Hey, Where Are You?

“Nikolai never cheated on his wife and planned to be proud of it until retirement. ‘Just as I’ll joke,’ he said, ‘once my retirement starts, I’ll begin cheating right away—beautifully and brightly.’

Over the years of marriage, Nikolai mentioned his plan only rarely, but the thought that he would do it managed to take root firmly in his wife Larisa’s mind. Who knows what might happen beyond retirement, and Larisa is used to this joke. When Nikolai playfully nudged her with his elbow and asked, ‘So, right, Lорik, right? I’ll start right away, right? We agreed, you remember, don’t you?’ she confirmed that yes—she remembered, and she agreed with the plan. Everyone who listened thought Nikolai was just joking. And only he himself—and to the same extent, Larisa—knew that no, it wasn’t a joke.

At first she thought he was joking, of course. Then she didn’t know what to think. And with time she got used to the fact that her husband didn’t cheat, and she stopped fearing for the future. So she supported that joke willingly…“