in-law was ordering supplies at that moment and really didn’t want to go anywhere.
«What, are you deaf?! Or did you go to sleep? Lazy…»
Olesya had to go to the kitchen, putting aside her work.
«What happened?» she asked.
«I forbid you to work from home.»
«What do you mean?»
«Literally. Buy your own apartment, you can open a massage parlor there, but not in my apartment! I won’t allow this disgrace! You turned it into a thoroughfare…»
«I only have a few clients, they are all acquaintances…» Olesya tried to object, but her mother-in-law was adamant.
«Either stop this, or move out.»
«Mom, where will we move to? We don’t have enough for our own place yet,» Vyacheslav spoke up.
«Let her take clients to her parents’ house. Or is it easier to bring dirt into someone else’s house?»
Olesya didn’t respond. She suspected that Nina Ignatyevna would spring another surprise, but she didn’t think it would strike at her work.
Renting a chair in a salon was too expensive. For now, Olesya was just starting to work for herself, and the opportunity to take clients at home was her only option. She even set up a special place with a mirror and lighting, bought a chair, and a table for tools. Nina Ignatyevna thought it was a dressing table for her daughter-in-law and didn’t object too much. Since it was bought with Olesya’s money, she let it stand. But only for personal use.
«You understand me?» Nina Ignatyevna reminded her.
«I understand.»
Olesya went back to the bedroom. It was impossible to cancel the next day’s appointment, so she decided to manage somehow.
In the morning, Vyacheslav went to work, and Olesya stayed home. She prepared to meet a client, put on the kettle to serve her coffee, and laid out the tools.
The client wasn’t late.
«I need curls. Can you do it?» she asked.
«Of course.»
Olesya turned on the curling iron, and she began to divide the hair into strands. Everything was going quite well, but about halfway through the hairstyle, the door burst open, and the mother-in-law flew into the room.
«How dare you disobey me? I didn’t tell you to take just anyone here!» she yelled, frightening the client.
«Nina Ignatyevna, please calm down…»
«That’s it, the shop is closed,» she hissed, pulling the curling iron cord from the socket. «Leave before I call the police.»
«What does this mean?» asked the pale girl. Olesya had only curled half her hair.
«I give you three minutes to pack up. Get out!» continued the rampage of Nina Ignatyevna. Olesya was very embarrassed. But since the apartment wasn’t hers, she couldn’t argue or manage it.
«I’ll finish your hairstyle. Don’t worry. And I won’t take any money.»
«Of course, I won’t pay you after this!» The client hastily grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Olesya ran after her, and to not leave the girl without a hairstyle on a holiday, she had to literally fix her hair into a bun on a bench outside, instead of curls.
«This isn’t what I expected. You’re a terrible stylist. I’ll write a review and tell all my acquaintances about you!»
«Sorry…» Olesya apologized. In fact, the hairstyle wasn’t that bad, but she had neither the strength nor the desire to argue.
The client got into a taxi and left without paying for the services. Olesya went home, where Nina Ignatyevna was waiting for her.
She couldn’t hide from her. She was angry and wanted her daughter-in-law to answer for her actions.
«I thought we had an agreement, and you deceived me.»
«Sorry. It won’t happen again,» Olesya canceled the day and evening appointments, citing illness. It was very bad to let down clients, but she couldn’t take them «on the bench» either.
«Of course, it won’t happen again! So, if I see strangers in the house again, you’ll be thrown out of the apartment once and for all. And don’t dare ruin my furniture!» she pointed at a small table. «Now I know where that hole came from. You burned my table with your curling irons!»
«That’s not true. I never put tools down without a special mat. And I don’t even use that table.»
«I don’t trust you anymore. A deceiver! Burned half the house and now making excuses…»
Olesya didn’t respond. She really didn’t have any excuses, and she didn’t want to humiliate herself. Nina Ignatyevna had already humiliated her in front of the client, and she had already written a negative review about Olesya on the classifieds site where she found her.
