It was unbearably hot on the bus, and neither the open hatches nor windows offered any relief to the weary passengers angry about the massive traffic jam. Olga was returning from work, idly pondering what to cook for dinner. Of course, her imagination conjured up exclusive dishes like marbled beef or truffle ravioli. Sighing, she settled on buckwheat with meat patties, deciding this choice was no worse.
Sitting by the window, the girl watched the evening city: it was still light outside, some hurried on their errands, others strolled in the shade of the alleys, hiding from the heat. A man was walking his dog. “Basset,” Olga noted mechanically. Having worked as a veterinarian for eight years, she could identify any dog breed, even by its bark.
A young couple with a stroller passed by. Their baby, unwilling to sit still, stood holding onto the visor of his transport, and smiled toothlessly. Olga sighed sadly—she had been unable to come to terms with her inability to become a mother for five years. She and her husband had visited numerous medical centers, but the cause of the infertility was never determined. Pushing aside heavy thoughts, the girl noticed a couple in love—a tall slender man and a chubby blonde, unabashedly merging in a passionate kiss.
“How sweet,” thought Olga, enviously in a good way. Being in her eighth year of marriage, she hardly remembered what it was like to lose her head from love and, forgetting decorum, surrender to feelings.
Finally, the man pulled away from his lover, who, tilting her head back with a snub nose, burst out laughing, not letting him go. He turned his head towards the road and Olga almost screamed in surprise—it was her husband, Anton.
The bewildered woman looked around and realized she could not get off the overcrowded bus stuck in traffic. Looking out the window again, she saw her husband, embracing the blonde by the waist, helping her into a taxi. Olga pulled out her phone and couldn’t decide what to do—call her husband or take a picture of him as proof of infidelity. The taxi drove away, leaving her deep in thought.
Anton and she had met during their second year of university—her best friend Svetka had invited him to her birthday because he was friends with her older brother. Toha, as his friends called him, was four years older than Olga and was working at a construction firm at that time. He immediately fell head over heels for her—a beautiful, long-legged brunette with tanned skin and big brown eyes.
Anton seemed a very reliable man—worked a lot, had his own apartment in the city center, and a nice car. He wasn’t romantic and didn’t give Olga bouquets of roses, believing it was better to spend money on boots or a warm jacket, and the girl agreed with him, seeing this as a sign of a mature person.
When Olga graduated from university, they got married. They lived seemingly well—her husband started his own business, and she got a job at a veterinary clinic. The only shadows over their life were the absence of children and Anton’s constant chase for money. He tried to earn more, invested in his business, and his wife supported him, trying to manage all household expenses on her salary. Of course, she wanted to travel, or at least, go to the sea once a year, but Anton always persuaded her to wait a bit longer and was often away on business trips, leaving his wife alone at home.
A couple of months ago, Svetka said she saw Anton in an expensive restaurant with some woman. Olga didn’t believe her friend, knowing it was impossible to lure her husband to a restaurant, especially an expensive one. So she dismissed the information as due to Svetka’s nearsightedness.
Finally, the bus cleared the traffic jam, and Olga feverishly pondered what to do next. Her imagination painted various pictures—from a proud silent divorce to a brutal murder. Realizing that neither option was suitable, as she definitely couldn’t remain silent, and she didn’t want to wash blood off the walls, she decided she needed to devise a revenge plan that would make her husband wake up in a cold sweat, seeing her in his dreams.
Olga couldn’t describe her feelings—jealousy, coupled with anger and incomprehension of what was happening, clouded her ability to think clearly. She got off at her stop, went to the grocery store, and somehow ended up buying a cake.
Entering the apartment, the girl stood in the hallway for a long time, looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t understand why her husband had cheated—Olga always caught admiring glances from men and listened to numerous compliments about her appearance every day. She pulled out her phone and called Svetka.
“I saw him with another,” she burst into tears unexpectedly.
“Ol, don’t cry. I told you. And why do you need him? Toha has been a terrible miser and a narcissistic peacock since childhood, you just didn’t want to see it. I’ve seen him a couple of times with that skinny scarecrow,” Svetlana tried to calm her friend.
