“We’ll sell your shop and buy an apartment for my sister,” — her husband didn’t yet know what awaited him after such a proposal.

Anna wiped her hands with a towel, admiring the bouquet of white roses she had just arranged for a regular client. Outside, an October drizzle fell, while inside the shop it smelled of freshness and life — that’s how she always described the complex scent of flowers. Three years ago, she couldn’t have imagined she … Read more

— Marin, I’m at the Kopeikins’. They asked me to help move some furniture, — Vasya reported on the go to his wife while pulling on his jeans, since his longtime friend Ivan Kopeikin had just called him.

— Marin, I’m going to the Kopeykin’s. They asked me to help move some furniture, — Vasya reported to his wife as he pulled on his jeans, having just received a call from his longtime friend Ivan Kopeykin. Ivan seemed not to care about the time — it was still very early on a weekend … Read more

— Mom, pack your things… We’re going to the NURSING HOME! — the son had already devised a cunning plan to deceive his sick mother.

Sonny? Grishenka… It’s me, Mom…” Galina Pavlovna’s voice trembled like an autumn leaf in the wind—fragile, lonely, full of quiet hope. She pressed the old telephone receiver to her ear, as if afraid that even this invisible bridge between her and her son might break at any moment. Silence. A click in the receiver, then … Read more

— If you had known I would punish you, would you have talked to me like that? — the wife smiled.

Olya watched with visible pleasure as his self-confidence evaporated. It seemed that during the time they had been talking, his face had gone through the entire spectrum of human emotions — from superiority to obsequiousness. How wrong she had been about him, how petty and insignificant he turned out to be, as soon as the … Read more

— How sweet! They’re dividing up rooms in my apartment, which they won’t even be able to get into.

Victoria stood by the kitchen window, watching the neighbor children playing in the yard. Sunlight fell onto the wooden countertop where samples of wedding invitations lay. In two months, her wedding with Kirill was scheduled, and each day brought new concerns. The three-room apartment on the fifth floor of a panel building had been her … Read more

Mother-in-law gave away my jewelry to her friends and said: “You are just a servant for my son, don’t you dare complain.

Mashenka, be a dear and pour us some tea,” asked my mother-in-law, not even looking up from the phone screen when I entered the living room after a long day at work. Her friends had already settled on the couch, like three crows on a wire. Something was gleaming on the coffee table. I froze—it … Read more