All of this was very hurtful and sad, so when Nina Ignatyevna finally left, Olesya let herself cry.
«What happened?» asked Vyacheslav, returning home and finding his wife in tears.
Olesya didn’t hide it, she spilled everything that happened to her that day.
«I’m going to call mother right now! This is beyond the pale…» the husband got angry.
«Don’t… don’t call. She already hates me! And now she will hate me even more because I complained to you!»
Olesya barely managed to explain to her husband that he would only make things worse by calling Nina Ignatyevna, and he calmed down. The next day he announced to his wife that she could work in a salon nearby.
«But how?!»
«I rented a workspace for you for a month. Work, develop. We’ll see after that.»
«I love you so much…» Olesya cried.
«I love you too. Don’t be angry at my mother. She just doesn’t understand that there are living people around her, used to working with dough and batter — the more you whip and knead, the more submissive it becomes… she wants the same from us. But we are not dough and not pastries. We are not obliged to bend to her.»
«As long as we live in her apartment, we will have to ‘bend,'» Olesya replied.
«I’ve thought about that too. Let’s get a mortgage.»
«And the money?»
«I talked to my father. He promised to help. I also asked for a raise at the factory. And you’ll soon have enough clients to earn more than me.»
And so it happened. Olesya quickly settled into her new place and within three months had a solid schedule weeks in advance. She registered as self-employed and started working officially. Soon her salary increased, but she didn’t flaunt it.
Peace and tranquility reigned in their family because from the new apartment, which the spouses took out a mortgage for with money from Vyacheslav’s father, Nina Ignatyevna had no keys, and she had no more rights to it than fish in an aquarium. They silently opened their mouths, swallowing air, and looked at the world through glass. That’s exactly what Nina Ignatyevna looked like when she learned that her ex-husband gave money to her son for the down payment. She silently opened and closed her mouth, catching air.
«Well, good. I’ll rent out this apartment. And you’ll still regret getting involved with this financial noose!» she squeezed out.
«It’s okay, we’ll pay it off. I’m now my own boss, can take as many clients as I want,» Olesya said contentedly. She enjoyed watching the expression on her mother-in-law’s face. Nina Ignatyevna didn’t like her daughter-in-law, but there was nothing she could do about it.
«Do you have social haircuts?» asked Nina Ignatyevna, coming to the hair salon that her neighbors praised. The next day was her birthday, and she decided to refresh her hairstyle.
«We do. But the stylist is busy. I’ll check when he can take you,» the administrator replied. «Come back in an hour.»
When Nina Ignatyevna was turned to the mirror an hour and a half later, she didn’t recognize herself. Her gray hair was bright lilac.
«What have you done?! I asked for a haircut! And you?! You’ve fooled me! Barbarians…»
«Coloring as a gift,» said the stylist, holding back a smile. «And you wanted a cheap haircut. So we cut you ‘pot-style.’ I can wash it off, but it will be quite expensive.»
«I’m not going to pay you a penny!» Nina Ignatyevna yelled and left, slamming the door.
Nina Ignatyevna cursed the day she decided to save on a haircut. Nina Ignatyevna didn’t know that the young stylist was coached by her daughter-in-law, who also rented a chair in the same salon. She saw the appointment, recognized her mother-in-law, and hatched a plan to teach Nina Ignatyevna a lesson for humiliating her in front of a client. Of course, the colleague didn’t agree at first, but financial compensation from Olesya did the trick.
«What happened to you, Nina Ignatyevna?» feigned surprise, the daughter-in-law saw her at the doorstep of her new apartment.
«They fooled me in the salon… I’d twist their hands off,» she muttered. «Good thing you came early. I need to remove this color and get a proper haircut… please do, for old times’ sake! I know you can wash off this dye… for free,» the mother-in-law looked pleadingly at her daughter-in-law.
«Sorry, but I don’t take clients at home. One authoritative woman didn’t allow just anyone into her abode. And now I only take appointments in the salon. But the next available slot is only in a month,» Olesya replied and walked away, leaving her mother-in-law watching the closed door
