Today my guest is a very thorough and serious man. Rational, strict, and far-sighted in his every move…

  "I have always been like that, though she could never imagine it. I have always been rational and thorough. Although, of course, at twenty or twenty-five, it wasn’t so obvious.

  Energy was in full swing, the whole world was full of colors and adventures. And I never denied myself those. But that’s exactly the point. Adventure called, and I either agreed or refused. Always consciously. And with her, everything just “happened.”

  I don’t want life to “happen” to me. I am an adult and independent. I can control myself and what happens around me".

  He pauses in his speech and looks coldly at me, adjusting his glasses — checking if I am listening. Waiting for my answer.

  I remain silent and serve coffee. Perfectly black coffee, diluted with cold water so as not to burn oneself. Nearby lie three sugar cubes and a ringing silver spoon. He stirs his drink with it for a long time, carefully, until the sugar dissolves to the last grain. The cherries served with the coffee remain untouched…

  "I don’t know what attracted me to her. Or rather, she simply couldn’t help but attract me. So bright and cheerful. So… alive. Sometimes too loud. Sometimes touching and insanely naive.

  And insidious. A wonderful actress, whom I learned to read like an open book.

  I saw through all her tricks, all her omissions, all her lies. Oh, how many times she threw a fit! How many times she drove me crazy! I raised my voice at her, I literally ran out onto the balcony and dragged on a cigarette, just so as not to kill her accidentally.

  I tried different ways. The universe must appreciate my patience. I tried to talk to her. I tried to explain that it was wrong, that it couldn’t go on like this. That life shouldn’t just “happen.”

  But she never listened to me! While I was thinking, weighing every step and every thought that led to that step, she…

  She gave me a ring. I was taken aback. She simply thrust a box with a ring and a note into my palm. And left. Gave me time to think. Too little time…

  We lived together for only a short while. Probably a little over a year. And we had known each other for about four years before that.

  The wedding took place only two years later. But it was my conscious decision. I made it myself. I came to the conclusion that I was ready to start a family with her.

  I told her many times that she was behaving inappropriately. And her friends were the same... they had a bad influence on her. She listened to me. She had fewer friends, and then she stopped communicating with them altogether.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I also told her that some of her outfits were too bright. She wasn’t a firebird, after all, to attract all the attention in the street. And again, she listened to me. Dark T-shirts and trousers appeared in her wardrobe. But she flatly refused to throw away those bright dresses. She hid them in the farthest corner of the closet and only moved them from place to place. And why would she need them? She was no longer a girl to wear such bright and colorful clothes.

  And the way she raised the child! It was absolutely unbearable. A child is sacred. So what if the little one did something silly? Big deal—she painted the table with nail polish. Or drew on the freshly pasted wallpaper with felt-tip pens. Or took one of her things without asking.

  How can you not give things to a child? It’s a child! And she tells me: why then don’t I allow the child to take knives in the kitchen? Or touch my work tools? Why is she comparing these? These are completely incomparable things!

  And the kitchen squabbles! She was always asking what to cook for dinner. What difference did it make! I eat everything. We’ve been living together for so many years. She could have just done it as she saw fit. And she did. To spite me! She cooked the damn fish. I can’t stand it.

  She loved shopping too much. What can you even do there for an hour and a half or two hours at a time? And anyway, why not order delivery? Why did she have to go herself? Maybe someone was waiting for her there. And that’s why she answered my calls. Yes, video calls. So that I could see who was around her. It made me feel better. It cost her nothing, but she still got offended.

  She doesn’t appreciate what I give her at all. Yes, we both work, but she earns less. And she’s already free by lunchtime. And she gets up at five in the morning. More convenient for her, you see. But it keeps me from sleeping. She lives with me. With everything ready…

  She took the child and left. She didn’t want to, but she had to… that’s how the circumstances worked out…

  She had hysterics about this more than once. Yes, many people move, and it’s no big deal. But you can’t just do that! You have to weigh everything, think everything through. Only for her it’s so easy. She packed her bags, took her child and left. And then she even paid a lot of money just to take her cat.

  I stayed behind to plan a more thorough path. For now I have too many unknowns. I need to think everything over very carefully, do everything properly — not like her.

  And then… she took those damn dresses with her. She started wearing them again. When we video call, she’s literally bursting with energy. She smiles so brightly, like the sun.

  She dragged the child into the mountains — in flip-flops! What if they had fallen? And then into the river! What if the child had caught a cold? What is she doing? It’s incomprehensible!

  We started calling each other less and less. She flatly refuses to show what’s going on around her. So what if the neighbors have their own lives and don’t communicate — that’s what she tells me. But I have no idea what it’s really like. And what does she do all day anyway? I ask her what’s new and interesting, and she just explodes. Yes, she can spend half an hour talking about some hike in the mountains. But that’s not what I mean. Big deal, the mountains. What does she have at home?

  So what if she’s constantly with the baby and working from home. And that her schedule hasn’t changed since the move. Maybe someone comes to visit. Maybe she’s made new friends? I must know! I have to know about it!

  She turned out to be so mercenary. It seems that all she ever wanted from me was money. Yes, I understand that when we lived together, I paid the rent and part of the food, and she paid for everything else. And now she has to completely support herself and the child in this new place.

  I have my own problems and expenses. She doesn’t care. She only cares about herself.

  For some reason she stopped communicating… and is dropping my calls…"

  The guest drank the cold coffee to the last drop — to make sure everything was proper. He adjusted his glasses and rose from the table. A silver spoon clinked, lonely, in the empty coffee cup. The bell on the front door rang in the same tone. My guest went on to live his substantial life, according to the rules…