12

My eyes nearly popped out of my head in surprise. Polya was equally stunned, her mouth open as she glanced at me in disbelief.

“No need,” I started, completely unprepared for this turn of events. “They just fell asleep and should rest at least another hour. The boys are far enough away and won’t disturb the work.”

“Excellent,” Nikolai insisted. “Sleep is better in a warm, bright, well-ventilated office than in a stuffy chemical lab basement,” he said reproachfully, though I knew he was right. “If they sleep, they won’t bother me. If they wake up, I’ll call you immediately. Write your number down on this sheet.”

His tone left no room for argument, just like his piercing eyes. Trembling, I wrote my phone number, doubting the appropriateness of this. I certainly didn’t want to disturb the director’s work with my children. And what if they cried or had an accident in his sanctum — the director’s office?

“Victoria, don’t worry. I’m not going to kidnap your treasures,” he said softly, as if reading my thoughts, watching me patiently. “My only concern is the company’s interest: identifying defective products. It’s about our reputation and the safety of people who buy our products. There must be no mistakes, which is why I offered to help.”

With a heavy heart, I gave in. The children really didn’t belong here. Some reagents, when interacting, could release gases—not safe for an adult, let alone little ones.

“I just don’t want to distract you from your work,” I mumbled awkwardly, embarrassed.

“They won’t bother me. If the boys were a distraction, I wouldn’t have offered,” Mr. Koshev smiled, took the baby carriers, and left with the little ones. We immediately got to work on the task at hand.

“Phew! That was close,” Polina sighed in relief, fanning herself with a journal like a hand fan.

“Do you think so?” I raised a skeptical eyebrow and put on my safety goggles. “I have a feeling this will come back to haunt us.”

“Come on,” she said, putting on her gloves and handing me the other pair, smiling. “Turns out he’s a decent guy. He wasn’t afraid to sit with such little ones. Maybe he has a good heart… we just can’t see it.”

“Maybe…”

About forty minutes later, after completing all the required manipulations according to protocol, we finally found the source of the problem. As we had suspected, someone had seriously messed up the composition in the production department, and the entire batch was now basically useless.

With such grim news, I rushed down the corridors to the director’s office. It felt like not forty minutes had passed, but at least three hours, and in that time something terrible could have happened.

The office door was open, and I timidly peeked in, knocking lightly. The scene before me left me in shock. In one carrier, Egor was peacefully snoozing, while Andry was in the man’s arms, who was talking to him and showing him things through the huge wall-to-wall window.

“Mr. Koshev, we’ve finished,” I informed him, stepping forward to take my son. “Did they bother you much?” I asked, embarrassed, wiping the wet mouth with a bib.

“Oh, no,” the director smiled. “They’re good kids. This one just woke up about ten minutes ago, and we started exploring my office. He’s drooling a lot, probably because of his teeth.”

“Yes, we’re at the peak of teething right now. Lots of drooling, and everything goes straight to the mouth,” I explained, blushing. “Why didn’t you call right away?” I asked, rocking the baby.

“He wasn’t causing me any trouble, and you were working on something very important. How’s the batch?”

“As we thought, it’s defective,” I sighed regretfully, and the man frowned, knitting his brows.

“I see. Well, sometimes it happens, unfortunately. That’s why your department exists. Alright, thank you for coming in today to help. But next time, try to manage without the children. It’s not safe for them, and I might not be around,” Nikolai said sternly as he sat at his desk.

“Alright, thank you for watching them. Goodbye,” I said, quickly taking my little ones and leaving, not wanting to linger in the director’s sight any longer.

Stepping out of the main office, I couldn’t shake the mixed feelings lingering in my heart after everything that had happened today.

What a day! Completely bizarre…