Returning from a business trip, Liliya decided to stop by the local deli located on the ground floor of her apartment building. She planned to buy something ready-made for dinner. It was already close to seven in the evening, and Liliya realized she had no time to cook, nor did she want to stand at the stove.
She had spent a jittery two hours on the commuter train, listening to the endless stories of her fellow passengers. The elderly ladies were eagerly and loudly sharing recipes for pickling cucumbers and cabbage, as well as advice on how to handle unruly daughters-in-law.
The trip had been tough. Maybe Liliya was just getting sick, as she constantly felt chills and aching all over her body. On the train, she could only dream of one thing — to get home and lie down, wrapped in a warm, soft blanket. She wasn’t particularly hungry, just aware that there should be food at home. At the moment, her refrigerator was as empty as a drum.
In the café, where one could buy ready-made, tasty, and hearty food, it was warm and comfortable, with a cozy smell of pastries. Liliya even paused for a moment at the brightly lit showcase, gazing at the appetizing baked goods.
«I’ll have tea with a Danish. Or maybe I should grab a pastry. Look how many there are, and so beautiful, it’s impossible to resist!» — her eyes darted around at the abundance of sweets decorated with colorful cream, candied fruits, and nuts.
After buying herself some treats that reminded her of her childhood, Liliya went up to her floor, to her now empty apartment.
She and her husband had separated a couple of months ago. They had delayed this moment in the hope of a miracle, waiting for the feelings that had once brought them together, strong and hot, to return.
It didn’t happen. A broken and glued vase won’t hold water, meaning it can no longer contain flowers; it’s now just a lifeless vessel.
The same happened with her and Nikita. Liliya understood everything intellectually, but her heart couldn’t forgive her former lover. There had been infidelity, that was a fact. But, as Nikita explained when they could already talk, it wasn’t his fault. He was drugged and laid in bed, remembering nothing.
He suffered, Liliya saw it. She tried to figure out what to do because she still loved her husband. She read psychologists, spoke with a priest. But she never found the strength to forgive someone capable of betrayal.
For the last three months, they lived in this apartment, which belonged to Liliya, like neighbors. She didn’t kick her husband out immediately only because she was calm and non-confrontational. And she understood—they needed to give it time, both for her husband and for herself. After all, destroying a family is much easier than creating a new one.
Nikita moved out to a friend’s place, not having received Liliya’s forgiveness. She wanted to take the keys from him, to end it once and for all, to avoid any more meetings and talks, any memories and sentiments. But Nikita asked her to leave some of his things in the apartment.
«For a couple of weeks. I’ll get my own place and then take everything else. Pashka is already cramped in his little studio, and here I’ll come with all my stuff,» the ex-husband explained the situation.
«Fine,» Liliya replied in a hollow voice. «But don’t drag it out.»
She didn’t take the keys from Nikita, although it would have been right to do so. After all, he could have taken his things in her presence. That would have been the proper way. But Liliya hoped he would do it without her. Maybe one day she’d come home from work and Nikita’s things would be gone. And it would be as if he had never been in her life. A strange kind of illusion, a deception of consciousness.
Opening her door with a key today, Liliya realized someone had been home. Because she always locked both locks—the top and bottom, but now only the top was locked.
«Nikita?»—the thought flashed. «Maybe he already took his things? Let it be so.»
But when Liliya entered, she was speechless.
«What is going on here?» she could only say, stunned by what she saw.
Strangers were in her cozy favorite apartment.
«Oh, hello! You come home from work late. You must be surprised, Lilechka, I understand. But I am just as surprised by what’s happening in my life. It’s like a circus. Or rather, not a comedy but the opposite!» Nikita’s sister Kira said, laughing strangely.
«Who allowed you to barge into someone else’s apartment? And you even brought your little kids here! Are you out of your mind, Kira? Do you realize I can call the police right now?» Liliya, who was completely exhausted and could hardly tolerate the presence of an unwelcome person, was indignant.
«Don’t get heated, dear. What harm is it to your apartment if we stay here a couple of days with the kids? We can’t go out on the street, can we? Think about it. And I took your keys from Nikitos. Stole them, to put it simply.»
«What?» Liliya could only say. «You stole the keys?»
«Why are you making those eyes? So, here’s the thing. You have to be crafty to survive. I first went to Pashka’s apartment; he’s from our village. But it’s already so cramped there with his own kids, he couldn’t possibly take us in. And in this city, I have no one but Nikita and you.
«Did your husband kick you out?» Liliya finally grasped the situation.
«Why would he kick me out? I left myself! How long can one endure his drunken antics? He almost killed us. And I decided to teach him a lesson. When he wakes up, he’ll howl like a wolf without us. And where are we? Gone! And no one knows where,» Kira continued.
«Kira, Nikita and I are separated. He doesn’t live here anymore, as you understand. And he still has my keys because he hasn’t taken some of his stuff and his computer. And you have no business being here. Absolutely! We were never friends, and we certainly won’t start now.
