* * *
Tolik arranged a meeting at the entrance to the railway station: it was most convenient to travel by train, so that there would be no traffic jams there and back. Nadya arrived there by bus, which was not easy, given the heels (albeit small, but still unusual for her feet). She was also cold while walking from the stop to the porch of the station, because her mother persuaded her to wear a silk dress from prom and thin nylon tights, and only a raincoat on top, and did not even allow her to put a warm jacket between them, so as not to look like a collective farm when she undressed in theater foyer…
And what was Nadya’s surprise when, after all these difficulties and hardships, she found Tatyana Dmitrievna near the entrance! Tolik, of course, was also there, but he seemed to be slightly hiding behind his mother’s wide back, either from the fresh spring breeze, or from Nadya.
“H-hello,” she muttered in confusion, turning mainly to her potential mother-in-law.
“Hello, Nadyusha,” said Tatyana Dmitrievna, for some reason not as friendly as she did at the Melnikovs’ house. – What is it, you decided to catch a cold? Why are you dressed so lightly? It's not May yet, but in the evening it will become even cooler.
Tolik was silent. Nadya was even more confused.
– I… I… And you… will you go with us?
– Certainly! – Tatyana Dmitrievna snapped. “Is it proper for a girl to meet a man alone before they get engaged?!”
Nadya opened her mouth, but couldn’t find anything to object to, and closed it back. On the one hand, that’s true, but on the other hand, they’re going to the theater… But, okay. Nadya has not yet decided how to relate to this overprotection.
They entered the station and headed to the ticket office. Tatyana Dmitrievna herself talked to the cashier and paid for everything herself, and then with a patronizing look she handed Nadya a ticket in the form of a check. The three of them sat down on the triple seat: Nadya and Tolik on the sides, his mother in the middle.
“I need to talk to you very seriously, my dear,” this did not sound sweet from the lips of the potential mother-in-law. – So to speak, dot all the i’s. I know that you are from a good family and raised in the best traditions of Orthodox Christianity, and yet there are some peculiarities in how I would like to see the family life of my son…