ENG The Mistake

The Mistake

All night long Boris did not sleep because of anxious thoughts. He wondered what had gone wrong in his life and why his beloved wife had changed so dramatically in past months. Ilona suddenly began to recall the long-standing grievances, reproached her husband with frivolous hobbies and harmless flirting with other women. Because of these unpleasant memories, the couple began to quarrel very often. However, Boris retained a warm feeling for his wife, and here, in immigration, he missed her a lot. When Ilona came to visit him, the man tried to persuade her to intimate caresses. She did not refuse, but she kept aloof, preferred to spend time alone and did not tell him anything about herself. It was evident that she was bored in this paradise, and she came simply because of a sense of duty.
A couple of years ago, Boris was a successful Moscow lawyer. He completely gave himself up to the work, sacrificing his free time for it. He was often invited to lead the most complex processes, attracting the attention of the public and the press. The lawyer made lots of useful acquaintances in the capital city and often used them. For twenty years he managed to save a fortune.
But then suddenly he felt tired. Boris began to flinch from every phone call, did not sleep well at night, flipped through the clients' business for hours, not understanding the meaning of what he had read. He realized that he had overworked, - there was a professional burnout. Boris felt that he could not stand a day in a tense lawyer's environment. He decided to rest, to leave the case, go to a small quiet country on the sea coast, which brings him peace and quiet. Boris bought a cosy house with his own small beach and started to live as he had been dreaming for long ... but he was completely alone.
His wife did not want to leave the noisy capital. Energetic and cheerful, Ilona could not live without social jam sessions, first nights at the theatre, fitness clubs and, of course, meetings with countless friends. However, she gave her husband and all the acquaintances another reason. Her mother lived in Moscow, the woman is not old and quite cheerful. But Ilona insisted that she could not leave her mother alone. Boris had to accept this version, because he did not want to deprive his wife of the usual way of life.
Ilona came once a month and stayed with her husband for a couple of weeks. When Boris woke up, his wife was already on the beach. She was swimming till exhaustion, and then was lying under the sun in a straw chaise longue. Boris brought breakfast to the beach, which he cooked himself, hot sandwiches, coffee, freshly squeezed juice.
"Oh, thank you, dear," Ilona said in a languid voice.
At breakfast they hardly spoke. They just ate, drank and admired the sea. Then they swam for a short time together, and then everyone went about his business. Boris went on a boat to small islands, where he was fishing in a company of local fishermen. Ilona got into the car and went to the next town, where she was wandering through souvenir shops or sitting in a cafe chatting with other tourists.
Either lunch and dinner were cooked by Boris, or the couple went to a restaurant three kilometres from home. Ilona looked pacified and even loving. She did not talk much, but she did not refuse Boris in the marital affair and after it, fell asleep on his shoulder, as in the first years after the wedding.
Sometimes quarrels broke the idyll. Without any excuse, Ilona threw her husband of an evil reproach, they swore and then did not talk for two or three days. Boris did not understand the strange behaviour of his wife, until one night her phone flashed on the bedside table.
The wife was fast asleep, and her husband took the phone without much desire, thinking that the message came from another friend. Instead, the man saw a message and his heart contracted, and then pounded in a doubled rhythm.
 "Hi! I already missed you! I want you!"
Holding the phone with trembling hands, he went into the bathroom. At first it was necessary to pick up the password, but Boris could guess it from the first attempt - the date of the birth of the wife. And suddenly in front of  his eyes flashed hearts, playful hints, arrangements for visits in the famous sauna of the " Bear lair ". There was no doubt - Ilona had a lover! His beloved wife, who he always trusted and almost never was jealous.
Now Boris understood everything. He found an explanation for his wife's mood swings and her strange alienation. In his head thoughts circled feverishly: "Of course, we have been together for twenty years ... boring life, habit ... I worked a lot, she often had to be alone. Brightness left the relationship... But I cannot file for a divorce now! I cannot stay alone in a foreign country, alone without my beloved one ... "
At the same time Boris was tormented by the question - who is his rival? He began to watch the contacts in the phone and found the name. "This bastard is called Valera ... What am I to do with you, Valera?" He copied the phone number into a notebook and lay down next to his sleeping wife. Dream did not come to him for a long time, in a mind inflamed with jealousy, thousands of plans of revenge spun.
It was not difficult to find information about the opponent. Boris called his old friend who held a high post in the police. An hour later, he sent an email with detailed data to the owner of the mobile number. Boris was dumbfounded. Valery T. appeared to be an old friend of their family. This man helped many times to make repairs at the dacha and in the apartment, hinted what materials to purchase, and even he went for them to the stores himself. Tall, not young, with thick grey hair, he was always calm and did not talk much.
"Ilona always liked this type of men," The anger stirred in the soul of the deceived husband, and prevented thinking reasonably. - This fagot took advantage of the fact that I was not abroad and started a love affair with my wife! I'll destroy him! And everything will be fine. "
For two days Boris was looking for a way to get rid of the rival. At last, he remembered how one customer told him occasionally about a certain e-mail address that helps in such situations. Boris was not sure whether this was true, but he decided to write only two phrases: "I urgently need to solve the problem with one person. Can you help?".
The answer came in three minutes:
"Who recommended us?"
Boris skimmed in his memory and remembered the name of the client:
Javad.
The answer came as quickly as the previous one:
"Delete all correspondence, and then follow our instructions."
Then everything was surprisingly very simple. Boris should send all  known information about the rival and transfer twenty thousand euros to a certain bank account. And he carried out the instructions the same day. Now he could only wait for the news.
Ilona flew to Moscow. Until her next visit there were two weeks to wait. All this time Boris lived in unbearable tension. He did not doubt that Valery was no longer alive. But will the beloved wife change, when she lose her lover?
To Boris's surprise, his wife behaved absolutely the same as at her last visit. As if there was no terrible love correspondence and the strange coldness that hung between the spouses. Boris greedily watched her, hoping to see traces of spiritual struggles, experiences. Nothing like this! Ilona, as usual, swam, sunbathed and went to cafes and shops, exchanging with her husband from strength of ten phrases a day.
Besides, she somehow changed the password on the phone. Boris could only guess what was happening in the soul of his wife. Mentally, he painted himself pictures of the agonizing death of his rival and sarcastically looked at his wife. But she was calm, like a splashing sea nearby.
There remained only two days before her departure, when Ilona suddenly asked at dinner:
- Borya, do you remember Valery? He always helped us with repairs ... him, Such a disaster happened to him! Some scumbags attacked him in his own yard. They hit his head and robbed. He was in a coma for a long time, and yesterday he died in the hospital. My friend wrote to me.
Having reported this news, Ilona did not change her face at all. She spoke in an even voice, without a shadow of sorrow in his eyes.
- It's a pity, - muttered Boris, - He was a good man.
- Yes he was, - Ilona drank a big sip of her beloved merlot as if nothing had happened, He was a handsome man!
At night, Boris could not sleep for a long time, reflecting on the strange behaviour of his wife. Suddenly her phone flashed. Grabbing him, Boris saw a new message: "Honey, I'm terribly bored. I crazily want you! "
Looking at the name of the sender, Boris felt an ice chill in the whole body. Valery F. Another Valery! The former lawyer realized that he made a terrible mistake - he copied the wrong phone number from the phone book.
... He lay down next to his sleeping wife, embraced her and kissed her hard. Boris felt that his thoughts and feelings seemed to burn out. Exhausted, he pressed himself against his wife and fell asleep.