Denis decisively pushed the plate of borscht away from himself and, with an indifferent, careless tone, as if even solemnly, announced:
— Svetlana, I’m leaving you!
The words shocked the 45-year-old woman so unexpectedly that she dropped the cup she was holding, which shattered into pieces as it hit the tiled floor. Svetlana looked at her husband and, seeing his serious expression, realized he wasn’t joking. She froze, silently wrapping her arms around herself.
Svetlana had lived, as she thought, in a happy marriage for twenty-five years. She loved her Denis with all her heart, considering him a reliable, faithful husband and a wonderful father. But these strange words, like a whip striking at her most vulnerable spot, were a shock to her. Svetlana still hadn’t fully grasped what was happening. She raised a bewildered look to her husband and asked in a faltering tone:
— What do you mean you’re leaving? Where to, Denis? We’ve been together for a quarter of a century!
— Exactly! — the man replied irritably, abruptly standing up and giving his wife a piercing look, — I’ve lived with you for twenty-five years. But what has become of you during that time? Tell me, where is the young, beautiful, slim, carefree girl I once fell in love with? Just look at what you’ve turned into! You’ve put on weight, started to go gray, and even these nasty wrinkles have appeared. Well, that would be half the trouble, but all that’s in your head are cutlets, borscht, cleaning, laundry. It’s no wonder I’m utterly sick of this life. There’s absolutely nothing for us to talk about anymore. And I, sorry, do not want to bury myself alive. I deserve more. I hope we can divorce calmly, without hysterics. I’ve fallen in love with another woman, and you must understand that. She’s younger, more interesting, more beautiful, and expecting my child. Soon, I will be a father again, so please let me go without a scandal. I haven’t loved you for a long time, Svet, I’m sorry.
Svetlana sank into a chair and desperately clutched her head with both hands. Denis’s words caused unbearable pain. Svetlana couldn’t come to terms with the fact that the man she had dedicated her life to, for whom she had made so many sacrifices, had turned away from her so cruelly. Denis had exchanged a loyal, loving, caring wife for one who turned out to be younger and more attractive.
— Leave, — Svetlana managed to say, her head bowed low.
Denis silently left the kitchen. He quickly packed his things and left, stating at the door that he would file for divorce soon. Svetlana cried all day. By evening, she was so exhausted from the searing pain tearing her soul apart that she fell asleep right at the table. She woke up after midnight but didn’t go to the bedroom. She gently leaned against the wall, sitting with her legs tucked under her until morning. In the morning, Svetlana had to go to work. She met the dawn with a haggard, frightening look. Svetlana suddenly realized she had no desire to work, and she struggled to even get up. She called her boss and said she was sick and couldn’t come to work, asked for unpaid leave, and immersed herself in her grief. She stopped cooking, eating, taking care of herself, and maintaining the house. From morning till evening, Svetlana stayed in bed, staring blankly at one spot and mourning her fate.
This continued until her son, Artem, arrived unexpectedly one day with his young wife. Artem had decided to surprise his mother, so he showed up unannounced. On the way, he bought her favorite cake. Artem was used to seeing his mother always cheerful, used to coming to a clean, well-maintained home where the scent of fresh baking always wafted from the kitchen, so the scene that met his eyes was a real shock.
— Mommy, what’s wrong with you? Are you sick? What happened? You don’t look like yourself, — Artem worried, rushing to his mother, who was sitting in the kitchen, pensively staring at the chandelier.
— Your father left me, — Svetlana confessed in a trembling voice, her gaze dimming at the sight of her stunned son.
— How can he… leave? — Artem barely managed to say, firmly taking his mother by the hand.
Svetlana told her son and daughter-in-law everything that had happened in their family. The young couple exchanged surprised glances. They began to console the newly tearful Svetlana, convincing her that life had not stopped there, that a new, happy life awaited her ahead. Svetlana, in despair, shook her head and said that she no longer had a future.