“With a skinny one? She weighs at least 150 kilograms!” Olga exclaimed, convinced once again that her friend was indeed nearsighted.
“Well, she’s such a little dark-haired one, short,” Svetlana asked cautiously.
“No, there was a blonde elephant,” Olga angrily replied, “she kissed him like she was going to eat him.”
“Ah, so it’s not the same one,” her friend seemed relieved for some reason.
“Great, so there are several,” the cheated wife said distractedly, as if doused with icy water.
“I’ll call you after work,” Svetlana quickly hung up, realizing she had said too much.
Olga unwrapped the cake, took a fork, and without slicing it, began to eat it straight from the box, lamenting her feminine fate. After about five minutes, she was nauseous from the sweetness and pity for herself. Deciding that she would definitely come up with a sophisticated revenge plan, Olga even cheered up a bit.
The doorbell rang. Anton knew his wife had already come home from work, so he didn’t bother searching for keys in his bag. She opened the door and let her husband in, restraining herself from hitting him when he kissed her cheek as usual.
“Hello, bunny,” Anton greeted his wife, and Olga felt disgusted by the realization that he probably called all his women “bunnies” to avoid mixing up their names.
Her husband washed his hands and went to the kitchen. Seeing the picked-apart cake, he asked in surprise:
“What are we having today?”
“Cake,” Olga replied and sat down at the table.
“Uhh, is there nothing else?” her husband grumbled, amusing the girl.
“No, I thought we haven’t had cake in a long time!”
“Is it that time of the month?” Anton muttered under his breath and took eggs out of the fridge, “maybe we fry some?”
Shoving away the image of a bewildered husband with a frying pan on his head, egg yolk dripping down his forehead, Olga replied:
“Fry some, I’ll go lie down,” and she left for the bedroom.
“Definitely that time of the month,” the husband murmured, trying to figure out where they kept the frying pans.
Anton clanged the dishes loudly, demonstrating his displeasure with his wife’s behavior.
After dining alone with pride, the husband entered the bedroom and announced that he needed to go on a business trip tomorrow for a few days, possibly a week.
“And where are you going?” Olga asked curiously.
“Oh, just to an industrial town, there are a few options for warehouses and production facilities,” Anton replied evasively, “nothing interesting – just negotiations, bricks, slate, and other delights.”
“When will we go somewhere to relax? I haven’t seen the sea for three years,” the wife pouted artistically.
“Bunny, it will happen, you know we need to invest a bit now so that we can indulge later,” Anton tried to kiss his wife.
“My head hurts,” Olga turned away, barely holding herself back from starting a scandal.
In the morning, she watched as her husband, humming a tune, packed his suitcase. Olga refused to make breakfast, citing a headache, and said goodbye to Anton dryly, mentioning she needed to go to work.
After leaving the house, she bought herself coffee, called the clinic to take a couple of days off, lying that she was sick, and then settled in the gazebo near the house, pondering what to do next. A phone call came from Sveta, who mentioned seeing Anton’s surname on the airline company’s program where she worked.
“Your beloved is flying to the sea. His flight is today at one in the afternoon,” her friend informed.
Olga, after finding out the details, asked Svetlana to book her a ticket to the same destination but a few hours later. The resort town was familiar to the girl – as a child, she and her parents had vacationed there several times, falling in love with the place for its clean sea and small beautiful beach.
Suddenly, Anton burst out of the apartment building, jumped into a car, and sped off. He had no luggage, meaning he planned to return home. Olga entered the apartment and saw that her husband had already packed his suitcase. Opening it, the girl found, besides swim trunks and t-shirts, a small box wrapped in beautiful gift paper. A plan formed instantly. Gratefully thinking of her husband for his pathological frugality, she grabbed exactly the same suitcase and remembered how she had persuaded her husband not to buy them. They were good quality but in a terrible yellow color; however, as they were priced two for the price of one, Anton decided it was a good deal.
Olga stuffed the second suitcase with toilet paper, cardboard boxes, various unnecessary rags, and, unable to hold back, packed a trash bag that her husband had forgotten to take out for two days. Smiling triumphantly to herself, she grabbed a sports bag, threw in a couple of dresses, several swimsuits, flip-flops, cosmetics, and left the apartment. The gift for her husband’s mistress was also in her bag.
