Anna Igorevna, Ilya Petrovich is here. Shall I let him in?” asked the secretary, Liza, peeking into the office.
The woman in the strict business suit briefly looked up from her documents and nodded tiredly:
“Yes, of course, let him in, and Liza, could you bring us some coffee, please?”
A few seconds after Liza closed the door behind her, having knocked for decorum’s sake without waiting for an answer, a tall, distinguished middle-aged man entered, smiling gently as he greeted Anna.
“It’s been a while,” she smiled back, stepping out from behind her desk to sit at the negotiation table opposite her guest, eyeing him intently, “What brings you here?”
“Can’t you imagine I just missed you?” Ilya Petrovich seemed flustered, coughed into his fist to hide his awkwardness, and opened his briefcase to pull out some documents, “It’s business, Annya, important business concerning your late husband.”
Anna’s eyebrows arched, and her curiosity intensified. At that moment, Liza brought them their coffee and hastily left.
“What exactly?” Anna asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. Memories of her husband cut deep, as she had only recently begun to recover, and now the memories reopened an unhealed wound.
Anna had loved Oleg in her own way. He was much younger than her, and initially, the very idea of marrying a young man was alien to her, but Oleg had captured her heart, and within a month of meeting, they were married, holding their marriage certificate as they left the registry office. For eight years, her husband literally carried her on his hands, and five months ago, she received the chilling news of his death—he had died defending a girl on the street. Anna couldn’t believe it wasn’t a joke, a cruel prank, until she saw it for herself at the morgue.
The funeral was like a blur, she had to take unpaid leave from work, but it couldn’t last forever; she was forced to return to her duties after two weeks, which somewhat distracted her from reality. Unbidden tears welled up, and Anna startled herself. She pushed the coffee cup towards Ilya.
“Go on,” she said, exhaling loudly.
“Well, here’s the thing… I’m sure you’re still not aware, but Oleg bought an apartment shortly before his death. It turned out that the seller was my client; I helped with the transaction, which required notarial action. So, you’ll need to enter into the inheritance.”
“Wait… What… An apartment… Why didn’t I know about this? Why did he need this apartment?”
Ilya Petrovich shrugged and took a sip of his coffee.
“I’m not privy to these matters, Annya, and Oleg was clearly nervous, then asked me not to tell you. He said you didn’t know yet.”
“It’s strange, I couldn’t even guess he was saving money behind my back. I was sure he didn’t even have his own bank account. It was his idea that everything we acquired during the marriage should be registered in my name. He didn’t want me to think he was with me for any gain. I can’t wrap my head around this…”
Anna clasped her head, and Ilya moved to a chair next to her, gently patting her shoulder.
“Annya, why are you winding yourself up, tell me? How can we know now why your husband did this?! Perhaps, he was preparing a surprise for you, and you got upset over something.”
“Ilya, I trusted him blindly, and it turns out, he was just exploiting my trust. Well, you’re right, we can’t know his intentions now, so it’s better not to think about it, otherwise, you could imagine all sorts of things.”
“That’s right! Here, hold the duplicate extract of the apartment deed, the address is indicated, you just need to find the keys.”
“Keys!” Anna perked up, “Right, when they handed me his belongings… at the morgue… Among them were keys, strangers’. I didn’t pay any attention then, just packed everything away…”
“Do you want me to go there with you?” Ilya offered, and Anna nodded uncertainly.
“It would be good, who knows what other surprises might await me. And why didn’t you tell me earlier? About the apartment?”
“While Oleg was alive, I couldn’t, and after he was gone, I didn’t want to upset you, you were not in the right state. But now it’s time to enter into the inheritance, so I decided.”
Anna nodded and stood up.
“Let’s go! I just need to stop by home for the keys. Although, I’m not sure if they’re the right ones.”
“Anna Igorevna, will you be returning today?” asked Liza, as Anna and Ilya left the office.
“No, Liza, unlikely, I have urgent business, but I’ve finished with the documents, I’ll sign everything tomorrow, and they can be sent off.”
