Tatiana and Alexey had just stepped off the plane and were eagerly hurrying home by taxi.
Behind them lay two weeks of a wonderful vacation in an exotic country. The flight, which lasted more than ten hours, had exhausted them, and now they dreamed of one thing only—to get home as quickly as possible and collapse into bed.
«Hey, I’ll be first in the shower, okay?» said Alexey.
«What a sly fox! And why you? A woman should be given priority,» Tatiana retorted—more in jest than in seriousness.
«Because you’ll be splashing about for half an hour, while I’ll be done in five minutes. And then sleep. I’ll collapse, my dear, and sleep soundly and deeply!»
«Alright, you talked me into it—as long as it’s just five minutes,» agreed his wife.
«And you two go together, so no one feels slighted,» the taxi driver suggested with a smile as he attentively listened to their conversation.
«Oh no! Then we surely won’t be going to sleep anytime soon,» Alexey replied playfully. «We’ve heard stories like this before.»
At that, the man winked at his wife and leaned in close for a moment. Both were still basking in the afterglow of their wonderful romantic vacation away from home.
«Did you call your mother yesterday? How’s Zara—everything alright?» Tatiana asked her husband.
«Yeah, everything’s fine. If there were any problems, she would have called.»
«Well, I doubt it’s exactly as you say. That cat has character, not just a regular pussycat.»
Two years ago, the couple had taken in an Abyssinian cat with a spirited nature. They loved their pet no matter what, though she only showed her affection to a select few.
That’s why, whenever they left home, they always left Zara there, in the familiar environment. Her care was handled by the mother-in-law, who visited the son and daughter-in-law’s apartment once a day.
This time was no different. Tatiana wasn’t entirely fond of handing the keys over to her mother-in-law. She preferred that no strangers be in her home in her absence. But there was no other option.
The couple grabbed their suitcases and took the elevator up to their floor.
«I don’t understand, Lesh—the door won’t open. It’s as if it’s locked from the inside,» Tatiana observed. «Is the mother-in-law in there?»
«She shouldn’t be, I suppose. Mother is usually at work at this hour. But truly, it does seem locked from the inside.»
Alexey rang the doorbell while dialing his mother’s cell phone. His mother did not answer, even though the call was going through. The door still wouldn’t budge, which was very strange.
«Listen, what’s going on? Who’s there? If it’s the mother-in-law, why isn’t she picking up? Has something happened?» he demanded.
The couple grew nervous—the situation was odd. They didn’t mingle with their neighbors in the building, so clarifying things with them wasn’t an option.
«Maybe we should call the police or whoever they ring in these cases,» Tatiana suggested, pressing the doorbell repeatedly.
«I really don’t know…»
Alexey was confused and even slightly frightened. What if his mother was lying there and needed urgent help?
Just then, the key suddenly turned in the lock, and the door opened without a hitch.
Imagine the couple’s astonishment when they saw what was happening inside their apartment.
«Who are you?» asked a disheveled young woman as she opened the door.
«We are the owners! And who you are will be sorted out right now. Alexey, call the police immediately!» Tatiana shouted.
Shoving the young woman aside, she rushed into her home.
The scene that unfolded was not for the faint-hearted.
In the living room—which was combined with the kitchen—music was playing and a group of young people sat around a large, set table. They were celebrating something, judging by the multitude of alcohol bottles displayed on the table.
«Yulchik, who is this? Did you invite old people? This is something new!» they bellowed at the sight of the rightful owners. «Really, we weren’t expecting anyone else. We just didn’t have enough drinks ourselves.»
«Who are you all and what are you doing here?» Alexey asked sternly, trying to keep calm.
«We’re celebrating Yulka’s birthday!» responded the most spirited girl.
«Yes, it’s my birthday today, and I decided to celebrate here. It’s so cool—spacious and cozy. There’s plenty of room to have fun. Unlike our dorm. But I see the party isn’t going to work out after all. Oops!» said Yulya, looking flustered. She had realized that the party was falling apart, and she figured that only the owners—those who had just returned from vacation—could behave like this.
«Well, celebrating aside, how did all of you end up in our apartment—that’s the question!» Alexey demanded, for Tatiana could not utter a word as she looked around in horror at the mess the uninvited guests had made of their home.
Even so, she had managed to dial the police and report the intrusion of strangers into their apartment.
«Did you break the lock? Or steal the keys from an elderly woman? Though you can skip answering that—the police will soon take care of you.»
«Yulka, what’s with all this confusion? You said this was your aunt’s place, right? What do you mean, call the police? We didn’t sign up for this. We came here to have some fun, to let loose—not to deal with this kind of stuff!»
The young people began reaching for the door.
«Where do you think you’re going? Everyone, stand still!» the hostess shouted. «You’ll be hauled off to the slammer from here. And I’ll have you searched—you might have decided to make off with our belongings. I haven’t even checked to see if everything is in place!»
