Chronicles of Another World Part 1

I was returning home from a business trip in a good mood, especially since my beloved Nina was waiting for me at home in our cozy studio apartment.

I had bought her a wonderful, simple but tasteful gift: a chain, two small earrings, and a pendant made of white gold with miniature diamond stones.

I got out of the elevator and set down my suitcase, taking out my keys; I really didn't want to wake my sweetheart so early.

I entered quietly, silently closing the door behind me, kicked off my sandals, and trying not to make a sound, walked over to the bar counter that divided the studio in two.

On the large oval bed, I thought I heard something like moans. The first thing that caught my eye was our joint photo with Nina; it was lying face down on the dresser.

Moans were clearly coming from under the blanket. I froze and saw Nina's leg kick off the edge of the blanket, but underneath it weren't two legs, but three. Everything inside me went cold. I felt the blood rush to my temples.

"It can't be," I thought and covered my open mouth with my palm to not utter a sound.

I slowly stepped back and retreated towards the door.

"Is this the end, everything?" thoughts raced through my head, "but how could she, Nina, my Nina."

The moans and noise from the bed grew louder; the one Nina was cheating on me with right now was approaching orgasm.

I felt an unimaginable pain; suddenly, I felt so unbearably disgusted. Tears welled up and I wanted to howl. Mechanically, I took out the gift case, threw it on the floor, and left, slamming the door.

A hundred hammers were pounding in my head, blood rushed to my temples, my hands were shaking, my legs wouldn't obey.

I exited on the first floor of our building and headed straight to the restaurant where the lobby bar operated in the morning. "Elena Sergeevna!" — "Elena Sergeevna!" — "What's wrong with you?"

I looked up at Alexey, the bartender who had cautiously called out to me.

"Elena Sergeevna, you look pale, what happened?" he asked quietly now.

I looked at Alexey, trying to make out his badge, but couldn't.

"Alexey, have you ever been betrayed?" I said in a voice not my own, trying to hide my turmoil.

"Elena Sergeevna, forgive me, maybe I can help somehow..." he said, pouring something into my glass.

I mechanically took a sip and, feeling the burning whiskey, just stupidly started sobbing, giving free rein to my feelings. My heart began to beat wildly, my hands wouldn't obey me, the rim of the glass seemed to try to knock out my teeth.

"Elena Sergeevna, have you seen the news? They opened the Crimean bridge," he tried to smile.

"Lyosha, what the hell bridge, my Nina launched me to the moon," mastering my trembling, I took a big gulp from the glass, and some relief came.

My hands stopped shaking. I pulled myself together and went to the ladies' room to freshen up.

The hammers in my head quieted down, I returned to the counter and finished my whiskey, placing the empty glass for a refill. Lyosha, quickly understanding, repeated with the drink.

"You need to distract yourself," he continued delicately, as only our bartenders can.

I took out my iPhone and started scrolling through the news feed, now taking small sips of the life-giving liquid for myself.

A mudslide occurred in Abkhazia, yellow vests are striking in Paris, and again, they opened the Crimean bridge. I skimmed through the news feed with my eyes.

"But how, why? How could she" — was spinning in my head in parallel.

I don't know how or why, but my attention was drawn to a red banner ❤️ love-in-chat; after looking for a second, I clicked and followed the link.

On autopilot, I completed the registration and...

"Elena Sergeevna, is everything okay?" Alexey asked quietly and, as it seemed to me, with a mysterious smile.

"Yes, Lyosh, everything's fine," I replied, absorbed in my thoughts.

I quickly ordered a taxi to Aprelevka and went to my boss Svetlana Georgievna. Where else could I go? I needed to sort out my thoughts and decide how to live on, but for the first while, while Nina is at my place, I definitely need to sleep somewhere, not check into a hotel. And Svetlana Georgievna wouldn't refuse me, I knew for sure.

Getting into the car, I opened my phone and my fingers, on autopilot, reached for the site I had just registered on.