…Arriving at the specified address, Anna got out of Ilya’s car and looked around. A new elite building, a closed courtyard, surveillance cameras. The apartments here weren’t cheap, evidently, Oleg had been saving for a long time. He earned well, apparently, but Anna wasn’t interested in his real income. He contributed enough to the family budget, always gave her gifts, and flowers without occasion always stood in her favorite vase. But how he managed to also save for an apartment?! There were many questions unlikely to find answers.
“Ready?” Ilya asked cautiously and took Anna’s arm. “Shall we go?”
“Yes, let’s go!” She strode confidently to the building entrance alongside her old friend.
Ascending to the twelfth floor in a spacious modern elevator, Anna exited the cabin and stopped at the door with the coveted number. She felt her hands tremble and looked at Ilya, handing him the keys.
“Let’s ring the bell first,” the man suggested and pressed the doorbell button.
Silence followed behind the door, no one opened, and only after the second ring did Ilya Petrovich try the key, and it fit.
Opening the door tentatively, Anna entered the apartment followed by Ilya and stopped on the threshold, gasping in surprise. Women’s clothing hung in the hallway—a jacket, a raincoat. A pair of high-heeled shoes and Oleg’s old boots stood on a shelf. It was clear that people lived in the apartment. Anna walked through the rooms, one of which had a baby’s crib and rattles. Baby clothes hung on the balcony. She looked at Ilya with eyes full of longing.
“What does this mean?” she asked with quivering lips, collapsing onto the sofa.
Ilya Petrovich sat down next to her.
“We need to wait for those who live here and find out everything,” he said, adding, “Maybe we should wait outside, to avoid misunderstandings?”
“Yes, of course,” Anna agreed and stood up, continuing to look around.
But as they approached the front door, a key scraped in the lock, then the door opened, and a young woman holding a baby loudly exclaimed.
“Who are you?” she asked with a trembling voice, pressing against the door frame.
“And who are you?” Anna responded with a question.
“Ah, sorry, I’m Vika, I live here with my little son. Oleg, my… I don’t know how to say, the father of my son, he rented this apartment for us. Are you the owner? But Oleg told me he paid for a year in advance?! Is something wrong?”
Anna didn’t know what to say in response, and then Ilya spoke.
“We just wanted to see how things were here. Go ahead, Vika, I’ll help you bring the stroller in.”
“Thank you,” the woman entered the apartment, took off her shoes, and headed to a room. “Excuse me, I’ll just put Maksim to sleep; he needs his nap, or he’ll be cranky. And you can put the kettle on in the meantime.”
Anna stood pale as a sheet, looking questioningly at her friend, who patted her shoulder and gestured towards the kitchen. Vika soon joined them.
“He’s asleep…” she said and began to bustle, setting the table, “Don’t worry, I keep things tidy. As soon as the lease term ends, we’ll move out, though I don’t know where to yet, but there’s time, I’ll definitely come up with something. Just, Oleg… He left me. Apparently, he rented this apartment specifically, said he had a surprise, and there’s his surprise—he disappeared without any warning, even before he knew his son was born.”
“And didn’t you try to find him?” asked Anna, gathering her strength.
“Well, why not, I called him, but he’s always unavailable, probably put me on his blacklist or changed his number. And if so, I won’t impose myself. I knew from the beginning that he was married. And he said he loved both me and his Annya, and that he couldn’t decide who to be with. Well, apparently, he chose not in my favor. Though he said he dreamed of having a child, his wife couldn’t bear one, but he chose her anyway, I can’t be offended.”
“You know, Vika, we should go, I remembered that I need to go urgently.”
“What about tea?” the young woman seemed upset, “We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.”
“Another time,” said Anna and darted out of the apartment, and downstairs, near the entrance, she burst into tears.
Ilya held her close but didn’t try to console her, understanding how hard it was for her right now.
“Annya, dear, let’s go home, you need to rest, shall we go to my place? I can’t leave you alone now, or if you want, I’ll stay at your place?!”
Anna silently approached the car and whispered:
“Take me home, Ilya, I just need to be alone. Sorry.”
