Revenge – served cold

Having stroked the lid of the faithful comrade, my laptop was already three years old, and it worked properly, I got into the mail. Julia was not stingy on the amount of materials. It looks like we'll have to sit till morning!

" Pour me some tea too, please," she asked, seeing that Ramilya was making herself a fresh pot.

After estimating the amount of work, I suddenly calmed down. Even if she couldn't get revenge, she could just get her life back on track. And the place to start was work.

I opened the documents and reference books sent to me and immersed myself in the text. The case progressed slowly. The text contained a huge number of special terms with which I had not familiarized myself before.

But I began to understand what exactly our company does. It provides support for foreign companies that have decided to develop the Russian market. It sounded beautiful, but in reality it is a huge amount of paperwork. And also in the ability to maneuver between the conflicting laws of the two countries, as well as the wishes of the client and the reality that the Russian market has to offer.

***

At half past eight I was already in my seat in the office. I had to come in early. I had to print out what I had done yesterday. I put the papers in folders and waited impatiently for Julie to arrive. In the evening I sent her a few translated documents, and the rest I decided to give her at the office. And after receiving enthusiastic messages of gratitude, I suddenly felt that I liked it.

To my surprise, however, it was the boss who showed up at the office first. He looked a little wrinkled, wearing yesterday's shirt and a day's worth of unshaven hair.

" Good morning," I greeted him cheerfully.

" Please, not so loud."

The supervisor disappeared into his office. I shook my head and searched my bag for aspirin. Andrew was not the kind of man who liked to drink a bottle. His body was unprepared, so the result was not long in coming. Putting the papers aside for the time being, I gathered a tray: a glass with instant aspirin, a bottle of mineral water and coffee, the latter I put just in case.

Knocking and without waiting for an answer, she entered. Andrew was sitting at the table, concentrating on massaging his temples.

" Aspirin, " I informed him and put the glass on the table.

Andrew , grabbing the glass, drank the contents in a gulp and leaned back in his chair. I doubt that it helped immediately. Rather, the anticipation of relief tried it on with reality. I froze, waiting for further instructions.

" Everything else after… " he said.

I didn't ask after what. It was obvious. First he needs to come to himself. I silently put the tray with mineral water and coffee in front of him and left.

Julia flew into the waiting room at the same time as me. Swaying on her impressive heels, she took in more air, ready to burst into a tirade of gratitude. I was ahead of her, pressing my finger to my mouth. The girl obediently exhaled.

" Andrew has a headache, " I whispered. " And until the aspirin did not work …"

" Oh! Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders indefinitely. I didn't plan on giving away my boss's secrets. There was a reason he showed up earlier than half of the staff. Now he'll come to his senses, assess his appearance and go home to change. Although a man like Andrew should have a spare shirt with him. You never know!

" All right. Give me a hand, please. I need to write a letter to the partners."

Julia made huge eyes. I laughed quietly. Those who have never seen a computerized hieroglyphics layout won't understand. The characters are written on one key, four at a time. It's hard to tell the difference between half of them when you're not used to them.

" Leave the letter, I'll dial, " promised her.

" You're awesome! I love you!"

Julia handed me a thin opaque folder and rushed off. Hiding behind a ficus tree, I checked my makeup and, after making coffee for myself, returned to my desk. The main boss's reception area turned out to be the quietest place in the universe! I don't know about the deputies, but no one came in here.

About an hour later, Andrew called me in. He looked much better, even changed his shirt. I, trying to keep my distance, put in front of him the documents collected for signing and a separate folder prepared by me personally.

" You have a meeting tomorrow. Everything is ready for it, " I informed the boss.

Andrew was distracted from the papers and looked at me carefully.

" I forgot to ask, are you married?"

" No, " I answered dumbfounded.

I didn't expect such a question. Why would he be interested in the details of my personal life?

" Okay, " nodded Andrew . " There will be a conference in St. Petersburg on Saturday. I'm glad that you have no plans for the weekend, and you can accompany me. The hotel is already booked, we'll leave on Friday. You can go."

I just nodded and went out to the reception area. But I didn't expect such a turnaround. It turns out that if I don't have a husband and children, I don't have plans for the weekend either! Besides, who takes a secretary who has been working for a few days with them on a trip?

Feeling that I needed to share and consult with someone, I grabbed my phone and ran to the bathroom to talk without interference. Experience told me that it was better to discuss a person behind his back when he was not around. And the neighboring office under the designation "far away" fell somehow weakly.

Having jumped out to the stairwell, I went down one flight and immediately turned back. Dimitri stood in the corridor and hugged the girl. Climbing a few steps, she tried to listen to his conversation.

" You don't give me enough time, " the girl said capriciously.

" I work, " Dimitri was naturally surprised.

" At night?"

It became clear to me that he was talking to his wife. It seems that their family life was marred by his inattention. By the way, there is such a peculiarity in Dimitri's behavior. At the beginning of the relationship, he was very attentive. Sometimes it seemed to me that he read my mind. But when our relationship became strong and stable, and I couldn't breathe without him, he became distant. No, in the moments he spent with me, even if only on the phone he was so gentle.....

" I've gotten a job, I don't want people to say I married you for a career. I will achieve everything on my own."

Dimitri spoke in a confident and unbending voice. Just a couple weeks ago I would have believed in his words unconditionally, but now it was funny. The girl whispered something fervently. I didn't eavesdrop any further and went back to the waiting room. The more I learned about him, the more disgusted I became. How could I love him?

The interesting thing was that I couldn't find a decent excuse. Betrayal killed love, and the brain kicked in. But so far he'd only wondered how blind I'd been.

I spent the whole day thinking about the stupid things I'd done in my life. Secretarial work was the most boring job in the world. The phone didn't ring very often, the visitors were mostly couriers who dropped by a couple times. And the boss seemed to have decided to sleep in, since he only called me once all day to let me know he was leaving.

***

I was home by eight o'clock, exhausted by the road, I walked up to our house without looking around. So I didn't notice the festivities right away. Neighbors, who jumped out of their houses, were frantically putting out the fire. I rushed to us and almost crashed into Ramila, who had come out of the house in a tiny robe, but with a huge bucket of water.

" What happened?"

" Idiots surrounded us!"

Ramila ran to the neighboring plot, and I rushed after her. The picture I saw was more pathetic than scary. A huge fire was burning in the middle of the neighbor's plot. When I looked closer, I realized that it was firewood prepared for the winter, but unused. A man in underpants, an alcoholic T-shirt and rubber boots was running around the fire. He didn't even try to put anything out, the neighbors were doing it. The curiosity of the situation was that the fire could spread to any house standing nearby. A strong gust of wind was enough to carry the spark.

Ramila splashed a bucket of water on the fire. The flames, hissing mockingly, continued.

" Damn fool! " The friend fawned over the man and ran back.