“She left, Sveta. A week ago, she packed her things and walked out. And you know what? I didn’t even try to stop her.”
Anton sat in his sister’s kitchen, staring at a single spot as though the explanation for everything that had happened was written there.
“Wait,” Sveta said, sitting down across from him. “Start from the beginning. You and Masha have been living together for three years. What happened?”
“Nothing special. She threw another fit. I came home tired from work and thought I could finally relax, but she immediately started trying to sort out our relationship. Why hadn’t I called? Why was I planning to go fishing again? Why wasn’t I giving her enough attention?”
“And?”
“And I told her enough was enough. I was tired of it. It’s the same thing every week. Either I don’t bring her flowers, or I don’t take her to the movies, or I don’t want to talk. What am I, a robot? After ten hours at a construction site, am I supposed to entertain her too?”
Sveta poured her brother some tea. She knew that when he got worked up like this, it was better to let him talk.
“You know what she told me? That I don’t love her! Can you imagine? We’ve lived together for three years. I support her completely, pay the rent, buy her clothes and shoes. And apparently I don’t love her!”
“Anton…”
“No, listen! She’s still so young. She’s twenty-one. She could understand that sometimes a man just needs some peace and quiet. But no! She needs attention twenty-four hours a day. Like a little child, honestly.”
“She practically is a child compared to you. You’re thirty-five.”
“So what? Her age didn’t bother me when we started dating. She was cheerful and easygoing. And now? Nothing but complaints and tears.”
Sveta shook her head. She looked at her brother and wondered whether he truly didn’t understand.
“Anton, when was the last time you told Masha you loved her?”
“Why should I say it? She already knows.”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how? I live with her. I take care of her. Isn’t that enough?”
“No, Anton. It isn’t. A twenty-one-year-old woman needs words, emotions, romance—not just a roof over her head.”
“Romance!” Anton snorted. “After my shift, I’m lucky if I can drag myself home.”
“And why should she suffer because you’re tired? She waits for you all day. She thinks about you. Then you come home and immediately sit in front of the television or go to sleep.”
“I work!”
“She understands that. But it doesn’t make things easier for her. Imagine it: she’s a young woman, and all her friends are married or at least engaged. And her? She’s spent three years living with a man who hasn’t even proposed.”
Anton flinched as if he had been struck.
“What does a proposal have to do with any of this?”
“It matters to a woman. It gives her confidence in the future. It tells her she isn’t just some temporary girlfriend, but your future wife.”
“We already live like a family.”
“No. You live like two people sharing a home. Anton, answer honestly. Were you ever actually planning to marry her?”
Silence.
Anton stared into his cup as though the answer might be hiding there.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Someday.”
“That ‘someday’ is what destroyed her. Three years of someday. Do you even understand how she feels?”
“How would I know? She never talks normally. She just gets hysterical.”
Sveta stood and walked around the kitchen before stopping near the window.
“You know why women sometimes become hysterical? Because they feel helpless. Because normal words stop working. Because their requests are ignored. Because they feel invisible in their own home.”
“I didn’t ignore her!”
“No? When was the last time she asked you to go somewhere together?”
“Last week. She wanted to go to the movies.”
“And?”
“I told her I was tired. I was going fishing with the guys on my day off. We’d already made plans.”
“And the week before that?”
Anton fell silent, trying to remember.
“She invited me somewhere too. I don’t remember where.”
“And you refused?”
“Probably.”
“And before that?”
“Sveta, why are you interrogating me like a detective? I work myself to death! I need rest!”
“And she needs you. Not your money. Not the apartment you rent. You. Your time, your attention, your emotions.”
“What emotions? I’m not a robot, but I’m not a clown either.”
Sveta sat down again and took her brother’s hand.
“Anton, do you love her?”
“Of course I love her. Otherwise I wouldn’t live with her.”
“But does she know that? Do you tell her? Do you show her?”
“How am I supposed to show it? I…”
“You work, I know. But love isn’t only about providing financially. It’s also about being emotionally present. Being a friend, a lover, and sometimes even a father or a brother, depending on what the other person needs at that moment.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“Love is always complicated. But you chose her. Young, beautiful, emotional. And now you’re complaining because she’s young and emotional.”
Anton rubbed his face with both hands.
“I don’t know what to do. She won’t even answer the phone.”
“Have you tried calling?”
“A couple of times. She rejects the calls.”
“And you gave up?”
“What’s the point of humiliating myself?”
“That’s not humiliation. That’s fighting for someone you love. Anton, if you truly love her, fight for her. If you don’t, let her go. But don’t pretend you don’t care.”
“I do care! I just… I don’t know how. What should I say? What’s going to change? I’m not going to become a different person.”
“Maybe you don’t need to become a different person. Maybe you just need to remember who you were when you first met her. You weren’t always this tired and indifferent, were you?”
Anton thought about three years earlier.
Yes, he had worked then too. But he had found time to take Masha to the movies and cafés. He had brought her flowers for no reason. He had sent her messages in the middle of the day.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Three years isn’t that long. What changed?”
“Everyday life. Routine. The exhaustion built up.”
“Or maybe you decided you had already won her over and could finally relax? Anton, relationships require constant effort. Every day. You can’t check off a box that says ‘woman won over’ and forget about her.”
“I understand, but…”
“Text her.”
“What should I write?”
“The truth. Tell her you were wrong. Tell her you love her. Tell her you want to talk.”
“And if she doesn’t answer?”
