Life's Dramas: An Evening Visit

— Who on earth has brought themselves here at this hour?" Olga wondered, tightening her robe and wiping her hands on a towel, automatically glancing at the wall clock which showed just past ten in the evening.

She came out of the kitchen, where she had just finished washing the dishes, and headed towards the front door. A solitary ring at such a late hour made her tense up. She stopped, grabbed the handle, and peeked through the peephole.

The children were already asleep, her husband was working the night shift, so caution certainly wouldn't hurt. In the light of the dim bulb illuminating the stairwell, she made out a male figure.

— Who's there?" the woman asked, not recognizing the late-night

visitor.

— It's me, Viktor," a muffled voice came from behind the door.

— Damn!" Olga whispered in fright, recognizing her own sister Tatyana's husband.

Pressing her lips together and feverishly thinking of what to say to him, she unlocked the door and, opening it slightly, looked out. A tall young man with a short haircut, wearing a light grey sweater over a t-shirt and blue jeans with white sneakers, stood holding a transparent folder with some papers in his hand.

— Hi," Olga forced a smile at him.

— Hello," the man replied.

— Are you... here for Tanya?" the woman asked, "Because she's...

— No. I know she's not here...

The woman went cold hearing these words from her brother-in-law. Could he know everything?..

— I'm here for you," the man said, "Will you let me in? We need to talk. I won't be long.

— Alright," Olga replied, opened the door wider, and stepped aside, letting the man in.

He entered, took off his sneakers, and slipped his feet into the slippers Olga thoughtfully handed him.

— To the kitchen?" Viktor asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly, "Are yours asleep?

— Yes, come in. I put the kids to bed, and Sasha is on the night shift.

She followed the man into the kitchen, who had already sat down on a chair and placed the folder in front of him.

— Will you have some tea?

— Yes, please," Viktor agreed.

Olga clattered with the mugs, still trying to feverishly figure out what her brother-in-law knew and why he was so calm. Only one thought came to mind – to say her sister had just left for home, and then, after Viktor left, quickly call her and tell her to rush home.

— You know, Tanya just left. You probably should have called each other...

She sat down at the table opposite Viktor, placing two mugs of the hot drink in front of him and herself, and pushed the sugar bowl closer.

— Don't, Olya. I know she's with him again.

The woman froze, raising her eyes to her brother-in-law. A cold sweat broke out on her again. So he did know?..

— Don't look at me like that," Viktor smirked, "I know she's with him again.

Olga wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. She suddenly felt terribly ashamed. Her legs seemed to go numb, and her heart beat faster. Trying to hide the trembling in her hands, she reached for the cup of tea and, putting on an innocent face, asked:

— I don't understand what you're talking about? She just...

— Don't lie to me, don't," Viktor sharply interrupted her.

He picked up his mug, blew on the tea, and took a small sip.

— I know she's cheating on me. I know she's with Yegor again. Dumped the kids at her mother-in-law's for the weekend. Told me she was coming to you, but she's with him right now. And she'll be with him until Sunday.

The man snorted, gave a crooked smile, and said bitterly:

— Couldn't hold back, got ready on Friday evening right after work. To spend not one night with him, but two. And a whole day.

— Vitya..." Olga began, but the man interrupted her again.

— Don't, Olya. I know you're aware, you've been covering for her for how long?.. A year? Two?.. No, you've been covering for her for six years! Our entire married life together.

Olga felt the ground give way beneath her. He knew everything! And she gave up.

— How long have you... known?" the woman asked in a quiet voice, unable to look her brother-in-law in the eye.

— Long enough. And I started suspecting even earlier.

— And... how did you find out?" Olga asked him, glancing briefly at Viktor's face.

The man smirked again, but the woman didn't miss the pain that flickered like a shadow across his face.

— By accident, of course, how else. You're quite the conspirators...

Viktor took another sip of tea, put the cup on the table, and said:

— I'm not blaming you. I understand she's your sister, and I'm nobody to you...

