“Ira, brace yourself! I’m about to tell you something, but don’t panic,” Vika’s voice was very agitated.
“What happened?” Irina grew alert. Her friend was usually calm and unemotional, but something in her was different today. “Say it—don’t drag it out. If you do, I really will panic.”
“You said your Borya went on a business trip?”
“Yes, this morning.”
“That’s a lie…” Victoria’s voice dulled and went flat. “He didn’t go anywhere… Your husband is still in the city…”
Irina and Boris had been married for almost twenty-two years. They met when they were students. It wasn’t love at first sight. At first they were just friends, hanging out with the same group. For a while they even forgot about each other, but then they met again and became a couple.
Borya proposed to Ira down south. It was beautiful and romantic. She still remembered that wonderful dinner at a seaside restaurant with a stunning view of the sunset over the sea.
After twenty-two years with Boris, Irina could say with complete confidence that it had been the happiest time of her life. Her husband had never spoken a harsh word to her; he always listened to her opinion and consulted her when needed.
Fifteen years ago their son, Roma, was born. Borya never shirked his duties as a father. He got up at night, soothed the baby, warmed up formula—did all the things most men flatly refuse to do.
“With a husband like that you could have not just one child, but ten!” relatives and friends told Irina enviously. “He’s not a man, he’s pure gold! If only they were all like him.”
Despite having a wonderful husband, Ira never decided to have a second child. Borya didn’t insist. For him, quality mattered more than quantity. He raised his son in a way he himself hadn’t been raised. Roma had everything, but he wasn’t spoiled. He respected and loved his parents.
Knowing Borya inside out, Irina had never once doubted his fidelity. He never stayed late at work, never behaved oddly, never ogled other women. Boris adored Ira and still admired her beauty and naturalness.
For that reason, Victoria’s words didn’t throw her into shock or confusion. Irina decided Vika was mistaken and had seen not Borya but some man who just looked very much like him.
“No, dear, it was him. Boris got up at five in the morning and rushed to the airport to check in.”
“Ira,” the woman said sympathetically, “I didn’t just catch a glimpse of him. I spoke to him, you understand?”
“How?”
“Like this: he just didn’t recognize me. We only saw each other once in our lives, and that was ten years ago. To be honest, I didn’t recognize him right away either. If he hadn’t shown his passport, I wouldn’t have realized who I was dealing with.”
“Passport?” Ira repeated, not understanding. “Why was he showing you his documents? Did you get a job at the airport?”
“What does the airport have to do with anything, Ira? I took his passport to draw up a contract. He rented my apartment for a week, you see?”
“Are you kidding me?” Irina tensed. She didn’t want to believe her friend, but there was no reason for Vika to lie.
“No, I’m not kidding. I took photos of his documents. I’ll send them to you now.”
When Ira opened the picture in her messenger, her perfect world collapsed. It was indeed her husband’s passport. The man she’d lived with for twenty-two years and trusted without question.
“Why… why did you rent him the apartment? You… you realized who he was…” Every sentence cost Irina visible effort. At first her voice trembled, then quiet sobs came through the receiver.
“Don’t cry, dear,” Vika pitied her friend, but truth mattered more. “I rented it to him to bring him into the open. I don’t want you living in a lie.”
“What do we do now?”
“Call him—ask how his flight to that other city went. If Borya keeps up the business-trip story, we need to act fast.”
“Act? How?”
“We’ll go there together and keep an eye on your husband. We’ll see who comes to him. We need to catch him red-handed, otherwise he’ll spin a different story and that’s it—you won’t be able to prove anything,” Vika had already planned everything out, so all Ira had to do was follow her lead.
“How will we know if he’s fooling around with someone? Plenty of people go in and out of an apartment building.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. Recently the neighbors on our landing installed a camera by the door. Now we can see anyone who approaches the apartment.”
As much as Irina disliked the idea of spying, she had to agree with her friend. If Boris really had a secret relationship, she needed to know.
When she called her husband, Ira tried to coax the truth out of him, but he wouldn’t budge. He said he’d flown to the other city just fine and was about to get down to business. Such a brazen lie upset his wife. She hung up and immediately called Vika.
“When do we go? I want to see his shameless eyes when I catch him with another woman.”
“Right now, if you want! I’m ready.”
Victoria and Irina spent half a day sitting in the car by the entrance to that ill-fated building. They pulled up the video on the phone and watched the door at the same time. If some flashy chick walked in, they would rush to the scene and catch Boris in the act. That was Ira and Vika’s plan.
But time passed, and the landing remained quiet.
