Revenge – served cold

***

At half past eight I was already in my seat in the office. I had to come in early. I had to print out what I had done yesterday. I put the papers in folders and waited impatiently for Julie to arrive. In the evening I sent her a few translated documents, and the rest I decided to give her at the office. And after receiving enthusiastic messages of gratitude, I suddenly felt that I liked it.

To my surprise, however, it was the boss who showed up at the office first. He looked a little wrinkled, wearing yesterday's shirt and a day's worth of unshaven hair.

" Good morning," I greeted him cheerfully.

" Please, not so loud."

The supervisor disappeared into his office. I shook my head and searched my bag for aspirin. Andrew was not the kind of man who liked to drink a bottle. His body was unprepared, so the result was not long in coming. Putting the papers aside for the time being, I gathered a tray: a glass with instant aspirin, a bottle of mineral water and coffee, the latter I put just in case.

Knocking and without waiting for an answer, she entered. Andrew was sitting at the table, concentrating on massaging his temples.

" Aspirin, " I informed him and put the glass on the table.

Andrew , grabbing the glass, drank the contents in a gulp and leaned back in his chair. I doubt that it helped immediately. Rather, the anticipation of relief tried it on with reality. I froze, waiting for further instructions.

" Everything else after… " he said.

I didn't ask after what. It was obvious. First he needs to come to himself. I silently put the tray with mineral water and coffee in front of him and left.

Julia flew into the waiting room at the same time as me. Swaying on her impressive heels, she took in more air, ready to burst into a tirade of gratitude. I was ahead of her, pressing my finger to my mouth. The girl obediently exhaled.

" Andrew has a headache, " I whispered. " And until the aspirin did not work …"

" Oh! Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders indefinitely. I didn't plan on giving away my boss's secrets. There was a reason he showed up earlier than half of the staff. Now he'll come to his senses, assess his appearance and go home to change. Although a man like Andrew should have a spare shirt with him. You never know!

" All right. Give me a hand, please. I need to write a letter to the partners."

Julia made huge eyes. I laughed quietly. Those who have never seen a computerized hieroglyphics layout won't understand. The characters are written on one key, four at a time. It's hard to tell the difference between half of them when you're not used to them.

" Leave the letter, I'll dial, " promised her.

" You're awesome! I love you!"

Julia handed me a thin opaque folder and rushed off. Hiding behind a ficus tree, I checked my makeup and, after making coffee for myself, returned to my desk. The main boss's reception area turned out to be the quietest place in the universe! I don't know about the deputies, but no one came in here.

About an hour later, Andrew called me in. He looked much better, even changed his shirt. I, trying to keep my distance, put in front of him the documents collected for signing and a separate folder prepared by me personally.

" You have a meeting tomorrow. Everything is ready for it, " I informed the boss.

Andrew was distracted from the papers and looked at me carefully.

" I forgot to ask, are you married?"

" No, " I answered dumbfounded.

I didn't expect such a question. Why would he be interested in the details of my personal life?

" Okay, " nodded Andrew . " There will be a conference in St. Petersburg on Saturday. I'm glad that you have no plans for the weekend, and you can accompany me. The hotel is already booked, we'll leave on Friday. You can go."

I just nodded and went out to the reception area. But I didn't expect such a turnaround. It turns out that if I don't have a husband and children, I don't have plans for the weekend either! Besides, who takes a secretary who has been working for a few days with them on a trip?

Feeling that I needed to share and consult with someone, I grabbed my phone and ran to the bathroom to talk without interference. Experience told me that it was better to discuss a person behind his back when he was not around. And the neighboring office under the designation "far away" fell somehow weakly.

Having jumped out to the stairwell, I went down one flight and immediately turned back. Dimitri stood in the corridor and hugged the girl. Climbing a few steps, she tried to listen to his conversation.

" You don't give me enough time, " the girl said capriciously.

" I work, " Dimitri was naturally surprised.

" At night?"

It became clear to me that he was talking to his wife. It seems that their family life was marred by his inattention. By the way, there is such a peculiarity in Dimitri's behavior. At the beginning of the relationship, he was very attentive. Sometimes it seemed to me that he read my mind. But when our relationship became strong and stable, and I couldn't breathe without him, he became distant. No, in the moments he spent with me, even if only on the phone he was so gentle.....

