The young man drove his car, not knowing the way. He was driving, as they say, into nowhere. Kirill’s only desire was to escape from home, or more precisely, from the society of his ex-wife. After the divorce, the couple continued to live in the jointly acquired apartment, unable to find acceptable options for exchanging it. Indeed, they had put the apartment up for sale, but until then, they had to endure each other.
The ex-wife took it upon herself to sell the apartment independently. Kirill simply didn’t have the time. According to Larisa, she couldn’t find anyone willing to buy their home.
Kirill wasn’t particularly interested in the sales process. Every evening was the same: he scrolled through the news, then went to bed. Luckily, the apartment had separate bedrooms.
Kirill had long stopped being interested in his wife’s personal life. During their life together, he had already thought too much for both of them.
Before the divorce, Larisa did not work, living off her husband’s earnings. But now, that didn’t matter. The apartment was considered their joint property, as it was bought during their marriage.
Now, Kirill no longer provided for his ex-wife. He took care of himself, even keeping a separate shelf in the refrigerator for his groceries.
Larisa, however, did not follow these rules. She continued to occupy almost all the space, including the kitchen and bathroom. And in the room where Kirill lived, she often left her things. All horizontal surfaces in the bathroom were occupied by her jars, and she hung her clothes there. The man had no choice but to constantly encounter the trinkets left by his ex-wife, which clearly didn’t belong there.
And if to speak the truth, one of them was also superfluous in the apartment. However, Kirill did not express his dissatisfaction regarding the perpetual mess.
Additionally, Larisa had taken to inviting friends over. Then men started appearing. Naturally, this happened without Kirill’s consent, who was merely informed that these young men were companions of her friends. During such lively gatherings, the man had to quickly have dinner with boiled dumplings and leave for his room. He couldn’t relax after work alone: the noisy conversations were disruptive. On days off from work, Kirill preferred not to be in the apartment at all during the day. However, this was not always possible.
The couple decided to divorce due to Larisa’s lifestyle, who loved spending money and did not want to work. When her husband started earning less and could no longer satisfy all his wife’s whims, they decided to file for divorce.
Larisa’s demands were serious: expensive trips, branded clothes, constant dinners at restaurants. One salary was not enough for two. And at Kirill’s job, a tough period began. The family budget lost its previous income. At her husband’s pleas to be a bit more economical, Larisa only smirked.
The couple had no children, and they no longer had the strength to continue living this way. Thus, their marital relationship came to a decline.
With the arrival of another weekend, Kirill realized he was too tired and no longer wanted to disappear somewhere all day. However, his ex-wife unceremoniously showed him the door.
One of her friends was already on her way, and others would soon follow. So, the ex-husband was absolutely not needed here.
So now, Kirill drove along the highway in an unknown direction, angry but helpless in this situation. The fatigue from constant stress at work and the tense situation at home was so strong that he didn’t want to think about anything. Slowing down and turning up the music, the man tried to calm down.
At that moment, his gaze fell on a young woman standing by the road. Next to her was a car that had apparently broken down. The look of confusion on the girl’s face was so profound that Kirill immediately decided to offer her his help. After all, it was late, and she was all alone; anything could happen.
Stopping, he approached the stranger, who fluttered her long eyelashes gratefully. After a couple of seconds, hesitating slightly, she began to explain that she was in a hurry to visit friends, but then the car stopped working.
“I don’t understand this at all,” the distressed girl explained. She had called many acquaintances. It turns out that when it comes to a difficult situation, no one can help.
She sighed with such despair that Kirill saw her as a helpless child he wanted to hug and comfort. It had noticeably cooled down outside, and Kirill offered the stranger to warm up in his car while waiting for emergency services.
Surprisingly, the man felt relieved. He even forgot for a moment that another party awaited him at home by his ex-wife. Kirill tried to distract the accidentally met girl from the car breakdown with meaningless chatter. She, however, modestly remained silent, occasionally casting grateful glances at the man, who, one could say, saved her. Joy was unmistakable in Sophia’s eyes. “Imagine, there are still decent men in the world, ready to spend an entire evening on the roadside helping a stranger.”
Finally, the emergency service arrived. The girl’s car had to be sent for repair. Kirill asked Sophia where she needed to go. She named a street where he lived. Naturally, the man offered to drop her off.
He was in no hurry, and they headed to the required address.
Imagine Kirill’s surprise when not only the street but also the house number turned out to be his. The man didn’t believe in such coincidences. Without asking Sophia any questions, he built his own guesses, though deep down, he already knew the answer to the unasked question.
In the end, Kirill stopped and directly asked if the girl was heading to Larisa’s apartment. Now it was Sophia’s turn to be surprised, wondering how a random new acquaintance knew she was going to Larisa.
Kirill decided to be cunning and did not tell her how her new acquaintance was related to Larisa, and why they lived in the same apartment.
Starting a conversation, Kirill already planned to ask Sophia how she met his ex-wife. After all, fate had not just thrown him such a chance to meet a friend of his ex-wife, who didn’t even realize who had actually helped her on the road.
“Do you know Larisa well?” Kirill asked casually.
“I wouldn’t say so,” the girl replied. “We do fitness at the same time. She invites everyone over there.”
“What do you mean by everyone?” the man was surprised.
“Just like that: met, chatted, and invited home. She interacts with both girls and guys this way.”
This was beyond all limits. Kirill could not stop himself and began to inquire with his new acquaintance, trying to explain such strange behavior of her friend. Kirill was increasingly amazed at how his ex-wife could so frivolously invite every passerby into their shared apartment.
“Nothing. Larisa just once said that, well, her ex-husband terrorizes her, literally drives her out of the shared apartment, and she’s scared to be alone with him,” Sophia explained.
“Really, that’s interesting. You know, keep me company. Let’s go to a cafe together,” the man suddenly suggested.
The girl happily nodded. She somehow didn’t feel like going to visit anymore. Enough time had passed, and they weren’t really close friends with Larisa.
Kirill noticed that the girl liked him, and he didn’t want to end their conversation so soon. Sophia was also appealing to him. Kirill realized he invited her to sit in a cafe not just for information about his ex-wife. He simply enjoyed being near the girl.
That evening, the young people talked at length about everything. However, during the conversation, Kirill accidentally learned details about his ex-wife’s life. By the end of the evening, the man had a clear understanding of all Larisa’s plans.
They consisted of making Kirill hate their shared living situation and leave, wherever his eyes would lead. Exactly for this reason, things were scattered around, noisy parties were thrown, making every day for the ex-husband in the apartment an unbearable ordeal. Larisa was waiting for Kirill’s nerves to give out, and he would leave the shared dwelling. She would remain the sole owner of the apartment, bought by her ex-husband.
Once again amazed by his ex-wife’s cunning, Kirill merely smirked. Larisa’s audacity no longer bothered him.
Kirill decided that he would live in his apartment with Sophia, who was becoming more and more charming to him. As for the ex-wife, she could leave wherever she wanted.