Перевод романа If you get me глава 4 (Беннани Ирен) / Проза.ру

роман: «If you get me» Роман «Если ты достанешься мне» Беннани Ирен, 2020 год.

Перевод романа: «If you get me» глава 4

Chapter four

The car rushed along the ring road, bypassing the intersections of the house of the urban district of Lyubertsy in the direction of Domodedovo, in the direction of the North-Eastern district of Maryina Roshcha, where, rising high among the clouds, reflecting rays flew,silvery planes. Approximately two hours along this road towards the dacha in Blagusha, past slender rows of birches going deep into the pine forest.
And soon they arrived in the area of Sokolinaya Gora to the temple of Demetrius of Solounsky, located in the forest. In which it is still slowly, from time to time, at the expense of the townspeople, reconstruction is carried out.

We drove up to the store: “And with him to the temple,you fail to enter, although the soul asks to look inside it, there is such a sign - when your life is in sin . The doors of the temple are closed. They are closed for various reasons when I am at the door with him. "

Here, in front of the entrance, not far from the corner of the store, which Vladimir went to for groceries and, also, for a couple of cognac bottles, Lyudmila bought eggs and milk from old women selling their homemade products.

They then drove down the dirt road that led to the lush suburban streets, watching from the windows of the car as it drove down the incline. Having slowed down at the security post, the men exchanged greetings, raised the barrier, and they started and drove straight.

At the second intersection, the car turned and continued along the narrow lane until it reached the last private estate. Whose two-story wooden blockhouse stood out beautifully behind a low fence. At some distance; five meters from it there were two small blocks - buildings with all the amenities inside; kitchen, bathroom and toilet. All these buildings were located in an area with a neatly trimmed lawn.

The house opposite the birch grove was surrounded by a garden - oaks, birches, pines, trees that are not a garden in the natural sense, with rustling foliage that creates coolness. Opposite the house that closes the chain of these dachas, to the left of a small grove, is a huge field, with many grasses and a meadow blanket; flowers of ivan-tea, cornflowers and chamomile.

Vladimir got out of the car and, without inviting Lyudmila, entered the house, as if not noticing her. And as soon as she stepped aside, entering the bushes, at that moment, somewhere behind her back, she heard the recitation of classical poems unknown to the general public: "something like, a woman urinated under the shade of" birches ."

What to do, probably overheated after the trip, his brains have completely melted, or he needs urgent help or brandy? “- then, bypassing the gate, continuing such reflections, she followed the owner of the dacha into a separate compartment, a small building of the kitchen.

- You know, I think if you bring the table to this big birch, it will be especially good here; there is a cool shade, it gets hot from the sun.

- Okay, make yourself comfortable, - Vladimir indicated to her with a gesture of his hand, going up to one of the small outbuildings, - I need to turn on the electricity, water, - he turned towards the kitchen. - and summed up, - and then everything you need to put it in the refrigerator.

- Yes, - “Is this an officer's actions? And… age speaks of itself, serve, set the table, it means that the person is not a military man, but simply works in some scientific research institute, of course, he is a scientist, ”she reflected.

Half an hour later, sitting under the crown of the trees, a breeze blew, Lyudmila listened to the singing of birds, sitting in a wicker chair in the shade. Near the wooden porch, among the garden flowers, rare bees circled, each of them was on its own, fluttering from flower to flower, collecting sweet nectar, she was in close proximity to insects, not interfering with each other.

- So are you coming? - picking up a glass, - she asked, filling it with Riesling, taking a sip of the sour drink, feeling that excitement, fuss and thoughts of her unenviable role have disappeared somewhere: "And I'm here, forgive me, who?" she wondered.

And these torments of introspection, so characteristic of the owner of the Russian soul, retreated, getting lost in the distance, behind the bushes adjoining the trunk of a lonely birch. Feeling the tension dissipate. She just wanted to breathe, listening to the sounds of nature; to buzzing, singing and chirping. Chu and, flapping its wing, the blackbird flew from branch to branch.

- Wonderful, here, - but the words did not match his gaze, with some concern he looked at the flowers.
With his arrival, the charm of these minutes suddenly faded away - several bees flew towards them in a whirlwind, and then their number increased above the table, and it seemed that now a swarm was circling.

- Where did they come from? Lyudmila, how could you sit here, they didn't bother you?
“I don’t know where they are from.
- You see, the sting of any bees is dangerous for me after the operation that I did in Israel to replace the leg joint.

- It is clear that you and the bees have mutual hostility, or rather intolerance, - joked Lyudmila, taking the glasses and dishes to the kitchen block.

- And, do you know that bees, besides not liking dirt, bad smells, darkness, also do not like immodesty, indignation and lust, this is what they think in the Islamic religion. In Christianity, the bee is a symbol of the soul, purity and abstinence. There are judgments that the bee flies to the gardens of Paradise, to visit the Kingdom of the dead .

