“Hello. I’m Yura’s wife. May I come in?”
For a week, the medical college had been buzzing ahead of the upcoming volleyball match against the local engineering university. Tanya’s friend, Olivia, had been pestering her all morning to go watch the game.
“I don’t care for volleyball—or any sport, really,” Tanya protested. “I don’t understand any of it.”
“What’s there to understand? We’ll just cheer for our team. Come on, do it for me,” Olivia wheedled.
“It’s not about supporting our team—it’s Simon you’re after,” Tanya sighed, finally giving in.
The hall was packed, benches along one wall filled to the brim. Despite herself, Tanya got swept up in the excitement, soon shouting and waving flags with everyone else. The medics had red flags, the engineers’ fans blue. In the end, the medics won, and the girls celebrated as if they’d played the match themselves.
“Home?” Tanya asked as they stepped out into the evening, streetlights flickering on.
“Let’s wait for Simon, congratulate him first,” Olivia pleaded, her voice hoarse from cheering.
They didn’t wait long. Simon emerged with another bloke, spotted them, and introduced the man—Daniel, his opponent on the court. Turned out they’d been mates since school. The four walked together, dissecting the match, then split up—Simon saw Olivia home, while Daniel walked Tanya. From that day on, they were inseparable.
A year later, after Tanya graduated, she and Daniel married. He’d finished his degree earlier and was already working. Both sets of parents chipped in for the mortgage deposit, and the couple bought a two-bed flat, thinking ahead to future children.
Three years after the wedding, Tanya gave birth to their son, followed by a daughter six years later.
Between maternity leaves, she worked at a dental clinic, treating relatives, friends, and their acquaintances. Daniel was an engineer at a big firm. He rarely played volleyball now, mostly just on summer beach trips. But he’d kept in shape, still lean and handsome. Every time she admired him, Tanya remembered their first meeting. Hard to imagine she’d nearly missed it, not wanting to go to that match.
Of course, the early passion had faded, but they got on well—hosting holidays, weekend barbecues at friends’ cottages, and seaside holidays. Even took a couple of trips to Spain—once just the two of them, once with their son, James. Emily wasn’t even a thought then. Among their friends, they were the golden couple, one of the few still together after all these years.
Olivia envied Tanya—in a good way. She reckoned they owed their happiness to her. If she hadn’t dragged Tanya to that match, they’d never have met Daniel. Olivia and Simon hadn’t worked out. She’d married, divorced within two years, and was still searching for her own happiness.
One evening, Tanya was helping James, now in Year 6, with his homework. Emily sat nearby, tongue poking out in concentration as she drew.
“Mum, your phone’s buzzing,” James said, looking up from his worksheet.
Tanya listened. Sure enough, her phone hummed against the counter. She usually kept it on silent—calls came often. A friend with toothache begging advice, someone pleading for a last-minute dental appointment. She always answered.
This time it was Olivia. Tanya tapped to answer and immediately said, “Helping James with homework—call back later?”
“Later’ll be too late,” Olivia replied. “Daniel’s not home, is he?”
“Still at work. Said he’d be late. What’s up?”
“He’s not at work. Just saw him at The Red Lion with some pretty young thing. I’m here on a date—stepped outside to call. They got in his car and drove off—probably to hers. Look, I’m sorry, love, but this isn’t a one-off. They’re serious. I’ve got a sharp eye. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” Tanya said.
She knew women fancied Daniel. But he’d never given her reason to doubt him. Olivia had been drinking—could’ve imagined it. Maybe got the wrong bloke. Or maybe Tanya had missed the warning signs.
“Hardly had a drop,” Olivia said, as if reading her mind. Her voice was steady. “Don’t think I’m calling out of envy. You and Dan mean the world to me. Never tried to steal him—he’s mad about you. But I couldn’t stay quiet. Forewarned is forearmed.”
“The bloke I’m with—he’s a copper. Want me to ask him to dig up dirt on her? Doubt he’d say no. Honestly, I’d drag the bitch by her hair myself. But it’s your call. Fight for him, though—men like Dan don’t grow on trees. Two kids, remember. So—want me to find out?”
Anyone else, Tanya might’ve doubted. But Olivia? She wouldn’t lie. Why would she?
“You there?” Olivia pressed.
“Find out,” Tanya said, then tossed the phone aside as if it were to blame.
“Mum!” James called.
“Coming.”
Tanya walked to the kitchen, stood by the window, trembling. Daniel… with someone else. The title of an old film flashed through her mind—*It Couldn’t Happen Here!* But Olivia had known him for years. She wouldn’t mistake him.
Tanya clasped her ice-cold hands. Heart aching, face burning, a sick chill spreading inside. *Maybe she* ***did*** *mistake him? Business dinner? But Olivia said they’re involved. Daniel’s only human—could’ve been drawn in by a pretty face. Happens all the time. He’s always had admirers. And now what? Scream, smash plates? Scare the kids? Push him further away? Mistresses play the opposite game—wife nags, they offer patience, sweetness… What’s next?*
“Mum, I can’t do this sum,” James said from the doorway.
“Alright, I’ll come,” Tanya replied flatly, not turning.
James lingered, then left.
She forced herself back into the room, barely focusing on the math problem. When Daniel got home, she’d steadied herself, greeted him with a smile.
“Warm up dinner?”
“Nah, had coffee at work. Knackered. Shower, then bed.”
Tanya tucked Emily in, then sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea, thinking and thinking…
She slipped into bed carefully once he was asleep. Didn’t drift off till dawn. Who could sleep, knowing their husband had cheated?
Morning came with a pounding head, eyes gritty. She made breakfast, woke Emily. Daniel got up on his own, fresh and hungry.
“Can you drop Emily at nursery? I’m not feeling great,” Tanya asked.
“Course. Get some rest—late shift today, yeah?”
He always remembered birthdays, anniversaries, her rota. A normal morning. Exactly the same. And completely different.
“Not working late tonight? You’ll pick Emily up?”
“Yeah, ’course. Didn’t need reminding,” Daniel called from the hall.
Next day, after work, Tanya visited her mum. She needed to talk, get advice.
“What do I do, Mum?”
“Don’t know, love. When your dad strayed, I screamed, threw things… Didn’t even need to follow him—everyone knew but me. Went to her flat, wrecked it. Nearly brained her with a stool. Your dad stopped me.”
Tanya stared.
“Shocked? I was ashamed after. Anger does things. Your dad said he couldn’t live with me after that. Left. I cried for weeks. Then he came back. I turned him away.”
“Ever regret not forgiving him?”
“At first, no, though it was hard. Had only you—but you’ve two kids. A boy needs his dad. Later, yes. None of us were happy—him, me, her. He stayed with her till he died. You decide what you can live with. Fight for Dan if you love him. Loneliness… it’s cruel.”
Two days later, Olivia turned up at the clinic with the other woman’s address.
“So he *did* cheat,” Tanya said bitterly, taking the slip.
“You doubted me? I’d never lie about this. What’ll you do?”
“What would *you* do?”
“Me? I’d make her regret breathing. Listen—you’ve got arsenic here, yeah? Slip some in her tea. Acid to the face—no man’ll look at her twice. Or a curse? Brilliant, that. Why the face? Too soft? Fine. My bloke’s got shady mates—could rough Dan up. You’d nurse him, he’d owe you forever.”
“*Christ*, Olivia! Don’t you dare—I’ll handle it.”
“Your call. Ring if you change your mind.”
She stood on the beach later that summer, watching Daniel play volleyball in the sun, and for the first time in months, she chose to trust—not in him, but in herself.
