She just wanted to see who hed left her for…
Parshin walked straight into the kitchen, still wearing his coat, and sat at the table.
«I love another woman. Shes expecting my child. Im leaving you for her,» he said bluntly, without preamble.
Vita turned off the tap and faced her husband.
«Is it that girl who sells apples at the market stall? Tonya, I think?» she asked calmly.
«You knew?» Parshins eyes snapped up to hers.
«Darling, you were never good at lying. Of course I knew. Tell me, do you love her, or are you leaving just because of the baby?»
«Im sorry,» he muttered, lowering his head.
*And what about the ten years weve spent together? Do they mean nothing to you? What about me?* Her eyes screamed the words, but Vita stayed silent.
«Are you planning to marry her?» she asked instead.
«Not now.»
«Then lets keep things normal at the department. I dont want gossip and whispers behind my back.»
«Agreed. Should I go, then?» He stood.
Vita turned back to the sink, turned the water on, and stared at it until Parshin left.
He was quickonly took the essentials. Maybe hed come back?
She turned the water off, sat at the table in the same spot hed just vacated, and dropped her head onto her folded arms. But she didnt cry.
***
She hadnt cried a month earlier, either, when her friend told her shed seen Parshin with another woman.
«A student?» Vita had asked then. «Students fall for him all the time. What do they even see in him?»
«No, not a student. A girl who sells fruit at the market near the university. Her names Tonya. From the countryside, lives in a shared flat on Victoria Street. Twenty-three,» her friend rattled off the details like a detective delivering a briefing.
«How do you even know all this?» Vita frowned.
«Its a small town. I know someone who lives in that buildingLiza Sazonova. Remember her? She studied with us. Your Parshins there all the time.»
«Dont recall her. So thats where he goes when he claims to be tutoring students.»
Seeing was believing. The next day, Vita decided to follow him. She waited in the university hall, hidden behind a pillar, until his last lecture ended.
When he left, she trailed him at a distance, careful not to stare. If he felt her gaze, hed turn around. She wanted to keep her dignitynot let him think shed stoop to spying. She just wanted to see who hed left her for.
He stopped near the market stall where the girl sold apples and other fruit. A short queue of three people stood waiting. The girl, in a sleeveless puffer vest over a hoodie and jeans, weighed fruit with brisk efficiency. When she bent toward the crates, her thick braid swung forward, a few loose strands falling into her face. She straightened, blew them aside. A sweet, simple face, dimples appearing when she smiled. Patient with customers, but her dark eyes kept flicking toward Parshin. *Probably shortchanging them. Maybe I should call Trading Standards?* Vita thought bitterly.
The last customer, an old woman, scrutinised each apple before finally accepting them.
«Thats enough,» the woman said.
«Take some plums too. Theyre sweet and softgood for jam,» Tonya offered.
The woman hesitated, squeezed a few plums, then shook her head. «No, just the apples. How much?»
The bag couldnt have held more than a kilo, but Tonya named a ridiculously low price. The woman brightened, paid, and hurried off before the girl changed her mind.
*She pities the elderly!* Vita was stunned. *Not at a loss, of course. Spoiled fruit can be written off. Or is this all an act for Parshin?*
Vita passed the stall daily, even eyed the plumsbut never noticed the girl. Yet Parshin had.
Once the woman left, he approached Tonya. Vita saw how she looked at himlike he was some kind of god. *Well, hes nearly a PhD.* The girl adjusted something on Parshins coat, brushed invisible dust from his shoulders. The tender gesture stabbed Vita. Shed thought it was just an affair, but this was love.
Vita couldnt see his face, but she knew he was gazing at Tonya just as adoringly. She turned away before they spotted her.
That night, at home, Vita finally cried.
***
Shed noticed him straightaway at university. Quiet, serious, never at parties, few friends, indifferent to girls. Handsome, if not for the brooding glare under his heavy brows. There was a mystery about himhe reminded her of Heathcliff.
One day, she sat beside him in a lecture.
«Hi. Bored?» she asked.
