- Kat! On pace! – I shouted to my five-year-old daughter. She twirled in front of the mirror, carefully smearing Little Fairy lipstick on her lips. Looking at her, for the umpteenth time I thought how good it is that I have a daughter. And what would you do with the boy?
I was already late for work, and I still had to drop my daughter off at kindergarten. I muttered about the damn winter, because of which I have to pull on my hat and ruin my hair, then I took my short mouton fur coat out of the closet. Sorry, I don't have money for a mink. I had to save for this one for a couple of months.
- Daughter, are you ready? – I asked Katyukha. She was putting on her overalls.
- Ma! I also want a fur coat and high-heeled boots! I'm big!
“They won’t let you go for a walk at lunchtime in a fur coat, because you’ll freeze and get your butt wet on the slide!” I can buy you a fur coat, but then you won’t go for walks, and you won’t go sledding with Nikita!
Katyukha wrinkled her forehead, carefully considering my speech, and said:
- OK. I look like I'm wearing overalls.
We jumped out of the entrance, I mentally cursed the snow that covered the whole car, just when there was no time for it. It was colder in the car than outside, oh, this domestic auto industry.
“Okay, listen to the music,” I said to my daughter, who was fastening herself in her seat, “I went to dig out the car.”
Cursing the weather, my asshole ex-husband, my old Zhiguli car, I vigorously swept the snow off the car.
- Neighbor! – someone shouted behind me. I looked back. Neighbor Yura. Judging by the huge felt boots with rubber galoshes and a piece of iron for drilling ice, he was going fishing.
- Hello! – I waved my brush, – Fishing?
- Yeah! I'm tired of crucians!
- You better pike heh catch it! – I shouted.
I think that if Yuri had been alone, he would have long ago fallen at my feet with flowers. He was a kind of village bumpkin, always shaggy, sweaty, but immensely kind and generous. Every other day I fed my Katya candy, ice cream and all the crap that children love. He regularly supplied me with fish, meat, fruits and everything “just because.” He was not officially married, but had a common-law wife with a glossy appearance. She had everything with her - tight jeans, short blouses with a deep neckline, all year round tanned face - solarium, naturally, unnaturally plump lips, and so on. At first, like a fool, I was amazed at what she saw in him? And then she looked and realized - what, she’ll come home, and he’ll cook everything, mop the floors, and kiss her hands and feet. And she probably also has a boyfriend. Right Aphrodite of our entrance. Needless to say, for our grandmothers she was a prostitute, and I was a good girl. But it must be said that the glossy partridge was jealous of his bumpkin Yura for me. She didn’t greet me and yelled every time if he came to give me gifts “like a neighbor.” But he still walked.
Someone will say that in such cases a normal girl should not accept anything from a man and reduce communication with him.
I don't think so. I really feel very good about him, he is my friend, and I am always glad to see him, and I will be grateful for male help in everyday life. By the way, I also give him gifts for the holidays, and not crucian carp, but expensive steam...
Here is an introductory fragment of the book.
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Polezhaeva Inna Anatolyevna
A recipe for simple happiness
A recipe for simple happiness.
- Kat! On pace! – I shouted to my five-year-old daughter. She was spinning around the mirror, carefully smearing Little Fairy lipstick on her lips. Looking at her, for the umpteenth time I thought how good it is that I have a daughter. And what would you do with the boy?
I was already late for work, and I still had to drop my daughter off at kindergarten. I muttered about the damn winter, because of which I have to pull on my hat and ruin my hair, then I took my short mouton fur coat out of the closet. Sorry, I don't have money for a mink. I had to save for this one for a couple of months.
- Daughter, are you ready? – I asked Katyukha. She was putting on her overalls.
- Ma! I also want a fur coat and high-heeled boots! I'm big!
“They won’t let you go for a walk at lunchtime in a fur coat, because you’ll freeze and get your butt wet on the slide!” I can buy you a fur coat, but then you won’t go for walks, and you won’t go sledding with Nikita!
Katyukha wrinkled her forehead, carefully considering my speech, and said:
- OK. I look like I'm wearing overalls.
We jumped out of the entrance, I mentally cursed the snow that covered the whole car, just when there was no time for it. It was colder in the car than outside, oh, this domestic auto industry.
“Okay, listen to the music,” I said to my daughter, who was fastening herself in her seat, “I went to dig out the car.”
Cursing the weather, my asshole ex-husband, and my old Zhiguli car, I vigorously swept the snow off the car.
- Neighbor! – someone shouted behind me. I looked back. Neighbor Yura. Judging by the huge felt boots with rubber galoshes and a piece of iron for drilling ice, he was going fishing.
- Hello! – I waved my brush, – Fishing?
- Yeah! I'm tired of crucians!