«Don’t you feel sorry for the kids at all? You loved them!» Kira declared pompously.
«And don’t use the kids as a shield. They’re not infants. The eldest even started school, as far as I know,» Liliya calmly responded, watching Kira’s children sitting at her table and quietly drawing something on Kira’s printer paper, which the former sister-in-law generously allowed her offspring to use.
«Have you become so heartless, Liliya? Or were you always this way? Then Nikita was right to leave you.»
«Let’s leave our former family life alone. Now you will quickly gather and go away in all directions,» Liliya was resolute.
«Where should we go? It’s almost night, and I don’t know anyone in the city. We arrived from the village in the morning and went straight to Pashka’s. And then here, when I found Nikita’s keys.
«Anywhere! Even to a hotel! My place isn’t an inn,» Liliya was getting more irritated.
«Listen, it’s clear with you, you’re offended. And Nikita, of course, is a complete fool! He lost such a woman, and with his own living space. How stupid can one be, huh?» Kira decided to switch the topic.
«And you, obviously, are interested in nothing but living space?» Liliya smirked.
«Well, money interests me too. But you’re all set with that, aren’t you? I think you’ll quickly find a replacement with your capabilities. But you should know, Liliya, Nikita is suffering. He loves you. And that fling—it wasn’t serious. Just something that came over the man. They have that sometimes. Maybe they really drugged him, like he says. Don’t you feel sorry for him at all? I remember how you two loved each other. And I remember your happy face right after the wedding. You can’t pretend like that. That means you loved him, right?
«This is none of your business. What was, is past. And your brother isn’t a little boy. Let him answer for his actions. It’s time already.
«Yeah, well. I would have forgiven him. Good old Nikitka, doesn’t drink like mine, tries to earn money, and he’s easy-going. You could make anything you want out of him.
«Yeah, as it turned out recently, not just me trying to mold him, out of such a pliable and soft man. That’s it, you’re wearing me out. I’m very tired and feeling unwell. Gather the kids, or I will call the police right now,» Liliya was tired of listening to all this nonsense from her former sister-in-law.
«We’re not going anywhere, understand? There’s no law that allows a mother with children to be thrown out onto the street at night!» Kira started to make a scene.
«You know so much about the laws! And from my own apartment, I can kick out anyone. It’s my living space!
«I’ll tell the police that we’re relatives, and you’re taking revenge on me because your brother dumped you,» Kira wouldn’t give up.
«Go ahead! Let’s see how the police react to your statement.»
Completely exhausted from dealing with uninvited guests, she really reached for the phone to dial the number of the law enforcement officers and end this mess. She would still need to check if everything was in its place. After all, one could expect anything from this brazen person.
But at that moment, the doorbell rang.
«What now! Who else has shown up?» Liliya asked, annoyed, as she approached the door.
Nikita was standing in the hallway, looking agitated.
«I knew she had come here. When I saw that the keys were missing from my jacket, I immediately understood that this crazy woman had headed here with the kids,» he said worriedly. «Kira, what are you doing? Do you have no brains at all?»
«Oh, brother! Just in time, well done. Otherwise, your ex-wife was about to call the police to send us to jail. Can you imagine what a nutcase?
«Is that true?» Nikita looked at Liliya questioningly.
«Yes, it’s true. I don’t need strangers here. And unfortunately, your sister doesn’t understand normal words. I’ve been trying to evict these outsiders for the past half hour, but so far to no avail.
«Please, no police, I beg you, Liliya! I’ll settle this right now. Oh, I wasn’t wrong to hurry. I felt that everything here was bad,» the man looked pleadingly at his ex-wife. «Forgive her, I’ll take everyone away from here now.
«Do it quickly. You have five minutes. And not a minute more! Just enough time to take your keys, and you’ll take your things from me. Enough of turning my apartment into a storage room. Otherwise, next time I come, some more of your relatives will have settled in, made themselves at home. Give me the keys. And get out of here, far and long. And better—forever!
«Pash, listen, will you help me take my things? My computer is still here. It’s hard to do it alone,» Nikita called a friend, who was waiting for him downstairs in the car.
«Pavel will help me take your things now. Don’t worry, Liliya, we won’t bother you anymore,» the ex-husband said sadly.
«Oh, I can’t. How much sadness and pain in your eyes, you lovebirds,» Kira mocked, packing up the children’s things that they had already scattered around the apartment, and looking at Nikita and Liliya. «Why suffer if you still love each other? Get back together and live!»
«Stop it, Kira!» Nikita was nervous.
«They forgot to ask you, oh wise and experienced one,» Liliya retorted sharply. «Get out, all of you, you’ve already exhausted me. And I don’t need your advice.»
She sighed with relief when her ex-husband and his cheeky sister with her children left her dwelling. Nikita finally handed over the keys, taking the remaining items that were still lying at Liliya’s.
And thank God! Neither he nor his relatives will be able to disturb the woman anymore. And next time she’ll be cautious and won’t trust anyone with the keys to her apartment. Even a former lover.
