It was a crisp autumn evening in Manchester, and the medical school buzzed with anticipation over the upcoming volleyball match against the engineering college. Tanya’s friend, Emily, had been pestering her all morning to attend.
“I don’t care for volleyball—or any sport, really. I don’t understand it,” Tanya protested.
“What’s to understand? We’ll just cheer for our side. Please, for me?” Emily pleaded.
“It’s not the match you’re after—it’s Simon,” Tanya sighed, relenting.
The hall was packed, benches lining one wall crammed with spectators. Despite her reluctance, Tanya was soon caught up in the excitement, shouting and waving red flags with the medics’ supporters, while the engineers’ fans brandished blue ones. When the medics won, she and Emily celebrated as if they’d secured the victory themselves.
“Home?” Tanya asked as they stepped into the cool night air, streetlamps flickering to life.
“Let’s wait for Simon, just to congratulate him. He’ll be out soon,” Emily begged, her voice hoarse from cheering.
They didn’t wait long. Simon emerged with another young man, spotted them, and introduced his opponent—James, an old school friend. The four walked together, dissecting the match before splitting up: Simon escorted Emily home, while James walked Tanya back. That night marked the beginning of their courtship.
A year later, after Tanya graduated, she and James married. He’d finished his studies earlier, landing a steady job. Both sets of parents chipped in for the deposit, and the young couple bought a modest two-bedroom flat with room to grow.
Three years into their marriage, Tanya gave birth to a son, followed by a daughter six years later. Between maternity leaves, she worked as a dentist, treating family, friends, and their acquaintances, while James thrived as an engineer. He rarely played volleyball now, save for summer beach games, but kept his athletic build. Whenever she admired him, Tanya remembered their first meeting—how close she’d come to missing it.
Their early passion had mellowed, but they lived harmoniously: hosting holiday gatherings, weekend barbecues at friends’ countryside cottages, seaside holidays. They even holidayed in Spain twice—once alone, once with their son William, before little Charlotte was born. Among their friends, they were the golden couple, one of the few marriages still standing.
Emily envied her quietly, convinced she’d orchestrated their happiness. Had she not dragged Tanya to that match, they’d never have met. Yet Emily’s own romance with Simon fizzled; a brief marriage ended in divorce, leaving her still searching.
One evening, Tanya helped William with his Year 5 homework while Charlotte doodled beside them, tongue poked in concentration.
“Mum, your phone,” William said, glancing up.
Tanya muted her calls at home but never ignored them—someone always needed dental advice or a favour. This time, it was Emily.
“Can I ring you back? I’m helping William,” Tanya said.
“Later will be too late,” Emily replied. “James isn’t home, is he?”
“He’s working late. Why?”
“He’s not at work. I just saw him at a restaurant with some stunning girl. I stepped out to call you. They left in his car—probably to hers. I’m sorry, but this isn’t a coincidence. They’re serious. I’ve got a sharp eye. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you,” Tanya said, though her mind recoiled. Women had always fancied James, but he’d never given her cause to doubt him. Emily had been drinking—or maybe Tanya had missed the warning signs.
“I’ve barely had a drop,” Emily countered, as if reading her thoughts. Her voice was steady. “Don’t think I’m jealous. I care about you both. But I won’t keep quiet. Forewarned is forearmed. My date tonight’s a policeman. Want me to dig up her details?”
Tanya trusted Emily. She wouldn’t lie.
“Find out,” she whispered, tossing the phone aside like it was to blame.
“Love?” William called.
“Coming.”
In the kitchen, Tanya clutched the counter, shivering. James—with another woman? The title of an old film flashed in her mind: *It Couldn’t Happen Here!* But Emily knew him too well to mistake this.
Her fingers turned icy, her heart ached, and a sickening chill spread through her. *Maybe she was wrong? A business dinner?* Yet Emily had insisted it was an affair. James was only human—handsome men strayed. What now? A screaming match would frighten the children. Lovers thrived on contrast: the nagging wife versus the undemanding mistress.
“Mum, I’m stuck on this sum,” William said, hovering in the doorway.
“Be right there,” she replied, voice flat.
Later, when James returned, she forced a smile.
“Warm up dinner?”
“Had coffee at work. Exhausted. I’ll shower and sleep.”
She tucked Charlotte in, then sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea, thinking until dawn.
Morning brought a throbbing head and gritty eyes. She made breakfast, roused Charlotte. James woke refreshed, wolfing down his meal.
“Could you drop Charlotte at nursery? I’m not well.”
“Of course. Rest—you’ve got the late shift, right?”
He always remembered birthdays, her rota. Normal morning. Yet everything had changed.
“Don’t be late tonight? You’ll collect her?”
“Obviously. You didn’t need to remind me,” James called from the hall.
The next day, Tanya visited her mother, desperate for counsel.
“What do I do?”
“I don’t know, love. When your father strayed, I screamed, threw things. Didn’t need detectives—everyone knew but me. I wrecked her flat, nearly brained her with a stool. Your father stopped me.”
Tanya gaped.
“Shocked? I was, too, afterward. He left, said he couldn’t live with me. I wept for weeks. Then he came back—but I turned him away.”
“Did you regret it?”
“At first, no. But you’ve two children. A boy needs his dad. Later, I did. None of us were happy. He stayed with her till he died. You must decide. Fight for James if you love him. Wisdom comes with age. Loneliness is cruel.”
Two days later, Emily visited the clinic with the other woman’s address.
“So it’s true,” Tanya said bitterly, taking the slip.
“You doubted me? What’ll you do?”
“What would you do?”
“I’d make her pay. Arsenic in her tea? Acid in her face? A curse? Too soft? My boyfriend knows criminals—we could rough him up, make you his nurse. He’d owe you forever.”
“Emily! Don’t you dare. I’ll handle this.”
That evening, Tanya asked James to fetch Charlotte the next day.
“But you’re on mornings,” he frowned.
“Mum’s unwell—her blood pressure.”
“Alright.”
She barely spoke all evening.
“You’ve been distant. Work trouble?” James asked.
She yearned to scream, *I know! I hate you!* Instead: “Worried about Mum.”
The next day, she went to the other woman’s flat. Every step was agony.
“Are you going in?” an elderly neighbour asked, holding the door.
“Thank you,” Tanya forced a smile.
Her legs carried her to the door. Memories flooded her—years of love, quarrels weathered like storms. She pressed the buzzer before courage failed.
The door opened to a beautiful woman—long hair, blue eyes, eerily like her younger self.
“Hello,” Tanya smiled. “I’m James’s wife. May I come in?”
She stepped inside, recognising a rented flat—just like theirs early on. The kitchen felt like the right place for this.
“Put the kettle on?”
The girl obeyed. Tanya studied her, calm now.
“My name’s Tanya. Yours is… Jessica? You love my husband. I understand—he’s hard to resist. But he met me first. We’ve children. William’s nearly twelve, Charlotte’s six. He adores them. Can he split that love?”
“You knew he was married. Confident he’ll leave us? Wives can be replaced—but not children. He’ll resent you for keeping him from them. You’ll have a child, but ours will haunt him. Can you bear that?”
Jessica stared at her lap. Tanya longed to beg but refused to show fear. She stood, turned off the gas, and left.
Tears streaked her face all the way home. Jessica would tell James. What then? Wives had plain names; mistresses, exotic ones—as if destiny marked them at birth.
At home, they were eating pasta James had cooked.
“Mum’s back!” the children cheered.
“How is she?” James asked.
“Better.The years passed, the children grew, and though the ghost of that autumn evening sometimes flickered at the edges of their happiness, Tanya and James weathered life’s storms together, side by side, until the very end.
