“Hey, neighbor! Still at home, haven’t left for work yet?” Olga was standing at the door—a striking brunette, a bit older, who lived two floors down.
Dressed in a light, slightly see-through robe, her messy hair made it clear she’d only just woken up. But that didn’t stop her from rushing to carry out an important task.
“Hi. I’m just leaving. Did you need something? If it’s not urgent, can we talk tonight? My boss will eat me alive if I’m late again,” Galina was already trying to close the door, but Olga stopped her.
“Wait, don’t rush. Here, Yuriy left this at my place last night. Take it. Looks like there are some important documents inside. What if he starts looking for it and can’t remember where he left it? He’ll start worrying. Has he already gone?” she craned her neck, trying to peer into the apartment.
Olga handed Galina a plastic folder filled with papers. Yuriy’s mother had recently passed, and he was in the middle of the inheritance process. All the paperwork for this was in that very folder. Olga gave a smug smile, watching Galina’s reaction closely.
“The folder’s found! Wow! That’s great!” Galina’s response felt strange, even to herself.
Never one to show her feelings to anyone, Galina stayed true to herself in this ambiguous moment. She took the folder from Olga, and then shut the door right in her neighbor’s face.
It’s impossible to put into words what was going on in her heart right now.
Is Yuriy cheating on her? With this bold, lonely beauty? With a woman living right under his wife’s nose? That’s absurd! Nonsense! Yuriy couldn’t.
“Okay, calm down and think this all through,” Galina told herself.
Suddenly, she felt hot. She stripped off her expensive wool suit—the very one she’d just put on for work—and tossed it aside carelessly.
Oh, right, she was running late for work! No, she wouldn’t be going in today.
“Hello, Tamara Viktorovna, I’m sorry, but I won’t be coming in today. No, not at all. Yes, I think I might be sick,” Galina gave short answers to her astonished boss.
“But you were perfectly fine yesterday. What happened, Romanova? Don’t want to work? Skipping out?” Tamara Viktorovna grilled her sternly.
“No, I really feel terrible. And I’m going to deal with this issue today. Just put me on vacation for a few days,” Galina replied coldly, her mind clearly somewhere else.
“And what about a sick note? Maybe you should get one if you’re really unwell? You’re hiding something, Romanova. Fine, get yourself better. I’ll give you three days, no more. Understood?”
“Yes, thank you!”
Now it was time to really think things through. She needed to weigh all the pros and cons, remember every detail, and draw her conclusions. Only then decide what to do next.
Yesterday, her husband had come home later than usual. He told her there’d been an unexpected company-wide meeting at work. They had to address some urgent matters. After dinner, Yuriy realized his folder was missing.
He needed to call the notary to sort out some inheritance issues. The folder was gone. He got upset and went out to the car, hoping he’d left the paperwork there, but returned empty-handed and looking even more puzzled.
“I probably left it at work,” he said, absentmindedly scratching his head. “Although… I don’t think I even took it out of the car. Why would I need it at work, huh?” he asked his wife, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“I don’t know. Maybe you needed to make a copy of something?” Galina tried to help Yuri figure it out.
“I wasn’t planning on copying anything. That’s why I didn’t even bother taking it out of the car.”
So, what was that all about? Was it just a game, a show, a cheap farce? Because if Olga brought the folder, then her husband knew exactly where he’d left his documents. Or at least he had a pretty good idea. Right? Right!
What does that mean? It means that last night, Yuri wasn’t at work; he was at the neighbor’s place, where he left that cursed folder. He must have felt so comfortable there that he completely forgot about everything else.
But Yuri really was upset yesterday. Galina could see it. He was even scared. Because losing those documents meant endless trips to different offices just to get the duplicates.
“Don’t worry, you’ll find them,” Galya tried to encourage him.
“I hope so,” Yuri replied without much enthusiasm.
That’s exactly why he rushed to work early today, eager to search for what he’d lost. But now it turned out that this whole cheap performance was just for the sake of deceiving his wife.
Galya was planning to have some coffee at work. She always did that in the mornings since she never had time for breakfast at home.
Right now, she poured herself a strong cup of coffee, added a healthy dose of cream, and didn’t go easy on the sugar. She had a lot of thinking to do, and this kind of coffee always made her brain work overtime.
Galina dialed her husband’s number.
“Yes, Galya, I’m listening!” Yuri answered as usual.
“Well, did you find your documents?” she asked.
“No, can you believe it? They’re not here either. I have no idea where else to look for that folder. I’ve racked my brain,” her husband said, sounding genuinely frustrated.
“I can tell you where to look.”
“Where, Galya? Do you know something? Do you have any leads?” Yuri responded, his hope renewed.
“No, it’s not a guess. It’s facts. Just facts,” she said to him sadly.
“Come on, don’t keep me in suspense! Galia, what’s with your teasing? Well?”
