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“Oh my god. Three weeks, Elly. She’s been dead three weeks and we find out about it today? From Instagram? What kind of world are we living in? What kind of society? It hurts me to even think about it. Poor girl… She couldn’t take it. When everyone found out her secret and turned away.”
“For the first time, I am inclined to agree…,” Elly sighed and took another sip.
“Where is she buried?”
“Why do you ask?”
“What do you mean why? We will go say good bye. Today. Bring some flowers to the grave.”
“I don’t think it’s a very good idea, to be honest… we weren’t really close, were we? In fact, not at all.”
“What do you mean not at all? You can’t be so insensitive. We attended the same dinners on multiple occasions, sang karaoke together a couple of times, even danced together at that wedding of your weird friend… you know, the one with big teeth. That day, she gave me the flower bouquet she had caught and said she wished me luck finding a great boyfriend….,” Eva started to cry, overwhelmed with the memories.
“Come on, please don’t cry. You’re so sensitive, really. You’ve got to toughen up, I’m telling you,” Elly rolled her eyes. By then, it seemed Elly’s sadness had faded away and Eva was looking at her good old friend – invincible, overly confident Elly, with an immense self-control. “See…. good thing I told you to throw those flowers into the river.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? First, she hanged herself. Secondly, it isn’t exactly a god thing to receive flowers from a girl with a low level of self-esteem and social responsibility.”
“Elly!!!”
“Sorry. It isn’t really my place to say, I admit. Anyway, it was a good thing we stopped at the embankment and threw those flowers….”
“Is that why you were so insistent on me throwing the flowers away? I thought you simply didn’t want me to get married before you,” Eva said without a hint of emotion. “Just kidding,” she added.
“Look at you there, you told a joke. Not a very funny one, but nevertheless. I am happy. I was starting to worry what happened to you. Welcome back, you’ve been missed!”
“Elly, sometimes you’re so obnoxious. However, I want to tell you that I am happy to have you in my life as my best friend. I love you, Elly.”
“And I love you too, babe,” Elly said with a serious face,”. So, I guess we should get married then?”
“I think day after day the joke gets sadder and sadder,” Eva smiled, but there was a hint of sadness. “I guess, if I don’t meet my Mr. Right in ten-year time, we might as well get married!”
“Does that mean you’re confident I am not gonna meet anyone in the next ten years, right? Are you sure?”
“No, I didn’t mean it this way! You know that. My bad!” they laughed. “Life is so unpredictable, though. There once lives a person – today, and tomorrow they’re gone. I don’t care if this is gonna sound trivial, but we really should appreciate each and every day. Each and every moment.”
“Agreed.”
“I wish we didn’t have to learn such a tragic news on a wonderful day like today… I can’t stop thinking Bella will never see a day like this again, or will never feel the beauty of nature, or a touch of the loved one. It gives me shivers. Wasn’t she the same age as me? She just turned twenty-one. I can’t believe it. She didn’t even get to live! What has she got to see in such a short life she had?”
“I think she had seen more than a woman in her fifties alright….!”
“Elly! It’s is so inappropriate of you to say!”
“Look, I may have agreed I made an inappropriate remark the first time. But please, don’t make her out a saint, either! Everyone knows what her life style was… and she would never have found a decent boyfriend, had she continued to live like that… You know what I mean.”
Eva have her friend an angry look and Elly decided to change the subject.
“Weird…,” she said, “ – only today did everyone find out…. don’t you think so?”
“See what kind of hypocrisy modern society has to deal with? I hate to even think about it.”
“Oh well. Look, there’s an update. A new post from, you won’t believe who!” Elly was looking at her phone with disgust. “Guess who?”
“pRATty girl?!”
“Yes! Just another instance where she lives up to the nickname you gave her. Look at the photo she posted!”
Eva looked at her friends’ phone. Disbelief was written all over her face.
