She just wanted to see who hed left her for…
Parshin walked straight into the kitchen, still wearing his coat, and sat down 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? Toni, isnt it?» she asked calmly.
«You knew?» Parshins eyes flicked up to hers.
«Darling, youre a terrible liar. Of course I knew. Do you love her, or are you leaving because of the baby?»
«Im sorry.» He lowered his head.
*And what about all these 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 pretend everythings the same at the department. I dont want gossip and whispers behind my back.»
«Agreed. Should I go now?» He stood up.
Vita turned back to the sink, turned on the water, and stared at it until Parshin left.
He was quickmustve only taken the essentials. Or maybe hed come back?
She turned off the tap, sat at the table in the very spot hed just vacated, and rested her head on 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. «Theyre always falling for him. What do they even see in him?»
«No, not a student. A girl who works at the fruit stall opposite the university. Her names Toni. Moved here from the countryside, lives in a shared flat on Victoria Street. Twenty-three,» her friend rattled off, crisp as a detective in an old crime drama.
«How do you know all this?» Vita frowned.
«Small town, isnt it? Someone I know lives in that buildingLizzie Dawson. You remember her? She was in our year. Your Parshins there a lot.»
«Dont recall her. So thats where he goes instead of extra tutorials.»
Seeing is believing. The next day, Vita decided to follow him. She knew when his last lecture ended, dressed quickly, and waited in the hallway, hidden behind a pillar.
When he left the building, she trailed him at a distance, careful not to stare. He mightve felt her gaze and turned around. She wanted to keep her dignity, not let him think shed stoop to spying. She just wanted to see who hed left her for.
He stopped near the girls fruit stall. A short queue of three people waited. The girl, in a sleeveless puffer over a hoodie and jeans, weighed fruit with brisk efficiency. When she bent over the crates, her thick braid swung over her shoulder, loose strands falling into her face. Shed straighten up and blow them away. A sweet, simple face, dimples appearing when she smiled. She served customers patiently but kept shooting dark-eyed glances at Parshin. *Probably shortchanging them. Should I call Trading Standards?* Vita thought bitterly.
The last customer, an old woman, inspected each apple meticulously before dropping it into the bag Toni held.
«Thats enough,» the woman finally said.
«Take some plums toosweet and soft. Good for jam,» Toni offered.
The woman hesitated, squeezed a few plums, then shook her head.
«No, thank you. How much?»
The bag weighed about a kilo, but Toni named a ridiculously low price. The old woman brightened, paid, and hurried off before the girl changed her mind.
*She pities the elderly!* Vita was stunned. *Not out of her own pocket, of course. Fruit spoils fastshell write off the loss as wastage. Or is she putting on a show of generosity for Parshin?*
Vita passed the stall daily, even eyed the plums, but never noticed the girl. Yet Parshin had.
Once the old woman left, he approached Toni. Vita saw the way the girl looked at himlike he was a god. *Well, nearly a PhD, isnt he?* Toni adjusted something on his coat, smoothed his shoulders as if brushing off invisible dust. The tender gesture stung. Vita had assumed a fling, but this was love.
She couldnt see Parshins face but knew he gazed back just as adoringly. She left before they spotted her.
That night, back home, Vita finally broke down…
***
Shed noticed him at university first. Quiet, serious, never at parties, few friends, indifferent to girls. Handsome, if not for the brooding scowl. There was a mystery about himhe reminded her of Heathcliff.
Once, she sat beside him in a lecture.
«Hello. Bored?» she asked.
He looked at her and smiled. His face transformed, brows lifting. *He is handsome*, Vita thought. After that, they sat together often. Soon, he walked her home.
«What do you see in him?» a jealous friend grumbled.
«Better you dont know, or youll steal him,» Vita teased.
Their relationship grew slowly. By final year, they were together, marrying right after graduation. His parents werent at the weddingtheyd died in a car crash years earlier. That explained his reticence.
But in bed, he was tender. Afterward, hed recite Auden, Eliot, Yeats. He read beautifully, his voice weaving into her soul.
Vita longed for a child, but doctors said it was unlikely after shed fallen through ice as a girl. Ten years with Parshin, no miracle. He assured her they could adopt, but she wanted her own.
After university, both stayed on as lecturers. Lately, their marriage had settled into quiet companionship. They were inseparablehome, work, knowing each other inside out. For Vita, that was enough. But ParshinAlexander, as she called himcraved passion, intensity. And a child. So hed found a simple girl whod give him one.
When Vita learned about the baby, jealousy prickednot over the affair, but the child. *Hell have a son or daughter, and Ill never hold my own.*
Well, if she couldnt give him one, shed let another woman do it. She couldnt argue against a child. Maybe he needed someone uncomplicated. What good was a clever, barren wife? *Does he read her poetry too?*
At work, nothing changed. They walked home separately now, inventing excuses to stay late or leave early. No one asked questions.
Parshin moved into Tonis shared flat. Vita hoped hed reconsider, but weeks passed. Leaving campus, she avoided looking toward the market.
She learned about the baby between lectures. He approached her, eyes shining, and whispered the news. She forced a congratulations. He rushed to the hospital. That evening, he returned, sobbingToni was dead. 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 go part-time.»
But by spring, his aunt leftvegetable patch to tend, and the baby was older. He hired a nanny but fired her the next day. Came home to find the girl crying while the nanny scrolled on her phone.
Days later, he called Vita.
«Please, I cant manage.»
«You left me, and now youre asking for help. Hows that fair, Alexander?»
«Just come.»
Grudges aside, the child was innocent. The moment Vita held the baby, bitterness vanished. She loved her instantly. Parshin named her Alicesaid Toni adored Elton John and hummed his songs. Alice Alexandra Parshin. It had a nice ring.
At first, Vita visitedcooked, ironed, took Alice for walks, babysat during his lectures. Then the housemates complained. The tenant was dead, and a stranger lived there with a child. He was told to leave.
«Pack your things. You and Alice are moving in with me,» Vita said without hesitation.
For a while, they slept separately. When Alice first said «Mummy,» Vitas heart nearly burst.
One evening, returning from work, Vita heard Alices gigglesand Parshins laughter. She froze in the doorway. The toddler wobbled toward him; he caught and tossed her up. Both laughed. Vita had never heard him laugh like that. He looked so happy, her eyes welled. She sniffed.
«How long have you been there?» He turned. «Look!» He set Alice down and stepped back. She toddled to him.
All evening, he marveled at her first steps. That night, they were intimate again. He read poetry, and her heart soared.
«Did you read to her too?» she ventured, expecting him to shut down.
«Once. She didnt understand,» he said after a pause.
Alice grew, now in nursery, looking more like Toni each day.
After work, Vita and Parshin stopped at the market. A different womanolder, red-haired, nails chippedsold fruit now. She winked at Parshin.
«Lets go,» he said, disgusted.
That night, washing dishes, he hugged Vita from behind.
«Thank you. Without you… Youre my girls. I adore you.»
«Without you and Toni, thered be no Alice.»
Vita forgave. If she hadnt, thered be no Alice, no husband. A different storylonely, dull.
She pitied Toni, gone too soon. But shed left Alice. One day, theyd tell her about her birth mother. Or maybe not. Vita had raised her, loved her as her own. That was what mattered.