“I wonder how you could have made the flying bees so angry?”
- I'm allergic to them.
- The answer is incorrect, two - in my favor and zero to him "but the bees react sharply to those who have been in contact with drug addicts for a long time, for some reason the thought of a daughter with strange mood swings. Crept into my head, but, obviously, Camilla has something with nerves ".

And besides, Lyudmila was aware of past events, scandals that once took place at the dacha, the deceased wanted to divide this property, wanting to buy a dacha from her husband.

When she picked up the phone, she found that it was discharged, Lyudmila decided to use his device, intending to talk a little with her sister, took his phone lying by the chair on the table, pressed a button on it, turned it on.

At that moment, SMS messages began to arrive at Sysoev's number in a continuous stream, with practically the same content; with offers of escort services, saunas with Thai massage, in which it was a question of a particularly pleasant pastime in a female company.

“Interesting suggestions on the phone,” she asked him after a short pause. He lay stretched out on a soft feather bed, a massive oak bed - don't you think so?

Lyudmila came closer to him, handed him the phone for clarification, he raised himself on his elbow, picked up the receiver with the other hand.
- Ah ..., this ..., they always send by ordering a taxi, - looking from under the newspaper at the message on the screen, without removing, he lowered his glasses down from his forehead, probably that he had just dozed off.

“What can I say, probably, if he is one of those who know how to dodge everything,” a thought flashed through Lyudmila's head when, sitting in the kitchen block of the dining room, they were listening to music on radio waves together.
- There is so much dust around, it is a pity that you did not think to invite someone to clean everything here.

“I can’t lie in such a dirty environment as you are doing now, where you have all the cleaning tools, a broom, a bucket, I think it’s better to clean up,” expressing her displeasure, she thought: “Most likely, he was counting on it and always behaves in such a way as to save money. Because he knew that there was dirt around, - then she answered her question. Why else? Elderly men need women precisely in order to use them as servants, otherwise why! "

- Well, how are your “exes” doing there, what did this family do on Rublevka?
- What a question, so much time has passed, why go deeper now? Moreover, I have a non-disclosure agreement with the employer. - And such a document, - answering, she caught herself on the fact that I know that such an agreement with employers from Rublevka was not drawn up, continuing out loud, - the agreement imposes obligations on me.

He pisses me off, she mused, trying to contain her growing irritation, and in addition, he begins to give me advice on how to put things in order here. In addition, he considers it my duty to discuss my affairs with him at work. That, however, it is his fault, because of him, - she burdened herself with work, - how impudent he is. "
- These are your friends, your acquaintances, so why don't you know about it?

- These are your friends, your acquaintances, but you do not know?
“Let's say, Lyudmila, you are absolutely right, I don’t argue. I went to rest, "and rubbing his neck with the phalanx of his left hand, he added:" I am tired today.
- Put the signal on your phone, you have not forgotten that in the morning we were going to go to Zhukovsky for the For Sage air show, and we will pick up the tickets on the way.

In the morning she was nervous, from his behavior it became noticeable that he was deliberately hesitating, but despite this, her desire to watch the flight show - this competition between Ferrari cars and the An-24 aircraft model, although his pressure jumped, grew.

The mood to do something around the house disappeared, she experienced negative emotions, brought blankets and carpets from the street into the house, tried to distract herself, but could not get rid of obsessive thoughts: “The end of ingenuity is not expected, he probably decided. replace the air show with a performance .

It becomes clear why he had to come here on the eve of the competition in Zhukovsky; his daughter and her family were going to the dacha, isn't that a "trap"? Naturally, my plans do not mean anything, but who am I in such a situation, really? "

Towards noon, when the house was cleaned, brought to a majestic appearance, only then did she manage to find time for herself; she changed clothes, while paying attention to her appearance. Vladimir appeared and told her that he was feeling much better. As a result, they drove out of the "Blagusha" in the direction of the town of Zhukovsky, which in the Moscow region, while continuing to move, while the car picked up speed along the Volodarskoe highway.

Then they drove out onto wide lanes of the roadway, turned again, guided by the arrows indicating the direction, the car rushed forward, crossing many oncoming air streams, the trip lasted more than forty minutes. Lyudmila impatiently looked out the wind window, noting with satisfaction that they had reached Frunze Street in Zhukovsky.

Considering the traffic jams, they drove closer to the end of the auto flight show, but despite this, they managed to see the last three races of Ferrari cars that emitted three-color smoke in the form of foggy rings, as the cars rushed faster, they reached maximum speed, being at the same level with the hovering above them by a turboprop aircraft, its maximum speed was 500 km / h.

Soon the race ended, but despite the fact that they saw only the final of the performance, Lyudmila was in high spirits, and in addition to the show, she also visited the pavilion of scientific inventions, where an exhibition of robots and new generation developments is taking place. Everything from technical innovations, weapons to all kinds of computer games.

"Life does not stand still, you just need to keep up with the times," thought Lyudmila, at this spring time, which changed cycles, from damp weather to favorable warm days, but with a sharp warming to hot weather before favorable warm days, but with a sharp warming to the heat, degrees this week jumped unexpectedly.