- You better catch a pike! – I shouted.
I think that if Yuri had been alone, he would have long ago fallen at my feet with flowers. He was a kind of village bumpkin, always shaggy, sweaty, but immensely kind and generous. Every other day I fed my Katya candy, ice cream and all the crap that children love. He regularly supplied me with fish, meat, fruits and everything “just because.” He was not officially married, but had a common-law wife with a glossy appearance. She had everything with her - tight jeans, short blouses with a deep neckline, her face was tanned all year round - solarium, naturally, unnaturally plump lips, and so on. At first, like a fool, I was amazed at what she saw in him? And then she looked and realized - what, she’ll come home, and he’ll cook everything, mop the floors, and kiss her hands and feet. And she probably also has a boyfriend. Right Aphrodite of our entrance. Needless to say, for our grandmothers she was a prostitute, and I was a good girl. But it must be said that the glossy partridge was jealous of his bumpkin Yura for me. She didn’t say hello to me and yelled every time if he came to give me gifts “like a neighbor.” But he still walked.
Someone will say that in such cases a normal girl should not accept anything from a man and reduce communication with him. I don't think so. I really treat him very well, he is my friend, and I am always glad to see him, and I will be grateful for a man’s help in everyday life. By the way, I also give him gifts for the holidays, and not crucian carp, but expensive perfume or a fashionable scarf. True, God knows where it all goes. He still walks around, almost in a sweatshirt, and stinks of sweat.
- And this, Nastena, how it will turn out! – he laughed in response and disappeared around the corner.
We live on the outskirts of the city, here the nearest lake is three or four stops on regular buses that go to nearby villages. That's where my fisherman neighbor goes public transport, because it does not have its own. I lovingly patted the roof of my Zhiguli car. This is better than nothing.
- Ma, how long will you be there? – Katya shouted from the car.
- That's it! – I finally scraped the snow under the wheels with my high-heeled boots, as if this would really help me get out, and got behind the wheel.
In general, my favorite time of year is winter. But not in the city during rush hour. In our little town, the streets are narrow, in general, in my opinion, they were built during the Soviet era, and that’s all. And now every chicken like me has a car. I won't say anything about the men. In short, there are many riders, but few roads. By the time we got there, we collected all the traffic jams. I suddenly slowed down at the kindergarten. A tall man with an amazingly attractive face came out of the gate, like a guy with deodorant from an advertisement. No hat, jacket wide open, everything is as it should be. And why haven’t I seen him before? I scanned it right away right hand. Well, of course, the ring. Naturally, what would a free man do here? This is a kindergarten. I sighed heavily. Men are dying out, dying out. And if you come across a prominent individual, then he’s married, no options.
- Jump out, baby! – I told my daughter and went out myself. After handing Katyukha over to the teacher, I learned that two thousand had to be handed in on Monday. And why am I not surprised? I didn’t even bother to specify what. It seems to me that our kindergartens are sorely lacking in everything - pencils, paper, plasticine. Well, judging by the monthly collections, unofficial so to speak, the children eat this plasticine or something? I mentally swore, realizing that I again did not fit into the monthly budget because of some two thousand. I'll have to ask my parents again. I've had enough of everything.
I got to work fifteen minutes late, angry as a dog. The director was walking along the corridor. Well, so that life doesn’t seem like raspberries.
- Schmidt! Are we always late? – Alexander Vasilyevich menacingly knitted his shaggy red eyebrows.
- Traffic jams, Alexander Vasilyevich! – I bleated.
“But I’m also driving a car!” he barked, “And mind you, I came on time.”
I really wanted to say that you, the goat, don’t need to pack up and take your five-year-old daughter to kindergarten, pack yourself up, and you don’t have to hand over the last two thousand on Monday for plasticine. Of course, like any resident of Russia, I hate my boss, but I need money. That's why she kept silent and sideways about
end of introductory fragment
Inna Polezhaeva
A recipe for simple happiness
- Kat! On pace! – I shouted to my five-year-old daughter. She twirled in front of the mirror, carefully smearing Little Fairy lipstick on her lips. Looking at her, for the umpteenth time I thought how good it is that I have a daughter. And what would you do with the boy?
I was already late for work, and I still had to drop my daughter off at kindergarten. I muttered about the damn winter, because of which I have to pull on my hat and ruin my hair, then I took my short mouton fur coat out of the closet. Sorry, I don't have money for a mink. I had to save for this one for a couple of months.
- Daughter, are you ready? – I asked Katyukha. She was putting on her overalls.
- Ma! I also want a fur coat and high-heeled boots! I'm big!
“They won’t let you go for a walk at lunchtime in a fur coat, because you’ll freeze and get your butt wet on the slide!” I can buy you a fur coat, but then you won’t go for walks, and you won’t go sledding with Nikita!