Back in the gazebo, Olga unpacked the box and, to her surprise, found an unusual gold dragonfly pendant inlaid with precious stones. The fact that her husband had splurged on such a clearly very expensive gift angered her. The pendant was quite large and very noticeable, so Olga decided to wear it around her neck and confront her astonished husband on the beach. Imagining his face at that moment, she laughed.
Within a few minutes, the girl observed as her husband rushed out of the house, suitcase in hand, and settled into the waiting taxi. The first part of the plan worked – he suspected nothing.
Her husband arrived at the airport where Lyubasha, a capricious and whimsical plump woman who tolerated no objections, was waiting for him. She was the only daughter of the owner of a chain of construction hypermarkets, and Anton, having easily charmed her, was already planning to manage a truly large business. He had always dreamed of becoming very wealthy and influential, saving every penny. By twenty-five, he had started his own business, earning a decent income from it. However, he had not yet achieved a high position in society and had not dreamed of such incomes – in his fantasies, he was the owner of a large country mansion and an elite car park, accompanied everywhere by personal security, with a dozen servants managing his household. He always wanted the best of everything. Having met Olga, he decided that this beauty must become his wife. He liked how men’s jaws dropped when he introduced his wife.
But she turned out to be his complete opposite – she didn’t aspire to wealth and could spend money on some nonsense like curtains or dishes. Anton had to convince Olga that his income needed to be invested in the business, so she could only spend her salary. Lately, his business had become unprofitable due to the crisis, but he didn’t give up, trying to find a way out. The solution turned out to be simpler than he thought: women always admired him, and having once met a tax office manager, he was able to solve several of his problems.
Realizing that his appearance and charm could bring the income and status he had always dreamed of, Anton began to charm rich and influential women. Mostly they were married, so, reaping his benefits from interacting with them, he felt comfortable. Lyubasha, however, was different – a young spoiled person, demanding constant attention. Her antics annoyed him, but he understood that this young woman was a ticket to a bright and carefree future. Her father was a strict and distrustful man, so Anton tried his best to please him, showering Lyuba with gifts and taking her to restaurants.
He had long decided to divorce Olga, hoping that, over time, his wife would agree to become his mistress. He was completely sure that she could not stop loving him.
After completing the check-in for the flight, the man was ready to strangle Lyubasha, who had eaten his head off with her whims: first, she was hot, then she froze under the air conditioner, wanted to drink, eat, go to the toilet, and constantly whined that it was better to vacation abroad.
“Bunny, we’ll go abroad later. I just want us to go there for at least ten days, but I can’t leave work right now,” Anton soothed the girl.
“I’m tired of standing, and I think you don’t love me,” Lyuba grimaced.
“But you have a surprise waiting when we arrive at the sea,” Anton said ingratiatingly.
“Surprise? What kind?” Lyubasha jumped, almost causing her heavy chest to pop out of her open blouse.
Anton always wanted to tell the girl that she shouldn’t dress like that – she wore short shorts, revealing tops, tight dresses, leggings, which made her look like a sausage. But he had to compliment her, each time being amazed by Lyuba’s latest outfit.
“I have a beautiful gift for you,” the man replied.
“Give it to me,” demanded the woman.
“Bunny, it’s in the suitcase. We’ll get it when we arrive,” Anton tried to hide his irritation.
Throughout the flight, Lyubasha racked her lover’s brain, trying to guess what he would gift her.
After landing and retrieving the luggage, the girl immediately demanded the gift. Anton, burdened with three suitcases, snapped, genuinely puzzled as to why Lyuba needed so many things if they had only come for three days:
“We’ll get it at the hotel!” the man barked, and the woman, for the time being, fell silent.
After settling into the hotel, Lyubasha, the first thing, rummaged through Anton’s suitcase to finally get the surprise. Surprisingly digging through a pile of rags and cardboard, she pulled out some tied package and, tearing it open, dumped the contents onto the bed. Onto the pristine cover fell potato peelings, onion husks, a mayonnaise packet, remnants of some food, and atop this assortment, a herring’s spine and head ceremoniously landed. The surprise clearly emitted a disgusting smell.
