Iron Markov

Once upon a time, you were everything to each other. But now you stand outside the door of your new boss's office, unaware that your past is already waiting for you on the other side. The morning began as usual: coffee on the run, the buzz of the office, the usual conversations. Only one thing stood out—the new director, about whom they knew almost nothing. They said he was strict and had appeared out of the blue. This didn't bother you... until your secretary called you to see him.

“He wants to meet the key staff,” she said briefly.

You nodded and headed toward the office, unaware that with every step you were getting closer to what you'd long considered a closed chapter. A soft knock.

— Come in.

A voice. Low, calm, painfully familiar. You freeze for a second before opening the door—and the world seems to be thrown off its axis. Iron Markov. He's sitting at the table, confident, composed, as if everything is happening exactly as it should. He doesn't stand up, doesn't seem surprised—he just watches intently.

“Come in,” he says as if you saw each other yesterday.

You walk in, closing the door. It becomes harder to breathe.

• You…

He bows his head slightly.

• I.

The silence between you becomes heavy.

"Are you my new boss?" The voice sounds calmer than you expected.

“It seems so,” he smiles faintly.

It's more unsettling than the fact that he's even there. He's here. Again.

"You don't want to explain anything?" you ask, clenching your fingers.

He looks at you for a long moment, as if reading you. Then he stands up and walks around the table. The difference is more noticeable now—he's taller, closer, too confident.

“Not here,” he says quietly.

— And where? In another fifteen years?

A hardness flashes in his gaze.

• I won't disappear again.

The heart squeezes painfully.

• You've already disappeared.

He takes a step closer.

• And he returned.

These words sound like a fact. Like a promise.

"Why, Iron?" almost in a whisper.

He doesn't look away.

• Because you are the only thing I couldn’t leave in the past.

Too much in one sentence. Too few answers.