— Svetlana Nikolaevna, I beg you, hold on. Everything will get better, you’ll see. You are a young, beautiful, interesting woman. You’ll meet your destiny yet and be happy, — tried to reassure her daughter-in-law, Marina, but Svetlana wanted to hear none of it.
— There’s no use comforting me. I understand everything perfectly. I’m not the young girl Denis fell in love with twenty-five years ago. My life is over. It has lost its meaning. What do I have to look forward to at the sunset of my years? I’ve gained weight, gone gray, wrinkles have appeared…
The words of her son and daughter-in-law did not console Svetlana at all. She fell into an even deeper depression, realizing that her youth had irretrievably gone, and she was left completely alone. Artem thought long about how to help his mother, who was suffering greatly. He had been very attached to her since childhood, so seeing her in such a distressing state was unbearable.
And then, the spouses decided to involve Marina’s grandmother, whom Svetlana had always sincerely loved. Tamara Ivanovna was a very wise and insightful woman. She promised her granddaughter and her spouse that Svetlana would soon live a happy, full life again.
Svetlana was sorting through old things when her phone rang. Seeing her son’s number on the screen, she immediately grabbed the mobile phone and put it to her ear.
— Hello, son. I’m fine. No need to worry about me. Everything is really good. How are you? What?! Poor Tamara Ivanovna! Of course, I’ll go to her in the village, yes, yes, I’ll take care. I’ll be there in the evening. Tell Marina not to worry and to work with peace of mind. Agreed.
Svetlana hung up and immediately started getting dressed. She was going to the village to help her daughter-in-law’s ailing grandmother. Artem had told his mother on the phone that Tamara Ivanovna was ill and needed care. He also mentioned that Marina could not get time off work and was in despair, not knowing what to do. Svetlana was happy to help her daughter-in-law’s grandmother, with whom she had developed a warm relationship. Svetlana also hoped that taking care of the sick elderly woman would distract her from her sad, nagging thoughts. She quickly packed all the essentials and set off for the village.
Tamara Ivanovna was not only a wise woman but also an actress. In her youth, she had played in plays, so she easily pretended to be ill, needing constant attention. Svetlana believed in her illness and took care of the elderly woman.
— Svetochka, darling, please go to my neighbor. He has hawthorn growing in his garden, which is very beneficial for the heart. Konstantin promised to bring me a berry infusion but forgot.
Svetlana went to Tamara Ivanovna’s neighbor to get the healing infusion. He lived in the house across the street. The woman was delighted by the man’s plot. At first glance, she understood that the man living in the neighboring house was a real handyman, a master of all trades. Svetlana loudly called out to Konstantin, and he appeared a few seconds later. He opened the gate and let Svetlana in, greeting her politely. Svetlana looked around the well-maintained yard of the man with interest, utterly amazed by his garden. For a moment, it seemed to her as if she had stepped into a fairy tale. The man himself also made a pleasant impression on her. Svetlana was so captivated by the enchanting beauty surrounding her that she even forgot why she had come.
— Come into the house. I’ll treat you to some tea and pie, — Konstantin offered in a friendly voice, curiously examining his neighbor’s guest.
— Thank you, but I need to return to Tamara Ivanovna. I’m afraid to leave her alone for too long, — Svetlana replied, trying to imagine the woman who owned this house and was Konstantin’s wife.
Svetlana took the infusion and returned to the elderly woman, who genuinely sighed, complaining of dizziness and rapid breathing. She was glad that Svetlana had a good impression of her neighbor, who was indeed a worthy man and, importantly, a single man.
— My neighbor is a good man, — Tamara Ivanovna muttered, sitting at the table with Svetlana and finishing her tea, — Such men are hard to find these days. Industrious, responsible, kind, and knows how to do everything around the house and yard. Former military. Now retired. Imagine, he left a spacious apartment in the city center and moved to live in the village. He bought the neighboring house in a sorry state. There was no garden, no vegetable garden, no such beautiful yard there. Konstantin did everything with his own hands. Not just a man, but gold, it’s just a pity that he hasn’t found a kindred spirit. Completely alone.