“Maybe you were mistaken after all? Or maybe Borya slipped out while we weren’t watching,” Ira tried to push away gloomy thoughts.
“We watched the archived footage. Boris is definitely inside the apartment. The other question is why he isn’t coming out—or why no one is going in. I don’t get it.”
After sitting in the car until nightfall, Irina was exhausted and decided to call off the stakeout.
“Let’s pick it up tomorrow? Borya’s asleep anyway. See—the lights are out.”
“Okay, let’s go. We’ll see his visitors sooner or later. The camera runs around the clock.”
The next morning Victoria first checked the night’s recording. Borya still hadn’t left the apartment. But at nine o’clock a delivery guy came by with two bags of groceries.
“No one else?” Ira asked when they met.
“No, just the courier.”
They spent the second day in the car again, with the same result.
“I don’t understand why he’s holed up in there. Maybe the camera’s broken? Maybe someone’s been visiting Borya for ages already?”
“Nothing’s broken. Everything’s working. I don’t know what your husband is up to. Maybe he saw us and that’s why he isn’t coming out?”
“Unlikely…” Ira said thoughtfully. Suddenly her expression changed and her lips trembled. “What if he’s feeling ill and we’re just sitting here doing nothing? Borya recently complained about heart pain. What if he’s been diagnosed with something terminal and decided not to tell us?”
“Ira, don’t panic and don’t make up nonsense,” Vika shook her head. “Your husband isn’t a cat that slips away from home to die alone.”
“Then I don’t know what to think. Give me the keys—I’ll go in and ask Boris directly what’s going on.”
“Are you sure? If you don’t catch him red-handed, he could string you along.”
“I know my husband. I’ll know if he’s lying.”
Reluctantly, Victoria gave her friend the keys to the apartment and followed after her.
It was already dusk outside, but the light in the window where Boris was sitting was still on, so Ira was sure he hadn’t gone to bed.
She quietly opened the lock and stepped inside. The entryway was dark, but a dim light seeped from the closed bedroom.
“Shh,” Irina hissed, looking back at her friend. “I’ll go up to the door, listen to what’s going on, then walk in unexpectedly.”
“Mhm,” Victoria grunted.
Ira crept up to the door with a bright strip of light beneath it and froze. At first the bedroom was quiet, and then suddenly Boris’s voice rang out:
“So that’s how it is?! I’ll punish you for this! Take that, you scoundrel!”
Hearing that strange monologue, Irina looked at her friend and whispered:
“Someone’s in there. So your camera doesn’t work after all.”
Victoria only had time to shrug before Ira flung the door open and walked in. She expected to see her husband with another woman, but Boris was alone. He was wearing headphones in front of a big monitor and didn’t even hear his wife and her friend come into the bedroom.
“Borya! Borya, what is going on here?!” Irina’s questions got no reaction. She came closer and touched him.
“Whoa!” her husband flinched, jumping in his seat. He turned, eyes bulging at the sight of the women, then pulled off his headphones. “Honey?! What are you… what are you doing here?!”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing. You’re supposed to be on a business trip!”
“Uh… well…” Borya started to stammer. “Here’s the thing… You see…”
“No, I don’t see! Explain!” Irina frowned even harder.
“I took a little vacation. I wanted to relax… I mean, play to my heart’s content…”
“Play? You rented an apartment to play video games?” As she said it, Irina felt incredible relief, though she was still shaking with anger.
“Uh-huh. Roma got me hooked on his games, and I just can’t play at home. It’s kind of embarrassing. And you wouldn’t understand. So I rented a console. Rented a place. Now I’m just sitting here grinding through levels all day.” Noticing Vika standing behind Irina, Boris broke off and looked questioningly at his wife. “How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”
“How?” Ira smiled. “Through a friend. This is Victoria. You probably don’t remember her, but she remembered you. She called me the moment you moved in.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Borya marveled. “Out of all the rentals in the city, I picked your friend’s place.”
“That’s right!” Irina burst out laughing. “What’s done in secret comes to light. I’ve got eyes all over town, so keep that in mind for the future.”
Laughing at the ridiculous situation, he packed his things and went home with his wife. From then on, Ira trusted Boris completely. So he wouldn’t be tempted to rent an apartment just to game, she let him spend his entire vacation at the computer.
“Yeah… that was awkward,” Vika admitted, ashamed that her friend had been forced to doubt her own husband because of her. “I should’ve told Boris right away that we knew each other.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Ira shook her head. “Honestly, I’m even glad I went through all of this. Now I know for sure that Boris will never betray me or leave me. Well, except maybe for games… But we’ll talk about that too…”