— You will all go out as street sweepers!
Just know this — I’ll fire you to hell! — Vladimir barked, slamming the door of his office loudly.
— These slackers have gotten completely cheeky, — he grumbled to himself.
— They don’t want to work, but they expect to get paid! Meanwhile, the company is on the edge, losing money!
Deep down, Vladimir understood that only he himself was to blame for this, but even mentally he refused to admit it.
— Well, what? Why should I check everything?
I have a whole staff of employees!
He inherited the company from his uncle — suddenly and somewhat strangely, considering that in his forty years Volodya hadn’t really made a name for himself.
He worked wherever he could, and then suddenly — a businessman.
“Oh,” he thought then, “now I’ll show what I’m made of!” But so far, nothing worked out.
The company somehow operated on its own momentum, not thanks to his leadership.
This drove Vladimir crazy.
He would not show up in the office for weeks, then appear, shout, fire someone “preventively,” try to figure out who is doing what.
He blamed all the employees — and everything repeated again.
Today he didn’t even want to be here at all.
He yelled at everyone, and he could have left already — tomorrow he was going with his girlfriend, or mistress (depends on how you look at it), to the sea.
He barely scraped together money from all accounts — the accountant almost fainted.
— Vladimir Grigorievich, you’ll leave us completely without money.
Salary is in two weeks. — Better let them work than wait for money! Is it really so hard just to do your job?
The accountant pursed her lips, but still added: — You yourself fired the cleaner you didn’t like.
Now the whole office is dirty. Maybe hire a new one?
Vladimir raised his voice: — Why should I deal with that?
— Because the one who does — the HR manager — you fired a couple of months ago.
He was even taken aback by such audacity. He wanted to say something, but the accountant had already left, closing the door behind her.
“They’ve become spoiled! They don’t understand anything!” — he thought, preparing to leave.
As always, there was only one salvation — Lena.
Only she understood him, knew how hard it was with these lazy idiots.
No, once she returns from the sea — then he’ll definitely start re-educating the whole office.
Lena took the envelope with money and quickly counted it.
— I’ll pay everything in the evening. That’s all? — “Len, have some conscience, isn’t it enough?”
— Well, not that it’s little… Just not enough to really have fun.
— Imagine, the entire staff needs to be changed! — Vladimir continued to complain.
— I can’t even get my own money to have a decent rest.
They’re still dissatisfied. And now this cleaner…
Lena looked at him carefully: — What about the cleaner?
— I fired her… You remember, I told you — she tripped over a bucket…
Lena nodded seriously: — So you fired the cleaner because you didn’t notice the bucket? — “Come on, Len, you understand — that’s unacceptable! Why even put buckets everywhere?”
— Well, yes, of course… — And now they demand a new cleaner. It’s dirty, you see!
Let them get a mop and clean themselves! — “So why are you looking for a cleaner and not the HR manager?”
— Because there’s no HR manager either. I fired her earlier.
Volodya hesitated a bit but immediately found an excuse:
— She answered me disrespectfully. You have to respect the boss.
In fact, the HR girl, young and pretty, slapped him in front of everyone when he “friendly” put his hand in the wrong place.
Although no one saw exactly how he put his hand — but everyone noticed the slap perfectly.
What to do? Swallow it? He’s no weakling. Besides, you have to be friends with the boss, not baby them.
Only Lena should not know about this — she was quite a bitch. Could have hit him harder.
In the evening Lena suddenly said: — Volodya, find them a cleaner so life doesn’t seem like a fairy tale.
— What do you mean? — “With character. Some kind of oddball.”
— Are you crazy?
What if she steals something? — “Then lock your office. And if they lose something — let them deal with it themselves.”
Vladimir thought.
— Len, you’re a genius! If I hire someone like that, they won’t dare to fire her without me.
— So?
— So, they’ll work.
Without coffee breaks that the cleaner used to run for every ten minutes.
A couple of days later the perfect candidate was found.
Had to ask the local cop — a friend helped:
— There’s one, just got released. Twelve years served. By the way, mute. — Seriously?
What for? — Killed her husband. With special cruelty. — Wow\…
Why mute? — Stopped speaking after the trial. Probably choked on life.
Communication with her was through the cop. She wrote answers on pieces of paper.
When she learned they offered her a job, she even smiled and wrote: “Thank you.”
Volodya couldn’t tell her age — maybe thirty, maybe seventy. Wrapped in a headscarf, not raising her eyes.
— Attention everyone! — he declared, bursting into the office.
— This is your new cleaner, Nina, just got released.
Keep in mind — she’ll tell me everything.
The girls at their desks exchanged glances, hesitant to approach. Nina stood with her head down.
Volodya had no time to stay — Lena was waiting in the car, the flight registration in an hour.
— So, show her everything, get her settled, I have to go.
He was sure: having such a cleaner would motivate the team well.
If a person is afraid — they work better. And if they work better — that means they’ll earn more.
He read that somewhere in a book while trying to become a good manager.
— How did it go? — Lena asked as soon as he sat down next to her.
— Great! You should have seen their faces!
They laughed. Ahead awaited sea, sun, and rest.
Work was the last thing on their minds.
Nina was shown around the office, explained where everything was.
She immediately grabbed a mop. Colleagues looked cautiously, but Nina didn’t seek to socialize.
She cleaned, polished, and in just two days the office began to shine.
Except for the boss’s office — that one was locked.
Nina moved silently through the corners, not speaking to anyone.
Once the accountant approached her:
— Nina, tell me, how do you feel about houseplants?
