“I’m not going with you,” Oksana said calmly. “I’ve already made up my mind, and I’m going alone.”
“You… what are you going to do? This is a joke, I hope?”
“No jokes. I’m already at the stage of buying the ticket.”
Oksana and her husband Igor hadn’t been to the sea for several years. They had two grown children who graduated from school one after another. It took a lot of money to pay for graduation events and tutors to help them pass their exams successfully. Then they also supported the kids financially during the first months at university.
And so, when the hustle finally died down, Oksana looked back at her life and, at forty-three, realized she had lived her whole life only for her children. And in the mirror stood a haggard woman who looked at least ten years older.
The children had gone their own ways. The eldest daughter, Sonya, had long been renting an apartment with her boyfriend. The younger son, Denis, decided he should pay for his own housing and moved out of his parents’ house as soon as he enrolled in university. Now he shared a rented room with a friend, proudly declaring that he “wouldn’t sit on his parents’ neck.”
Igor, it seemed, hadn’t even noticed how empty the house had become. He still came home from work, had dinner, and buried himself in the TV as if nothing had changed. But Oksana suddenly realized she no longer knew how to fill the silence.
“Let’s go to the sea,” her husband suggested one evening, tearing himself away from a football match. “The kids are independent now, we can afford to relax. And money’s a bit better now too.”
Oksana slowly raised her eyes to him.
“Are you serious? After all these years?”
“Well, yeah,” Igor shrugged. “We’ve dreamed about it for a long time.”
“Dreamed?” Oksana smirked. “Have you once, in the last ten years, asked what I dream about?”
Igor frowned, clearly not expecting such a reaction from his wife.
“What are you talking about? We always decided everything together.”
“Together?” Oksana abruptly stood up from the table. “I decided how much money to give to tutors, when to buy new school uniforms, where to go in summer so it would be cheaper. And you just agreed. You didn’t even get involved.”
“So what now?” Igor spread his hands. “The kids have grown up, we can finally live a little for ourselves.”
“For ourselves? You suddenly decided we can live for ourselves? Do you know what I want? I want to be alone. At least for a week. No cooking, no cleaning, no questions about what’s for dinner. None of that.”
“So you don’t want to go with me?” Igor looked stunned.
“I do want to! I do!” his wife exclaimed, then stopped abruptly. “Okay… I’m sorry, all right? It’s just… I’m a little out of it from being in this big apartment with just the two of us. The kids have their own lives now and I feel useless…”
“Stop it!” Igor stood up and hugged his wife. “I need you, and I’ll always need you. And the kids will come visit. They’re adults now, we have to let them make their own mistakes. If you don’t want to go anywhere this summer, I won’t insist.”
“I’ll think about it and then we’ll talk,” Oksana tossed over her shoulder and left the living room.
She sat on the bed in the bedroom and exhaled. Really, no one but herself was to blame for the fact that she dissolved so completely into her children’s lives. Now she at least needed to find some kind of hobby to fill the emptiness in her soul. And a vacation would be just right.
She closed her eyes, imagining herself standing on the seashore, feeling the gentle wind on her face and hearing the sound of the waves. Just her and boundless freedom.
A week later, Oksana finally made up her mind. She went into the kitchen, where Igor, as usual, was drinking coffee, buried in his phone.
“Fine, let’s go to the sea,” she said.
Igor looked up, his face lighting up with a smile.
“Great! I already found something.”
“What exactly?” Oksana asked warily.
“I talked to Sveta yesterday, she and Vadim want to go too. It’ll be more fun!”
Oksana wasn’t thrilled with what she heard. Sveta was the kind of woman who didn’t talk but shouted, didn’t laugh but screeched, and considered her marriage to Vadim a model to follow, though they constantly quarreled in public and then demonstratively played the silent game.
“Are you serious?” Oksana slowly sank onto a chair. “We haven’t had a vacation alone in so many years, and now you want to turn it into a ‘family tour’?”
“Well, they’re family,” Igor shrugged. “And you haven’t seen Sveta in a while. Besides, we’ll have separate rooms.”
“I can’t stand her lectures! That’s even worse than your mother, who constantly criticizes me for everything,” Oksana exclaimed. “Sveta always tells me how to live properly, though she’s no better herself.”
“All right, all right,” Igor waved his hand. “You just don’t understand her.”
“I understand that she’ll meddle in our affairs, criticize me, and stage scenes with Vadim on the beach. Is that the vacation you dreamed of?”
Igor frowned but then switched to the offensive:
“You’re always unhappy! First, you don’t want to go, now you don’t like my relatives. Maybe the problem is you?”
Oksana suddenly stood up.
“You know what? You three go relax, and leave me alone.”
“Oksana…”
But she had already left the kitchen, slamming the door. In the bedroom, she buried her face in the pillow. She just wanted to rest, not play “one big happy family” for Sveta.
An hour later the phone rang. On the screen: “Sveta.” Oksana almost dropped the phone.
“Hi, dear!” came a shrill voice. “Igor told me everything! Don’t worry, Vadim and I will cheer you up! You don’t mind if we bring his friend and his wife too, do you? They’re awesome!”
Oksana slowly lowered the phone without listening further. She squeezed it in her hand, feeling the irritation rising.
“Hi, Sveta,” she replied, trying to keep a polite tone. “Igor and I haven’t decided anything yet. We’re still discussing options.”
But Sveta, as always, ignored her words.
“Oh, stop that nonsense! What other options? We’ve already thought of everything! The hotel has a heated pool, evening shows…” her voice scraped at Oksana’s nerves like sandpaper.
Oksana closed her eyes.
“Sveta, I’m busy right now. Let’s talk later.” Without waiting for a response, she hung up and turned off her phone. In the silence of the bedroom her breathing gradually evened out.
