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"Do you want to be filmed again?" he asked, moving closer.
I shrank back in fear, which he took advantage of, by pushing me into the car.
"Don't tell me you want to talk too," I said venomously.
“What, did Alex come crawling back? So what are you?”
“And you have options!” I snorted angrily.
Andrew glanced at me and turned the ignition key.
“I have one, but I see you were smarter than Diana.”
“Did she take it back?” I asked in a strangled voice.
I was so hurt, I felt like drowning or, more effectively, jumping out of the car at full speed right now! I could see it all written on my face. Andrew grinned sarcastically. I immediately tried to pull myself together.
“However, I have more important problems now!” I muttered.
“I wondered what they were. “
“I'm getting fired from my job.”
“For what?! “
“Do you think a school would keep a teacher with a reputation like that? You saw the video!”
“Oh, right, you're a teacher.”
“Uh-huh, Russian language and literature.”
“I liked the video. I even downloaded it.”
I sniffled, wishing I could fall through the ground and never see it again!
“Well, if it's such a problem, Russian language and literature are good education. You could work at some magazine. I know a couple of people, I'll call them today and take them to an interview tomorrow.”
“Work for what?” I was confused.
“Editor, of course. Not as an editor-in-chief, of course, not yet, because that would require experience, but as a staff member. “
Suddenly I felt like Winnie the Pooh, when you want honey, but also "zh-zh-zh" for a reason!
“Why would you do that?”
“My plans haven't changed. I'm gonna get Diana away from Alex.”
“And you need me to do it. Are you going to make me look like an even bigger idiot than I already am?”
“I'm going to take you to the campground and introduce you as my girlfriend. I kind of like you, so I thought I'd clear the territory first.”
The man's smugness was off the charts! With a hiss, I turned toward him. I wasn't afraid to hit him now, since we were stopped at the curb.
“Let's go into the coffee shop and talk. You girls seem to like places like this – lattes and pastries. Or do you prefer champagne?”
He caught my upturned hand and yanked it toward him.
"How much passion you have in you!"
The phrase was not ambiguous, but very definite. I pulled away from him hastily.
"All right, let's go in. On one condition: Keep your hands to yourself!"
"Hands? Well, all right," Andrew grinned.
There was a subtext in that, too, but this time I didn't understand it. Andrew walked out, and I hurried after him, slipping immediately. When I managed to grab the handle of the car door, I straightened up and found him standing across from me, grinning. I was embarrassed. I slammed the door shut and walked past him, heading for the coffee shop.
The first thing that caught my eye was a huge palm tree. It was on a table and was too lush for its assigned corner, so I had to circle around it. Additionally, someone with a great sense of humor had decorated it with garland and Christmas tinsel and forgot to take it down! Or was that the plan?
I took my eyes off the palm tree and looked at the girl in the long apron.
"We need a quieter place," Andrew said, taking me under his arm.
The girl smiled at him, gave me a strange look, and led me to the far table. I frowned once again. It looked like she had rated my appearance a C, and his a solid 10. And now she was wondering what we had in common. If I were her, I would be wondering the same thing.
“I'll have an Americano.”
Andrew looked at me expectantly. I mentally counted all the cash I had left and, deciding that I could splurge a little, ordered a “latte.”
"And a cheesecake, the freshest," Andrew added.
The waitress left, leaving the two of us, but for some reason Andrew kept silent and stared at me. His scrutiny was embarrassing and infuriating.
"Why did we come here? I have a lot more to do today."
"To go to the store and finish watching the show, yeah!"
“Really? I wonder what they are? “
Andrew smiled at me, and I realized with annoyance that I had almost answered his smile. What is this?! I'm a grown, independent woman who knows how to control her emotions. Especially these days, I'm getting better at it.
"The latte arrived on time, and I hastily hid my confusion behind it.
“Tonight, I'll let you know what time you need to be ready. We'll go to the editorial office.”
“And what in return?" I asked suspiciously. “
I didn't believe in his unselfishness and conscience. But I believed in the saying about
"cheese and a mousetrap.”
“You'll go on vacation with me.”
Here comes the mouse trap!
“What?!” I was indignant, putting the glass on the table and rising.
“Calm down. Alex will be there too, as well as Diana. Your mere presence will make them fight all the time. “
That's what I believed. Even if Alex didn't care, Diana wouldn't just let it go.
“What's in it for you?”
“Diana's father successfully legalized his business at the dawn of the nineties, investing in several companies, one of which I now run, and Diana is his heir. But here's the problem: she keeps choosing the wrong men. I imagine a partnership with Alfonso.”
