What am I doing here?
Outside, the cool night air helped clear my thoughts — until a quiet voice interrupted my musings.
‘Are you here with my daddy?’
I turned around. There was a little girl standing there, rubbing her sleepy eyes. My heart stopped. Daddy?
It hit me like a blow to the head. Stas has a daughter.
‘Um… yes. I’m here with your dad.’
She looked up at me, her eyes shining with innocence.
‘Let’s go find him.’
‘Of course, sweetie. Let’s go.’
When we approached Stas, he immediately picked her up.
‘Hello, sweetie. Is it time for bed?’
He smiled at her in a way he hadn’t smiled all evening.
‘I’ll be right back,’ he said, carrying her away to put her to bed.
He has a daughter? How could I not have known?
As soon as he left, Larisa approached me without wasting a second.
‘You do understand that you don’t belong here, right?’
I blinked.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Stas and I… have a history. A family. He always comes back to us. This is just a temporary fling. You’d better leave before it hurts.’
A family? This was too much.
Panic rose in my chest.
Without saying a word, I grabbed my things and headed for the door. I had to get out of there before I completely lost myself.
The decision
Morning light filtered through the curtains as I zipped up my suitcase. I checked my phone. Nothing. No messages. No calls. The silence was deafening.
Jeanne came in.
‘Are you really leaving?’
I sighed as I sat down on the edge of the bed.
‘I can’t stay, Jeanne. He didn’t even try to contact me. I think I got myself into something too complicated for me.’
By noon, my ticket was bought.
Halfway to the airport, lost in my thoughts, I saw a car speeding alongside us.
No… it couldn’t be!
I squinted.
It was Stas — he was driving like a man with a purpose.
What was he doing? Did he want to say goodbye? Or stop me?
I didn’t know, but part of me was grateful that he had come.
The taxi driver glanced at me in the rear-view mirror.
‘Do you know him?’
‘Yes… I think so.’
Stas parked in front of the taxi and walked straight up to my window.
‘Olya, wait.’
I rolled down the window.
‘What are you doing here, Stas?’
‘I couldn’t let you leave like this. You deserve to know the truth. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to drag you into my mess. But I had to.’ You deserve to know everything.
I sat there, speechless. He looked away for a moment, then looked back into my eyes.
“Olya, I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s complicated. I know I have a lot of baggage. But I want you to stay. I want you to meet my children — to get to know the real me.
I was torn between the safety of leaving and the undeniable desire to stay. But my heart already knew the answer.
I tore up my plane ticket — because sometimes the biggest risks lead to the most beautiful beginnings.