On Friday evening, Alena was ironing five shirts for Vitya, one for each workday of the week. In the past few months, he’d been coming home late all the time, always talking about urgent deadlines, a new department dumped on him, meetings going until nine, and she had stopped asking when to expect him. The […]
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The first thing Oleg did when he got out of the car wasn’t to greet me—instead, he paused at the open gate and glanced past my shoulder into the yard. Then he looked over at the house, at the extension with the wide window, and only after all that did he finally ask me: «So, […]
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A few weeks later, I found a baby rattle in my husband’s jacket. Once again, he explained: it was a gift for someone else’s child. I stood in the hallway holding this plastic thing with a worn-off bear and tried to remember if any of our friends even had small kids. I couldn’t recall anyone. […]
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“Artem, can you grab two more bags from the car? And take the gray one too, it has shoes in it.” Larisa froze in the entryway, her coat still on. A large dark blue suitcase stood by the wall. Next to it, another one, a bit smaller. On the console by the mirror, there was […]
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«Yulya, there will be twelve people here on Saturday. I’ve put the grocery list on the fridge so we don’t forget anything.» Yulia, already buttoned up and ready to leave for work, walked back into the kitchen to look at the list once more. Milk, cheese, vegetables, meat, greens, fruit, juice, mineral water. Below were […]
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A black leather folder landed softly at the edge of the table, so quietly the waiter seemed afraid to disturb the air. I watched it, feeling a cold drop slide down my back beneath my silk dress. The aroma of roasted duck, wine, and expensive perfume hung over the table; glasses clinked, someone laughed a […]
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The suitcase just wouldn’t close. I sat on top of it, tugged at the zipper, and it moved a little, snagging on the edge of my sweater. My hands were shaking so much that the teeth wouldn’t line up. Tolik stood in the doorway, wearing his work jacket and carrying a tube under his arm. […]
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“First serve everyone, then you can eat yourself. In the kitchen,” Raisa Petrovna said as she handed me her plate with unfinished aspic. “Here, finish this, no point throwing it away.” There were eleven people at the table. No one laughed, but no one objected either. Vadim, my husband, picked up a pickle with his […]
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«Mom’s already promised people, so don’t embarrass me in front of the family!» «The appraiser is coming tomorrow at noon,» Gena said. He set his fork down at the edge of his empty plate. Nina looked up from the stove. «What appraiser?» «For grandma’s apartment,» her husband wiped his chin with the back of his […]
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Honestly, Alina still had no idea how it came to this. Maybe because she never thought her own husband could do something like this to her. Especially in her own apartment. It all began with a phone call. Friday evening, she was preparing dinner, chopping vegetables for a salad. The July heat was relentless outside, […]
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