Two days later, she decided to relax a little and take a walk in the center, taking a tour near the Kremlin, where she accidentally met a married couple - of considerable age. However, the actions of these people, at the subconscious level, worried her.

When these unfamiliar people for some reason needed to persuade her to dine with them in a cafe. At Yolki Palki, in a cafe located on the square near three stations, the traditions were simple - everyone chose their own dishes - it reminded her of a buffet. When the couple ordered champagne, Lyudmila only sipped a sip of champagne.

Perhaps this moderation in wine drinking helped her keep her head clear and give an account of her actions. She was always independent from others in any setting, therefore, turning to one of the waiters, Lyudmila asked to calculate her order in a separate check, contrary to the rules accepted here, not at the end of lunch, but in advance and not in one check at all.

To be honest, a vague feeling, inexplicable anxiety did not leave her, she did not like the whole atmosphere in the cafe, and the interior did not seem cozy to her either. Where, in an open two-story space with round halls, visitors to this spacious establishment, like outlandish fish in an aquarium, continuously scurried back and forth in a circle of terraces and tables behind glass walls.

Parts of this station cafe resembled a kind of station square, with open areas with rows of tables and with separate parts of the space with rows of tables fenced off by partitions. On the eastern side of the space of the cafe hall «Yolok – Palok», there was an interfloor staircase with a huge shiny chandelier on a long rope, like a huge shiny snowball.

A little time passed when at the next partition, at a table between tipsy visitors, a quarrel suddenly broke out, disturbing the usual calm, attracting the attention of the police. “There was a strange and expectant expression on the faces of the couple, perhaps for this reason the couple hesitated and somehow calmed down - is it possible that this sudden appearance of the police interrupted their previous plans. "However, self-confident Muscovites behave differently than they do".

The creeping mistrust of this pair of immigrants from independent Ukraine, according to whom they had been living in the Russian capital for many years, intuitively pushed Lyudmila out of the circle of this company away from the lustful eyes of these, plump spouses, who stared at her intently, as if hypnotizing, in the hope that she will accept their invitation to visit their private property, the still unfinished house in Dolgoprudny.

But, at the same time, something inexplicable still continued to hold her, despite all her hesitations and doubts. She could not understand in any way, “why, these people, who in the past had a high status of officials, turned out to be so open and hospitable to the first they met at the Kremlin museums?

And why did these supposedly native Muscovites have to wait for retirement age to see the ancient cathedrals and the Armory? Vladimir's call on the phone kind of pushed her to action, throwing away some indecision, the call seemed to release her from the strange pressure, similar to a hypnotic effect. Apologizing, she abruptly got up, leaving all this company at the round table, and, finally, saying that they were waiting for her at home, she left the married couple, disappeared from sight, interrupting the dinner at the round table, hurried to the exit leading to the square, she went down to the subway.

- Let's go and buy something. What do you want, Lissel, wine ... champagne?
- Better a little white, - answering him, Lyudmila thought: "What a pretense, smiles at me, and not a word that I walk around the cafe."

In a nearby store they typed again for groceries: “Interestingly, he never regretted money for food, that's what he is, a kind uncle. He probably thinks I'm just an animal? - reasoned Lyudmila, - it seems to him that I don't need anything else? - She reflected, - How tired I am of these feasts, of the same dinner in the kitchen! And besides, I see - he is not a miss, he is flirting with a girl with a salesman right in front of me, is he going crazy, is he really dumb - old?

Lyudmila continued to stand and be silent, smiling, as if what was happening was quite natural and normal, patiently watching Sysoev presenting chocolate to a girl sitting at the checkout. “Where are you, Grandpa Mazai,” she thought, looking at such a frankly indecent flirtation with girls with a significant age difference, “he has not yet collected all the rabbits, how long have you looked in the mirror? “She wanted to tug on his sleeve to stop this performance, but at that moment the phone in Lyudmila's bag rang.

- Lyudochka, "hello", or rather, good evening. I am calling you at the request of Alice, she will be waiting for you at about nine, will you come on Thursday?
A few days later, when Thursday came, Lyudmila went to the subway to get to her employers, mother and child, to Alice. By coincidence, she found herself not far from this Yolki-Palki cafe, crossed the square, she had to go down into the metro, bypassing the station entrance, she was made to shudder by the announcement “about the disappearance of people in the area of this metro”. She could not believe her eyes, and then seriously thought, remembering her recent acquaintance on the Kremlin Square:
Some kind of horror ... it's good that I have at least a drop of intuition or the same feeling - self-preservation, or maybe my angel took care of me? In her mind, she thanked her guardian angel for not leaving her. After all, this is Moscow - a big metropolis and you need to be careful, people are scurrying around, among them are criminals, maniacs, but you never know, here you can meet perverts, who knows what they mean?

Now, a few days later, pondering the possible consequences, she sighed with relief, "as the saying goes, 'Trust in God, but don't be so bad yourself.' "

"Yes, don't worry, I'll be there soon, yes, by nine."