The next morning, Tamara Ivanovna, taking advantage of the fact that Svetlana was doing laundry in the yard, twisted the fuses on the meter and turned off all the electricity in the house.
— Svetochka, my dear, come here, — the elderly woman called her guest.
Svetlana hurried into the house:
— Yes, Tamara Ivanovna, did you call me? Are you alright?
— I’m fine, but something happened to our meter. There’s no electricity in the house. My series is about to start. And I can’t live without it. Go fetch Konstantin. Let him have a look and fix it.
Svetlana obediently went for the neighbor, who immediately came to Tamara Ivanovna and fixed everything in a matter of minutes. The elderly woman’s house was lit up again. At lunch, Tamara Ivanovna asked Svetu to bake her favorite strawberry pie. Svetlana fulfilled the elderly woman’s request, glad that she had regained her appetite again. During tea time, Tamara Ivanovna casually said:
— Svetochka, take a piece of pie to Konstantin. We need to thank him for fixing the meter. I didn’t miss my series. Go to him. He’s probably in the yard doing something, even hasn’t had lunch yet.
Svetlana nodded and, cutting a large piece of pie, went to the neighbor. Konstantin was pleased with Svetlana’s arrival and said that the pie was just in time, he hadn’t eaten anything since morning. Kostya offered Svetlana to have tea with him, and she couldn’t refuse. They set up tea in the garden and talked for several hours. Konstantin told Svetlana about his service, and she listened to him, holding her breath. Time with Konstantin flew by unnoticed. Svetlana returned to Tamara Ivanovna under a pleasant impression.
Soon, Konstantin himself began visiting Tamara Ivanovna and Svetlana. He visited the “sick” neighbor, brought her medicinal herbs, helped tidy up her yard. Tamara Ivanovna watched with a mischievous, satisfied smile as Konstantin and Svetlana, forgetting everything in the world, talked passionately with each other and realized that her plan had worked brilliantly. The man and woman did not notice how they became attached to each other.
One day during another tea party, Konstantin told Svetlana about what had happened in his life a year ago.
— I moved here a year ago after my wife left me. Honestly, it was a difficult time for me. I realized that I had to drastically change my life. In the village, I found myself, forgot about the past, and learned to be happy in the present.
Svetlana looked at her neighbor in amazement, thinking about the woman who had decided to leave such a man as Konstantin. She was sure that Konstantin’s ex-wife regretted her decision more than once. Svetlana involuntarily compared Konstantin with Denis and realized that her former husband was significantly inferior to Tamara Ivanovna’s neighbor. Konstantin was a real man, a person who knew how to keep his word. Svetlana increasingly caught herself thinking that she had stopped remembering her ex-husband and thinking about where he was, what was happening with him. Svetlana simply enjoyed the carefree life in the village, the summer sun, and the pleasant, inspiring communication with her new acquaintance. But Svetlana’s mood suddenly changed the moment she realized that her vacation was coming to an end and she would soon have to return to the city, to her previous life. The remaining few days flew by unnoticed. Tamara Ivanovna stopped playing the role of a sick woman and declared that she had recovered, thanks to Svetlana’s tireless care.
Svetlana reluctantly packed her things in the evening and went outside to say goodbye to the village, which had become dear and beloved to her. She didn’t notice that Konstantin was heading towards her.
— Leaving? — he asked thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off the saddened woman.
— Yes, — Svetlana replied regretfully, — It’s time. Tamara Ivanovna has recovered. My vacation is over. The city is waiting for me.
— You don’t sound very happy about it. Are you sure there’s nothing here holding you back?
The man looked into the eyes of his bewildered neighbor and timidly took her hand.