— That's not true..." Olga started to object, but the man interrupted her again.

— It is! And I repeat: I'm not blaming you, I understand. Especially since Yegor is her first, real, and greatest love. Probably that's why, out of female solidarity, romantic notions, you've been covering for her all these years.

— I didn't..." the woman began, but stopped herself.

In a way, Viktor was right. Olga knew the details of her sister's love story and understood what drove her. And he was right, that's exactly what prevented her from insisting, in arguments and attempts to convince her sister, that she should end things with her ex. She was too in love...

Olga simply couldn't and didn't want to make her unhappy, to watch her waste away, to see her suffer from the breakup with Yegor. So, when he suddenly reappeared, she couldn't help but go along with her sister. And constantly covered for her.

— Alright, that's not the point...

Viktor leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily.

— I came to you because I can't talk to her. I can't see or hear her anymore, I just can't. And I'm afraid I'll... again not be able to do what I've wanted to do many times, that I'll forgive her again, and everything will stay as it was. And I can't live like that anymore. And I don't want to.

Olga looked at the man in surprise. Muscles twitched along Viktor's jaw. It was clear the conversation was difficult for him.

— I'm here so you can give her the papers and tell her about our conversation. You owe me. For covering for her all these years.

Olga felt embarrassed and guilty again. And she was guilty, no point denying it.

— You wanted to know when and how I found out? I'll tell you. And I'll tell you about my suspicions too. You can tell her or not. It's up to you.

The man reached for his tea again, finished it, and pushed the empty cup aside.

— I found out, as I said, by accident. As you know, my company deals with air conditioners and ventilation. We installed air conditioners in Yegor's country cottage once too.

A year ago, in spring, he called one of our crews for maintenance. It so happened that due to workload, the guys couldn't come on weekdays, so they came on the weekend. One of the workers knew Tatyana well, we had an air conditioner installed at our place too, and he talked with her a lot.

So... He came back from the job and told me he saw my wife at Yegor's. She was acting like the lady of the house there. Didn't recognize him. Served him tea, offered cookies. And Yegor called her Tatyana, treated her like a wife – hugged her, kissed her right in front of him. Such a family idyll...

By that time, I wasn't just suspecting her, I was sure she was sleeping with Yegor. And here was extra confirmation. Of course, I was just crushed... But I had the strength to check. It was simple. I went to Yegor's and waited until he would take Tatyana to you. You were with our girls and your kids then, walking in the park. She picked up the kids and, calling a taxi, went home. That's how I found out...

And I started suspecting her much earlier. It only seemed on the surface that everything was fine with us, that we lived like loving spouses in an ideal family... Yeah, everyone thought so, even Tatyana herself. But not me.

Yes, I knew from the very beginning, even from school, that she and Yegor were a couple. I studied at the same school and saw it all with my own eyes. They were called 'the bride and groom' and 'Romeo and Juliet,' everyone knew about their relationship – students and teachers. I knew it all too.

But I couldn't help myself, I was already head over heels in love with her then. My heart broke when I saw them together. But I didn't interfere in their relationship with a word or a gesture. I loved her too much and wished her happiness...

When we all finished school, I was surprised to learn that Tanya had broken up with Yegor. From friends, classmates, I heard they had a big fight and split up. As it seemed to everyone then, forever. He left to study at a university in the capital, under parental pressure, and Tanya entered a local university, in the economics department.

I admit, much later I realized I didn't go study somewhere else but went to the same university as Tanya because of her. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, a timid hope appeared that now, since she had broken up with Yegor, I had a tiny chance...

By the way, I honestly tried to get her out of my head, even tried dating other girls. But the relationships never lasted more than two or three months because those girls... they weren't Tanya.

And then somehow by chance at a university event, first we bumped into each other at the 'Student Spring,' and then one thing led to another, step by step... we started seeing each other more often, and then started dating.

