Ksenia stirred the borscht again, glaring at the two sad pieces of beetroot lazily floating on the surface, while her husband had already been glued to his phone on the couch for half an hour. The kitchen smelled of garlic and irritation. “Vladimir, I’m begging you,” Ksenia tried to speak calmly, but her tone still … Read more
“What if I just get up and leave?” Marina’s voice sounded calm, but strangely out of place against the clink of a spoon against a plate. Vladimir lifted his eyes from his soup and frowned. “Where are you off to this time?” he muttered. “Your shift isn’t till the day after tomorrow. Or is this … Read more
Sign here, and the apartment will pass into the ownership of Antonina Pavlovna,” the notary held out the documents, but Marina’s hand froze in mid-air when she saw her mother-in-law’s triumphant smile. The notary’s office was stuffy despite the air conditioner humming away. Marina Sergeevna sat at a massive oak desk, clutching the pen so … Read more
To hell with her!” Oksana barked, flinging her handbag onto the shoe shelf in the hallway. Her keys flew to the floor with a metallic jingle. Artyom poked his head out of the living room, where he’d been watching football. One look at his wife’s face, and he understood at once: yet another meeting with … Read more
Valery Petrovich considered himself a man who kept everything under control. At work he was the head of a department, at home the head of the family, in life the master of his own fate. He was used to everything going according to his plan, and when something slipped off schedule, his voice would fill … Read more
The first time Lyudmila Petrovna came over was a month after the wedding. I still hadn’t really settled into the apartment Dima and I were renting on the outskirts of town. Boxes with our things stood in the corner of the bedroom, half the necessary kitchenware was still missing, and I was rushing between work … Read more
Almost three weeks had passed since he was gone. The first days went by in a haze, then came the memorial on the ninth day. The apartment, scrubbed until it squeaked, felt empty and echoing. Her son Oleg came with his wife Sveta. Not just to visit, but to help. “Mom, how are you?” Sveta … Read more
“Dash, are you coming or not? Mom baked pies, she’ll be offended.” Misha was already standing in the hallway, fully dressed. He was wearing that very same blue jacket Dasha had given him for his last birthday. He shifted from foot to foot, glancing impatiently at her, curled up in the deep armchair in the … Read more
The Mercury office center greeted Sofiya Dmitrievna with cool, almost sterile air mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a faint smell of new furniture. The Monday business bustle wrapped around her like a thick fog in which voices and footsteps seemed to dissolve. She automatically adjusted the frame of her unfashionable glasses, … Read more
The Mercury office center greeted Sofiya Dmitrievna with cool, almost sterile air mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a faint smell of new furniture. The Monday business bustle wrapped around her like a thick fog in which voices and footsteps seemed to dissolve. She automatically adjusted the frame of her unfashionable glasses, … Read more