PART ONE

The room had been prepared in advance. The soft, warm light from the table lamp and several small lamps made the atmosphere cozy, while leaving the far corners in partial shadow. Outside the window, evening was beginning to fall, and the scattered lights of neighboring buildings were reflected in the glass.

You were sitting in an armchair opposite the sofa, while your wife stood nearby, occasionally glancing at you. On the small table between you stood two glasses and a bottle of wine.

Everything looked completely ordinary — a cozy room, dim lighting, a quiet evening. But you understood perfectly well that tonight was going to be anything but ordinary.

The doorbell rang.

You immediately knew who it was. For a few seconds, the room became completely silent. Your wife stopped adjusting her hair and looked at you. You both knew this moment was coming, but now that it had actually arrived, everything suddenly felt much more real.

You got up from the armchair and took a few steps toward the door. Your hand was already on the handle, but you didn't open it right away.

Alex was standing on the other side.

You held your breath for a moment, looked at your wife one more time, and only then turned the handle.

You opened the door.

A man roughly your age stood on the doorstep. He was holding his phone in one hand and slipped it into his pocket when he saw the door open.

• Hi. Alex?
• Yeah. Hi. You must know who I am.
• Of course. Come in.

You shook hands. It was an ordinary, almost formal handshake, but for some reason you realized you were studying him more carefully than you normally would.

He looked younger than you had initially thought. His athletic build immediately stood out: broad shoulders, strong arms, a fit figure. He was wearing a simple dark T-shirt that emphasized his physique, along with jeans.

You couldn't help comparing him to yourself. It happened almost automatically.

You noticed the difference in your physiques and felt a brief, unpleasant sense of insecurity. Not enough to make you want to stop the evening, but enough to suddenly become more conscious of your own appearance.

You noticed how calm he was, the confidence in the way he carried himself, and the quick glance he gave around the room.

• I hope I'm not too early?
• No. It's fine.

Alex took a few steps inside. And that's when you noticed his eyes for the first time. At first, he looked at you, as if waiting to see where he should go. Then his gaze moved past your shoulder. To your wife. It lasted only a second. But you noticed.

You knew your wife too well not to notice how she reacted. She had been standing slightly to the side, looking at you. When Alex looked at her, her eyes met his. She smiled slightly. Just barely. Then she looked away.

Alex didn't hold her gaze for long either. He looked away as if nothing unusual had happened. But you had already noticed it. And now you started noticing every little thing.

Your wife said:

• Hi, Alex.

He turned toward her and smiled.

• Hi. It's nice to finally meet you.
• You too.

Just a few ordinary words. But you heard more than just the words. Alex walked farther into the room and stopped in front of you. Now the three of you were in the same room. And for the first time, you saw not simply the man you had invited there. You saw a man who was genuinely looking at your wife. Not secretly. Not accidentally. With interest.

And that simple detail changed the atmosphere in the room.

Your wife tried to appear completely calm, but now that you were watching her closely, you began noticing too many little things.

She ran her fingers through her hair even though her hairstyle already looked perfect. Then she smoothed her hand over her dress and almost immediately repeated the gesture, as if she wasn't even aware she was doing it.

When Alex asked her something, she answered a little more quietly than usual. There was a slight caution in her voice, and she paused for a moment before answering.

You noticed that she couldn't maintain eye contact with Alex for very long.

For a few seconds, she would calmly hold his gaze, then look away, smile, and look back at him again. At another moment, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and briefly bit her lower lip before continuing.

But most often, her eyes returned to you.

She would look at you for just a second, as if checking your reaction. When your eyes met, she sometimes smiled, and sometimes immediately looked away.

You knew her too well.

It didn't look like fear or a desire to leave. Rather, she was still trying to adjust to what was happening.

When Alex spoke to her again, she looked at him first, then at you, and only afterward answered.

You noticed her take a slow breath.

And at that moment, you understood: she was nervous, but at the same time curious about how far this situation might go tonight.

Alex sat down opposite you, and for the first few minutes the conversation remained completely ordinary.

• Did you get here okay? — you asked.
• Yeah, no problem. The navigation just tried to send me the wrong way a couple of times.

You smiled.

• Happens. Have you been around here before?
• First time. So I had to look around a little. Your wife laughed quietly.
• So I guess we sent you the address correctly after all.
• More than correctly.

The conversation continued for several minutes. Nothing special: the drive over, work, the city, a few casual jokes. But beneath all those ordinary words was the feeling that none of you had actually come here simply to talk.

You watched them silently.

At first, she answered briefly, occasionally glancing back at you. But gradually, her attention remained on Alex more and more often. She no longer seemed as quick to look away whenever he looked at her.

He asked questions, and she answered. Sometimes she smiled at his comments; sometimes she asked him something herself.

You noticed another detail.

When Alex spoke, your wife tilted her head slightly, listening carefully. When she answered, he didn't interrupt and looked directly at her.

A mutual interest had begun to develop between them — something that hadn't been there just a few minutes earlier.

And for the first time, you felt less like a participant in the conversation and more like someone watching a connection slowly ...