Anton, coming out of the shower, met eyes with a bewildered Lyubasha and realized something was wrong.
“What is this?” the girl shrieked.
The man, approaching the bed, stared at the contents of the suitcase, not understanding what was happening.
“Where did you get this?” Anton asked in shock.
“Are you mocking me? This is your suitcase! Where’s my gift? Is it this herring or maybe the dirty napkin?” the outraged blonde pointed her finger at the foul-smelling heap on the bed.
The man sat on a chair and thoughtfully rubbed the back of his head. He realized this was his wife’s doing and feverishly pondered what to do, amid the screeching of his enraged mistress. On one hand, everything was going well – he could now avoid explanations with Olga and calmly file for divorce; on the other hand, it was a pity for the money spent on Lyubasha’s gift, which would require him to buy her something in return. Understanding that any business requires investment, Anton resigned himself to his fate and began to calm the girl:
“Bunny, this is some misunderstanding. Most likely, our suitcase was mixed up with someone else’s. I’ll call the airline right now and report the swap.”
Lyubasha skeptically looked at Anton:
“And if the person who took your suitcase steals my surprise?”
“Then we’ll buy a new one,” the man replied, marveling at his companion’s stupidity – how could she believe that someone intentionally flew with a suitcase of trash.
“Baby, does anyone else have such an awful yellow suitcase,” a glimmer of consciousness appeared in Lyubasha’s head, but it quickly faded, “okay, let’s go buy me new surprises.”
Meanwhile, the plane with the deceived wife was boarding, who had firmly decided to wear the pendant and go to the beach to tickle the nerves of the sweet couple. After settling into the hotel, Olga changed into a beautiful turquoise swimsuit that emphasized her tanned skin, took a beach mat, a tunic, wore the shining golden dragonfly around her neck, and leisurely headed to the sea. Men turned their heads at the sight of the beauty, and their wives sent her malicious glances. Smiling, Olga thought that she would never let any suitor near her again, as they are all deceivers and betrayers.
Arriving at the beach, the girl felt downhearted as there were too many people, and finding Anton with his companion in such a crowd was not easy. Walking along the water’s edge, she surreptitiously examined the vacationers when she suddenly bumped into another corn seller.
A tall, tanned man with slight gray at the temples did not quite fit in with the squad of beach delicacy vendors, bustling around the beach in search of earnings. The vendor froze in place, impudently staring at her chest.
“That’s too much,” Olga thought angrily, trying to bypass the insolent man. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm.
“Where did you get the pendant?” the man asked fiercely.
“Are you sick? Let me go!” the girl tried to pull away.
“I’m asking, where did you get it?” it was evident that rage was building in him.
“I don’t understand what you want from me? And why are you poking me?” Olga was indignant.
“Let’s call the police, you can tell them everything,” the man did not let go of the girl.
Several people, apparently acquaintances of this vendor, approached them.
“Sergey, what happened?” one of them asked, examining Olga with interest.
“Look, what she has around her neck. I personally made this pendant to order for Inga,” the man replied with a trembling voice.
“Can someone please explain what’s going on here?” Olga was ready to burst into tears.
“Where is she? Answer! What did you do to her?” Sergey gripped her arm even tighter.
“You’re insane! Who is she? This isn’t even my pendant,” the girl cried.
“Sergey, wait, she doesn’t look like a murderer. Anyway, we need to figure this out first,” his friend said.
“A murderer?” the girl repeated in shock.
“His wife had the same pendant; he gifted it to her just before she disappeared,” the second vendor began explaining the situation.
“Disappeared? How long ago?” Olga was horrified.
“It’s been over a year. The police haven’t really done anything, the person vanished like into thin water. She went to the city on business and never returned,” Sergey sighed, “so, where did you get the jewelry?”
Olga briefly explained about her husband and his mistress, and herself suggested going to the police.
“I don’t think Anton could be involved in a crime, but at least he’ll tell where he bought the pendant. After all, if it’s a unique handmade piece, it must have been sold through some supplier,” the girl said.
“I need to pick up my son from kindergarten now, can we go to the station afterwards?” Sergey asked somewhat distrustfully.