Bella
Bella was a good acquaintance of ours. Well, perhaps, not a very good one – just an acquaintance. Elly couldn’t stand her from the moment she first saw her. She’s always thought her to be pretentious and fake, in everything from her name to her ten-carat ring with a bright yellow diamond. As soon as Elly would spot Bella on the horizon, she would instantly get annoyed and would always say: “Where did she come from?”. I came up with my own explanation for my friend’s behavior: just like two suns cannot share one sky, two egocentric, overconfident, and beautiful women cannot share one company of friends. Indeed, Bella seemed to be interested in the same type of people that would always follow Elly around – the rich men’s sons. Of course, apart from that fact they were two entirely different characters and it went without saying that I gravitated towards Elly in most ways, including the way she looked. Elly was tall and skinny, with long legs and beautiful breasts. Her brown hair was complemented by the green, captivating eyes with intense, and somewhat predatory gaze. Bella’s look was entirely different. Quite fit, though not as tall as Elly, she did possess sexy hips long hair extensions of chocolate color that looked completely natural. It was clear when it came down to the amount she spent on it, she didn’t think twice. It wasn’t a secret that by the age of twenty, she had managed to “tune up’ her entire body. She had toilet bowl-white teeth veneers, unnaturally narrow nose, Botox enhanced eyebrows that gave her face a somewhat bitchy expression. A close friend of hers had told me in confidence that even her once sticking out Dumbo ears now were fixed up. What Bella reminded me was of a photoshopped glossy magazine model, that had materialized in front of me. Imagine sitting and chatting with her, while she looks ever so perfect. Not a hint of extra facial mimics, for which my mom would always tell me off: “stop frowning”, or “stop wrinkling your forehead” she would often say. Bella was so perfect that after the encounter with her, you would be happy to see your live, yet somewhat imperfect face, in the mirror. Guys had even given her a nickname – Bella Tuning. They would actively hit on her when drunk, or having fought with their girlfriends. What she didn’t have though, were classy admirers, and that constituted a key difference between her and Elly. My friend was regularly taken out on dates, guys literally melted when they were looking or talking to her. They were ready to tolerate her cold, at times cruel remarks, showered her with flowers. Rumor had it, once a guy who Elly had turned down on numerous occasions earlier, got drunk and called Bella. Not only did she accept his dinner invitation, but also treated him a “desert’, if you know what I mean. Elly couldn’t stand Bella. I, however, didn’t mind her company. It was both interesting and entertaining to me how in the world a tiny girl like herself could have done so much to her body, that ato thirty-five-year-old established woman wouldn’t have had a chance to do, and most importantly, WHY? Having said that, I found myself actually liking Bella. Ms. Tuning was always funny, down to earth, and very easy to be around and talk to. Elly often tried to convince me otherwise. She would say Bella was a notorious bitch, wishing good to nobody. I strongly disagreed. In contrast to most of our boring, predictable, and hypocritical peers, who were lacking identity, style, and being unable to say a word without their parents approval, Bella most definitely stood out. A defiant child to her parents and free spirit, she always had an opinion of her own. It seemed, much like a butterfly, she lived one day at a time – full of emotions, and sincere feelings. Besides that, we didn’t know much more about Bella. Maybe, a fact that she did have rich parents. According to her, her dad had died few years earlier, having left a big chunk of money to her mother, who lived in Monte Carlo. She spoke very little of her mother and when she did, her mother disapproval of the daughters lifestyle was always implied. She was a doctor, a very intellectual woman. One more thing we knew was that Bella was her only child. Her mother had her at the age of forty and it was attributed to this fact she had always been overprotective of Bella. That was the reason Bella left Monte Carlo once she had turned sixteen and came to live with her auntie here in Moscow. She lived here ever since, never ever wanting to go back or regretting the choice she had made. She had a kind of French last name everyone had difficulty remembering or even pronouncing. Either it was Bardot, like Bridget, or Boudreaux, like wine. Her collection of bright, colorful name brand clothes she wore probably featured all color palette of Birkin purses. It also included a variety of evening dresses from couture, diamond, exquisite perfume as expensive as a car. She was frequently seen being driven in Bentleys or Rolls Royses. However, Bella herself was quite humble, speaking little to none of the fortune her father had left her. Many, if not everyone in our circles fell for her money and chose to ignore her rather easy virtue. Her mother would always be spoken of as a decent, honest woman who struggled with her daughter behavior of a silly, shallow party girl. “She is too young,” they said. “She will outgrow it,“they were convinced, “There’s one in every family”. Apparently, that was what money could do – temporarily cover up unpleasant truths and contain the extent of social conviction.
