52 Chapter
Lina
I’ve been in Rome for a month and a half now. I like it here very much – the people, the climate, the culture. I never thought I could love a foreign country so much.
My mother had already recovered a little from the loss of Kostya, but my father, on the contrary, couldn’t. He got drunk with grief.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
Mom is already thinking of divorcing him because of it. But, what’s next? Who will she be with? It’s not easy to find a decent man these days, and at her age even less so.
When my mother told me about Vlad’s feelings for Vladimir before I left, I was ready to burst out laughing. They are not and never have been for either of them. It’s just bliss, lust, excitement, interest on their part, but nothing more. And the interesting thing is that all three of us understand this very well. Especially me, so I decided to let them go. Let myself go, not to become completely dependent on their way of life. From such a complicated and not entirely understandable relationship.
Evelina actually turned out to be a very unpleasant woman. My mother warned me, but I didn’t think she was such a bitch. Picky and likes to control everything. During this month she drank all the juice out of me.
I didn’t make any business plans, I was sort of her secretary and manager at the same time.
An errand girl, but not really. It really pissed me off, and sometimes it drove me crazy. Three days ago, ElGRAND had an incredible birthday party. Fifteen years of one of the most popular cosmetics companies in Italy. It seems to be in third place, but Evelina wants to be in first place. To be higher and better than everyone else. But as the saying goes, the higher you sit, the harder it will hurt to fall.
“Lina! Lina!” Evelina calls me as soon as I enter my office. You heard her! Not even five minutes for a cup of coffee!
“Good morning, Lina. I’m listening to you.”
“Linochka, are you learning Italian yet? I hired you a teacher and you didn’t go to your first lesson yesterday. Why not? Do I wish you ill? No.”
“I wasn’t feeling well yesterday.”
“Maybe you’re lying to me. You can’t do that. I gave you everything. A job, an apartment, a good salary, you’re with me everywhere, and you meet all the right people. Who knows, maybe one of them you will marry and everything will work out well with you.”
“Evelina Anatolievna, I really wasn’t feeling well.”
In fact, lately everything is not so. I have no mood, apathy towards life, and the state of my health has deteriorated.
“Then you should go to the hospital today. Maybe it’s something serious. Yes, you really don’t look well today. You look pale.”
“I’ll get my work done and I’ll be sure to go.”
“Lina, what job? You won’t work for me in your condition. What if you fall down the stairs, if you suddenly pass out? No, no and no.”
-“Can I go to the hospital now?”
“Yes, of course you can. We have an important meeting in a week. And I need you healthy and beautiful for that.”
“Mr. Guerra was too attentive that time. Do you remember how that dinner ended?”
“Of course I do. He had a Caesar salad on his head, thanks to you.”
“You should have kept your hands to yourself. I’m not an escort, I’m not a prostitute. I’m an employee of your company.”
“Of course you are, Lena. He apologized, didn’t he? He sent you flowers and more than flowers.”
“It doesn’t matter. The main thing is for you to come to a conclusion. I’m not a puppet, and you don’t have to make deals with me. They all think afterwards that they have something… That I have to thank them, you know? For buying a huge shipment of cosmetics or investing a large sum in advertising.”
“Lina, you can go. Don’t be nervous,” she said instead of apologizing, and I just walked out. I wanted to go into the office right now, but nausea rushed to my throat and I ran to the bathroom instead of the office.
Vlad
I decided to change my life after all. Radically. Vova went completely insane when Lina left, he wanted in any way to find out where and why she decided to run away, but Lina’s parents did not say anything, did not fall for his money or his threats.
My friend had been drinking before, but every day he was just starting to go crazy.
“Vlad, it’s your fault. It’s all your fault. You’re the reason Lina ran away.”
That’s the kind of thing he used to say. It’s all my fault? No, if we’re gonna get this straight, we’re both good at it. But he’ll never admit it.
“She ran away from us.”
“You can find someone, can’t you? Hire the right people?”
“Vova, why would you do that? You don’t have to. She made her choice. You can’t force her to love you.”
“What do you want me to do? What am I supposed to do?”
“Let go, forgive and forget. I’ll try, too. Yes, it won’t be easy, but you’ll have to. She won’t come back. She doesn’t love us.”
“Maybe you’re right. I don’t know, but I did fall in love.”
“You wanted to fall in love so badly, but you didn’t. You still don’t understand that when you’re in love, you can’t have a third person around. He shouldn’t even be around, shouldn’t even loom on the horizon.”
“You still want to blame me for what happened then?”
“What happened is what happened. It’s nobody’s fault.”
“What are you gonna do? Are you still going to leave? To Spain?”
“No, Vova. I don’t want to work with you anymore. I’m sorry. But I want to move on by myself.”
Of course he wasn’t happy with my answer, but I didn’t care. I wanted to change the country, I wanted to change everything, and I won’t give it up. But first I want a break from everything, from work in the first place. I decided to fly to Italy. I’ve never been there, but ever since childhood I dreamed of seeing with my own eyes the Colosseum, one of the most famous sights in Rome.
Unlike Vova, I kept everything to myself. I missed Lina, but I was not going to show it. It’s inside, it’s under the skin. Jealousy overcame me and swept over my head when he touched her. And I’m sure I wasn’t alone in that.
But on the one hand I understood her, she had suffered such a loss, and she just needed a change of scenery to calm down a little. And on the other hand…
Okay, enough of that. I’ve already booked my flight, and I have a seven o’clock flight tonight.
My spring won’t start here, but in a hot country.
Vova fired me, I had to. I wrote an application and he grudgingly signed it.
“And then what? I was everything to you. Thanks to me you bought an apartment. You have a lot of money. And you fucked my girlfriend!”
“With your consent. Remember that the next time you accuse me.”
“Fuck you!”
“I’d love to go.”
“You’re not my friend anymore!”
“As it turns out, you were never my friend. You used me and my brains. But it’s gonna be different now. You’ll find a new friend and a new girl.”
– I’m not gonna find a new girl, I’m gonna find an old girl. I’ll find Lina.
“Then good luck to you, not a friend!” said goodbye and walked out of his office then.