Suddenly Igor’s loud voice came from behind the door. He only spoke that loudly with his sister — it was impossible to outshout her.
“No, no, it’s fine!… No, she’s not against it… Come on, Sveta, don’t dramatize!”
Oksana listened. A decision was already forming in her mind. Let them go wherever they want — the sea, the mountains, the ends of the earth. As for her… she would buy a ticket to St. Petersburg. She didn’t need the sea with Sveta and Vadim’s endless quarrels. The northern capital with its gray skies, granite embankments, and white nights — that’s what she needed now.
She had already opened the ticket site when the bedroom door burst open. Igor stood on the threshold, red with agitation.
“Sveta called back. She’s furious! Says you were rude to her and hung up!”
Oksana slowly raised her eyes from the screen.
“I told her we hadn’t made a decision yet. She didn’t want to hear that. So I ended the call.”
“But she’s my sister! You could have been more polite!” Igor waved his arms like a windmill.
“I’m not going with you,” Oksana said calmly. “I’ve already made up my mind, and I’m going alone.”
Igor froze, his face a picture of complete bewilderment.
“You… what are you going to do? This is a joke, I hope?”
“No jokes. I’m already at the stage of buying the ticket.”
“But… we’ve always vacationed together!” Igor’s voice trembled. “And Sveta…”
For the first time in many years, Oksana saw not irritation but confusion in his eyes.
“Before, we vacationed with the kids. You always wanted to go to the sea, and I never even thought about what I wanted. And now I understand — the sea was never my dream.”
Igor silently left, slamming the door, and Oksana bought her train ticket.
The next day she began packing her suitcase. When Igor saw her carefully folding things, his face grew serious.
“You’re really going? I thought you just said that to spite me.”
“Really. I had no intention of hurting you.” Oksana didn’t stop packing.
“When’s the train?”
“In two days. I’ll finish my last shift and then it’s vacation.”
Igor nodded slowly. Something new flickered in his eyes — maybe respect? Or fear?
“And what am I supposed to tell Sveta now?”
Oksana smiled.
“Tell the truth. That your wife finally decided to live for herself.”
She closed the suitcase with the feeling of shutting the door on her past life.
She continued packing, already picturing herself on the train. There was a special charm in it — the rhythmic clatter of wheels, the passing landscapes outside the window, freedom. Anything was better than bouncing around in a car between Sveta and Vadim with their constant squabbles.
Igor behaved suspiciously calmly. He didn’t beg Oksana to stay, didn’t make scenes — he just silently observed. It even upset her a little. She had expected at least some resistance, some attempt to stop her. But apparently her husband had already resigned himself.
“Fine. Maybe he really will be better off without me — with his sister and her noisy company,” she thought, carefully placing a light cardigan into her suitcase.
Deep down, though, she hoped Igor would still rest. Though with his sister, that seemed unlikely.
Finally, the day came.
Oksana woke up early — the train was at noon. She imagined Igor helping her carry the suitcase, seeing her off to the taxi, maybe even hugging her goodbye…
But when she came out into the kitchen, the apartment was empty. On the table lay a note:
“Went out on business. Back by evening. Good luck.”
Oksana crumpled the note in her hand.
“So that’s it. Didn’t even say goodbye.”
She took a deep breath, brushing off the wave of hurt.
“Well, fine. I can manage on my own.”
She had breakfast alone, washed her dishes, checked she had taken everything. Then she picked up the suitcase and paused for a moment in the hallway, glancing around the apartment.
Oksana took a deep breath and closed the door behind her. Outside, the sun was shining, and the taxi was already waiting by the entrance. She handed the suitcase to the driver, got into the back seat, and looked out the window.
Oksana reached the station without incident. Among the crowd of passengers, she slowly rolled her suitcase toward her platform, savoring the moment. Pictures of the upcoming trip already floated in her mind: a cozy compartment, a cup of hot tea in a glass holder, endless forests and fields outside the window…
And suddenly her gaze fell on a familiar figure on the platform.
Igor. He stood there, grinning broadly, waving as if they’d agreed to meet. Oksana froze in place, unable to believe her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she breathed as she approached.
“What do you mean? I’m going with you,” Igor replied calmly, grabbing her suitcase out of her hands. “The night you told me about your decision, I peeked at the date and train number. Bought a ticket in the next compartment.”
Oksana’s jaw dropped in amazement.
“But… what about Sveta? The sea? You…”
“I had a fight with Sveta,” Igor made a guilty face, but there were mischievous sparks in his eyes. “She was counting on me to drive them to save on tickets. When I said I’m going with you to St. Petersburg… well, you can imagine what happened.”
Oksana could imagine and involuntarily laughed.
“You seriously ditched them for me?”
Igor suddenly grew serious. He took her hand.
“I couldn’t let you go alone because I love you. And because I finally realized — we deserve this vacation. Just the two of us.”
The loudspeaker announced boarding. Igor picked up the suitcases:
“So, shall we go?”
Their trip turned out magical. They strolled along the Neva embankments, kissed by the raised bridges, laughed at clumsy tourists. Igor, for the first time in many years, talked to her heart-to-heart — not about the kids, not about household stuff, but about themselves. About who they were before marriage, what they dreamed about, what they wanted now.
One evening, sitting in a cozy café on Vasilievsky Island, Oksana suddenly realized: in the mirror opposite her was a smiling, happy woman. And she looked much younger now.
“What are you thinking about?” Igor asked, pouring her some wine.
“That I’m happy,” Oksana replied. “And that I think I’m finally starting to live for myself.”
Igor smiled back and squeezed her hand tightly.
And when they returned home, their relationship was no longer the same.