To say I was on cloud nine is an understatement... I treated her like a princess. Movies, cafes, restaurants, flowers, chocolate, candy... tons of gifts... I worked nights, unloading trucks, so I could take her somewhere during the day.

Yes, I know she fell in love with me too, for real. No point telling you this, you're her sister, you know all this, she shared with you, and you were happy for her, I know. She told me herself, and you've told me about it more than once.

And right after university, I proposed to her, and she agreed. It was the best time of my life...

Everyone was happy... Me most of all, of course. But my parents, your parents, and you too, already pregnant – everyone was happy for us, congratulated us and helped the young family however they could... So what happened to you later? Why did you treat me like this...

Viktor stopped, took a few breaths, calming down. Olga didn't look up at him, feeling guilty.

— That whole year was... the best year of my life. Despite the many everyday problems. We started living separately right away, rented an apartment. Our parents helped a lot, yours and mine.

I stayed working as a ventilation systems engineer at the factory where I did my internship during university, Tanya worked in the accounting department there. Money was tight, barely enough, so I quickly started looking for side jobs and eventually started my own business installing air conditioners.

I started being home less, but I worked my ass off for Tanya, took on anything... And in the following years, all these six years, she had everything – fur coats, gold and silver, whatever she wanted, I never refused her anything...

And then, a year later, he appeared. Out of the blue... Yegor returned to the city after his capital university and an internship at some foreign institution. He returned a married man. Married a rich heiress, family practically in Forbes – factories, plants, ships...

He couldn't have hidden his return even if he wanted to. All the newspapers, all the media trumpeted that a young specialist, our fellow countryman, had returned to the city. And he headed some department for advertising or PR, I don't know, never delved into it, at a new logistics center. Sat right in the deputy director's chair, his new family put him there to build business here, a branch of their conglomerate.

I remember how thrilled Tanya was, how proud of him, like, look what he achieved... I kept quiet, because he hadn't achieved anything, just married well. Didn't want to argue with her about it, even start a conversation or mention her ex in any way. Wanted his name to simply not come up in our family. But it didn't help...

Within a month, she was hired as an accountant at this logistics center. I remember how Tanya jumped for joy – of course, she became an employee of such a giant... Of course, Yegor got her the job, who else. And she didn't hide it. She was so grateful to him, at home it was all Yegor this, Yegor that...

I didn't say anything to her then, didn't react to her excitement in any way. Of course, it was extremely unpleasant for me that she would be working with her ex at the same company. Of course, I was tormented by jealousy. I would have preferred her to work somewhere else, even for less money. And I then started working twice as hard for myself, in my young air conditioning installation company.

That's exactly when we installed the air conditioners in Yegor's cottage. Tanya, as best she could, promoted my company, I can't say anything bad about that. Though, I didn't get involved myself, our crew did everything. I just didn't want to meet Yegor in person, jealousy was choking me.

Tanya even managed to get contracts for ventilation installation in the workshops of this logistics center. I must admit, we made good money then. And I put part of the profit into a mortgage. Yes, my parents helped, I admit, but I earned most of the money myself, worked hard for her. And we moved into a new apartment...

And then she was promoted to assistant chief accountant. She was so proud of this new position, you should have seen her. But... she started staying late at work more often, disappearing more often at client meetings, constantly communicating with him, with Yegor... I was wildly jealous. That's when I first suspected she was sleeping with him. Well, their feelings couldn't have just disappeared forever... I'm not a fool, I understood all that...

And also sex... Maybe it's awkward for you to hear this, but our sex life started disappearing, became extremely rare and boring, just 'get it over with.' I got constant refusals and excuses about being tired. Yes, she was tired, brought work home... And then Tanya got pregnant.

I was happy! Pregnancy meant she would have to temporarily quit work, stay home. Though, she worked until the last minute and went back to work just six months after giving birth.

Everyone was happy. When the girls were born, twins, everyone was ecstatic. Your parents and mine, we all carried Tanya and the girls in our arms! I was simply overjoyed... to tears!

She didn't stay home long, you know that