Author: admin

Marina shoved the dirty plates into the dishwasher and set it to express wash. The Friday dinner had gone well; Igor was wolfing down her signature mushroom pie. Even Nastya—who always wrinkled her nose at anything cooked by “that upstart,” as she called Marina behind her back—ate two slices. “I’m jumping in the shower,” Igor […]

Anna Sergeevna always arrived at work fifteen minutes early. Not out of zeal or a desire to impress—simply because it felt right. While other employees were hastily finishing their coffees in the hallway, she was already sorting the mail, preparing documents for signature, and checking the director’s meeting schedule. Her workstation—a small desk outside the […]

“Be grateful that after thirty years of marriage I’m coming back home and not docking in some foreign port,” the husband said. “And what if I had cheated on you too?” Marina asked. “For a woman, cheating is abnormal; for a man, it’s natural. Besides, who needs you at fifty-something?” Marina had long suspected that […]

The air in their apartment had grown thick and heavy, as if saturated with the dust of unrealized hopes. Veronika and Andrey, once inseparable and full of laughter, now moved through the rooms like shadows, afraid to brush against each other with a careless word. Years of waiting, endless doctor visits, and negative pregnancy tests […]

When Vera Nikolaevna received a message that her third cousin Tatyana, who lived somewhere deep in the Urals, was asking to stay with her in Moscow with the kids for a couple of weeks, her first reaction was to refuse. What could they possibly have in common? The last time they’d seen each other was […]

Outside the village store, smelling of fresh bread and dust, tempers, as always, were running high. The local gossips, gathered on the worn steps, were picking apart their neighbors’ lives. Today’s main topic was Viktor—the strapping fellow, the village’s prize catch—who had left his wife, Anna. — “Hear this? Vitka’s run off to the city […]

Viktor was turning in front of the huge hallway mirror, smoothing the lapels of his brand-new, expensive suit. The fine wet-asphalt–colored wool fit his athletic build perfectly. He was getting ready for the corporate gala—the social event of the year in their city, a charity evening organized by the company where he held a high […]

Pasha, you promised to help me. “Son, you have to marry her for the apartment!” his mother insisted. “Then we’ll quietly transfer part of it to me, and she’ll never know.” “Mom, that’s not fair! I love her, not her apartment,” Pavel objected, nervously glancing toward the bedroom door. Pavel and Olga had married a […]