Exes. You Didn't Choose Me

2 hrs. 31 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Authors Adaline Cherno, Sophie Weber

Author Adaline Cherno

Author Sophie Weber

Narrator Ekaterina Shtyrbu

Description

— Camille and I are getting married soon, and we’ll have a baby. He won’t come to the meeting today. And in general— you’ll never see him again.

After saying that, she stood up, adjusted her bag on her elbow, and all I managed to say was:
— But how… we love each other.

She gave a crooked smile.
— There was no love between you, dear. Men like ours keep women like you for one thing— to satisfy their desires. And they marry us. That’s how it works: a simple hierarchy that, it seems, you didn’t even suspect. Our families decided everything in advance— didn’t he tell you?

She theatrically pressed her lips together, as if in mock sympathy, and, barely concealing her satisfaction, added:
— I’m really sorry.

After that, she left.

And I stayed in the café, still waiting for Camille. I wanted to believe that the girl had just been a figment of my imagination, that I’d made it all up—and that he would walk in any moment. But an hour passed, then another. The coffee I’d ordered long ago had gone cold, and Camille still didn’t come.

And, as she promised, he didn’t show up in my life—or in the life of our daughter—until today.