Imprint of Heart. Illumination with love

“If you insist, I do not mind,” he thawed. “But it offends me that you are not much interested in my relatives.”

“Why do you say that? I want to support you and distract you from worries. I bought my father a shirt, a tie and cufflinks in the capital’s hypermarket and a great gift for you. I dream of introducing you closer. Your tastes match. I saw beautiful snake skin belts at a high price. Look,” she took a box out of her bag and handed it to Alexey. “Do you like?”

Alexey unfolded the cellophane, opened a beautiful, blue, shiny plastic box, picked up the belt, returned her the box, and unrolled his belt. The skin of a black viper flashed in his hands, and there were two buttons in place of the eyes. He tried on the belt.

“Ok, I’ll wear it,” he took off his belt and put it back in the package. “Bunny!”

“Tell me a secret, how is the investigation going on? But since you are silent, then you do not want to talk.” She put her hands on his shoulders.

“The investigation is over. Kiryanov referred the case to the prosecutor’s office. And I did not talk about him because when I meet you, I admire you and forget everything.”

Lucy thought for a moment. The gift cost her fabulous amount – $300. Alexey saw that she had tears in her eyes.

“As for the rest, you know everything. I had to punch my way myself, without anyone’s help.”

At these words of her friend, she blushed profusely, she thought that he hardly knows how to cook food, realized why he is always so calm, it is difficult to get out of balance. He has his own special, established opinion. She felt so small; quite a child compared to him and decided to postpone her acquaintance with her father until a more convenient opportunity, which immediately appeared.

Usually, the father returned from work tired and would hardly have reacted positively to the acquaintance. On Sundays, he usually rested: he read or listened to plays and did not approve of his daughter’s choice. He got used to the idea that she was alone, and he would not like Lucy’s plan to marry, especially since her health, as her father thought, “did not allow pulling all the household affairs and taking care of her husband.” In a word, it was necessary to wait.

In early October, when Lucya had already decided to bury the idea of her father’s acquaintance with Alexey, and the investigation was finally confused in the papers, who was the main defendant in the murder of Aleksey’s relative, the father warned his daughter:

“In three days I will have time off for work on the second shift. So do not worry, when I return home later than usual. I replace the ill teacher of history.”

Lucy estimated that after a day off, Saturday and Sunday will follow. So, the day of the meeting can be scheduled for Friday, since the father did not like any guests at the weekend. So, it was decided. Now it remained to warn Alexey about the day and hour so that he does not schedule any other events for Friday.

On Thursday, Lucy called him to work to arrange a meeting; she was on the second shift. He did not take the phone for a long time, probably it was urgent work.

“Hello, I’m listening,” he said distinctly and clearly. “I have an urgent task; I must do it before lunch. Debug new equipment sent from Germany.”

Something was jammed in the receiver and it was difficult to talk.

“Come to my place tomorrow at seven o’clock in the evening. The father will be at home, and I will introduce you. But please do not be late, as I have already warned my father,” Lucya lied, “he does not like being late.”

“Okay, I’ll be at seven.”

“Have agreed,” Lucy has disconnected phone and with relief sighed.

She had not yet warned her father, but she hoped to do so. “Anyway, I’ll say, even if he’s in a bad mood,” she decided to herself.

The working day flew by unnoticed. A new chip, developed by Sveta Erengeld, was introduced into processing and it was necessary to keep under control how manufacturing of products went on the conveyor.

By dinner Lucy had a little headache. The bee buzz of electric motors and fluorescent lamps, to the sound of which she had already become accustomed, was cut short.

Lucy began flipping through the Internet. The implementation of the scheme went slowly. Not all workers immediately realized how to build setting-up. It was especially difficult for the young. Experience was not enough with them, mastering the new technology took more time than the same operation for experienced workers.

A conveyor is not a simple matter. At a hitch or breakdown on one table there was a delay of all course of working process. On that day, the iPads were collected notably less, this means that the earnings of the workers will be rather less, but with the development of the last operation, more wares will be produced, and this will pay off a temporary failure.

