— Sashenka just told us that behind our backs you want to buy an apartment. What do you call that? Going it alone? — Not at all. Sasha and I want to buy a place together, in both our names. Why “going it alone”? Sasha and Lena were twenty-four when they got married—young, in love, … Read more
“He’s with Liza now. And I’ll tell you a secret: she suits Vitya very well. Beautiful, well-groomed, and ambitious. And you… well, you understand—just a schoolmarm, in a word. You’re not what my son needs. So it’s time for you to pack your things and move out of the apartment. That’s what’s right,” the mother-in-law … Read more
Nastya laid out another one of Danila’s shirts on the bed and carefully hung it in the wardrobe. He had more clothes than she’d expected, but there was still enough space. “Where should I put your books?” she asked, holding a stack of technical manuals. “Top shelf, if you don’t mind,” Danila replied, folding socks … Read more
Alena loved the quiet of morning. The kind when the kettle only just begins to tremble on the flame, the coffee smells so good it feels like you’re breathing in flavor, and the sun lies softly across the old tiles, lighting up every scratch like a biography of the kitchen. In those moments she felt … Read more
The week Lida left the orphanage, she acquired an inheritance that felt more like a riddle than a gift: a squat, sagging house at the far edge of nowhere, bequeathed by a grandmother long since gone. The place sat by itself at the forest’s hem, half-collapsed and half-forgotten, as if time had walked past and … Read more
“Is that you? Vera?” “Hello, Kostya. Didn’t expect to see me?” A woman stood before him, poised, her back straight, a faint half-smile playing on her lips. Gone were the days of pleading and pain in her eyes. Kostya noticed the change in her. She looked different. Her outfit was simple but not inexpensive, her … Read more
— “Why should we pay someone when my cousin lives by the sea?” Marina snapped irritably, stuffing summer clothes into the suitcase as if the very idea of renting a place was a personal insult. “It’s absurd!” Oleg, her husband, sat on the edge of the bed with his laptop, browsing travel sites. He slowly … Read more
The July heat was melting the asphalt in the courtyard of the nine-story building. From the seventh floor balcony, clothes were flying down — lace lingerie, jeans, dresses. They drifted like autumn leaves, settling on the scorching asphalt in a patchwork carpet. “There won’t be a wedding!” Igor’s voice carried across the entire courtyard. “I … Read more
The keys clattered against the expensive hallway cabinet with a sound like a gunshot. It sliced through the heavy, ringing silence that had settled in our home for the past half hour. I stood there, arms wrapped around my shoulders, staring at Igor. My husband. The man with whom I had shared twenty years of … Read more
Alexey stopped the car. So many times he had planned, intended to come, but never found the time. While his mother was alive, he wasn’t there. After she was gone—still, he wasn’t there. The memory filled him with disgust toward himself. It would have taken so little—just one jolt to make him realize that the … Read more