“You left your folder at your mistress’s place. She just returned it to me!”
“Galya, where are you right now? Aren’t you at work?” her husband asked, sounding oddly curious.
“No, darling. I’m at home. Your mistress has made some changes to my workday. I think you should also get off work and come home. And you’d better be ready to explain what’s going on,” she all but shouted into the phone.
“Explain what? What mistress are you talking about?” Yuri seemed completely confused.
“Or do you have more than one? You keep surprising me more and more every hour!”
“What mistresses? Are you out of your mind? I don’t have anyone!”
“I’m waiting for you at home,” Galina said coldly. “For now, I’m still waiting.”
“I can’t, they won’t let me leave,” Yuri tried to persuade his wife. “Can’t it wait until the evening? The main thing is, the documents have been found.”
“They’ll let you go. Just tell them your wife is leaving you. And believe me—right now, your documents aren’t our biggest problem.”
Galina hung up and started analyzing again. Yuri’s reaction was odd. But maybe she should have expected that, considering he’s always hiding something from her and never wants to show his true self.
What does she know about this Olga? She’s alone, not young anymore. Striking, always trying to look younger than her age. She dresses flashy, even a bit vulgar. The kind of woman people say is ‘actively looking.’ It’s obvious why she set her sights on Yuri—he’s an interesting man. And the fact that he’s married only adds to his appeal. Yuri and Galina have no kids—maybe Olga sees that as a sign. No kids means maybe the marriage isn’t strong, not serious. She must have thought it was worth a shot…
It was while Galina was lost in these thoughts that Yuri burst in and caught her off guard.
“Galya, what’s going on? Can you please explain what’s happening? Why aren’t you at work? What was that about a lover you kept mentioning? And where are my missing documents, finally?”
“Sit down.”
“I’m sitting, I’m listening. Just hurry up! Don’t keep me waiting!”
“Answer me clearly and to the point. Is Olga from the third floor your mistress?”
“Of course not!”
“Alright. Then answer this—how did your folder of documents, the one you’ve been looking for these past two days, end up with her? She brought it to me an hour ago. Here are your documents, by the way.”
“Oh, they turned up! That’s great!”
“Stay focused. Answer the question directly.”
“Well… I didn’t want to tell you. But I guess I have to now. It’s true what they say, sooner or later, all secrets come to light,” Yuri said tiredly.
“Spare me the proverbs. I asked you not to!”
“You see, this Olga… She’s been showing me a lot of attention. I noticed it a while ago. But not me—no way! Why would I want anything with that aging woman? Come on! Think about it!”
“Indeed, why would you?”
“I love you, Galya. And I’m not the cheating type. I don’t need any of that. But Olga can’t seem to pass by me without hovering. Always smiling, inviting me over, saying something’s broken in her apartment. Or she ‘needs’ help moving furniture. Each time, she comes up with some new excuse.”
And yesterday, I was heading home and there she was waving at the bus stop. She saw me and almost jumped in front of my car. I had no choice but to stop, Galya,” Yuri looked at his wife apologetically.
“Okay, I’m listening—don’t get sidetracked. So what happened next? This is getting interesting.”
“So, I drove Olga home, and she just wouldn’t stop talking.”
“Oh, how lucky I am to have run into you, neighbor. With these heavy bags, it would have taken me forever to get home. I’m planning a birthday party—so much to do all at once.”
And it went on like that. Suddenly, she says:
“Oh, what’s this folder on your seat? I think I just sat on it.”
Yeah, I said, I’m about to inherit something. My mom left me an apartment in St. Petersburg.
“So will you be moving there now? Or will you stay in our little town?” she asked again.
I told her that my wife and I haven’t decided yet. It’s too soon, still have to deal with the inheritance. But suddenly she cheered up and said:
“Would you like to come over, neighbor, and have a glass of champagne to celebrate my birthday?”
I started refusing, but she kept insisting. She just wouldn’t give up, trying her best to persuade me. We got to her place, and of course, I helped her carry the bags to her door. And that was it.
— That’s it?
— Yes. I headed home, and that’s when I realized I’d left my folder in the car. And the rest, well, you know what happened next.
— So you’re telling me that bold Olga took your documents with her yesterday?
— Looks like it. But I have no idea why she’d do that.
— Oh, I know exactly why! It’s crystal clear to me! — Galya suddenly shouted. — Well, she’s not getting away with this.
Galina stormed out of the apartment and rushed downstairs like a fury.
— So, you’ve come to tell me to go ahead and take your cheating husband for myself? — Olga brazenly asked as she opened the door.
— No, not even close. I came to tell you that you’ll never get him, you shameless witch. You think you’re so clever? You messed with the wrong woman!
The neighbor looked a bit confused.
— And this is so you remember for a long time that you should never get close to someone else’s man — not even within a kilometer, — Galina delivered a resounding slap to Olga.
And then she calmly walked back home to her husband.