“Let’s go, so you don’t think I’ll run away, let’s go together to pick up your child, just let me change clothes,”
“We’re at a resort, everyone dresses like this, just throw something over it if you want,” Sergey replied, indicating that they needed to hurry.
The girl draped a light tunic over her swimsuit, and together they headed to the kindergarten. On the way, Sergey shared that he and his wife had been together since school.
“You know, she always dreamed of living in a big city, and I always held her back. She wanted to go to clubs, shopping malls, but we don’t have that here. You know how beautiful she was. As a child, she really liked watching dragonflies. When Sasha was born, I ordered this pendant for her. It cost me so much money, I could have bought a car. Inga was so happy, and then she was gone,” the man said, tears welling in his eyes.
“Wait, maybe she’s still alive, maybe she was kidnapped or lost her memory, I’ve heard that happens,” Olga tried to comfort him.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to believe that she’s no longer alive. Poor Sasha only recently calmed down; he was always calling for his mom,” Sergey continued, “he’s not our biological son, we had trouble having children and I saw how my wife suffered from this. It was a tough decision – we adopted a boy when he was four years old. Inga hesitated for a long time, but I decided that the child would fill her life with meaning. She kind of shied away from him, as if she felt she wouldn’t be around much longer and didn’t want Sasha to get attached to her.”
They approached the gate of the kindergarten. Children were playing in the playground, and a blond boy, seeing his dad, ran towards the exit. His teacher stopped him and, taking him by the hand, led him to the gate.
“Good evening, Sergey Alexandrovich,” said the woman, looking curiously at Olga, “Sasha again didn’t eat anything.”
The little boy sighed comically, frowned, and said:
“Dad, you know I don’t like soup and cutlets.”
“Son, we need to have a serious talk,” Sergey hugged the boy and said goodbye to the teacher.
“Mom?” the boy asked cautiously, his gaze shifting from Olga’s face to the pendant on her chest.
“No, son, this is not mom. This is Aunt Olya,” Sergey replied, not knowing what else to tell the child.
“And where is mom?” the little boy asked her, somewhat perplexed.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure mom would be upset to hear you haven’t eaten anything,” the girl tried to distract him.
“I like pizza and compote, but the cutlets are so tasteless,” the little boy declared and suddenly took Olga by the hand.
That touch electrified her. The warm, soft little palm confidently nestled in hers evoked a feeling of maternal tenderness she had never known before. Sasha talked all the way about how he had molded a car from clay at the daycare, how the nasty girl Ira broke his craft, and how she pushed him all day long.
Then he asked innocently:
“Aunt Olya, do you know how to make pizza and compote?”
“I do. Would you like me to teach you?” the girl replied.
“Of course!” the little boy exclaimed joyfully.
They reached some yard, and the man, squatting next to Sasha, said he needed to stay with grandma for now, and then dad would pick him up.
“And Aunt Olya? She promised pizza,” the boy asked sadly.
“If I promised, we’ll do it,” Olga replied, meeting Sergey’s disapproving look.
The man took the child into the yard, and a couple of minutes later, he came out.
“Shall we go to the police?” he asked.
“Yes, of course,” Olga agreed.
At the station, they were met with displeased faces. The girl realized that Sergey regularly visited the investigator to learn how the search for his wife was progressing, which annoyed the law enforcement officers who had no news for him. However, upon hearing about the pendant that had appeared, a police officer became interested and immediately made inquiries at local hotels to establish the whereabouts of Olga’s husband.
Half an hour later, Anton and his mistress entered the investigator’s office, accompanied by several police officers. The husband looked bewildered, and upon seeing his wife, he completely deflated.
“Tell the investigation where this pendant, involved in the disappearance case of Inga Sukhodeeva, came from?” the investigator asked.
Anton explained that he had bought the pendant at a pawnshop and even found a receipt for the purchase in his bag. The blonde, realizing that this was the surprise intended for her, started a scandal:
“You wanted to give me a piece of jewelry from a pawnshop? Who do you think I am?”
“Bunny, calm down, I’ll explain everything later,” Anton tried to pacify her.
Hearing his habitual “bunny,” Olga felt a surge of revulsion. She looked at her husband and could not understand why she had loved this man. She no longer wanted to seek revenge. He was definitively erased from her life.