Katyukha wrinkled her forehead, carefully considering my speech, and said:
- OK. I look like I'm wearing overalls.
We jumped out of the entrance, I mentally cursed the snow that covered the whole car, just when there was no time for it. It was colder in the car than outside, oh, this domestic auto industry.
“Okay, listen to the music,” I said to my daughter, who was fastening herself in her seat, “I went to dig out the car.”
Cursing the weather, my asshole ex-husband, my old Zhiguli car, I vigorously swept the snow off the car.
- Neighbor! – someone shouted behind me. I looked back. Neighbor Yura. Judging by the huge felt boots with rubber galoshes and a piece of iron for drilling ice, he was going fishing.
- Hello! – I waved my brush, – Fishing?
- Yeah! I'm tired of crucians!
- You better catch a pike! – I shouted.
I think that if Yuri had been alone, he would have long ago fallen at my feet with flowers. He was a kind of village bumpkin, always shaggy, sweaty, but immensely kind and generous. Every other day I fed my Katya candy, ice cream and all the crap that children love. He regularly supplied me with fish, meat, fruits and everything “just because.” He was not officially married, but had a common-law wife with a glossy appearance. She had everything with her - tight jeans, short blouses with a deep neckline, her face was tanned all year round - solarium, naturally, unnaturally plump lips, and so on. At first, like a fool, I was amazed at what she saw in him? And then she looked and realized - what, she’ll come home, and he’ll cook everything, mop the floors, and kiss her hands and feet. And she probably also has a boyfriend. Right Aphrodite of our entrance. Needless to say, for our grandmothers she was a prostitute, and I was a good girl. But it must be said that the glossy partridge was jealous of his bumpkin Yura for me. She didn’t greet me and yelled every time if he came to give me gifts “like a neighbor.” But he still walked.
Someone will say that in such cases a normal girl should not accept anything from a man and reduce communication with him. I don't think so. I really treat him very well, he is my friend, and I am always glad to see him, and I will be grateful for a man’s help in everyday life. By the way, I also give him gifts for the holidays, and not crucian carp, but expensive perfume or a fashionable scarf. True, God knows where it all goes. He still walks around, almost in a sweatshirt, and stinks of sweat.
- And this, Nastena, how it will turn out! – he laughed in response and disappeared around the corner.
We live on the outskirts of the city, here the nearest lake is three or four stops on regular buses that go to nearby villages. This is where my neighbor, a fisherman, takes public transport because he doesn’t have his own. I lovingly patted the roof of my Zhiguli car. This is better than nothing.
- Ma, how long will you be there? – Katya shouted from the car.
- That's it! – I finally scraped the snow under the wheels with my high-heeled boots, as if this would really help me get out, and got behind the wheel.
In general, my favorite time of year is winter. But not in the city during rush hour. In our little town, the streets are narrow, in general, in my opinion, they were built during the Soviet era, and that’s all. And now every chicken like me has a car. I won't say anything about the men. In short, there are many riders, but few roads. By the time we got there, we collected all the traffic jams. I suddenly slowed down at the kindergarten. A tall man with an amazingly attractive face came out of the gate, like a guy with deodorant from an advertisement. No hat, jacket wide open, everything is as it should be. And why haven’t I seen him before? I immediately scanned my right hand. Well, of course, the ring. Naturally, what would a free man do here? This is a kindergarten. I sighed heavily. Men are dying out, dying out. And if you come across a prominent individual, then he’s married, no options.
- Jump out, baby! – I told my daughter and went out myself. After handing Katyukha over to the teacher, I learned that two thousand had to be handed in on Monday. And why am I not surprised? I didn’t even bother to specify what. It seems to me that our kindergartens are sorely lacking in everything - pencils, paper, plasticine. Well, judging by the monthly collections, unofficial so to speak, the children eat this plasticine or something? I mentally swore, realizing that I again did not fit into the monthly budget because of some two thousand. I'll have to ask my parents again. I've had enough of everything.
I got to work fifteen minutes late, angry as a dog. The director was walking along the corridor. Well, so that life doesn’t seem like raspberries.
- Schmidt! Are we always late? – Alexander Vasilyevich menacingly knitted his shaggy red eyebrows.
- Traffic jams, Alexander Vasilyevich! – I bleated.
– But I’m also driving a car! - he barked, - And mind you, he came on time.
I really wanted to say that you, the goat, don’t need to pack up and take your five-year-old daughter to kindergarten, pack yourself up, and you don’t have to hand over the last two thousand on Monday for plasticine. Of course, like any resident of Russia, I hate my boss, but I need money. That’s why she said nothing and sidled into the office. Nevermind, one day I’ll write my resignation letter and express everything I think about him.