«Aunt, are you out of your mind? We’re not thieves or con artists. We’re decent people—students studying construction. We came to a classmate’s birthday. Look—she’s Yulya,» one of the guys said, pointing at Yulya. «So we’re leaving, and you can sort it out with her as much as you want. Let’s go, everyone!»
«Tatiana, let them go,» Alexey said, seeing the combative mood in his wife. «Let them out. But we’ll deal with her right now.»
At that moment, Alexey’s cell phone rang.
«Son, have you landed? Are you home already? Thank goodness! How is everything? Is the cat alright? I didn’t know what to think!» Lidiya Mikhailovna shouted into the phone.
«Mom, hold on with the cat. There’s some kind of horror unfolding here. Our apartment is full of strangers. Can you explain what’s happening? We’ve already called the police,» Alexey explained to his mother.
«What strangers? What are you talking about? Why the police?» Lidiya Mikhailovna stammered.
«There’s a party thrown by strangers in our apartment. I really want to know, mom, where did they get the keys? Did you give them to someone? Tell us!»
Meanwhile, Tatiana held Yulia’s hand tightly as Yulia tried to leave the apartment following her friends.
«Stop! You’re not leaving me! I’ll show you how to break into other people’s apartments and throw a party there! Fraudster! Swindler! Thief!» Tatiana screamed.
«Leshenka, what on earth is going on there? I didn’t catch—you mentioned something about the police?» a voice asked.
«Mom, where are our keys? Can you answer? Just answer that question, and that’s it!» Alexey demanded nervously.
«The problem is with the keys… You see, I meant to tell you earlier. I was worried about your little cat. I haven’t been able to get to her for the past three days. Her food and water have run out now.»
«Alright, mom, come here immediately. Right now. I think you’ll be needed when the police arrive.»
Alexey walked through the rooms in search of Zara. He only managed to find her hiding under the bed, sheltering from the noise and strangers.
«Just let her go—she won’t run away,» he told his wife, who was still keeping a close watch on the intruder in their apartment.
«Yeah, she won’t run away! That sneaky one. Maybe we should tie her up until the authorities arrive?» Tatiana proposed.
«You’re out of your mind! We’d end up getting charged for something else because of her!» he replied.
At last, the police arrived, followed by Lidiya Mikhailovna.
They began investigating and discovered the following.
Tamara, an employee of the mother-in-law, lived nearby the son and daughter-in-law’s apartment. Lidiya Mikhailovna had long been aware of this arrangement—just in case.
One evening, a friend had invited her to go to the theater after work, saying she had long since bought the tickets, and just wanted to surprise Lidiya.
«Sorry, I can’t. I need to go to my son’s to feed the cat. They’re away,» the mother-in-law explained to her friend.
«How can that be? I haven’t been to the theater in so long. I was so looking forward to going with you—I bought the tickets in advance. Can’t you come up with something?» the friend pleaded.
That’s when Lidiya Mikhailovna remembered her colleague Tamara.
Tamara didn’t refuse to help; she promised to drop by that evening to check on the cat, taking the apartment keys with her.
She went there together with her niece, who had come that day to visit her aunt. The niece, Yulia, lived in a dorm and sometimes visited her aunt to enjoy some homemade food.
Tamara went to see Yulia off at the bus and asked her to come inside the unfamiliar apartment with her.
«I don’t like entering unfamiliar places alone. It gives me the creeps,» she explained to her niece.
But the next day, she couldn’t find the keys to return them to Lidiya Mikhailovna.
«I can’t figure out, Lidochka—where did they go? They seemed to be in my pocket; perhaps I dropped them,» she lamented.
«What a disaster! The cat is still there—what will become of her now?»
«Well, she has plenty of food there, and there will be enough water. When does the son arrive?»
«In three days,» Lidiya replied.
«Then she’ll wait, don’t worry,» Tamara attempted to reassure her.
And the impudent Yulya didn’t even take the trouble to find out where the owners of the apartment she fancied were or when they promised to return. A splendid way to celebrate her birthday was clearly ahead of her. And snatching the keys from her aunt’s pocket during a farewell at the bus stop proved to be quite effortless.
«Well, it’s clear with this criminal—the police will handle her. But who’s going to clean up all this mess here?» Tatiana fumed. «I’m not the one to clean up after these insolent brats! There’s work enough here for the entire day, and I’m exhausted.»
«I’ll clean, I’ll clean up—and Tamara, too. She’s already on her way; I’ve called her,» the mother-in-law said gloomily, fully aware of the mess that had been created.
«Then clean everything up. Make sure everything shines and sparkles! And you and I, my dear, are going to get some rest at a hotel. We have nothing to do here for now. Just feed Zara,» Tatiana ordered.
From now on, she would never give the keys to her apartment to anyone again. The cat might be rehomed for a while, and it was high time to install a security system.
Better safe than sorry.