" I've gotten a job, I don't want people to say I married you for a career. I will achieve everything on my own."

Dimitri spoke in a confident and unbending voice. Just a couple weeks ago I would have believed in his words unconditionally, but now it was funny. The girl whispered something fervently. I didn't eavesdrop any further and went back to the waiting room. The more I learned about him, the more disgusted I became. How could I love him?

The interesting thing was that I couldn't find a decent excuse. Betrayal killed love, and the brain kicked in. But so far he'd only wondered how blind I'd been.

I spent the whole day thinking about the stupid things I'd done in my life. Secretarial work was the most boring job in the world. The phone didn't ring very often, the visitors were mostly couriers who dropped by a couple times. And the boss seemed to have decided to sleep in, since he only called me once all day to let me know he was leaving.

***

I was home by eight o'clock, exhausted by the road, I walked up to our house without looking around. So I didn't notice the festivities right away. Neighbors, who jumped out of their houses, were frantically putting out the fire. I rushed to us and almost crashed into Ramila, who had come out of the house in a tiny robe, but with a huge bucket of water.

" What happened?"

" Idiots surrounded us!"

Ramila ran to the neighboring plot, and I rushed after her. The picture I saw was more pathetic than scary. A huge fire was burning in the middle of the neighbor's plot. When I looked closer, I realized that it was firewood prepared for the winter, but unused. A man in underpants, an alcoholic T-shirt and rubber boots was running around the fire. He didn't even try to put anything out, the neighbors were doing it. The curiosity of the situation was that the fire could spread to any house standing nearby. A strong gust of wind was enough to carry the spark.

Ramila splashed a bucket of water on the fire. The flames, hissing mockingly, continued.

" Damn fool! " The friend fawned over the man and ran back.

I agreed with her wholeheartedly, rushing back, going to join our rescue.

Following me, a burly woman flew into our plot, in whom I could hardly identify my neighbor on the right. This time she was wearing a plush bathrobe and carrying a huge skein of rubber in her hands. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a hose, just catastrophically wide in diameter.

" Come on, help me!"

The two of us quickly unwound the hose. I with one end stood in a fighting stance at the fence, going to water the fire. My neighbor hooked the other end to the faucet and opened the water.

The hose shuddered and hummed suspiciously. I was alarmed; I had never heard water make such a sound before. Seconds passed, and still no pressure.

The water rushed out like a geyser, hitting the fence. I fell on my back and let go of the hose. It danced around, splashing everyone with water. I jumped up and tried to grab the hose. A neighbor decided to do the same, and we collided on the approach. I collapsed to the ground, the neighbor snorted contemptuously. She was an indestructible rock holding the water pressure, directing it in the right direction. True, she had several targets, the fire and its culprit.

When she was done, she turned off the water and proudly walked away, leaving the firemen to deal with the arsonist. I was left sitting on the ground in a puddle of mudd.

" Impressive, to say the least," Ramilya commented.

I hooked and pulled myself up off the ground and wandered into the house. Why wouldn't this hard day full of surprises end?

***

After a sudden hose shower in the bathtub, I soaked for about an hour. I had to literally scratch the dirt out of my hair with a brush. And here's the most amazing thing, if you make a natural mask and diligently rub it into your scalp to revitalize and nourish the bulbs, about half of it stays dry. And if you fall on the ground and get doused with water, it's like you've gotten a lamination.

So I cleaned myself up. I got into a tracksuit, as it turned out, neighbors can quickly and effectively diversify life, and there will be no time to change clothes. I went to the kitchen. The suspiciously familiar smell of something spicy beckoned. I hope my nose is not deceiving me and Ramila is making mulled wine.

" You know what the saddest part is? You'll have to live side by side with these people for years to come," she said sadly.

" Maybe it's not so bad?"

Ramila looked at me skeptically. I lowered my eyes. We've only lived here a week, and the neighbors have already revived our life. They're running around our yard, or trying to burn it down!