- Hello, Nastena! – Inna greeted me. Another manager of our small company. Inna was also lonely, but had no children. She dedicated her entire salary to her beloved, which is why she was a very well-groomed, prominent woman. But, in my opinion, it’s better to be a single mother with a constant hole in the budget than an overdressed and useless aunt.
“Hello,” I muttered, turning on the computer and the kettle at the same time.
Our company was engaged in the purchase and resale of medical equipment, from pipettes to dental equipment. The office occupied only one floor of a small building. The boss, the accounting department and the programmers had a separate area; where would we be without them? Everyone else sat in the same room. That is, me too. In my employment contract it is beautifully written as purchasing manager. In fact, I forwarded incoming applications to manufacturers, tracked delivery, and maintained primary documentation. All. There were bad days when I sat at work and read books, fortunately my salary did not depend on sales. Unlike "runners". That's what we call sales representatives. Our office has a whole conference room for them, where they come at the end of the working day to present a report to management. Sometimes they stop by in the morning. There is also a sacred place where holidays are celebrated and gossip is discussed - the dining room. In fact, this is a small Bendyuzhka with a table, a sofa and a microwave. Everyone brings food from home, warms it up, and that’s why there’s a constant stench of stewed cabbage and onions.
Inna Polezhaeva
A recipe for simple happiness
- Kat! On pace! – I shouted to my five-year-old daughter. She twirled in front of the mirror, carefully smearing Little Fairy lipstick on her lips. Looking at her, for the umpteenth time I thought how good it is that I have a daughter. And what would you do with the boy?
I was already late for work, and I still had to drop my daughter off at kindergarten. I muttered about the damn winter, because of which I have to pull on my hat and ruin my hair, then I took my short mouton fur coat out of the closet. Sorry, I don't have money for a mink. I had to save for this one for a couple of months.
- Daughter, are you ready? – I asked Katyukha. She was putting on her overalls.
- Ma! I also want a fur coat and high-heeled boots! I'm big!
“They won’t let you go for a walk at lunchtime in a fur coat, because you’ll freeze and get your butt wet on the slide!” I can buy you a fur coat, but then you won’t go for walks, and you won’t go sledding with Nikita!
Katyukha wrinkled her forehead, carefully considering my speech, and said:
- OK. I look like I'm wearing overalls.
We jumped out of the entrance, I mentally cursed the snow that covered the whole car, just when there was no time for it. It was colder in the car than outside, oh, this domestic auto industry.
“Okay, listen to the music,” I said to my daughter, who was fastening herself in her seat, “I went to dig out the car.”
Cursing the weather, my asshole ex-husband, my old Zhiguli car, I vigorously swept the snow off the car.
- Neighbor! – someone shouted behind me. I looked back. Neighbor Yura. Judging by the huge felt boots with rubber galoshes and a piece of iron for drilling ice, he was going fishing.
- Hello! – I waved my brush, – Fishing?
- Yeah! I'm tired of crucians!
- You better catch a pike! – I shouted.
I think that if Yuri had been alone, he would have long ago fallen at my feet with flowers. He was a kind of village bumpkin, always shaggy, sweaty, but immensely kind and generous. Every other day I fed my Katya candy, ice cream and all the crap that children love. He regularly supplied me with fish, meat, fruits and everything “just because.” He was not officially married, but had a common-law wife with a glossy appearance. She had everything with her - tight jeans, short blouses with a deep neckline, her face was tanned all year round - solarium, naturally, unnaturally plump lips, and so on. At first, like a fool, I was amazed at what she saw in him? And then she looked and realized - what, she’ll come home, and he’ll cook everything, mop the floors, and kiss her hands and feet. And she probably also has a boyfriend. Right Aphrodite of our entrance. Needless to say, for our grandmothers she was a prostitute, and I was a good girl. But it must be said that the glossy partridge was jealous of his bumpkin Yura for me. She didn’t greet me and yelled every time if he came to give me gifts “like a neighbor.” But he still walked.
Someone will say that in such cases a normal girl should not accept anything from a man and reduce communication with him. I don't think so. I really treat him very well, he is my friend, and I am always glad to see him, and I will be grateful for a man’s help in everyday life. By the way, I also give him gifts for the holidays, and not crucian carp, but expensive perfume or a fashionable scarf. True, God knows where it all goes. He still walks around, almost in a sweatshirt, and stinks of sweat.
- And this, Nastena, how it will turn out! – he laughed in response and disappeared around the corner.
We live on the outskirts of the city, here the nearest lake is three or four stops on regular buses that go to nearby villages. This is where my neighbor, a fisherman, takes public transport because he doesn’t have his own. I lovingly patted the roof of my Zhiguli car. This is better than nothing.
- Ma, how long will you be there? – Katya shouted from the car.
