They met at a birthday party thrown by mutual friends. Mike was outgoing, charming, knew how to make a woman feel seen. He was also a young primary care doctor at a neighborhood clinic.
On the very first day they met, Anna admitted she had once wanted to go into medicine too. “You’ve got time,” Mike told her with that bright, easy smile of his. “You can still become a doctor. We might end up colleagues someday.”
They never became colleagues. But they did fall in love fast. Romance turned serious, and before long it turned physical. Six months later, they filed for a marriage license.
Anna had no doubt she had found her person. Mike seemed thrilled too. His parents, though, who lived in another state, had their reservations.
Was Anna really the right match for their son? He was a doctor, after all, and she was “just” a hairdresser. They never said anything outright.
But the judgment hung in the air—in phone calls, in little comments, in the way they looked at her when the couple visited them over Christmas. Anna, they implied, was sweet enough, but simple. She understood perfectly well and tried not to let it get to her.
After all, she was marrying Mike, not his parents. And to be fair, they relaxed once they came to visit the young couple. Anna’s apartment, inherited from her mother and grandmother, was no small thing.
It was a spacious two-bedroom in a good part of town, with tall ceilings and plenty of light. It needed some cosmetic work, sure, but the bones were solid. Once Mike’s parents saw that, they seemed to settle down.
By the time the wedding came around, they had accepted Anna and even helped out financially with the celebration.
After that, life seemed to fall into place beautifully. Anna felt happier than she ever had. And when their daughter Polly was born, it seemed impossible to imagine a more complete family. Mike worked long hours, but whatever free time he had, he spent with Anna and the baby.
They took walks together in the park. Later, when Polly got older, they took her to fairs and the circus. Anna worked hard to be a good wife and a loving mother.
She took care of herself, doted on her daughter, kept the house spotless, made sure Mike had clean pressed shirts and a hot meal waiting at home. She stayed home with Polly for the first three years.
Then she went back to work at a salon not far from Mike’s clinic. It made family logistics easy. In the mornings they dropped Polly at preschool, then headed off in the same direction to work.
In the evenings Mike picked Anna up by car. Her coworkers envied her in the nicest possible way. Handsome husband, respected doctor, attentive father—what more could a woman want?
Only one older stylist, Tamara, would purse her lips and smirk. One day she said flat out, “Anna, that husband of yours is going to show his true colors one day.” Anna just stared at her.
She figured Tamara was being bitter for the sake of it. The woman had a sharp tongue and used it often. But then came the first real shock.
A young, attractive woman booked an appointment at the salon and landed in Anna’s chair. Anna sat her down, asked what she wanted, and got to work. The woman gave her instructions and seemed perfectly pleasant.
Everything was normal until the woman’s phone rang in her purse. Anna handed it over from the station.
“Oh, Mike,” the young woman chirped brightly, “I’m at the salon right now, yes. I only had patients till noon today, remember? And you… Oh, you’ve still got two house calls left.
Okay, honey, I’ll call you as soon as I’m done here. Yes, we’ll meet at our favorite café,” she said. Anna kept cutting, face calm, hands steady.
Plenty of men were named Mike, of course. But something about the woman’s words made Anna go cold. When she handed over the phone, she had seen the caller ID: “My Love.” And the man’s voice had sounded painfully familiar.
She finished the haircut just fine, but her mind was racing. As soon as the young woman floated out of the salon, Anna told the owner she needed a minute and went after her. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Tamara watching her with something like sympathy.
The young woman clicked down the sidewalk in high heels, and Anna followed at a distance. Then Anna stopped dead.
Walking toward the woman with a smile on his face was her husband. Her legal, actual husband. He reached the young woman, kissed her, and said something that made her laugh. Then he happened to glance up—and saw Anna in the crowd…