“Then write again. And again. Until she does. If you really need her, of course.”
Anton took out his phone and stared at the screen. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
“I don’t know what to write.”
“Start with ‘I’m sorry.’”
“Masha, I’m sorry.”
He sent it.
Two check marks appeared immediately. Read.
His heart began beating faster.
“I was wrong. I didn’t give you any attention at all. I thought only about myself.”
Read again.
She was online. She was seeing the messages.
“Can we meet? Talk? I really want to fix everything.”
Typing.
Anton held his breath. The dots appeared and disappeared.
Finally, a reply arrived.
“Why? What’s going to change?”
“She answered!” Anton showed the phone to his sister.
“Keep writing. Answer honestly.”
“I realized I was behaving like an egoist. Love isn’t just living together. It means actually being together.”
“Beautiful words. Did you steal them from your sister?”
Anton smiled.
Even when she was angry, Masha was still herself.
“Sveta helped me understand. But the words are mine. So are the feelings. Masha, I miss you. The house feels empty without you.”
“You wanted silence. Enjoy it.”
“Not this kind of silence. Masha, please meet me. I’m asking you.”
There was a long pause.
Anton had already decided she wasn’t going to answer.
Then another message appeared.
“Tomorrow at seven. Our café. If you’re late, I’m leaving.”
“Sveta, she agreed! What do I do? What do I say?”
“Say what you feel. And Anton… if she really matters to you, don’t wait any longer. Propose.”
“Tomorrow?”
“What are you waiting for? Another three years? Buy a ring. Something simple if money is tight. Masha doesn’t need diamonds. She needs certainty from you.”
The next day, Anton arrived at the café half an hour early.
He was nervous like a schoolboy.
A small box was in his pocket. He had spent the entire day choosing the ring.
Masha arrived exactly at seven.
She looked thinner and pale, but beautiful.
She sat across from him and watched him cautiously.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“You’ve lost weight.”
“It happens. Tell me why you asked me to come.”
Anton took a deep breath.
“Masha, I’ve been thinking a lot. About us. About what happened. I behaved like a complete egoist. I thought simply being physically present was enough. I didn’t understand that you needed more.”
“And what changed?”
“I realized I was losing you. And without you I feel… empty. Not peaceful. Empty. I got used to you being there. To you meeting me in the evening. Telling me silly stories about your friends. Dragging me somewhere on weekends.”
“So it was all silly?”
“No! That came out wrong. It was life. Our life. And I traded it for fishing and the couch.”
Masha remained silent. Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Anton, I got tired of fighting for your attention. Of feeling like I was bothering you. Of begging for simple things like going to the movies or talking over dinner.”
“I know. And you have every right to be angry. But give me one chance. One chance to fix everything.”
“How? You won’t change in one day.”
“No, I won’t. But I’ll try. Every day. I promise.”
Anton stood.
Then suddenly, right in the middle of the café, he dropped to one knee and took out the small box.
“Masha, marry me. I know I should have done this a long time ago. I know this isn’t the best moment. But I love you. And I want you to be my wife. Officially. In front of everyone.”
The café fell silent.
Everyone was watching them.
Masha covered her face with her hands.
“Anton, get up. Everyone’s staring.”
“Let them stare. You haven’t answered.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely serious. Masha, become my wife. I promise I’ll try to be better. I’ll make time for you. I’ll listen. I’ll be not only your husband, but your friend too.”
Masha lowered her hands. Tears were running down her cheeks.
“You promise not to forget that I exist? Not to turn me into a piece of furniture?”
“I promise.”
“And not to run off fishing every weekend?”
“I’ll take you with me.”
“I hate fishing.”
“Then we’ll find compromises. Masha, say yes. Please.”
She held out her hand.
It was trembling, but she held it out.
“Yes. But if you ever again…”
“Never again. Come here.”
He stood and hugged her.
The café erupted in applause. Someone shouted, “Kiss!”
“Too early,” Masha laughed through her tears. “First we need a wedding.”
“Whenever you want. Even tomorrow.”
“Not tomorrow. I want a proper one. With a dress and guests.”
“You’ll have your dress. And guests. And a honeymoon. You’ll have everything.”
They stayed in the café until closing time.
They talked about the past and the future. About the fact that both of them needed to change. Masha needed to become more patient and understand his exhaustion. Anton needed to remember that there was a living person beside him, not a robot.
“You know,” Masha said, turning the ring around her finger, “I didn’t actually want to leave. I hoped you would stop me.”
“And I thought you were bluffing. That you’d come back on your own.”
“We’re idiots.”
“We are. But we’ll get smarter. Together.”
They returned home together.
Masha immediately began unpacking her things.
Anton watched her and wondered how he could ever have let her go. How had he failed to see what he was losing?
“Anton!”
“What?”
“While I unpack, call Sveta. Thank her.”
“For what?”
“For knocking some sense into you. And invite her to the wedding. She’s going to be my bridesmaid.”
Anton dialed his sister’s number.
“Sveta? She said yes. Thank you. For everything.”
“Congratulations! Take care of her now.”
“I will. And Sveta… you’re going to be Masha’s bridesmaid.”
“With pleasure. Anton, remember one thing: love is a verb, not a noun. It’s an action, not a state.”
“I’ll remember.”
He hung up and walked into the kitchen, where Masha was already putting the kettle on.
“Masha.”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
She turned around and smiled.
“I love you too. And you know what? We’ll make it. We definitely will.”
