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«Have you fed Max yet?»
«Yes, Mom.»
«Well done. Now, it’s time for your homework.»
«All right,» he replied, but remained standing beside her as before. «Mom, tell me, where is our dad?!»
Martha stopped washing the dishes and froze for a moment. She just stood there in silence. It lasted for about ten seconds, after which she turned back to her son and said:
«Son, we have decided not to return to this subject, haven’t we?»
«But this question still haunts me,» he said angrily. «Besides, I still haven’t received any answer to it.»
«Not everything is so simple in this life, son,» she said and sighed heavily. «You are old enough and should understand this.»
«I understand everything, mom. But I still want to know where my dad is.»
«Mark, I’m not ready to answer this question right now.»
«But why?!» he asked again.
«The time will come when you will find out for yourself.»
«When will it come?»
«For now, this subject remains closed,» she said in a confident voice. «Later you will find out the answers to all your questions.»
«If you say so,» he said in an unhappy voice.
He still wanted badly to get an answer to his question. He stood a little longer in the kitchen next to his mother, then turned around and went to his room.
«Son, you better think about your school subjects. Don’t forget to do all your homework for tomorrow,» she shouted after him.
Washing dishes in the kitchen she continued thinking about sore. The children were growing up. Greta was already ten, and Mark was twelve years old. Sooner or later, she would have to tell all the truth to her children. Sooner or later, but not today. Now her head was just full of different thoughts. Tomorrow a new day will come and she will be occupied with her work as a head of a department of one of the largest in Switzerland. She really liked her job, and she sought this position for many years. However, her position required high responsibility and sometimes took away a lot of strength from her. It was with these thoughts in her head that she lay down on her bed.
Today, all her strength was gone. She only had time to put her head on the pillow realizing that she would immediately fall asleep. Well, blessed are the sleepy and tired, whose eyelids grow heavy every moment, for now they will close them and plunge into the world of sleep.
CHAPTER 2
MONDAY – A TOUGH DAY
Morning came. Martha opened her eyes and reluctantly began to get out of bed. She took a hot shower and brushed her teeth, then immediately went downstairs to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, she began to prepare breakfast for herself and her children. She was just about to go into Greta’s room to wake her up, but suddenly she saw that her daughter is already downstairs.
«Good morning, sweetheart.»
«Good morning, Mom.»
«How did you sleep, dear?»
«Well.»
«Good. Where is your brother?»
«Probably still sleeping in his room.»
«Then head upstairs right away! Wake him up and tell him to hurry up, breakfast is almost ready.»
«Okay, Mom.»
So, Greta went upstairs again. Walking into her brother’s room she saw him fast asleep in bed.
«Mark, wake up! Get up!» she said in a loud voice.
He reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at her as if seeing her for the first time in his life.
«Wake up, breakfast is almost ready,» she repeated.
«All right, all right,» he replied in a sleepy voice.
«Did you forget to set your alarm again?»
«I did,» he admitted honestly.
Mark slowly got out of bed and slowly went to the bathroom. When he came down to the kitchen, he saw Greta and his mother already waiting for him at the table.
«Good morning, Mark.»
«Good morning, Mom.»
«I see you almost overslept again,» she stated.
«Yes, Mom. For some reason the alarm didn’t work.»
«I guess you forgot to put it back on?»
«Maybe.»
There were three plates of food on the table along with three cups of morning coffee.
«Bacon and eggs,» he said in a slumbrous voice.
«Exactly. I did it for you,» Martha answered with a smile on her face.
«It’s very tasty, Mom,» Greta said.
«Thank you, sweetie.»
In fact, kids really loved their mother’s cooking. It seemed that even ordinary coffee that she made in the morning always turned out to be tasty and fragrant.
«Mom, did you feed Max today?»
«No, son, I haven’t yet.»
«Okay. Then I’ll feed him myself.»
«Yes, sure, just don’t forget. Wait for me near the car all ready. And don’t forget your schoolbag,» she showed concern.
«Okay, Mom.»
After breakfast, he returned upstairs, took his schoolbag and went down to the kitchen. In the kitchen, he found dog food and filled his pet’s bowl to the brim with it. After that, he hurried up to his friend to feed him breakfast. When Max saw his master, he ran out to greet him right away.
He began to bark loudly and jump for joy. Mark stroked his beloved pet and placed a full bowl of food in front of him.
Max was very happy about it and began to absorb the contents of the bowl without hesitation. Mark stood and watched his friend having breakfast, but at one moment he heard a familiar voice.
«Son, hurry up! It’s time for us to leave!» Mom called for him.
He turned around and saw his mother near the car opening the front door.
«Coming, Mom.»
He took his schoolbag and went to the car.