- You know, - the nanny Svetlana, who works for Tsvetnoy for Alisa, continued to sing into the tube, - when we asked Varyusha: - Do you like Luda?
- She told us that you are kind. Plus, the candidate's father approved of you.
Thank you, I am very pleased, I think that we will establish good contact with her, but at that very moment Lyudmila thought: “Well, okay, especially since she knew; this decision, most likely, was influenced by the fact that Varenka's grandfather liked her.

Last week, Lyudmila, in turn with other applicants for the vacancy of a nanny-educator, came to Alice, the mother of two-year-old Varyusha, in a fashionable apartment located in a monolithic brick building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. In the foyer she was met by Svetlana, the child's nanny, with whom they took the elevator to the section where the employer's apartment was located, equipped with various modern engineering systems, like the whole house, which was guarded.

As usual, having changed in the corridor, Lyudmila went into the living room, combined with the kitchen, where together with Sveta they prepared baby food, first breakfast, then lunch, while the child slept. From the windows of the living room of this 150-meter apartment, there was a beautiful view of the central streets of Moscow. But that day, things turned out differently. After walking with Varyusha and feeding the girl, whom Svetlana was now trying to take to the bedroom while Lyudmila was finishing her dinner, a bell rang from the side of the corridor door.

"It's strange - who dares to violate the strict regime of Alice's schedule, most likely the neighbors?" But no, as it turned out, Varvara's grandfather. He turned to Alice with a request to open the doors for him, she obviously knew who was calling them now.
When a man of strong constitution entered, he introduced himself - Alexander. You work as a teacher, I, - he introduced himself, - Varenka's grandfather.
Why doesn't grandfather know Alice's daughter's nanny? - she thought about Svetlana, leading him to the refrigerator of the dining room.
Putting in the refrigerator two bowls with currants and raspberries, while Alexander asked Lyudmila to take the elevator down to the first level of the garage.

Finding herself at the imposing car, Lyudmila clarified the situation to him, at the same time filling small containers with berries and young cucumbers brought from his family estate. She said that now she is going through test days, and then everything depends on Varyusha's dad, taking into account Alice's opinion. It is his son who will choose a candidate for this shift work with Svetlana, who is now introducing her to all the responsibilities in the family, performed by a teacher and at the same time a nanny.

On Thursday, Lyudmila, leaving the Trubnaya metro station, crossed the carriageway of Tsvetnoy Boulevard in the direction of the alley, following to a multi-storey glass-concrete building located next to the ascending old lanes. "Before you is the architecture of the cultural and historical ring." From the first minutes Lyudmila especially liked this area of the metropolitan metropolis and the fact that if you turn to the right from the House where Varyusha's apartment is located up along Kukolny Lane, they will find themselves in a courtyard with a sandbox. A playground with slides and a sandpit was surrounded by old streets and houses, Moscow looked at it from time immemorial.

Alice spent most of her time in the four walls of the apartment, except for control over the staff, her requirements in a strict minute mode, the former dancer, as it seemed to Lyudmila, had no other interests. The situation of Alice, who had recently settled in a prestigious area of the capital, was incomprehensible to Lyudmila, because Alice and her child arrived in Moscow no more than a year ago from Rostov.

Why, she does not live the cultural life of the capital, when she has so many opportunities that Lyudmila could not always afford. On Saturday at Nikitskaya literary evenings, but she again will not be able to get to these poetry evenings, she will need to be here all these three weeks, from early morning until late at night, doing not only what is prescribed in the contract - responsibilities for care and education child; she must also cook food for Alice, the mother of the little girl.

Together with Varyusha, they passed the park near Nikulin's circus, then crossed the road and turned into an alley, climbed higher to the site in the immediate vicinity of her employer's house, from the windows of which Lyudmila and the child were visible. Today Alexander will join the walk with the child. Soon he began to approach them, but the child, who before this appearance behaved quite normally, either climbed the ropes of the playground, or happily swayed on a swing in the presence of his grandfather Alexander, fell into hysterics. Varenka began to shake, and she wept bitterly.

- Varyusha, what are you? What's wrong with you, baby, what happened, - Alexander tried to find out from her, when she pressed her whole body to Lyudmila. As if the child was looking for protection, hugging the nanny.
- It's okay, now let's go with you to the store. Where did we buy the cookies? Varyusha smiled, distracted by a pleasant impression.

Entering the store located on the corner of the house, Lyudmila said: - Varyusha, now show your grandfather which cookie you like best, choose - here are the cookies. And what else?
- Cucumber.
- Varyusha, I will bring you many more cucumbers - will I pay now or will you choose something else?
No, - the child answered with a smile.
Alexander paid with a plastic card - there was no big change at the checkout, then they all took the elevator to the apartment together.

When the contact was established and, returning home in a great mood, Varyusha showed the toys presented to them, it is clear that Varya remembered who gave them. Varyusha performed a whole concert for her grandfather, pressing the buttons of the synthesizer, dancing in front of him to disco melodies, she laughed loudly.
Nevertheless, Alesya talked strangely with her daughter's grandfather, sitting in the living room. That rather resembled a conversation between people who had just met, and not a conversation between close relatives, a child who turned two years old.