While Ramila was stirring the potion of soothing, I made sandwiches. Dinner turned out to be peculiar and far from proper nutrition, but tasty. Sometimes you have to indulge yourself. After thinking, I sliced some cheese and opened a jar of olives.

Having poured the drink into half-liter high mugs, we sat down at the table. It was under the hot wine with spices that I told my friend about the upcoming business trip. The longer I thought about it, the more I did not understand the motives of Andrew .

" Great! " Ramilya was excited. " Is he handsome?"

" Who? " I did not understand.

" Andrew ."

" Mr. Roberts , " I added. " So…"

Feigning indifference, I introduced the boss, a tall, statuesque brunette with green eyes. And that's just the beginning of his virtues, to everything else he is also smart. He's just predictable, judging by Camille. But he always smelled nice, his perfume, obviously bought not in Russia, with dignity silent about the number of zeros in foreign currency in its price tag. Oh yes, without a doubt, you can't pass by such a thing. Only after some time, I'm allergic to handsome men.

" So he's handsome," Ramilya said.

" He's not my type," I said.

" Well, we've already seen yours," Ramilya said skeptically.

" You know, when I came to the interview, there was a whole corridor full of models, and I was chosen. What does that say?"

" That they birch trees? " Ramila suggested.

I shook my head and, carefully scooping up the "brew" with a tablespoon, drank my mental torment. Unlike my friend, I had another theory. Against the background of beauties with legs from the ears, I was a natural gray mouse. And Ms.Adams was looking for a secretary who would work, not dream about the boss. And if fantasies wander into her head, the boss will not want to realize them.

" But if that's the case, you probably shouldn't overstep your bounds. This business trip will be a test. Whether you can stand the test of his beauty and charm or not. You need to pack your things. "

And not in a way that makes it look like you're ready to jump into bed with him, even though you'd rather be on the table with your boss. You have a different mission for this company.

That's where I totally agreed with her. I didn't have a normal job in my employment history. I had to be able to hold it for a couple years. And ideally get a promotion. Rendezvousing with my boss didn't fit into that plan.

" But, you know, it's time to get out of the "mousey mouse" mold, too. There will be other men there," Ramila added unexpectedly.

I grimaced. After the betrayal of my beloved, I was not ready to let someone into my life.

" Hey, neighbors!"

There was a knock at the kitchen window. We shuddered and turned at the knock. A burned-out neighbor loomed in the yard. This time he looked almost decent: in sweatpants and an open turtleneck, but in the same alcoholic T-shirt. He looked about forty years old. His blond, long uncut hair fell over his eyes, and his face was framed by a beard that would only scare a barber.

" What do you want? " Ramila snorted, opening the window.

" I just came to apologize. I didn't know you'd already arrived."

The man's logic was strange. That is, if he knew that the house was inhabited again, would not have set fire to the wood?

" Well, apologize, " "allowed" Ramilya.

" Wo!"

The neighbor shook a colored shabby bag and… climbed through the window. Ramilya recoiled, and I jumped up. No one had ever come to visit us like that before. The neighbor threw the bag on the table and introduced himself:

" Mathew."

" Ramilya, Rina."

Unexpectedly, my friend responded, approvingly squinting at the bag, which in fact turned out to be full of smoked fish.

" I smoked it myself," Mathew said proudly.

" Have a seat," Ramilya almost purred.

Smoked fish was her weakness. She consumed it in immense quantities and drank it with sweet tea. To me, it was a terrible combination. The guest did not talk himself into it, and sitting down at the table, he grunted approvingly, taking a mug of mulled wine. Being in some shock from unexpectedly formed neighbor's meetings, I snatched my phone without looking and answered the call.

" Hi, " Dimitri said hello.

" Hi," I answered muffled.

My heart sank somewhere in my stomach and fluttered. I must have changed my face, because Ramila immediately looked up to see who was calling me. When she saw the contact, she hissed angrily. We had agreed on the train that I would not answer his calls.

" For some reason I can't reach you. I miss you very much," Dimitri went on the offensive.

I kept silent, because I knew who was the only one of us missing, and who was living life to the fullest and had even started a family.

" Where did you disappear to? Why are you silent? " Dimitri asked, without waiting for an answer.

" I'm here."