- That's it! – I finally scraped the snow under the wheels with my high-heeled boots, as if this would really help me get out, and got behind the wheel.
In general, my favorite time of year is winter. But not in the city during rush hour. In our little town, the streets are narrow, in general, in my opinion, they were built during the Soviet era, and that’s all. And now every chicken like me has a car. I won't say anything about the men. In short, there are many riders, but few roads. By the time we got there, we collected all the traffic jams. I suddenly slowed down at the kindergarten. A tall man with an amazingly attractive face came out of the gate, like a guy with deodorant from an advertisement. No hat, jacket wide open, everything is as it should be. And why haven’t I seen him before? I immediately scanned my right hand. Well, of course, the ring. Naturally, what would a free man do here? This is a kindergarten. I sighed heavily. Men are dying out, dying out. And if you come across a prominent individual, then he’s married, no options.
- Jump out, baby! – I told my daughter and went out myself. After handing Katyukha over to the teacher, I learned that two thousand had to be handed in on Monday. And why am I not surprised? I didn’t even bother to specify what. It seems to me that our kindergartens are sorely lacking in everything - pencils, paper, plasticine. Well, judging by the monthly collections, unofficial so to speak, the children eat this plasticine or something? I mentally swore, realizing that I again did not fit into the monthly budget because of some two thousand. I'll have to ask my parents again. I've had enough of everything.
I got to work fifteen minutes late, angry as a dog. The director was walking along the corridor. Well, so that life doesn’t seem like raspberries.
- Schmidt! Are we always late? – Alexander Vasilyevich menacingly knitted his shaggy red eyebrows.
- Traffic jams, Alexander Vasilyevich! – I bleated.
– But I’m also driving a car! - he barked, - And mind you, he came on time.
I really wanted to say that you, the goat, don’t need to pack up and take your five-year-old daughter to kindergarten, pack yourself up, and you don’t have to hand over the last two thousand on Monday for plasticine. Of course, like any resident of Russia, I hate my boss, but I need money. That’s why she said nothing and sidled into the office. Nevermind, one day I’ll write my resignation letter and express everything I think about him.
- Hello, Nastena! – Inna greeted me. Another manager of our small company. Inna was also lonely, but had no children. She dedicated her entire salary to her beloved, which is why she was a very well-groomed, prominent woman. But, in my opinion, it’s better to be a single mother with a constant hole in the budget than an overdressed and useless aunt.
“Hello,” I muttered, turning on the computer and the kettle at the same time.
Our company was engaged in the purchase and resale of medical equipment, from pipettes to dental equipment. The office occupied only one floor of a small building. The boss, the accounting department and the programmers had a separate area; where would we be without them? Everyone else sat in the same room. That is, me too. In my employment contract it is beautifully written as purchasing manager. In fact, I forwarded incoming applications to manufacturers, tracked delivery, and maintained primary documentation. All. There were bad days when I sat at work and read books, fortunately my salary did not depend on sales. Unlike "runners". That's what we call sales representatives. Our office has a whole conference room for them, where they come at the end of the working day to present a report to management. Sometimes they stop by in the morning. There is also a sacred place where holidays are celebrated and gossip is discussed - the dining room. In fact, this is a small Bendyuzhka with a table, a sofa and a microwave. Everyone brings food from home, warms it up, and that’s why there’s a constant stench of stewed cabbage and onions.
- Evil? – Inna asked, looking at the drawn arrows in front of her eyes in the mirror.
- That’s not the right word, I met Vasilich, I received a lyuli for being late, fees in kindergarten, life is bullshit.
– The ex didn’t show up? – asked Inna.
“Holy, holy, holy,” I even spat over my shoulder.
“Well, then it’s not all that bad,” she stated.
The whole office knew the story of the divorce from my ex-hubby, because there was such a thing that they thought about calling the police. We met on the bus, I was going to a neighboring city for a friend’s wedding, I was still a young girl then, a couple of years after university. He sat down with me, made me laugh all the way, took the phone, and a month later we got married. So I can be calm - I married for love, and not for luck. Outwardly, he didn’t attract me at first; he attracted me precisely because of his communication and his attitude towards me.
Together with my dad, I bought an apartment, which began a lengthy renovation. Under the guise of this repair, they took me to my parents, and then I found out that he had been dating someone else for a long time. And, besides, he already has a child from a certain lady school age. And he was also convicted. And so on, and so on. When the scandals began, a completely different side of him was revealed. I don’t even want to remember how I ran away from him at night to go to my friend, how I came home one day and the keys to the door of our apartment didn’t fit. A protracted divorce through the court with division of property, harassment and threats, when the court ruled in my favor - Katya and I got most of the apartment. If it weren't for my parents' support, I would have gone crazy. This idiot even came to work, called, and threatened. So everyone knew how “fun” it was. I won’t say anything about alimony, I think everything is clear.