She walked out of the investigator’s office into the street. It felt as if she had left her past life behind and there was no way back. She needed to think about many things: moving out of her husband’s apartment, renting a place closer to work, some plans for the future, but her mind was occupied only with one thought, “Pizza and compote today, and tomorrow I’ll think about everything else.”
Someone touched her shoulder, and she flinched. It was Sergey.
“Thank you for agreeing to come to the police. Maybe now there’s a chance to find Inga. If the jewelry was pawned, it means someone robbed and possibly killed her. I need to say goodbye to her properly. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have made such a noticeable piece of jewelry; then she wouldn’t have become a crime victim.”
Olga looked into the teary eyes of this tall, strong man and suddenly thought that her problems were nothing compared to his grief. Let her husband be a traitor, but he was alive and well, and she didn’t wish him ill.
Anton and his heartthrob walked out of the police station.
“Oh, I see you’re not wasting time,” her husband said spitefully, “consoling a new acquaintance?”
“Anton, be happy, file for divorce yourself. I have no complaints. And sorry about the suitcase joke. But you should have divorced your wife before starting a new life.”
“Which wife? Are you married?” the blonde shrieked, “so it was you who stuffed the suitcase with trash?”
“Yep, took out the trash, so to speak, from the house and from my life,” Olga smiled.
Anton and his mistress walked toward the hotel, loudly arguing about something. Sergey, amused by the events, laughed and asked:
“What about the trash?”
Olga told him about her plan for revenge.
“You know, you’re a strong woman. Infidelity is very painful, I could never forgive such a thing.”
“It hurts. But there’s no point in being offended. You can’t hold on to someone who no longer loves you. I hope everything turns out well for him. After all, we had good times in our life, and I’m grateful for them. It’s just that Anton is different. We turned out to have different interests, and I won’t judge him for it, let alone hate him. After learning your story, meeting Sasha, I realized that my situation isn’t as bad as it initially seemed,” Olga replied sadly.
“Olga, thank you, I wish you to find someone who will appreciate you. You’re very beautiful, and many men are intimidated by such women. But you’re kind, so you will definitely be happy,” Sergey said, taking her hand.
“Are you saying goodbye to me? What about the pizza? I promised Sasha,” Olga said, somewhat upset.
“I thought you were just saying that. Then you’re welcome to our bachelor den,” Sergey was delighted.
They went to pick up the boy from his grandmother’s and the three of them headed home. Sasha, anticipating the pizza-making process, amusingly discussed how he would make the dough and cut the tomatoes. Then he declared that they should treat the annoying Ira, who pushes him around and takes his toys.
“Of course, son, we should,” Sergey said and winked at Olga.
The evening passed in a warm atmosphere. However, sometimes a shadow of sadness fell over the man’s face, and he often glanced at his phone, hoping for a call from the police.
After dinner, Sergey and his son walked Olga to her hotel, and the boy, hugging her, asked:
“Aunt Olga, will you come walk with me tomorrow?”
“Son, Olga needs to go home,” Sergey said, and the girl thought his voice sounded disappointed.
“Well, I still have two days off, so why rush. Besides, tomorrow is Saturday. Let’s go to the sea and, while dad is working, you can teach me to swim,” Olga offered the boy.
“You don’t know how to swim?” the boy asked in surprise, “I already can. Okay, I’ll teach you.”
“Then we’ll see you tomorrow at nine,” Sergey said and smiled.
Olga waved goodbye to them and felt strangely happy. She liked this serious man, and the boy was utterly delightful to her.
She couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about Sergey and Sasha, about whether Inga was alive, and what might have happened to her. Thoughts about having to fly back home the next day and start a completely new life kept her awake. She thought it would be great to move to this town and forget everything that tied her to Anton.
In the morning, as she descended to the hotel lobby, she saw her new friends holding a huge inflatable swan.
“Hello, guys. What’s this?” Olga smiled, poking the rubber beak.
“Sasha said – to learn to swim, you have to hold onto an inflatable ring. Then we decided a swan would be better,” Sergey laughed.