- Alesya, as far as I remember, you came from Chelyabinsk?
- Yes, before Rostov I was engaged in gymnastics, you know, from a sports family.
- How many children did you have in your family?
- There were four of us, it so happened that dad raised us mostly alone. I was the eldest daughter of them, I had to deal with the little ones.
At that moment, Varya brought from the nursery a large doll, which had mechanisms and performed many functions: she danced, repeated words and, in addition, she could be “fed”. Lyudmila more than once pulled the doll out of the gap between the wall and the cabinet, but it again turned out to be shoved into its original place.

- Do not be offended by Ales, but in our family it is customary to pay more attention to boys, so it was with me, so now with Vanyusha.
Vanyusha was the child of Ruslan's sister, Varyusha's father. Now, having understood the situation, Lyudmila began to find out the details of the manipulations of Svetlana, who indulged this offended pride of Alesya, in a conversation with her she praised her father, who lives in Chelyabinsk. Recently, Svetlana accompanied her employer, Alesya, with her child on a trip to her hometown. And the phrase that sounded from the lips of the nanny seemed especially monstrous to Lyudmila.

- When we were sitting at the airport, some picky man approached us and began to ask Varyusha something. I told him:
- Do you hear, get out of here!
- Having chased him away, I told Alesa that I would break and tear anyone for you and Varya, like Cerberus.
“Nightmare,” flashed through Lyudmila’s head, “of course, Svetlana is capable of anything to survive herself, who has a divorced daughter and two grandchildren. "It is not surprising that under her onslaught, two sisters from Ukraine who worked before her were fired from this vacancy. "

When the next day Alesya turned to Lyudmila with displeasure. It is likely that after a call from Alexander, who said that he would try to visit Varenka, he would contact Lyudmila. Svetlana was going to leave soon on vacation. She announced that this evening she would stay overnight in Alice's apartment. Varyusha's parents gathered for a walk in the evening.

- You can't imagine what happened here yesterday when the child went to bed, - Svetlana shared with Lyudmila during a walk. - When Varya and I were sleeping, at midnight I was awakened by screams in the next room. Alesya screamed so loudly because Ruslan beat her, I was scared to leave the nursery. Then the doors slammed, and it became quiet in Alesya's room.

- In the morning we talked to her, she said she didn’t know what to do? - She has not paid my salary yet, and besides, she hired you, Lyudmila. What advice would you give in this situation? Or go to my dad in Chelyabinsk?

- In fact, I think that giving advice to others is unethical in my opinion. But, judging by myself, when I do not know what to do, I prefer not to do anything and do nothing. At first it is better to calm down and think, but do you understand that Ruslan is unlikely to let Varya and Alice go of his own free will?
The rest of the day Svetlana spent in Alice's room, entrusting all affairs to Lyudmila.

By the evening, some boy brought money for diapers for the child and by the satisfied expression on Svetlana's face, Lyudmila understood that she had been given vacation pay. Svetlana offered to drive after work to the servants' apartment, located not far from the Bauman metro line.

Earlier, while Svetlana lived in this apartment, Lyudmila went to spend the night in Zhulebino to Volodya's home. Now she told him that after Svetlana left, she would not often return to him after work, having packed the necessary things in a suitcase, he volunteered to bring the suitcase with him to the apartment for Lyudmila's staff. In the evening, entering the entrance of the house, they went up to the apartment, Vladimir examined the wiring and the sanitary condition in it. Then Lyudmila took him to a tram stop to the metro.

Returning from work, she found Svetlana, who was going to stop by the employer's housekeeper, her friend, who worked for Alice on the recommendation of Svetlana. As you can see, it is not easy for an elderly housekeeper to cope with the age of cleaning a large apartment, which included ironing and laundry. And lately it has become noticeable that Greta, as her name was, most likely forgot that cleaning the kitchen in no way concerns the duties of a nanny or teacher.

Why do you make me delve into what is now
do you work late, - asked Lyudmila, - because I'm making an omelet in the kitchen? I try to wipe the stove after myself, but I have no such opportunity to bring everything to a shine.
- I think that some skills will be useful to you at the nearest place of work.
- Are you somehow sure about this, talking about me and my next job?
- Nothing, I just think that all these skills are not a hindrance to anyone.
"However, she cleverly got out of the situation, this Greta, who only yesterday complained about me to Alice, saying that Varya stood next to her when she ironed the linen."