Anastasia, being a divorced woman, considers the men around her to be a possible sexual partner. She doesn’t want a serious relationship after an unsuccessful marriage. And it seems to the heroine that there are no standing men around, although the bumpkin neighbor is very kind... And Romka is trying to flirt in the office... As a result, the New Year's corporate party, or rather, a forced performance on stage, puts everything in its place and allows you to see what you had not noticed before not only Nastya, but also all the girls of the company!
- Kat! On pace! – I shouted to my five-year-old daughter. She twirled in front of the mirror, carefully smearing Little Fairy lipstick on her lips. Looking at her, for the umpteenth time I thought how good it is that I have a daughter. And what would you do with the boy?
I was already late for work, and I still had to drop my daughter off at kindergarten. I muttered about the damn winter, because of which I have to pull on my hat and ruin my hair, then I took my short mouton fur coat out of the closet. Sorry, I don't have money for a mink. I had to save for this one for a couple of months.
- Daughter, are you ready? – I asked Katyukha. She was putting on her overalls.
- Ma! I also want a fur coat and high-heeled boots! I'm big!
“They won’t let you go for a walk at lunchtime in a fur coat, because you’ll freeze and get your butt wet on the slide!” I can buy you a fur coat, but then you won’t go for walks, and you won’t go sledding with Nikita!
Katyukha wrinkled her forehead, carefully considering my speech, and said:
- OK. I look like I'm wearing overalls.
We jumped out of the entrance, I mentally cursed the snow that covered the whole car, just when there was no time for it. It was colder in the car than outside, oh, this domestic auto industry.
“Okay, listen to the music,” I said to my daughter, who was fastening herself in her seat, “I went to dig out the car.”
Cursing the weather, my asshole ex-husband, my old Zhiguli car, I vigorously swept the snow off the car.
- Neighbor! – someone shouted behind me. I looked back. Neighbor Yura. Judging by the huge felt boots with rubber galoshes and a piece of iron for drilling ice, he was going fishing.
- Hello! – I waved my brush, – Fishing?
- Yeah! I'm tired of crucians!
- You better catch a pike! – I shouted.
I think that if Yuri had been alone, he would have long ago fallen at my feet with flowers. He was a kind of village bumpkin, always shaggy, sweaty, but immensely kind and generous. Every other day I fed my Katya candy, ice cream and all the crap that children love. He regularly supplied me with fish, meat, fruits and everything “just because.” He was not officially married, but had a common-law wife with a glossy appearance. She had everything with her - tight jeans, short blouses with a deep neckline, her face was tanned all year round - solarium, naturally, unnaturally plump lips, and so on. At first, like a fool, I was amazed at what she saw in him? And then she looked and realized - what, she’ll come home, and he’ll cook everything, mop the floors, and kiss her hands and feet. And she probably also has a boyfriend. Right Aphrodite of our entrance. Needless to say, for our grandmothers she was a prostitute, and I was a good girl. But it must be said that the glossy partridge was jealous of his bumpkin Yura for me. She didn’t greet me and yelled every time if he came to give me gifts “like a neighbor.” But he still walked.
Someone will say that in such cases a normal girl should not accept anything from a man and reduce communication with him. I don't think so. I really treat him very well, he is my friend, and I am always glad to see him, and I will be grateful for a man’s help in everyday life. By the way, I also give him gifts for the holidays, and not crucian carp, but expensive perfume or a fashionable scarf. True, God knows where it all goes. He still walks around, almost in a sweatshirt, and stinks of sweat.
- And this, Nastena, how it will turn out! – he laughed in response and disappeared around the corner.
We live on the outskirts of the city, here the nearest lake is three or four stops on regular buses that go to nearby villages. This is where my neighbor, a fisherman, takes public transport because he doesn’t have his own. I lovingly patted the roof of my Zhiguli car. This is better than nothing.
- Ma, how long will you be there? – Katya shouted from the car.
- That's it! – I finally scraped the snow under the wheels with my high-heeled boots, as if this would really help me get out, and got behind the wheel.
In general, my favorite time of year is winter. But not in the city during rush hour. In our little town, the streets are narrow, in general, in my opinion, they were built during the Soviet era, and that’s all. And now every chicken like me has a car. I won't say anything about the men. In short, there are many riders, but few roads. By the time we got there, we collected all the traffic jams. I suddenly slowed down at the kindergarten. A tall man with an amazingly attractive face came out of the gate, like a guy with deodorant from an advertisement. No hat, jacket wide open, everything is as it should be. And why haven’t I seen him before? I immediately scanned my right hand. Well, of course, the ring. Naturally, what would a free man do here? This is a kindergarten. I sighed heavily. Men are dying out, dying out. And if you come across a prominent individual, then he’s married, no options.
