New? - Arkady Anatolyevich nods at my phone. Have you finally started shopping?

No, Seryozha gave it to me.

Looks after, - approvingly smiles.

How was your holiday?

Thank you, I was very pleased. I visited twelve museums in two weeks - this is my record. A.A. unbuttons his coat button before sinking into a chair. - What do you think I preferred: ethnography, contemporary art, classics?

Has not improved at all during this time. Why is metabolism such a tricky thing? They are the same age as my dad. But, unlike Arkady Anatolyevich, for my father, the belly crawling onto the belt is probably already an integral attribute of the figure. But A.A., at fifty-two, looks no less fit than the same Seryozha.

“I don’t think it’s modern for sure,” I blurt out. - It's too primitive.

Young people are increasingly scolding their peers - amazing hostility to themselves.

One thing just looks like the other. It's like stealing a piece from each other. You probably prefer something that has stood the test of time. Maybe Munch?

No, by the way, I never went to Munch's. Do you like his paintings?

I purse my lips doubtfully.

Rather, I mentioned him because I only know about his museum in Oslo.

The gaping mouth of that creature from the Scream, as if toothless.

He said he would pull her teeth out. Every single one. So she can't hurt him when she sucks. He believed that her attempts to bite would bring even more pleasure, creating an unusual pressure of harmless gums on his cock.

A.A. takes a quick look at my fingers as they pluck at my jeans.

What caused your guilt this time? – invariable notebook reveals itself in his hands.

I seem to have deviated from the plan.

Have you changed your mind about moving out from your parents?

No, on the contrary, I have already agreed with the landlord. I just don't dare tell my mom.

What about work?

I'm still going to the "Northern Lights". I rented an apartment ten minutes from him.

You said that it could be closed.

Things are bad. But I am sure that Serezha and I can change everything if we try hard. Besides, I want us to have a common cause, common interests.

This is weird.

What?

Your unexpected zeal to become "we" with him. You are hurring to much. And artificiality is obvious to me.

Because I force myself with all my might. And this is so ... - I wince, I fall silent. It's not important now.

I take my purse and take out the evidence wrapped in a colorful plastic bag, but I am in no hurry to pass it on, I leave it on my knees:

"You don't believe in poltergeists, do you?"

The most unfortunate variant of escapism in your case.

Then I'll start with what is not so mystical. They shot at us.

A.A. raises an eyebrow in disbelief. And I'm upset that I didn't make the right impression.

“Someone walked up to the living room window where Dani and I slept last night and fired. We found the mark in the morning, in the glass and the wall.

How is it possible that you didn't hear anything?

I do not know. Apparently, the weapon was with a silencer.

What about Satan? Would he let a stranger into the area?

I left him in the enclosure because Dani is afraid.

But he would bark.

I understand. I don't know how it happened. We drank a little before bed and passed out. Maybe they put something in our wine... And where did the bullet go? This man came to my house. Like a host. He is not afraid of anything. He wants to intimidate, because I got on the trail.

It's impossible.

And it's not the first time he's come. As if he knows exactly when no one is there. For the last two weeks, I have noticed that some items in my room are not where I left them. But that's not the weirdest thing...

Yana, you just forgot...

He ruins things. Don't just move them. He deforms them. Out of nowhere, another charm appeared on my bracelet. On the site of the Eiffel Tower. The bow on the panties disappeared. Like they cut it off. And in the book. Someone had torn pages out of The Luminosity and Poverty of the Courtesans. She was on my nightstand. A few pages that I have already read. And so. Look at this.” I hand him the package.

A.A. unfolded it. He took the comb by the handle with two fingers, and lifted it a little. With a squeamish look, he looks at the dark long hair stuck in the bristles.

See? They are cut off. Someone stuck them in my hairbrush and put them on my dressing table. The hair is the same as Masha's.

Why do you think the Eiffel Tower disappeared from your bracelet? What is it connected with?

“Nothing,” I shrug. - Seryozha gave me this bracelet.

