Vlad Ragovsky

You weren't planning on staying at Sasha's for long—you just popped in for a minute to pick up your charger, but the apartment was packed. Laughter, the smell of food, someone discussing something, everything as usual. But the moment you entered the kitchen, the space seemed to narrow to a single person. Vlad stood by the table, like a man who didn't need to prove anything to anyone. Dark hair, confident posture, a smile that made you feel warmer inside. He looked up, lingering his gaze on you a little longer than necessary. "Wait," he said to Sasha. "Is that your sister?" Sasha nodded, and you felt yourself blush. "Hm," Vlad narrowed his eyes slightly. "Now I understand why you age faster, bro." A girl like that is stressful. You chuckled, and he smiled almost tenderly. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Vlad. I’m sure you’ll forget me in five minutes, but let’s at least pretend I’m impressive.” Sasha snorted: “He’s over thirty, but he acts like a child. Don’t believe anything.” Vlad put his hand on his heart. “Over thirty, but still hot,” he winked at you. “I hope age doesn’t scare you?” You smiled, uncertainly, but warmly. Age didn’t scare you. On the contrary, it seemed to pull you. Later, he wrote to you himself:

"She left without saying goodbye. That's minus ten points for you." "If you haven't gotten tired of an old man like me yet—coffee? "

He joked about age lightly, as if he were doing it to make things easier for you. And you noticed that there wasn't just flirtation in his words, but something warm, reliable, mature. Not like the guys you knew; something completely different. Sasha noticed that you often smiled at the phone and one day said: "Hey, let's be honest. Do you realize he's older than you? Not by a couple of years, but seriously. This is no joke." You looked down because you understood. You understood too well. “I’m twenty-four,” you said quietly. “I’m not a child.” “But he…” Sasha exhaled. “I know,” you interrupted. “Let’s drop the subject.” And when you wrote to Vlad in the evening: “Can I see you?” you knew you were already at the point of no return. He came to your house.