I couldn't pull myself together. The words were stuck in my throat. They were backed up by sobs, which I was ready to burst into tears. My head was like a balloon, it was going to blow away.

" Someone important is on the phone," Mathew said.

" Yes, it is," Ramilya snorted.

" Who's that there? " Dimitri asked suspiciously. " A man? Did you get another one? Is that why you don't answer my calls?"

" Why? " I got angry.

" I'm working for our future! And you!"

I couldn't believe my ears. He's trying to make me jealous?! I was sitting at home like a fool, daydreaming. and now he's accusing me of cheating on him!

" It's the neighbor! " I enlightened him.

" Oh, yeah?!"

" Well, yes! " I confirmed it with a challenge.

" I've got it all figured out, it looks like I'm in danger of catching a scene from a cheap joke!"

" Vaudeville," I corrected him.

" Are you laughing? Honey, if I came home, would you at least let me in?"

I didn't say anything, desperately fighting myself. To start sobbing into the phone was to bring myself down even lower. We'd meet at the office sooner or later. It's a miracle we haven't crossed paths yet.

" Tell him we're waiting for him, and we'll make pies, his favorite! With meat! " Ramila came to my rescue

" With cabbage. Dimitri likes cabbage, " I corrected him.

" What kind of man doesn't like meat? " muttered the neighbor.

" "The best," Ramilya grinned. " Tell me, I'm already running to the market for cabbage. Or better to the fields, I'll take it from a private citizen, just in time for his arrival and I'll turn around."

Now Dimitri was silent, listening to our argument. I tried feverishly to think of something to say to him. When Ramilya and Mathew laughed, Dimitri hung up.

I sank down in my chair and stared dumbly at the screen.

" Should I call him back? " I muttered.

" He'd call me. He's in dire need of you right now," Ramila snorted.

" What's that? " I didn't understand.

" He badly needs your part of the money for the mortgage," she said.

Unfortunately, she was right. In my mind I understood it perfectly well. But that didn't make it any easier. I finished the contents of my glass in a gulp, said goodbye to my neighbor and went to pack my things.

***

I decided not to take too much with me, so I pulled out a small gym bag and packed two suits, one dress, and a pair of shoes. The clothes had to come from Ramili's closet. That made it a little embarrassing. If it wasn't for this trip that couldn't be turned down, I would have gone to the mall on Saturday and bought my own. The tutor didn't need business suits. Oh, and for the past few years, I've only bought things out of necessity. When things that had fallen into disrepair couldn't be darned without a mark.

" Are you going? " Ramila asked. I nodded. " Ta-dam!"

My friend pulled out several tubes of paint from behind her back.

" Now we'll do your head. Since we can't fix the contents, we'll fix the outside. Please!"

I frowned skeptically, then sat down resolutely. It was reckless to entrust my hair to a manicurist. Though it wouldn't be any worse than it is now.

Ramila stirred the paint with inspiration and made the first stroke. Judging by the number of bottles used, she was a professional. I sincerely hope my hair won't fall out after it!

Chapter 4

A nasty, nasty sound popped into my ears, cracked my head, and threw me out of my dream and into reality. My body wasn't going to give up just like that, so I tried to sleep it off. But as soon as I closed my eyes, the sound repeated itself. The realization that it was an alarm clock brought a sharp sense of doom. By the end of the week, after commuting to work every day, spending four hours a day on the subway, my only dream was to get some sleep.

Fumbling for the phone under my pillow, I decided to cowardly postpone rising for ten minutes and was surprised to find that it wasn't an alarm clock! It was a bell! And it was only half past five in the morning!

Wondering who could have called at this hour, she accepted the call. I was going to say everything I thought about this person, and in the most obscene form.

" Rina! I knew you'd been awake for a long time. Smart girls get up early!"

The voice of the unknown interlocutor was ringing. I wasn't thinking straight, and it took me fifteen seconds to understand the meaning of the word "early".

" What?" I asked in surprise. " Who are you? "

" I'm Mila."

In fact, if I wanted to insult her to her face, that's what I'd call her.

" I asked who you are and why are you calling so early?"

I sat down on the couch and shrugged irritably. Today I have a hard day ahead of me and instead of getting a good night's sleep and rest, I have to talk to some crazy woman.

