A girl's mother's friend, Olga, has a deaf and blind lover named Sasha. Olga and the mother had met and became close in a Moscow clinic when they were both undergoing experimental fertility treatments. Both women revealed to each other that their marriages were unhappy. The mother felt unrequited love for her husband, while Olga did not reciprocate her husband’s love. At the end, Olga’s treatment didn't work, and the mother had a child but her husband left when the girl was five. The girl's father quickly had a new family, and would visit her infrequently because his new child would get sick often. When he finally took the girl on a long promised skiing trip when the girl was around eight, her father promised her they would go again every year.   The following year, Olga visited Moscow to see the girl and her mother; Olga lived in a town on the Black Sea. Olga entered the house to see the girl sobbing because of her father. Olga announces that the girl and her were going to make orange ice cream, and the girl was entertained making it with her. When Olga left, the girl’s mother reveals to the girl and her grandparents that Olga has a lover, a man named Sasha who is deaf and blind. She reveals that Sasha has a Ph.D. in philosophy and they met at a philosophy conference. Much to the surprise of the girl’s family, Olga continues her affair for more than a year. Olga’s husband did not suspect anything. The girl wonders what it is like to be with a deaf and blind man and found Sasha to be brave. Olga found it difficult to communicate with Sasha when they were apart, often assisted by his alcoholic and blind roommate, Andrei, through unreliable translations. A few weeks later, Olga tells the girl’s mother that she left her husband to live with Sasha for good. The girl's mother invites Olga and Sasha for dinner. On the day of the dinner, the girl’s father calls her to take her out, but she declines because she wanted to see Sasha.   The family nervously prepared the dinner. Olga and Sasha arrived and happily greeted everyone, with Olga signing into Sasha’s palm. As they ate, Olga explained that Sasha lost his sight and hearing at four years old due to meningitis. His parents placed him in a special school for deaf and blind children, and he successfully attended university and graduated with a Ph.D. Sasha was very kind to the family, and they could see Olga and Sasha’s love radiating for one another. After they left, the girl’s mother goes in her bedroom and begins to cry. The girl climbs into bed with her and begins to cry as well. She felt closest to her mother she's ever been in that moment. Sasha and Olga marry later that year, but Olga died from cancer shortly after in her 40s. Sasha remarries within a year, and the girl’s mother never remarried.