They left the building and headed towards the beach when suddenly Sergey’s mobile phone rang. After answering the call, Sergey turned pale and said they needed to go to the police station immediately. Olga and Sasha waited for him outside. The man came out half an hour later, looking devastated, and silently, carrying the swan, headed towards the sea. It was clear that the news was very bad, so she tried to distract Sasha and asked no questions.
On the beach, the girl and the boy stayed to swim, while Sergey, asking her to watch the child, went somewhere. Olga understood that they probably found Inga’s body, and she didn’t know how to support him with words.
About an hour later, Sasha got hungry, and they both went to a beach cafe. After some time, his father entered and, with a sad smile, said that if it weren’t for the swan, it would have been hard to find them. After the meal, they decided to go home so that Sasha, who was used to napping at daycare, could rest.
The man asked Olga to put the child to bed and left somewhere. The boy settled on a large sofa and asked her to lie down next to him. They counted fingers, guessed which hand held the candy, and then, laying his head on her shoulder, Sasha fell asleep. She didn’t move, afraid to wake the child. Olga watched his breathing little nose, plump lips, and evenly shaped eyebrows. Knowing that tomorrow this fairy tale would end, she wanted to remember every second spent in this little family.
Sergey returned and, seeing that his son was asleep, whispered an invitation for Olga to have coffee. He looked surprisingly calm and even joked. The girl didn’t understand anything anymore, explaining his behavior as a reaction to stress.
He stepped onto the porch, lit a cigarette, and looked into the girl’s eyes for a long time without saying a word. Then, angrily throwing away the cigarette butt, he said:
“She’s alive.”
Sergey turned around and went inside, and a surprised Olga followed him with the words:
“That’s great. Where has she been all this time? What happened to her?”
“She lived in the city with some rich prince, and then, when he dumped her, she pawned the dragonfly and went to seek happiness in the capital. Apparently, she found it. She had been having affairs with vacationers here, then chased after one to a better life.”
Olga was stunned by these news and didn’t know what to say. Sergey continued:
“You know what hurts me the most? Sasha called for her every day, asked where mom was, I cried so many tears, thinking she had been killed, that she had been mistreated, that I was to blame – couldn’t protect her. I was so surprised – why was my mother-in-law so calm while I was going crazy here? And she knew everything. Now I came to her, saying, why did you make a fool out of me, maman? She’s silent. Well, yes, what can she say now? I feel sick, Ol. So sick.”
Sergey went out to the yard and sat on a bench. Olga, understanding that he needed to be alone, went into the kitchen, deciding to cook something for dinner. Finding out there was no bread, she ran to the store. Returning fifteen minutes later, she encountered the house owner at the doorstep.
“I was scared you left. Olga, can you stay with Sasha overnight? I need to drive a taxi, and I don’t want to take my son to my mother-in-law after all this.”
“Yes, of course. Just need to grab some clothes from the hotel,” the girl replied.
“Thank you. He’ll wake up soon and we’ll go pick up your things,” Sergey gratefully replied.
“Sergey, I have to fly back tomorrow. The plane is at three. I only asked for time off work until Monday,” Olga said sadly, realizing how hard it would be for her to leave them.
“Yes, I know. We’ll miss you,” Sergey managed to say and left the kitchen.
That evening, Olga and the boy, having fried some bread, looked at different dog breeds on the computer. The girl told Sasha about her work, and he, admiringly, declared that he would also be a veterinarian. Before bed, they talked for a long time, lying in bed, Olga telling fairy tales, deliberately twisting and confusing the characters, which made Sasha burst into laughter. Sergey called several times, asking if everything was alright.
He returned just before dawn and, entering his son’s room, found him sleeping on Olga’s shoulder. The man stood for a long time, looking at the beautiful face of the girl he had known for just a couple of days but already did not want to let go.
Olga woke up to the morning chill coming from an open window. Sasha was still sweetly sleeping, cutely tucking his fist under his head. She left the room and, seeing Sergey, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, involuntarily admired his strong arms, masculine face, and dimple on his chin. “Grandma always said that if a man has a dimple, it means a girl will be born first,” Olga suddenly remembered.
