Zhenya and I took a small table in the very center of the hall, and I carefully looked around, noticing Stas without difficulty.

Mironov, indeed, spent the evening in the company of an adult couple. Judging by the fact that the man and woman were sitting close to each other, they were husband and wife. The iron grip of jealousy that gripped all my insides loosened. Wow, Stas did not lie!

So I'm still the only object of his passion. My possessive instinct, which had been roaring predatory before, purred languidly again. I think sooner or later Mironov will see me. That's when we'll play.

We ordered a cocktail and a salad. When the anger subsided, I wanted to eat.

– Are you satisfied? Zhenya asked quietly.

“Very,” I chuckled.

I think we can go to the restroom. My path will pass just past their table. I winked at Zhenya and rose to my feet. You need to defile slowly, clattering your heels so that Stas will definitely notice my presence. I tried to make my walk as graceful as possible.

Passing by their table, I caught Mironov's eye. Surprise and ... admiration were read in his eyes. Yes! This is exactly what I was waiting for!

I hope I got a playful look, which Stas admired so much. “The look of a predator that cornered the victim,” as Zhenya once put it, was my “crown”.

I smiled at Stas with the corners of my lips and proceeded to the restroom. I swear he was staring at my bare back. It would be great if today someone sat down to meet Zhenya and me. Let him be jealous in revenge for ruining the evening.

When I returned to my friend, she was looking at her phone with interest and leisurely drinking Long Island. The second cocktail was already waiting for me.

We waited for the order and ate leisurely, chatting casually. She talked about the everyday life of the salon where she worked, and complained about another crazy client who decided from a burning brunette to become a blond nymph in just one visit.

All this time, Stas furtively cast glances at me, and I only smiled mysteriously at him.

I was distracted from Zhenya's next story by a noisy company that burst into a restaurant. Three guys and three girls. One of them was very familiar to me and my friend.

“Zhenek, look who’s there,” I whispered, at the same moment desperately regretting that I had asked her to accompany me today.

Zhenya's gaze followed to the door, and her eyebrows furrowed menacingly.

Our city is a big village. Nowhere to escape from childhood friends, she hissed.

“And from exes,” I added.

Misha was one of the companies that burst into the hall. In a businesslike way, he hugged the waist of a black-haired girl, who, probably, had barely turned twenty. My girlfriend's first love. Love that brought her unbearable pain and taught her to be harder than steel. A love that took everything she had.

- Looks good. Apparently, the service in the FSB is not so hard, - Zhenya drawled.

I looked in surprise at my usually cold-blooded friend and suddenly realized clearly that she was in pain even now - after seven years. First love is never forgotten. Isn't it?

The company chose a table not far from ours.

“Let’s get out of here,” Zhenya asked quietly.

I nodded and motioned for the waiter.

“We’ll pay off quickly and leave.” They are all drunk. They won't even notice us,” I assured her.

After checking out, we slowly made our way to the exit. I think Stas was incredibly surprised at this turn of events. Mironov probably expected that we would leave here together when he sent friends home. I hoped so too, but my friend's peace of mind was more precious.

- Zhenya, Yasya! - there was a cheerful exclamation of Misha. No, just not that!

Suddenly, something akin to a miracle happened next to me. Zhenya broke into a smile and spread her arms for hugs. Wow! This is the master of transformation! I would like to learn from her!

Misha awkwardly hugged her, then switched to me. He smelled of sweet perfume and alcohol.

- Damn, girls, I'm so glad to see you! You can't even imagine!

“And we are so glad,” I murmured in confusion.

Zhenya looked at Misha with a sincere smile, and nothing betrayed the fact that a minute ago she tried to escape from him.

“Sit down with us,” invited a childhood friend.

- No, no, we're leaving. You have your own company. Better get some. Let's meet and chat," I said.

Need to leave. Suddenly, Zhenya does not have enough acting skills for a long time?

- I won't take no. We are celebrating my return from a business trip. Don't even think about running away.

Misha insistently seated Zhenya and me at a table.

- Guys, these are my childhood friends - Yaroslava and Zhenya. We grew up in the same yard, and Yasya and I even studied in the same group. In general, all my life I’ve been around,” Misha introduced us.

The children responded warmly and gave their names. Naturally, I did not remember anyone except his girlfriend. She introduced herself as Dinara.

I wanted Stas to be jealous, so I got it. Who would have thought that events would unfold in this way?

- What will you drink? a friend asked us.

“We have two Sex on the Beach,” I answered for my friend.

We drank with them for about an hour. During this time, three times either I or Zhenya tried to say goodbye and run away, but Misha would not let go. Did he really not understand how painful it was for his ex-girlfriend to be around?!

All this time, Stas kept throwing sidelong glances at us. It looks like he was jealous. The only plus from these unexpected gatherings. Didn't Misha and his merry company find another restaurant in the whole city? Why did they drop in here?

– It will be necessary to tell Kiryuha that I saw you. Maybe we can all meet together, like in the good old days? Misha blurted out after another stack.

“I don’t think I’m going to this meeting,” I snapped.

Only Cyril was not enough for me to be completely happy! Orlov is the only person in whose power it was to inflict unbearable pain on me, and he brilliantly took advantage of the privilege granted.

Misha gave me a drunken look, but did not develop the topic. The last thing I would like to talk to him about is Orlov.

By the way, how is Cyrus? Where does he work? Zhenya's voice came from behind me.

