“Mom, hi, I urgently need your help.” Her son’s voice on the phone sounded as if he were speaking to an annoying subordinate, not to his mother. Nina Petrovna froze with the remote in her hand, never turning on the evening news. “Kiryusha, hello. Did something happen?” “No, everything’s fine,” Kirill exhaled impatiently. “It’s just […]
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I ran my finger over the cold steel of the keys in my pocket. Two brand-new, gleaming keys to an apartment Mark will never set foot in. “Should I hang another shelf above the dresser, what do you think?” he asked without looking up from his laptop. “For my awards. They’re bringing me another one […]
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I can’t live like this anymore, Anya,” Sergey said, throwing his keys onto the table. They skidded through a dusting of flour, sending a white spray across the wood like a startled gust of snow. I froze with the dough clinging to my fingers. From the other room, the children fell silent, as if the […]
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“Ksenia! Where have you disappeared to? The guests have been waiting half an hour for coffee! And cut the cake into larger pieces—Vasily Timofeyevich has a sweet tooth!” Her mother-in-law’s voice, Elena Petrovna’s, ricocheted through the apartment. Ksenia inhaled slowly, swallowing her irritation. A crowd of about ten had taken over the living room—every one […]
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— Mo… The spoon slipped from Svetlana’s hand. The ring of it striking the edge of the cup echoed through the quiet, not-yet-awakened kitchen. “Mom,” Nika repeated, “why did my stepdad say on the phone last night that you aren’t needed anymore?” With a sharp movement, the kissel in the mugs spilled onto the saucers. […]
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Polina was trudging home from work reluctantly. The autumn wind tugged at the hem of her coat, and the leaden clouds seemed to press down on her shoulders. But it wasn’t the weather that weighed on the young woman. An unexpected guest had appeared at their home today. In the afternoon, during an important meeting […]
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