Chapter 4

Heinrich and I return to the hall. I am still feverish after meeting with Janis, and the floor under my feet will not gain hardness. I scan the crowd with my eyes and find Bagdasarov in the company of my companion, they are talking enthusiastically about something. Yang mostly talks and looks absolutely calm and collected. Veronica looks at him with a sincere smile, touches his hand, and then they go out together, continuing to discuss something. Colorful pictures, how and how they will end the evening, flash brightly before their eyes. I squint, blocking out these thoughts. It is forbidden. Yang is a stranger to me. But why does it hurt so much?

Neumann and I are leaving the restaurant in ten minutes. The weather is warm. If I were in a good mood, I would invite Heinrich to take a walk to the hotel where I live. But today you won’t be able to get distracted, it’s better to be alone and go to bed. Proven way. Neumann asks the driver to wait and goes outside after me. I make an effort to answer Heinrich's questions. We agree to call tomorrow morning and say goodbye.

Once in the room, I take off my dress, wash off my makeup and look at myself in the reflection for a few more minutes, remembering Bagdasarov's touches and his words that he dreamed that I had died. Shaking my head, I pick up the phone and call Laska.

Nastya hangs up the call and immediately sends a message: "I'm putting Harry to bed." She calls back only half an hour later.

“That’s it, passed out,” her tortured voice is heard in the receiver. - Finally! I read to him for almost an hour! Can you imagine? He's madder than ever today. On the playground he pushed the children, tried to fight with some new boy who did not let him play in the sandbox with his beloved Dina. Harry doesn’t behave like that with you, Alena, Nastya complains. “Am I not an authority for him?”

- Tired, huh? Closing my eyes, I chuckle softly.

- Not that word. Tomorrow Tamara Semyonovna will arrive, she promised to look after our bandit in the first half of the day, because in the evening I got a call from work and was asked to come to the office for a couple of hours. And then I will take the malingerer to the pediatrician, and I hope they will give us a certificate that he is healthy, if Andrei, of course, does not cough all over the corridor, pretending to be unwell, like last time. After that, we will send him to the garden for a week. Overnight. How do you like my offer? - Nastya quickly chatters.

- Overnight? I ask with a smile.

- Yes. The teacher will put a straitjacket on him, tie his sleeves around the chair. Andrei will sit and watch everyone rage without him, red with indignation. Maybe he will start calling for help. Exactly. I will tell Marina Vyacheslavovna that I allow her to seal his mouth with adhesive tape so that no one hears the battle cry of our bully.

- Today you are a tyrant in a skirt, Nastya. Have you had such a hectic day?

Yes, Alena! By the way, if a neighbor writes a complaint against you to custody, then you should know: we just cut Harry's nails. She banged on the door louder than Andrei shouted. And when I opened it, she asked what I was doing with the child and why he was yelling like that. I replied that I had called an exorcist and I was exorcising the devil from Andryushka, and then I slammed the door in her face.

I laugh out loud when I imagine this picture, and the mood becomes a bit better.

- Nastya, I carry out all these manipulations when Harry falls asleep.

- I know! But it did not work with the sleeper. Andrey messed up a little, breaking a toenail, he had to run after him with scissors all over the apartment ... Oh, that's it, - Laska says in the hearts. Let's change the subject better. Did Dima not show up?

- Called. He promised to come back in a month.

- What amazing news! Andrei needs a strong man's hand. Desperately! And sometimes a slap. I went to cook soup for him today, I return to the room, and, you know, what did he think of? But no, I won't say. Come and see for yourself. Now you will think about repairs not only in words.

“You asked me to change the subject,” I remind him, still laughing. - Go pop five drops of valerian.

“Sometimes I marvel at how strong your nerves are. And yet there is not a single gray hair ... Witch!

I twitch at this word, but then I drown out all sorts of emotions in myself on this matter.

“Nastya,” I say, ceasing to smile, “Andrey behaves like this with you because you are too protective of him. He is an independent guy. And he does not like being pressured or scolded at all. And you press. This is how he defends himself. You should be his ally, a friend, not a mother hen. Remember this simple truth, and your relationship with Harry will become many times better. We have a peculiar baby, but what a god sent.

“He reminds me of someone,” she grins. - What is your breed?

- Ours. Who else, I agree. - Okay, Nastyukh, I'm going to sleep. When I get back from St. Petersburg, I'll take you to a psychotherapist. Do not be sad.

