Tanya stepped out of the metro and immediately realized she was dressed too lightly. She shivered from the cold wind, hugged herself, and ran into the warm shopping mall.
“I guess it’s time to start wearing my down jacket,” she thought.
Inside the mall, Tanya headed to the café area and bought herself a coffee and a slice of pizza. She sat at a table, watching the other people around her. They all seemed so happy… unlike her. She felt miserable.
“Five years of studying economics, and now I can’t even find a proper job!”
Tanya had indeed been searching for a job in her field for a long time but couldn’t find one. Or rather, there were jobs — but the pay was so low that she wouldn’t have been able to afford both rent and food.
“Why did I rush to the capital to seek my fortune? And I even laughed at my friends who stayed behind… Now there’s no going back… It’s just too embarrassing.”
In reality, Tanya was working — she cleaned the hallways of apartment buildings in the mornings. The pay wasn’t bad, and she didn’t even have to pay rent for the room she shared with a roommate.
But was that really a job? It was supposed to be temporary… yet that “temporary” had dragged on.
There was one upside — the job was only part-time, which left her free to attend job interviews.
…
“Hello, miss!”
Tanya stopped mopping the floor, looked up, and saw one of the building’s residents who always greeted her.
“Hello!”
“My name is Semyon Ivanovich. And yours?”
“Tanya.”
“Tanechka, I just wanted to say thank you. We’ve had plenty of cleaners, but no one has ever cleaned as thoroughly as you.”
Tanya smiled warmly. It was true — she often heard how other cleaners were criticized at management meetings, but no one had ever scolded her. In fact, they sometimes even praised her.
She replied cheerfully:
“Well, it’s my job. And I’m used to doing any work well.”
That’s how Tanya became friends with Semyon Ivanovich. They often chatted: he would tell her about his life, and she would share hers.
“Tanya, would you like to earn a little extra?”
“What do I have to do?”
“The same thing you do now — clean. It’s just that it’s getting hard for me to manage on my own. My son lives abroad, and my grandson… well, he doesn’t seem to understand that I’m not young anymore. If you could come once a week and tidy up, I’d be really grateful. I’ve been watching you for a while — you seem like a trustworthy girl.”
“Let’s give it a try,” Tanya agreed easily.
Soon Tanya had an extra source of income. Then a friend of Semyon Ivanovich asked her to clean for him too, then another, and another… Some asked her to shop for them, others even asked her to cook.
And none of them were stingy with money.
“Semyon Ivanovich,” Tanya said once, “I can’t keep up with all the clients…”
“Well, Tanya, you have your colleagues… bring them in. But you understand — the cleaning must be top-quality!”
In a short time, Tanya had built a small cleaning company. She no longer cleaned herself — she only managed the process. Still, she continued going to interviews, dreaming of finding a job in her field.
…
One day Tanya sat in her favorite shopping mall, sipping coffee and planning out the next day’s schedule.
“May I sit next to you?” a male voice suddenly asked. “It’s just… there’s nowhere else free…”
Tanya looked around and saw an almost empty hall. She laughed:
“Yes, clearly it’s packed here… Go ahead, sit down.”
“I’m Maxim. And you?”
“…Svetlana,” Tanya blurted out, not even knowing why she used a fake name.
“What a beautiful name. It must come from the word ‘light’, right?”
They started chatting. It was easy and pleasant to talk with Maxim. They shared many interests, and the evening passed quickly.
“Alright, Svet. It was nice meeting you. I have to get going.”
“Do you live far from here?”
“No, I was visiting my grandpa. Imagine — he’s found some woman to clean for him. Crafty thing — probably hoping to snag his apartment…”
“Do things like that even happen nowadays?”
“Why not? Once he signs everything over to her, it’ll be too late… I want to meet her and have a little chat.”
“I see. Well, call me,” Tanya smiled — and watched him walk away, still smiling.
Later, Maxim called her, and they began dating.
…
“Tanechka, you know,” Semyon Ivanovich once said, “you could tutor online these days… You said you did well in school.”
“Well… yeah… maybe… I never thought about it.”
“Or you could remotely manage company accounts as a bookkeeper. You told me you know accounting too. Maybe you should try? No need for a 9-to-6 job. Later you could study auditing — do you know how much auditors make? Huge money!”
Tanya laughed:
“Semyon Ivanovich, you’re a real strategist! But honestly… I do like your ideas!”
Tanya was on her way to another meeting with Maxim and mentally scolding herself. They had been dating for months, and she still hadn’t told him that her name was Tanya, not Svetlana. That she wasn’t an economist — at least not in a traditional sense. That she worked as a cleaner.
Although now she ran a small cleaning company, remotely handled accounting for two firms, had no money problems, and had even bought herself an apartment — small and in the suburbs, but brand new.
Every time she promised herself she would come clean — and every time the moment never seemed right.
This time, too, she remained “Svetlana” to Maxim.
…
“Semyon Ivanovich,” Tanya asked one day as they sipped tea in his kitchen, “if someone tells a lie, and later confesses, do you think the person they lied to will forgive them?”
“You don’t ask easy questions, Tanechka!” he chuckled. “It depends on the person…”
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“That’s my grandson,” Semyon Ivanovich said. “Come on, let’s introduce you to my helper.”
Tanya was stunned when Semyon Ivanovich returned — with none other than Maxim.
Tanya turned pale. Maxim smirked:
“Hello, Tanya… or should I say Svetlana? So you’re the one trying to grab my grandpa’s apartment!”
“Maxim… you’re wrong. I’m just helping your grandfather. I wanted to tell you everything—”
“Everything’s written all over your face!”
Tanya paled even more.
“I just wanted to introduce you two… thought you’d like each other…” Semyon Ivanovich muttered sadly.
“Semyon Ivanovich,” Tanya stood up firmly. “Thank you for the tea. I’ll be going now.”
As she passed Maxim, she paused slightly:
“By the way, your grandpa has a ton of great ideas. And I’ve been cleaning for him and shopping for him for a long time — for free.”
Tanya stood by the window of her tiny room, crying. She cried all day and all night.
She had to block Maxim everywhere because he kept sending nasty messages.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” she thought. “Of course it’s for the best! Yes, he’s handsome, but so petty and suspicious. How would we even have continued if he found out I’m just a migrant worker? My apartment won’t even be ready for another month… he would have left me for sure.”
Time passed.
Tanya no longer worked as a cleaner herself, though she still managed her now medium-sized cleaning company. She had also become a certified auditor, gotten married, and had a daughter.
One day, Tanya bought a gym membership — and ran straight into Maxim.
“Wow — you look amazing!” he said. “Tell me how you’ve been.”
“Everything’s great: husband, daughter, business…”
“Business?” Maxim looked skeptical.
“Yes — a cleaning business.”
“Seriously? People still pay for house cleaning?” he asked mockingly.
“They do — and not just houses. Cottages, shopping malls, offices…” Tanya smiled coolly. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. How are you?”
“Eh, what can I say… Two civil marriages, no kids yet. All women just want to get their hands on my property. They were desperate for me to marry them — but I’m not that easy.”
They chatted for a few more minutes and parted ways.
Tanya walked home, feeling genuinely happy that things with Maxim had never worked out.