Nina smiled, nodded, and looked questioningly at the accountant.
— The neighboring office is moving.
They have many houseplants and can’t take them all.
We agreed to take some of the plants.
Could you take care of them?
Nina nodded again. Then she took out her notebook and wrote:
“I really love to tend plants.”
— Excellent! — the accountant was delighted. — Then I’ll arrange for them to be moved here.
And then, as you see fit — arrange, replant, do as your heart tells you.
Nina nodded once more.
Three days later, the office looked completely different. The plants, which arrived in quite a sorry state, seemed to have come alive.
Leaves became brighter, stems stronger.
And Nina seemed to have “blossomed” a little herself — became a bit more confident, looked into eyes more often.
Sometimes the girls noticed her moving her lips as if speaking to the plants.
Obviously, she couldn’t speak — she was mute.
But there was something touching about it.
During lunch break, the girls, without planning it, invited her over.
Nina was shy but agreed. She hadn’t felt such simple, human warmth for a long time.
No one had talked to her like that for a long time — without fear, judgment, or pity.
The girls chattered endlessly, talking about work, husbands, children, shops, and TV series.
Nina’s head slightly spun from the flood of information.
But she didn’t feel irritation or tiredness — on the contrary, she felt warm and calm.
Before parting ways, Marina Olegovna, the accountant, quietly said:
— Nina, you are a true master. With these flowers… Simply incredible.
It feels like they have always been here. You placed everything so perfectly.
The girls started chatting happily, rejoicing for their senior colleague, and just before leaving, Anya approached Nina:
— Nin, can I ask you a personal question? Why do you dress like that?
Is it your style or are there some reasons? Because you’re clearly a beautiful woman, but you hide it.
Nina sighed and took out her notebook:
“I have nothing left. After everything — only what kind neighbors gave me.”
Anya nodded:
— I thought so. Don’t worry, everything will change.
The next day she brought a big bag:
— Here, my mom and I cleaned out the closets. If something doesn’t fit — you can give it to someone else.
Nina wrote again:
“I can’t take this. It’s too expensive and beautiful for me.”
— Nonsense! — Anya replied. — You will wear it. You will be beautiful. You will stop hiding.
At home, Nina carefully laid out the clothes — dresses, sweaters, jeans — and studied them for a long time as if they were something unseen. Then she sat down and cried. Life was so unfair.
She married young and soon had a daughter. Everything seemed normal until her husband began to change.
He started hanging out with strange people, wore some long clothes at home, whispered words that sounded like prayers.
By day he was an ordinary man, but at night he became someone else.
Nina was afraid to leave him with their child. Something was wrong.
One day she had a strong premonition — she couldn’t even explain why she ran home.
She arrived just at the moment her husband raised a knife over their little daughter.
The girl was tied up and didn’t scream — paralyzed by fear.
— Stop! — Nina shouted. — What are you doing?!
— Don’t come closer! — he yelled. — I have to do this! Otherwise, everyone will die!
She grabbed the first thing at hand — a cast-iron dustpan she had bought at an antique shop.
She ran up and hit him. Then again. And again. She didn’t think about the consequences — she was protecting her daughter.
The medical examiner later noted: the blows were brutal but understandable.
She was given the maximum sentence. Her husband’s parents did everything to make sure she was imprisoned.
Her mother died of a heart attack while Nina was serving her sentence.
She was not allowed to see her daughter — the girl lived with her paternal grandparents.
Nina did not insist: “What kind of mother is that for a child? Let her grow up without this stigma.”
Sometimes she watched her daughter from afar. Beautiful, smart, bright… But never showed herself.
The next day Nina came to the office with a new look — tight jeans, a white blouse, and low-heeled shoes. Anya gasped:
— I knew it! You’re a beauty!
The girls surrounded her, praised her, admired her, saying she was a star, not a cleaning lady.
Marina Olegovna gently added:
— It’s a pity you don’t speak. If we heard your story, we would understand that you’re not dangerous.
That you’re not the person people think you are.
Then Nina spoke for the first time in a long time:
— I can speak.
Silence fell in the room.
— I just don’t speak. So no one starts asking about the past.
But you… you treated me like this. Like no one has for a long time. So I will tell you everything.
At that moment, Vladimir decided to check how work was going in the office.
— I wonder if those lazybones are sitting still, not making noise?
He opened the surveillance camera and froze.
Is this even his office? Where is all this green chaos? Where did so many plants come from?
He switched cameras, trying to find all the employees.
Finally he found them — everyone was gathered in the main hall.
In the center sat a woman — tall, slender, well-groomed, with a lively gaze.
Vladimir zoomed in and was stunned.
It was Nina. His cleaning lady. The ex-prisoner. The one who allegedly killed her husband.
But now she didn’t just look different — she was speaking.
She spoke, and everyone listened attentively, then someone hugged her, someone cried.
— Damn it! — he muttered. — How can this be? She’s supposed to be mute!
He even put his phone aside. He had to go there in person immediately.
He couldn’t leave everything uncontrolled.
But it was already too late.
Nina worked as a cleaning lady for only a short time — until Vladimir returned.
The girls helped her find a more suitable job and vouched for her.
A year later she got a promotion. A good man began courting her, someone who didn’t care about her past.
Also, Anya talked to her daughter and told her the truth — not what the grandmother and grandfather had told her.
And one day Nina saw her daughter at her doorstep.
From that day on, they never missed a day without communicating — as if trying to make up for lost time.