Alice could not contain her anger, throwing back a long lock of black hair, now she was figuring out what Lyudmila was doing at that time, who looked with surprise at her employer, a tall thirty-year-old woman who was beginning to gain weight, losing the slender figure of the dancer: “Maybe there is nowhere to do energy, arranged all these showdowns, or rather not. today Alice is not feeling well, and if she is tormented by headaches, it means that she must come off on someone, for example on me. Well, she thinks that every minute she needs to report on the state of affairs, she rather forgot that I was not hired as a robot. "

Realizing what she wanted to hear, she explained to mom Varyusha as it is in their house that there are no prohibitions for a child, “exactly at the moment when the servant was ironing the clothes, I was here, in the hallway by the room, standing next to the hand with Varyusha. When she had seen enough of ironing the linen, we went to dress for the evening walk. "

Then Lyudmila thought: “How could I not have thought about this before; Greta noticed that lately Varyusha has become more and more attached to me. He worries about his friend Svetlana, who once recommended this Greta as a housekeeper, now it is clear that he and Svetlana are anxious to keep their job. "

Lyudmila was tired of hysterics: Alice constantly arranged whims. However, the girl, unlike her, became much calmer, because the new governess did not tug on her, as was the case with Svetlana, who used distracting beeps, musical melodies in the form of inserts into books, the child could not concentrate even when he was sitting on the potty ...

Leaving the apartment of this multi-storey, glass-block building, Lyudmila took Varyusha to the quiet Kolokolnikovsky lane to play with other children. They rose from the corner of the busy Trubnaya Street, formerly Drachevskaya or Grachevka, bypassing the crossing over the road, and turned into an old street stretching over the bustling Tsvetnoy Boulevard in this historic center of Moscow.

There, in Kolokolnikov Lane, which rose to the east parallel to Bolshoy Sergievsky on the left and Pechatnikovsky Lane on the right, Varyusha loved to walk, enjoyed playing with other children, learned not only to sculpt Easter cakes, but also to ride steep hills. This contributed not only to the development of fine motor skills, but also had a positive effect on the child's psyche.

“Incredible,” she thought, recalling the history of Grachevka and its lanes: “In the 19th - early 20th centuries, who were famous for the fact that ruined, poor, drinking Muscovites lived here, there was a high level of crime among many. In addition to the fact that poor people lived here, there were brothels. .. And now in the area of the historical center there are such modern quarters and luxury apartments in fashionable houses, shopping centers with hotels, large restaurants, cafes, shops.

Yes, and on this Grachevka in the late 1870s - early 1880s, a medical student Anton Chekhov lived, his literary activity began there ... ”, the reflections were interrupted, the phone rang. Vladimir asked to spend the night at home, saying that he would leave for a few days on a business trip, and in the apartment there was his daughter's dog, which there was no one to feed.

For some time after work, Lyudmila went to spend the night not in Vladimir's apartment, but now she will have to stay in his apartment, feed and walk Camilla's dog before work, as well as after returning from work, additional troubles were added.
During these days she established "contact" with Varyusha, and the girl became more conscious, calm, never ceasing to amaze her parents.

When Ruslan, a man of athletic build, in the invariable classic suit of a strict cut, appeared in front of Lyudmila, accompanied by his daughter and Alice after a walk in the park, Varyusha quickly ran out of the corridor into the living room. She began to search for her wallet, remembering this only now.

- Oh, how can I buy myself a cookie, how can I go to the store - I have no money? - Varyusha immediately gave out, finding a bag among other toys, opening it and looking into it.
- Girl, you forgot that your wallet is in the corridor, look there - you still have coins. Varyusha: - This is how you can buy a cucumber with them, - to the surprise of the household, Lyudmila supported her.
One, two, three ... sixteen, she thought.

By the end of the third week, work with Alice finally exhausted not only physically, but also mentally Lyudmila, she decided to finalize the shifts prescribed in the contract and look for something else for herself. The aggression on the part of Vary's father towards Alice, his frequent absence at home at night created a nervous atmosphere, therefore, when he came, scandals took place between the parents, disturbing the girl's peace at night. As a result, the child's condition during the daytime remained drowsy, Lyudmila had to calm down the child prone to whims.

"It is not known what can happen to Varyusha's mother after another beating her by Ruslan," Lyudmila caught herself every time, thinking, "It is possible that soon I will become another victim or, for example, an involuntary witness to the crime."

Such family relationships influenced the mother of the child, Alice. Often alone, day and night, Alice increasingly began to drink alcohol, becoming more and more irritable, with frequent mood swings and hysteria. It seemed that Alice was lost in her world of illusions, having lost touch with reality, becoming like a girl named Alice who fell through a rabbit hole into an imaginary world with which various metamorphoses occur.

Taking out a sip of wine in a glass glass from behind the curtain so that the child would not accidentally touch it, Lyudmila persuaded herself to endure a few days, until the end of the third week she is not going to stay in this family, intending to ask for payment. However, neither Alisa nor Svetlana knew about Lyudmila's plans, as well as Svetlana, who, according to Greta, was going to return the other day and start work at the beginning of her working day.

We agreed to meet with Vladimir at the metro station on Tsvetnoy, it got dark in the park, but he had to wait for her.
- I was about to call, but decided to wait a little longer, did something happen?
- No. I just needed to stay, there were things to do.
- You said that you were sent on a new business trip? But we'll talk about this a little later, when we leave the metro.
He nodded.

