A Discovery Under the Tub
A week in bed with a fever and cough was behind her. Mary stretched in bed and smiled. For the first time in ages, she felt genuinely well. The morning started with sunlight streaming through the curtains. Mary was full of energy and determination.
“Well, time for some coffee and a good clean-up!” she cheerfully told herself as she got out of bed.
In the kitchen, her husband, John, was already sipping his coffee and scrolling through the news on his ancient laptop.
“Morning,” he mumbled without looking up from the screen.
“Good morning!” Mary replied joyously. “I feel like a million bucks today! I’m planning a thorough house cleaning. I’ll start with the bathroom using that new cleaner I bought before I got ill.”
John just nodded, clearly not sharing her enthusiasm.
“Can’t it wait? Why on my day off? You’ll rope me into it too, and I just wanted to relax…”
“Don’t worry, darling, I’ve got enough energy for both of us!” Mary assured him, finishing her coffee and avocado toast.
She hummed to herself as she pulled on her rubber gloves. It’s a blessing that the kids were now grown, meaning cleaning didn’t have to be done so often! Their daughter got married last year, and their son started university in September and now lived in a dorm… She should give them a call! Picking up the new cleaning paste promising shine and freshness in minutes, Mary’s sensitive post-illness nose detected no harsh chemicals, only a pleasant scent of lavender, or something similarly gentle.
She tackled the sink first, then the toilet, and eventually moved to the bathtub. The paste worked wonders, filling the air with the scent of meadows and lilacs.
“Wow!” she exclaimed, admiring the gleaming surface. “You look brand new!”
But her energy didn’t wane there. Determined, Mary decided to see the job through to the end. She got on her knees and peeked under the tub.
“Wow, so much dust here!” she exclaimed, grabbing a cloth.
Her gaze caught something shiny. Mary reached in and pulled out a glass jar once used for coffee. Inside, there were carefully folded banknotes.
“What’s this?” she wondered, opening the jar.
Mary walked out of the bathroom holding the jar. John, still glued to his laptop, noticed her expression and tensed.
“John, what’s this?” she asked, showing him the jar.
He froze for a moment. Then a nervous twitch crossed his face, but he quickly regained composure and shrugged.
“No idea. How should I know? Maybe it’s your secret stash?” he said, swallowing hard and looking at the jar like it was the last piece of chocolate on earth.
His eyes were filled with thinly veiled pain, but Mary didn’t notice. She opened the jar and, in amazement, took out the money.
“My stash?” Mary laughed. “I wouldn’t hide money under the tub. This must be your doing.”
John raised his hands in surrender, swallowing the lump in his throat again.
“I swear, I have no clue how that got there. Maybe it was left by the previous owners?”
Mary squinted.
“We’ve lived here for five years. I doubt they would have left money behind.”
John tried to appear casual, observing Mary’s every movement. She decided that since she found the money, it was now hers. Smiling, she counted the notes, her eyes sparkling with newfound greed.
“Well, since no one’s claiming it, I guess I’m lucky,” she said.
John attempted to plead his case, but she cut him off with a beaming face:
“Maybe we should buy something useful? Like a new laptop? This one’s on its last legs. I’ve got my eye on one with a powerful processor…”
“A laptop?” Mary snorted. “Why would I want another laptop? I have a better idea.”
The next day, Mary returned home with a beautiful box. Inside was a set of jewelry: earrings, a ring, and an elegant pendant. She proudly showed them to John.
“What do you think?” she asked, slipping on the ring and glowing with excitement, clearly feeling regal. “Do I look good or what?”
Her expression made it clear to John: “don’t you dare say no!”
“Beautiful,” he replied enthusiastically, trying to mask his disappointment. “You’re the best thing in my life—just hope no one tries to steal you away now.”
Mary spent the whole evening flaunting her new jewelry, sharing the story of her find and her purchase with everyone: her friends, mother, and mother-in-law. Before bed, at ten, she carefully laid her treasures on the bedside table, ready to wear to work in the morning.
John couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, unlike Mary, who was out in fifteen minutes. Knowing she slept soundly, John quietly slipped out to the balcony. He rummaged through a box from an old juicer to find his hidden pack of cigarettes, keeping some mint gum close by.
He lit up a cigarette, even though he had quit long ago… at Mary’s insistence due to his frequent bronchitis and pneumonia. Incidentally, he hadn’t been ill in the past year. Feeling calmer, he pulled out his phone and called a friend.
“Hey, mate,” he said, “I’m going to be out of the game for a while. You’ll have to manage without me… Yeah, the wife found my stash. Took half a year to save up the right amount. And she just went and bought herself jewelry.”
“Tough break,” sympathized his friend. “Don’t worry, you’ll save up again.”
John sighed, glancing at the bedroom. Mary was sleeping soundly, and her new jewelry, dazzling and useless to him but making her so happy, lay beside her.
“Yeah… At least she’s thrilled. She even said she’d lose a few pounds to show off the jewelry better. I’m actually glad she made herself happy like this.”
The next morning, Mary was still in great spirits. She put on her new earrings and pendant, admiring herself in the mirror.
“How do I look?” she asked John.
“Perfect,” he replied, doing his best to smile genuinely, enchanted by her radiant eyes.
Yes, it was clear that sometimes a woman deserved to be spoiled! But deep down, he was already planning where to hide his next stash. Certainly not under the tub this time.