Weasel laughs nervously.

- By the way, Ulyanova stopped by there and left a business plan for new sections in Mytishchi and Lyubertsy. She said that without attracting sponsors, the case would not work out. Awaiting further instructions from you.

- Understand very well. I'll tackle this issue in the next few days. Kiss my sleeping sun. I'll call you on video tomorrow.

“At least just dial to make sure I'm alive.

- Don't slander Andryusha. He is a good boy for us. Let him misbehave. If not in childhood, then when?

“Indeed,” Laska replies with a loud grunt. “Let him kill both of us nervous system.

Not without it. Sometimes my angelic patience reaches its limit. But Andrei will grow up soon, and it will become a little easier. Hope.

After wishing each other good night, Nastya and I say goodbye, and I end the conversation. I really want to go home. Without tomorrow's meetings with Heinrich.

But in the end, the whole next day, Neiman and I walk in one of the parks, and in the morning he sends a car for me with apologies that he does not have time to see me personally.

I enjoy how slowly and calmly our relationship develops, how Heinrich takes care of me. Another would be to completely block thoughts about Janis, which have been haunting since yesterday ...

Upon returning home, I send a message to Heinrich that I have landed. I check my personal and work emails. Ulyanova again writes that the free figure skating sections on the outskirts of Moscow do not have enough money and nothing to pay rent. You need to decide something, you can not stop halfway. We are doing a good job. Tomorrow I'll throw a cry among my friends, I'll go to Ryabov as a last resort. He's a smart guy, he's sure to give you some advice. We won't get lost.

After paying the taxi driver, I go outside and am about to go up to the apartment when they call from the school asking me to replace Tumanova at tomorrow's training. Poor Weasel. She'll definitely go crazy if you don't give her a day off.

I open the door, hiding the toy dog behind my back. Andrey always asks for a real one, but I won’t pull courtship for a puppy now. Someone would take care of me. I take off my shoes, put my bag on the chest of drawers and, hiding, I wait. A joyful cry is not long in coming and immediately comes from the living room.

- Hooray! Are you at home! Andrey leans into my legs and hugs me tightly.

He does not immediately notice the toy in my hands, but when he sees the plush dog, he examines it with shining eyes. So many emotions in this child! I do not have a soul in it. Another would be to learn how to direct his inexhaustible energy in the right direction.

- I'll call him ... Stas, - Andryusha says importantly.

Why Stas? I squat down and kiss his plump cheek. "Maybe it's her?"

"No," Harry stubbornly. — Stas! He offended me yesterday on the street. And I wanted to beat him.

“Hmm…” I think. — You used to call all the toys Dean...

- And now I will call Stas!

In the evening we go to the playground, see what kind of boy it is. It looks like it's not just about the red bucket, blue spatula, and undivided territory in the sandbox. I wouldn't be surprised if jealousy of Dean is involved. This is a girl that Andrew really likes.

Great, Drew! Here is mom.

I notice a satisfied Laska in the doorway, who is already pulling on jeans and a jumper.

“I passed the post,” she smiles with all thirty-two teeth.

- Everything? Are you running away? I smile back, watching Nastya.

Yes, I'm going to work. Literally back and forth. And then in the morning the whole phone was cut off.

I step aside, deciding in the evening to stun Nastya with “good news” that tomorrow she and Andrei will go with me to training. Harry enjoys spending time with children and skating. Here we combine the pleasant with the useful. God willing, we won't break anything. Neither to himself nor to those around him.

Weasel runs away about her business, and Andrei and I go to the nursery. I've been wondering since yesterday what he did there. There is a pogrom in the room - nothing unusual, but from the new - the wallpaper is painted with a black marker. Black is our favorite color. Andrey drew from the heart, it is immediately noticeable.

- What is it, son? I nod at his art.

“Nastya didn’t allow me to take paint,” he replies gloomily, hearing the strict notes in my voice. - I wanted to draw. - Stubbornly stamps his foot.

I can barely suppress a smile.

- How are we going to clean it up?

- No way. I liked to draw while standing, not sitting at the table. And over there,” Harry points to the opposite wall, “I haven’t finished painting yet.

N-yes. We'll probably wait a while with the renovation. Until Andrey comes of age.

“I want to go to the playground,” he says, watching me pick up one of the cars from the floor, not taking my eyes off his art.

