Chapter 4

The little wings snapped shut, my jaw dropped, and my smile went sour.

“What, like it’s the first time? Dim, what’s wrong? It’s me, Berry!” I exclaimed. “We sat at the same desk all through elementary school. You wouldn’t even let me copy your homework, and you called me Berry!”

Believe me, I was thrown. Of course, six whole years had passed, and many of our former classmates had filled out, like Rodik Yashin, or slimmed down, like Olka Kizilova, but they were still the same people we knew. Surely I hadn’t changed so much in that time that I was impossible to recognize? I hadn’t gained weight (except in strategic places), changed my hair color, or even gotten a haircut! So why?

Gordeev raised his hand, reached for the decanter, and calmly filled a tall glass with water, displaying the gleam of an expensive watch on his wrist and a snow-white shirt cuff. He drank slowly without looking at me. The people around the table fell silent and pricked up their ears, while I…

And I realized how ridiculous I must look from the outside and felt myself turning bright red. And not only from embarrassment.

Oh, you bastard. Web-footed goose. Peacock-tailed turkey. But what a lousy feeling, being disappointed in someone.

Then again, was I really disappointed? We’d never been friends, and now we definitely never would be. People changed, but Gordeev hadn’t. He’d been an arrogant snob in school, and that was exactly what he still was!

“I really did mistake you for someone else. Imagine that.” I forced a tight smile at all the good people gathered there. “Now I see it: no, not Gordeev, and not even Dimka. Must have been the nerves.”

“Hmm, are you sure?”

“My former classmate is a terrible bore. He had absolutely no sense of humor even in school. But your employee is such a comedian! I’m dying over here! Sorry, what’s your name?” I asked the technical guy.

“Vadim Spiridonovich,” the man replied.

“You’re right, Vadim Spiridonovich. I’m excellent at digging up information on tenders. I’ve got a nose for deals, you know. And perhaps I really should think about a career as a hacker. Thank you! Goodbye, everyone! It was a pleasure to see the inside of GBG-Project.”

“So, Mashka? What took you so long? Did they hire you?!” A long nose blocked my view.

My lower lip was trembling, and my hands were shaking. I think tears had even welled up. I somehow squeezed into my puffy coat and pulled on my hat. I slung my bag over my shoulder, and only then turned to Shlyapkin.

“Oh, Yurka, they were so… They were so…”

“What were they?”

“To hell with them! Let’s go sell oranges instead, okay?”

“Where? What oranges?” Yurka asked, startled.

“Spanish ones, of course. At the market. I hear the pay is twice what we make. First oranges, and then maybe they’ll trust us with bananas.”

“Let’s go,” the young man agreed. “But, Mash, I’m still going to poke my head into the office first, okay?” He backed toward the door. “What if I get lucky?!”

I just waved a hand. Everyone wanted to believe in happiness.

“Good luck.”

No one from our old crew was left in the reception area, so I trudged outside. I didn’t smile at the security guard anymore, but he, as if he could sense my mood, grinned through his thick mustache.

“You must come visit us again, young lady! We’re always happy to see you!”

If only he’d performed a curtsy too—ugh, what a bald Captain Hook! And he was laughing, too! What was wrong with all of them? Had they made some kind of pact? Not a dream company—some kind of nonstop Negative Project!

***

 “Fairy, are you busy by any chance? Do you have five minutes? It’s urgent.”

“Where are you, Marusya? What, is the interview over already?”

“Yep.”

“So, how did it go?”

I couldn’t hold it in and sniffled into the phone.

“It didn’t, Natasha. They never planned to hire anyone. They just did it for laughs. I’m at the café across from your Beau Monde. Please tell me you have a minute? If I don’t get this off my chest right now, I’m going to burst into tears!”

“Okay, no moping, Berry! Yesterday it was me, today it’s you. What is this awful bad luck going around?! We’re both gorgeous women, and life is buzzing all around us. And yes, sometimes it hits us over the head! But if you put on a helmet ahead of time, you can take the hit and hit back. I’ll work some fairy magic on my client’s hair and run over! I’ll have about half an hour!”

When Natasha came running, I was sitting at a table over two cups of espresso, my chin propped on my fists, remembering Dimka back in school and refusing to understand why he had treated me that way.

Yes, we hadn’t been friends, that was true. And it was hard to be friends with someone who went through life with his nose in the air. A straight-A student, the best athlete, handsome. Apparently his father had already been a big shot back then, because Dimka always had the best clothes and gear. If he hadn’t acted like a stuck-up bookworm and learned to smile, girls would have been all over him. Although…

Apparently they already were. Especially during our senior year. I just don’t remember that period of my life very well. All my thoughts were taken up by Kirill Mamleev, who was a year ahead of me, wouldn’t leave me alone, and had already gotten into college by the time I was a senior.

I also seemed to remember that Gordeev was either Kirill’s second cousin or his third cousin. Only, they hadn’t spoken at all in school. They couldn’t even stand each other. But what if things had changed, and they were friends now?

So was that why he had acted like that—because of Mamleev? But why? I had never bothered their family in any way, and I hadn’t deserved that kind of disrespect!

So, yes. I was upset.

“Well? What happened, Berry? Tell me!” Natasha rolled into the café like a fashionable little dumpling and dropped into a chair. She unbuttoned her sheepskin coat and dumped a handful of chocolate candies from her pocket onto the table.

Fairy couldn’t live without candy, the way some people couldn’t live without cigarettes, and she gobbled it down whenever she got the chance. My kids adored her for that weakness; she always had sweets for them—in her bag, in her pockets. And if we ever went to her place… Well, to my Berries, Natasha was a real fairy godmother.

“Ughhh, Mashka… I’ve got such a headache from that martini!” My friend pressed a palm to her forehead and closed one eye. “I’m never drinking that swill by the gallon again. A screwdriver would be better! And it’s all that ugly brute Zhorik’s fault!”

Zhorik was absolutely to blame, and I didn’t even argue.

“What, he hasn’t called yet?”

Natasha sighed and pulled her cup of espresso toward her. She took a long sip.

“He’s called about ten times already, but I’m not answering. I told you—it’s over between us. Game over*—the show’s over! This time we’ve broken things off for good. I’m sick of it, Mashka! A man should act like a man, not a spineless wimp. I hate to admit it, but Crocodile Tears won. To hell with both of them! I’ll suffer a little now, but then I’ll go through life happy and free. Maybe there’s a prince waiting for me out there on a white horse!”

I snorted.

“Where exactly is this there , Fairy?”