The anniversary of the company is approaching. On this occasion, one of the best restaurants in the capital was reserved, and the employees, including me, received generous bonuses. It would seem that life is getting better? Maybe. But mine quickly flew into the abyss. This feeling did not leave day or night. Penetrated into dreams and thoughts, not giving a chance to other emotions. The sedative has become my constant companion. If earlier anxiety could be compared with thunderclouds, now it resembled boulders a few hours before the collapse.

No, they didn’t call me with threats, they didn’t set me up at work. I just felt it. I probably should have listened to my intuition, quit right now, disappear, lay low until Katya forgets about me. But I didn't. The salary increase and the prospects turned my head.

And then that day arrived. For most - the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the company. And for me - the final fall into the abyss.

There was no mood since morning. Yesterday my friend and I went shopping, and I bought this dress - black, running around, with lace inserts on short sleeves. I looked like a million, especially with a string of large beads around my neck, with curled hair. But the reflection screamed to stay at home and not go anywhere.

Feeling of misfortune. She had already knocked on the door. I called my mother, promising to come for the weekend. I got really bad. But I had no right to sag. Pretending to have a cold will not work - even at corporate parties, I am always formally at work. To call a taxi boss who has drunk, to prevent him from signing an important document against the company for brotherhood, not to let him fall face down in front of his colleagues. I just had to get through the day.

Day. I remembered it in detail. Taxi, light rain, red carpet leading to the restaurant. Elegant colleagues, the usual female conversation about clothes. Tables bursting with food - for the holidays, the company's management spared no money.

Ivleev was with his wife. And by one look from her, I realized: everything that was said about her behind her back - the true truth of Katya, as they called her in the grandmother's council, was not hysterical and did not beat show-offs. “To be in charge of the market” for the daughter of a crime boss was something of a creed. I instinctively covered my neck with my hands when Katya's tall figure, dressed in a coral-colored evening dress with an embroidered bodice, passed by. But Ivleev's wife did not utter a word and did not even make an attempt to incinerate her eyes. She slowed her pace, a condescending smile touched her thin lips. But what was in her eyes... I would call it bloodlust. She looked like a Roman patrician, longing for the death of a gladiator, overturned on the bloody sand of the Colosseum.

When she left, I was thrown into a cold sweat. Everything was screaming about danger. "Run, run, run!" - the inner voice yelled, but the legs became cottony, and the heart was pounding dully. Katya's smile froze on the retina like a menacing grin of a predator. I turned to the door. It is necessary to find Valery and refer to the indisposition, to leave. I don't want to startle at the slightest rustle at a corporate party.

Alas, I didn't leave. Valery did not leave his wife, and now no force could force me to fall into Katya's field of vision again. To calm her nervousness, she allowed herself to relax at the table. A couple of martini glasses muffled the alarm, the world regained its former colors. Trying to stay away from the boss, I joined the women's council company, listening to the enthusiasm of Lena, who was going to fly to the Maldives at the end of the month. At the same time, she unequivocally looked at me: they say, study, Vika. And now the Maldives would not please me, and they would not be happy. I began to regret that I had succumbed to the temptation and became the mistress of my boss.

After a short feast, dancing began. Now is the time to disappear unnoticed. Trying not to look at Valery, who was circling Katya in a dance to a sensual melody, she began to make her way to the exit, but a broad-shouldered, tall man with long hair tied in a ponytail blocked the way.

- Would you like me to invite you to the dance?

I cast a wistful glance in the direction of the exit, considering the wording of the refusal, but apparently thinking for a very long time. I came to my senses already on the dance floor, pressed against an unfamiliar man.

Are you Victoria? - he asked, moving smoothly and dragging him along. - The most beautiful secretary in the whole company.

And you? I didn't remember ever seeing him. Although, if you think about it, I don't leave the reception area very often.

I'm Ruslan. I am engaged, so to speak, in logistics... in the supply of unique jewelry on order. - He somehow ironically laughed, and, in order to hush up the awkwardness, he raised my hand, allowing me to perform a pirouette.

For the first time I see you, to be honest.

No wonder. You rarely look around. But I have come to see you several times.

I have a good memory for faces. I would remember you.

Such clumsy flirting makes me bored. And Ruslan didn’t seem to notice this, he continued to ask if I had a boyfriend, if he met me after the corporate party, and if one of my friends would pick me up, because he himself wants to see me off. It seems to be quite a pleasant man, besides without a wedding ring, he does not try to grope during the dance and does not say vulgarity - but I still wanted to run away, to be alone with myself, away from the roar of music and the noise of the crowd. Only Ruslan turned out to be a persistent gentleman. Only an hour later I managed to escape - to sneak onto the empty loggia of the restaurant. I breathed in the polluted air of the metropolis, damp from the recent rain, and closed my eyes. Enough. Now I'm just leaving, that's all. I will resolutely tell Ruslan that there is no need to see me off, I want to be alone! I won't even call a taxi .The rustling made me groan. If this is Ruslan, I'll just break loose and send him three funny letters! I want to be alone, don't you understand?