«Get in, guys. And don’t forget to fasten your seat belts.»
«Okay, Mom,» they answered in unison.
«Now I will take you to school and then will head straight to work myself. I hope everything goes smoothly today.»
Mark still looked rather sleepy and occasionally yawned while looking out the window. The drive from the Rosenberg’s house to the school took about fifteen minutes. Today this time flew by quite quickly and imperceptibly.
«Well, here we are. Now, hurry up, let’s get out of the car,» she commanded.
The children obediently got out of the car, followed by Martha herself.
«Mark, Greta, I love you. Go to school and take care of yourself. I expect good grades from you.»
«We love you too, Mom,» the children answered in unison.
Martha walked up to them and hugged them one by one, then got back into the car. Silver-colored Volkswagen Jetta was picking up speed carried away somewhere into the distance, beyond the horizon. She pressed on the gas pedal not wanting to be late for work.
Mere twelve minutes later, she was parking her car in the Credit Suisse parking lot. There was still one minute left before the start of the working day. At precisely 8:30 in the morning Martha Rosenberg entered the building.
«Good morning, Martha,» the bank employees greeted her literally at the same time.
«Good morning, everyone!» she answered politely and went to her workplace.
She had been working at this bank for about fifteen years. She started her career as an ordinary bank employee. However, for the past five years, she had worked in a leadership position.
She liked her job in general and this position in particular. Sometimes it even seemed that she was just made for managing the branch of this bank.
She graduated with honors from high school, and then entered the local university in Zurich, the Faculty of Economics, Management and Law.
Studying was easy for her and she was able to pass all the exams and get a bachelor’s degree without any problems. At that time, she already knew what she wanted to do in her life.
She was interviewed for this job and was immediately enrolled in the staff of the bank.
She could conduct new job interviews herself now. At the same time, she could also fire workers, of course, if there was a good reason for that. Greta also had a penchant for the exact sciences. She must have inherited it from her mother. Her favorite subject at school was, of course, algebra.
She also liked such subjects as physics and geometry. As to Mark, he was a pure humanist. His favorite subjects at school were history and geography. He also liked subjects such as biology and physical education. He did not have any special inclinations for the exact sciences, and such subjects as algebra and geometry were given to him with difficulty. And he did not understand chemistry at all and even, one might say, hated it with all his heart. All these formulas, Latin designations and a table with chemical elements were not clear to him and did not interest him at all. He sincerely did not understand why he needed to know and study this at all. Neither did he understand why someone even had come up with such a science as chemistry. What a difference were history and geography. He read school textbooks on these subjects from beginning to end, from cover to cover.
The first half of the working day passed quietly and calmly. Martha was in her natural habitat and knew her job inside and out. When it was time for lunch break, her phone rang. She answered the incoming call and heard the voice of a close friend.
«Hello.»
«Hey, Martha.»
«Hello, Peter. How are you?»
«I’m good. How are you?»
«I’m fine too. It’s time for my lunch break.»
«I remember all too well what time you have lunch. How about going out for lunch together?»
«Why not? I will be glad to see you again!» she answered in a rather joyful tone.
«Grunwald restaurant on Zürchenstrasse sounds good to you?»
«Perfect. Wait for me there, I’m on my way.»
«I’m already there. I’m waiting.»
She hung up the phone and broke into a smile. The last time she saw Peter was last week. In total, they had been dating for about two years. True, she could not call their relationship full-fledged. They usually saw each other twice a week. And the dates themselves were not always long in time. Of course, she wanted them to see each other more often. However, the reality was different. It is not so easy to build a private life when you already have children. Peter, like Martha, had children. That year he was to be forty-two years old. There was a lot in common between them. They both raised their children alone. Peter’s wife died in a car accident a few years ago.
Martha, in turn, did not have a husband. To that day, she hadn’t told anyone much about her ex-husband. The children didn’t even know anything about him.
And yet, despite this, they both had their own families. Each of them gave his all to the children. At the same time, they also tried to earn good money so that their children would not need anything.
They both understood that they would hardly ever live together, in a house under the same roof. They were adults and intelligent people and quite soberly assessed their chances for happiness in personal life.
But, despite this, they quickly managed to find a common language with each other. There was a lot in common between them. However, in professional terms, there were slightly different.
Peter never liked being an employee. He always wanted to have his own business. By the age of thirty-five he managed to open his own restaurant. It was called Grunwald and was located on Zürchenstrasse. It was an excellent Swiss cuisine restaurant that needed no introduction in the entire Zurich. That was where Martha was heading now.
According to the good old tradition, he invited her again to his own restaurant. By the way, it was in this restaurant that they first met. Martha really liked the place and enjoyed going there especially in the company of Peter.