- OK. Pack your toys and let's go. Deal? I suggest.

I don't want to collect toys. Andrey frowns again.

I silently pull the empty box at his feet and walk out of the nursery. Otherwise, we will stay at home, and Stas will play with Dina. I don’t even have to voice it: Andrei sometimes understands everything from one glance of mine. I don’t know about Laska, but I learned to calculate the moves of this little manipulator a long time ago. These tricks and stomping will not work with me.

While I'm sorting things out and calling Ulyanova, Andrey is fumbling with toys and at the same time lamenting loudly over something. I can't resist the temptation and, turning on the camera, I sneak up to the nursery and shoot him on video.

Forty minutes later, Andrei is contentedly walking down the street in a new clean suit. After walking, he drags me to the nearest cafe to eat cakes. Weasel joins us in the process of feasting. We discuss tomorrow's schedule with her and, agreeing that she and Andrey will spend time with me at the rink, we go home.

Most of all, Andrey is happy with this alignment, while Nastya and I look at each other warily, thinking to ourselves about how not to rush to the emergency room after the skating rink.

- I bet he will speed up on skates like a bowling ball and rush into the crowd? - Nastya whispers so that Andrei does not hear.

“But in this way you can teach him to count,” I pick up. “And you said you weren’t a born teacher.” The main thing is an individual approach! - I push the growling Nastya to the side.

However, there is some truth in every joke. You should try experimenting with toys. What if Andrey really learns the numbers faster?

When I get up to the apartment, I go to the bath to bathe the little freak, and then I carry him to bed. Andrey points his finger at his favorite book about the dog Sonya and yawns contagiously. I myself am wildly tired from this long day.

“Three tales,” he mutters sleepily, and puts his arm around my shoulders, kissing my cheek.

I'm ready to spread a puddle on the bed when Andrey is so gentle. I stroke his soft hair back and read a story until he falls asleep, then go to the kitchen to drink his medicine.

“Alena, I have to confess something to you,” Laska suddenly says, turning on the electric kettle.

I pour water into a glass and sit down on a chair. I focus on Nastya, wearily resting my chin on my hand.

- Well.

“Goncharov called me… yesterday,” she exhales hoarsely, watching my reaction. He couldn't get through to you.

- And what did you want? I dryly clarify.

- He warned that Janis returned to Russia and was interested in you. What happened to Slutsky and your salon. It seems that Bagdasarov is not yet aware that you changed your last name and sold everything ...

I bite my lip thoughtfully, unsure how to handle this information. No, Goncharov, of course, well done. I have nothing against his call and warning. At one time, he promptly helped with the execution of all papers for the sale of the salon and the store, and he also resolved the issue with Slutsky, as promised. But it’s still unpleasant for me to communicate with Kostya, because he witnessed that terrible scene in the club and with his help I ended the relationship with Jan. It seems to be thankful, but in fact, there is nothing.

- Alyona? Nastya calls, touching her shoulder, and I startle. - Everything is fine?

I decided not to tell Laska anything about the meeting with Bagdasarov. And Nelly asked to be silent. All my worries are long gone. Let them stay there.

- Never mind. If Janis appears, then purely to satisfy curiosity. Our paths diverged. I'm reaching for painkillers because my stomach is starting to ache again. Let's close this thread, okay?

Nastya sighs noisily, looking at my pills with a puzzled look.

- What about the tests?

“Better,” I answer shortly, feeling my chest bursting after new mentions of Janis, and I change the topic: “How are you doing with your participation in the competition?”

We're going on tour in two months. They promise to pay me good money, - Nastya shares her successes, and I nod with satisfaction.

- Two months? Can you imagine how Andrey will be delighted that he will go on a trip with you? I ask as evenly as possible, holding back a sly smile.

- Not funny, Alyona! I already got goosebumps from the horror that I would spend two months alone with him, without help, and even in a foreign country. - Nastya looks at me with rounded eyes and shows her right hand, on which blond hairs stand on end. “Tomorrow's trip to the skating rink will be enough for my nervous system,” she minted the last words.

Yes, it's not really funny. Over the past six months, Andrei and I have changed two kindergartens and the same number of nannies. Thank you for not naming plush dogs by their names yet. God, I really will turn gray while this miracle grows and flies out from under my warm wing. I would never have thought in my life that it is so difficult to raise boys and cope with them without a man's hand.