Eight hours were left until the plane. She went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for these two wonderful men with whom she had to part today. Sasha rushed in first at the smell of pancakes, and a couple of minutes later, Sergey came in. The boy chewed the treat and campaigned for Olga to cook pizza again in the evening.
“Son, Aunt Ola has to leave,” Sergey said sadly and looked her in the eyes, as if waiting for her to make some decision.
The girl felt offended somehow, hoping he would suggest she stay, although she understood that would be strange, since they were essentially strangers to each other. The boy burst into tears, running up and hugging Olga:
“Aunt Ola, please stay, I haven’t even shown you my bicycle yet.”
“Sasha, how about we visit each other? I promise I will definitely come soon,” Olga answered with tears in her voice, realizing she was lying – a veterinarian’s salary did not allow her to fly frequently.
“Can you ask for a few more days off from your job?” Sergey asked timidly and shyly looked away.
The girl was delighted by such a simple proposal, understanding that he also did not want to part with her. She took her phone and went outside to call her clinic manager.
The conversation with the boss left Olga stunned – it turned out that she had been fired last week, retroactively, so she wouldn’t claim her salary for this month. The manager, with a guilty voice, informed her that there was nothing she could do, as the request to fire Olga had come from a very high-ranking official in their city.
Realizing that this was how Anton and his mistress were taking revenge, she was at a loss – she was effectively left without a home and income. Standing with the phone in her hands, the girl stared blankly at her feet.
Sergey came outside and realized from her look that something had happened.
“Olga, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing special, except that I was fired from my job without settlement. I planned to receive an advance in a few days and rent an apartment, but now I don’t know what to do,” Olga exhaled noisily and sat down next to the man.
“You can stay with us. Sasha, you know, will be glad,” Sergey said and went inside to cheer up his son.
“Sasha will be glad… And you, apparently, won’t be,” Olga thought, feeling a pang of jealousy. The child ran out, happy, climbed onto the girl’s lap, and hugged her tightly. This took her breath away; she hugged the boy tightly and kissed his cheek.
Sergey tried not to look at her, understanding that it was too early to think about his status in her life. Yet it hurt her that she was already in love, and he behaved as if they were just friends. Then he said something that changed her life forever:
“And do I have to climb onto your knees to get a kiss?”
“Better I come to you,” Olga laughed.
Then, for a long time, she would wake up in the morning, afraid that it was just a dream that would dissipate as soon as she opened her eyes. But the warm embraces of her beloved husband assured her that it was forever.
Several times Anton called and asked her to come home. It turned out that the future father-in-law, having learned the story of the pendant and that the potential son-in-law was married, forbade his daughter to communicate with him. Lyubasha was ready to give up all her father’s millions and move in with Anton, but the calculating man was not ready for such a turn. Wishing him all the best, Olga asked him not to bother her anymore.
Several years passed… She and Sasha were sorting out purchases from a school fair. Next week the boy was starting first grade.
“Mom, look at this beautiful pencil case I have. Can I put my pencils and pens in it?”
Olga, glancing at the school supplies, suddenly turned pale and then ran to the bathroom, feeling a sharp bout of nausea. Sergey and Sasha looked after her, puzzled.
“Dad, why doesn’t mom like school?” the boy asked in surprise.
“I don’t know,” the man answered with concern in his voice.
Olga came out of the bathroom and heavily sat down on a chair.
“Are you ill? Should I call a doctor?” Sergey bustled.
“Is it because of the pencils?” Sasha asked thoughtfully, “Better to put the markers?”
“No, son, it’s not because of the pencils,” Olga managed to say, “it’s just that soon there will be four of us.”
Sergey picked up his wife, ignoring her protests, and twirled her around the room.
That’s how Sasha learned that he would soon have a brother or sister. He didn’t quite understand where they would come from and why his parents didn’t know whether it would be a boy or a girl, but he decided that he would find out later.
In April, Olga looked out the window of the hospital room, holding her newborn daughter. Her beloved men were walking down the street. Sasha was proudly carrying a bouquet of flowers. He already knew that his sister had lived in his mom’s stomach, just how she got there, the school refused to tell. And his parents said it was from love. “I wonder,” Sasha thought, “if the annoying Irka loves me, will a child also grow in her stomach?”