I bet a friend only asked this question because I would never have done it myself. She is hardly very interested in the fate of Cyril.

“He settled in well. Went to the civil service. He rose to the rank of deputy head of the legal department in the Ministry of Construction. In addition, it is spinning, it solves issues with real estate. No wonder he works in a place like this. I’ve already decided on the Camry, ”Misha reported, as if savoring every word about Orlov. Maybe I was already too drunk, since I heard in his words frank boasting of the success of my best friend?

“Yeah, I remember he always liked Toyotas,” he said before I could bite my tongue.

Misha looked at me in surprise and inquired with malice:

What kind of cars did I like? I am also your childhood friend.

“I don’t have such a large amount of memory to remember everything and everyone,” I retorted, laughing.

I hope the laughter is not too fake? What Kira liked will be stored in the depths of my memory for decades to come, but Misha's preferences and sympathies have never really interested me.

Corrupt, you mean? Zhenya muttered sarcastically.

I don't get involved in his business. Everyone earns as much as he can. Please tell me where you work? Misha changed the subject.

- Zhenya is a hairdresser, quite famous in the city, by the way. And now I'm unemployed. I quit my old job and have not yet decided what I would like to do next.

“And I constantly persuade her to open her own salon together,” Zhenya added, “but for some reason Yasya does not agree.

- You know that Oksana drove off to Turkey?

“I hope she didn’t get into sexual slavery there?” I asked with mock excitement.

You love her very much, it shows. No, Ksenia got married and already gave birth to two. Now her page is filled with photos of children.

After these words, Misha rolled his eyes, thereby showing his attitude towards the transformation of smart and adequate girls into "happy mothers of two angels." Although ... Oksana could never be called either smart or adequate.

I politely clinked glasses with everyone with my glass of cocktail and out of the corner of my eye caught how Stas went to the toilet. From his eloquent look, it became clear that I had better follow him.

I somehow got out from behind the table and slowly walked to the exit from the hall. Stas was already waiting in a small hall, in front of the doors of the men's and women's toilets.

“You are so sweet with that youngster,” he grumbled, pinning me against the wall.

Mironov's lips were very close. Alcohol-scented breath made me want to stop breathing.

- This youngster is my same age, and also our childhood friend with Zhenya. We grew up together.

No, I will not give in to that piercing gaze. Stas was guilty today, but certainly not me.

- Your meeting does not look random.

“You know that I came here to tease you. I wanted you to regret that you traded an evening with me for this meeting. The fact that this company will be here, I could not foresee.

“I already regretted it,” Stas whispered and kissed my neck. - My favorite perfume.

- Will you come today? I murmured.

“How can I not come if I have been watching you in this dress all evening?” I won’t fall asleep, - Stas’s voice became velvety. I mentally called his intonation “Kazanovsky”.

He kissed me lightly so as not to smudge my red lipstick. In the eyes of Stas, I saw the same adoration. Jealousy finally hid its claws.

“Hopefully, Zhenya and I will be able to escape soon. I will wait for you at home.

The greenish glow of an electronic clock pierced the darkness of the bedroom. Half past three in the morning. Why can't I sleep?! All the cocktails drunk during the evening suddenly hit my head at once, whirling a whirlpool of bad thoughts there.

Zhenya and I were able to say goodbye to Misha's drunken company only an hour after talking with Stas. All this time I was haunted by Mironov's disapproving glances and Zhenya's leg, now and then kicking under the table. How much have we poured into ourselves? It's just a nightmare!

Finally, having sworn that one of these days we would definitely meet again, we were able to escape. I sadly left my “swallow” in the parking lot. Zhenya and I left in different taxis, which made me incredibly happy. That night, both she and I needed to think about the meeting in solitude.

Stas snored and rolled over to the other side. He arrived right after me, not even allowing me to collect my thoughts. Tonight was hard for me. No, not like that… Let's just say, ten minutes were hard for me. The brain did not want to switch to Stas, still being in dialogue with Misha and arguing what kind of animal this is the Ministry of Construction.

Before, I never experienced the delight of having to sleep with Stas. He is twenty-one years older than me! What's the thrill here? Yes, Mironov is fit and quite handsome, especially in a business suit, but for me, first of all, he is a good option. I always saw him as a lover. Sometimes the body took its toll, and I even liked it. Rarely, but it happened. There have been more magical nights in my life. Especially one of them. Sometimes it seemed to me that bite marks were still visible on the neck, although almost five years had passed.

“He rose to the rank of deputy head of the legal department in the Ministry of Construction,” - once again the words surfaced in Misha's head.

Driven by a drunken impulse, I quietly got out of bed and tiptoed into the living room. The laptop was found on the couch. Sitting comfortably, I typed in the search engine "Ministry of Construction" and opened the official website. Yes, let's see. Legal department. Head - Sergey Yuryevich Zhorin. Deputy Head - Kirill Evgenievich Orlov. The heart, having made a somersault, returned home. God, why does the mere mention of his name make me so covered?!

An invisible hand pushed me to open the section "Information about vacancies". I scanned the positions offered and sighed. The ministry of interest to me now did not really need personnel. Deputy head of the accounting department, chief specialist of the informatization department and head of the office work and control department. Stop! Head of Department? Not a bad position, given that Kirill was one step lower in the hierarchy of this state structure. With what superiority I could look at this man!

When it was already dawning outside the window, and my head was slowly clearing up, the desire to return to civil service suddenly burst into my mind like a flash of lightning in the clear sky.