Coming out of the metro, Lyudmila looked back at the dark streets, lit only above the roadway, near the highway, and on the tram tracks, it seemed that the city was dozing, gaining strength before the coming day. Entering the bus, opposite the stop with a toy store, from where through a long transparent glass the doll Alice looked, who was from the wonderland as if looking at Lyudmila, then the bus left, having appeared in the window, the eared hare disappeared, Lyudmila's gaze moved to the tram rails.

From the metro, they drove several stops to the block of five-story buildings of Khrushchev, here it is, you can see the house in which there was an apartment for the servants. Rather, this part of the city could be called a provincial area, the houses in the interval from the bus stop to the high-rise buildings looked rather ugly and outdated.

However, a little further than the Soviet high-rise building where the servants' apartment was located, the streets expanded, they turned into wide avenues with modern buildings, like that house with a gallery of columns on the first floors. Opposite him - a modern building with wide office windows and shop windows. Lyudmila has not yet explored the area near her house, given that there were only rare nights when she had to spend the night in an apartment located near the Baumanskaya metro station.

- Let's go to the store around the corner, buy me coffee, either of the products, I don't understand how Svetlana spent the night there without food, I got the impression that she eats only at Alice's expense, there is no elementary tea in this apartment.

Volodya bought not only food, but also brandy. Lyudmila did not notice how Vladimir grabbed a bottle of white wine.
- Tell me what happened? - she asked Volodya in the kitchen, realizing that there is not much time left before the subway closes, and he still needs to return.

- I am sent to South Sudan, as you know, on a long business trip.
- Wow, what conclusions will be next? - She asked him, thinking at that moment, - "My God, I will have to work with Alice to live in this apartment."

And as if confirming her thoughts, Volodya, stuttering, as if trying to justify himself in front of her and at the same time to prove, persuades Lyudmila to understand him that her daughter will not agree that you live without him in this apartment of theirs.

- I understand this for a long time, "it's all so unpleasant, drips, drips a little ...", who am I to you - nobody? What are you up to, came to tell me it's time to leave?
- Can I refuse the trip?
For a second, without taking her eyes off him, and looking away to the dark windows, where the street noise had almost died down, she replied:
- Yes, I understand you perfectly, go wherever you want ... even to Ethiopia, Kenya, but you can also go to Uganda! It means everything.
- No, I thought we could sign a marriage contract with you.

- Marriage? Why do you need this, - Lyudmila was indignant, - yes ... what to sign? "You can still write on the fence, tell me, were you kidding?" And she continued: “Didn't I get rid of your noodles, thought I threw it out of my ears?
- Yes, watermelon perfectly complements wine and cognac, grapes, what kind of holiday you decided to arrange, I see you are generous, wasteful. Then Lyudmila turned her gaze to the upper corner of the kitchen - where do you think these surveillance cameras are in the room or in the kitchen?

- What are you, Lyudmila, look at the sockets in the apartment, the plumbing, these problems with water, what kind of cameras there might be, they just "bred you". Don't believe everything they tell you, what a naive girl you are, Luda!
“Naturally, especially with you, when I feel like a kitten who will be outside the door at any moment, but now that you felt - I can leave you like this, and not think about returning, I can stay
in this apartment, where I can do without your management with your control, and even more so without the claims of a "goddess", your Camilla. "

- You still need to return, have you forgotten about it?
He blushed:
- No, but I felt bad, the pressure rose, I'd better lie down.
- Do you need validol? - He refused to wave his hand - or do you only need cold water? - instead of answering Vladimir nodded.

Placing a glass near the sofa, where Vladimir was quietly dozing, Lyudmila thought, “it's clear why he came here, he decided to cause trouble for me.” Then, she raised her untouched glass of white wine, problems are already assured, since he stayed here, and after drinking it, took a cigarette from his pack, lighting it with pleasure.

Looking at the rustling leaves outside the window, she felt how good the night was, with its silence, she was sorry that this quiet time could not be extended - “tomorrow at six she will have to get up, lack of sleep was the most draining of her nerves, where to run, I have no idea what to do? "

In the morning, leaving the apartment, they removed, as it seemed to Lyudmila, all traces of the crime, but she forgot about Volodya's habits, who could leave behind the curtain in the kitchen a bottle from under the skate, thinking that Vladimir took her with him.

The days passed in the usual rhythm of this last third week, and now Svetlana appeared on Alice's doorstep with spare keys to the apartment, where she was going to spend a couple of days until the end of Lyudmila's shift.

After lunch, when Alice went with Varya to the nursery, Luda noticed that the child's mother had forgotten to take a thermos with hot water there, although she understood that while the mother was in the bedroom with the child, it was forbidden to enter there. “But there was a need for that,” she reasoned, and moved forward. As she entered the children's bedroom, where it was usually dark behind tightly closed curtains, she noticed a light from the open door leading to the bath.

