— Maxim, look what a beautiful girl!
— Hello, I’m Natasha. What’s your name?
The blue-eyed little girl with funny curls looked straight at the young twenty-five-year-old man.
— I’m Nikolai, and this is my son Maxim.
— Nikolai, do you have a wife?
Nikolai’s wife, overhearing this, burst out laughing. Coming from a five-year-old girl, the question sounded comical.
— Of course! This is my Lidочка.
— What a pity, so handsome and already taken…
Nikolai and Lida laughed together without even planning it, while Natasha sadly walked away. Natasha’s family had recently moved to this town. Her father was an engineer, her mother a teacher. She was a late and at the same time very much wanted child. Despite her young age, the girl was very independent. She woke up on her own and washed herself, after breakfast she cleaned up the dishes, and then went to get ready for kindergarten. She had almost no girlfriends; Natasha preferred mostly to be friends with boys, but she interacted most with Maxim. The boy simply melted with pleasure whenever he saw this beautiful blonde girl in a fluffy dress, looking like a little princess. They often played outside, built sandcastles, but sometimes Natasha came to Maxim’s house and, approaching his father, asked:
— Nikolai, are you still married?
— What a pity… I guess I’ll wait then…
Nikolai and Lidochka just laughed cheerfully, and upon seeing Natasha, joked, “Kolya, here comes your future wife.” Maxim couldn’t understand what his parents were laughing about, or why his father was involved if Natasha came to play with him. When Maxim turned ten, his mother fell ill and suddenly passed away. Nikolai held on as best he could because he understood that besides him, Maxim had no one else, and he himself had no one but his son. Nikolai and Lida were both orphans, so they were used to relying only on themselves. Maxim and Natasha still remained friends, only the girl no longer asked Nikolai those old questions, as if understanding that it was completely inappropriate at the moment. A couple of years later, Natasha moved abroad with her parents. They rented out their apartment, having agreed with Nikolai that he would keep an eye on the tenants and keep them informed of everything happening.
Natasha returned to her homeland at nineteen. A slender, tall blonde with clear eyes quickly spotted Maxim among the crowd greeting her and waved.
— Welcome! How was your flight?
To be honest, Natasha had been trembling with fear throughout the flight because her parents died during a flight returning from a trip. After their deaths, Natasha decided to return home, and since she still kept in touch with Maxim, she called him and asked him to meet her. The young man first took her to a cafe where they had lunch, then brought her home.
— Rest up, gather your strength, and in the evening I’m expecting you. Dad and I will throw a dinner party in your honor!
Remembering Nikolai, Natasha smiled shyly. This strict yet kind man was her first love. To be honest, she even befriended Maxim mainly so she could see his father more often. Yes, children fall in love with all kinds of people—some with their teachers, some with superheroes from movies, and some, like Natasha, with the neighbor down the hall.
The dinner went in a relaxed atmosphere. Nikolai roasted meat, prepared salad, and a courier delivered an ice cream cake. Nikolai talked about his work, Natasha about her future plans, Maxim about his university studies. After a week, Natasha invited Maxim and his father to return the visit. During dinner, Natasha said she planned to enroll in law school and also wanted to find a part-time job. Maxim immediately suggested she enroll in the very university where he studied, and Nikolai promised to help her find work. Life gradually settled into a routine. Natasha studied and worked, with no time for personal life. She was so exhausted that she would collapse as soon as she came home. After graduating, Maxim went for an internship in the capital, and when he returned, he couldn’t believe his eyes. His Natasha, his childhood neighbor and friend, the girl he liked, was living with his father, and apparently, they were serious. When he asked why they were acting like this, his father shamefully looked down, and Natasha seriously replied:
— I’ve loved him since childhood.
Maxim was angry. He couldn’t understand how a twenty-five-year-old girl could love a fifty-year-old man. He couldn’t understand his father, who knew perfectly well about his son’s feelings for Natasha. He argued with his father when Natasha wasn’t home, presented strong arguments to Natasha, trying to convince her that his father was completely unsuitable for her, but the lovers just shook their heads and repeated the same thing — it’s love, and they cannot control their feelings. After a final falling out with his father, Maxim moved into a rented apartment. He changed women like gloves, trying to prove to everyone that he was fine without them, but still occasionally drove by the office where Natasha worked just to see her from afar.
Natasha gave Nikolai a daughter — Veronika. They lived as if the age difference between them didn’t exist. When Nikolai turned sixty-five, he became seriously ill. To pay for his treatment, Natasha took out a loan, but the money was enough for only a couple of courses. When Maxim learned about his father’s illness, he sneered, saying it was deserved for the old bastard, and even came to Natasha with an offer: he would give her money if she gave herself to him. Natasha slapped the rude man so hard that the ringing in his ears lasted a long time. She didn’t tell her husband about the conversation with Maxim but sold her parents’ apartment to pay off the loan and cover the treatment.
Maxim didn’t visit his father at all. He awaited his death like the death of his worst enemy. He wanted to see Natasha humiliated and broken, crawling on her knees begging him for mercy. He even knew what he would do immediately after his father’s death. He would put his father’s apartment up for sale since it was premarital property and therefore belonged only to him. Maybe Natasha and her daughter were registered there, but he would still sell the apartment so that the woman who ruined his life would be left with nothing. Yes, Maxim never married. He seemed to be waiting for the love between his father and Natasha to end, and then he would step in — but it never happened.
Nikolai proved to be wiser; he seemed to foresee that his son would act this way, so he wrote a will naming Natasha and Veronika as heirs. After the funeral, Maxim raged and tore things apart. He called Natasha a fraud and a scammer, threatened to burn down the apartment with her and her child inside. He got drunk to the point of madness, then screamed under the windows that he still loved her and wanted to start over, and then, once convinced that Natasha was unyielding, he began insulting her again.
Natasha sold the apartment and moved to another city. She was already exhausted and worn out from her husband’s illness and death, so she no longer had the strength to fight Maxim. Natasha never remarried; she still loves her Nikolai and feels as if he is still alive and just stepped out for a moment and will return any minute. Maxim searched for Natasha for a long time, trying to understand what she found in his father that he did not have, but he never understood. And there was no secret — she just loved him. She fell in love when she saw him for the first time, as a five-year-old girl. That’s what love at first sight is like.