Even at the university, Uvarova paid more attention to physics than mathematics. And faced with unfamiliar phenomena, she had to repeatedly access the Internet. They had enough literature in the department on electronics and it was easy for her to comprehend something that was not clear.

Returning home from work, she straight away decided to tell her father about her intention. Her father was busy, as usual, reading books. He drove his fingers through a sheet of thick paper with a lot of holes. Lucya went to his room.

“Dad, my good friend, Alexey Izmailov, will come to us tomorrow. We work together at the factory. He is modest and handsome. Maybe I’ll marry him. I want you to like him. He will be exactly seven.”

“If you want to introduce us, Lucy, I do not mind. I’m interested in who you spend your free time with. I guess Alex will like me. Do you say that you work in a factory together?”

Father spoke slowly, making a stop after each word, so that what he said was better reached the listener.

“Yes, I do. He is a master-adjuster in another department; he graduated from college and is going to study further. He is talented and managed to make two proposals.”

“So, the work is done, the father is warned,” it made her feel better. “We need to think about how best to meet Alex. I’ll cook something delicious. It will be necessary to look great, so that under the eyes without dark circles. He’s attentive and will immediately notice if I’m tired. Hairstyle in the hairdresser, in the first place, will take a lot of time, and secondly, I will have too formal appearance.”

It was decided to make permanent curls at home. On Friday, she worked on the first shift. At the beginning of the working day Alexander Dmitrievich approached her.

“I see, Uvarova, you cope with your duties, if things go on like this, then a quarterly bonus is guaranteed to us. Keep it up, well done!”

Torobov approvingly patted her on the shoulder. She right away wanted to sing. Then Nina Vasilievna approached with a severe air.

“You look very pretty today.”

Lucy was confused. Korbutova, noticing Lucy’s embarrassment, hurried to justify herself.

“As soon as I saw you, I immediately realized that we would work together. Look,” Korbutova showed Lucy in the laptop additional corrections to the schemes. “Pay attention to the notes in red color.”

“If there are any questions, I’ll turn to Razumov.”

“You are right, these are his changes.”

* * *

After work, Lucy went to the supermarket and bought a bottle of vodka, dry Bulgarian wine and some of the products. It was necessary to buy fruit. In the vegetable department she bought pepper, next to her lay grapes and watermelons. A gray-bearded old man jumped to her.

“How do you choose a watermelon? Take this one, probably ripe,” the old man pointed to a large watermelon, lying not far from her. “Here, pay attention, the tail is dry, it means ripe. And knock on it.”

Lucy hit the watermelon with her indexed finger several times; the watermelon rang as if it was empty inside.

“Ok, indeed, the old man is right. This watermelon is ripe.”

Everything that was needed was bought; she paid for the fruit and left the store. It was hard to bear. She called a taxi, comforting herself with the thought that Alex would appreciate her care, and her father wanted to do something nice.

Preparation of dinner did not take much time. For about six hours the banquet was ready.

She fried potatoes with onion and meat. Meat cooked as for shish kebabs, soaked in advance in water with vinegar. She covered a white tablecloth; put wineglasses for wine and vodka, wine glasses for water, plates for the second and salads. Wine and fruit were put in the center of the table. Then she put knives, forks and napkins to each plate. Now she had to change dress and comb her hair.

Lucy wore a glamorous, light pink dress with white chrysanthemums from Piero Moretti. A thin belt emphasized the waist line. She stabbed her hair with tortoiseshell comb, has pinned sapphire brooch of her mother. White Italian sandals, French perfumes and elixir “Nina Ricci” had completed the image.

There was a ring at the door. Lucy rushed to the door and, without asking, opened it. On the threshold stood a neighbor on the staircase – an elderly woman in a colored dressing gown with a small, trembling, gray kitten on her hands.

“Lucy, do you happen to need a kitten?” she whispered.