It was that finally battle of good and evil that happened a few months earlier. Elly and Bella, as if competing for the title of bohemian
beauty, as I like to think of it. We were having dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant “Mario” in the company of a mutual friend. I really loved the place for both its atmosphere, and food. Naturally, in there dined predominantly men who came to the restaurant to enjoy food. Girls, however pursued an agenda entirely different. All dressed up and ready, they patiently waited to be noticed by some of the restaurant regulars. Some of them went as far as paying the waiting staff for letting them know when someone of interest would arrive at the restaurant. Elly and I liked the place because watching all that unfold was even more entertaining than a new play at a theatre. I kid you not, from the moment we made it through the doors, we were immersed in a magical, untold atmosphere of wealth, super wealth and euphoria. White table cloths, live music, dim lighting, candles, sparkles of true diamonds and cheap jewelry imitations – vanity fair as it is. And of course the most important – the audience itself.
However, people of our ages tended to gravitate towards places appropriate for the age, thus we were ones of very few of the kind here, which of course was a pleasing fact. Among our peers we would often feel like in a kindergarten. It was at places like this that we felt most at ease.
That evening, just like any other Friday night, we went an extra mile, having put on our most stunning outfits. I wore a dangerously short black dress with a golden Versace meduse pins. I was still tan after my Maldives vacation with mom a month before. I was extremely pleased with my hairstyle and makeup as I was leaving a beauty studio. As a gay friend of mine likes to say, don’t leave the house until you want yourself in the mirror. It was exactly how I felt that evening. Elly looked like the main character Elvira from the “Scar face” movie. She wore a stunning emerald dress with a slit all the way along hip. Her hair was elegantly styled into Hollywood curls that looked especially beautiful on her. Without boasting I will say, no matter where we went, we would attract a lot of attention. Of course, we acted like we weren’t aware of the fact and only planned to have a glass of Dom Perignon. You understand me, right? In other words, it was otherwise a rather ordinary Friday evening.
“Look who’s here!” whispered to me Elly, holding her breath soon as we sat down.
“Where?”
“There! Two tables to the right!”
“There are tons of people. Who are you talking about?”
“The cutest one, obviously!”
“The dark-haired guy with a Hollywood smile?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he is cute. Handsome. Stands out. And who would he be?”
“Darn it, Eva. Do you ever watch news or read magazines?”
“Everything you just said is so last year…”
“I see,” Elly rolled her eyes a little too theatrically. “This is Andrei B. I’m not telling you his last name… A name that loud, you will fall off your chair. And stop acting so restlessly!”
“I am not acting restlessly. The dress is way too short, I’m trying to get comfortable. So, who is he?”
It was quite annoying the way Elly chose to speak riddles to get me to ask more questions. It allowed her to dispense information slowly with a smart, professor-like face.
“This is one of the richest guys in the country…maybe world!”
“Huh! I am shocked. He… and every other man here.”
“You know what your problem is? You manage to always miss the most interesting because you think you know everything better than anyone else.”
“Go screw yourself.”
“Not only is he incredibly rich, Eva, he’s also one of the most generous and refined man on the planet…”
“And you know this how?”
“I have my own sources,” Elly said looking important, “…my nails lady told me. You know, that one Sasha goes to.”