But at the same moment, a dark shadow with the familiar smell of perfume blocked the view, squeezed it in a passionate embrace, doused the skin with hot breath with the smell of whiskey.

- Vika ... What did you drug me with, that I only think about you? ..

I dodged thirsty lips. Panic extinguished the short-term payoff in the form of sexual desire.

- Valery Taras... Valera, damn it... stop what are you doing? Your wife is here, us any moment...

His lips covered mine, his tongue greedily pulled forward, crushing, crushing the kiss. He was not going to make long preludes - he broke the kiss, turned me around to face the wall, pressing his palms over his head with his hand. The second, in a businesslike way, pulled up the hem of the dress to the waist, lowered her panties to her knees, hobbled in this way.

- Speak too much. I almost went through the roof for all these days! - he stopped my attempt at resistance. I closed my eyes, realizing that resistance would only irritate him more, and in addition, attract people. The sound of my fly being unzipped gave me a weird, nasty feeling that I was just being used. Yes, it was, in fact. They wanted to fuck in the corner in a quick way, so that later they could go to their wife and not remember.

- Valera, I don't want to! Understand? I do not want!

- Vika, you're lying. You're just tired. Do you want me to send you on vacation to the Maldives with Lenka? Just shut up and stick your ass out...

- O! And why are you here ... - a voice rang out in the darkness, and, turning around, I met Sarvilov's obscene gaze. It looks like the director of the sales department went over the elite alcohol. I almost fell, forgetting that Valery pulled my panties to the calves, hastily pulled them back, straightening the dress. Ivleyev was about to rush after me, but then he changed his mind. Either he decided to have a conversation with a subordinate about the dangers of excessive talkativeness, or he didn’t want Katya to see us.

The bright light of the hall hit my eyes, and I did not notice how I ran into Irene. Champagne miraculously did not spill on the bodice of her satin robe.

“Call a taxi...” I croaked, stammering and straightening my hair. - My blood pressure dropped. I need to go home urgently...

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the coral flash of Katya's dress. Ivleeva looked like a panther stalking the trail of unsuspecting game.

Irene nodded and took out the latest model of a slider phone from her clutch and began to dial a number. I was out of breath. She walked without looking at the road, driven by only one desire - to breathe in clean air, to get away from the bright light of lamps and crowds of people. The loggia, after the boss's unsuccessful attempt to retire, was not very suitable for this purpose, the street remained.

I don’t remember how I ended up under the canopy of linden trees behind the restaurant. It was deserted, and even the light did not hurt the eyes. The road and facade were very well looked through. I won't miss a taxi if I stay here.

Didn't have to wait long. True, the car did not drive up from the main street, but from the alley. The headlights snatched my silhouette out of the darkness, blinding me for a moment and casting a shadow.

- Taxi to whom? came a male voice. I raised my hand and, grabbing my clutch, walked towards the bright xenon headlights. Only a few meters from the car when someone's hands roughly grabbed my wrist and dragged me forward.

I was dumbfounded by surprise. She opened her mouth to scream, but some uncertain, frightened sob came out.

- Get her! came an impatient voice with an oriental accent, and the grip on my hand became firmer.

And then I screamed. Not even in order to call for help - just began to understand what was happening. They want to drag me into the car, and ... it was fear in its purest form. The echoes of the 90s have not yet sunk into oblivion, when the brothers on foreign cars got away with everything, and not a day passed without a pretty girl being stuffed into the car right in broad daylight. At best, they returned; at worst, they were found dead in the nearest forest plantations.

My cry should have aroused the whole area. Because of the bright light, I could not see if there was anyone nearby. But even if they saw us, there is no chance that they will decide to intervene: in such situations, people are in a hurry to get away from the source of trouble.

Victoria!

A male voice made my captor loosen his grip. Not remembering myself, I broke free and ran to its source. Black blobs danced in my eyes from the bright headlights, and I screamed even harder when I ran into someone's chest.

Victoria, this is Ruslan! Everything is fine!

The relief was so strong that I pressed myself against his chest and laughed.

Until the very moment, both the nostrils provided a pungent odor. Ruslan's palm fell almost gently on my face, covering it with a piece of pungent-smelling cloth.

The earth swayed forward. Someone's hands were grabbed by the shoulders on both sides and dragged. The shoe fell off, but I couldn't say a word.

Pack it, - Ruslan's mocking voice rang out. - Hour of the green corridor.

Consciousness did a somersault before falling into a deep sleep. How I was dragged into the car and taken, I no longer remembered ...