— Maybe you’ll stay? I see that you don’t want to leave. And I don’t want that either. Svetlana, I’ve grown so attached to you that I can’t imagine living without you.
— Konstantin, — Svetlana stammered, taken aback by the surprise, — I really have to leave. I have my own life in the city. Work, an apartment, friends, a son.
Svetlana tried to convince herself first and foremost of the correctness of her decision with these words. With all her heart, she didn’t want to part with Konstantin, but she was afraid that staying in the village would be a mistake. But when Konstantin unexpectedly hugged Svetlana around the waist and pulled her close, all fears and doubts immediately dispersed. She realized that she had hopelessly fallen in love with Tamara Ivanovna’s neighbor and could no longer live away from him. Svetlana willingly accepted his embrace.
— Don’t leave, — Konstantin whispered, his hot, intermittent breath burning the woman’s skin.
Svetlana knew that, as much as she wanted to stay with the beloved man in his small, cozy paradise, she couldn’t just abandon everything she had before meeting him.
— My job is waiting for me in the city, — she whispered tremulously, pressing her body against Konstantin’s.
— Then I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. I can’t live without you. I’ll be by your side, just call.
Without a second thought, Svetlana invited the man, without whom she could no longer imagine her life, to come with her. He moved into her apartment. By that time, Svetlana was already divorced from Denis, and she and Kostya had filed an application at the registry office. The tender feelings remarkably transformed the woman. Now she radiated happiness, which could be felt in every word, look, gesture. Svetlana blossomed like a flower that, after a long drought, had finally been nourished by warm rain. Her son and daughter-in-law sincerely rejoiced at the changes taking place with Svetlana. They thanked Tamara Ivanovna, who gently and delicately brought together two lonely souls in need of love and tenderness. Every weekend, Svetlana and Konstantin spent in the village and always visited the elderly woman, coming to her with gifts.
A year later, the past unexpectedly reminded itself. It happened on a sunny Saturday morning when the spouses, as usual, were preparing to go to the village for the weekend. Konstantin was in the store. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Svetlana hurried to open it, thinking that her husband had forgotten to take his keys with him. She was startled by the surprise of seeing Denis with a one-year-old boy at the doorstep.
— Denis?! — Svetlana exclaimed, throwing up her hands, — What are you doing here?
— Hello, Svetlana, — the man said timidly, — Will you let me in?
— Denis, why did you come? I thought everything between us was long over.
— Svetka, you always understood me better than anyone, generously forgave all my mistakes. Forgive me now. I know you still love me. I came to ask you for another chance. Let’s start all over again.
From her ex-husband, Svetlana learned that the woman he had left her for had abandoned him with a one-year-old child in her arms and ran off with a young, promising man. Denis was forced to care for the toddler and pay rent for the apartment they lived in. Svetlana understood that her ex-husband was looking for an easy way out, that it wasn’t love that brought him to the door of the apartment where he used to live.
— Denis, I now have another family, a husband whom I love. I feel sorry for your son, but I can’t help. There can be no talk of your return. You should understand that I now live my own life, in which there is no place for you. Please leave. You’ve already made your choice.
— Husband?! Family?! You couldn’t have gotten married so quickly! You loved me… — the bewildered man shook his head in disbelief, then laughed loudly.
Before Svetlana could respond, Konstantin, who had returned from the store, appeared at the doorstep. He looked questioningly first at his wife, then at Denis, who at that moment understood everything.
— Honey, I couldn’t find the cake, we’ll stop by the supermarket on the way. Do we have guests?
— The person mistook the door and is already leaving, — the woman replied calmly and, politely saying goodbye to Denis, returned to the kitchen with her husband.
The ex-husband was forced to admit defeat and leave. He left, bitterly regretting what he had done a year ago. Svetlana mentally thanked her former husband for leaving her. Only after meeting Konstantin did she realize that it was habit, not love, that had kept her with Denis. They were completely different people. Svetlana tightly hugged Konstantin, feeling that she had found her true happiness.