" I'm the manager, I'll bring the waiters to your office," she reported cheerfully.

" It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon! " I got angry.

" Yes, yes, there's not much time left. We'll be there at eleven o'clock and…"

I breathed through my teeth and dropped the call. I collapsed onto my pillow and tried to sleep. It didn't work, though; anger was more energizing than anything else.

After turning around for about ten minutes and realizing that she couldn't fall asleep, she got up and went to the kitchen.

In fact, Mila had woken me up only half an hour earlier than my alarm clock, but that half hour was exactly what I needed to sleep. I had been missing half an hour all week.

To my surprise, Ramila was already in the kitchen, absent-mindedly stirring coffee in a coffee pot. She looked as if she hadn't been to bed at all.

" Can't sleep? " I asked glumly.

I usually got up first, showered, and then met her in the kitchen.

" You could say that. I keep thinking, what exactly Dimitri was counting on when he went on a walk?"

" Does it make any difference? " I inquired with demonstrative indifference.

" Of course! " Ramilya assured me eagerly.

I sat down on the chair and raised my eyebrows in surprise. It seemed that my friend could not calm down and continued to think about her plan of revenge.

" What does it matter to us what he was counting on? I doubt we'll be able to get him to talk about it. "

" Why would we ask him anything? We could just follow him."

I was lucky I was able to sit up. If I'd stood up, I'd have fallen. Ramila seems to have had a lot of crazy ideas this morning. And she loves them.

I didn't share them. As far as I was concerned, the idea was impossible, moreover, on the verge of fantasy. But Ramila seemed to like it more and more every minute. I had to touch her forehead defiantly.

" Don't fuss," Ramila waved my hand away.

" Didn't you sleep well? Why do you suddenly have such strange ideas in the morning? And in general, how do you envision it? Are we going to ride the subway after him? And beforehand, to specify – at what station to get off? "

Dimitri traveled around the city by car, and we took the subway. Of course, we could take a cab, but traffic jams can eat up a fortune, and we can't even talk about our modest means.

" How we do it is another matter," Ramilya snorted.

I sighed and, pushing her away from the stove, took the pot off the fire. Ramila was so excited that she stopped watching the drink. It looked like the coffee was nasty and overcooked, but it didn't even run off. I don't know how she does it. Mine escapes almost immediately. All my attempts to make an Americano end up with washing the stove, the pot, and sometimes the floors, and I have to drink instant coffee to realize my inadequacy.

I poured the coffee into cups and sat Ramila in a chair. I didn't understand why she was having this conversation at all.

" Let's start at the beginning," I suggested. " Why are you going to follow him? "

" Think about it, Dimitri has been using women all his life to achieve his plans. So his next woman is much richer than the one he's married to. And if he hasn't moved in with her and divorced her yet, it can only mean that their relationship hasn't reached the stage of living together yet."

" So? " I asked dumbly.

Hearing about another of Dimitri's girlfriends hurt. I would have been more than happy to end this conversation. Only then, developed a detailed and illogical plan, will sit in the nearest bushes from the office with theater binoculars.

" And the fact that now is exactly the moment when you can intervene and spoil his "raspberry"."

" You think?"

" Oh, Rina, you never cease to amaze me! Now he's not going out with a girl, he's going out with his legal wife. Plus he works for her father's company. One mistake and he's"

" Unemployed, but with his own apartment," I finished.

It was a sore subject. I never dared to tell my parents the truth. And they're always asking how I live and want me to take pictures of the apartment. So far I've managed to avoid this conversation, but I'm afraid it won't last long.

Ramilya is certainly getting carried away and, at the moment, her thought is more like the plot of a detective novel. But she is right about one thing, it is a good moment to reveal Dimitri's affairs. However, there was still an open question: " how to find out who that woman was?

" Do you have an idea yet? "

" Not yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something."

***

All the way to the office, I thought about our conversation with Ramila.

In fact, my friend was right; if we didn't intervene now, there was no way to get revenge. There was one more problem, I wasn't sure I needed this. Immersed in my thoughts, I made it to the office almost without adventure. All I got was another foot stomp and an elbow to the stomach.