He looked at herand smiled. His face transformed, the frown vanishing. *He is handsome,* Vita realised. After that, they sat together often, and he walked her home.
«What do you even see in him?» a jealous friend grumbled.
«Better you dont know, or youd steal him,» Vita teased.
Their relationship grew slowly, but by graduation, they were close. They married soon after. His parents werent theretheyd died in a car crash years earlier. That explained his reserve.
In bed, though, he was gentle, and afterward, hed recite poetryWordsworth, Auden, Eliot. He read beautifully, his voice stirring her soul.
Vita longed for a child, but doctors said it was unlikely after a childhood accident. Ten years passed with Parshin, and no miracle came. He soothed herthey could adopt when she was ready. But she wanted her own.
After university, they both stayed on as lecturers. Lately, their relationship had settled into quiet companionship. Always together, at work and home. For Vita, that was enough. But Parshin craved passion, intensityand a child. So hed found a simple girl whod give him one.
When Vita learned about the baby, jealousy pricked hernot over the affair, but the child. *Hell have a son or daughter, and Ill never know motherhood.*
Well, if she couldnt give him a child, another woman would. What use was a clever but barren wife? *I wonder if he reads her poetry too?*
At work, they acted normal. Only now, they left separately, inventing excuses to stay late or leave early. No one questioned it.
Parshin moved into Tonyas shared flat. Vita hoped hed reconsider, but weeks passed with no return. She avoided looking toward the market on her way home.
She learned about the baby between lectures. He approached her, eyes shining, and whispered the news. She forced a smile, congratulated him. Parshin rushed to the hospital. That evening, he came to her, sobbingTonya had died. A stroke. Vita comforted him.
«The babys alive. A girl. What will you do?»
«Ill take her,» he said hoarsely.
«And work?»
«My aunt will help at first. Ill cut my hours.»
But by spring, his aunt leftplanting season, and the baby was older. He hired a nanny, then fired her the next day when he found her scrolling her phone while the baby cried.
Days later, he called Vita. «Please, I cant do this alone.»
«You left me, and now youre asking for help?»
«Im sorry. Just come.»
Grudges aside, the child was innocent. The moment Vita held the baby, her anger dissolved. She loved her instantly. Parshin had named her Aliceafter Tonyas fondness for Adeles songs. Alice Parshin. It had a nice ring.
At first, Vita visitedcooking, ironing, babysitting when Parshin taught. Then the flatmates complained: the tenant was dead, and a stranger with a child lived there. He was evicted.
«Pack your things. You and Alice are moving in with me,» Vita said without hesitation.
At first, they slept separately. When Alice first said «Mummy,» Vitas heart nearly burst.
One evening, she returned from work to hear Alices gigglesand Parshins laughter. She paused in the doorway. The toddler wobbled toward him, and he caught her, tossing her in the air. Both laughed. Vita had never heard him laugh before. He looked so happy, tears welled in her eyes.
«Youre back?» He turned. «Look!» He set Alice down, stepped back. She tottered toward him.
All night, he marvelled at her first steps. That night, they were close again. He read her poetry, and her heart swelled.
«Did you read to her too?» she ventured.
She expected him to shut down.
«Once. She didnt get it,» he said after a pause.
Alice grew, started nursery. She looked more like Tonya every day.
One afternoon, Vita and Parshin passed the market. A different womanolder, with brassy hair and a grubby apronnow sold fruit. No customers, so she smoked, chipped nail polish dirty at the edges. She winked at Parshin.
«Lets go,» he muttered, disgusted.
That evening, as Vita washed dishes, he hugged her from behind.
«Thank you. Without you I adore you both. Youre my girls.»
«Without you and Tonya, thered be no Alice.»
Vita had forgiven. If shed held onto pride, thered be no Alice, no husband. Just a lonely, empty life.
She pitied Tonyagone too soon. But shed left a daughter. One day, theyd tell Alice about her birth mother. Or maybe not. Vita had raised her, loved her as her own. That was what mattered.
