Youve thrown away your studies for this love of yours! We sent you to school, not to get married! We lacked a village girl to take into the family, the father scolded. The parents decided to end the sons passionate romance with a forced separation. At his fathers request, Victor went into the military.
Victorija kept the house in order. She put up new wallpaper, replaced the curtains, and began arranging the loft shelves. She loved order, and it brought her peace of mind.
In the deepest corner she discovered a box filled with Victors letters. How long she hadnt opened them! She set the cleaning aside and began rereading the first letter, then the second, the third
Victor and Vika first met at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Victor was a city boy, while Vika came from a village.
She attracted him with her striking looks: long black hair, dazzling eyes, and a slender figure.
Victor and Vika started dating. For shy, quiet Vika, the boisterous Victor was like a hurricane. Every day he thought up a new way to win the beautiful girls affection. He left flowers at the door of her dorm room, sometimes appeared at her window at night to wish her good night. Her room was on the first floor.
Loud student parties, walks and kisses the first year of studies whizzed by. The couple was inseparable.
Eventually Victor let his studies slip. He never wanted to wrestle with the hard grind of academia, especially when such love was in his life! He was expelled from the institute, but that didnt sadden him.
Ill find a job, then return to parttime studies. Meanwhile I can marry you, my joy, he told Victorija.
He got a job at a factory and told his parents he wanted to marry. Vikas parents knew a little about him; she had visited them several times.
Victor expected they would accept the news without enthusiasm. The problem was that his parents had hoped to marry their son to the daughter of their friends. Neither Victor nor the friends daughter, Zina, wanted to fulfill those expectations.
Victor believed he could persuade his parents by explaining his love for Vika. He thought they would understand that he couldnt live without her.
But the parents didnt. Their reaction was harsh.
Youve left the institute because of this love! We sent you to study, not to wed! We needed a country girl in the family, his father protested again.
The family tried to halt the sons fiery romance by separating him. At his fathers urging, Victor entered the army.
Vika mourned the loss of her beloved. The only comfort came from the tender, passionate letters Victor wrote her.
Then, suddenly, their correspondence stopped. One month, two months, half a year passed without a single line. Vika felt lost.
Its normal, her classmate Sasha tried to console her. Feelings cool down when youre apart. It wasnt love, just a crush.
Sasha was a mutual friend of Victors. Vika didnt know that Sasha had written to his own friend, confessing his love for Vika and saying they were now seeing each other. He asked Victor to stop writing to Vika because they planned to marry.
Accepting this, Vika threw herself back into her studies, began socializing with friends. Sasha stayed close; he had long been in love with her, and Victors departure gave him a chance to get nearer to her.
Sashas care and affection felt genuine.
Let Sasha be happy, Vika thought, agreeing to his proposal.
She wanted to throw Victors letters away, but couldnt bring herself to. She placed them back in the box and stored them out of sight.
Vika started a new life.
Meanwhile Victors parents hurried to announce that Vika had married Sasha.
Time flew.
A decade later, Vika and Victor lived in the same city, yet their lives ran parallel, never intersecting.
Rumors reached Vika that Victor had married not Zina, but another woman, and they had a son.
Vikas steady, quiet life gave her no joy. With Sasha she had two daughters; caring for them and working became her purpose, leaving no room for inner turmoil.
Both pulled their burdens without happiness, forgetting that life could be bright and blissful.
Thirtyfive years passed.
Vikas family fell apart. Despite her efforts, a marriage without love collapsed. Her husband felt she never truly loved him; he took a lover. Their daughters grew up, formed their own families, and all ties faded.
After the divorce, the husband confessed to Victorija how he had orchestrated her separation from Victor.
Victors own family also dissolved, leaving him alone.
Vika read the last letter, crying and smiling at once. Then she realized an overwhelming need to know where Victor was now, how his life turned outjust to see him and talk.
She decided to write to his old address, hoping he or his relatives might forward the letter. Determined, she penned the note and invited him to meet at the café opposite her building. Without hesitation she dropped the envelope 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 these days. He saw the name on the envelope and could hardly believe his eyes. He opened it, and time seemed to rewind.
At the appointed hour he entered the café, heart pounding. The room was empty except for a single table where a woman sat.
Vika, Victor whispered almost inaudibly.
Yes, she turned, fixing her gaze on him.
He recognized her eyes from all those years. It was her the same Vika. They talked, wept, and laughed together.
Leaving the café, the man and woman walked out hand in hand, vowing never to part again.
P.S.
Almost five years have passed since their reunion. Victorija and Victor live in complete harmony, counting each day as a blessing.
True love never disappears without a trace. They are now absolutely certain of that.