At home, Anna turned on her husband’s phone, laptop. She had been afraid to do so earlier, but now there was an urgent need to figure it out. How could he?! Lead a double life. Even though he told his mistress about her, and even though he loved her, it didn’t make it easier. He had betrayed her, and that was so painful to accept. In the phone, Anna found a contact “Vikusya,” with whom he frequently spoke, read the correspondence in the messenger. Her heart clenched from the words he wrote to her. “Bunny, sweetheart, my dear, my love.” He also spoke sweet words to Anna, but there wasn’t such tenderness in them. Well, she knew what a union with a man twelve years younger could lead to. He gave her years of happiness, which she will remember, and judging him for choosing youth is not fair. And he really wanted a child, very much. But Anna couldn’t bear him one. The sins of the past didn’t allow it. In her youth, she was pregnant, but she chose her career over personal life and terminated the pregnancy, deciding that there would be other children, only later, but alas! She and Ilya had argued over it at the time, and soon after, he married, just to spite her. And she began to build her career. Built it! Now she heads a serious enterprise, but it didn’t bring her happiness. She and Ilya became friends, having met years later, even their families were friends for a couple of years, then he divorced his wife, and she left the country with their daughter.
In Oleg’s laptop, Anna found even more interesting things. He tried to write her, Anna, a letter, in which he explained that he had saved money to buy the house of her dreams, sold a collection that he had inherited from his grandfather, but met Vika, she became pregnant, and he bought the apartment so she had a place to live with the child. True, he hesitated for a long time whether he could leave Anna, so he didn’t say the apartment was his. But now he decided, after all, a child needs a father, and he very much wanted to raise his own child, so he asked Anna to understand, forgive, and not hold a grudge against him. He greatly valued the years spent with her, but it turned out this way. He planned to leave Anna, leaving her this letter, and it became even worse in his heart, he lacked the courage to confess everything, looking into her eyes. Although, now it hardly changes anything.
Anna closed the laptop lid and went to sleep. That night, she dreamed of Oleg. He asked her to forgive him, said that he had never loved anyone as much as he loved Anna. And she woke up with a smile on her face. “I forgave you, Oleg,” she said, looking at his photo, and felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. As if a new chapter in her life had begun.
“Ilya, I really need your help,” she said on the phone, and within an hour, Ilya Petrovich was sitting opposite her in their favorite cafe.
“I think you made the right decision,” he said, having listened to Anna, “as soon as I prepare the documents, I’ll let you know.”
Soon, they went together to Vika’s.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting guests,” she worried, “I have absolutely nothing for tea.”
“We don’t need anything,” Anna smiled, “we came to get acquainted, as I promised. My name is Anna Igorevna, I am Oleg’s wife. Well… his widow.”
“What?!” Vika immediately sank into a chair, “What happened?”
“Oleg didn’t leave you, Vika,” Anna managed to say, “moreover, he was planning to stay with you, but unfortunately, he died.”
“It can’t be…” Vika burst into bitter tears, “How will I live now? When I thought he was alive, even if with another, it was easier. And now… I loved him very much, and hoped that he would at least meet his son. Now there’s no hope, and without it, life isn’t easy…”
“You’ll manage, you have someone to live for,” said Anna, “and a place to live. This apartment is yours and your son’s. We brought the documents, you just need to sign. And yes, I’ll help you prove that the child is Oleg’s and arrange for a pension for the loss of the breadwinner.”
“Do you really not despise me?” Vika asked incredulously, not daring to look up at Anna, “I’m so guilty before you…”
“No one is guilty of anything,” said Anna, smiling, “It just happened this way…”
…Exiting the building, Anna took a deep breath of fresh air, then exhaled loudly and looked at Ilya.
“I remember, you invited me to dinner?!”
“Oh, when was that?!” he laughed, “After probably the twentieth attempt, I stopped even hoping, afraid of another refusal.”
“Don’t be afraid! Back then I was a married woman, you could understand, but now I am free as the wind, in the fullest sense of the word. So?”
“Let’s go to a restaurant!” Ilya declared solemnly and extended his hand to Anna…