- Jump out, baby! – I told my daughter and went out myself. After handing Katyukha over to the teacher, I learned that two thousand had to be handed in on Monday. And why am I not surprised? I didn’t even bother to specify what. It seems to me that our kindergartens are sorely lacking in everything - pencils, paper, plasticine. Well, judging by the monthly collections, unofficial so to speak, the children eat this plasticine or something? I mentally swore, realizing that I again did not fit into the monthly budget because of some two thousand. I'll have to ask my parents again. I've had enough of everything.
I got to work fifteen minutes late, angry as a dog. The director was walking along the corridor. Well, so that life doesn’t seem like raspberries.
- Schmidt! Are we always late? – Alexander Vasilyevich menacingly knitted his shaggy red eyebrows.
- Traffic jams, Alexander Vasilyevich! – I bleated.
– But I’m also driving a car! - he barked, - And mind you, he came on time.
I really wanted to say that you, the goat, don’t need to pack up and take your five-year-old daughter to kindergarten, pack yourself up, and you don’t have to hand over the last two thousand on Monday for plasticine. Of course, like any resident of Russia, I hate my boss, but I need money. That’s why she said nothing and sidled into the office. Nevermind, one day I’ll write my resignation letter and express everything I think about him.
- Hello, Nastena! – Inna greeted me. Another manager of our small company. Inna was also lonely, but had no children. She dedicated her entire salary to her beloved, which is why she was a very well-groomed, prominent woman. But, in my opinion, it’s better to be a single mother with a constant hole in the budget than an overdressed and useless aunt.
“Hello,” I muttered, turning on the computer and the kettle at the same time.
Our company was engaged in the purchase and resale of medical equipment, from pipettes to dental equipment. The office occupied only one floor of a small building. The boss, the accounting department and the programmers had a separate area; where would we be without them? Everyone else sat in the same room. That is, me too. In my employment contract it is beautifully written as purchasing manager. In fact, I forwarded incoming applications to manufacturers, tracked delivery, and maintained primary documentation. All. There were bad days when I sat at work and read books, fortunately my salary did not depend on sales. Unlike "runners". That's what we call sales representatives. Our office has a whole conference room for them, where they come at the end of the working day to present a report to management. Sometimes they stop by in the morning. There is also a sacred place where holidays are celebrated and gossip is discussed - the dining room. In fact, this is a small Bendyuzhka with a table, a sofa and a microwave. Everyone brings food from home, warms it up, and that’s why there’s a constant stench of stewed cabbage and onions.
- Evil? – Inna asked, looking at the drawn arrows in front of her eyes in the mirror.
- That’s not the right word, I met Vasilich, I received a lyuli for being late, fees in kindergarten, life is bullshit.
– The ex didn’t show up? – asked Inna.
“Holy, holy, holy,” I even spat over my shoulder.
“Well, then it’s not all that bad,” she stated.
The whole office knew the story of the divorce from my ex-hubby, because there was such a thing that they thought about calling the police. We met on the bus, I was going to a neighboring city for a friend’s wedding, I was still a young girl then, a couple of years after university. He sat down with me, made me laugh all the way, took the phone, and a month later we got married. So I can be calm - I married for love, and not for luck. Outwardly, he didn’t attract me at first; he attracted me precisely because of his communication and his attitude towards me.
Together with my dad, I bought an apartment, which began a lengthy renovation. Under the guise of this repair, they took me to my parents, and then I found out that he had been dating someone else for a long time. And, besides, from a certain lady he has a child of school age. And he was also convicted. And so on, and so on. When the scandals began, a completely different side of him was revealed. I don’t even want to remember how I ran away from him at night to go to my friend, how I came home one day and the keys to the door of our apartment didn’t fit. A protracted divorce through the court with division of property, harassment and threats, when the court ruled in my favor - Katya and I got most of the apartment. If it weren't for my parents' support, I would have gone crazy. This idiot even came to work, called, and threatened. So everyone knew how “fun” it was. I won’t say anything about alimony, I think everything is clear.
- Good morning! – Romka greeted. Romka was the same manager as me, just in a different direction of goods. He was not categorically considered as a potential groom, since he was young, thin and, as my friend Stesha says, “I have nothing in my mind for him.”
I think there is nothing strange in the fact that, like a terminator, I scan males for suitability at least for sex, and at most for civil marriage. The second species has not yet been encountered at all. I didn’t want to go to the registry office anymore, and it seems to me that there are no such men anymore who would like to.
Gradually people came along – Aliya, Utah. Note that they were all late too, but I was the only “lucky” one.