“What Sasha? My driver?” Eva laughed.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. – she took a little pause – Well, you don’t really know her. Anyway. She’s the owner of a beauty salon, and an art connoisseur. In other words, wife of a rich old fart.”
“And you share the same nails lady with her????”
“You think I should change her?”
“Just think. If she gossips about that Sasha, what kind of things about you she tells others?”
“Darn. I didn’t think of that. There are certainly things about me….”
“Are you serious?” Eva cut her friend short.
“You know, nails lady is sorta shrink. Don’t you ever talk about yourself with yours?”
“No!”
“Wow. What a strength! O.K., I’ll think about it tomorrow,” frowned my Scarlett O’Hara wannabe friend. “So, Sasha said she had met Andrei at one of the private parties she used to go to before she met her old fart. She and the other girls there were from a modeling agency specifically invited to that event. So, he kinda liked her, they hung out for a couple of days and then he asked…”
“I thought you were gonna say dumped…” interrupted Eva.
“He did, eventually. Why the hell would he need her for anything serious?”
“So, what are you getting so excited about then?”
“He ASKED her what she dreamed of? Sasha said she wanted to have her own condo in the heart of Moscow. And you know what happened?”
“Let me guess. He bought her a condo!”
“Exactly! Inside the condo was a porsche panamera, too. But that’s not the point —” Elly was barely whispering now, “-Sasha says, with a man like him, she would…. have fun… without all these extra perks… you know what I mean?”
“You mean… because he’s handsome and generous?” I was confused.
“Girl, I feel sorry for you sometimes! It’s time you get rid of your innocence. You sound like a child, honestly,” Elly hummed with betrayal. “He is very good in bed. I hope you don’t need any extra explanations on this one!”
“Fuck. You.”
“Oh come on! It was a joke. Where’s your sense of humor? – she smiled. – well anyways… returning to the subject! You know, such a high opinion coming from a whore… it must mean something.”
“Elly, no offence, but I am not gonna listen to this dirty shit. It literally makes me physically sick.”
“What dirt are you talking about. Just look at him. He’s a high-breed. Wealthy and generous. And hot. It’s a rare combination even in movies…” Elly sighed romantically. “Look at his gaze, so deep. Imagine how much he could tell… or show…”
“Listen to you… you’ve found a modern days Pygmalion.”
“Right on point!”
“I was just kidding…” I started to say, but Elly didn’t let me finish.
“Look at who just came to to sit at the table next to him! Alan’s dad and his friends. Tonight, an oligarch at every table.”
“I couldn’t care less. Stop looking around like a savage villager. I hope you’re done with your nails lady’s stories, right? Seriously, I’ve heard enough!” I really did start to get frustrated. What I do want to know is where is Vlad?”
“Oh, don’t remind me of him. I hope his tires will get flat or something… Hope he’ll be late. Wish he wouldn’t show up at all!”
“How can you say this?!”
“Well, he’s got us a table here, payed for it. The rest is irrelevant. He doesn’t have to be here,” Elly was looking right through me with a dreamy smile on her face. “Yes!!! Yes!!! He looked!!! He just looked over! Ever so discreetly but I saw it!” she was whispering full of excitement.
“Who?”
“Who I was just telling you about?”
“So, what?”
“Well, if he comes say Hi, I won’t mind…”
“Oh Elly,” I sighed and decided to massage Vlad to see what the holdup was. While I was sending the message, a hostess approached our table. Bella and two girl friends of hers were following. The hostess gave us what seemed like a condescending look and went away.
“What the hell is that?” Elly hissed through her teeth.
“No idea…” I wasn’t any less surprised.
“Hi there, girls” Bella greeted us with her usual mannerism is the voice. Her two friends smiled nicely.
“Hi there,” I tried to sound friendly in contrast to Elly whose face was green with anger, matching her emerald dress.
The message came through:
“Training ran late. David and his friend might beat me.”
“With three friends,” I said quietly to myself, having read the message.
“What? Elly asked, frowning.