Andrew grinned, showing his attitude toward the future work process.
"Very interesting!" I exclaimed.
In fact, Diana may turn out to be a business shark, but for some reason, she's not taken seriously at the moment. Then she needs just such an Alfonso to keep out of her business. But why my Alex?!
“Where are we going? And for how long?”
"Forest" campground. A corporate party for three days, for business partners. “
“Hmm.”
“I'll introduce you as my girlfriend. It's like we've been together a long time. “
“So we'll act like a couple? “I asked suspiciously.
“So that everyone would believe it," he confirmed.”
I wondered. If you believe the novelists, then the method is effective. But only if I can?
“And tomorrow I have to get a job. “
I realized it was blackmail, and nodded grimly.
***
They took me home and even handed me a bag of groceries. I had to take it obediently. The local FBI was waiting for me at the entrance. The grandmothers, having brought soft seats, handkerchiefs, and glasses, occupied the bench and waited for gossip.
Refuse to shop in front of them? I'm not that crazy yet. They'll think it's some kind of compensation. Television now shows so many "interesting" programs that even an innocent gesture can be suspected!
I had to limit myself from saying goodbye to him. But there's still gossip to be had! This jerk got out of the car and even said hello to them. The women put on their glasses and squinted suspiciously at Andrew and the car. But I got disapproving looks. As a matter of fact, I didn't really want to. I don't pretend to like everyone. After all, I'm not a hundred dollar bill!
The shopping trip turned out to be, I would even say, extravagant. It left me with a strange sense of shame. I realized belatedly that it was possible to not make a scene in the store, and coldly say "Thank you!" and proudly leave.
But anger gave me courage, and for starters I wrote a letter of resignation, turned on my phone, and sent it electronically.
Of course, the school administration was not satisfied with it in this form, and I was told to bring it. Scolding and angry, I got dressed again and went to school.
I had to hand in all of my work, classwork, and reports. The only consolation was that by that time the school was finishing the second shift and half of the students and teachers had left.
But I still received my portion of shame. If the principal remained condemningly silent, my former colleagues tried to find out the details, falsely sympathizing with my departure. I weakly fought back, trying to convey that I did not want to talk about it, but it did not help. As a result, the entire process of dismissal took two hours, and I came out of school not just wrung out, but as if ground up.
When I got to the bus stop, I sat down and cried.
Being a teacher is not just working in a school, it's a whole way of life. You take work home, checking notebooks, writing reports, plans, running with plans "from above" when you need to hand in something, collect, and learn. You often argue, want to quit, and even sometimes move to another school. And at the same time, you get attached to children, sincerely rejoice in their successes, and cry at all graduations. Unplanned and sudden dismissal is like losing a part of your soul!
Although I wrote the application myself, nevertheless, in the back of my mind, I hoped that they would ask me to stay: it is not easy to find a teacher in the middle of the year.
They didn't. Good, at least they didn't throw my things at me, or even "better" – in the garbage, snidely telling me where to find them later. Feeling broken and lonely, I climbed onto the bus and hid from the world with the help of music in my headphones.
***
I managed to hide from the world all the way to the apartment door. And then things didn't go according to plan. My neighbor was waiting for me in the stairwell. Judging by her impatient look, she had been waiting for me for a long time.
“Your Alex came!” Tanya announced solemnly and stared intently into my eyes, waiting for a reaction.
Resentment stirred in my soul, and a lump came to my throat. With difficulty swallowing it, I squeezed out of myself,
"So what? “
“He took his stuff."
"Good," I exhaled, sliding the keys into the keyhole. "I'm gonna go home, fall on my bed, and cry.
“And he said you cheated on him!” Tanya threw me in the back.
“Me?!” I specified indignantly.
I just can't believe it! It turns out these meetings with Diana are nothing, and I, therefore, cheated!
“That's what he said."
The neighbor got an exceptionally shrewd look. Clearly, she wanted details. Gossip is an important part of some women's lives. In fact, she has plenty of details to gossip about. If she thinks about it a little more, she'll give me a story that I'll have to sneak home for the next ten years.
He's mad because I pointed him out the door. Caught him in a restaurant with someone else.
“You did? “
The neighbor's eyes widened. She obviously didn't expect me to tell her that! We'd never really talked to each other – just to borrow a couple of eggs or ask each other to pick up the courier. But we were not close friends to discuss our personal lives.
“I luckily met an acquaintance, and he played along. "Now Alex thinks I evened the score, and he's pissed off about it," I added.
"You should have told him about it! Why lie? You'll be alone with the cat."