Because of your love you left the institute! We sent you to study, not to get married! We needed a village girl in the family, the father shouted. The parents decided to end their sons fiery romance by sending him away. At his fathers request, Victor went into the army.
Victoria kept the house in order. She put up new wallpaper, replaced the curtains, and then turned to the lofts, arranging everything there. She loved order, and it gave her peace of mind.
In the farright corner she discovered a box of Victors letters. How long she hadnt opened it! The cleaning was forgotten. Victoria read one letter, then another, then a third
Vika and Victor had met at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Victor was a city boy; Vika came from the countryside.
She attracted him with her striking look: long black hair, mesmerizing eyes, a slender figure.
They began to date. For shy, quiet Vika, the boisterous Victor was like a hurricane. Every day he thought up something new to win the beautiful girls favor. He left flowers at her dormitory door, appeared at her window at night to wish her good night. Her room was on the ground floor.
Loud student parties, walks and kisses made the first year fly by. The lovers were inseparable.
Later, Victor fell behind in his studies. He had never truly wanted to wrestle with the granite of science; love had taken over. He was expelled from the institute, but it didnt sadden him.
Ill find a job, then return to night school. That way I can marry you, my joy, he told Victoria.
He got a job at a factory and told his parents he intended to marry. Vikas parents knew a little about him; she had visited them several times.
Victor expected his family to receive the news with pleasure, but his father and mother had hoped to unite their son with the daughter of their friends. Neither Victor nor the friends daughter, Zina, wanted to fulfill those expectations.
Victor believed he could convince his parents by explaining his love for Vika. He thought they would understand and realize he could not live without her.
Instead, his hopes were dashed. His family did not understand; their reaction was harsh.
Because of your love you left the institute! We sent you to study, not to get married! We lacked a village girl to take into the family, the father raged again.
The parents tried to stop the sons passionate affair by sending him away. At his fathers urging, Victor entered military service.
Vika mourned her missing love. The only thing that gave her strength and comfort were Victors letterstender, passionate missives he wrote to her.
Then, abruptly, their correspondence stopped. A month, two, half a year passed with no word. Vika felt lost.
It happens; feelings cool when apart. It wasnt love, just a crush, tried to console Vika her classmate Sasha.
Sasha was a mutual friend of Victors. Vika didnt know that Sasha had written to his friend, confessing his love for Vika and saying she was now seeing him. He asked Victor to stop writing to Vika because they were planning to marry.
Vika accepted the situation, threw herself into her studies, and started socializing with friends. Sasha was always nearby; he had long been in love with her, and the breakup he arranged with Victor gave him a chance to get closer to her.
His care and affection felt genuine.
Let Sasha be happy, the girl thought, and accepted his proposal.
Vika wanted to throw Victors letters away, but couldnt bring herself to. She placed them back in the box and stored it away.
Thus Vika began a new life.
Meanwhile, Victors parents hurried to announce that Vika had married Sasha. Time flew.
A decade passed, then another. Vika and Victor lived in the same city, but in parallel lives that never intersected.
Rumors reached Vika that Victor had marriedno, not Zina, but someone else entirely. He even had a son.
Vikas quiet, orderly life brought no joy. With Sasha she had two daughters; caring for the children and working became her purpose, leaving no room for emotional turmoil.
Both dragged their own burdens without happiness, forgetting that life could be bright and fulfilling.
Thirtyfive years went by.
Vikas family fell apart. No matter how hard they tried, relationships without love could not survive. Her husband felt she never truly loved him; he took a lover. Their daughters grew up, started their own families, and the ties that bound them disappeared.
After the divorce, the husband confessed to Victoria how he had arranged her separation from Victor.
Victors own family also broke up, leaving him alone.
Vika read the last letter. She wept and smiled at the same time. Then she realized she desperately wanted to know where Victor was now, how his life had turned out, just to see him and talk.
She decided to write to his old address, hoping he still lived there or that some relative could forward the mail. Victoria was always decisive. She penned a brief note, inviting him to meet at the café opposite her building, and without hesitation dropped it into the nearest mailbox.
The next day she scolded herself: Why am I so foolish?
Victor, returning home, glanced into his mailbox. A letter? Such a thing was rare nowadays. He saw the name on the envelope and could not believe his eyes. He opened it, and time seemed to turn back.
At the appointed hour he entered the café, his heart racing. The room was empty except for a single table where a woman sat.
Vika, Victor whispered almost inaudibly.
Yes, she turned, meeting his gaze.
He recognized her look after all these years. It was herhis Vika. They talked, wept, and laughed.
When they left the café, they walked out hand in hand, promising never to part again.
P.S.
Nearly five years have passed since that reunion. Victoria and Victor live as one, counting every day as a blessing.
True love never vanishes without a trace. Now they are absolutely certain of that.