Once you told me this phrase: “He took away all my dreams from me. Took Paris. Do you remember?

My fingers crawl through my hair, my nails scrape the hollow in my neck.

"It's okay," he reassures. You were supposed to go to France with your parents. But shortly before the trip, you were kidnapped.

Right. It was one of the cherished dreams, before everything happened. I wanted to go to Paris. Fashion capital of the world, - I smile bitterly. – My passion for beauty, for perfumery. Everything is mangled. Now in any smell I'm afraid to find notes of cedar. And things... Look at me. What happened to me? How do I dress? As if deliberately trying to seem inconspicuous, unattractive. How the hell do I go. No make up. In baggy shit. I'm already silent about how I behave. Yes, what to say? You would not believe that before I was completely different.

I can perfectly imagine what you were. Moreover, your father and I have known each other for a long time. And he never missed an opportunity to tell something funny from the life of his Pulka, - A.A. smiles kindly. - Yana, appearance is just a consequence. Let's get back to the reasons. Did you go to the police because of the gunshot?

Not. Although Dani insisted. I broke the window so mom and dad wouldn't know. On the wall, where the trace of the bullet remained, she hung the picture. She told her parents that Dean's friends were visiting. That we were drunk. And the window was accidentally damaged.

Dina is no longer favored in your family?

What do you! My parents want me to learn how to have fun again. They were so happy that the drunk party almost blew up the living room - I even thought for a second that they were crazy, not me ...

You're not crazy. You fight for your sanity so fiercely that it deserves admiration.

I freeze. He speaks sincerely, I'm sure of it. Not condescension, not flattery, not encouragement.

"Thank you," I answer with a sigh. But seconds of gratitude are replaced by another portion of heaviness: - Only you think that I spoil things myself?

“Finally, things are getting better for you. You can deliberately punish yourself for it. The only thing that bothers me is the shot. Where could you get a weapon?

I am silent.

Have you told Dina about what scares you in your parents' house?

I nod:

Yes. After we found the gunshot.

And how did she react?

Worries about me. She offered to move in with her.

“I'm sure it's her idea to bully you.

She wouldn't do that. And Dani doesn't know about Masha. And in general, in everything that happens, there are too many details that no one can know about. Plus, it started before I asked her to stay with me.

She finally managed to seduce you?

Not. She was very tactful.

And Sergey?

Also behaves tactfully. Against their background, I seem to myself so ... slutty. They can and don't. And I want so much ... I just can’t. The association comes to me all the time that I am languishing without sex like Torpil, exiled to a monastery. By the way, it was the pages where these experiences of her lack of sex were described that were torn out. As he tore out of me ... my lust.

Yana, it's not so bad now.

Not bad? Yes, I'm not myself! I want to enjoy sex with a man again. But there is no attraction to anyone in particular.

I think you should follow my recommendation and look at other men, and not just Seryozha.

Do you think I'm not trying? But if there is no spark. In general, even similarities. They all seem clumsy, weak, ugly to me. It's not because I've forgotten how to want. It's just... it has to be so that the heart is beating like it used to.

And did not pound even once? At least for one?

It was thumping. Once. So much so that I stopped breathing.

Where did you meet him?

Did I say it out loud? - I'm afraid.

You have everything written on your face.

“Thumping, but this is different,” I clear my throat. “Yesterday I thought I met the man who kidnapped me.

You can't recognize him. You never saw his face.

Feeling...

Yes Yes Yes. Smells, voice, steps. Remember what you thought when you first saw me?

That you are that person.

How many times have you felt that way about other people?

This time it's different. He knew her. He knew Masha. And he was suspected.

Where did you get it from?

An article on the Internet. Open your laptop. Open it and I'll show you.

A. reluctantly gets up and goes to the work table.

Remember my mom's birthday?

Certainly! Dinner was wonderful. I would have stayed longer if not for the departure to Oslo.

It happened that evening. After the celebration, I went to my room. Opened mail. The letter seemed to have been sent from my own address. And it was in the letter.