It was early morning, yet Arevik was already standing in front of the building. On her previous visits, she had been so anxious that she barely noticed her surroundings. Today, however, she looked around with quiet admiration.

  Before reaching the entrance, Arevik walked across a vast, well-kept area filled with flowers, shrubs, and trees. Everything around her spoke of care and order. Near one of the bushes, she noticed a man carefully trimming the branches with garden shears.

  So, this is the keeper of this beauty, Arevik thought warmly.

  She stepped closer and greeted the gardener kindly:

  “Good morning,” she said with a smile.

  Receiving no reply, Arevik did not linger. She headed toward the building, once again absorbed in her thoughts and the day ahead.

  As she entered the building, Arevik once again thought about how far her workspace was from the director’s office. She took a deep breath and stopped in front of the door to the archive department.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Gayane. Good morning, Mrs. Hasmik and Astghik.”

  “Good morning, Arevik,” Gayane replied. “Your desk is ready. You may arrange everything as you like. It was just installed, and besides, you are now responsible for this room, so feel free to organize it however you wish.”

  “Thank you very much,” Arevik said with a warm smile. “Then, until later. I wish all of us a good day.”

  “Of course. We’ll see each other during the break,” Gayane answered.

  Arevik left the office and headed toward her new—her real—workspace.

  “What do you think about Arevik, Gayane?” Astghik asked. “What kind of person is she?”

  “Don’t you think you’re giving her too much privilege by allowing her to arrange the room as she wants?” Hasmik added with a hint of complaint. “We were never given such freedom…”

  “You weren’t given such privileges because your workspace is already comfortable,” Gayane replied calmly,

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  For the first time, Arevik entered the documentation department alone. She stopped and looked around, trying to understand where she was. Before her stretched a vast space filled with an enormous amount of information, organized in a completely chaotic way.

  “There’s a lot of work to be done here,” Arevik thought.

  “And this is my desk with the computer… no, I’ll definitely move you somewhere else.”

  She continued to explore the room. Scene after scene passed before her eyes like a moving panorama. Suddenly, in one corner, her attention was drawn to an uneven pile of objects. Arevik slowly approached it, and as she came closer, she noticed something unusual — behind the clutter, the outline of a door emerged.

  She quickened her pace. Yes, there really was a door hidden behind the pile.

  Carefully, Arevik began moving the objects aside, clearing a path. Finally, she reached the door — but it was locked with a large, heavy padlock. She searched for a key among the scattered items, but in vain. There was no key, even though the temptation to see what lay beyond the door grew stronger with every second.

  She began looking for any opening, any small gap to peek inside. After a long search, she found one. At first, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, shapes slowly began to appear.

  “A greenhouse?” she thought at first.

  “No… I think it’s an indoor garden.”

  She shook the door several times, trying to open it, but once again — unsuccessfully.

  “Interesting… who could I even ask about this?” Arevik whispered to herself. “I hardly know anyone here.”

  As she was thinking aloud, the office door opened and Mrs. Gayane stepped inside.

  — Break time, Arevik.

  Arevik quickly gathered her things and followed Mrs. Gayane. While they were seated at the table in the cafeteria, she finally decided to ask the question that had been troubling her.

  — Mrs. Gayane, may I ask… what is that door in the archive? The one hidden behind the documents.

  Gayane paused for a moment, as if weighing her words.

  — It used to lead to a garden. At that time, the territory didn’t belong to our institution at all. We moved the documents there not long ago, which is why everything is still in disarray, — she said after a brief silence. — You shouldn’t pay attention to that door.

  — Why did they stop taking care of the garden?

  — As far as I know, there was a tragedy. After that, no one continued to look after it.

  — What kind of tragedy? And who was involved?

  Gayane frowned slightly.

  — I don’t know the details. I only know that Grish changed a lot after that. But I ask you again — focus on your work and don’t concern yourself with that door.

  — Am I correct in understanding that Grish is our current gardener?

  — Yes. And let’s leave it at that, — Gayane replied firmly.

  — All right. I won’t bring it up again.

  — Come on, the break is over.

  The second half of the day passed quickly as Arevik immersed herself in cleaning and organizing her workspace. By evening, exhaustion weighed heavily on her. She returned home, took a shower, and went straight to bed — her thoughts still circling around the locked door, the abandoned garden, and the feeling that something important was being deliberately kept from her.