“Guys, today there will be a big delivery from Medtechniki CJSC,” Aliya said, pouring tea, “so let’s push ourselves.”
I didn’t really want to exert myself, but I had no choice. After a couple of hours of intense work, I checked my daughter’s whereabouts using her new watch, which she begged for her birthday. It is clear that she has nowhere to be except in kindergarten, but I felt calmer that way. While I was taking the tea I drank in the morning to the toilet, my cell phone was buzzing.
“Mom called you,” Romka said, without looking up from the monitor.
“How do you know it’s mom,” I asked, checking the missing ones.
– Who else calls you in the morning? Only mom! – Romka answered convincingly.
- Ha! Thank you! – I even freaked out, – Or maybe it’s Danila Kozlovsky!
“It can’t be like that,” Utah interjected.
– Why is this? – I was completely angry. – Am I completely unattractive?
“That’s not the point,” Yuta continued, still fiddling with the photocopier, “he and his partner Philip Kirkorov say they are gay!”
- Come on! – I went crazy, – It can’t be!
- Well, to hell with him and Lazarev, you can still believe about him, but Kozlovsky! - My computer froze.
Everyone started making noise and laughing at me. The radio was singing quietly on the windowsill, I think it was wave 94 FM.
- Quiet! – Aliya shouted.
There was deathly silence.
– Kozlovsky’s girlfriend sings! – she also shouted loudly. And in the ensuing silence, Kirkorov’s song floated from the radio throughout the office:
Why is the snow so cruel, it leaves your traces,
And why are you running in circles and running away from me?
Doesn't let you sleep until the morning, melted snow is water,
You only have to know one thing - I love you forever.
Words cannot describe the laughter that rang through the office. And then Inna added fuel to the fire:
– By the way, Kirkorov’s children are more beautiful than Galkin’s! Maybe because he is Kozlovsky's girlfriend?
I don’t know how much longer we would mock Russian actors and singers. But then Alexander Vasilyevich flew into the office:
- Are you having fun? - he growled, - There are trucks standing at the warehouse, waiting for unloading, they quickly took the invoices and got down to business!
Like guilty schoolchildren, we continued to work, with our noses buried in the monitors.
- Hello! – Svyatoslav stood in the doorway. Don’t be alarmed, he’s not a saint at all, an ordinary guy, about thirty-something. Well, my age. He was listed as our assistant warehouse manager, but in fact he shoveled more than everyone else put together. Like Romka, “nothing moved” on him, for he was ordinary, short, had whitish hair and eyelashes, which never attracted me. I didn’t have a ring on my finger, I didn’t even try to find out about the presence of a girl, because I didn’t care. The girls called him Saint behind his back. But I’m thinking, okay, my parents liked the name, but when he was born all white, couldn’t they have called him something else? Only the halo above the whitish crown is missing, God forgive me.
-Can I borrow some water from you? - Svyatoslav asked, heading to the cooler with a kettle, - Otherwise we have nothing left.
“Of course,” we said in unison.
At this time Olya, Vasilich’s secretary, entered.
- People! There is information about the New Year's corporate party!
“Oh-oh-oh, damn it,” I whined. It’s not that I didn’t like going to corporate parties... Although yes, I didn’t. Relax - you won’t relax, because management is vigilant. There is no chance of any sexual adventures, since I have known all our guests and office workers for a couple of years, and nothing will happen to anyone there. We need to think about where to put Katya for the evening, since these damn corporate parties are always in the middle of the week on weekdays, and her parents live sixty kilometers from our city. They also take half the cost of food off your salary. In short, they surrounded us from all sides. But it’s impossible not to walk. Vasilich doesn’t like this and forces everyone to do it. So to speak, the team should be united and friendly. Oh yes, I also forgot to add the dress and shoes to the list of cons. Everything must be new and original. And then it hangs in the closet with nowhere to put it on. And hair styling and manicure. And all for the sake of eating jellied tongue, I hate it, sipping sloppy sour champagne and waiting until it’s time to go home.
-Where are we going? – Inna perked up.
- To the Pink Flamingo! – Olya announced solemnly.
- Oh-oh-oh, ble-i-in! – I whined again. The establishment was not a poor one, which means they would rip off a decent amount of wages for beef tongue. About the same price as red caviar. Or maybe black.
- Two thousand will be deducted from your salary! – Olya announced in such a cheerful voice, as if we had fulfilled the first five-year plan.
- I hate it New Year, - I bawled. I still needed to buy an ugly doll in a coffin, some kind of Monsters High. Lord, what do modern children watch? Or am I getting old? For me, “Well, Just Wait” is the perfect cartoon. The most disgusting thing is that these Monsters High are more expensive than the jellied tongue in the “Pink Flamingo”. Which means I hate them doubly.
End of introductory fragment.
