Two city buses. From the diary by Lena Likeeva.
October 15, 2024, 19:25
I started working at a pharmacy. But for now, for about a week, I'll be working at a pharmacy on the other side of the city. And then I'll work in the pharmacy next to my house.
There are few visitors at the pharmacy at the end of the working day, so I have time to write in my diary.
This afternoon I had to move some documents from one pharmacy to another.
It was necessary to get on one bus, and then transfer to another, and get to my destination.
I got on the bus, sat in one of the front seats, with my back to the driver, and glanced through the window.
Suddenly the bus slowed down. I turned my head to the right. The driver of "my" bus was talking about something with the driver of an oncoming bus - through an open window.
It lasted half a minute, the conversation ended, and the buses continued to move.
A man entered the bus, neatly dressed. Obviously of considerable age. Firstly, he was dressed more or less decently. Secondly, the clothes were in harmony with each other in color.
So it was nice to see at him.
He walked along the bus, and stopped not far from some pretty girl.
There were few people on the bus, but he did not take a seat (a chair).
I noticed that a young girl with a pretty but not very correct face, sitting at the end of the bus, throw at him a glance benevolently, with attention.
I think he was either looking out the window or at that pretty girl who was standing next to him.
Soon I got off the bus to change to another route.
It turned out that the man who attracted my attention also got off the bus, and is walking in front of me.
I realized that we have the same plan to transfer from one route to another.
In front of the man was going a stylishly dressed girl, with excellent height and a great figure and with beautiful long flowing hair. It seemed to me at that moment that she was about 21 years old.
It looked like the all three of us had plans to use the same bus.
The girl with long hair reached the public transport stop, stopped, turned around, and it dawned on me that this was the same girl which was sitting at the end of the bus.
Naturally, when she was sitting on the bus, neither her height, nor her figure, nor her hair were visible. Then I could only see her face.
The man also stopped and said, looking at her beautiful hair: "Very beautiful hairstyle!"
The girl smiled and said "thank you!"
A conversation began between them, but they did not ask each other's names.
I stood nearby and heard fragments of their conversation.
The man said that he was going to spend time in nature, which is good for his health.
The girl said that she is a very busy person, that she studies and does sports, a long-distance obstacle running.
The man was interested: where does she study?
She said that she was studying at the Academician Pavlov "biological" gymnasium. She has no free time, as she studies, plays sports, and attends a choreographic circle of modern dances.
As soon as one of these activities is completed, she need to go to do the other. It turned out that her sports activities were very serious - she participated in athletics competitions in different cities.
"What about studying in such conditions?" The man asked.
The girl explained that she manages to do all: to study, to play sports, and to attend a choreographic club.
At that moment, the bus that interested all three of us came to the stop, and we began to get on it.
The girl entered first. She paid for the trip with some kind of card. The man entered after her and said he could pay for her too - he pays in cash. But it was clear that this was not necessary.
I went in after them.
The girl took a seat (sat down on a chair) in the front part of the bus.
The man stopped next to her and said: "If you will tell me how the class program is being compiled, then I will sit across from you. If you are not in the mood, then I will go further and stand or sit down somewhere."
The girl replied that she could tell him about her studies, and he sat down opposite her.
I sat down not far from them.
The girl told him about her studies and her plans.
She is going to move to a distant city, to become an outstanding athlete and a doctor of biological sciences, and then an academician.
The man was pleasantly surprised. He said she was a superman. Then he corrected himself: "superwoman."
He was asking her something, as if he had seriously worked in the field of biology in the past. He asked her if she was afraid of cutting frogs. She replied that it hadn't come to that yet. She thought for a bit, and said that yes, it's not very pleasant to cut frogs. She will try to avoid it.
She mentioned that she is in the ninth grade. I was amazed. In my initial view, she was over 20 years old. I even thought at first that she was not against some kind of stable relationship with a representative of the opposite sex. And if she had an affair somewhere at the competition, then this affair had ended in nothing.
The man said that he tries to be outdoors as much as possible and to breathe fresh air, as it is good for health.
Even if it was a disguised invitation on his part, how could the girl escape from the web of her own intense plans?
She replied that their family, especially her father and brother, loved to be outdoors.
I think that this girl, even if she was a superwoman in the field of studies and sports, would hardly look like a superwoman if her relatives and friends found out about her unexpected acquaintance. She, a ninth-grader with the figure of an adult girl, could have a great moral difficulties.
At that moment, the bus did another stop. The girl said, "It's time for me to go out. It was nice to meet you." The man wished her "tremendous success."
After a while, a man came out the bus.
The bus continued to move. At some point, the bus slowed down. It turned out that the driver of "my" bus was talking about something with the driver of an oncoming bus - through an open window.
It lasted half a minute, the conversation ended, and the buses continued to move.
I got off at the necessary stop, completed my errand and returned back to the pharmacy.
If I will be in the right mood, I'll keep writing in my diary.
{ 19. Два городских автобуса. Из дневника Лены Ликеевой. - 20 апреля 2024 г.
XIX. Two city buses. From the diary by Lena Likeeva. - April 20, 2024.
Zalessky and I Zalessky and I}