Varya's scream is heard from there. Lyudmila accidentally caught a mother spanking her child, “yes, I had better ask for a calculation right away,” thought Lyuda, not having time to say anything, Alice, noticing her at the door, retreated:
- I'm not hitting you, why are you swearing, stop hitting me?

Leaving the bottle on the table, Lyudmila thought - it means that she could not stand it, after a quarrel with her husband, she took off her anger on the child. After sleep, everything went as usual, Lyudmila, having fed the girl, went for a walk with her again. When she returned back, she noticed that Svetlana was leaving the apartment. What is she doing here, noticing that Svetlana put out the dish of lazy cabbage rolls she had prepared in her absence Lyudmila.

What a rush, she wanted to ask, but the call was ahead of her thought, she picked up the phone, she was told by phone that Alice had come to the agency with a complaint against her, explaining this with the words of Alice: a governess in a service apartment solves personal problems, improves her personal life. "What intrigue?" - indignation burst out, at this time she heard the click of the front door, it was Alice who went out into the corridor. Soon they were talking in the walls of the living room.

- Why didn't you tell me anything, because two days have passed since Vladimir was in my apartment? You think that this is where I arrange my personal life, Vladimir has an apartment, but not one. To be honest, he drank a little brandy there, but there were reasons for that, the pressure was high.

And after that he had to lie down for a while, don't get me wrong. In his condition, it was impossible to put him out the door, rather, it was necessary to call an ambulance.
- It's late, I understand you, but, unfortunately, when Svetlana arrived with a "bottle" of brandy, we already visited the agency.

Lyudmila, and so, she was going to ask for a calculation at the end of the shift, despite her financial difficulties, realizing that moral peace is much more expensive. But the child's mother got ahead of her, hastening to part with Lyudmila before the arrival of Varyusha's father, under the influence and as a result of an unworthy conspiracy with a stupid nanny - Svetlana.

If Alice had been more far-sighted, - reasoned Lyudmila, - she would not have rushed to the agency to tarnish the governess's reputation, she would not have had to arrange these showdowns in order, of course, to preserve her little "empire". ... ... if she did not use someone else's, but thought with her own head. If only she wondered what the angry governess might have to say about her besides Alice's addiction to alcohol.

Yes, it would be worth waiting just a few days, “without arranging public quarrels,” thought Lyudmila, “just a few days, until the end of the contract, and then go with Ruslan to Turkey, where they were going to spend their holidays. When she returned, she could tell that the governess was not
will work for personal reasons. Then the agency for Alice would find another employee for the next shift ...

Well, why should I look at these intrigues, and indeed there is nothing pleasant in these contacts with alcohol scandals ... wouldn't it be better for me to neglect it ", thinking so, she turned to Alice:
- Indeed, you are right, it is better for us to part. Moreover, Alice, you knew that in Moscow I did not live at my place, but in Vladimir's apartment, and you could not have been unaware of this; This was stated in an interview when applying for a job.

This man had reasons to be with me outside of working hours, he visited me after hours, - focusing on this, continued Lyudmila, - you know, he could fly to work in South Sudan any day.

Realizing that "having agreed with Sveta, Alice found a reason to say goodbye to her as soon as possible, urgently covering her tracks, so Alice needed the governess to leave before Varyusha's father arrived."
- Lyudmila caught her at this moment. “When Alice spanked her daughter in the bathroom. Alice was on the brink, she could not only
to lose well-being, but also to be separated from the child, because Ruslan adored his daughter. "

- Having recalculated the calculation, Lyudmila calmly noticed, - There is extra money here.
- No, take it, please.
“Such unprecedented kindness, Alice's generosity speaks for itself, but Lyudmila did not want to sort things out anymore, Wanting to leave someone else's apartment as soon as possible, spit on all the useless showdowns, realizing that these explanations would not lead to anything good, except that Alice's child could have been taken from her mother, but Lyudmila would never want to take part in this. "

- Goodbye, - and only then, saying, slammed the door.
“This is the reason for the turnover of Alice's nannies, it would seem, where financially everything was in order, but what will the situation turn for Svetlana herself in the future? Someday, Ruslan will certainly find out that she covers Alice, taking out her anger on the child. It's a good question, ”reasoned Lyudmila, but, nevertheless, with the departure of the governess, the question remained open.

By the evening, the next day, Alexander called, he was aware of the events, from his intonation Lyudmila understood that he was upset by what had happened to his son.
- Please, you do not need, do not worry about me, I visited the agency, - and she explained the reason for Alice's hasty visit, - fortunately, continued Lyudmila, - Olga Alexandrovna works there as a manager, who understands me and has her own idea about employers, she has a lot of experience in this matter.

“We talked to her for a bit and she said,“ In fact, most of the reasons for turnover are related to family conflicts. "
But, besides, what she kept silent about, about the conversation with Varvara's grandfather, “that during the conversation with the manager Lyudmila felt, or rather from the delicate attitude of Olga Alexandrovna to her, guessed that Varyusha's grandfather was ahead of her. Most likely, he explained to the manager the situation of the relationship between his son and his partner. "