After the workout, Vika hurried home, having promised her husband that she would cook fish soup. When she entered the apartment, she saw her husband Leonid sitting in the kitchen, drinking wine.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Wow, look at you\u2026 Leonid, you couldn\u2019t wait for me? At least let me prepare an appetizer\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 No need, sit down; we need to talk\u2026<\/p>\n
Vika had never seen her husband like this before\u2014distraught, lost. \u00abGood Lord, what happened?\u00bb she thought.<\/p>\n
\u2014 I don\u2019t even know where to start\u2026 Oh, I\u2019ll tell you as it is\u2026 My secretary, Katya, is pregnant with my child; I\u2019m leaving you for her\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Really\u2026 Just like in a bad melodrama\u2026 And how long have you been with her?<\/p>\n
\u2014 About a year, roughly. The moment she arrived, she started giving me signs of attention, and I couldn\u2019t resist. Young, beautiful, cheerful\u2014just like you were in your youth\u2026 I fell in love like a schoolboy! I wanted to confess honestly to you right away, but I didn\u2019t have the nerve\u2014it wouldn\u2019t have been fair to you\u2026<\/p>\n
And now, there\u2019s no turning back\u2014we\u2019re going to be parents soon. You understand I\u2019ve always wanted my own child\u2026 Your Igor is like a son to me, but not by blood\u2026 I need an heir to pass on my business to, you know? And with her, I feel good\u2014as if I were getting younger\u2026 Maybe I\u2019ve hit a midlife crisis; have you heard of that?<\/p>\n
Vika, I\u2019m a scoundrel, of course. But I won\u2019t neglect you or Igor. I\u2019ll leave you the apartment, the car\u2014everything. I\u2019ll help you financially, don\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll pay for your education, as promised. I\u2019ve already bought a new house, registered in Katya\u2019s name\u2014after all, she will be the mother of my child.<\/p>\n
\u2014 I understand, Leonid, it\u2019s hard to resist a beauty like Katya, and you\u2019re a real man\u2026 And you can\u2019t just abandon your child\u2014that\u2019s noble. Thanks for the financial help; I won\u2019t refuse it. I want to start traveling, to live for myself.<\/p>\n
When are you moving out? Maybe I can help you pack your things?<\/p>\n
Leonid looked at his wife in bewilderment. So calm\u2026 Perhaps it was for the best\u2014no scandals or hysterics.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Well then, goodbye, my dear. Thank you for the years we spent together; I felt good being by your side! But life has its own script\u2026 Perhaps I\u2019ll fall in love again and be happy with a new man. Alright, go on, or else Katya might get worried\u2014maybe she thinks I\u2019ve clung to you like a tick\u2026<\/p>\n
Leonid hurriedly grabbed his suitcases, offered an awkward smile, and walked to the elevator.<\/p>\n
After closing the door, Vika went to the kitchen. She took a bottle of champagne from the fridge, opened it, poured a full glass, and drank it. Her husband had left her. How absurd that sounded.<\/p>\n
She had never even imagined it. After all, all those years they lived peacefully\u2014though there wasn\u2019t mad, passionate love, there was attachment, habit, and respect.<\/p>\n
Alright, no use in wallowing. New life, new rules! She would find something to do, and her husband would be the one paying. It would be foolish to refuse money; with money come more opportunities. But she had to get used to her new status as a deserted woman\u2026<\/p>\n
Vika was swept away in a whirlwind of new impressions. She signed up for dancing classes after work. On weekends, she visited museums, the cinema, and went to training sessions. Fortunately, she had company\u2014her neighbor, Irocha, a lonely woman, gladly kept her company.<\/p>\n
Her son Igor studied in another city and visited rarely. Vika was on her own. She cooked only what she loved, without having to cater to anyone else. She did what she enjoyed; no one could forbid her anything. She wasn\u2019t even thinking about a new man\u2014being alone was not so bad.<\/p>\n
The divorce from her husband took place quietly and peacefully. She caught a glimpse of Katya in the courthouse corridor\u2014a real beauty, what can you say\u2026 Her husband certainly had good taste!<\/p>\n
Leonid transferred money every month, as promised. Vika was grateful to him for this generous gesture. She knew he had money, that his business was thriving, and that he could effortlessly support her and Igor. It was his way of thanking her for the years they\u2019d spent together. Apparently, Katya didn\u2019t know about this; she probably wouldn\u2019t have approved.<\/p>\n
A year passed. In Vika\u2019s life nothing much changed\u2014dancing, training, and a couple of trips abroad. Leonid\u2019s financial help stopped, and Vika felt awkward asking why. Most likely, Katya had forbidden it. Well, it was fine; she would manage. Igor was earning decently, paying for his own studies at university. Her salary was enough for her needs.<\/p>\n
It was a day off; there was no need to rush anywhere. Vika enjoyed every day. After cooking fish soup, she discovered there was no bread, which she loved very much. She dashed out to the bakery and bumped into Leonid.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Leonid, what are you doing here?<\/p>\n
\u2014 Vikusya, hello. Well, I\u2026 I live nearby now\u2026 I bought an apartment.<\/p>\n
\u2014 That\u2019s news\u2026 And what about Katya? The child? By the way, who was born?<\/p>\n
\u2014 A daughter\u2026 But there\u2019s a story there\u2026 Can you imagine, that Katya was planted by a competitor. She ingratiated herself with me, I fell in love, and you know how it went\u2026 Then she began pressuring me to transfer the business to her; she was afraid I\u2019d leave her with nothing\u2026<\/p>\n
I agreed, and after the daughter was born, I emotionally transferred everything to her. I left myself some money in an account she doesn\u2019t know about. In the end, she kicked me out. The daughter turned out not to be mine, and the business went to the competitor\u2026 Look at the mess I ended up in\u2026 Funny, isn\u2019t it? Just like in a bad melodrama.<\/p>\n
I bought an apartment, found a job; I\u2019m not destitute, but I won\u2019t have my old life back. And I can\u2019t help you either\u2026 I\u2019m sorry\u2026 You probably won\u2019t even want to speak with me anymore, thinking I\u2019ve betrayed you for her\u2026<\/p>\n
Vika even felt sorry for him. He didn\u2019t look so bad\u2026 What a swindler Katya is! He put so much effort and strength into his business!<\/p>\n
\u2014 You fool, Leonid! Come with me; I just made fish soup, your favorite\u2026<\/p>\n
They had a heartfelt conversation in the kitchen where they had met every day for so many years, discussing the news. But now, they were no longer husband and wife.<\/p>\n
They occasionally talked on the phone afterward. There was no talk of getting back together. Each had their own life. Vika met a man at her dance classes, married him, and was happy.<\/p>\n
She invited Leonid to her wedding; he came and was even happy for his ex. At the wedding, he met the groom\u2019s sister\u2026 Six months later, Vika was seen strolling at another wedding with her new husband\u2026<\/p>\n
Life is indeed an unpredictable thing! One should never lose heart or write oneself off, no matter what happens. After all, you never know what will occur; you just have to live and enjoy every day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the workout, Vika hurried home, having promised her husband that she would cook fish soup. When she entered the apartment, she saw her husband Leonid sitting in the kitchen, drinking wine. \u2014 Wow, look at you\u2026 Leonid, you couldn\u2019t wait for me? At least let me prepare an appetizer\u2026 \u2014 No need, sit down; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5369,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions\/5369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buzzfeednews.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}